144 research outputs found
Bosonic Fractionalisation Transitions
At finite density, charge in holographic systems can be sourced either by
explicit matter sources in the bulk or by bulk horizons. In this paper we find
bosonic solutions of both types, breaking a global U(1) symmetry in the former
case and leaving it unbroken in the latter. Using a minimal bottom-up model we
exhibit phase transitions between the two cases, under the influence of a
relevant operator in the dual field theory. We also embed solutions and
transitions of this type in M-theory, where, holding the theory at constant
chemical potential, the cohesive phase is connected to a neutral phase of
Schr\"odinger type via a z=2 QCP.Comment: references added. minor changes. version published in JHE
A soliton menagerie in AdS
We explore the behaviour of charged scalar solitons in asymptotically global
AdS4 spacetimes. This is motivated in part by attempting to identify under what
circumstances such objects can become large relative to the AdS length scale.
We demonstrate that such solitons generically do get large and in fact in the
planar limit smoothly connect up with the zero temperature limit of planar
scalar hair black holes. In particular, for given Lagrangian parameters we
encounter multiple branches of solitons: some which are perturbatively
connected to the AdS vacuum and surprisingly, some which are not. We explore
the phase space of solutions by tuning the charge of the scalar field and
changing scalar boundary conditions at AdS asymptopia, finding intriguing
critical behaviour as a function of these parameters. We demonstrate these
features not only for phenomenologically motivated gravitational Abelian-Higgs
models, but also for models that can be consistently embedded into eleven
dimensional supergravity.Comment: 62 pages, 21 figures. v2: added refs and comments and updated
appendice
Doping the holographic Mott insulator
Mott insulators form because of strong electron repulsions, being at the
heart of strongly correlated electron physics. Conventionally these are
understood as classical "traffic jams" of electrons described by a short-ranged
entangled product ground state. Exploiting the holographic duality, which maps
the physics of densely entangled matter onto gravitational black hole physics,
we show how Mott-insulators can be constructed departing from entangled
non-Fermi liquid metallic states, such as the strange metals found in cuprate
superconductors. These "entangled Mott insulators" have traits in common with
the "classical" Mott insulators, such as the formation of Mott gap in the
optical conductivity, super-exchange-like interactions, and form "stripes" when
doped. They also exhibit new properties: the ordering wave vectors are detached
from the number of electrons in the unit cell, and the DC resistivity diverges
algebraically instead of exponentially as function of temperature. These
results may shed light on the mysterious ordering phenomena observed in
underdoped cuprates.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures. Accepted in Nature Physic
Universal scaling properties of extremal cohesive holographic phases
We show that strongly-coupled, translation-invariant holographic IR phases at
finite density can be classified according to the scaling behaviour of the
metric, the electric potential and the electric flux introducing four critical
exponents, independently of the details of the setup. Solutions fall into two
classes, depending on whether they break relativistic symmetry or not. The
critical exponents determine key properties of these phases, like thermodynamic
stability, the (ir)relevant deformations around them, the low-frequency scaling
of the optical conductivity and the nature of the spectrum for electric
perturbations. We also study the scaling behaviour of the electric flux through
bulk minimal surfaces using the Hartnoll-Radicevic order parameter, and
characterize the deviation from the Ryu-Takayanagi prescription in terms of the
critical exponents.Comment: v4: corrected a typo in eqn (3.29), now (3.28). Conclusions unchange
Superconducting instabilities of R-charged black branes
We explore superconducting instabilities of black branes in SO(6) gauged
supergravity at finite temperature and finite R-charge densities. We compute
the critical temperatures for homogeneous neutral and superconducting
instabilities in a truncation of 20 scalars and 15 gauge fields as a function
of the chemical potentials conjugate to the three U(1) charges in SO(6). We
find that despite the imbalance provided by multiple chemical potentials there
is always at least one superconducting black brane branch, emerging at a
temperature where the normal phase is locally thermodynamically stable. We
emphasise that the three-equal charge solution, Reissner-Nordstrom, is
subdominant to a thermodynamically unstable black brane at sufficiently low
temperatures --- a feature which is hidden in an equal charge truncation.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure
Competing orders in M-theory: superfluids, stripes and metamagnetism
We analyse the infinite class of d = 3 CFTs dual to skew-whiffed AdS 4 × SE 7 solutions of D = 11 supergravity at finite temperature and charge density and in the presence of a magnetic field. We construct black hole solutions corresponding to the unbroken phase, and at zero temperature some of these become dyonic domain walls of an Einstein-Maxwell-pseudo-scalar theory interpolating between AdS 4 in the UV and new families of dyonic AdS 2 ×R 2 solutions in the IR. The black holes exhibit both diamagnetic and paramagnetic behaviour. We analyse superfluid and striped instabilities and show that for large enough values of the magnetic field the superfluid instability disappears while the striped instability remains. For larger values of the magnetic field there is also a first-order metamagnetic phase transition and at zero temperature these black hole solutions exhibit hyperscaling violation in the IR with dynamical exponent z = 3/2 and θ = −2
Planar and van der Waals heterostructures for vertical tunnelling single electron transistors
Despite a rich choice of two-dimensional materials, which exists these days, heterostructures, both vertical (van der Waals) and in-plane, offer an unprecedented control over the properties and functionalities of the resulted structures. Thus, planar heterostructures allow p-n junctions between different two-dimensional semiconductors and graphene nanoribbons with well-defined edges; and vertical heterostructures resulted in the observation of superconductivity in purely carbon-based systems and realisation of vertical tunnelling transistors. Here we demonstrate simultaneous use of in-plane and van der Waals heterostructures to build vertical single electron tunnelling transistors. We grow graphene quantum dots inside the matrix of hexagonal boron nitride, which allows a dramatic reduction of the number of localised states along the perimeter of the quantum dots. The use of hexagonal boron nitride tunnel barriers as contacts to the graphene quantum dots make our transistors reproducible and not dependent on the localised states, opening even larger flexibility when designing future devices
More Evidence that Depressive Symptoms Predict Mortality in COPD Patients: Is Type D Personality an Alternative Explanation?
