16,685 research outputs found
Large quantum fluctuations in the strongly coupled spin-1/2 chains of green dioptase: a hidden message from birds and trees
The green mineral dioptase Cu6Si6O18(H2O)6 has been known since centuries and
plays an important role in esoteric doctrines. In particular, the green
dioptase is supposed to grant the skill to speak with trees and to understand
the language of birds. Armed with natural samples of dioptase, we were able to
unravel the magnetic nature of the mineral (presumably with hidden support from
birds and trees) and show that strong quantum fluctuations can be realized in
an essentially framework-type spin lattice of coupled chains, thus neither
frustration nor low-dimensionality are prerequisites. We present a microscopic
magnetic model for the green dioptase. Based on full-potential DFT
calculations, we find two relevant couplings in this system: an
antiferromagnetic coupling J_c, forming spiral chains along the hexagonal c
axis, and an inter-chain ferromagnetic coupling J_d within structural Cu2O6
dimers. To refine the J_c and J_d values and to confirm the proposed spin
model, we perform quantum Monte-Carlo simulations for the dioptase spin
lattice. The derived magnetic susceptibility, the magnetic ground state, and
the sublattice magnetization are in remarkably good agreement with the
experimental data. The refined model parameters are J_c = 78 K and J_d = -37 K
with J_d/J_c ~ -0.5. Despite the apparent three-dimensional features of the
spin lattice and the lack of frustration, strong quantum fluctuations in the
system are evidenced by a broad maximum in the magnetic susceptibility, a
reduced value of the Neel temperature T_N ~ 15 K >> J_c, and a low value of the
sublattice magnetization m = 0.55 Bohr magneton. All these features should be
ascribed to the low coordination number of 3 that outbalances the
three-dimensional nature of the spin lattice.Comment: Dedicated to Stefan-Ludwig Drechsler on the occasion of his 60th
birthday (9 pages, 6 figures
Anomalous dephasing of bosonic excitons interacting with phonons in the vicinity of the Bose-Einstein condensation
The dephasing and relaxation kinetics of bosonic excitons interacting with a
thermal bath of acoustic phonons is studied after coherent pulse excitation.
The kinetics of the induced excitonic polarization is calculated within
Markovian equations both for subcritical and supercritical excitation with
respect to a Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). For excited densities n below
the critical density n_c, an exponential polarization decay is obtained, which
is characterized by a dephasing rate G=1/T_2. This dephasing rate due to phonon
scattering shows a pronounced exciton-density dependence in the vicinity of the
phase transition. It is well described by the power law G (n-n_c)^2 that can be
understood by linearization of the equations around the equilibrium solution.
Above the critical density we get a non-exponential relaxation to the final
condensate value p^0 with |p(t)|-|p^0| ~1/t that holds for all densities.
Furthermore we include the full self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB)
terms due to the exciton-exciton interaction and the kinetics of the anomalous
functions F_k= . The collision terms are analyzed and an
approximation is used which is consistent with the existence of BEC. The
inclusion of the coherent x-x interaction does not change the dephasing laws.
The anomalous function F_k exhibits a clear threshold behaviour at the critical
density.Comment: European Physical Journal B (in print
Magnetism of CuX2 frustrated chains (X = F, Cl, Br): the role of covalency
Periodic and cluster density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, including
DFT+U and hybrid functionals, are applied to study magnetostructural
correlations in spin-1/2 frustrated chain compounds CuX2: CuCl2, CuBr2, and a
fictitious chain structure of CuF2. The nearest-neighbor and second-neighbor
exchange integrals, J1 and J2, are evaluated as a function of the Cu-X-Cu
bridging angle, theta, in the physically relevant range 80-110deg. In the ionic
CuF2, J1 is ferromagnetic for theta smaller 100deg. For larger angles, the
antiferromagnetic superexchange contribution becomes dominant, in accord with
the Goodenough-Kanamori-Anderson rules. However, both CuCl2 and CuBr2 feature
ferromagnetic J1 in the whole angular range studied. This surprising behavior
is ascribed to the increased covalency in the Cl and Br compounds, which
amplifies the contribution from Hund's exchange on the ligand atoms and renders
J1 ferromagnetic. At the same time, the larger spatial extent of X orbitals
enhances the antiferromagnetic J2, which is realized via the long-range
Cu-X-X-Cu paths. Both, periodic and cluster approaches supply a consistent
description of the magnetic behavior which is in good agreement with the
experimental data for CuCl2 and CuBr2. Thus, owing to their simplicity, cluster
calculations have excellent potential to study magnetic correlations in more
involved spin lattices and facilitate application of quantum-chemical methods
Microscopic magnetic modeling for the =1/2 alternating chain compounds NaCuSbO and NaCuTeO
The spin-1/2 alternating Heisenberg chain system NaCuSbO features
two relevant exchange couplings: within the structural CuO
dimers and between the dimers. Motivated by the controversially
discussed nature of , we perform extensive density-functional-theory
(DFT) calculations, including DFT+ and hybrid functionals. Fits to the
experimental magnetic susceptibility using high-temperature series expansions
and quantum Monte Carlo simulations yield the optimal parameters =
217 K and = 174 K with the alternation ratio 1.25. For the closely related system
NaCuTeO, DFT yields substantially enhanced , but weaker
. The comparative analysis renders the buckling of the chains as the
key parameter altering the magnetic coupling regime. Numerical simulation of
the dispersion relations of the alternating chain model clarify why both
antiferromagnetic and ferrromagnetic can reproduce the experimental
magnetic susceptibility data.Comment: published version: 11 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables + Supplemental
materia
Crystal water induced switching of magnetically active orbitals in CuCl2
The dehydration of CuCl2*2(H2O) to CuCl2 leads to a dramatic change in
magnetic behavior and ground state. Combining density functional electronic
structure and model calculations with thermodynamical measurements we reveal
the microscopic origin of this unexpected incident -- a crystal water driven
switching of the magnetically active orbitals. This switching results in a
fundamental change of the coupling regime from a three-dimensional
antiferromagnet to a quasi one-dimensional behavior. CuCl2 can be well
described as a frustrated J1-J2 Heisenberg chain with ferromagnetic exchange J1
and J2/J1 ~ -1.5 for which a helical ground state is predicted.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 1 table (PRB, accepted
Detecting Neutrino Magnetic Moments with Conducting Loops
It is well established that neutrinos have mass, yet it is very difficult to
measure those masses directly. Within the standard model of particle physics,
neutrinos will have an intrinsic magnetic moment proportional to their mass. We
examine the possibility of detecting the magnetic moment using a conducting
loop. According to Faraday's Law of Induction, a magnetic dipole passing
through a conducting loop induces an electromotive force, or EMF, in the loop.
