Proton Spin Relaxation Induced by Quantum Tunneling in Fe8 Molecular Nanomagnet

The spin-lattice relaxation rate $T_{1}^{-1}$ and NMR spectra of $^1$H in single crystal molecular magnets of Fe8 have been measured down to 15 mK. The relaxation rate $T_1^{-1}$ shows a strong temperature dependence down to 400 mK. The relaxation is well explained in terms of the thermal transition of the iron state between the discreet energy levels of the total spin S=10. The relaxation time $T_1$ becomes temperature independent below 300 mK and is longer than 100 s. In this temperature region stepwise recovery of the $^1$H-NMR signal after saturation was observed depending on the return field of the sweep field. This phenomenon is attributed to resonant quantum tunneling at the fields where levels cross and is discussed in terms of the Landau-Zener transition.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Ordering of dipolar Ising crystals

We study Ising systems of spins with dipolar interactions. We find a simple approximate relation for the interaction energy between pairs of parallel lattice columns of spins running along the Ising spin direction. This relation provides insight into the relation between lattice geometry and the nature of the ordered state. It can be used to calculate ground state energies. We have also obtained ground state energies and ordering temperatures T_0 from Monte Carlo simulations. Simple empirical relations, that give T_0 for simple and body centered tetragonal lattices in terms of lattice parameters are also established. Finally, the nature of the ordered state and T_0 are determined for Fe_8 clusters, which crystallize on a triclinic lattice.Comment: 13 pages, 4 eps figures, to be published in PRB. For related work, see http://pipe.unizar.es/~jf

Anomalous density dependence of static friction in sand

We measured experimentally the static friction force $F_s$ on the surface of a glass rod immersed in dry sand. We observed that $F_s$ is extremely sensitive to the closeness of packing of grains. A linear increase of the grain-density yields to an exponentially increasing friction force. We also report on a novel periodicity of $F_s$ during gradual pulling out of the rod. Our observations demonstrate the central role of grain bridges and arches in the macroscopic properties of granular packings.Comment: plain tex, 6 pages, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in ferrimagnetic clusters and chains: A contrast between zero and one dimensions

Motivated by ferrimagnetic oligonuclear and chain compounds synthesized by Caneschi et al., both of which consist of alternating manganese(II) ions and nitronyl-nitroxide radicals, we calculate the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 employing a recently developed modified spin-wave theory. 1/T_1 as a function of temperature drastically varies with the location of probe nuclei in both clusters and chains, though the relaxation time scale is much larger in zero dimension than in one dimension. 1/T_1 as a function of an applied field in long chains forms a striking contrast to that in finite clusters, diverging with decreasing field like inverse square root at low temperatures and logarithmically at high temperatures.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. B 68 August 01 (2003

Bosonic representation of one-dimensional Heisenberg ferrimagnets

The energy structure and the thermodynamics of ferrimagnetic Heisenberg chains of alternating spins S and s are described in terms of the Schwinger bosons and modified spin waves. In the Schwinger representation, we average the local constraints on the bosons and diagonalize the Hamiltonian at the Hartree-Fock level. In the Holstein-Primakoff representation, we optimize the free energy in two different ways introducing an additional constraint on the staggered magnetization. A new modified spin-wave scheme, which employs a Lagrange multiplier keeping the native energy structure free from temperature and thus differs from the original Takahashi Scheme, is particularly stressed as an excellent language to interpret one-dimensional quantum ferrimagnetism. Other types of one-dimensional ferrimagnets and the antiferromagnetic limit S=s are also mentioned.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. B 69, No. 6, 0644XX (2004

Quantum nanomagnets and nuclear spins: an overview

This mini-review presents a simple and accessible summary on the fascinating physics of quantum nanomagnets coupled to a nuclear spin bath. These chemically synthesized systems are an ideal test ground for the theories of decoherence in mesoscopic quantum degrees of freedom, when the coupling to the environment is local and not small. We shall focus here on the most striking quantum phenomenon that occurs in such nanomagnets, namely the tunneling of their giant spin through a high anisotropy barrier. It will be shown that perturbative treatments must be discarded, and replaced by a more sophisticated formalism where the dynamics of the nanomagnet and the nuclei that couple to it are treated together from the beginning. After a critical review of the theoretical predictions and their experimental verification, we continue with a set of experimental results that challenge our present understanding, and outline the importance of filling also this last gap in the theory.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Chapter in the Proceedings of the 2006 Les Houches summer school "Quantum Magnetism", ed. B. Barbara & Y. Imry, Springer (2007

