4,573 research outputs found
Nuclear recoil energy scale in liquid xenon with application to the direct detection of dark matter
We show for the first time that the quenching of electronic excitation from
nuclear recoils in liquid xenon is well-described by Lindhard theory, if the
nuclear recoil energy is reconstructed using the combined (scintillation and
ionization) energy scale proposed by Shutt {\it et al.}. We argue for the
adoption of this perspective in favor of the existing preference for
reconstructing nuclear recoil energy solely from primary scintillation. We show
that signal partitioning into scintillation and ionization is well-described by
the Thomas-Imel box model. We discuss the implications for liquid xenon
detectors aimed at the direct detection of dark matter
Damping and decoherence of Fock states in a nanomechanical resonator due to two level systems
We numerically investigate the decay of initial quantum Fock states and their
superpositions for a mechanical resonator mode coupled to an environment
comprising interacting, damped tunneling two level system (TLS) defects. The
cases of one, three, and six near resonant, interacting TLS's are considered in
turn and it is found that the resonator displays Ohmic bath like decay behavior
with as few as three TLS's.Comment: 28 pages, 24 figures; submitted to Physical Review
Amplitude-mode dynamics of polariton condensates
We study the stability of collective amplitude excitations in non-equilibrium
polariton condensates. These excitations correspond to renormalized upper
polaritons and to the collective amplitude modes of atomic gases and
superconductors. They would be present following a quantum quench or could be
created directly by resonant excitation. We show that uniform amplitude
excitations are unstable to the production of excitations at finite
wavevectors, leading to the formation of density-modulated phases. The physical
processes causing the instabilities can be understood by analogy to optical
parametric oscillators and the atomic Bose supernova.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Orbital Magnetization of Quantum Spin Hall Insulator Nanoparticles
Both spin and orbital degrees of freedom contribute to the magnetic moment of
isolated atoms. However, when inserted in crystals, atomic orbital moments are
quenched because of the lack of rotational symmetry that protects them when
isolated. Thus, the dominant contribution to the magnetization of magnetic
materials comes from electronic spin. Here we show that nanoislands of quantum
spin Hall insulators can host robust orbital edge magnetism whenever their
highest occupied Kramers doublet is singly occupied, upgrading the spin edge
current into a charge current. The resulting orbital magnetization scales
linearly with size, outweighing the spin contribution for islands of a few nm
in size. This linear scaling is specific of the Dirac edge states and very
different from Schrodinger electrons in quantum rings. Modelling Bi(111)
flakes, whose edge states have been recently observed, we show that orbital
magnetization is robust with respect to disorder, thermal agitation, shape of
the island and crystallographic direction of the edges, reflecting its
topological protection.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, + Supporting Informatio
Frequency-dependent Thermal Response of the Charge System and Restricted Sum Rules in La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4)
By using new and previous measurements of the -plane conductivity
of LaSrCuO (LSCO) it is shown that
the spectral weight
obeys the same law which holds for a conventional
metal like gold, for 's below the plasma frequency. However
, which measures the "thermal response" of the charge system, in
LSCO exhibits a peculiar behavior which points towards correlation effects. In
terms of hopping models, is directly related to an energy scale
, smaller by one order of magnitude than the full bandwidth .Comment: 4 pages with 3 fig
Structure of Sn<sub>1-x</sub>Ge<sub>x</sub> random alloys as obtained from the coherent potential approximation
The structure of the Sn1-xGex random alloys is studied using density functional theory and the coherent potential approximation. We report on the deviation of the Sn1-xGex alloys from Vegard's law, addressing their full compositional range. The findings are compared to the related Si1-xGex alloys and to experimental results. Interestingly, the deviation from Vegard's law is quantitatively and qualitatively different between the Sn1-xGex and Si1-xGex alloys. An almost linear dependence of the bulk modulus as a function of composition is found for Si1-xGex, whereas for Sn1-xGex the dependence is strongly nonlinear
Semiclassical Dynamics of Electrons in Magnetic Bloch Bands: a Hamiltonian Approach
y formally diagonalizing with accuracy the Hamiltonian of electrons
in a crystal subject to electromagnetic perturbations, we resolve the debate on
the Hamiltonian nature of semiclassical equations of motion with Berry-phase
corrections, and therefore confirm the validity of the Liouville theorem. We
show that both the position and momentum operators acquire a Berry-phase
dependence, leading to a non-canonical Hamiltonian dynamics. The equations of
motion turn out to be identical to the ones previously derived in the context
of electron wave-packets dynamics.Comment: 4 page
The Resonating-Valence-Bond Ground State of Li Nanoclusters
We have performed Diffusion Quantum Monte Carlo simulations of Li clusters
showing that Resonating-Valence-Bond (RVB) pairing correlations between
electrons provide a substantial contribution to the cohesive energy. The RVB
effects are identified in terms of electron transfers from s- to p-like
character, constituting a possible explanation for the breakdown of the Fermi
liquid picture observed in recent high resolution Compton scattering
experiments for bulk Li.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 3 table
Thermopower Oscillation Symmetries in a Double-Loop Andreev Interferrometer
Andreev interferometers, normal metal wires coupled to superconducting loops,
display phase coherent changes as the magnetic flux through the superconducting
loops is altered. Properties such as the electronic and thermal conductance of
these devices have been shown to oscillate symmetrically about zero with a
period equal to one superconducting flux quantum, . However, the
thermopower of these devices can oscillate symmetrically or antisymmetrically
depending on the geometry of the sample, a phenomenon not well understood
theoretically. Here we report on thermopower measurements of a double-loop
Andreev interferometer where two Josephson currents in the normal metal wire
may be controlled independently. The amplitude and symmetries of the observed
thermopower oscillations may help to illuminate the unexplained dependence of
oscillation symmetry on sample geometry.Comment: 6 Pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physica
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