Singlet-Triplet Excitations in the Unconventional Spin-Peierls System TiOBr

We have performed time-of-flight neutron scattering measurements on powder samples of the unconventional spin-Peierls compound TiOBr using the fine-resolution Fermi chopper spectrometer (SEQUOIA) at the SNS. These measurements reveal two branches of magnetic excitations within the commensurate and incommensurate spin-Peierls phases, which we associate with n = 1 and n = 2 triplet excitations out of the singlet ground state. These measurements represent the first direct measure of the singlet-triplet energy gap in TiOBr, which is determined to be Eg = 21.2 +/- 1.0 meV.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publicatio

Zero-Point Motion of Liquid and Solid Hydrogen

We present an inelastic neutron scattering study of liquid and solid hydrogen carried out using the wide Angular Range Chopper Spectrometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. From the observed dynamic structure factor, we obtained empirical estimates of the molecular mean-squared displacement and average translational kinetic energy. We find that the former quantity increases with temperature, indicating that a combination of thermal and quantum effects is important near the liquid-solid phase transition, contrary to previous measurements. We also find that the kinetic energy drops dramatically upon melting of the crystals, a consequence of the large increase in molar volume together with the Heisenberg indeterminacy principle. Our results are compared with quantum Monte Carlo simulations based on different model potentials. In general, there is good agreement between our findings and theoretical predictions based on the Silvera-Goldman and Buck potentials.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures in color, submitted to Phys. Rev.

High-Order Coupled Cluster Method Study of Frustrated and Unfrustrated Quantum Magnets in External Magnetic Fields

We apply the coupled cluster method (CCM) in order to study the ground-state properties of the (unfrustrated) square-lattice and (frustrated) triangular-lattice spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnets in the presence of external magnetic fields. Here we determine and solve the basic CCM equations by using the localised approximation scheme commonly referred to as the `LSUB$m$' approximation scheme and we carry out high-order calculations by using intensive computational methods. We calculate the ground-state energy, the uniform susceptibility, the total (lattice) magnetisation and the local (sublattice) magnetisations as a function of the magnetic field strength. Our results for the lattice magnetisation of the square-lattice case compare well to those results of QMC for all values of the applied external magnetic field. We find a value for magnetic susceptibility of $\chi=0.070$ for the square-lattice antiferromagnet, which is also in agreement with the results of other approximate methods (e.g., $\chi=0.0669$ via QMC). Our estimate for the range of the extent of the ($M/M_s=$)$\frac 13$ magnetisation plateau for the triangular-lattice antiferromagnet is $1.37< \lambda < 2.15$, which is in good agreement with results of spin-wave theory ($1.248 < \lambda < 2.145$) and exact diagonalisations ($1.38 < \lambda < 2.16$). The CCM value for the in-plane magnetic susceptibility per site is $\chi=0.065$, which is below the result of the spin-wave theory (evaluated to order 1/S) of $\chi_{SWT}=0.0794$.Comment: 30 pages, 13 figures, 1 Tabl

Vascular Remodeling in Health and Disease

The term vascular remodeling is commonly used to define the structural changes in blood vessel geometry that occur in response to long-term physiologic alterations in blood flow or in response to vessel wall injury brought about by trauma or underlying cardiovascular diseases.1, 2, 3, 4 The process of remodeling, which begins as an adaptive response to long-term hemodynamic alterations such as elevated shear stress or increased intravascular pressure, may eventually become maladaptive, leading to impaired vascular function. The vascular endothelium, owing to its location lining the lumen of blood vessels, plays a pivotal role in regulation of all aspects of vascular function and homeostasis.5 Thus, not surprisingly, endothelial dysfunction has been recognized as the harbinger of all major cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes.6, 7, 8 The endothelium elaborates a variety of substances that influence vascular tone and protect the vessel wall against inflammatory cell adhesion, thrombus formation, and vascular cell proliferation.8, 9, 10 Among the primary biologic mediators emanating from the endothelium is nitric oxide (NO) and the arachidonic acid metabolite prostacyclin [prostaglandin I2 (PGI2)], which exert powerful vasodilatory, antiadhesive, and antiproliferative effects in the vessel wall

Cascade of Magnetic-Field-Induced Quantum Phase Transitions in a Spin- 12 Triangular-Lattice Antiferromagnet

We report magnetocaloric and magnetic-torque evidence that in Cs2CuBr4—a geometrically frustrated Heisenberg S 1⁄4 12 triangular-lattice antiferromagnet—quantum fluctuations stabilize a series of spin states at simple increasing fractions of the saturation magnetization Ms. Only the first of these states—at M 1⁄4 13 Ms—has been theoretically predicted. We discuss how the higher fraction quantum states might arise and propose model spin arrangements. We argue that the first-order nature of the transitions into those states is due to strong lowering of the energies by quantum fluctuations, with implications for the general character of quantum phase transitions in geometrically frustrated systems

Field-induced Quantum Phase Transitions in the Spin-1/2 Triangular-lattice Antiferromagnet Cs2CuBr4

In classical magnetic spin systems, geometric frustration leads to a large number of states of identical energy. We report here evidence from magnetocaloric and related measurements that in Cs2CuBr4 — a geometrically frustrated Heisenberg S= 1/2 triangular antiferromagnet — quantum fluctuations stabilize a series of gapped collinear spin states bounded by first-order transitions at simple increasing fractions of the saturation magnetization for fields directed along the c axis. Only the first of these quantum phase transitions has been theoretically predicted, suggesting that quantum effects continue to dominate at fields much higher than previously considered