Spin Hall Effect of Excitons

Spin Hall effect for excitons in alkali halides and in Cu_2O is investigated theoretically. In both systems, the spin Hall effect results from the Berry curvature in k space, which becomes nonzero due to lifting of degeneracies of the exciton states by exchange coupling. The trajectory of the excitons can be directly seen as spatial dependence of the circularly polarized light emitted from the excitons. It enables us to observe the spin Hall effect directly in the real-space time.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Coherent inelastic backscattering of intense laser light by cold atoms

We present a nonperturbative treatment of coherent backscattering of intense laser light from cold atoms, and predict a nonvanishing backscattering signal even at very large intensities, due to the constructive (self-)interference of inelastically scattered photons.Comment: minor change

Thermoelectric response near a quantum critical point of beta-YbAlB4 and YbRh2Si2: A comparative study

The thermoelectric coefficients have been measured on the Yb-based heavy fermion compounds beta-YbAlB4 and YbRh2Si2 down to a very low temperature. We observe a striking difference in the behavior of the Seebeck coefficient, S in the vicinity of the Quantum Critical Point (QCP) in the two systems. As the critical field is approached, S/T enhances in beta-YbAlB4 but is drastically reduced in YbRh2Si2. While in the former system, the ratio of thermopower-to-specific heat remains constant, it drastically drops near the QCP in YbRh2Si2. In both systems, on the other hand, the Nernst coefficient shows a diverging behavior near the QCP. The results provide a new window to the way various energy scales of the system behave and eventually vanish near a QCP

Strong valence fluctuation in the quantum critical heavy fermion superconductor beta-YbAlB4: A hard x-ray photoemission study

Electronic structures of the quantum critical superconductor beta-YbAlB4 and its polymorph alpha-YbAlB4 are investigated by using bulk-sensitive hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. From the Yb 3d core level spectra, the values of the Yb valence are estimated to be ~2.73 and ~2.75 for alpha- and beta-YbAlB4, respectively, thus providing clear evidence for valence fluctuations. The valence band spectra of these compounds also show Yb2+ peaks at the Fermi level. These observations establish an unambiguous case of a strong mixed valence at quantum criticality for the first time among heavy fermion systems, calling for a novel scheme for a quantum critical model beyond the conventional Doniach picture in beta-YbAlB4.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, revised version accepted for publication in PR

Quantum Criticality without Tuning in the Mixed Valence Compound beta-YbAlB4

Fermi liquid theory, the standard theory of metals, has been challenged by a number of observations of anomalous metallic behavior found in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition. The breakdown of the Fermi liquid is accomplished by fine-tuning the material to a quantum critical point using a control parameter such as the magnetic field, pressure, or chemical composition. Our high precision magnetization measurements of the ultrapure f-electron based superconductor {\beta}-YbAlB4 demonstrate a scaling of its free energy indicative of zero-field quantum criticality without tuning in a metal. The breakdown of Fermi-liquid behavior takes place in a mixed-valence state, in sharp contrast with other known examples of quantum critical f-electron systems that are magnetic Kondo lattice systems with integral valence.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures including supporting online matelial

Deterministic Weak Localization in Periodic Structures

The weak localization is found for perfect periodic structures exhibiting deterministic classical diffusion. In particular, the velocity autocorrelation function develops a universal quantum power law decay at 4 times Ehrenfest time, following the classical stretched-exponential type decay. Such deterministic weak localization is robust against weak enough randomness (e.g., quantum impurities). In the 1D and 2D cases, we argue that at the quantum limit states localized in the Bravis cell are turned into Bloch states by quantum tunnelling.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure