8,443 research outputs found
Dyon condensation in topological Mott insulators
We consider quantum phase transitions out of topological Mott insulators in
which the ground state of the fractionalized excitations (fermionic spinons) is
topologically non-trivial. The spinons in topological Mott insulators are
coupled to an emergent compact U(1) gauge field with a so-called "axion" term.
We study the confinement transitions from the topological Mott insulator to
broken symmetry phases, which may occur via the condensation of dyons. Dyons
carry both "electric" and "magnetic" charges, and arise naturally in this
system because the monopoles of the emergent U(1) gauge theory acquires gauge
charge due to the axion term. It is shown that the dyon condensate, in general,
induces simultaneous current and bond orders. To demonstrate this, we study the
confined phase of the topological Mott insulator on the cubic lattice. When the
magnetic transition is driven by dyon condensation, we identify the bond order
as valence bond solid order and the current order as scalar spin chirality
order. Hence, the confined phase of the topological Mott insulator is an exotic
phase where the scalar spin chirality and the valence bond order coexist and
appear via a single transition. We discuss implications of our results for
generic models of topological Mott insulators.Comment: 14 pages, accepted to the New Journal of Physic
Extremely high magnetoresistance and conductivity in the type-II Weyl semimetals WP2 and MoP2
The peculiar band structure of semimetals exhibiting Dirac and Weyl crossings
can lead to spectacular electronic properties such as large mobilities
accompanied by extremely high magnetoresistance. In particular, two closely
neighbouring Weyl points of the same chirality are protected from annihilation
by structural distortions or defects, thereby significantly reducing the
scattering probability between them. Here we present the electronic properties
of the transition metal diphosphides, WP2 and MoP2, that are type-II Weyl
semimetals with robust Weyl points. We present transport and angle resolved
photoemission spectroscopy measurements, and first principles calculations. Our
single crystals of WP2 display an extremely low residual low-temperature
resistivity of 3 nohm-cm accompanied by an enormous and highly anisotropic
magnetoresistance above 200 million % at 63 T and 2.5 K. These properties are
likely a consequence of the novel Weyl fermions expressed in this compound. We
observe a large suppression of charge carrier backscattering in WP2 from
transport measurements.Comment: Appeared in Nature Communication
Evidence for internal field in graphite: A conduction electron spin resonance study
We report conduction electron spin resonance measurements performed on highly
oriented pyrolitic graphite samples between 10 K and 300 K using S (f = 4 GHz),
X (f = 9.4 GHz), and Q (f = 34.4 GHz) microwave bands for the external
dc-magnetic field applied parallel (H || c) and perpendicular (H perp c) to the
sample hexagonal c-axis. The results obtained in the H || c geometry are
interpreted in terms of the presence of an effective internal
ferromagnetic-like field Heff-int(T,H) that increases as the temperature
decreases and the applied dc-magnetic field increases. We associate the
occurrence of the Heff-int(T,H) with the field-induced metal-insulator
transition in graphite and discuss its origin in the light of relevant
theoretical models.Comment: 10 pages (tex), 5 figures (ps
Heat to Electricity Conversion by a Graphene Stripe with Heavy Chiral Fermions
A conversion of thermal energy into electricity is considered in the
electrically polarized graphene stripes with zigzag edges where the heavy
chiral fermion (HCF) states are formed. The stripes are characterized by a high
electric conductance Ge and by a significant Seebeck coefficient S. The
electric current in the stripes is induced due to a non-equilibrium thermal
injection of "hot" electrons. This thermoelectric generation process might be
utilized for building of thermoelectric generators with an exceptionally high
figure of merit Z{\delta}T \simeq 100 >> 1 and with an appreciable electric
power densities \sim 1 MW/cm2.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Neuroprotective Ferulic Acid (FA)-Glycol Chitosan (GC) Nanoparticles for Functional Restoration of Traumatically Injured Spinal Cord
An urgent unmet need exists for early-stage treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). Currently methylprednisolone is the only therapeutic agent used in clinics, for which the efficacy is controversial and the side effect is well-known. We demonstrated functional restoration of injured spinal cord by self-assembled nanoparticles composed of ferulic acid modified glycol chitosan (FA-GC). Chitosan and ferulic acid are strong neuroprotective agents but their systemic delivery is difficult. Our data has shown a prolonged circulation time of the FA-GC nanoparticles allowing for effective delivery of both chitosan and ferulic acid to the injured site. Furthermore, the nanoparticles were found both in the gray matter and white matter. The in vitro tests demonstrated that nanoparticles protected primary neurons from glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. Using a spinal cord contusion injury model, significant recovery in locomotor function was observed in rats that were intravenously administered nanoparticles at 2 h post injury, as compared to non-improvement by methylprednisolone administration. Histological analysis revealed that FA-GC treatment significantly preserved axons and myelin and also reduced cavity volume, astrogliosis, and inflammatory response at the lesion site. No obvious adverse effects of nanoparticles to other organs were found. The restorative effect of FA-GC presents a promising potential for treating human SCIs
Towards coherent optical control of a single hole spin: rabi rotation of a trion conditional on the spin state of the hole
A hole spin is a potential solid-state q-bit, that may be more robust against nuclear spin induced dephasing than an electron spin. Here we propose and demonstrate the sequential preparation, control and detection of a single hole spin trapped on a self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot. The dot is embedded in a photodiode structure under an applied electric field. Fast, triggered, initialization of a hole spin is achieved by creating a spin-polarized electron-hole pair with a picosecond laser pulse, and in an applied electric field, waiting for the electron to tunnel leaving a spin-polarized hole. Detection of the hole spin with picoseconds time resolution is achieved using a second picosecond laser pulse to probe the positive trion transition, where a trion is created conditional on the hole spin being detected as a change in photocurrent. Finally, using this setup we observe a Rabi rotation of the hole-trion transition that is conditional on the hole spin, which for a pulse area of 2 pi can be used to impart a phase shift of pi between the hole spin states, a non-general manipulation of the hole spin. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
30 inch Roll-Based Production of High-Quality Graphene Films for Flexible Transparent Electrodes
We report that 30-inch scale multiple roll-to-roll transfer and wet chemical
doping considerably enhance the electrical properties of the graphene films
grown on roll-type Cu substrates by chemical vapor deposition. The resulting
graphene films shows a sheet resistance as low as ~30 Ohm/sq at ~90 %
transparency which is superior to commercial transparent electrodes such as
indium tin oxides (ITO). The monolayer of graphene shows sheet resistances as
low as ~125 Ohm/sq with 97.4% optical transmittance and half-integer quantum
Hall effect, indicating the high-quality of these graphene films. As a
practical application, we also fabricated a touch screen panel device based on
the graphene transparent electrodes, showing extraordinary mechanical and
electrical performances
UV and FIR selected star-forming galaxies at z=0: differences and overlaps
We study two samples of local galaxies, one is UV (GALEX) selected and the
other FIR (IRAS) selected, to address the question whether UV and FIR surveys
see the two sides ('bright' and 'dark') of the star formation of the same
population of galaxies or two different populations of star forming galaxies.
No significant difference between the L () luminosity
functions of the UV and FIR samples is found. Also, after the correction for
the `Malmquist bias' (bias for flux limited samples), the FIR-to-UV ratio v.s.
L relations of the two samples are consistent with each other. In the
range of 9 \la \log(L_{tot}/L_\sun) \la 12, both can be approximated by a
simple linear relation of \log (L_{60}/L_{FUV})=\log(L_{tot}/L_\sun)-9.66.
These are consistent with the hypothesis that the two samples represent the
same population of star forming galaxies, and their well documented differences
in L and in FIR-to-UV ratio are due only to the selection effect. A
comparison between the UV luminosity functions shows marginal evidence for a
population of faint UV galaxies missing in the FIR selected sample. The
contribution from these 'FIR-quiet' galaxies to the overall UV population is
insignificant, given that the K-band luminosity functions (i.e. the stellar
mass functions) of the two samples do not show any significant difference.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by Ap
Dysregulation of Cell Survival in Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets
Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of lymphoma worldwide, representing 30–40% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and is clinically aggressive. Although more than half of patients with DLBCL are cured by using standard first-line immunochemotherapy, the remaining patients are refractory to the first-line therapy or relapse after complete remission and these patients require novel therapeutic approaches. Understanding the pathogenesis of DLBCL is essential for identifying therapeutic targets to tackle this disease. Cell survival dysregulation, a hallmark of cancer, is a characteristic feature of DLBCL. Intrinsic signaling aberrations, tumor microenvironment dysfunction, and viral factors can all contribute to the cell survival dysregulation in DLBCL. In recent years, several novel drugs that target abnormal cell survival pathways, have been developed and tested in clinical trials of patients with DLBCL. In this review, we discuss cell survival dysregulation, the underlying mechanisms, and how to target abnormal cell survival therapeutically in DLBCL patients
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