Hall effect in the heavy-fermion compound CePtSi

We present Hall-effect measurements on the heavy-fermion compound CePtSi. Above the temperature of antiferromagnetic ordering T_N, the Hall effect of CePtSi exhibits the behavior generally observed in heavy-fermion systems and ascribed to skew scattering. Below T_N the Hall effect is enhanced and its field dependence is strongly nonlinear. We show that this behavior arises from skew scattering or anomalous velocity effects rather than from a change of the ordinary Hall effect induced by a reconstruction of the Fermi surface

Temperature dependence of the magnetic anisotropy of metallic Y-Ba-Cu-O single crystals in the normal phase

The magnetic anisotropy measurements of metallic Y-Ba-Cu-O compounds in the normal phase reveal a temperature-dependent diamagnetic component of the susceptibility that increases with decreasing temperature. The temperature variation of the susceptibility anisotropy and its total change do not seem to be much affected by the presence of the superconductivity at some lower temperature and could not be accounted for by superconducting fluctuations. Rather, the data remind one of the behavior of some quasi-two-dimensional metals with anisotropic Fermi surfaces, reflecting the properties of the low-energy excitations in the normal phase. The anisotropy measurements above the bulk superconducting transition temperature Tc reveal the nonlinear effects, which are due to the onset of superconductivity in disconnected grains. The existence of a two-step transition, typical for granular superconductors, should be taken into consideration if the normal-phase susceptibility data are compared with the theoretical predictions in the vicinity of Tc

Fractional power-law susceptibility and specific heat in low temperature insulating state of o-TaS_{3}

Measurements of the magnetic susceptibility and its anisotropy in the quasi-one-dimensional system o-TaS_{3} in its low-T charge density wave (CDW) ground state are reported. Both sets of data reveal below 40 K an extra paramagnetic contribution obeying a power-law temperature dependence \chi(T)=AT^{-0.7}. The fact that the extra term measured previously in specific heat in zero field, ascribed to low-energy CDW excitations, also follows a power law C_{LEE}(0,T)=CT^{0.3}, strongly revives the case of random exchange spin chains. Introduced impurities (0.5% Nb) only increase the amplitude C, but do not change essentially the exponent. Within the two-level system (TLS) model, we estimate from the amplitudes A and C that there is one TLS with a spin s=1/2 localized on the chain at the lattice site per cca 900 Ta atoms. We discuss the possibility that it is the charge frozen within a soliton-network below the glass transition T_{g}~40 K determined recently in this system.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter

Combination Rules, Charge Symmetry, and Hall Effect in Cuprates

The rule relating the observed Hall coefficient to the spin and charge responses of the uniform doped Mott insulator is derived. It is essential to include the contribution of holon and spinon three-current correlations to the effective action of the gauge field. In the vicinity of the Mott insulating point the Hall coefficient is holon dominated and weakly temperature dependent. In the vicinity of a point of charge conjugation symmetry the holon contribution to the observed Hall coefficient is small: the Hall coefficient follows the temperature dependence of the diamagnetic susceptibility with a sign determined by the Fermi surface shape. NOTE: document prepared using REVTEX. (3 Figs, not included, available on request from: [email protected])Comment: 8 page

Magnetic Determination of Hc2H_{c2} under Accurate Alignment in (TMTSF)2_2ClO4_4

Cantilever magnetometry has been used to measure the upper critical magnetic field $H_{c2}$ of the quasi-one dimensional molecular organic superconductor (TMTSF)$_2$ClO$_4$. From simultaneous resistivity and torque magnetization experiments conducted under precise field alignment, $H_{c2}$ at low temperature is shown to reach 5T, nearly twice the Pauli paramagnetic limit imposed on spin singlet superconductors. These results constitute the first thermodynamic evidence for a large $H_{c2}$ in this system and provide support for spin triplet pairing in this unconventional superconductorComment: Submitted July 1, 2003, Accepted December 9, 2003, Physical Review Letter

Acute Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Cardiac Abnormalities: Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy or Neurogenic Stunned Myocardium? a case report

