652 research outputs found
A novel non-Fermi-liquid state in the iron-pnictide FeCrAs
We report transport and thermodynamic properties of stoichiometric single
crystals of the hexagonal iron-pnictide FeCrAs. The in-plane resistivity shows
an unusual "non-metallic" dependence on temperature T, rising continuously with
decreasing T from ~ 800 K to below 100 mK. The c-axis resistivity is similar,
except for a sharp drop upon entry into an antiferromagnetic state at T_N 125
K. Below 10 K the resistivity follows a non-Fermi-liquid power law, rho(T) =
rho_0 - AT^x with x<1, while the specific heat shows Fermi liquid behaviour
with a large Sommerfeld coefficient, gamma ~ 30 mJ/mol K^2. The high
temperature properties are reminiscent of those of the parent compounds of the
new layered iron-pnictide superconductors, however the T -> 0 properties
suggest a new class of non-Fermi liquid.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
On the Expansions in Spin Foam Cosmology
We discuss the expansions used in spin foam cosmology. We point out that
already at the one vertex level arbitrarily complicated amplitudes contribute,
and discuss the geometric asymptotics of the five simplest ones. We discuss
what type of consistency conditions would be required to control the expansion.
We show that the factorisation of the amplitude originally considered is best
interpreted in topological terms. We then consider the next higher term in the
graph expansion. We demonstrate the tension between the truncation to small
graphs and going to the homogeneous sector, and conclude that it is necessary
to truncate the dynamics as well.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, published versio
Viking navigation
A comprehensive description of the navigation of the Viking spacecraft throughout their flight from Earth launch to Mars landing is given. The flight path design, actual inflight control, and postflight reconstruction are discussed in detail. The preflight analyses upon which the operational strategies and performance predictions were based are discussed. The inflight results are then discussed and compared with the preflight predictions and, finally, the results of any postflight analyses are presented
Fermi-surface reconstruction and two-carrier model for the Hall effect in YBa2Cu4O8
Pulsed field measurements of the Hall resistivity and magnetoresistance of
underdoped YBa2Cu4O8 are analyzed self-consistently using a simple model based
on coexisting electron and hole carriers. The resultant mobilities and Hall
numbers are found to vary markedly with temperature. The conductivity of the
hole carriers drops by one order of magnitude below 30 K, explaining the
absence of quantum oscillations from these particular pockets. Meanwhile the
Hall coefficient of the electron carriers becomes strongly negative below 50 K.
The overall quality of the fits not only provides strong evidence for
Fermi-surface reconstruction in Y-based cuprates, it also strongly constrains
the type of reconstruction that might be occurring.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, updated after publication in Physical Review B
(Rapid Communication
Spin Foam Diagrammatics and Topological Invariance
We provide a simple proof of the topological invariance of the Turaev-Viro
model (corresponding to simplicial 3d pure Euclidean gravity with cosmological
constant) by means of a novel diagrammatic formulation of the state sum models
for quantum BF-theories. Moreover, we prove the invariance under more general
conditions allowing the state sum to be defined on arbitrary cellular
decompositions of the underlying manifold. Invariance is governed by a set of
identities corresponding to local gluing and rearrangement of cells in the
complex. Due to the fully algebraic nature of these identities our results
extend to a vast class of quantum groups. The techniques introduced here could
be relevant for investigating the scaling properties of non-topological state
sums, being proposed as models of quantum gravity in 4d, under refinement of
the cellular decomposition.Comment: 20 pages, latex with AMS macros and eps figure
Positivity of Spin Foam Amplitudes
The amplitude for a spin foam in the Barrett-Crane model of Riemannian
quantum gravity is given as a product over its vertices, edges and faces, with
one factor of the Riemannian 10j symbols appearing for each vertex, and simpler
factors for the edges and faces. We prove that these amplitudes are always
nonnegative for closed spin foams. As a corollary, all open spin foams going
between a fixed pair of spin networks have real amplitudes of the same sign.
This means one can use the Metropolis algorithm to compute expectation values
of observables in the Riemannian Barrett-Crane model, as in statistical
mechanics, even though this theory is based on a real-time (e^{iS}) rather than
imaginary-time (e^{-S}) path integral. Our proof uses the fact that when the
Riemannian 10j symbols are nonzero, their sign is positive or negative
depending on whether the sum of the ten spins is an integer or half-integer.
For the product of 10j symbols appearing in the amplitude for a closed spin
foam, these signs cancel. We conclude with some numerical evidence suggesting
that the Lorentzian 10j symbols are always nonnegative, which would imply
similar results for the Lorentzian Barrett-Crane model.Comment: 15 pages LaTeX. v3: Final version, with updated conclusions and other
minor changes. To appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity. v4: corrects # of
samples in Lorentzian tabl
Compactification, topology change and surgery theory
We study the process of compactification as a topology change. It is shown
how the mediating spacetime topology, or cobordism, may be simplified through
surgery. Within the causal Lorentzian approach to quantum gravity, it is shown
that any topology change in dimensions may be achieved via a causally
continuous cobordism. This extends the known result for 4 dimensions.
Therefore, there is no selection rule for compactification at the level of
causal continuity. Theorems from surgery theory and handle theory are seen to
be very relevant for understanding topology change in higher dimensions.
Compactification via parallelisable cobordisms is particularly amenable to
study with these tools.Comment: 1+19 pages. LaTeX. 9 associated eps files. Discussion of disconnected
case adde
Quantum Sign Permutation Polytopes
Convex polytopes are convex hulls of point sets in the -dimensional space
\E^n that generalize 2-dimensional convex polygons and 3-dimensional convex
polyhedra. We concentrate on the class of -dimensional polytopes in \E^n
called sign permutation polytopes. We characterize sign permutation polytopes
before relating their construction to constructions over the space of quantum
density matrices. Finally, we consider the problem of state identification and
show how sign permutation polytopes may be useful in addressing issues of
robustness
A Closed Contour of Integration in Regge Calculus
The analytic structure of the Regge action on a cone in dimensions over a
boundary of arbitrary topology is determined in simplicial minisuperspace. The
minisuperspace is defined by the assignment of a single internal edge length to
all 1-simplices emanating from the cone vertex, and a single boundary edge
length to all 1-simplices lying on the boundary. The Regge action is analyzed
in the space of complex edge lengths, and it is shown that there are three
finite branch points in this complex plane. A closed contour of integration
encircling the branch points is shown to yield a convergent real wave function.
This closed contour can be deformed to a steepest descent contour for all sizes
of the bounding universe. In general, the contour yields an oscillating wave
function for universes of size greater than a critical value which depends on
the topology of the bounding universe. For values less than the critical value
the wave function exhibits exponential behaviour. It is shown that the critical
value is positive for spherical topology in arbitrary dimensions. In three
dimensions we compute the critical value for a boundary universe of arbitrary
genus, while in four and five dimensions we study examples of product manifolds
and connected sums.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, To appear in Gen. Rel. Gra
Strong Anisotropy in Spin Suceptibility of Superfluid 3He-B Film Caused by Surface Bound States
Spin susceptibility of superfluid 3He-B film with specular surfaces is
calculated. It is shown that, when the magnetic field is applied in a direction
perpendiculr to the film, the suseptibility is significantly enhanced by the
contribution from the surface bound states. No such enhancement is found for
the magnetic field parallel to the film. A simplified model with spatially
constant order parameter is used to elucidate the magnetic properties of the
surface bound states. The Majorana nature of the zero energy bound state is
also mentioned.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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