Anomalous Rashba spin splitting in two-dimensional hole systems

It has long been assumed that the inversion asymmetry-induced Rashba spin splitting in two-dimensional (2D) systems at zero magnetic field is proportional to the electric field that characterizes the inversion asymmetry of the confining potential. Here we demonstrate, both theoretically and experimentally, that 2D heavy hole systems in accumulation layer-like single heterostructures show the opposite behavior, i.e., a decreasing, but nonzero electric field results in an increasing Rashba coefficient.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

First results of observations of transient pulsar SAXJ2103.5+4545 with the INTEGRAL observatory

We present preliminary results of observations of X-ray pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545 with INTEGRAL observatory in Dec 2002. Maps of this sky region in energy bands 3-10, 15-40, 40-100 and 100-200 keV are presented. The source is significantly detected up to energies of $\sim100$ keV. The hard X-ray flux in the 15-100 energy band is variable, that could be connected with the orbital phase of the binary system. We roughly reconstructed the source spectrum using its comparison to that of Crab nebula. It is shown that the parameters of the source spectrum in 18-150 keV energy range are compatible with that obtained earlier by RXTE observatoryComment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomy Letter

Equilibrium spin currents: Non-Abelian gauge invariance and color diamagnetism in condensed matter

The spin-orbit (SO) interaction in condensed matter can be described in terms of a non-Abelian potential known in high-energy physics as a color field. I show that a magnetic component of this color field inevitably generates diamagnetic color currents which are just the equilibrium spin currents discussed in a condensed matter context. These dissipationless spin currents thus represent a universal property of systems with SO interaction. In semiconductors with linear SO coupling the spin currents are related to the effective non-Abelian field via Yang-Mills magnetostatics equation.Comment: RevTeX, 4 page

Hole spin relaxation in intrinsic and pp-type bulk GaAs

We investigate hole spin relaxation in intrinsic and $p$-type bulk GaAs from a fully microscopic kinetic spin Bloch equation approach. In contrast to the previous study on hole spin dynamics, we explicitly include the intraband coherence and the nonpolar hole-optical-phonon interaction, both of which are demonstrated to be of great importance to the hole spin relaxation. The relative contributions of the D'yakonov-Perel' and Elliott-Yafet mechanisms on hole spin relaxation are also analyzed. In our calculation, the screening constant, playing an important role in the hole spin relaxation, is treated with the random phase approximation. In intrinsic GaAs, our result shows good agreement with the experiment data at room temperature, where the hole spin relaxation is demonstrated to be dominated by the Elliott-Yafet mechanism. We also find that the hole spin relaxation strongly depends on the temperature and predict a valley in the density dependence of the hole spin relaxation time at low temperature due to the hole-electron scattering. In $p$-type GaAs, we predict a peak in the spin relaxation time against the hole density at low temperature, which originates from the distinct behaviors of the screening in the degenerate and nondegenerate regimes. The competition between the screening and the momentum exchange during scattering events can also lead to a valley in the density dependence of the hole spin relaxation time in the low density regime. At high temperature, the effect of the screening is suppressed due to the small screening constant. Moreover, we predict a nonmonotonic dependence of the hole spin relaxation time on temperature associated with the screening together with the hole-phonon scattering. Finally, we find that the D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism can markedly contribute to the .... (omitted due to the limit of space)Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, Phys. Rev. B, in pres

Repulsively bound atom pairs: Overview, Simulations and Links

We review the basic physics of repulsively bound atom pairs in an optical lattice, which were recently observed in the laboratory, including the theory and the experimental implementation. We also briefly discuss related many-body numerical simulations, in which time-dependent Density Matrix Renormalisation Group (DMRG) methods are used to model the many-body physics of a collection of interacting pairs, and give a comparison of the single-particle quasimomentum distribution measured in the experiment and results from these simulations. We then give a short discussion of how these repulsively bound pairs relate to bound states in some other physical systems.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of ICAP-2006 (Innsbruck

The AGN nature of 11 out of 12 Swift/RXTE unidentified sources through optical and X-ray spectroscopy

