Demonstration experiments for solid state physics using a table top mechanical Stirling refrigerator

Liquid free cryogenic devices are acquiring importance in basic science and engineering. But they can also lead to improvements in teaching low temperature an solid state physics to graduate students and specialists. Most of the devices are relatively expensive, but small sized equipment is slowly becoming available. Here, we have designed several simple experiments which can be performed using a small Stirling refrigerator. We discuss the measurement of the critical current and temperature of a bulk YBa2Cu3O(7-d) (YBCO) sample, the observation of the levitation of a magnet over a YBCO disk when cooled below the critical temperature and the observation of a phase transition using ac calorimetry. The equipment can be easily handled by students, and also used to teach the principles of liquid free cooling

alpha'-exact entropies for BPS and non-BPS extremal dyonic black holes in heterotic string theory from ten-dimensional supersymmetry

We calculate near-horizon solutions for four-dimensional 4-charge and five-dimensional 3-charge black holes in heterotic string theory from the part of the ten-dimensional tree-level effective action which is connected to gravitational Chern-Simons term by supersymmetry. We obtain that the entropies of large black holes exactly match the alpha'-exact statistical entropies obtained from microstate counting (D=4) and AdS/CFT correspondence (D=5). Especially interesting is that we obtain agreement for both BPS and non-BPS black holes, contrary to the case of R^2-truncated (four-derivative) actions (D-dimensional N=2 off-shell supersymmetric or Gauss-Bonnet) were used, which give the entropies agreeing (at best) just for BPS black holes. The key property of the solutions, which enabled us to tackle the action containing infinite number of terms, is vanishing of the Riemann tensor \bar{R}_{MNPQ} obtained from torsional connection defined with \bar{\Gamma} = \Gamma - H/2. Morover, if every monomial of the remaining part of the effective action would contain at least two Riemanns \bar{R}_{MNPQ}, it would trivially follow that our solutions are exact solutions of the full heterotic effective action in D=10. The above conjecture, which appeared (in this or stronger form) from time to time in the literature, has controversial status, but is supported by the most recent calculations of Richards (arXiv:0807.3453 [hep-th]). Agreement of our results for the entropies with the microscopic ones supports the conjecture. As for small black holes, our solutions in D=5 still have singular horizons.Comment: 28 pages; v2: minor changes, references added; v3: extended discussion on small black holes in sec. 5.4, more references added, accepted in JHE

Minimal Unitary Models and The Closed SU(2)-q Invariant Spin Chain

We consider the Hamiltonian of the closed $SU(2)_{q}$ invariant chain. We project a particular class of statistical models belonging to the unitary minimal series. A particular model corresponds to a particular value of the coupling constant. The operator content is derived. This class of models has charge-dependent boundary conditions. In simple cases (Ising, 3-state Potts) corresponding Hamiltonians are constructed. These are non-local as the original spin chain.Comment: 19 pages, latex, no figure

Extremal black holes in D=5: SUSY vs. Gauss-Bonnet corrections

We analyse near-horizon solutions and compare the results for the black hole entropy of five-dimensional spherically symmetric extremal black holes when the N=2 SUGRA actions are supplied with two different types of higher-order corrections: (1) supersymmetric completion of gravitational Chern-Simons term, and (2) Gauss-Bonnet term. We show that for large BPS black holes lowest order \alpha' corrections to the entropy are the same, but for non-BPS are generally different. We pay special attention to the class of prepotentials connected with K3\times T^2 and T^6 compactifications. For supersymmetric correction we find beside BPS also a set of non-BPS solutions. In the particular case of T^6 compactification (equivalent to the heterotic string on $T^4\times S^1$) we find the (almost) complete set of solutions (with exception of some non-BPS small black holes), and show that entropy of small black holes is different from statistical entropy obtained by counting of microstates of heterotic string theory. We also find complete set of solutions for K3\times T^2 and T^6 case when correction is given by Gauss-Bonnet term. Contrary to four-dimensional case, obtained entropy is different from the one with supersymmetric correction. We show that in Gauss-Bonnet case entropy of small ``BPS'' black holes agrees with microscopic entropy in the known cases.Comment: 28 pages; minor changes, version to appear in JHE

Curvature-corrected dilatonic black holes and black hole -- string transition

We investigate extremal charged black hole solutions in the four-dimensional string frame Gauss-Bonnet gravity with the Maxwell field and the dilaton. Without curvature corrections, the extremal electrically charged dilatonic black holes have singular horizon and zero Bekenstein entropy. When the Gauss-Bonnet term is switched on, the horizon radius expands to a finite value provided curvature corrections are strong enough. Below a certain threshold value of the Gauss-Bonnet coupling the extremal black hole solutions cease to exist. Since decreasing Gauss-Bonnet coupling corresponds to decreasing string coupling $g_s$, the situation can tentatively be interpreted as classical indication on the black hole -- string transition. Previously the extremal dilaton black holes were studied in the Einstein-frame version of the Gauss-Bonnet gravity. Here we work in the string frame version of this theory with the S-duality symmetric dilaton function as required by the heterotic string theory.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Black hole entropy, flat directions and higher derivatives

Higher order derivative corrections to the Einstein--Maxwell action are considered and an explicit form is found for the corrections to the entropy of extremal black holes. We speculate on the properties of these corrections from the point of view of small black holes and in the case when the classical black hole potential exhibits flat directions. A particular attention is paid to the issue of stability of several solutions, including large and small black holes by using properties of the Hessian matrix of the effective black hole potential. This is done by using a model independent expression for such matrix derived within the entropy function formalism.Comment: 21 pages, PACS numbers: 04.50.Gh, 04.70.Dy, 04.65.+

Reply to ``Comment on `Properties of the massive Thirring model from the XYZ spin chain' "

We elaborate in more details why lattice calculation in [Kolanovic et al, Phys. Rev. D 62, 025021 (2000)] was done correctly and argue that incresing the number of sites is not expected to change our conclusions on the mass spectrum.Comment: 2 pages, revtex 4, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Non-uniform doping across the Fermi surface of NbS2 intercalates

Abstract.: Magnetic ordering of the first row transition metal intercalates of NbS2 due to coupling between the conduction electrons and the intercalated ions has been explained in terms of Fermi surface nesting. We use angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the Fermi surface topology and the valence band structure of the quasi-two-dimensional layer compounds Mn1/3NbS2 and Ni1/3NbS2. Charge transfer from the intercalant species to the host layer leads to non-uniform, pocket selective doping of the Fermi surface. The implication of our results on the nesting properties are discusse

Non-Supersymmetric Attractors and Entropy Function

We study the entropy of non-supersymmetric extremal black holes which exhibit attractor mechanism by making use of the entropy function. This method, being simple, can be used to calculate corrections to the entropy due to higher order corrections to the action. In particular we apply this method for five dimensional non-supersymmetric extremal black hole which carries two magnetic charges and find the R^2 corrections to the entropy. Using the behavior of the action evaluated for the extremal black hole near the horizon, we also present a simple expression for C-function corrected by higher order corrections.Comment: 15 pages, Latex file, v2: references and some additional comments added, minor corrections, some comments about 5D supersymmetric BH added. v3:minor corrections, few comments added, refs. adde