We compute this EMF for neutrinos in several cases, based on a fully covariant
formulation of the problem. We discuss prospects for a real experiment, as well
as the possibility to test the relativistic formulation of intrinsic magnetic
moments.Comment: 6 pages, 4 b/w figures, uses RevTe
The Ca II infrared triplet's performance as an activity indicator compared to Ca II H and K
Aims. A large number of Calcium Infrared Triplet (IRT) spectra are expected
from the GAIA- and CARMENES missions. Conversion of these spectra into known
activity indicators will allow analysis of their temporal evolution to a better
degree. We set out to find such a conversion formula and to determine its
robustness.
Methods. We have compared 2274 Ca II IRT spectra of active main-sequence F to
K stars taken by the TIGRE telescope with those of inactive stars of the same
spectral type. After normalizing and applying rotational broadening, we
subtracted the comparison spectra to find the chromospheric excess flux caused
by activity. We obtained the total excess flux, and compared it to established
activity indices derived from the Ca II H & K lines, the spectra of which were
obtained simultaneously to the infrared spectra.
Results. The excess flux in the Ca II IRT is found to correlate well with
and , as well as , if the
-dependency is taken into account. We find an empirical conversion formula
to calculate the corresponding value of one activity indicator from the
measurement of another, by comparing groups of datapoints of stars with similar
B-V.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Interface Between Titanium Miniplate/Screw and Human Calvaria
This study demonstrates interfacial changes of titanium miniplate/screw with normal calvaria and nonvascularized calvarial bone graft ensued from craniectomy in a 53-year-old female. In 18 months after operation, a right parietal bone containing an L-shaped miniplate with screws, 5mm long and 2mm in external diameter, was harvested, fixed, and embedded in methylmetacrylate. Fifteen micrometer thick sections were made by an EXAKT cutting-grinding system (Exakt Company, Hamburg, Germany), and reviewed under the bright field light microscope. The mean of the bonecontacting surface ratio (BCSR) in six screwed bone was 64.1%; 69.3% in normal bone, and 60.4% in grafted bone. The trabecular bone areas in 10x5mm (50mm2) rectangular area of diploe surrounding the screws was 43.02mm2; 45.25mm2 in normal calvaria; and 41.82mm2 in grafted bone. The mean Ca/P peak-height ratio of the plated and screwed calvaria was 1.47 in a 9mm wide zone around each screw; 1.37 in normal calvaria; and 1.51 in grafted calvaria. We concede that the effect of direct contact of titanium with screws onto the bone is as much as an osseous integration (osseointegration)
The VLQ Calorimeter of H1 at HERA: A Highly Compact Device for Measurements of Electrons and Photons under Very Small Scattering Angles
In 1998, the detector H1 at HERA has been equipped with a small backward
spectrometer, the Very Low Q^2 (VLQ) spectrometer comprising a silicon tracker,
a tungsten - scintillator sandwich calorimeter, and a Time-of-Flight system.
The spectrometer was designed to measure electrons scattered under very low
angles, equivalent to very low squared four - momentum transfers Q^2, and high
energy photons with good energy and spatial resolution. The VLQ was in
operation during the 1999 and 2000 run periods. This paper describes the design
and construction of the VLQ calorimeter, a compact device with a fourfold
projective energy read-out, and its performance during test runs and in the
experiment.Comment: 32 pages, 25 figures, 2 tables (To be submitted to Nucl. Instrum.
Meth. A
Large N limit of SO(N) gauge theory of fermions and bosons
In this paper we study the large N_c limit of SO(N_c) gauge theory coupled to
a Majorana field and a real scalar field in 1+1 dimensions extending ideas of
Rajeev. We show that the phase space of the resulting classical theory of
bilinears, which are the mesonic operators of this theory, is OSp_1(H|H
)/U(H_+|H_+), where H|H refers to the underlying complex graded space of
combined one-particle states of fermions and bosons and H_+|H_+ corresponds to
the positive frequency subspace. In the begining to simplify our presentation
we discuss in detail the case with Majorana fermions only (the purely bosonic
case is treated in our earlier work). In the Majorana fermion case the phase
space is given by O_1(H)/U(H_+), where H refers to the complex one-particle
states and H_+ to its positive frequency subspace. The meson spectrum in the
linear approximation again obeys a variant of the 't Hooft equation. The linear
approximation to the boson/fermion coupled case brings an additonal bound state
equation for mesons, which consists of one fermion and one boson, again of the
same form as the well-known 't Hooft equation.Comment: 27 pages, no figure
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