472 research outputs found
Clausius inequality and optimality of quasi static transformations for nonequilibrium stationary states
Nonequilibrium stationary states of thermodynamic systems dissipate a
positive amount of energy per unit of time. If we consider transformations of
such states that are realized by letting the driving depend on time, the amount
of energy dissipated in an unbounded time window becomes then infinite.
Following the general proposal by Oono and Paniconi and using results of the
macroscopic fluctuation theory, we give a natural definition of a renormalized
work performed along any given transformation. We then show that the
renormalized work satisfies a Clausius inequality and prove that equality is
achieved for very slow transformations, that is in the quasi static limit. We
finally connect the renormalized work to the quasi potential of the macroscopic
fluctuation theory, that gives the probability of fluctuations in the
stationary nonequilibrium ensemble
Multiorbital effects on the transport and the superconducting fluctuations in LiFeAs
The resistivity, Hall effect and transverse magnetoresistance (MR) have been
measured in low residual resistivity single crystals of LiFeAs. A comparison
with angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum oscillation data
implies that four carrier bands unevenly contribute to the transport. However
the scattering rates of the carriers all display the T^2 behavior expected for
a Fermi liquid. Near Tc low field deviations of the MR with respect to a H^2
variation permit us to extract the superconducting fluctuation contribution to
the conductivity. Though below Tc the anisotropy of superconductivity is rather
small, the superconducting fluctuations display a quasi ideal two-dimensional
behavior which persists up to 1.4 Tc. These results call for a refined
theoretical understanding of the multiband behavior of superconductivity in
this pnictide.Comment: 8pages with supplementary material, 6 figure
Species conservation in the Pacific Islands: taking effective steps forward
Pacific species face heightened levels of threat due to the relatively small size, fragility and rapid environmental changes from human development and invasive species in many Pacific Island Countries and Territories. The geographic isolation of many islands is also a major barrier to the spread of scientific and traditional knowledge on threatened species, and facilitation of supportive networks for strengthening collaboration on species conservation. An additional block is the lack of consolidated approaches to many species conservation issues within the Pacific Island Countries and Territories, particularly for noncharismatic species that are often overlooked or are low on the agenda. Furthermore, the capacity and availability of resources for conservation – including both people and available scientific information – are known to be heavily biased towards developed countries in Oceania. The combined impacts of these gaps and blocks are clearly evident in several related public outputs including: national and regional species inventories, National Biodiversity and Strategic Action Plans, and progress on undertaking and implementing IUCN Red-List species assessments for the Pacific Islands
Recent developments in the determination of the amplitude and phase of quantum oscillations for the linear chain of coupled orbits
De Haas-van Alphen oscillations are studied for Fermi surfaces (FS)
illustrating the model proposed by Pippard in the early sixties, namely the
linear chain of orbits coupled by magnetic breakdown. This FS topology is
relevant for many multiband quasi-two dimensional (q-2D) organic metals such as
-(BEDT-TTF)Cu(NCS) and
-(BEDT-TTF)CoBr(CHCl) which are considered in
detail. Whereas the Lifshits-Kosevich model only involves a first order
development of field- and temperature-dependent damping factors, second order
terms may have significant contribution on the Fourier components amplitude for
such q-2D systems at high magnetic field and low temperature. The strength of
these second order terms depends on the relative value of the involved damping
factors, which are in turns strongly dependent on parameters such as the
magnetic breakdown field, effective masses and, most of all, effective
Land\'{e} factors. In addition, the influence of field-dependent Onsager phase
factors on the oscillation spectra is considered.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1304.665
Interference Effects Due to Commensurate Electron Trajectories and Topological Crossovers in (TMTSF)2ClO4
We report angle-dependent magnetoresistance measurements on (TMTSF)2ClO4 that
provide strong support for a new macroscopic quantum phenomenon, the
interference commensurate (IC) effect, in quasi-one dimensional metals. In
addition to observing rich magnetoresistance oscillations, and fitting them
with one-electron calculations, we observe a clear demarcation of
field-dependent behavior at local resistance minima and maxima (versus field
angle). Anticipated by a theoretical treatment of the IC effect in terms of
Bragg reflections in the extended Brillouin zone, this behavior results from
1D-2D topological crossovers of electron wave functions as a function of field
orientation.Comment: 14 page
New excitations in bcc He - an inelastic neutron scattering study
We report neutron scattering measurements on bcc solid % He. We studied
the phonon branches and the recently discovered ''optic-like'' branch along the
main crystalline directions. In addition, we discovered another, dispersionless
"optic-like'' branch at an energy around 1 meV (~11K). The properties of
the two "optic-like" branches seem different. Since one expects only 3 acoustic
phonon branches in a monoatomic cubic crystal, these new branches must
represent different type of excitations. One possible interpretation involves
localized excitations unique to a quantum solid.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted by PRB, Rapid Communication
Transverse Magnetoresistance of GaAs/AlGaAs Heterojunctions in the Presence of Parallel Magnetic Fields
We have calculated the resistivity of a GaAs\slash AlGaAs heterojunction in
the presence of both an in--plane magnetic field and a weak perpendicular
component using a semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. These calculations
take into account fully the distortion of the Fermi contour which is induced by
the parallel magnetic field. The scattering of electrons is assumed to be due
to remote ionized impurities. A positive magnetoresistance is found as a
function of the perpendicular component, in good qualitative agreement with
experimental observations. The main source of this effect is the strong
variation of the electronic scattering rate around the Fermi contour which is
associated with the variation in the mean distance of the electronic states
from the remote impurities. The magnitude of the positive magnetoresistance is
strongly correlated with the residual acceptor impurity density in the GaAs
layer. The carrier lifetime anisotropy also leads to an observable anisotropy
in the resistivity with respect to the angle between the current and the
direction of the in--plane magnetic field.Comment: uuencoded file containing a 26 page RevTex file and 14 postscript
figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Direct observation of non-local effects in a superconductor
We have used the technique of low energy muon spin rotation to measure the
local magnetic field profile B(z) beneath the surface of a lead film maintained
in the Meissner state (z depth from the surface, z <= 200 nm). The data
unambiguously show that B(z) clearly deviates from an exponential law and
represent the first direct, model independent proof for a non-local response in
a superconductor.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Surface Vacuum Energy in Cutoff Models: Pressure Anomaly and Distributional Gravitational Limit
Vacuum-energy calculations with ideal reflecting boundaries are plagued by
boundary divergences, which presumably correspond to real (but finite) physical
effects occurring near the boundary. Our working hypothesis is that the stress
tensor for idealized boundary conditions with some finite cutoff should be a
reasonable ad hoc model for the true situation. The theory will have a sensible
renormalized limit when the cutoff is taken away; this requires making sense of
the Einstein equation with a distributional source. Calculations with the
standard ultraviolet cutoff reveal an inconsistency between energy and pressure
similar to the one that arises in noncovariant regularizations of cosmological
vacuum energy. The problem disappears, however, if the cutoff is a spatial
point separation in a "neutral" direction parallel to the boundary. Here we
demonstrate these claims in detail, first for a single flat reflecting wall
intersected by a test boundary, then more rigorously for a region of finite
cross section surrounded by four reflecting walls. We also show how the
moment-expansion theorem can be applied to the distributional limits of the
source and the solution of the Einstein equation, resulting in a mathematically
consistent differential equation where cutoff-dependent coefficients have been
identified as renormalizations of properties of the boundary. A number of
issues surrounding the interpretation of these results are aired.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; PACS 03.70.+k, 04.20.Cv, 11.10.G
STM Imaging of Flux Line Arrangements in the Peak Effect Regime
We present the results of a study of vortex arrangements in the peak-effect
regime of 2H-NbSe_2 by scanning tunneling microscopy. By slowly increasing the
temperature in a constant magnetic field, we observed a sharp transition from
collective vortex motion to positional fluctuations of individual vortices at
the temperature which coincides with the onset of the peak effect in
ac-susceptibility. We conclude that the peak effect is a disorder driven
transition, with the pinning energy winning from the elastic energy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures included Manuscript has been submitte
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