1,140 research outputs found
Nematic Fermi Fluids in Condensed Matter Physics
Correlated electron fluids can exhibit a startling array of complex phases,
among which one of the more surprising is the electron nematic, a
translationally invariant metallic phase with a spontaneously generated spatial
anisotropy. Classical nematics generally occur in liquids of rod-like
molecules; given that electrons are point-like, the initial theoretical
motivation for contemplating electron nematics came from thinking of the
electron fluid as a quantum melted electron crystal, rather than a strongly
interacting descendent of a Fermi gas. That such phases exist in nature was
established by dramatic transport experiments in ultra-clean quantum Hall
systems in 1999 and in Sr3Ru2O7 in a strong magnetic field in 2007.
In this paper, we briefly review the theoretical considerations governing
nematic order, summarize the quantum Hall and Sr3Ru2O7 experiments that
unambiguously establish the existence of this phase, and survey some of the
current evidence for such a phase in the cuprate and Fe-based high temperature
superconductors.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures (some in color); to appear in Annual Reviews of
Condensed Matter Physics. Edited version
Quantum Hall Phase Diagram of Second Landau-level Half-filled Bilayers: Abelian versus Non-Abelian States
The quantum Hall phase diagram of the half-filled bilayer system in the
second Landau level is studied as a function of tunneling and layer separation
using exact diagonalization. We make the striking prediction that bilayer
structures would manifest two distinct branches of incompressible fractional
quantum Hall effect (FQHE) corresponding to the Abelian 331 state (at moderate
to low tunneling and large layer separation) and the non-Abelian Pfaffian state
(at large tunneling and small layer separation). The observation of these two
FQHE branches and the quantum phase transition between them will be compelling
evidence supporting the existence of the non-Abelian Pfaffian state in the
second Landau level.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The scale-dependence of relative galaxy bias: encouragement for the halo model description
We investigate the relationship between the colors, luminosities, and
environments of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopic sample,
using environmental measurements on scales ranging from 0.2 to 6 Mpc/h. We
find: (1) that the relationship between color and environment persists even to
the lowest luminosities we probe (absolute magnitude in the r band of about -14
for h=1); (2) at luminosities and colors for which the galaxy correlation
function has a large amplitude, it also has a steep slope; and (3) in regions
of a given overdensity on small scales (1 Mpc/h), the overdensity on large
scales (6 Mpc/h) does not appear to relate to the recent star formation history
of the galaxies. Of these results, the last has the most immediate application
to galaxy formation theory. In particular, it lends support to the notion that
a galaxy's properties are related only to the mass of its host dark matter
halo, and not to the larger scale environment.Comment: submitted to ApJ; full resolution figures and slide material
available at http://cosmo.nyu.edu/blanton/scale_density.htm
The Spectral Types of White Dwarfs in Messier 4
We present the spectra of 24 white dwarfs in the direction of the globular
cluster Messier 4 obtained with the Keck/LRIS and Gemini/GMOS spectrographs.
