Surface-atom force out of thermal equilibrium and its effect on ultra-cold atoms

The surface-atom Casimir-Polder-Lifshitz force out of thermal equilibrium is investigated in the framework of macroscopic electrodynamics. Particular attention is devoted to its large distance limit that shows a new, stronger behaviour with respect to the equilibrium case. The frequency shift produced by the surface-atom force on the the center-of-mass oscillations of a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate and on the Bloch oscillations of an ultra-cold fermionic gas in an optical lattice are discussed for configurations out of thermal equilibrium.Comment: Submitted to JPA Special Issue QFEXT'0

Non-Gaussianity of a single scalar field in general covariant Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity

In this paper, we study non-Gaussianity generated by a single scalar field in slow-roll inflation in the framework of the non-relativistic general covariant Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz theory of gravity with the projectability condition and an arbitrary coupling constant $\lambda$, where $\lambda$ characterizes the deviation of the theory from general relativity (GR) in the infrared. We find that the leading effect of self-interaction, in contrary to the case of minimal scenario of GR, is in general of the order $\hat{\alpha}_{n} \epsilon^{3/2}$, where $\epsilon$ is a slow-roll parameter, and $\hat{\alpha}_{n} (n = 3, 5)$ are the dimensionless coupling coefficients of the six-order operators of the Lifshitz scalar, and have no contributions to power spectra and indices of both scalar and tensor. The bispectrum, comparing with the standard one given in GR, is enhanced, and gives rise to a large value of the nonlinearity parameter $f_{\text{NL}}$.We study how the modified dispersion relation with high order moment terms affects the evaluation of the mode function and in turn the bispectrum, and show explicitly that the mode function takes various asymptotic forms during different periods of its evolution. In particular, we find that it is in general of superpositions of oscillatory functions, instead of plane waves like in the minimal scenario of GR. This results in a large enhancement of the folded shape in the bispectrum.Comment: Added new references and corrected some typos. 5 figures, revtex4. Phys. Rev. D86, 103523 (2012

Topological phase transitions in ultra-cold Fermi superfluids: the evolution from BCS to BEC under artificial spin-orbit fields

We discuss topological phase transitions in ultra-cold Fermi superfluids induced by interactions and artificial spin orbit fields. We construct the phase diagram for population imbalanced systems at zero and finite temperatures, and analyze spectroscopic and thermodynamic properties to characterize various phase transitions. For balanced systems, the evolution from BCS to BEC superfluids in the presence of spin-orbit effects is only a crossover as the system remains fully gapped, even though a triplet component of the order parameter emerges. However, for imbalanced populations, spin-orbit fields induce a triplet component in the order parameter that produces nodes in the quasiparticle excitation spectrum leading to bulk topological phase transitions of the Lifshitz type. Additionally a fully gapped phase exists, where a crossover from indirect to direct gap occurs, but a topological transition to a gapped phase possessing Majorana fermions edge states does not occur.Comment: With no change in text, the labels in the figures are modifie

Thermoelectric power of Ba(Fe1-xRux)2As2 and Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2: possible changes of Fermi surface with and without changes in electron count

Temperature-dependent, in-plane, thermoelectric power (TEP) data are presented for Ba(Fe1-xRux)2As2 (0 < x < 0.36) single crystals. The previously outlined x - T phase diagram for this system is confirmed. The analysis of TEP evolution with Ru-doping suggests significant changes in the electronic structure, correlations and/or scattering occurring near ~7% and ~30% of Ru-doping levels. These results are compared with an extended set of TEP data for the electron-doped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 series

Intrinsic localized modes in parametrically driven arrays of nonlinear resonators

We study intrinsic localized modes (ILMs), or solitons, in arrays of parametrically driven nonlinear resonators with application to microelectromechanical and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). The analysis is performed using an amplitude equation in the form of a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a term corresponding to nonlinear damping (also known as a forced complex Ginzburg-Landau equation), which is derived directly from the underlying equations of motion of the coupled resonators, using the method of multiple scales. We investigate the creation, stability, and interaction of ILMs, show that they can form bound states, and that under certain conditions one ILM can split into two. Our findings are confirmed by simulations of the underlying equations of motion of the resonators, suggesting possible experimental tests of the theory

FeAs-based superconductivity: a case study of the effects of transition metal doping on BaFe2As2

The recently discovered FeAs-based superconductors are a new, promising set of materials for both technological as well as basic research. They offer transition temperatures as high as 55 K as well as essentially isotropic and extremely large upper, superconducting critical fields in excess of 40 T at 20 K. In addition they may well provide insight into exotic superconductivity that extends beyond just FeAs-based superconductivity, perhaps even shedding light on the still perplexing CuO-based high-Tc materials. Whereas superconductivity can be induced in the RFeAsO (R = rare earth) and AEFe2As2 (AE = Ba, Sr, Ca)) families by a number of means, transition metal doping of BaFe2As2, e.g. Ba(Fe1-xTMx)2As2, offers the easiest experimental access to a wide set of materials. In this review we present an overview and summary of the effect of TM doping (TM = Co, Ni, Cu, Pd, and Rh) on BaFe2As2. The resulting phase diagrams reveal the nature of the interaction between the structural, magnetic and superconducting phase transitions in these compounds and delineate a region of phase space that allows for the stabilization of superconductivity.Comment: edited and shortened version is accepted to AR:Condensed Matter Physic

Local polariton states in impure ionic crystals

We consider the dynamics of an ionic crystal with a single impurity in the vicinity of the polariton resonance. We show that if the polariton spectrum of the host crystal allows for a gap between polariton branches, the defect gives rise to a novel kind of local states with frequencies within the gap. Despite the atomic size of the impurity we find that new local states are predominated by long-wavelength polaritons. The properties of these states are shown to be different from the properties of the well-known vibrational local states. The difference is due to the singular behavior of the density of states of polaritons near the low-frequency boundary of the polariton gap. Assuming cubic simmetry of the defect site we consider a complete set of the local states arising near the bottom of the polariton gap.Comment: 10 pages, 3 Postscript figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B 1998, Vol. 57, No.

Synchronization by Reactive Coupling and Nonlinear Frequency Pulling

We present a detailed analysis of a model for the synchronization of nonlinear oscillators due to reactive coupling and nonlinear frequency pulling. We study the model for the mean field case of all-to-all coupling, deriving results for the initial onset of synchronization as the coupling or nonlinearity increase, and conditions for the existence of the completely synchronized state when all the oscillators evolve with the same frequency. Explicit results are derived for Lorentzian, triangular, and top-hat distributions of oscillator frequencies. Numerical simulations are used to construct complete phase diagrams for these distributions