Possible Pairing Symmetry of Three-dimensional Superconductor UPt3_3 -- Analysis Based on a Microscopic Calculation --

Stimulated by the anomalous superconducting properties of UPt$_3$, we investigate the pairing symmetry and the transition temperature in the two-dimensional(2D) and three-dimensional(3D) hexagonal Hubbard model. We solve the Eliashberg equation using the third order perturbation theory with respect to the on-site repulsion $U$. As results of the 2D calculation, we obtain distinct two types of stable spin-triplet pairing states. One is the $f$-wave(B$_1$) pairing around $n = 1.2$ and in a small $U$ region, which is caused by the ferromagnetic fluctuation. Then, the other is the $p_x$(or $p_y$)-wave(E$_1$) pairing in large $U$ region far from the half-filling ($n = 1$) which is caused by the vertex corrections only. However, we find that the former $f$-wave pairing is destroyed by introduced 3D dispersion. This is because the 3D dispersion breaks the favorable structures for the $f$-wave pairing such as the van Hove singularities and the small pocket structures. Thus, we conclude that the ferromagnetic fluctuation mediated spin-triplet state can not explain the superconductivity of UPt$_3$. We also study the case of the pairing symmetry with a polar gap. This $p_z$-wave(A$_1$) is stabilized by the large hopping integral along c-axis $t_z$. It is nearly degenerate with the suppressed $p_x$(or $p_y$)-wave(E$_1$) in the best fitting parameter region to UPt$_3$ ($1.3 \le t_z \le 1.5$). These two p-wave pairing states exist in the region far from the half-filling, in which the vertex correction terms play crucial roles like the case in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure

Antiferromagnetism and Superconductivity in UPt_3

The short ranged antiferromagnetism recently seen in UPt_3 is proved incompatible with two dimensional (2D) order parameter models that take the antiferromagnetism as a symmetry breaking field. To adjust to the local moment direction, the order parameter twists over very long length scales as per the Imry-Ma argument. A variational solution to the Ginzburg-Landau equations is used to study the nature of the short ranged order. Although there are still two transitions, the lower one is of first order -- in contradiction to experiments. It is shown that the latent heat predicted by the 2D models at the lower transition is too large not to have been seen. A simple periodic model is numerically studied to show that the lower transition can not be a crossover either.Comment: To appear in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 9 pages, 2 figure

A single chain analysis of doped quasi one dimensional spin 1 compounds: paramagnetic versus spin 1/2 doping

We present a numerical study of single chain models of doped spin 1 compounds. We use low energy effective one-dimensional models for both the cases of paramagnetic and spin-1/2 doping. In the case of paramagnetic doping, the effective model is equivalent to the bond disordered spin-1/2 chain model recently analyzed by means of real space renormalization group by Hyman and Yang. By means of exact diagonalizations in the XX limit, we confirm the stability of the Haldane phase for weak disorder. Above a critical amount of disorder, the effective model flows to the so called random singlet fixed point. In the case of spin-1/2 doping, we argue that the Haldane phase should be destabilized even for weak disorder. This picture is not in contradiction with existing experimental data. We also discuss the possible occurrence of (unobserved) antiferromagnetically ordered phases.Comment: 13 pages, 7 included figure

Identification of Non-unitary triplet pairing in a heavy Fermion superconductor UPt_3

A NMR experiment recently done by Tou et al. on a heavy Fermion superconductor UPt$_3$ is interpreted in terms of a non-unitary spin-triplet pairing state which we have been advocating. The proposed state successfully explains various aspects of the seemingly complicated Knight shift behaviors probed for major orientations, including a remarkable d-vector rotation under weak fields. This entitles UPt$_3$ as the first example that a charged many body system forms a spin-triplet odd-par ity pairing at low temperatures and demonstrates unambiguously that the putative spin-orbit coupling in UPt$_3$ is weak.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 67 (1998) No.

Selective nitrogen adsorption via backbonding in a metal-organic framework with exposed vanadium sites.

Industrial processes prominently feature π-acidic gases, and an adsorbent capable of selectively interacting with these molecules could enable important chemical separations1-4. Biological systems use accessible, reducing metal centres to bind and activate weakly π-acidic species, such as N2, through backbonding interactions5-7, and incorporating analogous moieties into a porous material should give rise to a similar adsorption mechanism for these gaseous substrates8. Here, we report a metal-organic framework featuring exposed vanadium(II) centres capable of back-donating electron density to weak π acids to successfully target π acidity for separation applications. This adsorption mechanism, together with a high concentration of available adsorption sites, results in record N2 capacities and selectivities for the removal of N2 from mixtures with CH4, while further enabling olefin/paraffin separations at elevated temperatures. Ultimately, incorporating such π-basic metal centres into porous materials offers a handle for capturing and activating key molecular species within next-generation adsorbents

Quasiparticle localization in superconductors with spin-orbit scattering

We develop a theory of quasiparticle localization in superconductors in situations without spin rotation invariance. We discuss the existence, and properties of superconducting phases with localized/delocalized quasiparticle excitations in such systems in various dimensionalities. Implications for a variety of experimental systems, and to the properties of random Ising models in two dimensions, are briefly discussed.Comment: 10 page

Transport and the Order Parameter of Superconducting UPt3

We calculate the ultrasonic absorption and the thermal conductivity in the superconducting state of UPt$_{3}$ as functions of temperature and direction of propagation and polarization. Two leading candidates for the superconducting order parameter are considered: the $E_{1g}$ and $E_{2u}$ representations. Both can fit the data except for the ultrasonic absorption in the $A$ phase. To do that, it is necessary to suppose that the system has only a single domain, and that must be chosen as the most favorable one. However, the $E_{2u}$ theory requires fine-tuning of parameters to fit the low temperature thermal conductivity. Thus, transport data favor the $E_{1g}$ theory. Measurements of the thermal conductivity as a function of pressure at low temperature could help to further distinguish the two theories.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

ExprTarget: An Integrative Approach to Predicting Human MicroRNA Targets

Variation in gene expression has been observed in natural populations and associated with complex traits or phenotypes such as disease susceptibility and drug response. Gene expression itself is controlled by various genetic and non-genetic factors. The binding of a class of small RNA molecules, microRNAs (miRNAs), to mRNA transcript targets has recently been demonstrated to be an important mechanism of gene regulation. Because individual miRNAs may regulate the expression of multiple gene targets, a comprehensive and reliable catalogue of miRNA-regulated targets is critical to understanding gene regulatory networks. Though experimental approaches have been used to identify many miRNA targets, due to cost and efficiency, current miRNA target identification still relies largely on computational algorithms that aim to take advantage of different biochemical/thermodynamic properties of the sequences of miRNAs and their gene targets. A novel approach, ExprTarget, therefore, is proposed here to integrate some of the most frequently invoked methods (miRanda, PicTar, TargetScan) as well as the genome-wide HapMap miRNA and mRNA expression datasets generated in our laboratory. To our knowledge, this dataset constitutes the first miRNA expression profiling in the HapMap lymphoblastoid cell lines. We conducted diagnostic tests of the existing computational solutions using the experimentally supported targets in TarBase as gold standard. To gain insight into the biases that arise from such an analysis, we investigated the effect of the choice of gold standard on the evaluation of the various computational tools. We analyzed the performance of ExprTarget using both ROC curve analysis and cross-validation. We show that ExprTarget greatly improves miRNA target prediction relative to the individual prediction algorithms in terms of sensitivity and specificity. We also developed an online database, ExprTargetDB, of human miRNA targets predicted by our approach that integrates gene expression profiling into a broader framework involving important features of miRNA target site predictions.</p