Superconductivity and Lattice Instability in Compressed Lithium from Fermi Surface Hot Spots

The highest superconducting temperature T$_c$ observed in any elemental metal (Li with T$_c$ ~ 20 K at pressure P ~ 40 GPa) is shown to arise from critical (formally divergent) electron-phonon coupling to the transverse T$_1$ phonon branch along intersections of Kohn anomaly surfaces with the Fermi surface. First principles linear response calculations of the phonon spectrum and spectral function $\alpha^2 F(\omega)$ reveal (harmonic) instability already at 25 GPa. Our results imply that the fcc phase is anharmonically stabilized in the 25-38 GPa range.Comment: 4 pages, 3 embedded figure

Strawberry production in south-eastern Iowa as influenced by varieties, fertilizers and cultural practices

For many years strawberries have been an important cash crop in southeastern Iowa, particularly in the vicinity of Montrose. Dunlap has been the leading variety grown. The crop has been marketed by a small but unusually well-organized cooperative association known as the Iowa Fruit Company of Montrose, Iowa. Several years ago the growers began to experience certain difficulties which materially reduced the value of their crop. Disease and drouth lowered yields. The soils devoted to strawberry culture began to show the effects of continuous cropping under the prevailing system of soil management. Prices fell to such an extent that receipts scarcely paid the harvesting and marketing expenses. The shipping quality of Dunlap became another factor. The berry was too soft to carry long distances and still maintain its attractiveness. Newer varieties grown in other sections of the country had more buyer appeal on the markets

Association of Alfvén waves and proton cyclotron waves with electrostatic bipolar pulses: magnetic hole events observed by Polar

International audienceTwo magnetic hole events observed by Polar on 20 May 1996 when it was in the polar cap/polar cusp boundary layer are studied. Low-frequency waves, consisting of nonlinear Alfvén waves and large amplitude (±14nT peak-to-peak) obliquely propagating proton cyclotron waves (with frequency f~0.6 to 0.7 fcp), accompanied by electric bipolar pulses (electron holes) and electron heating have been observed located within magnetic holes. It is shown that low-frequency waves can provide free energy to drive some high frequency instabilities which saturate by trapping electrons, thus, leading to the generation of electron holes

Fermi surface of the colossal magnetoresistance perovskite La_{0.7}Sr_{0.3}MnO_{3}

Materials that exhibit colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) are currently the focus of an intense research effort, driven by the technological applications that their sensitivity lends them to. Using the angular correlation of photons from electron-positron annihilation, we present a first glimpse of the Fermi surface of a material that exhibits CMR, supported by ``virtual crystal'' electronic structure calculations. The Fermi surface is shown to be sufficiently cubic in nature that it is likely to support nesting.Comment: 5 pages, 5 PS figure

Functional diseases of the apple in storage

A systematic study of the storage diseases of apples includes the consideration of two general groups: (a) the functional, and (b) the parasitic diseases. Although most kinds of parasitic diseases are seldom found on good grades of apples, occasionally some of these escape inspection and develop considerably on ripe, fruit in storage. The fruit grower who is concerned with producing sound fruit is familiar with such parasitic diseases as apple scab, apple blotch and cedar-apple rust. The fruit dealer, storage operator and consumer, on the other hand, more frequently come in contact with the functional diseases such as Jonathan spot, apple scald, bitter pit and breakdown

Local Moment Instability of Os in Honeycomb Li2.15Os0.85O3.

Compounds with honeycomb structures occupied by strong spin orbit coupled (SOC) moments are considered to be candidate Kitaev quantum spin liquids. Here we present the first example of Os on a honeycomb structure, Li2.15(3)Os0.85(3)O3 (C2/c, a = 5.09 Å, b = 8.81 Å, c = 9.83 Å, β = 99.3°). Neutron diffraction shows large site disorder in the honeycomb layer and X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicates a valence state of Os (4.7 ± 0.2), consistent with the nominal concentration. We observe a transport band gap of Δ = 243 ± 23 meV, a large van Vleck susceptibility, and an effective moment of 0.85 μB, much lower than expected from 70% Os(+5). No evidence of long range order is found above 0.10 K but a spin glass-like peak in ac-susceptibility is observed at 0.5 K. The specific heat displays an impurity spin contribution in addition to a power law ∝T(0.63±0.06). Applied density functional theory (DFT) leads to a reduced moment, suggesting incipient itineracy of the valence electrons, and finding evidence that Li over stoichiometry leads to Os(4+)-Os(5+) mixed valence. This local picture is discussed in light of the site disorder and a possible underlying quantum spin liquid state

Anisotropic strains and magnetoresistance of La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}

Thin films of perovskite manganite La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} were grown epitaxially on SrTiO_3(100), MgO(100) and LaAlO_3(100) substrates by the pulsed laser deposition method. Microscopic structures of these thin film samples as well as a bulk sample were fully determined by x-ray diffraction measurements. The unit cells of the three films have different shapes, i.e., contracted tetragonal, cubic, and elongated tetragonal for SrTiO_3, MgO, and LaAlO_3 cases, respectively, while the unit cell of the bulk is cubic. It is found that the samples with cubic unit cell show smaller peak magnetoresistance than the noncubic ones do. The present result demonstrates that the magnetoresistance of La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} can be controlled by lattice distortion via externally imposed strains.Comment: Revtex, 10 pages, 2 figure

Magnetic field turbulence, electron heating, magnetic holes, proton cyclotron waves, and the onsets of bipolar pulse (electron hole) events: a possible unifying scenario

International audienceTwo electron heating events have been identified on 20 May 1996 when Polar was in the polar cap/polar cusp boundary layer. The electron heating events were located within magnetic holes/cavities/bubbles and were accompanied by nonlinear ± 14 nT peak-to-peak (f ~ 0.6 to 0.7 fcp) obliquely propagating proton cyclotron waves. The electrons appear to be heated isotropically. Electric bipolar pulse (electron hole) onset events were also detected within the heating events. We propose a scenario which can link the above phenomena. Nonlinear Alfvén waves, generated through cusp magnetic reconnection, propagate down magnetic field lines and locally heat electrons through the ponderomotive force. The magnetic cavity is created through the diamagnetic effect of the heated electrons. Ion heating also occurs through ponderomotive acceleration (but much less than the electrons) and the protons generate the electromagnetic proton cyclotron waves through the loss cone instability. The obliquely propagating electromagnetic proton cyclotron waves accelerate bi-streaming electrons, which are the source of free energy for the electron holes

AUSSAT battery life test program

AUSSAT Pty. Ltd., the Australian National Satellite organization, has contracted with the Hughes Aircraft Company (HAC) for the construction of 3 satellites based on the now familiar HS-376 product line. As part of the AUSSAT contract, HAC is conducting an extensive NiCd battery life test program. The life test program, objectives and test results to date are described. Particular emphasis is given to the evaluation of the FS2117 separator as a future replacement for the Pellon 2505 separator of which only a very limited quantity remains

Low temperature resistivity in a nearly half-metallic ferromagnet

We consider electron transport in a nearly half-metallic ferromagnet, in which the minority spin electrons close to the band edge at the Fermi energy are Anderson-localized due to disorder. For the case of spin-flip scattering of the conduction electrons due to the absorption and emission of magnons, the Boltzmann equation is exactly soluble to the linear order. From this solution we calculate the temperature dependence of the resistivity due to single magnon processes at sufficiently low temperature, namely $k_BT\ll D/L^2$, where $L$ is the Anderson localization length and $D$ is the magnon stiffness. And depending on the details of the minority spin density of states at the Fermi level, we find a $T^{1.5}$ or $T^{2}$ scaling behavior for resistivity. Relevance to the doped perovskite manganite systems is discussed