Disorderless quasi-localization of polar gases in one-dimensional lattices

One-dimensional polar gases in deep optical lattices present a severely constrained dynamics due to the interplay between dipolar interactions, energy conservation, and finite bandwidth. The appearance of dynamically-bound nearest-neighbor dimers enhances the role of the $1/r^3$ dipolar tail, resulting, in the absence of external disorder, in quasi-localization via dimer clustering for very low densities and moderate dipole strengths. Furthermore, even weak dipoles allow for the formation of self-bound superfluid lattice droplets with a finite doping of mobile, but confined, holons. Our results, which can be extrapolated to other power-law interactions, are directly relevant for current and future lattice experiments with magnetic atoms and polar molecules.Comment: 5 + 2 Page

Interface States in Carbon Nanotube Junctions: Rolling up graphene

We study the origin of interface states in carbon nanotube intramolecular junctions between achiral tubes. By applying the Born-von Karman boundary condition to an interface between armchair- and zigzag-terminated graphene layers, we are able to explain their number and energies. We show that these interface states, costumarily attributed to the presence of topological defects, are actually related to zigzag edge states, as those of graphene zigzag nanoribbons. Spatial localization of interface states is seen to vary greatly, and may extend appreciably into either side of the junction. Our results give an alternative explanation to the unusual decay length measured for interface states of semiconductor nanotube junctions, and could be further tested by local probe spectroscopies

Lorentz-violating dimension-five operator contribution to the black body radiation

We investigate the thermodynamics of a photon gas in an effective field theory model that describes Lorentz violations through dimension-five operators and Horava-Lifshitz theory. We explore the electrodynamics of the model which includes higher order derivatives in the Lagrangian that can modify the dispersion relation for the propagation of the photons. We shall focus on the deformed black body radiation spectrum and modified Stefan-Boltzmann law to address the allowed bounds on the Lorentz-violating parameter.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Version published in PL

Berry phases and zero-modes in toroidal topological insulator

An effective Hamiltonian describing the surface states of a toroidal topological insulator is obtained, and it is shown to support both bound-states and charged zero-modes. Actually, the spin connection induced by the toroidal curvature can be viewed as an position-dependent effective vector potential, which ultimately yields the zero-modes whose wave-functions harmonically oscillate around the toroidal surface. In addition, two distinct Berry phases are predicted to take place by the virtue of the toroidal topology.Comment: New version, accepted for publication in EPJB, 6 pages, 1 figur

Ground-state configurations in ferromagnetic nanotori

Magnetization ground states are studied in toroidal nanomagnets. The energetics associated to the ferromagnetic, vortex and onion-like configurations are explicitly computed. The analysis reveals that the vortex appears to be the most prominent of such states, minimizing total energy in every torus with internal radius $r\gtrsim10\,{\rm nm}$ (for Permalloy). For $r\lesssim10\,{\rm nm}$ the vortex remains the most favorable pattern whenever $R/\ell_{ex}\gtrsim1.5$ ($R$ is the torus external radius and $\ell_{ex}$ is the exchange length), being substituted by the ferromagnetic state whenever $R/\ell_{ex}\lesssim1.5$.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 3 apendices, Revtex forma

Interaction-free measurements by quantum Zeno stabilisation of ultracold atoms

Quantum mechanics predicts that our physical reality is influenced by events that can potentially happen but factually do not occur. Interaction-free measurements (IFMs) exploit this counterintuitive influence to detect the presence of an object without requiring any interaction with it. Here we propose and realize an IFM concept based on an unstable many-particle system. In our experiments, we employ an ultracold gas in an unstable spin configuration which can undergo a rapid decay. The object - realized by a laser beam - prevents this decay due to the indirect quantum Zeno effect and thus, its presence can be detected without interacting with a single atom. Contrary to existing proposals, our IFM does not require single-particle sources and is only weakly affected by losses and decoherence. We demonstrate confidence levels of 90%, well beyond previous optical experiments.Comment: manuscript with 5 figures, 3 supplementary figure, 1 supplementary not