6,715 research outputs found
Magneto-Conductance Anisotropy and Interference Effects in Variable Range Hopping
We investigate the magneto-conductance (MC) anisotropy in the variable range
hopping regime, caused by quantum interference effects in three dimensions.
When no spin-orbit scattering is included, there is an increase in the
localization length (as in two dimensions), producing a large positive MC. By
contrast, with spin-orbit scattering present, there is no change in the
localization length, and only a small increase in the overall tunneling
amplitude. The numerical data for small magnetic fields , and hopping
lengths , can be collapsed by using scaling variables , and
in the perpendicular and parallel field orientations
respectively. This is in agreement with the flux through a `cigar'--shaped
region with a diffusive transverse dimension proportional to . If a
single hop dominates the conductivity of the sample, this leads to a
characteristic orientational `finger print' for the MC anisotropy. However, we
estimate that many hops contribute to conductivity of typical samples, and thus
averaging over critical hop orientations renders the bulk sample isotropic, as
seen experimentally. Anisotropy appears for thin films, when the length of the
hop is comparable to the thickness. The hops are then restricted to align with
the sample plane, leading to different MC behaviors parallel and perpendicular
to it, even after averaging over many hops. We predict the variations of such
anisotropy with both the hop size and the magnetic field strength. An
orientational bias produced by strong electric fields will also lead to MC
anisotropy.Comment: 24 pages, RevTex, 9 postscript figures uuencoded Submitted to PR
Mesoscopic rings with Spin-Orbit interactions
A didactic description of charge and spin equilibrium currents on mesoscopic
rings in the presence of Spin-Orbit interaction is presented. Emphasis is made
on the non trivial construction of the correct Hamiltonian in polar
coordinates, the calculation of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions and the
symmetries of the ground state properties. Spin currents are derived following
an intuitive definition and then a more thorough derivation is built upon the
canonical Lagrangian formulation that emphasizes the SU(2) gauge structure of
the transport problem of spin 1/2 fermions in spin-orbit active media. The
quantization conditions that follow from the constraint of single-valued Pauli
spinors are also discussed. The targeted students are those of a graduate
Condensed Matter Physics course
Directed paths on hierarchical lattices with random sign weights
We study sums of directed paths on a hierarchical lattice where each bond has
either a positive or negative sign with a probability . Such path sums
have been used to model interference effects by hopping electrons in the
strongly localized regime. The advantage of hierarchical lattices is that they
include path crossings, ignored by mean field approaches, while still
permitting analytical treatment. Here, we perform a scaling analysis of the
controversial ``sign transition'' using Monte Carlo sampling, and conclude that
the transition exists and is second order. Furthermore, we make use of exact
moment recursion relations to find that the moments always determine,
uniquely, the probability distribution $P(J)$. We also derive, exactly, the
moment behavior as a function of $p$ in the thermodynamic limit. Extrapolations
($n\to 0$) to obtain for odd and even moments yield a new signal for
the transition that coincides with Monte Carlo simulations. Analysis of high
moments yield interesting ``solitonic'' structures that propagate as a function
of . Finally, we derive the exact probability distribution for path sums
up to length L=64 for all sign probabilities.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure
A possible minimal gauge-Higgs unification
A possible minimal model of the gauge-Higgs unification based on the higher
dimensional spacetime M^4 X (S^1/Z_2) and the bulk gauge symmetry SU(3)_C X
SU(3)_W X U(1)_X is constructed in some details. We argue that the Weinberg
angle and the electromagnetic current can be correctly identified if one
introduces the extra U(1)_X above and a bulk scalar triplet. The VEV of this
scalar as well as the orbifold boundary conditions will break the bulk gauge
symmetry down to that of the standard model. A new neutral zero-mode gauge
boson Z' exists that gains mass via this VEV. We propose a simple fermion
content that is free from all the anomalies when the extra brane-localized
chiral fermions are taken into account as well. The issues on recovering a
standard model chiral-fermion spectrum with the masses and flavor mixing are
also discussed, where we need to introduce the two other brane scalars which
also contribute to the Z' mass in the similar way as the scalar triplet. The
neutrinos can get small masses via a type I seesaw mechanism. In this model,
the mass of the Z' boson and the compactification scale are very constrained as
respectively given in the ranges: 2.7 TeV < m_Z' < 13.6 TeV and 40 TeV < 1/R <
200 TeV.Comment: 20 pages, revised versio
Ballistic resistivity in aluminum nanocontacts
One of the major industrial challenges is to profit from some fascinating
physical features present at the nanoscale. The production of dissipationless
nanoswitches (or nanocontacts) is one of such attractive applications.
Nevertheless, the lack of knowledge of the real efficiency of electronic
ballistic/non dissipative transport limits future innovations. For multi-valent
metallic nanosystems -where several transport channels per atom are involved-
the only experimental technique available for statistical transport
characterization is the conductance histogram. Unfortunately its interpretation
is difficult because transport and mechanical properties are intrinsically
interlaced. We perform a representative series of semiclassical molecular
dynamics simulations of aluminum nanocontact breakages, coupled to full quantum
conductance calculations, and put in evidence a linear relationship between the
conductance and the contact minimum cross-section for the geometrically favored
aluminum nanocontact configurations. Valid in a broad range of conductance
values, such relation allows the definition of a transport parameter for
nanomaterials, that represents the novel concept of ballistic resistivity
Spin Transport in Two Dimensional Hopping Systems
A two dimensional hopping system with Rashba spin-orbit interaction is
considered. Our main interest is concerned with the evolution of the spin
degree of freedom of the electrons. We derive the rate equations governing the
evolution of the charge density and spin polarization of this system in the
Markovian limit in one-particle approximation. If only two-site hopping events
are taken into account, the evolution of the charge density and of the spin
polarization is found to be decoupled. A critical electric field is found,
above which oscillations are superimposed on the temporal decay of the total
polarization. A coupling between charge density and spin polarization occurs on
the level of three-site hopping events. The coupling terms are identified as
the anomalous Hall effect and the recently proposed spin Hall effect. Thus, an
unpolarized charge current through a sheet of finite width leads to a
transversal spin accumulation in our model system.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
Gauge-Higgs Dark Matter
When the anti-periodic boundary condition is imposed for a bulk field in
extradimensional theories, independently of the background metric, the lightest
component in the anti-periodic field becomes stable and hence a good candidate
for the dark matter in the effective 4D theory due to the remaining accidental
discrete symmetry. Noting that in the gauge-Higgs unification scenario,
introduction of anti-periodic fermions is well-motivated by a phenomenological
reason, we investigate dark matter physics in the scenario. As an example, we
consider a five-dimensional SO(5)\timesU(1)_X gauge-Higgs unification model
compactified on the with the warped metric. Due to the structure of
the gauge-Higgs unification, interactions between the dark matter particle and
the Standard Model particles are largely controlled by the gauge symmetry, and
hence the model has a strong predictive power for the dark matter physics.
Evaluating the dark matter relic abundance, we identify a parameter region
consistent with the current observations. Furthermore, we calculate the elastic
scattering cross section between the dark matter particle and nucleon and find
that a part of the parameter region is already excluded by the current
experimental results for the direct dark matter search and most of the region
will be explored in future experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
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