Determining the spectral types of the stars in this sample, we find 24 type DA
and 0 type DB (i.e., atmospheres dominated by hydrogen and helium
respectively). Assuming the ratio of DA/DB observed in the field with effective
temperature between 15,000 - 25,000 K, i.e., 4.2:1, holds for the cluster
environment, the chance of finding no DBs in our sample due simply to
statistical fluctuations is only 6 X 10^(-3). The spectral types of the ~100
white dwarfs previously identified in open clusters indicate that DB formation
is strongly suppressed in that environment. Furthermore, all the ~10 white
dwarfs previously identified in other globular clusters are exclusively type
DA. In the context of these two facts, this finding suggests that DB formation
is suppressed in the cluster environment in general. Though no satisfactory
explanation for this phenomenon exists, we discuss several possibilities.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astrophys. J. 11 pages including 4
figures and 2 tables (journal format
Dynamics of disordered quantum Hall crystals
Charge density waves are thought to be common in two-dimensional electron
systems in quantizing magnetic fields. Such phases are formed by the
quasiparticles of the topmost occupied Landau level when it is partially
filled. One class of charge density wave phases can be described as electron
solids. In weak magnetic fields (at high Landau levels) solids with many
particles per unit cell - bubble phases - predominate. In strong magnetic
fields (at the lowest Landau level) only crystals with one particle per unit
cell - Wigner crystals - can form. Experimental identification of these phases
is facilitated by the fact that even a weak disorder influences their dc and ac
magnetotransport in a very specific way. In the ac domain, a range of
frequencies appears where the electromagnetic response is dominated by
magnetophonon collective modes. The effect of disorder is to localize the
collective modes and to create an inhomogeneously broadened absorption line,
the pinning mode. In recent microwave experiments pinning modes have been
discovered both at the lowest and at high Landau levels. We present the theory
of the pinning mode for a classical two-dimensional electron crystal
collectively pinned by weak impurities. We show that long-range Coulomb
interaction causes a dramatic line narrowing, in qualitative agreement with the
experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. To be presented at EP2DS-15, Nara, Japan. One
typo correcte
Phenotypic effects of an induced mutation of the ObRa isoform of the leptin receptor
Leptin receptors play critical roles in mediating leptin's pleiotropic effects on mammalian physiology. To date, six splice variants of the leptin receptor gene have been identified . These splice variants have identical extracellular leptin binding motifs but different intracellular C termini. The finding that mutations specifically ablating the function of ObRb cause obesity has established a critical role for this isoform in leptin signaling . ObRa is the most abundant splicing isoform with a broad tissue distribution [5], and it has been proposed to play roles in regulating leptin bioavailability, CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) transport and function by forming heterodimers with ObRb and also activating signal transduction via JAK2 in-vitro . To assess the in-vivo role of ObRa, we generated an ObRa KO mouse by deleting the ObRa-specific exon 19a. Homozygous mutant mice breed normally and are indistinguishable from wild-type mice on regular chow diet, but show a slightly increased basal plasma leptin, a slight improvement of their GTT and a slightly reduced response to systemic leptin administration. These mice also show a modest but statistically significant increase in weight when placed on a high fat diet with a slightly reduced CSF/plasma ratio of leptin. These data suggest that ObRa plays a role in mediating some of leptin's effects but that the phenotypic consequences are modest compared to a deletion of ObRb
The Clustering of Luminous Red Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Imaging Data
We present the 3D real space clustering power spectrum of a sample of
\~600,000 luminous red galaxies (LRGs) measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS), using photometric redshifts. This sample of galaxies ranges from
redshift z=0.2 to 0.6 over 3,528 deg^2 of the sky, probing a volume of 1.5
(Gpc/h)^3, making it the largest volume ever used for galaxy clustering
measurements. We measure the angular clustering power spectrum in eight
redshift slices and combine these into a high precision 3D real space power
spectrum from k=0.005 (h/Mpc) to k=1 (h/Mpc). We detect power on gigaparsec
scales, beyond the turnover in the matter power spectrum, on scales
significantly larger than those accessible to current spectroscopic redshift
surveys. We also find evidence for baryonic oscillations, both in the power
spectrum, as well as in fits to the baryon density, at a 2.5 sigma confidence
level. The statistical power of these data to constrain cosmology is ~1.7 times
better than previous clustering analyses. Varying the matter density and baryon
fraction, we find \Omega_M = 0.30 \pm 0.03, and \Omega_b/\Omega_M = 0.18 \pm
0.04, The detection of baryonic oscillations also allows us to measure the
comoving distance to z=0.5; we find a best fit distance of 1.73 \pm 0.12 Gpc,
corresponding to a 6.5% error on the distance. These results demonstrate the
ability to make precise clustering measurements with photometric surveys
(abridged).Comment: 23 pages, 27 figures, submitted to MNRA
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