Specific heat of single crystal MgB_2: a two-band superconductor with two different anisotropies

Heat-capacity measurements of a 39 microgramm MgB_2 single crystal in fields up to 14 T and below 3 K allow the determination of the low-temperature linear term of the specific heat, its field dependence and its anisotropy. Our results are compatible with two-band superconductivity, the band carrying the small gap being isotropic, that carrying the large gap having an anisotropy of ~ 5. Three different upper critical fields are thus needed to describe the superconducting state of MgB2.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures - V2: Bibliography updated and some typo corrected. One reference added - V3: version accepted for publication in PRL, changes made in the tex

Fermi surface topology and vortex state in MgB2

Based on a detailed modeling of the Fermi surface topology of MgB2 we calculated the anisotropy of the upper critical field Bc2 within the two gap model. The sigma-band is modeled as a distorted cylinder and the pi-band as a half-torus, with parameters determined from bandstructure calculations. Our results show that the unusual strong temperature dependence of the Bc2 anisotropy, that has been observed recently, can be understood due to the small c-axis dispersion of the cylindrical Fermi surface sheets and the small interband pairing interaction as obtained from bandstructure calculations. We calculate the magnetic field dependence of the density of states within the vortex state for field in c-axis direction and compare with recent measurements of the specific heat on MgB2 single crystals.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figure

Non-stationary Rayleigh-Taylor instability in supernovae ejecta

The Rayleigh-Taylor instability plays an important role in the dynamics of several astronomical objects, in particular, in supernovae (SN) evolution. In this paper we develop an analytical approach to study the stability analysis of spherical expansion of the SN ejecta by using a special transformation in the co-moving coordinate frame. We first study a non-stationary spherical expansion of a gas shell under the pressure of a central source. Then we analyze its stability with respect to a no radial, non spherically symmetric perturbation of the of the shell. We consider the case where the polytropic constant of the SN shell is $\gamma=5/3$ and we examine the evolution of a arbitrary shell perturbation. The dispersion relation is derived. The growth rate of the perturbation is found and its temporal and spatial evolution is discussed. The stability domain depends on the ejecta shell thickness, its acceleration, and the perturbation wavelength.Comment: 16 page

High-Tech Kit—The set of advanced activities from the MOSEM project

One of the most tangible outcomes of the MOSEM (Minds-On experimental equipment kits in Superconductivity and ElectroMagnetism for the continuing vocational training of upper secondary school physics teachers—LLPLdV-TOI-2007-NO/165.009) project is the set of advanced experiments—High-Tech Kit (HTK). The Kit contains the experiments, prototyped and tested among the project partners’ schools and teacher training institutions. The activities are combined with e-modules comprising videos, animations, and modeling as well as with new support material for teachers and teacher seminars. The paper briefly shows some of the HTK materials as appropriate use of real and virtual multimedia in physics teaching and learning. The authors discuss the process of setting up same of the experiments and illustrate activities with the results of measurements obtained within

Transition Spectra for a BCS Superconductor with Multiple Gaps: Model Calculations for MgB_2

We analyze the qualitative features in the transition spectra of a model superconductor with multiple energy gaps, using a simple extension of the Mattis-Bardeen expression for probes with case I and case II coherence factors. At temperature T = 0, the far infrared absorption edge is, as expected, determined by the smallest gap. However, the large thermal background may mask this edge at finite temperatures and instead the secondary absorption edges found at Delta_i+Delta_j may become most prominent. At finite T, if certain interband matrix elements are large, there may also be absorption peaks at the gap difference frequencies | Delta_i-Delta_j | . We discuss the effect of sample quality on the measured spectra and the possible relation of these predictions to the recent infrared absorption measurement on MgB_2

Thermal conductivity of MgB2_{2} in the superconducting state

We present thermal conductivity measurements on very pure and dense bulk samples, as indicated by residual resistivity values as low as 0.5 mW cm and thermal conductivity values higher than 200 W/mK. In the normal state we found that the Wiedemann Franz law, in its generalized form, works well suggesting that phonons do not contribute to the heat transport. The thermal conductivity in the superconducting state has been analysed by using a two-gap model. Thank to the large gap anisotropy we were able to evaluate quantitatively intraband scattering relaxation times of $\pi$ and $\sigma$ bands, which depend on the disorder in different way; namely, as the disorder increases, it reduces more effectively the relaxation times of $\pi$ than of $\sigma$ bands, as suggested by a recent calculation [1].Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Modeling multidimensional effects in the propagation of radiative shocks

Radiative shocks (also called supercritical shocks) are high Mach number shock waves that photoionize the medium ahead of the shock front and give rise to a radiative precursor. They are generated in the laboratory using high-energy or high-power lasers and are frequently present in a wide range of astronomical objects. Their modelisation in one dimension has been the subject of numerous studies, but generalization to three dimensions is not straightforward. We calculate analyticaly the absorption of radiation in a grey uniform cylinder and show how it decreases with $\chi R$, the product of the opacity $\chi$ and of the cylinder radius $R$. Simple formulas, whose validity range increases when $\chi R$ diminishes, are derived for the radiation field on the axis of symmetry. Numerical calculations in three dimensions of the radiative energy density, flux and pressure created by a stationary shock wave show how the radiation decreases whith $R$. Finally, the bidimensional structures of both the precursor and the radiation field are calculated with time-dependent radiation hydrodynamics numerical simulations and the influence of two-dimensional effects on the electron density, the temperature, the shock velocity and the shock geometry are exhibited. These simulations show how the radiative precursor shortens, cools and slows down when $R$ is decreased

Nonmagnetic impurity effects in MgB2_{2}

We study nonmagnetic impurity effects in MgB$_{2}$ using the quasiclassical equations of superconductivity for a weak-coupling two-band model. Parameters in the model are fixed so as to reproduce experiments on MgB$_{2}$ as closely as possible. The quasiparticle density of states and the specific heat are calculated for various values of the interband impurity scattering. The density of states changes gradually from a two-gap structure into the conventional single-gap structure as the interband scattering increases. It is found that the excitation threshold is not a monotonic function of the interband scattering. Calculated results for the specific heat are in good agreements with experiments on samples after irradiation

First-Principles Calculation of the Superconducting Transition in MgB2 within the Anisotropic Eliashberg Formalism

We present a study of the superconducting transition in MgB2 using the ab-initio pseudopotential density functional method and the fully anisotropic Eliashberg equation. Our study shows that the anisotropic Eliashberg equation, constructed with ab-initio calculated momentum-dependent electron-phonon interaction and anharmonic phonon frequencies, yields an average electron-phonon coupling constant lambda = 0.61, a transition temperature Tc = 39 K, and a boron isotope-effect exponent alphaB = 0.31 with a reasonable assumption of mu* = 0.12. The calculated values for Tc, lambda, and alphaB are in excellent agreement with transport, specific heat, and isotope effect measurements respectively. The individual values of the electron-phonon coupling lambda(k,k') on the various pieces of the Fermi surface however vary from 0.1 to 2.5. The observed Tc is a result of both the raising effect of anisotropy in the electron-phonon couplings and the lowering effect of anharmonicity in the relevant phonon modes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl