407 research outputs found
The Contractile Fine Structure of Vertebrate Smooth Muscle
About 30 years ago, Ernst Fischer introduced a new approach to muscle research by comparing the fine structure, and the function of the contractile mechanism of smooth and striated muscle. At that time (Fischer, 1936a and b; 1938) he systematically and successfully investigated the total, the intrinsic, and the form birefringence of smooth muscles and compared his results with analogous data concerning the contractile structure (Noll and Weber, 1935) and the oriented actomyosin threads (Weber, 1935) of skeletal muscle. These investigations were especially important because the birefringence of all muscles is based on its contractile structure and functional state, and because birefringence was better understood in micellar and molecular terms since Wiener\u27s theory
Dimensional reduction by pressure in the magnetic framework material CuF(DO)pyz: from spin-wave to spinon excitations
Metal organic magnets have enormous potential to host a variety of electronic
and magnetic phases that originate from a strong interplay between the spin,
orbital and lattice degrees of freedom. We control this interplay in the
quantum magnet CuF(DO)pyz by using high pressure to drive the
system through a structural and magnetic phase transition. Using neutron
scattering, we show that the low pressure state, which hosts a two-dimensional
square lattice with spin-wave excitations and a dominant exchange coupling of
0.89 meV, transforms at high pressure into a one-dimensional spin-chain
hallmarked by a spinon continuum and a reduced exchange interaction of 0.43
meV. This direct microscopic observation of a magnetic dimensional crossover as
a function of pressure opens up new possibilities for studying the evolution of
fractionalised excitations in low dimensional quantum magnets and eventually
pressure-controlled metal--insulator transitions
Quantum and classical criticality in a dimerized quantum antiferromagnet
A quantum critical point (QCP) is a singularity in the phase diagram arising
due to quantum mechanical fluctuations. The exotic properties of some of the
most enigmatic physical systems, including unconventional metals and
superconductors, quantum magnets, and ultracold atomic condensates, have been
related to the importance of the critical quantum and thermal fluctuations near
such a point. However, direct and continuous control of these fluctuations has
been difficult to realize, and complete thermodynamic and spectroscopic
information is required to disentangle the effects of quantum and classical
physics around a QCP. Here we achieve this control in a high-pressure,
high-resolution neutron scattering experiment on the quantum dimer material
TlCuCl3. By measuring the magnetic excitation spectrum across the entire
quantum critical phase diagram, we illustrate the similarities between quantum
and thermal melting of magnetic order. We prove the critical nature of the
unconventional longitudinal ("Higgs") mode of the ordered phase by damping it
thermally. We demonstrate the development of two types of criticality, quantum
and classical, and use their static and dynamic scaling properties to conclude
that quantum and thermal fluctuations can behave largely independently near a
QCP.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Original version, published version available
from Nature Physics websit
Neutron scattering study of the field-dependent ground state and the spin dynamics in S=1/2 NH4CuCl3
Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering experiments have been performed on the dimer spin system NH4CuCl3, which shows plateaus in the magnetization curve at m=1/4 and m=3/4 of the saturation value. Two structural phase transitions at T1â156ââK and at T2=70ââK lead to a doubling of the crystallographic unit cell along the b direction and as a consequence a segregation into different dimer subsystems. Long-range magnetic ordering is reported below TN=1.3ââK. The magnetic field dependence of the excitation spectrum identifies successive quantum phase transitions of the dimer subsystems as the driving mechanism for the unconventional magnetization process in agreement with a recent theoretical model
Specific Heat Study on a Novel Spin-Gapped System : (CH_3)_2NH_2CuCl_3
Specific heat measurements down to 120mK have been performed on a
quasi-one-dimensional spin-gapped system (CH)NHCuCl in
a magnetic field up to 8 T. This compound has a characteristic magnetization
curve which shows a gapless ground state and a plateau at 1/2 of the saturation
value. We have observed a spontaneous antiferromagnetic ordering and a
field-induced one below and above the 1/2 plateau field range, respectively.
The field versus temperature phase diagram is quite unusual and completely
different from those of the other quantum spin systems investigated so far. In
the plateau field range, a double-structure in the specific heat is observed,
reflecting the coexistence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic excitations.
These behaviors are discussed on the basis of a recently proposed novel quantum
spin chain model consisting of weakly coupled ferromagnetic and
antiferromagnetic dimers.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Multiple Magnon Modes and Consequences for the Bose-Einstein Condensed Phase in BaCuSi2O6
The compound BaCuSi2O6 is a quantum magnet with antiferromagnetic dimers of S
= 1/2 moments on a quasi-2D square lattice. We have investigated its spin
dynamics by inelastic neutron scattering experiments on single crystals with an
energy resolution considerably higher than in an earlier study. We observe
multiple magnon modes, indicating clearly the presence of magnetically
inequivalent dimer sites. This more complex spin Hamiltonian leads to a
distinct form of magnon Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) phase with a spatially
modulated condensate amplitude.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
Finite-Temperature Transition in the Spin-Dimer Antiferromagnet BaCuSi2O6
We consider a classical XY-like Hamiltonian on a body-centered tetragonal
lattice, focusing on the role of interlayer frustration. A three-dimensional
(3D) ordered phase is realized via thermal fluctuations, breaking the
mirror-image reflection symmetry in addition to the XY symmetry. A heuristic
field-theoretical model of the transition has a decoupled fixed point in the 3D
XY universality, and our Monte Carlo simulation suggests that there is such a
temperature region where long-wavelength fluctuations can be described by this
fixed point. However, it is shown using scaling arguments that the decoupled
fixed point is unstable against a fluctuation-induced biquadratic interaction,
indicating that a crossover to nontrivial critical phenomena with different
exponents appears as one approaches the critical point beyond the transient
temperature region. This new scenario clearly contradicts the previous notion
of the 3D XY universality.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Spin-Orbit-Induced Orbital Excitations in Sr2RuO4 and Ca2RuO4: A Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Study
High-resolution resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) at the oxygen
K-edge has been used to study the orbital excitations of Ca2RuO4 and Sr2RuO4.
In combination with linear dichroism X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the
ruthenium 4d-orbital occupation and excitations were probed through their
hybridization with the oxygen p-orbitals. These results are described within a
minimal model, taking into account crystal field splitting and a spin-orbit
coupling \lambda_{so}=200~meV. The effects of spin-orbit interaction on the
electronic structure and implications for the Mott and superconducting ground
states of (Ca,Sr)2RuO4 are discussed.Comment: accepted in PRB 201
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