Abstract Introduction Cardiac abnormalities can be seen with subarachnoid hemorrhage. To date, there have been isolated case reports of transient left ventricular apical ballooning cardiomyopathy, also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in patients suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhage. Case presentation An adult female was brought to the emergency department with somnolence. A 3 × 3 mm ruptured basilar aneurysm was found and successfully embolized. Two days after the patient developed acute heart failure. Troponin-I was elevated to 4.2 (normal \u3c0.4). On ECG, new symmetric T wave inversion in V3, V4, V5 with prolonged QT were evident. Transthoracic echocardiogram showed severe systolic dysfunction with an ejection fraction of 20% and akinetic apex along with the distal left ventricular segments, consistent with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Myocardial contrast echocardiography showed a decrease in capillary blood flow and volume in the akinetic areas with delayed contrast replenishment, sparing the basal segments. A repeat study 2 weeks later showed near normalization of the perfusion parameters. The patient improved with medical management. A repeat echocardiogram, a month later revealed an ejection fraction of 45% with no identifiable wall motion abnormality. Conclusion Our case, as well as others reported previously, supports the diagnosis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy in patients with Subarachnoid Hemorrhage who fulfill the clinical and imaging description of this syndrome

Orbitally Driven Spin Pairing in the 3D Non-Magnetic Mott Insulator BaVS3: Evidence from Single Crystal Studies

Static electrical and magnetic properties of single crystal BaVS_3 were measured over the structural (T_S=240K), metal-insulator (T_MI=69K), and suspected orbital ordering (T_X=30K) transitions. The resistivity is almost isotropic both in the metallic and insulating states. An anomaly in the magnetic anisotropy at T_X signals a phase transition to an ordered low-T state. The results are interpreted in terms of orbital ordering and spin pairing within the lowest crystal field quasi-doublet. The disordered insulator at T_X<T<T_MI is described as a classical liquid of non-magnetic pairs.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revtex, epsf, and multicol style. Problem with figures fixed. To appear in Phys. Rev. B Rap. Com

Magnetic-Field Variations of the Pair-Breaking Effects of Superconductivity in (TMTSF)2ClO4

We have studied the onset temperature of the superconductivity Tc_onset of the organic superconductor (TMTSF)2ClO4, by precisely controlling the direction of the magnetic field H. We compare the results of two samples with nearly the same onset temperature but with different scattering relaxation time tau. We revealed a complicated interplay of a variety of pair-breaking effects and mechanisms that overcome these pair-breaking effects. In low fields, the linear temperature dependences of the onset curves in the H-T phase diagrams are governed by the orbital pair-breaking effect. The dips in the in-plane field-angle phi dependence of Tc_onset, which were only observed in the long-tau sample, provides definitive evidence that the field-induced dimensional crossover enhances the superconductivity if the field direction is more than about 19-degrees away from the a axis. In the high-field regime for H//a, the upturn of the onset curve for the long-tau sample indicates a new superconducting state that overcomes the Pauli pair-breaking effect but is easily suppressed by impurity scatterings. The Pauli effect is also overcome for H//b' by a realization of another state for which the maximum of Tc_onset(phi) occurs in a direction different from the crystalline axes. The effect on Tc_onset of tilting the applied field out of the conductive plane suggests that the Pauli effect plays a significant role in determining Tc_onset. The most plausible explanation of these results is that (TMTSF)2ClO4 is a singlet superconductor and exhibits Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) states in high fields.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures. To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. (vol.77, 2008

Superconducting Magnetization above the Irreversibility Line in Tl2Ba2CuO6

Piezolever torque magnetometry has been used to measure the magnetization of superconducting Tl2Ba2CuO6. Three crystals with different levels of oxygen overdoping were investigated in magnetic fields up to 10 Tesla. In all cases, the magnetization above the irreversibility line was found to depart from the behaviour M ~ ln(Hc2/H) of a simple London-like vortex liquid. In particular, for a strongly overdoped (Tc = 15K) crystal, the remnant superconducting order above the irreversibility line is characterized by a linear diamagnetic response (M ~ H) that persists well above Tc and also up to the highest field employed.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 7 encapsulated PostScript figures, submitted to Physical Review