Heat Kernel for Spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger Field in General Covariant Gauge

The heat kernel for the spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger gauge field on an arbitrary Ricci flat space-time ($d>2$) is investigated in a family of covariant gauges with one gauge parameter $\alpha$. The $\alpha$-dependent term of the kernel is expressed by the spin-1/2 heat kernel. It is shown that the axial anomaly and the one-loop divegence of the action are $\alpha$-independent, and that the conformal anomaly has an $\alpha$-dependent total derivative term in $d=2m\geq6$ dimensions.Comment: 11 pages, latex, ITP-SB-94-3

Gaugeon Formalism for Spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger Gauge Field

We provide a gauge covariant formalism of the canonically quantized theory of spin-3/2 Rarita-Schwinger gauge field. The theory admits a quantum gauge transformation by which we can shift the gauge fixing parameter. The quantum gauge transformation does not change the BRST charge. Thus, the physical Hilbert space is trivially independent of the gauge fixing parameter.Comment: 13 pages, no figures, LaTe

Fourier analyses of commensurability oscillations in Fibonacci lateral superlattices

Magnetotransport measurements have been performed on Fibonacci lateral superlattices (FLSLs) -- two-dimensional electron gases subjected to a weak potential modulation arranged in the Fibonacci sequence, LSLLSLS..., with L/S=tau (the golden ratio). Complicated commensurability oscillation (CO) is observed, which can be accounted for as a superposition of a series of COs each arising from a sinusoidal modulation representing the characteristic length scale of one of the self-similar generations in the Fibonacci sequence. Individual CO components can be separated out from the magnetoresistance trace by performing a numerical Fourier band-pass filter. From the analysis of the amplitude of a single-component CO thus extracted, the magnitude of the corresponding Fourier component in the potential modulation can be evaluated. By examining all the Fourier contents observed in the magnetoresistance trace, the profile of the modulated potential seen by the electrons can be reconstructed with some remaining ambiguity about the interrelation of the phase between different components.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, added references in Introduction, minor revision

Origin of positive magnetoresistance in small-amplitude unidirectional lateral superlattices

We report quantitative analysis of positive magnetoresistance (PMR) for unidirectional-lateral-superlattice samples with relatively small periods (a=92-184 nm) and modulation amplitudes (V_0=0.015-0.25 meV). By comparing observed PMR's with ones calculated using experimentally obtained mobilities, quantum mobilities, and V_0's, it is shown that contribution from streaming orbits (SO) accounts for only small fraction of the total PMR. For small V_0, the limiting magnetic field B_e of SO can be identified as an inflection point of the magnetoresistance trace. The major part of PMR is ascribed to drift velocity arising from incompleted cyclotron orbits obstructed by scatterings.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, REVTe

Modulation Induced Phase Transition from Fractional Quantum Hall to Stripe State at nu=5/3

We have investigated the effect of unidirectional periodic potential modulation on the fractional quantum Hall (FQH) state at filling factors nu=5/3 and 4/3. For large enough modulation amplitude, we find that the resistivity minimum at nu=5/3 gives way to a peak that grows with decreasing temperature. Density matrix renormalization group calculation reveals that phase transition from FQH state to unidirectional striped state having a period sim 4 l (with l the magnetic length) takes place at nu=1/3 (equivalent to nu=5/3 by the particle-hole symmetry) with the increase of the modulation amplitude, suggesting that the observed peak is the manifestation of the stripe phase.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures; minor revisio

Effect of Oscillating Landau Bandwidth on the Integer Quantum Hall Effect in a Unidirectional Lateral Superlattice

We have measured activation gaps for odd-integer quantum Hall states in a unidirectional lateral superlattice (ULSL) -- a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) subjected to a unidirectional periodic modulation of the electrostatic potential. By comparing the activation gaps with those simultaneously measured in the adjacent section of the same 2DEG sample without modulation, we find that the gaps are reduced in the ULSL by an amount corresponding to the width acquired by the Landau levels through the introduction of the modulation. The decrement of the activation gap varies with the magnetic field following the variation of the Landau bandwidth due to the commensurability effect. Notably, the decrement vanishes at the flat band conditions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, minor revisio

Phase Variation in the Pulse Profile of SMC X-1

We present the results of timing and spectral analysis of X-ray high state observations of the high-mass X-ray pulsar SMC X-1 with Chandra, XMM-Newton, and ROSAT, taken between 1991 and 2001. The source has L_X ~ 3-5 x 10^38 ergs/s, and the spectra can be modeled as a power law plus blackbody with kT_BB \~ 0.18 keV and reprocessed emission radius R_BB ~ 2 x 10^8 cm, assuming a distance of 60 kpc to the source. Energy-resolved pulse profiles show several distinct forms, more than half of which include a second pulse in the soft profile, previously documented only in hard energies. We also detect significant variation in the phase shift between hard and soft pulses, as has recently been reported in Her X-1. We suggest an explanation for the observed characteristics of the soft pulses in terms of precession of the accretion disk.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL; v2 minor corrections, as will appear in ApJ

Anisotropic transport in unidirectional lateral superlattice around half-filling of the second Landau level

We have observed marked transport anisotropy in short period (a=92 nm) unidirectional lateral superlattices around filling factors nu=5/2 and 7/2: magnetoresistance shows a sharp peak for current along the modulation grating while a dip appears for current across the grating. By altering the ratio a/l (with l=sqrt{hbar/eB_perp} the magnetic length) via changing the electron density n_e, it is shown that the nu=5/2 anisotropic features appear in the range 6.6 alt a/l alt 7.2 varying their intensities, becoming most conspicuous at a/l simeq 6.7. The peak/dip broadens with temperature roughly preserving its height/depth up to 250 mK. Tilt experiments reveal that the structures are slightly enhanced by an in-plane magnetic field B_| perpendicular to the grating but are almost completely destroyed by B_| parallel to the grating. The observations suggest the stabilization of a unidirectional charge-density-wave or stripe phase by weak external periodic modulation at the second Landau level.Comment: REVTeX, 5 pages, 3 figures, Some minor revisions, Added notes and reference

Region of hadron-quark mixed phase in hybrid stars

Hadron--quark mixed phase is expected in a wide region of the inner structure of hybrid stars. However, we show that the hadron--quark mixed phase should be restricted to a narrower region to because of the charge screening effect. The narrow region of the mixed phase seems to explain physical phenomena of neutron stars such as the strong magnetic field and glitch phenomena, and it would give a new cooling curve for the neutron star.Comment: to be published in Physical Review