Spin-Wave Spectrum in `Single-Domain' Magnetic Ground State of Triangular Lattice Antiferromagnet CuFeO2

By means of neutron scattering measurements, we have investigated spin-wave excitation in a collinear four-sublattice (4SL) magnetic ground state of a triangular lattice antiferromagnet CuFeO2, which has been of recent interest as a strongly frustrated magnet, a spin-lattice coupled system and a multiferroic. To avoid mixing of spin-wave spectrum from magnetic domains having three different orientations reflecting trigonal symmetry of the crystal structure, we have applied uniaxial pressure on [1-10] direction of a single crystal CuFeO2. By elastic neutron scattering measurements, we have found that only 10 MPa of the uniaxial pressure results in almost 'single domain' state in the 4SL phase. We have thus performed inelastic neutron scattering measurements using the single domain sample, and have identified two distinct spin- wave branches. The dispersion relation of the upper spin-wave branch cannot be explained by the previous theoretical model [R. S. Fishman: J. Appl. Phys. 103 (2008) 07B109]. This implies the importance of the lattice degree of freedom in the spin-wave excitation in this system, because the previous calculation neglected the effect of the spin-driven lattice distortion in the 4SL phase. We have also discussed relationship between the present results and the recently discovered "electromagnon" excitation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Electromagnetic radiation due to naked singularity formation in self-similar gravitational collapse

Dynamical evolution of test fields in background geometry with a naked singularity is an important problem relevant to the Cauchy horizon instability and the observational signatures different from black hole formation. In this paper we study electromagnetic perturbations generated by a given current distribution in collapsing matter under a spherically symmetric self-similar background. Using the Green's function method, we construct the formula to evaluate the outgoing energy flux observed at the future null infinity. The contributions from "quasi-normal" modes of the self-similar system as well as "high-frequency" waves are clarified. We find a characteristic power-law time evolution of the outgoing energy flux which appears just before naked singularity formation, and give the criteria as to whether or not the outgoing energy flux diverges at the future Cauchy horizon.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, references added to match the published versio

Molecular Dynamics Study of Rotating Nanodroplets: Finite-size Effects and Nonequilibrium Deformation

Noneqiuilibrium dynamics of rotating droplets are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Small deviations from the theoretical prediction are observed when the size of a droplet is small, and the deviations become smaller as the size of the droplet increases. The characteristic timescale of the deformation is observed, and we find (i) the deformation timescale is almost independent of the rotating velocity with for small frequency and (ii) the deformation timescale becomes shorter as temperature increases. A simple model is proposed to explain the deformation dynamics of droplets.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure, added references, changed titl

High Magnetic Field Behaviour of the Triangular Lattice Antiferromagnet, CuFeO_2

The high magnetic field behaviour of the triangular lattice antiferromagnet CuFeO_2 is studied using single crystal neutron diffraction measurements in a field of up to 14.5 T and also by magnetisation measurements in a field of up to 12 T. At low temperature, two well-defined first order magnetic phase transitions are found in this range of applied magnetic field (H // c): at H_c1=7.6(3)/7.1(3) T and H_c2=13.2(1)/12.7(1) T when ramping the field up/down. In a field above H_c2 the magnetic Bragg peaks show unusual history dependence. In zero field T_N1=14.2(1) K separates a high temperature paramagnetic and an intermediate incommensurate structure, while T_N2=11.1(3) K divides an incommensurate phase from the low-temperature 4-sublattice ground state. The ordering temperature T_N1 is found to be almost field independent, while T_N2 decreases noticeably in applied field. The magnetic phase diagram is discussed in terms of the interactions between an applied magnetic field and the highly frustrated magnetic structure of CuFeO_2Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures in ReVTeX. To appear in PR

Kilohertz QPO Frequency and Flux Decrease in AQL X-1 and Effect of Soft X-ray Spectral Components

We report on an RXTE/PCA observation of Aql X-1 during its outburst in March 1997 in which, immediately following a Type-I burst, the broad-band 2-10 keV flux decreased by about 10% and the kilohertz QPO frequency decreased from 813+-3 Hz to 776+-4 Hz. This change in kHz QPO frequency is much larger than expected from a simple extrapolation of a frequency-flux correlation established using data before the burst. Meanwhile a very low frequency noise (VLFN) component in the broad-band FFT power spectra with a fractional root-mean-square (rms) amplitude of 1.2% before the burst ceased to exist after the burst. All these changes were accompanied by a change in the energy spectral shape. If we characterize the energy spectra with a model composed of two blackbody (BB) components and a power law component, almost all the decrease in flux was in the two BB components. We attribute the two BB components to the contributions from a region very near the neutron star or even the neutron star itself and from the accretion disk, respectively.Comment: 12 pages with 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, typos corrected and references update

Detection of highly ionized O and Ne absorption lines in the X-ray spectrum of 4U1820-303 in the globular cluster, NGC 6624

We searched for absorption lines of highly ionized O and Ne in the energy spectra of two Low-mass X-ray binaries, 4U1820-303 in the globular cluster NGC6624 and Cyg X-2, observed with the Chandra LETG, and detected O VII, O VIII and Ne IX absorption lines for 4U1820-303. The equivalent width of the O VII K alpha line was 1.19 +0.47/-0.30 eV (90 % errors) and the significance was 6.5 sigma. Absorption lines were not detected for Cyg X-2 with a 90 % upper limit on the equivalent width of 1.06 eV for O VII K alpha. The absorption lines observed in 4U1820-303 are likely due to hot interstellar medium, because O will be fully photo-ionized if the absorbing column is located close to the binary system. The velocity dispersion is restricted to b = 200 - 420 km/s from consistency between O VII K alpha and K beta lines, Ne/O abundance ratio, and H column density. The average temperature and the O VII density are respectively estimated to be log(T[K]) = 6.2 - 6.3 and n(OVII) = (0.7 - 2.3) x 10^{-6} cm^{-3}. The difference of O VII column densities for the two sources may be connected to the enhancement of the soft X-ray background (SXB) towards the Galactic bulge region. Using the polytrope model of hot gas to account for the SXB we corrected for the density gradient and estimated the midplane O VII density at the solar neighborhood. The scale height of hot gas is then estimated using the AGN absorption lines. It is suggested that a significant portion of both the AGN absorption lines and the high-latitude SXB emission lines can be explained by the hot gas in our Galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 7 pages, 9 eps figure

Electric Polarization Induced by a Proper Helical Magnetic Ordering in a Delafossite Multiferroic CuFe1-xAlxO2

Multiferroic CuFe1-xAlxO2 (x=0.02) exhibits a ferroelectric ordering accompanied by a proper helical magnetic ordering below T=7K under zero magnetic field. By polarized neutron diffraction and pyroelectric measurements, we have revealed a one-to-one correspondence between the spin helicity and the direction of the spontaneous electric polarization. This result indicates that the spin helicity of the proper helical magnetic ordering is essential for the ferroelectricity in CuFe1-xAlxO2. The induction of the electric polarization by the proper helical magnetic ordering is, however, cannot be explained by the Katsura-Nagaosa-Balatsky model, which successfully explains the ferroelectricity in the recently explored ferroelectric helimagnets, such as TbMnO3. We thus conclude that CuFe1-xAlxO2 is a new class of magnetic ferroelectrics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure