402 research outputs found
Coulomb Blockade and Coherent Single-Cooper-Pair Tunneling in Single Josephson Junctions
We have measured the current-voltage characteristics of small-capacitance
single Josephson junctions at low temperatures (T < 0.04 K), where the strength
of the coupling between the single junction and the electromagnetic environment
was controlled with one-dimensional arrays of dc SQUIDs. We have clearly
observed Coulomb blockade of Cooper-pair tunneling and even a region of
negative differential resistance, when the zero-bias resistance of the SQUID
arrays is much higher than the quantum resistance h/e^2 = 26 kohm. The negative
differential resistance is evidence of coherent single-Cooper-pair tunneling in
the single Josephson junction.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages with 6 embedded figure
Josephson junction transmission lines as tunable artificial crystals
We investigate one-dimensional Josephson junction arrays with generalized
unit cells as a circuit approach to engineer microwave band gaps. An array
described by a lattice with a basis can be designed to have a gap in the
electromagnetic spectrum, in full analogy to electronic band gaps in diatomic
or many-atomic crystals. We derive the dependence of this gap on the array
parameters in the linear regime, and suggest experimentally feasible designs to
bring the gap below the single junction plasma frequency. The gap can be tuned
in a wide frequency range by applying external flux, and it persists in the
presence of small imperfections.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
An exact reformulation of the Bose-Hubbard model in terms of a stochastic Gutzwiller ansatz
We extend our exact reformulation of the bosonic many-body problem in terms
of a stochastic Hartree ansatz to a stochastic Gutzwiller ansatz for the Bose
Hubbard model. This makes the corresponding Monte Carlo method more efficient
for strongly correlated bosonic phases like the Mott insulator phase or the
Tonks phase. We present a first numerical application of this stochastic method
to a system of impenetrable bosons on a 1D lattice showing the transition from
the discrete Tonks gas to the Mott phase as the chemical potential is
increased
New quantum phases in a one-dimensional Josephson array
We examine the phase diagram of an ordered one-dimensional Josephson array of
small grains. The average grain charge in such a system can be tuned by means
of gate voltage. At small grain-to-grain conductance, this system is strongly
correlated because of the charge discreteness constraint (Coulomb blockade). At
the gate voltages in the vicinity of the charge degeneracy points, we find new
phases equivalent to a commensurate charge density wave and to a repulsive
Luttinger liquid. The existence of these phases can be probed through a special
dependence of the Josephson current on the gate voltage.Comment: 4 pages, including 1 eps figur
Phases of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model
The zero-temperature phase diagram of the one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model
with nearest-neighbor interaction is investigated using the Density-Matrix
Renormalization Group. Recently normal phases without long-range order have
been conjectured between the charge density wave phase and the superfluid phase
in one-dimensional bosonic systems without disorder. Our calculations
demonstrate that there is no intermediate phase in the one-dimensional
Bose-Hubbard model but a simultaneous vanishing of crystalline order and
appearance of superfluid order. The complete phase diagrams with and without
nearest-neighbor interaction are obtained. Both phase diagrams show reentrance
from the superfluid phase to the insulator phase.Comment: Revised version, 4 pages, 5 figure
Superconductor-Insulator Transition in a Disordered Electronic System
We study an electronic model of a 2D superconductor with onsite randomness
using Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The superfluid density is used to track
the destruction of superconductivity in the ground state with increasing
disorder. The non-superconducting state is identified as an insulator from the
temperature dependence of its d.c. resistivity. The value of
at the superconductor-insulator transition appears to be non-universal.Comment: PostScript, 4 pages, figures include
Time dependent mean field theory of the superfluid-insulator phase transition
We develop a time-dependent mean field approach, within the time-dependent
variational principle, to describe the Superfluid-Insulator quantum phase
transition. We construct the zero temperature phase diagram both of the
Bose-Hubbard model (BHM), and of a spin-S Heisenberg model (SHM) with the XXZ
anisotropy. The phase diagram of the BHM indicates a phase transition from a
Mott insulator to a compressibile superfluid phase, and shows the expected
lobe-like structure. The SHM phase diagram displays a quantum phase transition
between a paramagnetic and a canted phases showing as well a lobe-like
structure. We show how the BHM and Quantum Phase model (QPM) can be rigorously
derived from the SHM. Based on such results, the phase boundaries of the SHM
are mapped to the BHM ones, while the phase diagram of the QPM is related to
that of the SHM. The QPM's phase diagram obtained through the application of
our approach to the SHM, describes the known onset of the macroscopic phase
coherence from the Coulomb blockade regime for increasing Josephson coupling
constant. The BHM and the QPM phase diagrams are in good agreement with Quantum
Monte Carlo results, and with the third order strong coupling perturbative
expansion.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Evolution of the Density of States Gap in a Disordered Superconductor
It has only recently been possible to study the superconducting state in the
attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian via a direct observation of the formation of a
gap in the density of states N(w). Here we determine the effect of random
chemical potentials on N(w) and show that at weak coupling, disorder closes the
gap concurrently with the destruction of superconductivity. At larger, but
still intermediate coupling, a pseudo-gap in N(w) remains even well beyond the
point at which off-diagonal long range order vanishes. This change in the
elementary excitations of the insulating phase corresponds to a crossover
between Fermi- and Bose-Insulators. These calculations represent the first
computation of the density of states in a finite dimensional disordered fermion
model via the Quantum Monte Carlo and maximum entropy methods.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Impact of culture towards disaster risk reduction
Number of natural disasters has risen sharply worldwide making the risk of disasters a global concern. These disasters have created significant losses and damages to humans, economy and society. Despite the losses and damages created by disasters, some individuals and communities do not attached much significance to natural disasters. Risk perception towards a disaster not only depends on the danger it could create but also the behaviour of the communities and individuals that is governed by their culture. Within this context, this study examines the relationship between culture and disaster risk reduction (DRR). A comprehensive literature review is used for the study to evaluate culture, its components and to analyse a series of case studies related to disaster risk.
It was evident from the study that in some situations, culture has become a factor for the survival of the communities from disasters where as in some situations culture has acted as a barrier for effective DRR activities. The study suggests community based DRR activities as a mechanism to integrate with culture to effectively manage disaster risk
Kosterlitz-Thouless Universality in a Fermionic System
A new extension of the attractive Hubbard model is constructed to study the
critical behavior near a finite temperature superconducting phase transition in
two dimensions using the recently developed meron-cluster algorithm. Unlike
previous calculations in the attractive Hubbard model which were limited to
small lattices, the new algorithm is used to study the critical behavior on
lattices as large as . These precise results for the first time
show that a fermionic system can undergo a finite temperature phase transition
whose critical behavior is well described by the predictions of Kosterlitz and
Thouless almost three decades ago. In particular it is confirmed that the
spatial winding number susceptibility obeys the well known predictions of
finite size scaling for and up to logarithmic corrections the pair
susceptibility scales as at large volumes with for .Comment: Revtex format; 4 pages, 2 figure
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