Superfluid-Mott-Insulator Transition in a One-Dimensional Optical Lattice with Double-Well Potentials

We study the superfluid-Mott-insulator transition of ultracold bosonic atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice with a double-well confining trap using the density-matrix renormalization group. At low density, the system behaves similarly as two separated ones inside harmonic traps. At high density, however, interesting features appear as the consequence of the quantum tunneling between the two wells and the competition between the "superfluid" and Mott regions. They are characterized by a rich step-plateau structure in the visibility and the satellite peaks in the momentum distribution function as a function of the on-site repulsion. These novel properties shed light on the understanding of the phase coherence between two coupled condensates and the off-diagonal correlations between the two wells.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Quasiparticles as composite objects in the RVB superconductor

We study the nature of the superconducting state, the origin of d-wave pairing, and elementary excitations of a resonating valence bond (RVB) superconductor. We show that the phase string formulation of the t-J model leads to confinement of bare spinon and holon excitations in the superconducting state, though the vacuum is described by the RVB state. Nodal quasiparticles are obtained as composite excitations of spinon and holon excitations. The d-wave pairing symmetry is shown to arise from short range antiferromagnetic correlations

Accurate determination of tensor network state of quantum lattice models in two dimensions

We have proposed a novel numerical method to calculate accurately the physical quantities of the ground state with the tensor-network wave function in two dimensions. We determine the tensor network wavefunction by a projection approach which applies iteratively the Trotter-Suzuki decomposition of the projection operator and the singular value decomposition of matrix. The norm of the wavefunction and the expectation value of a physical observable are evaluated by a coarse grain renormalization group approach. Our method allows a tensor-network wavefunction with a high bond degree of freedom (such as D=8) to be handled accurately and efficiently in the thermodynamic limit. For the Heisenberg model on a honeycomb lattice, our results for the ground state energy and the staggered magnetization agree well with those obtained by the quantum Monte Carlo and other approaches.Comment: 4 pages 5 figures 2 table

An integrated wind risk warning model for urban rail transport in Shanghai, China

The integrated wind risk warning model for rail transport presented has four elements: Background wind data, a wind field model, a vulnerability model, and a risk model. Background wind data uses observations in this study. Using the wind field model with effective surface roughness lengths, the background wind data are interpolated to a 30-m resolution grid. In the vulnerability model, the aerodynamic characteristics of railway vehicles are analyzed with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modelling. In the risk model, the maximum value of three aerodynamic forces is used as the criteria to evaluate rail safety and to quantify the risk level under extremely windy weather. The full model is tested for the Shanghai Metro Line 16 using wind conditions during Typhoon Chan-hom. The proposed approach enables quick quantification of real- time safety risk levels during typhoon landfall, providing sophisticated warning information for rail vehicle operation safety

Mott physics, sign structure, ground state wavefunction, and high-Tc superconductivity

In this article I give a pedagogical illustration of why the essential problem of high-Tc superconductivity in the cuprates is about how an antiferromagnetically ordered state can be turned into a short-range state by doping. I will start with half-filling where the antiferromagnetic ground state is accurately described by the Liang-Doucot-Anderson (LDA) wavefunction. Here the effect of the Fermi statistics becomes completely irrelevant due to the no double occupancy constraint. Upon doping, the statistical signs reemerge, albeit much reduced as compared to the original Fermi statistical signs. By precisely incorporating this altered statistical sign structure at finite doping, the LDA ground state can be recast into a short-range antiferromagnetic state. Superconducting phase coherence arises after the spin correlations become short-ranged, and the superconducting phase transition is controlled by spin excitations. I will stress that the pseudogap phenomenon naturally emerges as a crossover between the antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases. As a characteristic of non Fermi liquid, the mutual statistical interaction between the spin and charge degrees of freedom will reach a maximum in a high-temperature "strange metal phase" of the doped Mott insulator.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

Un nuevo antioxidante: 6,6'-(butano-1,1-diil)bis(4-metil-benceno-1,2-diol)

A novel compound, 6,6'-(butane-1,1-diyl)bis(4-methylbenzene-1,2-diol) (BMB), was synthesized through an acid-catalyzed condensation reaction between 4-methylcatechol (HPC) and butyraldehyde. When evaluated by the Rancimat and deep frying methods, BMB exhibited a stronger antioxidant activity than TBHQ. Its DPPH radical scavenging activity was also fairly higher than TBHQ, but lower compared to its mother phenol, HPC, due to its relative ease of binding DPPH•. BMB had the strongest scavenging ability of the 4-methylcatechol analogues reported to date. It could be used effectively to retard lipid peroxidation in both moderate and high temperature food preparations.Un nuevo compuesto, 6,6'-(butano-1,1-diil)bis(4-metilbenceno-1,2-diol) (BMB) fue sintetizado mediante una reacción de condensación catalizada por ácido entre el 4-metilcatecol (HPC) y el butiraldehído. Cuando se evaluó mediante los métodos Rancimat y de fritura, el BMB mostró una actividad antioxidante más fuerte que el TBHQ. Su actividad de eliminación de radicales DPPH también fue bastante mayor que la del TBHQ, pero menor en comparación con el fenol de partida, HPC, debido a su relativa facilidad para unirse a DPPH•. BMB tiene una actividad de eliminación más fuerte que los análogos de 4-metilcatecol reportados hasta la fecha. Podría usarse eficazmente para retardar la peroxidación de lípidos en la preparación de alimentos a temperatura moderada y alta

Probing 5f-state configurations in URu2Si2 with U L3-edge resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy

Resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) was employed at the U L3 absorption edge and the La1 emission line to explore the 5f occupancy, nf, and the degree of 5f orbital delocalization in the hidden order compound URu2Si2. By comparing to suitable reference materials such as UF4, UCd11, and alpha-U, we conclude that the 5f orbital in URu2Si2 is at least partially delocalized with nf = 2.87 +/- 0.08, and does not change with temperature down to 10 K within the estimated error. These results place further constraints on theoretical explanations of the hidden order, especially those requiring a localized f2 ground state.Comment: 11 pages,7 figure

Spin-charge separation in the single hole doped Mott antiferromagnet

The motion of a single hole in a Mott antiferromagnet is investigated based on the t-J model. An exact expression of the energy spectrum is obtained, in which the irreparable phase string effect [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 5102 (1996)] is explicitly present. By identifying the phase string effect with spin backflow, we point out that spin-charge separation must exist in such a system: the doped hole has to decay into a neutral spinon and a spinless holon, together with the phase string. We show that while the spinon remains coherent, the holon motion is deterred by the phase string, resulting in its localization in space. We calculate the electron spectral function which explains the line shape of the spectral function as well as the ``quasiparticle'' spectrum observed in angle-resolved photoemission experiments. Other analytic and numerical approaches are discussed based on the present framework.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures; references updated; to appear in Phys. Rev.