381 research outputs found
Quantum criticality in the cubic heavy-fermion system CeIn_{3-x}Sn_x
We report a comprehensive study of CeInSn single crystals close to the antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum critical
point (QCP) at by means of the low-temperature thermal
expansion and Gr\"uneisen parameter. This system represents the first example
for a {\it cubic} heavy fermion (HF) in which can be suppressed
{\it continuously} down to T=0. A characteristic sign change of the Gr\"uneisen
parameter between the AF and paramagnetic state indicates the accumulation of
entropy close to the QCP. The observed quantum critical behavior is compatible
with the predictions of the itinerant theory for three-dimensional critical
spinfluctuations. This has important implications for the role of the
dimensionality in HF QCPs.Comment: Physical Review Letters, to be publishe
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Enzymatically-triggered, isothermally responsive polymers: re-programming poly(oligoethylene glycols) to respond to phosphatase
Polymers which can respond to externally applied stimuli have found much application in the biomedical field due to their (reversible) coil–globule transitions. Polymers displaying a lower critical solution temperature are the most commonly used, but for blood-borne (i.e., soluble) biomedical applications the application of heat is not always possible, nor practical. Here we report the design and synthesis of poly(oligoethylene glycol methacrylate)-based polymers whose cloud points are easily varied by alkaline phosphatase-mediated dephosphorylation. By fine-tuning the density of phosphate groups on the backbone, it was possible to induce an isothermal transition: A change in solubility triggered by removal of a small number of phosphate esters from the side chains activating the LCST-type response. As there was no temperature change involved, this serves as a model of a cell-instructed polymer response. Finally, it was found that both polymers were non cytotoxic against MCF-7 cells (at 1 mg·mL–1), which confirms promise for biomedical applications
Thermopower and thermal conductivity in the Weyl semimetal NbP
The Weyl semimetal NbP exhibits an extremely large magnetoresistance (MR) and
an ultra-high mobility. The large MR originates from a combination of the
nearly perfect compensation between electron- and hole-type charge carriers and
the high mobility, which is relevant to the topological band structure. In this
work we report on temperature- and field-dependent thermopower and thermal
conductivity experiments on NbP. Additionally, we carried out complementary
heat capacity, magnetization, and electrical resistivity measurements. We found
a giant adiabatic magnetothermopower with a maximum of 800 V/K at 50 K in
a field of 9 T. Such large effects have been observed rarely in bulk materials.
We suggest that the origin of this effect might be related to the high
charge-carrier mobility. We further observe pronounced quantum oscillations in
both thermal conductivity and thermopower. The obtained frequencies compare
well with our heat capacity and magnetization data.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Interplay of disorder and spin fluctuations in the resistivity near a quantum critical point
The resistivity in metals near an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point
(QCP) is strongly affected by small amounts of disorder. In a quasi-classical
treatment, we show that an interplay of strongly anisotropic scattering due to
spin fluctuations and isotropic impurity scattering leads to a large regime
where the resistivity varies as T^alpha, with an anomalous exponent, alpha, 1
<= alpha <= 1.5, depending on the amount of disorder. I argue that this
mechanism explains in some detail the anomalous temperature dependence of the
resistivity observed in CePd_2Si_2, CeNi_2Ge_2 and CeIn_3 near the QCP.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures, published version, only small change
Quantum Criticality in doped CePd_1-xRh_x Ferromagnet
CePd_1-xRh_x alloys exhibit a continuous evolution from ferromagnetism (T_C=
6.5 K) at x = 0 to a mixed valence (MV) state at x = 1. We have performed a
detailed investigation on the suppression of the ferromagnetic (F) phase in
this alloy using dc-(\chi_dc) and ac-susceptibility (\chi_ac), specific heat
(C_m), resistivity (\rho) and thermal expansion (\beta) techniques. Our results
show a continuous decrease of T_C (x) with negative curvature down to T_C = 3K
at x*= 0.65, where a positive curvature takes over. Beyond x*, a cusp in cac is
traced down to T_C* = 25 mK at x = 0.87, locating the critical concentration
between x = 0.87 and 0.90. The quantum criticality of this region is recognized
by the -log(T/T_0) dependence of C_m/T, which transforms into a T^-q (~0.5) one
at x = 0.87. At high temperature, this system shows the onset of valence
instability revealed by a deviation from Vegard's law (at x_V~0.75) and
increasing hybridization effects on high temperature \chi_dc and \rho.
Coincidentally, a Fermi liquid contribution to the specific heat arises from
the MV component, which becomes dominant at the CeRh limit. In contrast to
antiferromagnetic systems, no C_m/T flattening is observed for x > x_cr rather
the mentioned power law divergence, which coincides with a change of sign of
\beta. The coexistence of F and MV components and the sudden changes in the T
dependencies are discussed in the context of randomly distributed magnetic and
Kondo couplings.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
Magnetism and superconductivity driven by identical 4 states in a heavy-fermion metal
The apparently inimical relationship between magnetism and superconductivity
has come under increasing scrutiny in a wide range of material classes, where
the free energy landscape conspires to bring them in close proximity to each
other. This is particularly the case when these phases microscopically
interpenetrate, though the manner in which this can be accomplished remains to
be fully comprehended. Here, we present combined measurements of elastic
neutron scattering, magnetotransport, and heat capacity on a prototypical heavy
fermion system, in which antiferromagnetism and superconductivity are observed.
Monitoring the response of these states to the presence of the other, as well
as to external thermal and magnetic perturbations, points to the possibility
that they emerge from different parts of the Fermi surface. This enables a
single 4 state to be both localized and itinerant, thus accounting for the
coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Superconductivity in Ce- and U-based "122" heavy-fermion compounds
This review discusses the heavy-fermion superconductivity in Ce- and U-based
compounds crystallizing in the body-centered tetragonal ThCr2Si2 structure.
Special attention will be paid to the theoretical background of these systems
which are located close to a magnetic instability.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Invited topical review (special issue on "Recent
Developments in Superconductivity") Metadata and references update
Long range order and two-fluid behavior in heavy electron materials
The heavy electron Kondo liquid is an emergent state of condensed matter that
displays universal behavior independent of material details. Properties of the
heavy electron liquid are best probed by NMR Knight shift measurements, which
provide a direct measure of the behavior of the heavy electron liquid that
emerges below the Kondo lattice coherence temperature as the lattice of local
moments hybridizes with the background conduction electrons. Because the
transfer of spectral weight between the localized and itinerant electronic
degrees of freedom is gradual, the Kondo liquid typically coexists with the
local moment component until the material orders at low temperatures. The
two-fluid formula captures this behavior in a broad range of materials in the
paramagnetic state. In order to investigate two-fluid behavior and the onset
and physical origin of different long range ordered ground states in heavy
electron materials, we have extended Knight shift measurements to
URuSi, CeIrIn and CeRhIn. In CeRhIn we find that the
antiferromagnetic order is preceded by a relocalization of the Kondo liquid,
providing independent evidence for a local moment origin of antiferromagnetism.
In URuSi the hidden order is shown to emerge directly from the Kondo
liquid and so is not associated with local moment physics. Our results imply
that the nature of the ground state is strongly coupled with the hybridization
in the Kondo lattice in agreement with phase diagram proposed by Yang and
Pines.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure
Using network analysis to examine links between individual depressive symptoms, inflammatory markers, and covariates
Background  Studies investigating the link between depressive symptoms and inflammation have yielded inconsistent results, which may be due to two factors. First, studies differed regarding the specific inflammatory markers studied and covariates accounted for. Second, specific depressive symptoms may be differentially related to inflammation. We address both challenges using network psychometrics.  Methods  We estimated seven regularized Mixed Graphical Models in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) data (N = 2321) to explore shared variances among (1) depression severity, modeled via depression sum-score, nine DSM-5 symptoms, or 28 individual depressive symptoms; (2) inflammatory markers C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α); (3) before and after adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), exercise, smoking, alcohol, and chronic diseases.  Results  The depression sum-score was related to both IL-6 and CRP before, and only to IL-6 after covariate adjustment. When modeling the DSM-5 symptoms and CRP in a conceptual replication of Jokela et al., CRP was associated with ‘sleep problems’, ‘energy level’, and ‘weight/appetite changes’; only the first two links survived covariate adjustment. In a conservative model with all 38 variables, symptoms and markers were unrelated. Following recent psychometric work, we re-estimated the full model without regularization: the depressive symptoms ‘insomnia’, ‘hypersomnia’, and ‘aches and pain’ showed unique positive relations to all inflammatory markers.  Conclusions  We found evidence for differential relations between markers, depressive symptoms, and covariates. Associations between symptoms and markers were attenuated after covariate adjustment; BMI and sex consistently showed strong relations with inflammatory markers
Interplay between unconventional superconductivity and heavy-fermion quantum criticality: CeCuSi versus YbRhSi
In this paper the low-temperature properties of two isostructural canonical
heavy-fermion compounds are contrasted with regards to the interplay between
antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum criticality and superconductivity. For
CeCuSi, fully-gapped d-wave superconductivity forms in the vicinity of
an itinerant three-dimensional heavy-fermion spin-density-wave (SDW) quantum
critical point (QCP). Inelastic neutron scattering results highlight that both
quantum critical SDW fluctuations as well as Mott-type fluctuations of local
magnetic moments contribute to the formation of Cooper pairs in CeCuSi.
In YbRhSi, superconductivity appears to be suppressed at
mK by AF order ( = 70 mK). Ultra-low temperature measurements reveal a
hybrid order between nuclear and 4f-electronic spins, which is dominated by the
Yb-derived nuclear spins, to develop at slightly above 2 mK. The hybrid
order turns out to strongly compete with the primary 4f-electronic order and to
push the material towards its QCP. Apparently, this paves the way for
heavy-fermion superconductivity to form at = 2 mK. Like the pressure -
induced QCP in CeRhIn, the magnetic field - induced one in YbRhSi
is of the local Kondo-destroying variety which corresponds to a Mott-type
transition at zero temperature. Therefore, these materials form the link
between the large family of about fifty low- unconventional heavy - fermion
superconductors and other families of unconventional superconductors with
higher s, notably the doped Mott insulators of the cuprates, organic
charge-transfer salts and some of the Fe-based superconductors. Our study
suggests that heavy-fermion superconductivity near an AF QCP is a robust
phenomenon.Comment: 30 pages, 7 Figures, Accepted for publication in Philosophical
Magazin
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