28 research outputs found
Separation of Quasiparticle and Phononic Heat Currents in YBCO
Measurements of the transverse (k_{xy}) and longitudinal (k_{xx}) thermal
conductivity in high magnetic fields are used to separate the quasiparticle
thermal conductivity (k_{xx}^{el}) of the CuO_2-planes from the phononic
thermal conductivity in YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}. k_{xx}^{el} is found to display
a pronounced maximum below T_c. Our data analysis reveals distinct transport
(\tau) and Hall (\tau_H) relaxation times below T_c: Whereas \tau is strongly
enhanced, \tau_H follows the same temperature dependence as above T_c
Ground State Vortex Lattice Structures in d-wave Superconductors
We show in a realistic symmetry gap model for a cuprate
superconductor that the clean vortex lattice has discontinuous structural
transitions (at and near T=0), as a function of the magnetic field along
the c-axis. The transitions arise from the singular nonlocal and anisotropic
susceptibility of the superconductor to the perturbation
caused by supercurrents associated with vortices. The susceptibility, due to
virtual Dirac quasiparticle-hole excitation, is calculated carefully, and leads
to a ground state transition for the triangular lattice from an orientation
along one of the crystal axis to one at 45 to them, i.e, along the gap zero
direction. The field scale is seen to be 5 Tesla , where is the gap maximum, is the
nearest neighbour hopping, is the lattice constant, and is the
flux quantum. At much higher fields () there is a discontinuous
transition to a centred square structure. The source of the differences from
existing calculations, and experimental observability are discussed, the latter
especially in view of the very small (a few degrees per vortex) differences
in the ground state energy.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev.
Dirac Nodes and Quantized Thermal Hall Effect in the Mixed State of d-wave Superconductors
We consider the vortex state of d-wave superconductors in the clean limit.
Within the linearized approximation the quasiparticle bands obtained are found
to posess Dirac cone dispersion (band touchings) at special points in the
Brillouin zone. They are protected by a symmetry of the linearized Hamiltonian
that we call T_Dirac. Moreover, for vortex lattices that posess inversion
symmetry, it is shown that there is always a Dirac cone centered at zero energy
within the linearized theory. On going beyond the linearized approximation and
including the effect of the smaller curvature terms (that break T_Dirac), the
Dirac cone dispersions are found to acquire small gaps (0.5 K/Tesla in YBCO)
that scale linearly with the applied magnetic field. When the chemical
potential for quasiparticles lies within the gap, quantization of the
thermal-Hall conductivity is expected at low temperatures i.e. kappa_{xy}/T =
n[(pi k_B)^2/(3h)] with the integer `n' taking on values n=+2, -2, 0. This
quantization could be seen in low temperature thermal transport measurements of
clean d-wave superconductors with good vortex lattices.Comment: (23 pages in all [7 pages in appendices], 9 figures
Giant enhancement of the thermal Hall conductivity \kappa_{xy} in the superconductor YBa_2Cu_3O_7
In high-purity crystals of YBa_2Cu_3O_7, the quasiparticle (qp) lifetime
\tau and the (weak-field) thermal Hall conductivity \kappa_{xy} undergo
dramatic increases below 90K. We present a detailed picture of the behavior of
\kappa_{xy} at low temperature, in particular its scaling properties, which are
directly relevant to the issue of whether Landau quantization of the qp states
occurs.Comment: 4 pages in Tex, 5 figures in EP
Carrier relaxation, pseudogap, and superconducting gap in high-Tc cuprates: A Raman scattering study
We describe results of electronic Raman-scattering experiments in differently
doped single crystals of Y-123 and Bi-2212. The comparison of AF insulating and
metallic samples suggests that at least the low-energy part of the spectra
originates predominantly from excitations of free carriers. We therefore
propose an analysis of the data in terms of a memory function approach.
Dynamical scattering rates and mass-enhancement factors for the carriers are
obtained. In B2g symmetry the Raman data compare well to the results obtained
from ordinary and optical transport. For underdoped materials the dc scattering
rates in B1g symmetry become temperature independent and considerably larger
than in B2g symmetry. This increasing anisotropy is accompanied by a loss of
spectral weight in B2g symmetry in the range between the superconducting
transition at Tc and a characteristic temperature T* of order room temperature
which compares well with the pseudogap temperature found in other experiments.
The energy range affected by the pseudogap is doping and temperature
independent. The integrated spectral loss is approximately 25% in underdoped
samples and becomes much weaker towards higher carrier concentration. In
underdoped samples, superconductivity related features in the spectra can be
observed only in B2g symmetry. The peak frequencies scale with Tc. We do not
find a direct relation between the pseudogap and the superconducting gap.Comment: RevTeX, 21 pages, 24 gif figures. For PostScript with embedded eps
figures, see http://www.wmi.badw-muenchen.de/~opel/k2.htm
NSAIDs Modulate CDKN2A, TP53, and DNA Content Risk for Progression to Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
BACKGROUND: Somatic genetic CDKN2A, TP53, and DNA content abnormalities are common in many human cancers and their precursors, including esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) and Barrett's esophagus (BE), conditions for which aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been proposed as possible chemopreventive agents; however, little is known about the ability of a biomarker panel to predict progression to cancer nor how NSAID use may modulate progression. We aimed to evaluate somatic genetic abnormalities with NSAIDs as predictors of EA in a prospective cohort study of patients with BE. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Esophageal biopsies from 243 patients with BE were evaluated at baseline for TP53 and CDKN2A (p16) alterations, tetraploidy, and aneuploidy using sequencing; loss of heterozygosity (LOH); methylation-specific PCR; and flow cytometry. At 10 y, all abnormalities, except CDKN2A mutation and methylation, contributed to EA risk significantly by univariate analysis, ranging from 17p LOH (relative risk [RR] = 10.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.2–21.3, p < 0.001) to 9p LOH (RR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.1–6.0, p = 0.03). A panel of abnormalities including 17p LOH, DNA content tetraploidy and aneuploidy, and 9p LOH was the best predictor of EA (RR = 38.7; 95% CI 10.8–138.5, p < 0.001). Patients with no baseline abnormality had a 12% 10-y cumulative EA incidence, whereas patients with 17p LOH, DNA content abnormalities, and 9p LOH had at least a 79.1% 10-y EA incidence. In patients with zero, one, two, or three baseline panel abnormalities, there was a significant trend toward EA risk reduction among NSAID users compared to nonusers (p = 0.01). The strongest protective effect was seen in participants with multiple genetic abnormalities, with NSAID nonusers having an observed 10-y EA risk of 79%, compared to 30% for NSAID users (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A combination of 17p LOH, 9p LOH, and DNA content abnormalities provided better EA risk prediction than any single TP53, CDKN2A, or DNA content lesion alone. NSAIDs are associated with reduced EA risk, especially in patients with multiple high-risk molecular abnormalities