629 research outputs found
Magnetic Monopoles in Field Theory and Cosmology
The existence of magnetic monopoles is predicted by many theories of particle
physics beyond the Standard Model. However, in spite of extensive searches,
there is no experimental or observational sign of them. I review the role of
magnetic monopoles in quantum field theory and discuss their implications for
particle physics and cosmology. I also highlight their differences and
similarities with monopoles found in frustrated magnetic systems, and discuss
how experiments carried out in these systems could help us understand the
physics of fundamental monopoles.Comment: 15 pages, no figures. Based on a talk given at the discussion meeting
"Emergent magnetic monopoles in frustrated magnetic systems" at the Kavli
Royal Society International Centre, 17-18 October 2011. To be published in
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
Dirac Quantization Condition for Monopole in Noncommutative Space-Time
Since the structure of space-time at very short distances is believed to get
modified possibly due to noncommutativity effects and as the Dirac Quantization
Condition (DQC), , probes the magnetic field point
singularity, a natural question arises whether the same condition will still
survive. We show that the DQC on a noncommutative space in a model of dynamical
noncommutative quantum mechanics remains the same as in the commutative case to
first order in the noncommutativity parameter , leading to the
conjecture that the condition will not alter in higher orders.Comment: 11 page
Experimental measurement of efficiency and transport coherence of a cold atom Brownian motor in optical lattices
The rectification of noise into directed movement or useful energy is
utilized by many different systems. The peculiar nature of the energy source
and conceptual differences between such Brownian motor systems makes a
characterization of the performance far from straightforward. In this work,
where the Brownian motor consists of atoms interacting with dissipative optical
lattices, we adopt existing theory and present experimental measurements for
both the efficiency and the transport coherence. We achieve up to 0.3% for the
efficiency and 0.01 for the P\'eclet number
Thermal ratchet effects in ferrofluids
Rotational Brownian motion of colloidal magnetic particles in ferrofluids
under the influence of an oscillating external magnetic field is investigated.
It is shown that for a suitable time dependence of the magnetic field, a noise
induced rotation of the ferromagnetic particles due to rectification of thermal
fluctuations takes place. Via viscous coupling, the associated angular momentum
is transferred from the magnetic nano-particles to the carrier liquid and can
then be measured as macroscopic torque on the fluid sample. A thorough
theoretical analysis of the effect in terms of symmetry considerations,
analytical approximations, and numerical solutions is given which is in
accordance with recent experimental findings.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
Directed transport of Brownian particles in a double symmetric potential
We investigate the dynamics of Brownian particles in internal state-
dependent symmetric and periodic potentials. Although no space or time symmetry
of the Hamiltonian is broken, we show that directed transport can appear. We
demonstrate that the directed motion is induced by breaking the symmetry of the
transition rates between the potentials when these are spatially shifted.
Finally, we discuss the possibility of realizing our model in a system of cold
particles trapped in optical lattices.Comment: to appear in Physical Review
Saltatory drift in a randomly driven two-wave potential
Dynamics of a classical particle in a one-dimensional, randomly driven
potential is analysed both analytically and numerically. The potential
considered here is composed of two identical spatially-periodic saw-tooth-like
components, one of which is externally driven by a random force. We show that
under certain conditions the particle may travel against the averaged external
force performing a saltatory unidirectional drift with a constant velocity.
Such a behavior persists also in situations when the external force averages
out to zero. We demonstrate that the physics behind this phenomenon stems from
a particular behavior of fluctuations in random force: upon reaching a certain
level, random fluctuations exercise a locking function creating points of
irreversibility which the particle can not overpass. Repeated (randomly) in
each cycle, this results in a saltatory unidirectional drift. This mechanism
resembles the work of an escapement-type device in watches. Considering the
overdamped limit, we propose simple analytical estimates for the particle's
terminal velocity.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; appearing in Journal of Physics: Condensed
Matter, special issue on Molecular Motors and Frictio
Infrared phonon dynamics of multiferroic BiFeO3 single crystal
We discuss the first infrared reflectivity measurement on a BiFeO3 single
crystal between 5 K and room temperature. The 9 predicted ab-plane E phonon
modes are fully and unambiguously determined. The frequencies of the 4 A1
c-axis phonons are found. These results settle issues between theory and data
on ceramics. Our findings show that the softening of the lowest frequency E
mode is responsible for the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant,
indicating that the ferroelectric transition in BiFeO3 is soft-mode driven.Comment: 5 pages (figures included
A model for luminescence of localized state ensemble
A distribution function for localized carriers,
, is proposed by solving a
rate equation, in which, electrical carriers' generation, thermal escape,
recapture and radiative recombination are taken into account. Based on this
distribution function, a model is developed for luminescence from localized
state ensemble with a Gaussian-type density of states. The model reproduces
quantitatively all the anomalous temperature behaviors of localized state
luminescence. It reduces to the well-known band-tail and luminescence quenching
models under certain approximations.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Spin current and magneto-electric effect in non-collinear magnets
A new microscopic mechanism of the magneto-electric (ME) effect based on the
spin supercurrent is theoretically presented for non-collinear magnets. The
close analogy between the superconductors (charge current) and magnets (spin
current) is drawn to derive the distribution of the spin supercurrent and the
resultant electric polarization. Application to the spiral spin structure is
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Dissipation Enhanced Asymmetric Transport in Quantum Ratchets
Quantum mechanical motion of a particle in a periodic asymmetric potential is
studied theoretically at zero temperature. It is shown based on semi-classical
approximation that the tunneling probability from one local minimum to the next
becomes asymmetric in the presence of weak oscillating field, even though there
is no macroscopic field gradient in average. Dissipation enhances this
asymmetry, and leads to a steady unidirectional current, resulting in a quantum
ratchet system.Comment: 12 pages, 2 Figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
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