Identification of Heterorhabditis (Nematoda : Heterorhabditidae) from California with a new species isolated from the larvae of the ghost moth Hepialis californicus (Lepidoptera : Hepialidae) from the Bodega Bay Natural Reserve

Les méthodes de taxonomie classique de même que des essais de croisement et l'amplification au hasard de l'ADN polymorphique (RAPD) ont été utilisés pour détecter les différences morphologiques et génétiques entre populations d'#Heterorhabditis Pointar, 1975 provenant de Californie. Une nouvelle espèce, #Heterorhabditis hepialius sp. n., présente dans des chenilles d'#Hepialis californicus provenant de la baie de Bodega (Californie, Etats-Unis d'Amérique) est décrite et illustrée. Représentant la huitième espèce du genre, #H. hepialius sp. n. est caractérisé par la morphologie des spicules, du gubernaculum, et de la queue de la femelle ainsi que les rapports E et F chez les juvéniles infestants. Des données sur sa biologie sont également fournies. (Résumé d'auteur

Dimerization and Incommensurate Spiral Spin Correlations in the Zigzag Spin Chain: Analogies to the Kondo Lattice

Using the density matrix renormalization group and a bosonization approach, we study a spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with near-neighbor coupling $J_1$ and frustrating second-neighbor coupling $J_2$, particularly in the limit $J_2 >> J_1$. This system exhibits both dimerization and incommensurate spiral spin correlations. We argue that this system is closely related to a doped, spin-gapped phase of the one-dimensional Kondo lattice.Comment: 18 pages, with 13 embedded encapsulated Postscript figures, uses epsf.sty. Corrects a misstatement about the pitch angle, and contains additional reference

Cosmic ray electrons and positrons from discrete stochastic sources

The distances that galactic cosmic ray electrons and positrons can travel are severely limited by energy losses to at most a few kiloparsec, thereby rendering the local spectrum very sensitive to the exact distribution of sources in our galactic neighbourhood. However, due to our ignorance of the exact source distribution, we can only predict the spectrum stochastically. We argue that even in the case of a large number of sources the central limit theorem is not applicable, but that the standard deviation for the flux from a random source is divergent due to a long power law tail of the probability density. Instead, we compute the expectation value and characterise the scatter around it by quantiles of the probability density using a generalised central limit theorem in a fully analytical way. The uncertainty band is asymmetric about the expectation value and can become quite large for TeV energies. In particular, the predicted local spectrum is marginally consistent with the measurements by Fermi-LAT and HESS even without imposing spectral breaks or cut-offs at source. We conclude that this uncertainty has to be properly accounted for when predicting electron fluxes above a few hundred GeV from astrophysical sources.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures; references and clarifying comment added; to appear in JCA

Superconductivity from doping a spin liquid insulator: a simple one-dimensional example

We study the phase diagram of a one-dimensional Hubbard model where, in addition to the standard nearest neighbor hopping $t$, we also include a next-to-nearest neighbor hopping $t'$. For strong enough on-site repulsion, this model has a transition at half filling from a magnetic insulator with gapless spin excitations at small $t'/t$ to a dimerized insulator with a spin gap at larger $t'/t$. We show that upon doping this model exhibits quite interesting features, which include the presence of a metallic phase with a spin gap and dominant superconducting fluctuations, in spite of the repulsive interaction. More interestingly, we find that this superconducting phase can be reached upon hole doping the magnetic insulator. The connections between this model and the two chain models, recently object of intensive investigations, are also discussed.Comment: 19 pages, plain LaTex using RevTex, 7 postscript figures Modified version which excludes some LaTex commands giving problems for the previous versio

Phase diagrams of spin ladders with ferromagnetic legs

The low-temperature properties of the spin S=1/2 ladder with anisotropic ferromagnetic legs are studied using the continuum limit bosonization approach. The weak-coupling ground state phase diagram of the model is obtained for a wide range of coupling constants and several unconventional gapless ''spin-liquid'' phases are shown to exist for ferromagnetic coupling. The behavior of the ladder system in the vicinity of the ferromagnetic instability point is discussed in detail.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Periodic orbit resonances in layered metals in tilted magnetic fields

