873 research outputs found
Structural differences in amyloid-β fibrils from brains of non-demented elderly individuals and Alzheimer's disease patients
Although amyloid plaques composed of fibrillar amyloid-β (Aβ) assemblies are a diagnostic hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), quantities of amyloid similar to those in AD patients are observed in brain tissue of some nondemented elderly individuals. The relationship between amyloid deposition and neurodegeneration in AD has, therefore, been unclear. Here, we use solid-state NMR to investigate whether molecular structures of Aβ fibrils from brain tissue of nondemented elderly individuals with high amyloid loads differ from structures of Aβ fibrils from AD tissue. Two-dimensional solid-state NMR spectra of isotopically labeled Aβ fibrils, prepared by seeded growth from frontal lobe tissue extracts, are similar in the two cases but with statistically significant differences in intensity distributions of cross-peak signals. Differences in solid-state NMR data are greater for 42-residue amyloid-β (Aβ42) fibrils than for 40-residue amyloid-β (Aβ40) fibrils. These data suggest that similar sets of fibril polymorphs develop in nondemented elderly individuals and AD patients but with different relative populations on average
Spin Transition in Strongly Correlated Bilayer Two Dimensional Electron Systems
Using a combination of heat pulse and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques
we demonstrate that the phase boundary separating the interlayer phase coherent
quantum Hall effect at in bilayer electron gases from the weakly
coupled compressible phase depends upon the spin polarization of the nuclei in
the host semiconductor crystal. Our results strongly suggest that, contrary to
the usual assumption, the transition is attended by a change in the electronic
spin polarization.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figur
Korringa ratio of ferromagnetically correlated impure metals
The Korringa ratio, , obtained by taking an appropriate combination
of the Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time, is calculated at
finite temperature, , in the three-dimensional electron gas model, including
the electron-electron interaction, , and non-magnetic impurity scatterings.
varies in a simple way with respect to and ; it decreases as
is increased but increases as is raised. However, varies in a
slightly more complicated way with respect to the impurity scatterings; as the
scattering rate is increased, increases for small and low , but
decreases for large or high regime. This calls for a more careful
analysis when one attempts to estimate the Stoner factor from .Comment: 7 pages including 3 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev. B, Dec.
Resistance spikes and domain wall loops in Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets
We explain the recent observation of resistance spikes and hysteretic
transport properties in Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets in terms of the unique
physics of their domain walls. Self-consistent RPA/Hartree-Fock theory is
applied to microscopically determine properties of the ground state and
domain-wall excitations. In these systems domain wall loops support
one-dimensional electron systems with an effective mass comparable to the bare
electron mass and may carry charge. Our theory is able to account
quantitatively for the experimental Ising critical temperature and to explain
characteristics of the resistive hysteresis loops.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Pairing in the quantum Hall system
We find an analogy between the single skyrmion state in the quantum Hall
system and the BCS superconducting state and address that the quantum
mechanical origin of the skyrmion is electronic pairing. The skyrmion phase is
found to be unstable for magnetic fields above the critical field at
temperature , which is well represented by the relation .Comment: revtex, two figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B (Rapid Communications
Critical Behavior of Nuclear-Spin Diffusion in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures near Landau Level Filling \nu=1
Thermal measurements on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure reveal that the state
of the confined two-dimensional electrons dramatically affects the nuclear-spin
diffusion near Landau level filling factor \nu=1. The experiments provide
quantitative evidence that the sharp peak in the temperature dependence of heat
capacity near \nu=1 is due to an enhanced nuclear-spin diffusion from the GaAs
quantum wells into the AlGaAs barriers. We discuss the physical origin of this
enhancement in terms the possible Skyrme solid-liquid phase transition.Comment: 1 LateX file, 3 figures, submitte
A suggested search for 207Pb nuclear Schiff moment in PbTiO3 ferroelectric
We suggest two types of experiments, NMR and macroscopic magnetometry, with
solid PbTiO3 to search for the nuclear Schiff moment of 207Pb. Both kinds of
experiments promise substantial improvement over the presently achieved
sensitivities. Statistical considerations show that the improvement of the
current sensitivity can be up to 10 orders of magnitude for the magnetometry
experiment and up to 6 orders of magnitude for the NMR experiment. Such
significant enhancement is due to the strong internal electric field of the
ferroelectric, as well as due to the possibility to cool the nuclear-spin
subsystem in the compound down to nanokelvin temperatures.Comment: 4 pages; revised sensitivity estimate for NMR experimen
Skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets as spin-waves bound to unbalanced magnetic flux quanta
A microscopic description of (baby)skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets is
derived from a scattering theory of collective (neutral) spin modes by a bare
quasiparticle. We start by mapping the low lying spectrum of spin waves in the
uniform ferromagnet onto that of free moving spin excitons, and then we study
their scattering by the defect of charge. In the presence of this disturbance,
the local spin stiffness varies in space, and we translate it into an
inhomogeneus metric in the Hilbert space supporting the excitons. An attractive
potencial is then required to preserve the symmetry under global spin
rotations, and it traps the excitons around the charged defect. The
quasiparticle now carries a spin texture. Textures containing more than one
exciton are described within a mean-field theory, the interaction among the
excitons being taken into account through a new renormalization of the metric.
The number of excitons actually bound depends on the Zeeman coupling, that
plays the same role as a chemical potencial. For small Zeeman energies, the
defect binds many excitons which condensate. As the bound excitons have a unit
of angular momentum, provided by the quantum of magnetic flux left unbalanced
by the defect of charge, the resulting texture turns out to be a topological
excitation of charge 1. Its energy is that given by the non-linear sigma model
for the ground state in this topological sector, i.e. the texture is a
skyrmion.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur
Anisotropy of Magnetoresistance Hysteresis around the Quantum Hall State in Tilted Magnetic Field
We present an anisotropy of the hysteretic transport around the spin
transition point at Landau level filling factor in tilted magnetic
field. When the direction of the in-plane component of the magnetic field
is normal to the probe current , a strong hysteretic
transport due to the current-induced nuclear spin polarization occurs. When
is parallel to , on the other hand, the hysteresis almost
disappears. We also demonstrate that the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate
at the transition point increases with decreasing angle between
the directions of and . These results suggest that the
morphology of electron spin domains around is affected by the
current direction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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