Decoherence in Crystals of Quantum Molecular Magnets

Decoherence in Nature has become one of the most pressing problems in physics. Many applications, including quantum information processing, depend on understanding it; and fundamental theories going beyond quantum mechanics have been suggested [1-3], where the breakdown of quantum theory appears as an 'intrinsic decoherence', mimicking environmental decoherence [4]. Such theories cannot be tested until we have a handle on ordinary environmental decoherence processes. Here we show that the theory for insulating electronic spin systems can make accurate predictions for environmental decoherence in molecular-based quantum magnets [5]. Experimental understanding of decoherence in molecular magnets has been limited by short decoherence times, which make coherent spin manipulation extremely difficult [6-9]. Here we reduce the decoherence by applying a strong magnetic field. The theory predicts the contributions to the decoherence from phonons, nuclear spins, and intermolecular dipolar interactions, for a single crystal of the Fe8 molecular magnet. In experiments we find that the decoherence time varies strongly as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The theoretical predictions are fully verified experimentally - there are no other visible decoherence sources. Our investigation suggests that the decoherence time is ultimately limited by nuclear spins, and can be extended up to about 500 microseconds, by optimizing the temperature, magnetic field, and nuclear isotopic concentrations.Comment: Submitted version including 11 pages, 3 figures and online supporting materials. Appeared on Nature Advance Online Publication (AOP) on July 20th, 2011. (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10314.html

Neel probability and spin correlations in some nonmagnetic and nondegenerate states of hexanuclear antiferromagnetic ring Fe6: Application of algebraic combinatorics to finite Heisenberg spin systems

The spin correlations \omega^z_r, r=1,2,3, and the probability p_N$ of finding a system in the Neel state for the antiferromagnetic ring Fe(III)6 (the so-called `small ferric wheel') are calculated. States with magnetization M=0, total spin 0<=S<=15 and labeled by two (out of four) one-dimensional irreducible representations (irreps) of the point symmetry group D_6 are taken into account. This choice follows from importance of these irreps in analyzing low-lying states in each S-multiplet. Taking into account the Clebsch--Gordan coefficients for coupling total spins of sublattices (SA=SB=15/2) the global Neel probability p*_N can be determined. Dependencies of these quantities on state energy (per bond and in the units of exchange integral J) and the total spin S are analyzed. Providing we have determined p_N(S) etc. for other antiferromagnetic rings (Fe10, for instance) we could try to approximate results for the largest synthesized ferric wheel Fe18. Since thermodynamic properties of Fe6 have been investigated recently, in the present considerations they are not discussed, but only used to verify obtained values of eigenenergies. Numerical results re calculated with high precision using two main tools: (i) thorough analysis of symmetry properties including methods of algebraic combinatorics and (ii) multiple precision arithmetic library GMP. The system considered yields more than 45 thousands basic states (the so-called Ising configurations), but application of the method proposed reduces this problem to 20-dimensional eigenproblem for the ground state (S=0). The largest eigenproblem has to be solved for S=4; its dimension is 60. These two facts (high precision and small resultant eigenproblems) confirm efficiency and usefulness of such an approach, so it is briefly discussed here.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figs, 5 tabs, revtex

Unsteady Interacting Boundary Layer Method

Within this study an unsteady, two-dimensional interacting boundary layer method is presented for the incompressible flow around wind turbine rotor blade sections. The main approach is to divide the flow field in to two regions; the one in the vicinity of the surface where the viscosity is effective (so called boundary layer) and the one away from the surface where the flow can be assumed as inviscid. The solutions obtained from these two regions are matched with a quasi-simultaneous viscous-inviscid interaction scheme. For the viscous flow, unsteady integral boundary layer equations together with laminar and turbulent closure sets are solved employing a high-order quadrature-free discontinuous Galerkin method. Laminar to turbulent transition is modeled with the eNmethod. The potential flow is solved by using the linear-strength vortex panel method. It is shown that introducing the interaction scheme leads to non-conservative mechanisms in the system. The discontinuous Galerkin method is extended to handle these non-conservative flux terms. Furthermore it is shown that this numerical method achieves the designed order of accuracy for smooth problems. Results are presented for the individual numerical solution methods which are verified on various test cases and subsequently for the coupled system which is applied on a chosen test case. Evaluation of a laminar flow over an airfoil section is shown and the results (converged to a steady state solution) are compared with other numerical solutions as well as with the experimental data where available. It is shown that the results of the developed numerical solution method are in good agreement with the experimental data and other computational methods

Structural characteristics of redox-active pyridine-1,6-diimine complexes: Electronic structures and ligand oxidation levels

N-aryl and N-alkyl substituted pyridine-2,6-diimines (pdi) are useful tridentate ligands that are redoxactive and can coordinate to main group elements, transition metal ions, lanthanides and actinides. The neutral (pdi)(0) ligand can accept up to four electrons generating a monoanion (pdi(center dot))(1-) pi-radical, singlet or triplet dianion (pdi)(2-) or (pdi(center dot center dot))(2-), a trianionic pi-radical (pdi(center dot))(3-), and a singlet tetraanion (pdi)(4-). Upon this stepwise reduction the four C-N bond distances (C-py-N-py and C-imine-N-imine 1 increase and at the same time the two C-py-C-imine bond distances decrease. We show here that the single structural parameter Delta = [(d2 + d2')/2 - (d1 + d1' + d3 + d3')/4] varies in a linear fashion with increasing reduction of the (pdi(0))-ligand. Delta represents therefore a powerful structural parameter for the determination of the oxidation level of this ligand in a given complex provided the central metal ion does not exhibit significant pi-backdonation effects (M -> pdi(0)) as found in compounds with a neutral ligand and where M is a 2nd or 3rd row transition metal ion with d(n) configuration and n >= 6. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved