Micrometeorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment

Mountain snow covers typically become patchy over the course of a melting season. The snow pattern during melt is mainly governed by the end of winter snow depth distribution and the local energy balance. The objective of this study is to investigate micrometeorological processes driving snow ablation in an Alpine catchment. For this purpose we combine a meteorological model (ARPS) with a fully distributed energy balance model (Alpine3D). Turbulent fluxes above melting snow are further investigated by using data from eddy-correlation systems. We compare modelled snow ablation to measured ablation rates as obtained from a series of Terrestrial Laser Scanning campaigns covering a complete ablation season. The measured ablation rates indicate that the advection of sensible heat causes locally increased ablation rates at the upwind edges of the snow patches. The effect, however, appears to be active over rather short distances except for very strong wind conditions. Neglecting this effect, the model is able to capture the mean ablation rates for early ablation periods but strongly overestimates snow ablation once the fraction of snow coverage is below a critical value. While radiation dominates snow ablation early in the season, the turbulent flux contribution becomes important late in the season. Simulation results indicate that the air temperatures appear to overestimate the local air temperature above snow patches once the snow coverage is below a critical value. Measured turbulent fluxes support these findings by suggesting a stable internal boundary layer close to the snow surface causing a strong decrease of the sensible heat flux towards the snow cover. Thus, the existence of a stable internal boundary layer above a patchy snow cover exerts a dominant control on the timing and magnitude of snow ablation for patchy snow covers.<br/

Ferromagnetic imprinting of spin polarization in a semiconductor

We present a theory of the imprinting of the electron spin coherence and population in an n-doped semiconductor which forms a junction with a ferromagnet. The reflection of non-equilibrium semiconductor electrons at the interface provides a mechanism to manipulate the spin polarization vector. In the case of unpolarized excitation, this ballistic effect produces spontaneous electron spin coherence and nuclear polarization in the semiconductor, as recently observed by time-resolved Faraday rotation experiments. We investigate the dependence of the spin reflection on the Schottky barrier height and the doping concentration in the semiconductor and suggest control mechanisms for possible device applications.Comment: 4 pages with 2 figure

The two-atom energy spectrum in a harmonic trap near a Feshbach resonance at higher partial waves

Two atoms in an optical lattice may be made to interact strongly at higher partial waves near a Feshbach resonance. These atoms, under appropriate constraints, could be bosonic or fermionic. The universal $l=2$ energy spectrum for such a system, with a caveat, is presented in this paper, and checked with the spectrum obtained by direct numerical integration of the Schr\"odinger equation. The results reported here extend those of Yip for p-wave resonance (Phys. Rev. A {\bf 78}, 013612 (2008)), while exploring the limitations of a universal expression for the spectrum for the higher partial waves.Comment: To be published in Physical Review

Pressure effects in the triangular layered cobaltites NaxCoO2

We have measured transport properties as a function of temperature and pressure up to 30GPa in the NaxCoO2 system. For the x=0.5 sample the transition temperature at 53K increases with pressure, while paradoxically the sample passes from an insulating to a metallic ground state. A similar transition is observed in the x=0.31 sample under pressure. Compression on the x=0.75 sample transforms the sample from a metallic to an insulating state. We discuss our results in terms of interactions between band structure effects and Na+ order.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Doping Dependence of Polaron Hopping Energies in La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) (0<= x<= 0.15)

Measurements of the low-frequency (f<= 100 kHz) permittivity at T<= 160 K and dc resistivity (T<= 430 K) are reported for La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) (0<= x<= 0.15). Static dielectric constants are determined from the low-T limiting behavior of the permittivity. The estimated polarizability for bound holes ~ 10^{-22} cm^{-3} implies a radius comparable to the interatomic spacing, consistent with the small polaron picture established from prior transport studies near room temperature and above on nearby compositions. Relaxation peaks in the dielectric loss associated with charge-carrier hopping yield activation energies in good agreement with low-T hopping energies determined from variable-range hopping fits of the dc resistivity. The doping dependence of these energies suggests that the orthorhombic, canted antiferromagnetic ground state tends toward an insulator-metal transition that is not realized due to the formation of the ferromagnetic insulating state near Mn(4+) concentration ~ 0.13.Comment: PRB in press, 5 pages, 6 figure

Spin-dependent electron-impurity scattering in two-dimensional electron systems

We present a theoretical study of elastic spin-dependent electron scattering caused by a charged impurity in the vicinity of a two-dimensional electron gas. We find that the symmetry properties of the spin-dependent differential scattering cross section are different for an impurity located in the plane of the electron gas and for one at a finite distance from the plane. We show that in the latter case asymmetric (`skew') scattering can arise if the polarization of the incident electron has a finite projection on the plane spanned by the normal vector of the two-dimensional electron gas and the initial propagation direction. In specially preparated samples this scattering mechanism may give rise to a Hall-like effect in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field.Comment: 4.1 pages, 2 figure

Interplay of Peltier and Seebeck effects in nanoscale nonlocal spin valves

We have experimentally studied the role of thermoelectric effects in nanoscale nonlocal spin valve devices. A finite element thermoelectric model is developed to calculate the generated Seebeck voltages due to Peltier and Joule heating in the devices. By measuring the first, second and third harmonic voltage response non locally, the model is experimentally examined. The results indicate that the combination of Peltier and Seebeck effects contributes significantly to the nonlocal baseline resistance. Moreover, we found that the second and third harmonic response signals can be attributed to Joule heating and temperature dependencies of both Seebeck coefficient and resistivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Coulomb corrections to the extrinsic spin-Hall effect of a two-dimensional electron gas

We develop the microscopic theory of the extrinsic spin Hall conductivity of a two-dimensional electron gas, including skew-scattering, side-jump, and Coulomb interaction effects. We find that while the spin-Hall conductivity connected with the side-jump is independent of the strength of electron-electron interactions, the skew-scattering term is reduced by the spin-Coulomb drag, so the total spin current and the total spin-Hall conductivity are reduced for typical experimental mobilities. Further, we predict that in paramagnetic systems the spin-Coulomb drag reduces the spin accumulations in two different ways: (i) directly through the reduction of the skew-scattering contribution (ii) indirectly through the reduction of the spin diffusion length. Explicit expressions for the various contributions to the spin Hall conductivity are obtained using an exactly solvable model of the skew-scattering.Comment: The Coulomb corrections to the spin-Hall conductivity and spin accumulations to first order in strength of spin-orbit coupling and electron-electron interactions are include

Thermoelectric phenomena in a quantum dot asymmetrically coupled to external leads

We study thermoelectric phenomena in a system consisting of strongly correlated quantum dot coupled to external leads in the Kondo regime. We calculate linear and nonlinear electrical and thermal conductance and thermopower of the quantum dot and discuss the role of asymmetry in the couplings to external electrodes. In the linear regime electrical and thermal conductances are modified, while thermopower remains unchanged. In the nonlinear regime the Kondo resonance in differential conductance develops at non-zero source-drain voltage, which has important consequences on thermoelectric properties of the system and the thermopower starts to depend on the asymmetry. We also discuss Wiedemann-Franz relation, thermoelectric figure of merit and validity of the Mott formula for thermopower.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure