Magnetocaloric effect in manganites: metamagnetic transitions for magnetic refrigeration

We present a study of the magnetocaloric effect in La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 (y=0.3) and Pr0.5Ca0.09Sr0.41MnO3 manganites. The low temperature state of both ystems is the result of a competition between the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases. The samples display magnetocaloric effect evidenced in an adiabatic temperature change during a metamagnetic transition from an antiferromagnetic to a ferromagnetic phase . As additional features, La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 exhibits phase separation characterized by the coexistence of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases and Pr0.5Ca0.09Sr0.41MnO3 displays inverse magnetocaloric effect in which temperature decreases while applying an external magnetic field. In both cases, a significant part of the magnetocaloric effect appears from non-reversible processes. As the traditional thermodynamic description of the effect usually deals with reversible transitions, we developed an alternative way to calculate the adiabatic temperature change in terms of the change of the relative ferromagnetic fraction induced by magnetic field. To evaluate our model, we performed direct measurement of the sample's adiabatic temperature change by means of a differential thermal analysis. An excellent agreement has been obtained between experimental and calculated data. These results show that metamagnetic transition in manganites play an important role in the study of magnetic refrigeration.Comment: Acepted to be published in Applied Physics Letter

Colegialidad docente: Un estudio comparativo (España/México) de validación de constructo para el diseño de un instrumento de evaluación

En Bakieva (2011) y Bakieva, Jornet y Carmona (2012) se aportan las bases teóricas y una primera validación de constructo realizada en España para el desarrollo de un instrumento de evaluación de colegialidad docente en Educación Primaria y Secundaria. Aquí presentamos un segundo análisis comparativo de los juicios de dos grupos de profesorado de España y México, que han valorado las dimensiones que componen la Colegialidad Docente. Finalmente, identificamos tres dimensiones de Colegialidad Docente: Satisfacción Laboral, como percepción de lo que ¿recibe¿ el sujeto en esa institución, Clima Institucional, como percepción exterior de lo que se vive en la institucional, y Compromiso Institucional, como percepción de lo que el sujeto está ¿dispuesto a dar¿ a la institución. El trabajo aporta evidencias de validación de la parte teórica por jueces, comparando las valoraciones de profesorado de dos países. El estudio se basa en el juicio de expertos y analiza la concordancia y nivel de las valoraciones de todos los elementos de la escala de Colegialidad en dos criterios: relevancia para el constructo teórico, y susceptibilidad de cambio de los elementos. En términos generales, puede señalarse que existe el consenso entre los jueces de España y México, y eso constituye una evidencia positiva en cuanto a la selección de elementos de evaluación establecidos para la Colegialidad Docente. En el criterio de susceptibilidad de cambio se aprecian diferencias importantes en la valoración

Equilibrium tuned by a magnetic field in phase separated manganite

We present magnetic and transport measurements on La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 with y = 0.3, a manganite compound exhibiting intrinsic multiphase coexistence of sub-micrometric ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic charge ordered regions. Time relaxation effects between 60 and 120K, and the obtained magnetic and resistive viscosities, unveils the dynamic nature of the phase separated state. An experimental procedure based on the derivative of the time relaxation after the application and removal of a magnetic field enables the determination of the otherwise unreachable equilibrium state of the phase separated system. With this procedure the equilibrium phase fraction for zero field as a function of temperature is obtained. The presented results allow a correlation between the distance of the system to the equilibrium state and its relaxation behavior.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Submited to Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte

Fingerprints of a position-dependent Fermi velocity on scanning tunnelling spectra of strained graphene

Nonuniform strain in graphene induces a position dependence of the Fermi velocity, as recently demonstrated by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy experiments. In this work, we study the effects of a position-dependent Fermi velocity on the local density of states (LDOS) of strained graphene, without and with the presence of a uniform magnetic field. The variation of LDOS obtained from tight-binding calculations is successfully explained by analytical expressions derived within the Dirac approach. These expressions also rectify a rough Fermi velocity substitution used in the literature that neglects the strain-induced anisotropy. The reported analytical results could be useful for understanding the nonuniform strain effects on scanning tunnelling spectra of graphene, as well as when it is exposed to an external magnetic field.Comment: Revised version as published in JPC

Synchronization interfaces and overlapping communities in complex networks

We show that a complex network of phase oscillators may display interfaces between domains (clusters) of synchronized oscillations. The emergence and dynamics of these interfaces are studied in the general framework of interacting phase oscillators composed of either dynamical domains (influenced by different forcing processes), or structural domains (modular networks). The obtained results allow to give a functional definition of overlapping structures in modular networks, and suggest a practical method to identify them. As a result, our algorithm could detect information on both single overlapping nodes and overlapping clusters.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Explosive first-order transition to synchrony in networked chaotic oscillators

Critical phenomena in complex networks, and the emergence of dynamical abrupt transitions in the macroscopic state of the system are currently a subject of the outmost interest. We report evidence of an explosive phase synchronization in networks of chaotic units. Namely, by means of both extensive simulations of networks made up of chaotic units, and validation with an experiment of electronic circuits in a star configuration, we demonstrate the existence of a first order transition towards synchronization of the phases of the networked units. Our findings constitute the first prove of this kind of synchronization in practice, thus opening the path to its use in real-world applications.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. in pres