A geometry for optimizing nanoscale magnetic resonance force microscopy

We implement magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) in an experimental geometry, where the long axis of the cantilever is normal to both the external magnetic field and the RF microwire source. Measurements are made of the statistical polarization of $^1$H in polystyrene with negligible magnetic dissipation, gradients greater than $10^5$ T/m within 100 nm of the magnetic tip, and rotating RF magnetic fields over 12 mT at 115 MHz. This geometry could facilitate the application of nanometer-scale MRFM to nuclear species with low gyro-magnetic ratios and samples with broadened resonances, such as In spins in quantum dots.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Locating the Gribov horizon

We explore whether a tree-level expression for the gluon two-point function, supposed to express effects of an horizon term introduced to eliminate the Gribov ambiguity, is consistent with the propagator obtained in simulations of lattice-regularised quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In doing so, we insist that the gluon two-point function obey constraints that ensure a minimal level of consistency with parton-like behaviour at ultraviolet momenta. In consequence, we are led to a position which supports a conjecture that the gluon mass and horizon scale are equivalent emergent mass-scales, each with a value of roughly $0.5\,$GeV; and wherefrom it appears plausible that the dynamical generation of a running gluon mass may alone be sufficient to remove the Gribov ambiguity.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Zero mode in a strongly coupled quark gluon plasma

In connection with massless two-flavour QCD, we analyse the chiral symmetry restoring phase transition using three distinct gluon-quark vertices and two different assumptions about the long-range part of the quark-quark interaction. In each case, we solve the gap equation, locate the transition temperature T_c, and use the maximum entropy method to extract the dressed-quark spectral function at T>T_c. Our best estimate for the chiral transition temperature is T_c=(147 +/- 8)MeV; and the deconfinement transition is coincident. For temperatures markedly above T_c, we find a spectral density that is consistent with those produced using a hard thermal loop expansion, exhibiting both a normal and plasmino mode. On a domain T\in[T_c,T_s], with T_s approximately 1.5T_c, however, with each of the six kernels we considered, the spectral function contains a significant additional feature. Namely, it displays a third peak, associated with a zero mode, which is essentially nonperturbative in origin and dominates the spectral function at T=T_c. We suggest that the existence of this mode is a signal for the formation of a strongly-coupled quark-gluon plasma and that this strongly-interacting state of matter is likely a distinctive feature of the QCD phase transition.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Phase diagram and thermal properties of strong-interaction matter

We introduce a novel procedure for computing the (mu,T)-dependent pressure in continuum QCD; and therefrom obtain a complex phase diagram and predictions for thermal properties of the system, providing the in-medium behaviour of the trace anomaly, speed of sound, latent heat and heat capacity.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Minor amendments in the version accepted for publicatio

The angular dependence of spin-orbit torque in monolayer Fe3GeTe2Fe_3GeTe_2

In ferromagnetic systems lacking inversion symmetry, an applied electric field can control the ferromagnetic order parameters through the spin-orbit torque. The prototypical example is a bilayer heterostructure composed of a ferromagnet and a heavy metal that acts as a spin current source. In addition to such bilayers, spin-orbit coupling can mediate spin-orbit torques in ferromagnets that lack bulk inversion symmetry. A recently discovered example is the two-dimensional monolayer ferromagnet $Fe_3GeTe_2$. In this work, we use first-principles calculations to study the spin-orbit torque and ensuing magnetic dynamics in this material. By expanding the torque versus magnetization direction as a series of vector spherical harmonics, we find that higher order terms (up to $\ell=4$) are significant and play important roles in the magnetic dynamics. They give rise to deterministic, magnetic field-free electrical switching of perpendicular magnetization.Comment: 8 pages (3 pages appendix), 7 figure

Cooling a Micromechanical Beam by Coupling it to a Transmission Line

We study a method to cool down the vibration mode of a micro-mechanical beam using a capacitively-coupled superconducting transmission line. The Coulomb force between the transmission line and the beam is determined by the driving microwave on the transmission line and the displacement of the beam. When the frequency of the driving microwave is smaller than that of the transmission line resonator, the Coulomb force can oppose the velocity of the beam. Thus, the beam can be cooled. This mechanism, which may enable to prepare the beam in its quantum ground state of vibration, is feasible under current experimental conditions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Kuroshio Intrusion and the Circulation in the South China Sea

The Princeton Ocean Model is used to study the circulation in the South China Sea (SCS) and its seasonal transition. Kuroshio enters ( leaves) the SCS through the southern ( northern) portion of the Luzon Strait. The annually averaged net volume flux through the Luzon Strait is similar to2 Sv into the SCS with seasonal reversals. The inflow season is from May to January with the maximum intrusion of Kuroshio water reaching the western SCS during fall in compensation of summertime surface offshore transport associated with coastal upwelling. From February to April the net transport reverses from the SCS to the Pacific. The intruded Kuroshio often forms an anticyclonic current loop west of the Luzon Strait. The current loop separates near the Dongsha Islands with the northward branch continuously feeding the South China Sea Warm Current (SCSWC) near the shelf break and the westward branch becoming the South China Sea Branch of Kuroshio on the slope, which is most apparent in the fall. The SCSWC appears from December to February on the seaward side of the shelf break, flowing eastward against the prevailing wind. Diagnosis shows that the onshore Ekman transport due to northeasterly monsoon generates upwelling when moving upslope, and the particular distributions of the density and sea level associated with the cross shelf motion supports the SCSWC

Measurement of statistical nuclear spin polarization in a nanoscale GaAs sample

We measure the statistical polarization of quadrupolar nuclear spins in a sub-micrometer (0.6 um^3) particle of GaAs using magnetic resonance force microscopy. The crystalline sample is cut out of a GaAs wafer and attached to a micro-mechanical cantilever force sensor using a focused ion beam technique. Nuclear magnetic resonance is demonstrated on ensembles containing less than 5 x 10^8 nuclear spins and occupying a volume of around (300 nm)^3 in GaAs with reduced volumes possible in future experiments. We discuss how the further reduction of this detection volume will bring the spin ensemble into a regime where random spin fluctuations, rather than Boltzmann polarization, dominate its dynamics. The detection of statistical polarization in GaAs therefore represents an important first step toward 3D magnetic resonance imaging of III-V materials on the nanometer-scale.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, 1 supplementary fil