626 research outputs found
Anomalous Paramagnetic Magnetization in Mixed State of CeCoIn single crystals
Magnetization and torque measurements were performed on CeCoIn single
crystals to study the mixed-state thermodynamics. These measurements allow the
determination of both paramagnetic and vortex responses in the mixed-state
magnetization. The paramagnetic magnetization is suppressed in the mixed state
with the spin susceptibility increasing with increasing magnetic field. The
dependence of spin susceptibility on magnetic field is due to the fact that
heavy electrons contribute both to superconductivity and paramagnetism and a
large Zeeman effect exists in this system. No anomaly in the vortex response
was found within the investigated temperature and field range
Strong magnetic fluctuations in superconducting state of CeCoIn
We show results on the vortex core dissipation through current-voltage
measurements under applied pressure and magnetic field in the superconducting
phase of CeCoIn. We find that as soon as the system becomes
superconducting, the vortex core resistivity increases sharply as the
temperature and magnetic field decrease. The sharp increase in flux flow
resistivity is due to quasiparticle scattering on critical antiferromagnetic
fluctuations. The strength of magnetic fluctuations below the superconducting
transition suggests that magnetism is complimentary to superconductivity and
therefore must be considered in order to fully account for the low-temperature
properties of CeCoIn.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Pairing Symmetry of CeCoIn Detected by In-plane Torque Measurements
In-plane torque measurements were performed on heavy fermion CeCoIn
single crystals in the temperature range 1.8 K K and
applied magnetic field up to 14 T. The normal-state torque is given by
. The reversible part of the
mixed-state torque, obtained after subtracting the corresponding normal state
torque, shows also a four-fold symmetry. In addition, sharp peaks are present
in the irreversible torque at angles of 4, 3/4, 5/4, 7/4,
etc. Both the four-fold symmetry in the reversible torque and the sharp peaks
in the irreversible torque of the mixed state imply symmetry of the
superconducting order parameter. The field and temperature dependences of the
reversible mixed-state torque provide further evidence for wave
symmetry. The four-fold symmetry in the normal state has a different origin
since it has different field and temperature dependences than the one in the
mixed state. The possible reasons of the normal state four-fold symmetry are
discussed
Reverberation impairs brainstem temporal representations of voiced vowel sounds: challenging "periodicity-tagged" segregation of competing speech in rooms.
The auditory system typically processes information from concurrently active sound sources (e.g., two voices speaking at once), in the presence of multiple delayed, attenuated and distorted sound-wave reflections (reverberation). Brainstem circuits help segregate these complex acoustic mixtures into "auditory objects." Psychophysical studies demonstrate a strong interaction between reverberation and fundamental-frequency (F0) modulation, leading to impaired segregation of competing vowels when segregation is on the basis of F0 differences. Neurophysiological studies of complex-sound segregation have concentrated on sounds with steady F0s, in anechoic environments. However, F0 modulation and reverberation are quasi-ubiquitous. We examine the ability of 129 single units in the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) of the anesthetized guinea pig to segregate the concurrent synthetic vowel sounds /a/ and /i/, based on temporal discharge patterns under closed-field conditions. We address the effects of added real-room reverberation, F0 modulation, and the interaction of these two factors, on brainstem neural segregation of voiced speech sounds. A firing-rate representation of single-vowels' spectral envelopes is robust to the combination of F0 modulation and reverberation: local firing-rate maxima and minima across the tonotopic array code vowel-formant structure. However, single-vowel F0-related periodicity information in shuffled inter-spike interval distributions is significantly degraded in the combined presence of reverberation and F0 modulation. Hence, segregation of double-vowels' spectral energy into two streams (corresponding to the two vowels), on the basis of temporal discharge patterns, is impaired by reverberation; specifically when F0 is modulated. All unit types (primary-like, chopper, onset) are similarly affected. These results offer neurophysiological insights to perceptual organization of complex acoustic scenes under realistically challenging listening conditions.This work was supported by a grant from the BBSRC to Ian M. Winter. Mark Sayles received a University of Cambridge MB/PhD studentship. Tony Watkins (University of Reading, UK) provided the real-room impulse responses. Portions of the data analysis and manuscript preparation were performed by Mark Sayles during the course of an Action on Hearing Loss funded UK–US Fulbright Commission professional scholarship held in the Auditory Neurophysiology and Modeling Laboratory at Purdue University, USA. Mark Sayles is currently supported by a post-doctoral fellowship from Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek—Vlaanderen, held in the Laboratory of Auditory Neurophysiology at KU Leuven, Belgium.This paper was originally published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience (Sayles M, Stasiak A, Winter IM, Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience 2015, 8, 248, doi:10.3389/fnsys.2014.00248)
Evolution of crystalline electric field effects, superconductivity, and heavy fermion behavior in the specific heat of Pr(OsRu)Sb
Specific heat measurements were made on single crystals of the
superconducting filled skutterudite series Pr(OsRu)Sb
down to 0.6 K. Crystalline electric field fits in the normal state produced
parameters which were in agreement with previous measurements. Bulk
superconductivity was observed for all values of the Ru concentration with
transition temperatures consistent with previous experiments, confirming a
minimum in at . The data below appear to be more
consistent with power law behavior for (PrOsSb), and with
exponential behavior for . An enhanced electronic
specific heat coefficient was observed for , further
supporting as a critical concentration where the physical
properties abruptly change. Significant enhancement of above
the weak coupling value was only observed for and .Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review B. v2: text added
and figures modifie
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The responses of single units to simple and complex sounds from the superior olivary complex of the Guinea pig
© 2018 The Author(s). We have recorded the responses of single units in the superior olivary complex (SOC) of the Guinea pig to simple and complex stimuli. We can readily identify the responses of the four principal ascending nuclei as described in other species and we are therefore confident that the Guinea pig is a suitable model for studying this region. We found single units in the medial superior olive that represent both diotic iterated rippled noise and dichotic repetition pitch in their temporal discharge patterns. Our data demonstrate a use of the SOC beyond sound-source localisation
Vortex avalanches in the non-centrosymmetric superconductor Li2Pt3B
We investigated the vortex dynamics in the non-centrosymmetric superconductor
Li_2Pt_3B in the temperature range 0.1 K - 2.8 K. Two different logarithmic
creep regimes in the decay of the remanent magnetization from the Bean critical
state have been observed. In the first regime, the creep rate is
extraordinarily small, indicating the existence of a new, very effective
pinning mechanism. At a certain time a vortex avalanche occurs that increases
the logarithmic creep rate by a factor of about 5 to 10 depending on the
temperature. This may indicate that certain barriers against flux motion are
present and they can be opened under increased pressure exerted by the
vortices. A possible mechanism based on the barrier effect of twin boundaries
is briefly discussed
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