The superconducting state of the high-transition temperature superconductors: Experimental basis

Experiments on the high-T(sub c) cuprate superconductors continue to narrow the possible theoretical explanations of the phenomenon. Experimental evidence to date points to a BCS-like state, with pairs in singlet s-states, the familiar gap in the excitation spectrum, type 2 behavior in a magnetic field and a normal state with fermi liquid origins. Several other features of the superconducting state in the cuprates, however, appear to differ from those of conventional alloy superconductors (these relate to the detailed structure of the gap and to the nature of the coupling mechanism). Recent experiments have helped clarify what these differences are, and together with the earlier experiments, they now impose still stronger constraints on theories of these superconductors. These and other developments will be reviewed

RECENT COST INCREASES: THEIR FUTURE IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURE

Demand and Price Analysis,

The measurement of low pay in the UK labour force survey

Consideration of the National Minimum Wage requires estimates of the distribution of hourly pay. The UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a key source of such estimates. The approach most frequently adopted by researchers has been to measure hourly earnings from several questions on pay and hours. The Office for National Statistics is now applying a new approach, based on an alternative more direct measurement introduced in March 1999. These two measures do not produce identical values and this paper investigates sources of discrepancies and concludes that the new variable is more accurate. The difficulty with using the new variable is that it is only available on a subset of respondents. An approach is developed in which missing values of the new variable are replaced by imputed values. The assumptions underlying this imputation approach and results of applying it to LFS data are presented. The relation to weighting approaches is also discussed

Hot electrons in low-dimensional phonon systems

A simple bulk model of electron-phonon coupling in metals has been surprisingly successful in explaining experiments on metal films that actually involve surface- or other low-dimensional phonons. However, by an exact application of this standard model to a semi-infinite substrate with a free surface, making use of the actual vibrational modes of the substrate, we show that such agreement is fortuitous, and that the model actually predicts a low-temperature crossover from the familiar T^5 temperature dependence to a stronger T^6 log T scaling. Comparison with existing experiments suggests a widespread breakdown of the standard model of electron-phonon thermalization in metals

Characteristics of phonon transmission across epitaxial interfaces: a lattice dynamic study

Phonon transmission across epitaxial interfaces is studied within the lattice dynamic approach. The transmission shows weak dependence on frequency for the lattice wave with a fixed angle of incidence. The dependence on azimuth angle is found to be related to the symmetry of the boundary interface. The transmission varies smoothly with the change of the incident angle. A critical angle of incidence exists when the phonon is incident from the side with large group velocities to the side with low ones. No significant mode conversion is observed among different acoustic wave branches at the interface, except when the incident angle is near the critical value. Our theoretical result of the Kapitza conductance $G_{K}$ across the Si-Ge (100) interface at temperature $T=200$K is 4.6\times10^{8} {\rm WK}^{-1}{\rmm}^{-2}. A scaling law $G_K \propto T^{2.87}$ at low temperature is also reported. Based on the features of transmission obtained within lattice dynamic approach, we propose a simplified formula for thermal conductanceacross the epitaxial interface. A reasonable consistency is found between the calculated values and the experimentally measured ones.Comment: 8 figure

Strong Enhancement of Superconducting Correlation in a Two-Component Fermion Gas

We study high-density electron-hole (e-h) systems with the electron density slightly larger than the hole density. We find a new superconducting phase, in which the excess electrons form Cooper pairs moving in an e-h BCS phase. The coexistence of the e-h and e-e orders is possible because e and h have opposite charges, whereas analogous phases are impossible in the case of two fermion species that have the same charge or are neutral. Most strikingly, the e-h order enhances the superconducting e-h order parameter by more than one order of magnitude as compared with that given by the BCS formula, for the same value of the effective e-e attractive potential \lambda^{ee}. This new phase should be observable in an e-h system created by photoexcitation in doped semiconductors at low temperatures.Comment: 5 pages including 5 PostScript figure

Bistable Gradient Networks II: Storage Capacity and Behaviour Near Saturation

We examine numerically the storage capacity and the behaviour near saturation of an attractor neural network consisting of bistable elements with an adjustable coupling strength, the Bistable Gradient Network (BGN). For strong coupling, we find evidence of a first-order "memory blackout" phase transition as in the Hopfield network. For weak coupling, on the other hand, there is no evidence of such a transition and memorized patterns can be stable even at high levels of loading. The enhanced storage capacity comes, however, at the cost of imperfect retrieval of the patterns from corrupted versions.Comment: 15 pages, 12 eps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E. Sequel to cond-mat/020356

Quantum Force in Superconductor

Transitions between states with continuous (called as classical state) and discrete (called as quantum state) spectrum of permitted momentum values is considered. The persistent current can exist along the ring circumference in the quantum state in contrast to the classical state. Therefore the average momentum can changes at the considered transitions. In order to describe the reiterated switching into and out the quantum state an additional term is introduced in the classical Boltzmann transport equation. The force inducing the momentum change at the appearance of the persistent current is called as quantum force. It is shown that dc potential difference is induced on ring segments by the reiterated switching if the dissipation force is not homogeneous along the ring circumference. The closing of the superconducting state in the ring is considered as real example of the transition from classical to quantum stateComment: 4 pages, RevTex, 0 figure

Induction of dc voltage, proportional to the persistent current, by external ac current on system of inhomogeneous superconducting loops

A dc voltage induced by an external ac current is observed in system of asymmetric mesoscopic superconducting loops. The value and sign of this dc voltage, like the one of the persistent current, depend in a periodical way on a magnetic field with period corresponded to the flux quantum within the loop. The amplitude of the oscillations does not depend on the frequency of the external ac current (in the investigated region 100 Hz - 1 MHz) and depends on its amplitude. The latter dependence is not monotonous. The observed phenomenon of rectification is interpreted as a consequence of a dynamic resistive state induced by superposition of the external current and the persistent current. It is shown that the dc voltage can be added in system of loops connected in series: the dc voltage oscillations with amplitude up to 0.00001 V were observed in single loop, up to 0.00004 V in a system of 3 loops and up to 0.0003 V in a system of 20 loops.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Analysis of Interband, Intraband, and Plasmon Polariton Transitions in Silver Nanoparticle Films Via In Situ Real-Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

The dielectric function of Ag nanoparticle films, deduced from an analysis of in situ real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) measurements, is found to evolve with time during deposition in close consistency with the film structure, deduced in the same RTSE analysis. In the nucleation regime, the intraband dielectric function component is absent and plasmon polariton behavior dominates. Only at nuclei contact, does the intraband amplitude appear, increasing above zero. Both intraband and plasmon amplitudes coexist during surface smoothening associated with coalescence. The intraband relaxation time increases rapidly after surface smoothening is complete, also in consistency with the thin film structural evolution