1,793 research outputs found
Spin-orbit induced mixed-spin ground state in NiO perovskites probed by XAS: new insight into the metal to insulator transition
We report on a Ni L edges x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) study
in NiO perovskites. These compounds exhibit a metal to insulator ()
transition as temperature decreases. The L edge presents a clear
splitting in the insulating state, associated to a less hybridized ground
state. Using charge transfer multiplet calculations, we establish the
importance of the crystal field and 3d spin-orbit coupling to create a
mixed-spin ground state. We explain the transition in NiO
perovskites in terms of modifications in the Ni crystal field splitting
that induces a spin transition from an essentially low-spin (LS) to a
mixed-spin state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted as PRB - Rapid Comm. Dez. 200
From band insulator to Mott insulator in one dimension
We derive the phase diagram for the one-dimensional model of a ferroelectric
perovskite recently introduced by Egami, Ishihara and Tachiki [Science, {\bf
261}, 1307 (1993)]. We show that the interplay between covalency, ionicity and
strong correlations results in a spontaneously dimerized phase which separates
the weak-coupling band insulator from the strong-coupling Mott insulator. The
transition from the band insulator to the dimerized phase is identified as an
Ising critical point. The charge gap vanishes at this single point with the
optical conductivity diverging as . The spin
excitations are gapless above the second transition to the Mott insulator
phase.Comment: 4 pages LaTex (RevTex) and 1 postscript figure included by eps
Observation of insulator-metal transition in EuNiO under high pressure
The charge transfer antiferromagnetic (T =220 K) insulator EuNiO
undergoes, at ambient pressure, a temperature-induced metal insulator MI
transition at T=463 K. We have investigated the effect of pressure (up
to p~20 GPa) on the electronic, magnetic and structural properties of
EuNiO using electrical resistance measurements, {151}^Eu nuclear
resonance scattering of synchrotron radiation and x-ray diffraction,
respectively. With increasing pressure we find at p =5.8 GPa a transition
from the insulating state to a metallic state, while the orthorhombic structure
remains unchanged up to 20 GPa. The results are explained in terms of a gradual
increase of the electronic bandwidth with increasing pressure, which results in
a closing of the charge transfer gap. It is further shown that the
pressure-induced metallic state exhibits magnetic order with a lowervalue of
T (T ~120 K at 9.4 GPa) which disappears between 9.4 and 14.4 GPa.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Short-range charge-order in NiO perovskites (=Pr,Nd,Eu) probed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy
The short-range organization around Ni atoms in orthorhombic NiO
(=Pr,Nd,Eu) perovskites has been studied over a wide temperature range by Ni
K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate that two
different Ni sites, with different average Ni-O bond lengths, coexist in those
orthorhombic compounds and that important modifications in the Ni nearest
neighbors environment take place across the metal-insulator transition. We
report evidences for the existence of short-range charge-order in the
insulating state, as found in the monoclinic compounds. Moreover, our results
suggest that the two different Ni sites coexists even in the metallic state.
The coexistence of two different Ni sites, independently on the ion,
provides a common ground to describe these compounds and shed new light in the
understanding of the phonon-assisted conduction mechanism and unusual
antiferromagnetism present in all NiO compounds.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted PRB - Brief Report Dec.200
Spin-orbit coupling in interacting quasi-one-dimensional electron systems
We present a new model for the study of spin-orbit coupling in interacting
quasi-one-dimensional systems and solve it exactly to find the spectral
properties of such systems. We show that the combination of spin-orbit coupling
and electron-electron interactions results in: the replacement of separate spin
and charge excitations with two new kinds of bosonic mixed-spin-charge
excitation, and a characteristic modification of the spectral function and
single-particle density of states. Our results show how manipulation of the
spin-orbit coupling, with external electric fields, can be used for the
experimental determination of microscopic interaction parameters in quantum
wires.Comment: 5 pages including 4 figures; RevTeX; to appear in Phys.Rev.Let
Antiferromagnetic Phases of One-Dimensional Quarter-Filled Organic Conductors
The magnetic structure of antiferromagnetically ordered phases of
quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors is studied theoretically at absolute
zero based on the mean field approximation to the quarter-filled band with
on-site and nearest-neighbor Coulomb interaction. The differences in magnetic
properties between the antiferromagnetic phase of (TMTTF)X and the spin
density wave phase in (TMTSF)X are seen to be due to a varying degrees of
roles played by the on-site Coulomb interaction. The nearest-neighbor Coulomb
interaction introduces charge disproportionation, which has the same spatial
periodicity as the Wigner crystal, accompanied by a modified antiferromagnetic
phase. This is in accordance with the results of experiments on (TMTTF)Br
and (TMTTF)SCN. Moreover, the antiferromagnetic phase of (DI-DCNQI)Ag
is predicted to have a similar antiferromagnetic spin structure.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures, uses jpsj.sty, to be published in J. Phys.
Soc. Jpn. 66 No. 5 (1997
Coulomb parameters and photoemission for the molecular metal TTF-TCNQ
We employ density-functional theory to calculate realistic parameters for an
extended Hubbard model of the molecular metal TTF-TCNQ. Considering both intra-
and intermolecular screening in the crystal, we find significant longer-range
Coulomb interactions along the molecular stacks, as well as inter-stack
coupling. We show that the long-range Coulomb term of the extended Hubbard
model leads to a broadening of the spectral density, likely resolving the
problems with the interpretation of photoemission experiments using a simple
Hubbard model only.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Giant infrared intensity of the Peierls mode at the neutral-ionic phase transition
We present exact diagonalization results on a modified Peierls-Hubbard model
for the neutral-ionic phase transition. The ground state potential energy
surface and the infrared intensity of the Peierls mode point to a strong,
non-linear electron-phonon coupling, with effects that are dominated by the
proximity to the electronic instability rather than by electronic correlations.
The huge infrared intensity of the Peierls mode at the ferroelectric
transition is related to the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant
of mixed-stack organic crystals.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Creativity in savant artists with autism
Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display impairments in creativity, yet savant artists with ASD can produce highly novel and original artistic outputs. To date, there have been no systematic attempts to explore creativity in savant artists with ASD.
Methods: Nine savant artists with ASD were compared with nine talented artists, nine non-artistically talented individuals with ASD, and nine individuals with moderate learning difficulties (MLD), on tasks in and out of their domain of expertise. This was to ascertain whether the performance of the savant artists was related to their artistic ability, their diagnosis of ASD or their level of intellectual functioning.
Results: On a drawing task (the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking; Torrance, 1974), the responses of the art students were more creative (scoring higher on measures of fluency, originality, elaboration and flexibility) than the savant, ASD and MLD groups. However, the savants did produce more elaborative responses than the ASD and MLD groups. On a non-drawing construction task (figural synthesis; Finke & Slayton, 1988), the savants produced more original outputs than the ASD and MLD groups (scoring similarly to the art students). No group differences were found regarding fluency on this task.
Conclusions: On standardised creativity tasks, savant artists with ASD display high levels of elaboration (on drawing tasks) and originality (on non-drawing construction tasks), relative to groups with ASD or MLD. High elaboration and originality may result from a local processing bias, coupled with artistic talent, in this group
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