Power law velocity fluctuations due to inelastic collisions in numerically simulated vibrated bed of powder}

Distribution functions of relative velocities among particles in a vibrated bed of powder are studied both numerically and theoretically. In the solid phase where granular particles remain near their local stable states, the probability distribution is Gaussian. On the other hand, in the fluidized phase, where the particles can exchange their positions, the distribution clearly deviates from Gaussian. This is interpreted with two analogies; aggregation processes and soft-to-hard turbulence transition in thermal convection. The non-Gaussian distribution is well-approximated by the t-distribution which is derived theoretically by considering the effect of clustering by inelastic collisions in the former analogy.Comment: 7 pages, using REVTEX (Figures are inculded in text body) %%%Replacement due to rivision (Europhys. Lett., in press)%%

Specific heat study of spin-structural change in pyrochlore Nd2_2Mo2_2O7_7

By measurements of specific heat, we have investigated the magnetic field ($H$) induced spin-structural change in Nd$_2$Mo$_2$O$_7$ that shows spin-chirality-related magneto-transport phenomena. A broad peak around 2 K caused by the ordering of 2-in 2-out structure of the Nd moments at zero $H$ shifts to the lower temperature ($T$) up to around 3 T and then to the higher $T$ above around 3 T with increasing $H$ for all the direction of $H$. This is due to the crossover from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic arrangement between the Nd and Mo moments. While the peak $T$ increases monotonically above 3 T for $H$//[100], another peak emerges around 0.9 K at 12 T for $H$//[111], which is ascribed to the ordering of 3-in 1-out structure. For $H$//[110], a spike like peak is observed at around 3 T, which is caused perhaps by some spin flip transition.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Perovskite Manganites Hosting Versatile Multiferroic Phases with Symmetric and Antisymmetric Exchange Strictions

Complete magnetoelectric (ME) phase diagrams of orthorhombic $R$MnO$_{3}$ with and without magnetic moments on the $R$ ions have been established. Three kinds of multiferroic ground states, the $ab$-cycloidal, the $bc$-cycloidal, and the collinear $E$-type phases, have been identified by the distinct ME responses. The electric polarization of the $E$-type phase dominated by the symmetric spin exchange ($bm{S}_{i} cdot bm{S}_{j}$) is more than 10 times as large as that of the $bc$-cycloidal phase dominated by the antisymmetric one ($bm{S}_{i} times bm{S}_{j}$), and the ME response is enhanced near the bicritical phase boundary between these multiferroic phases of different origins. These findings will provide an important clue for the development of the magnetically induced multiferroics.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure