7,458 research outputs found
Hot Spots on the Fermi Surface of Bi2212: Stripes versus Superstructure
In a recent paper Saini et al. have reported evidence for a pseudogap around
(pi,0) at room temperature in the optimally doped superconductor Bi2212. This
result is in contradiction with previous ARPES measurements. Furthermore they
observed at certain points on the Fermi surface hot spots of high spectral
intensity which they relate to the existence of stripes in the CuO planes. They
also claim to have identified a new electronic band along Gamma-M1 whose one
dimensional character provides further evidence for stripes. We demonstrate in
this Comment that all the measured features can be simply understood by
correctly considering the superstructure (umklapp) and shadow bands which occur
in Bi2212.Comment: 1 page, revtex, 1 encapsulated postscript figure (color
Dark Matter and Dark Energy
I briefly review our current understanding of dark matter and dark energy.
The first part of this paper focusses on issues pertaining to dark matter
including observational evidence for its existence, current constraints and the
`abundance of substructure' and `cuspy core' issues which arise in CDM. I also
briefly describe MOND. The second part of this review focusses on dark energy.
In this part I discuss the significance of the cosmological constant problem
which leads to a predicted value of the cosmological constant which is almost
times larger than the observed value \la/8\pi G \simeq
10^{-47}GeV. Setting \la to this small value ensures that the
acceleration of the universe is a fairly recent phenomenon giving rise to the
`cosmic coincidence' conundrum according to which we live during a special
epoch when the density in matter and \la are almost equal. Anthropic
arguments are briefly discussed but more emphasis is placed upon dynamical dark
energy models in which the equation of state is time dependent. These include
Quintessence, Braneworld models, Chaplygin gas and Phantom energy. Model
independent methods to determine the cosmic equation of state and the
Statefinder diagnostic are also discussed. The Statefinder has the attractive
property \atridot/a H^3 = 1 for LCDM, which is helpful for differentiating
between LCDM and rival dark energy models. The review ends with a brief
discussion of the fate of the universe in dark energy models.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, Lectures presented at the Second Aegean Summer
School on the Early Universe, Syros, Greece, September 2003, New References
added Final version to appear in the Proceeding
The physics of the stripe quantum critical point in the superconducting cuprates
We elaborate on several observable consequences of the Quantum-Critical-Point
scenario. In particular we show that the strong k-dependent scattering of the
quasiparticles with the quasi-critical charge and spin fluctuations reproduces
the main features of the low-energy spectral weights and of the observed Fermi
surfaces. In the underdoped cuprates the attractive k-dependent charge
scattering drives the formation of the pseudogap at the M points below the
crossover temperature T^*. In this context we discuss models for pseudogap
formation with relevant scattering in the particle-particle and particle-hole
channels. The experimental consequences for the pair-fluctuation and for the
pseudogap behavior are investigated.Comment: 4 pages, 2 enclosed figures, Proceedings of M2S-HTS
Bond stretching phonon softening and angle-resolved photoemission kinks in optimally doped Bi2Sr1.6La0.4Cu2O6 superconductors
We report the first measurement of the optical phonon dispersion in optimally
doped single layer Bi2Sr1.6La0.4Cu2O6+delta using inelastic x-ray scattering.
We found a strong softening of the Cu-O bond stretching phonon at about
q=(0.25,0,0) from 76 to 60 meV, similar to the one reported in other cuprates.
A direct comparison with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements
taken on the same sample, revealed an excellent agreement in terms of energy
and momentum between the ARPES nodal kink and the soft part of the bond
stretching phonon. Indeed, we find that the momentum space where a 63 meV kink
is observed can be connected with a vector q=(xi,0,0) with xi~0.22, which
corresponds exactly to the soft part of the bond stretching phonon mode. This
result supports an interpretation of the ARPES kink in terms of electron-phonon
coupling.Comment: submited to PR
Injuries in Medium to Long-Distance Triathlon: A Retrospective Analysis of Medical Conditions Treated in Three Editions of the Ironman Competition
Triathlon's popularity is rapidly increasing, and epidemiological data relating to its related medical conditions is crucial to the development of proper medical plans and safety guidelines for it. This study examined the data from the medical reports collected during three consecutive editions of Ironman Italy, from 2017 to 2019. Out of 10,653 race-starters, 3.3% required medical attention sustaining 472 medical conditions. A significantly higher injury risk was found for females versus males (χ2 = 9.78, p = 0.02) and in long-distance (IR: 4.09/1,000hours) rather than in Olympic/middle distance races (IR: 1.75/1,000hours). Most (68.4%) conditions (including muscular exhaustion, hypothermia, and dehydration) were systemic, whilst only 10.2% were acute traumatic injuries. Of a total of 357 triathletes requiring medical assistance, 8.1% were a candidate for hospitalisation. The equipment and personnel that are required for the medical assistance in future triathlon events were estimated based on Maurer's algorithm, and ten practical recommendations for triathlon medical support were formulated
Exploring the Expanding Universe and Dark Energy using the Statefinder Diagnostic
The coming few years are likely to witness a dramatic increase in high
quality Sn data as current surveys add more high redshift supernovae to their
inventory and as newer and deeper supernova experiments become operational.
Given the current variety in dark energy models and the expected improvement in
observational data, an accurate and versatile diagnostic of dark energy is the
need of the hour. This paper examines the Statefinder diagnostic in the light
of the proposed SNAP satellite which is expected to observe about 2000
supernovae per year. We show that the Statefinder is versatile enough to
differentiate between dark energy models as varied as the cosmological constant
on the one hand, and quintessence, the Chaplygin gas and braneworld models, on
the other. Using SNAP data, the Statefinder can distinguish a cosmological
constant () from quintessence models with and Chaplygin gas
models with at the level if the value of \om is
known exactly. The Statefinder gives reasonable results even when the value of
\om is known to only accuracy. In this case, marginalizing over
\om and assuming a fiducial LCDM model allows us to rule out quintessence
with and the Chaplygin gas with (both at
). These constraints can be made even tighter if we use the
Statefinders in conjunction with the deceleration parameter. The Statefinder is
very sensitive to the total pressure exerted by all forms of matter and
radiation in the universe. It can therefore differentiate between dark energy
models at moderately high redshifts of z \lleq 10.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures. Minor typos corrected to agree with version
published in MNRAS. Results unchange
Anisotropy dissipation in brane-world inflation
We examine the behavior of an anisotropic brane-world in the presence of
inflationary scalar fields. We show that, contrary to naive expectations, a
large anisotropy does not adversely affect inflation. On the contrary, a large
initial anisotropy introduces more damping into the scalar field equation of
motion, resulting in greater inflation. The rapid decay of anisotropy in the
brane-world significantly increases the class of initial conditions from which
the observed universe could have originated. This generalizes a similar result
in general relativity. A unique feature of Bianchi I brane-world cosmology
appears to be that for scalar fields with a large kinetic term the initial
expansion of the universe is quasi-isotropic. The universe grows more
anisotropic during an intermediate transient regime until anisotropy finally
disappears during inflationary expansion.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; minor typo corrected in Eq. (16); matches version
to appear in Phy Rev
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