Foraminifera and palaeoenvironment of elevated Late Pleistocene sands, White Rock Point, southeastern Tasmania

A well-preserved foraminiferal fauna similar to that living in nearby Ralphs Bay in southeastern Tasmania is documented from raised shallow-water sediment of 130-119 Ka age (Late Pleistocene; Marine Isotope Stage 5e) at about 24m above modern sea level on White Rock Point

Age and palaeoenvironment of Pliocene sediments, Cameron Inlet Formation, eastern Flinders Island, Tasmania: implications for southeastern Australian biostratigraphy

A previously unrecorded thin unit of very Early Pliocene calcareous sediments of the Cameron Inlet Formation from two auger holes in central Flinders Island, Tasmania, has yielded a very diverse fauna of benthic Foraminifera and enough planktonic forms to allow fine correlation with international biostratigraphic standards (N19, approximately 5.3–4.4 Ma, or Lower Opoitian in New Zealand terminology). Ostracods are also recorded. It is older than an earlier recorded sample from North Patriarch Drain a few kilometres away. It lies within the Kalimnan of southeastern Australian stage nomenclature and probably equivalent to 1985 Molluscan Assemblage XVI. The sediments and faunas accumulated in very shallow, fully marine conditions, initially with some possible estuarine aspect that faded with time. The fauna is of well-known species, dominated by Parredicta kalimnensis (Parr, 1939). Other abundant and diverse forms are elphidiids and cibicidids. Agglutinated forms are almost absent and miliolids are diverse but minor components. The fauna includes a new polymorphinid genus and species that will be described elsewhere. The samples contain a bewildering array of unilocular forms. Water temperature appears to have been about 12°C. The Kalimnan Stage may encompass the entire Pliocene and two substages may be identifiable

Colour Relations in Form

The orthodox monadic determination thesis holds that we represent colour relations by virtue of representing colours. Against this orthodoxy, I argue that it is possible to represent colour relations without representing any colours. I present a model of iconic perceptual content that allows for such primitive relational colour representation, and provide four empirical arguments in its support. I close by surveying alternative views of the relationship between monadic and relational colour representation

Flux flow resistivity in the two-gap superconductivity

We investigate the flux flow state in a two-gap superconductor in which two s-wave gaps with different amplitudes exist on two separate Fermi surfaces. The flux flow resistivity is obtained on the basis of the Bardeen-Stephen relation and the result agrees well with the anomalous field dependence of the flow resistivity recently observed in the two-gap superconductor MgB2. Some typical properties of the vortex in this system are also discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Some typos are corrected. Some comments are added. To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

The uneasy heirs of acquaintance

My contribution to the first round of a tetralog with Bill Brewer, Anil Gupta, and John McDowell. Each of us has written a response to the writings of the other three philosophers on the topic "Empirical Reason". My initial contribution focuses on what we know a priori about perception. In the second round, we will each respond to the each writer's first-round contributions

Mixed state properties of superconducting MgB2 single crystals

We report on measurements of the magnetic moment in superconducting MgB2 single crystals. We find \mu_0H_{c2}^c(0) = 3.2 T, \mu_0H_{c2}^{ab}(0) = 14.5 T, \gamma = 4.6, \mu_0H_c(0) = 0.28 T, and \kappa(T_c) = 4.7. The standard Ginzburg-Landau and London model relations lead to a consistent data set and indicate that MgB2 is a clean limit superconductor of intermediate coupling strength with very pronounced anisotropy effects

Disorder induced collapse of the electron phonon coupling in MgB2_{2} observed by Raman Spectroscopy

The Raman spectrum of the superconductor MgB$_{2}$ has been measured as a function of the Tc of the film. A striking correlation is observed between the $T_{c}$ onset and the frequency of the $E_{2g}$ mode. Analysis of the data with the McMillan formula provides clear experimental evidence for the collapse of the electron phonon coupling at the temperature predicted for the convergence of two superconducting gaps into one observable gap. This gives indirect evidence of the convergence of the two gaps and direct evidence of a transition to an isotropic state at 19 K. The value of the electron phonon coupling constant is found to be 1.22 for films with T$_{c}$ 39K and 0.80 for films with T$_{c}\leq$19K.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Evidence for High-frequency Phonon Mediated S-wave Superconductivity : 11B-NMR Study of Al-doped MgB2

We report $^{11}$B-NMR study on Al-doped MgB$_2$ that addresses a possible mechanism for a high superconducting (SC) transition temperature ($T_c$) of $\sim 40$ K in recently discovered MgB$_2$. The result of nuclear spin lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ in the SC state revealed that the size in the SC gap is not changed by substituting Al for Mg. The reduction on $T_c$ by Al-doping is shown to be due to the decrease of $N(E_F)$. According to the McMillan equation, the experimental relation between $T_c$ and the relative change in $N(E_F)$ allowed us to estimate a characteristic phonon frequency $\omega \sim 700$ K and an electron-phonon coupling constant $\lambda \sim 0.87$. These results suggest that the high-$T_c$ superconductivity in MgB$_2$ is mediated by the strong electron-phonon coupling with high-frequency phonons.Comment: 6pages, 3figure

Optical symmetries and anisotropic transport in high-Tc superconductors

A simple symmetry analysis of in-plane and out-of-plane transport in a family of high temperature superconductors is presented. It is shown that generalized scaling relations exist between the low frequency electronic Raman response and the low frequency in-plane and out-of-plane conductivities in both the normal and superconducting states of the cuprates. Specifically, for both the normal and superconducting state, the temperature dependence of the low frequency $B_{1g}$ Raman slope scales with the $c-$axis conductivity, while the $B_{2g}$ Raman slope scales with the in-plane conductivity. Comparison with experiments in the normal state of Bi-2212 and Y-123 imply that the nodal transport is largely doping independent and metallic, while transport near the BZ axes is governed by a quantum critical point near doping $p\sim 0.22$ holes per CuO$_{2}$ plaquette. Important differences for La-214 are discussed. It is also shown that the $c-$ axis conductivity rise for $T\ll T_{c}$ is a consequence of partial conservation of in-plane momentum for out-of-plane transport.Comment: 16 pages, 8 Figures (3 pages added, new discussion on pseudogap and charge ordering in La214

Hole concentration and phonon renormalization in Ca-doped YBa_2Cu_3O_y (6.76 < y < 7.00)

In order to access the overdoped regime of the YBa_2Cu_3O_y phase diagram, 2% Ca is substituted for Y in YBa_2Cu_3O_y (y = 7.00,6.93,6.88,6.76). Raman scattering studies have been carried out on these four single crystals. Measurements of the superconductivity-induced renormalization in frequency (Delta \omega) and linewidth (\Delta 2\gamma) of the 340 cm^{-1} B_{1g} phonon demonstrate that the magnitude of the renormalization is directly related to the hole concentration (p), and not simply the oxygen content. The changes in \Delta \omega with p imply that the superconducting gap (\Delta_{max}) decreases monotonically with increasing hole concentration in the overdoped regime, and \Delta \omega falls to zero in the underdoped regime. The linewidth renormalization \Delta 2\gamma is negative in the underdoped regime, crossing over at optimal doping to a positive value in the overdoped state.Comment: 18 pages; 5 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. B Oct. 24, 2002 (BX8292