509 research outputs found
Tunneling Conductance Between Parallel Two Dimensional Electron Systems
We derive and evaluate expressions for the low temperature {\it dc}
equilibrium tunneling conductance between parallel two-dimensional electron
systems. Our theory is based on a linear-response formalism and on
impurity-averaged perturbation theory. The disorder broadening of features in
the dependence of tunneling conductance on sheet densities and in-plane
magnetic field strengths is influenced both by the finite lifetime of electrons
within the wells and by non-momentum-conserving tunneling events. Disorder
vertex corrections are important only for weak in-plane magnetic fields and
strong interwell impurity-potential correlations. We comment on the basis of
our results on the possibility of using tunneling measurements to determine the
lifetime of electrons in the quantum wells.Comment: 14 pages, 5 Fig. not included, revtex, IUcm92-00
Two-dimensional limit of exchange-correlation energy functional approximations in density functional theory
We investigate the behavior of three-dimensional (3D) exchange-correlation
energy functional approximations of density functional theory in anisotropic
systems with two-dimensional (2D) character. Using two simple models, quasi-2D
electron gas and two-electron quantum dot, we show a {\it fundamental
limitation} of the local density approximation (LDA), and its semi-local
extensions, generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and meta-GGA (MGGA), the
most widely used forms of which are worse than the LDA in the strong 2D limit.
The origin of these shortcomings is in the inability of the local (LDA) and
semi-local (GGA/MGGA) approximations to describe systems with 2D character in
which the nature of the exchange-correlation hole is very nonlocal. Nonlocal
functionals provide an alternative approach, and explicitly the average density
approximation (ADA) is shown to be remarkably accurate for the quasi-2D
electron gas system. Our study is not only relevant for understanding of the
functionals but also practical applications to semiconductor quantum structures
and materials such as graphite and metal surfaces. We also comment on the
implication of our findings to the practical device simulations based on the
(semi-)local density functional method.Comment: 21 pages including 9 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Persistent Currents and Dissipation in Narrow Bilayer Quantum Hall Bars
Bilayer quantum Hall states support a flow of nearly dissipationless
staggered current which can only decay through collective channels. We study
the dominant finite-temperature dissipation mechanism which in narrow bars is
driven by thermal nucleation of pseudospin solitons. We find the
finite-temperature resistivity, predict the resulting staggered current-voltage
characteristics, and calculate the associated zero-temperature critical
staggered current and gate voltage.Comment: 4 pgs. REVTeX, 3 eps figure
Electron-electron interactions and two-dimensional - two-dimensional tunneling
We derive and evaluate expressions for the dc tunneling conductance between
interacting two-dimensional electron systems at non-zero temperature. The
possibility of using the dependence of the tunneling conductance on voltage and
temperature to determine the temperature-dependent electron-electron scattering
rate at the Fermi energy is discussed. The finite electronic lifetime produced
by electron-electron interactions is calculated as a function of temperature
for quasiparticles near the Fermi circle. Vertex corrections to the random
phase approximation substantially increase the electronic scattering rate. Our
results are in an excellent quantitative agreement with experiment.Comment: Revtex style, 21 pages and 8 postscript figures in a separate file;
Phys. Rev. B (in press
Kohn Anomalies in Superconductors
I present the detailed behavior of phonon dispersion curves near momenta
which span the electronic Fermi sea in a superconductor. I demonstrate that an
anomaly, similar to the metallic Kohn anomaly, exists in a superconductor's
dispersion curves when the frequency of the phonon spanning the Fermi sea
exceeds twice the superconducting energy gap. This anomaly occurs at
approximately the same momentum but is {\it stronger} than the normal-state
Kohn anomaly. It also survives at finite temperature, unlike the metallic
anomaly. Determination of Fermi surface diameters from the location of these
anomalies, therefore, may be more successful in the superconducting phase than
in the normal state. However, the superconductor's anomaly fades rapidly with
increased phonon frequency and becomes unobservable when the phonon frequency
greatly exceeds the gap. This constraint makes these anomalies useful only in
high-temperature superconductors such as .Comment: 18 pages (revtex) + 11 figures (upon request), NSF-ITP-93-7
Biofluorescence in Catsharks (Scyliorhinidae): Fundamental description and relevance for elasmobranch visual ecology
Biofluorescence has recently been found to be widespread in marine fishes, including sharks. Catsharks, such as the Swell Shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) from the eastern Pacific and the Chain Catshark (Scyliorhinus retifer) from the western Atlantic, are known to exhibit bright green fluorescence. We examined the spectral sensitivity and visual characteristics of these reclusive sharks, while also considering the fluorescent properties of their skin. Spectral absorbance of the photoreceptor cells in these sharks revealed the presence of a single visual pigment in each species. Cephaloscyllium ventriosum exhibited a maximum absorbance of 484 +/- 3 nm and an absorbance range at half maximum (lambda(1/2max)) of 440-540 nm, whereas for S. retifer maximum absorbance was 488 +/- 3 nm with the same absorbance range. Using the photoreceptor properties derived here, a "shark eye" camera was designed and developed that yielded contrast information on areas where fluorescence is anatomically distributed on the shark, as seen from other sharks' eyes of these two species. Phylogenetic investigations indicate that biofluorescence has evolved at least three times in cartilaginous fishes. The repeated evolution of biofluorescence in elasmobranchs, coupled with a visual adaptation to detect it; and evidence that biofluorescence creates greater luminosity contrast with the surrounding background, highlights the potential importance of biofluorescence in elasmobranch behavior and biology
Double-Layer Systems at Zero Magnetic Field
We investigate theoretically the effects of intralayer and interlayer
exchange in biased double-layer electron and hole systems, in the absence of a
magnetic field. We use a variational Hartree-Fock-like approximation to analyze
the effects of layer separation, layer density, tunneling, and applied gate
voltages on the layer densities and on interlayer phase coherence. In agreement
with earlier work, we find that for very small layer separations and low layer
densities, an interlayer-correlated ground state possessing spontaneous
interlayer coherence (SILC) is obtained, even in the absence of interlayer
tunneling. In contrast to earlier work, we find that as a function of total
density, there exist four, rather than three, distinct noncrystalline phases
for balanced double-layer systems without interlayer tunneling. The newly
identified phase exists for a narrow range of densities and has three
components and slightly unequal layer densities, with one layer being spin
polarized, and the other unpolarized. An additional two-component phase is also
possible in the presence of sufficiently strong bias or tunneling. The
lowest-density SILC phase is the fully spin- and pseudospin-polarized
``one-component'' phase discussed by Zheng {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 55},
4506 (1997)]. We argue that this phase will produce a finite interlayer Coulomb
drag at zero temperature due to the SILC. We calculate the particle densities
in each layer as a function of the gate voltage and total particle density, and
find that interlayer exchange can reduce or prevent abrupt transfers of charge
between the two layers. We also calculate the effect of interlayer exchange on
the interlayer capacitance.Comment: 35 pages, 19 figures included. To appear in PR
Global phase diagram of bilayer quantum Hall ferromagnets
We present a microscopic study of the interlayer spacing d versus in-plane
magnetic field phase diagram for bilayer quantum Hall (QH)
pseudo-ferromagnets. In addition to the interlayer charge balanced commensurate
and incommensurate states analyzed previously, we address the corresponding
interlayer charge unbalanced "canted" QH states. We predict a large anomaly in
the bilayer capacitance at the canting transition and the formation of dipole
stripe domains with periods exceeding 1 micron in the canted state.Comment: 4 RevTeX pgs, 2 eps figures, submitted to PR
Temperature dependent resistivity of spin-split subbands in GaAs 2D hole system
We calculate the temperature dependent resistivity in spin-split subbands
induced by the inversion asymmetry of the confining potential in GaAs 2D hole
systems. By considering both temperature dependent multisubband screening of
impurity disorder and hole-hole scattering we find that the strength of the
metallic behavior depends on the symmetry of the confining potential (i.e.,
spin-splitting) over a large range of hole density. At low density above the
metal-insulator transition we find that effective disorder reduces the
enhancement of the metallic behavior induced by spin-splitting. Our theory is
in good qualitative agreement with existing experiments
DLCQ of Fivebranes, Large N Screening, and L^2 Harmonic Forms on Calabi Manifolds
We find one explicit L^2 harmonic form for every Calabi manifold. Calabi
manifolds are known to arise in low energy dynamics of solitons in Yang-Mills
theories, and the L^2 harmonic form corresponds to the supersymmetric ground
state. As the normalizable ground state of a single U(N) instanton, it is
related to the bound state of a single D0 to multiple coincident D4's in the
non-commutative setting, or equivalently a unit Kaluza-Klein mode in DLCQ of
fivebrane worldvolume theory. As the ground state of nonabelian massless
monopoles realized around a monopole-``anti''-monopole pair, it shows how the
long range force between the pair is screened in a manner reminiscent of large
N behavior of quark-anti-quark potential found in AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: LaTeX, 23 page
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