The frequency dependence of the interlayer conductivity of a layered Fermi liquid in a magnetic field which is tilted away from the normal to the layers is considered. For both quasi-one- and quasi-two-dimensional systems resonances occur when the frequency is a harmonic of the frequency at which the magnetic field causes the electrons to oscillate on the Fermi surface within the layers. The intensity of the different harmonic resonances varies significantly with the direction of the field. The resonances occur for both coherent and weakly incoherent interlayer transport and so their observation does not imply the existence of a three-dimensional Fermi surface.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX + epsf, 2 figures. Discussion of other work revised. To appear in Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Commun., October 1

Effects of anisotropic spin-exchange interactions in spin ladders

We investigate the effects of the Dzialoshinskii-Moriya (DM) and Kaplan-Shekhtman-Entin-Wohlman-Aharony (KSEA) interactions on various thermodynamic and magnetic properties of a spin 1/2 ladder. Using the Majorana fermion representation, we derive the spectrum of low energy excitations for a pure DM interaction and in presence of a superimposed KSEA interaction. We calculate the various correlation functions for both cases and discuss how they are modified with respect to the case of an isotropic ladder. We also discuss the electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrum of the system and show that it is strongly influenced by the orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the Dzialoshinskii-Moriya vector. Implications of our calculations for NMR and ESR experiments on ladder systems are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 eps figures, corrected calculation of NMR rate (v3

Multi-Channel Kondo Necklace

A multi--channel generalization of Doniach's Kondo necklace model is formulated, and its phase diagram studied in the mean--field approximation. Our intention is to introduce the possible simplest model which displays some of the features expected from the overscreened Kondo lattice. The $N$ conduction electron channels are represented by $N$ sets of pseudospins \vt_{j}, $j=1, ... , N$, which are all antiferromagnetically coupled to a periodic array of |\vs|=1/2 spins. Exploiting permutation symmetry in the channel index $j$ allows us to write down the self--consistency equation for general $N$. For $N>2$, we find that the critical temperature is rising with increasing Kondo interaction; we interpret this effect by pointing out that the Kondo coupling creates the composite pseudospin objects which undergo an ordering transition. The relevance of our findings to the underlying fermionic multi--channel problem is discussed.Comment: 29 pages (2 figures upon request from [email protected]), LATEX, submitted for publicatio

Stochastic Resonance in Ion Channels Characterized by Information Theory

We identify a unifying measure for stochastic resonance (SR) in voltage dependent ion channels which comprises periodic (conventional), aperiodic and nonstationary SR. Within a simplest setting, the gating dynamics is governed by two-state conductance fluctuations, which switch at random time points between two values. The corresponding continuous time point process is analyzed by virtue of information theory. In pursuing this goal we evaluate for our dynamics the tau-information, the mutual information and the rate of information gain. As a main result we find an analytical formula for the rate of information gain that solely involves the probability of the two channel states and their noise averaged rates. For small voltage signals it simplifies to a handy expression. Our findings are applied to study SR in a potassium channel. We find that SR occurs only when the closed state is predominantly dwelled. Upon increasing the probability for the open channel state the application of an extra dose of noise monotonically deteriorates the rate of information gain, i.e., no SR behavior occurs.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Coherent vs incoherent interlayer transport in layered metals

The magnetic-field, temperature, and angular dependence of the interlayer magnetoresistance of two different quasi-two-dimensional (2D) organic superconductors is reported. For $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$I$_3$ we find a well-resolved peak in the angle-dependent magnetoresistance at $\Theta = 90^\circ$ (field parallel to the layers). This clear-cut proof for the coherent nature of the interlayer transport is absent for $\beta$''-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$SF$_5$CH$_2$CF$_2$SO$_3$. This and the non-metallic behavior of the magnetoresistance suggest an incoherent quasiparticle motion for the latter 2D metal.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Phys. Rev. B, in pres