The present study attempted to replicate our previous finding that depressive symptoms are a risk factor for mortality in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but in a different population with a different measure of depressive symptoms. We further investigated whether type D personality is associated with mortality in patients with COPD and whether it explains any relationship observed between depressive symptoms and mortality. In 122 COPD patients, mean age 60.8 +/- 10.3 years, 52% female, and mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) 41.1 +/- 17.6%pred, we assessed body mass index, post bronchodilator FEV(1), exercise capacity, depressive symptoms with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and type D with the Type D Scale. In the 7 years follow-up, 48 (39%) deaths occurred. The median survival time was 5.3 years. Depressive symptoms (hazard ratio = 1.07, 95% confidence intervals = 1.00-1.14) were an independent risk factor for mortality. Type D was not associated with mortality. We can rule out type D as an explanation for the relationship between depressive symptoms and mortality observed in this sample. However, ambiguity remains as to the interpretation of the value of depressive symptoms in predicting death
SNi from SN2: a front-face mechanism ‘synthase’ engineered from a retaining hydrolase
SNi or SNi-like mechanisms, in which leaving group departure and nucleophile approach occur on the same ‘front’ face, have been observed previously experimentally and computationally in both the chemical and enzymatic (glycosyltransferase) substitution reactions of α-glycosyl electrophiles. Given the availability of often energetically comparable competing pathways for substitution (SNi vs SN1 vs SN2) the precise modulation of this archetypal reaction type should be feasible. Here, we show that the drastic engineering of a protein that catalyzes substitution, a retaining β-glycosidase (from Sulfolobus solfataricus SSβG), apparently changes the mode of reaction from “SN2” to “SNi”. Destruction of the nucleophilic Glu387 of SSβG-WT through Glu387Tyr mutation (E387Y) created a catalyst (SSβG-E387Y) with lowered but clear transglycosylation substitution activity with activated substrates, altered substrate and reaction preferences and hence useful synthetic (‘synthase’) utility by virtue of its low hydrolytic activity with unactivated substrates. Strikingly, the catalyst still displayed retaining β stereoselectivity, despite lacking a suitable nucleophile; pH-activity profile, mechanism-based inactivators and mutational analyses suggest that SSβG-E387Y operates without either the use of nucleophile or general acid/base residues, consistent with a SNi or SNi-like mechanism. An x-ray structure of SSβG-E387Y and subsequent metadynamics simulation suggest recruitment of substrates aided by a π-sugar interaction with the introduced Tyr387 and reveal a QM/MM free energy landscape for the substitution reaction catalyzed by this unnatural enzyme similar to those of known natural, SNi-like glycosyltransferase (GT) enzymes. Proton flight from the putative hydroxyl nucleophile to the developing p-nitrophenoxide leaving group of the substituted molecule in the reactant complex creates a hydrogen bond that appears to crucially facilitate the mechanism, mimicking the natural mechanism of SNi-GTs. An oxocarbenium ion-pair minimum along the reaction pathway suggests a step-wise SNi-like DN*ANss rather than a concerted SNi DNAN mechanism. This first observation of a front face mechanism in a β-retaining glycosyl transfer enzyme highlights, not only that unusual SNi reaction pathways may be accessed through direct engineering of catalysts with suitable environments, but also suggests that ‘β-SNi’ reactions are also feasible for glycosyl transfer enzymes and the more widespread existence of SNi or SNi-like mechanism in nature
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