The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) is performing a high Galactic latitude survey in the 14-195 keV band at a flux limit of ~10^{-11} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}, leading to the discovery of new high energy sources, most of which have not so far been properly classified. A similar work has also been performed with the RXTE slew survey leading to the discovery of 68 sources detected above 8 keV, many of which are still unclassified. Follow-up observations with the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) provide, for many of these objects, source localization with a positional accuracy of few arcsec, thus allowing the search for optical counterparts to be more efficient and reliable. We present the results of optical/X-ray follow-up studies of 11 Swift BAT detections and one AGN detected in the RXTE Slew Survey, aimed at identifying their counterparts and at assessing their nature. These data allowed, for the first time, the optical classification of 8 objects and a distance determination for 3 of them. For another object, a more refined optical classification than that available in the literature is also provided. For the remaining sources, optical spectroscopy provides a characterization of the source near in time to the X-ray measurement. The sample consists of 6 Seyfert 2 galaxies, 5 Seyferts of intermediate type 1.2-1.8, and one object of Galactic nature - an Intermediate Polar (i.e., magnetic) Cataclysmic Variable. Out of the 11 AGNs, 8 (~70%) including 2 Seyferts of type 1.2 and 1.5, are absorbed with NH > 10^{22} cm^{-2}. Up to 3 objects could be Compton thick (i.e. NH > 1.5 x 10^{24} cm^{-2}), but only in one case (Swift J0609.1-8636) does all the observational evidence strongly suggests this possibility.Comment: 50 pages, including 16 figures and 7 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Accurate quadratic-response approximation for the self-consistent pseudopotential of semiconductor nanostructures

Quadratic-response theory is shown to provide a conceptually simple but accurate approximation for the self-consistent one-electron potential of semiconductor nanostructures. Numerical examples are presented for GaAs/AlAs and InGaAs/InP (001) superlattices using the local-density approximation to density-functional theory and norm-conserving pseudopotentials without spin-orbit coupling. When the reference crystal is chosen to be the virtual-crystal average of the two bulk constituents, the absolute error in the quadratic-response potential for Gamma(15) valence electrons is about 2 meV for GaAs/AlAs and 5 meV for InGaAs/InP. Low-order multipole expansions of the electron density and potential response are shown to be accurate throughout a small neighborhood of each reciprocal lattice vector, thus providing a further simplification that is confirmed to be valid for slowly varying envelope functions. Although the linear response is about an order of magnitude larger than the quadratic response, the quadratic terms are important both quantitatively (if an accuracy of better than a few tens of meV is desired) and qualitatively (due to their different symmetry and long-range dipole effects).Comment: 16 pages, 20 figures; v2: new section on limitations of theor

Evidence for coexistence of the superconducting gap and the pseudo - gap in Bi-2212 from intrinsic tunneling spectroscopy

We present intrinsic tunneling spectroscopy measurements on small Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ mesas. The tunnel conductance curves show both sharp peaks at the superconducting gap voltage and broad humps representing the $c$-axis pseudo-gap. The superconducting gap vanishes at $T_c$, while the pseudo-gap exists both above and below $T_c$. Our observation implies that the superconducting and pseudo-gaps represent different coexisting phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Spin Orientation and Spin Precession in Inversion-Asymmetric Quasi Two-Dimensional Electron Systems

Inversion asymmetry induced spin splitting of the electron states in quasi two-dimensional (2D) systems can be attributed to an effective magnetic field B which varies in magnitude and orientation as a function of the in-plane wave vector k||. Using a realistic 8x8 Kane model that fully takes into account spin splitting because of both bulk inversion asymmetry and structure inversion asymmetry we investigate the spin orientation and the effective field B for different configurations of a quasi 2D electron system. It is shown that these quantities depend sensitively on the crystallographic direction in which the quasi 2D system was grown as well as on the magnitude and orientation of the in-plane wave vector k||. These results are used to discuss how spin-polarized electrons can precess in the field B(k||). As a specific example we consider GaInAs-InP quantum wells.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Modeling the Near-Infrared Luminosity Functions of Young Stellar Clusters

We present the results of numerical experiments designed to evaluate the usefulness of near-infrared luminosity functions for constraining the Initial Mass Function (IMF) of young stellar populations. From this numerical modeling, we find that the luminosity function of a young stellar population is considerably more sensitive to variations in the underlying initial mass function than to either variations in the star forming history or assumed pre-main-sequence (PMS) mass-to-luminosity relation. To illustrate the potential effectiveness of using the KLF of a young cluster to constrain its IMF, we model the observed K band luminosity function of the nearby Trapezium cluster. Our derived mass function for the Trapezium spans two orders of magnitude in stellar mass (5 Msun to 0.02 Msun), has a peak near the hydrogen burning limit, and has an IMF for Brown Dwarfs which steadily decreases with decreasing mass.Comment: To appear in ApJ (1 April 2000). 37 pages including 11 figures, AAS: ver 5.