Novel Phases in the Field Induced Spin Density Wave State in (TMTSF)_2PF_6

Magnetoresistance measurements on the quasi one-dimensional organic conductor (TMTSF)_2PF_6 performed in magnetic fields B up to 16T, temperatures T down to 0.12K and under pressures P up to 14kbar have revealed new phases on its P-B-T phase diagram. We found a new boundary which subdivides the field induced spin density wave (FISDW) phase diagram into two regions. We showed that a low-temperature region of the FISDW diagram is characterized by a hysteresis behavior typical for the first order transitions, as observed in a number of studies. In contrast to the common believe, in high temperature region of the FISDW phase diagram, the hysteresis and, hence, the first order transitions were found to disappear. Nevertheless, sharp changes in the resistivity slope are observed both in the low and high temperature domains indicating that the cascade of transitions between different subphases exists over all range of the FISDW state. We also found that the temperature dependence of the resistance (at a constant B) changes sign at about the same boundary. We compare these results with recent theoretical models.Comment: LaTex, 4 pages, 4 figure

Smectic Liquid Crystals: Materials with One-Dimensional, Periodic Order

Smectic liquid crystals are materials formed by stacking deformable, fluid layers. Though smectics prefer to have flat, uniformly-spaced layers, boundary conditions can impose curvature on the layers. Since the layer spacing and curvature are intertwined, the problem of finding minimal configurations for the layers becomes highly nontrivial. We discuss various topological and geometrical aspects of these materials and present recent progress on finding some exact layer configurations. We also exhibit connections to the study of certain embedded minimal surfaces and briefly summarize some important open problems.Comment: 16 page

Layer dynamics of a freely standing smectic-A film

We study the hydrodynamics of a freely-standing smectic-A film in the isothermal, incompressible limit theoretically by analyzing the linearized hydrodynamic equations of motion with proper boundary conditions. The dynamic properties for the system can be obtained from the response functions for the free surfaces. Permeation is included and its importance near the free surfaces is discussed. The hydrodynamic mode structure for the dynamics of the system is compared with that of bulk systems. We show that to describe the dynamic correlation functions for the system, in general, it is necessary to consider the smectic layer displacement $u$ and the velocity normal to the layers, $v_z$, together. Finally, our analysis also provides a basis for the theoretical study of the off-equilibrium dynamics of freely-standing smectic-A films.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

Homogeneous nucleation of a non-critical phase near a continuous phase transition

Homogeneous nucleation of a new phase near a second, continuous, transition, is considered. The continuous transition is in the metastable region associated with the first-order phase transition, one of whose coexisting phases is nucleating. Mean-field calculations show that as the continuous transition is approached, the size of the nucleus varies as the response function of the order parameter of the continuous transition. This response function diverges at the continuous transition, as does the temperature derivative of the free energy barrier to nucleation. This rapid drop of the barrier as the continuous transition is approached means that the continuous transition acts to reduce the barrier to nucleation at the first-order transition. This may be useful in the crystallisation of globular proteins.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Spin-density-wave instabilities in the organic conductor (TMTSF)_2ClO_4: Role of anion ordering

We study the spin-density-wave instabilities in the quasi-one-dimensional conductor (TMTSF)_2ClO_4. The orientational order of the anions ClO_4 doubles the unit cell and leads to the presence of two electrnic bands at the Fermi level. From the Ginzburg-Landau expansion of the free energy, we determine the low-temperature phase diagram as a function of the strength of the Coulomb potential due to the anions. Upon increasing the anion potential, we first find a SDW phase corresponding to an interband pairing. This SDW phase is rapidly supressed, the metallic phase being then stable down to zero temperature. The SDW instability is restored when the anion potential becomes of the order of the hopping amplitude. The metal-SDW transition corresponds to an intraband pairing which leaves half of the Fermi surface metallic. At lower temperature, a second transition, corresponding to the other intraband pairing, takes place and opens a gap on the whole Fermi surface. We discuss the consequences of our results for the experimental phase diagram of (TMTSF)_2ClO_4 at high magnetic field.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, Version 2 with minor correction

Thermodynamic and thermoelectric properties of high-temperature cuprate superconductors in the stripe phase

We examine the thermodynamic and thermoelectric properties in the stripe phase of high-Tc cuprates, by using the finite-temperature Lanczos technique for the t-J model with a potential that stabilizes vertical charge stripes. When the stripe potential is turned on, the entropy is suppressed as a consequence of the formation of one-dimensional charge stripes accompanied by an enhancement of antiferromagnetic spin correlation in the spin domains. The stripe formation leads also to weak temperature dependence of the chemical potential, leading to the suppression of the thermoelectric power. The suppression of the entropy and thermoelectric power is consistent with experimental data in the stripe phase of La_{1.6-x}Nd_{0.4}Sr_xCuO_4.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys.Rev.B Rapid Comm

Proximity to a Nearly Superconducting Quantum Critical Liquid

The coupling between superconductors and a quantum critical liquid that is nearly superconducting provides natural interpretation for the Josephson effect over unexpectedly long junctions, and the remarkable stripe-spacing dependence of the critical temperature in LSCO and YBCO superconductors.Comment: four two-column pages, no figure

Statistical properties and statistical interaction for particles with spin: Hubbard model in one dimension and statistical spin liquid

We derive the statistical distribution functions for the Hubbard chain with infinite Coulomb repulsion among particles and for the statistical spin liquid with an arbitrary magnitude of the local interaction in momentum space. Haldane's statistical interaction is derived from an exact solution for each of the two models. In the case of the Hubbard chain the charge (holon) and the spin (spinon) excitations decouple completely and are shown to behave statistically as fermions and bosons, respectively. In both cases the statistical interaction must contain several components, a rule for the particles with the internal symmetry.Comment: (RevTex, 16 pages, improved version

Role of multiple subband renormalization in the electronic transport of correlated oxide superlattices

Metallic behavior of band-insulator/ Mott-insulator interfaces was observed in artificial perovskite superlattices such as in nanoscale SrTiO3/LaTiO3 multilayers. Applying a semiclassical perspective to the parallel electronic transport we identify two major ingredients relevant for such systems: i) the quantum confinement of the conduction electrons (superlattice modulation) leads to a complex, quasi-two dimensional subband structure with both hole- and electron-like Fermi surfaces. ii) strong electron-electron interaction requires a substantial renormalization of the quasi-particle dispersion. We characterize this renormalization by two sets of parameters, namely, the quasi-particle weight and the induced particle-hole asymmetry of each partially filled subband. In our study, the quasi-particle dispersion is calculated self-consistently as function of microscopic parameters using the slave-boson mean-field approximation introduced by Kotliar and Ruckenstein. We discuss the consequences of strong local correlations on the normal-state free-carrier response in the optical conductivity and on the thermoelectric effects.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure