Bond-order modulated staggered flux phase for the t−Jt{-}J model on the square lattice

Motivated by the observation of inhomogeneous patterns in some high-T$_c$ cuprate compounds, several variational Gutzwiller-projected wave-functions with built-in charge and bond order parameters are proposed for the extended $t-J-V$ model on the square lattice at low doping. First, following a recent Gutzwiller-projected mean-field approach by one of us (Phys. Rev. B. {\bf 72}, 060508(R) (2005)), we investigate, as a function of doping and Coulomb repulsion, the stability of the staggered flux phase with respect to small spontaneous modulations of squared unit cells ranging from $2\times 2$ to $\sqrt{32}\times\sqrt{32}$. It is found that a $4\times 4$ bond-order (BO) modulation appears spontaneously on top of the staggered flux pattern for hole doping around 1/8. A related wave-function is then constructed and optimized accurately and its properties studied extensively using an approximation-free variational Monte Carlo scheme. Finally, the competition of the BO-modulated staggered flux wave-function w.r.t. the d-wave RVB wave-function or the commensurate flux state is investigated. It is found that a short range Coulomb repulsion penalizes the d-wave superconductor and that a moderate Coulomb repulsion brings them very close in energy. Our results are discussed in connection to the STM observations in the under-doped regime of some cuprates.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Degree of Sequentiality of Weighted Automata

Weighted automata (WA) are an important formalism to describe quantitative properties. Obtaining equivalent deterministic machines is a longstanding research problem. In this paper we consider WA with a set semantics, meaning that the semantics is given by the set of weights of accepting runs. We focus on multi-sequential WA that are defined as finite unions of sequential WA. The problem we address is to minimize the size of this union. We call this minimum the degree of sequentiality of (the relation realized by) the WA. For a given positive integer k, we provide multiple characterizations of relations realized by a union of k sequential WA over an infinitary finitely generated group: a Lipschitz-like machine independent property, a pattern on the automaton (a new twinning property) and a subclass of cost register automata. When possible, we effectively translate a WA into an equivalent union of k sequential WA. We also provide a decision procedure for our twinning property for commutative computable groups thus allowing to compute the degree of sequentiality. Last, we show that these results also hold for word transducers and that the associated decision problem is PSPACE -complete

Unravelling the Dodecahedral Spaces

The hyperbolic dodecahedral space of Weber and Seifert has a natural non-positively curved cubulation obtained by subdividing the dodecahedron into cubes. We show that the hyperbolic dodecahedral space has a 6-sheeted irregular cover with the property that the canonical hypersurfaces made up of the mid-cubes give a very short hierarchy. Moreover, we describe a 60-sheeted cover in which the associated cubulation is special. We also describe the natural cubulation and covers of the spherical dodecahedral space (aka Poincar\'e homology sphere).Comment: 15 pages + 6 pages appendix, 7 figures, 4 table

Electrical and galvanomagnetic properties of AuAl2+6%Cu intermetallic compounds at low temperatures

The AuAl2 intermetallic compounds are of substantial interest in view of their application potential. The investigated intermetallics AuAl 2+6%Cu were prepared from fine powders of AuAl2 and Cu by vacuum sputtering on a glass substrate and consisted of films with a thickness of about one micrometer. The films were annealed. The temperature and field dependence of the electroresistivity, the magnetoresistivity and the Hall effect of AuAl2+6%Cu films were measured in the temperature interval from 4.2 to 100 K and at magnetic fields of up to 15 T. We demonstrate that the temperature dependence of the electroresistivity has a minimum at T = 20 K and a metallic behavior above this temperature. The magnetoresistivity is very small (less then 1%), positive at low temperatures and negative above 12 K. The Hall coefficient is positive, which corresponds to the holes in a one zone model with a charge carrier concentration of about 1.6 1020 cm-3. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Time-Resolved Spin Torque Switching and Enhanced Damping in Py/Cu/Py Spin-Valve Nanopillars

We report time-resolved measurements of current-induced reversal of a free magnetic layer in Py/Cu/Py elliptical nanopillars at temperatures T = 4.2 K to 160 K. Comparison of the data to Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert macrospin simulations of the free layer switching yields numerical values for the spin torque and the Gilbert damping parameters as functions of T. The damping is strongly T-dependent, which we attribute to the antiferromagnetic pinning behavior of a thin permalloy oxide layer around the perimeter of the free layer. This adventitious antiferromagnetic pinning layer can have a major impact on spin torque phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

A steerable UV laser system for the calibration of liquid argon time projection chambers

A number of liquid argon time projection chambers (LAr TPC's) are being build or are proposed for neutrino experiments on long- and short baseline beams. For these detectors a distortion in the drift field due to geometrical or physics reasons can affect the reconstruction of the events. Depending on the TPC geometry and electric drift field intensity this distortion could be of the same magnitude as the drift field itself. Recently, we presented a method to calibrate the drift field and correct for these possible distortions. While straight cosmic ray muon tracks could be used for calibration, multiple coulomb scattering and momentum uncertainties allow only a limited resolution. A UV laser instead can create straight ionization tracks in liquid argon, and allows one to map the drift field along different paths in the TPC inner volume. Here we present a UV laser feed-through design with a steerable UV mirror immersed in liquid argon that can point the laser beam at many locations through the TPC. The straight ionization paths are sensitive to drift field distortions, a fit of these distortion to the linear optical path allows to extract the drift field, by using these laser tracks along the whole TPC volume one can obtain a 3D drift field map. The UV laser feed-through assembly is a prototype of the system that will be used for the MicroBooNE experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL)

Experimental study of electric breakdowns in liquid argon at centimeter scale

In this paper we present results on measurements of the dielectric strength of liquid argon near its boiling point and cathode-anode distances in the range of 0.1 mm to 40 mm with spherical cathode and plane anode. We show that at such distances the applied electric field at which breakdowns occur is as low as 40 kV/cm. Flash-overs across the ribbed dielectric of the high voltage feed-through are observed for a length of 300 mm starting from a voltage of 55 kV. These results contribute to set reference for the breakdown-free design of ionization detectors, such as Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LAr TPC)