Observation of the spontaneous vortex phase in the weakly ferromagnetic superconductor ErNi2_{2}B2_{2}C: A penetration depth study

The coexistence of weak ferromagnetism and superconductivity in ErNi$_{2}$B$_{2}$C suggests the possibility of a spontaneous vortex phase (SVP) in which vortices appear in the absence of an external field. We report evidence for the long-sought SVP from the in-plane magnetic penetration depth $\Delta \lambda (T)$ of high-quality single crystals of ErNi$_{2}$B$_{2}$C. In addition to expected features at the N\'{e}el temperature $T_{N}$ = 6.0 K and weak ferromagnetic onset at $T_{WFM}=2.3$K, $\Delta \lambda (T)$ rises to a maximum at $T_{m}=0.45$ K before dropping sharply down to $\sim$0.1 K. We assign the 0.45 K-maximum to the proliferation and freezing of spontaneous vortices. A model proposed by Koshelev and Vinokur explains the increasing $\Delta \lambda (T)$ as a consequence of increasing vortex density, and its subsequent decrease below $T_{m}$ as defect pinning suppresses vortex hopping.Comment: 5 pages including figures; added inset to Figure 2; significant revisions to tex

Numerical Method for Accessing the Universal Scaling Function for a Multi-Particle Discrete Time Asymmetric Exclusion Process

In the universality class of the one dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang surface growth, Derrida and Lebowitz conjectured the universality of not only the scaling exponents, but of an entire scaling function. Since Derrida and Lebowitz's original publication [PRL 80 209 (1998)] this universality has been verified for a variety of continuous time, periodic boundary systems in the KPZ universality class. Here, we present a numerical method for directly examining the entire particle flux of the asymmetric exclusion process (ASEP), thus providing an alternative to more difficult cumulant ratios studies. Using this method, we find that the Derrida-Lebowitz scaling function (DLSF) properly characterizes the large system size limit (N-->infty) of a single particle discrete time system, even in the case of very small system sizes (N <= 22). This fact allows us to not only verify that the DLSF properly characterizes multiple particle discrete-time asymmetric exclusion processes, but also provides a way to numerically solve for quantities of interest, such as the particle hopping flux. This method can thus serve to further increase the ease and accessibility of studies involving even more challenging dynamics, such as the open boundary ASEP

Probing the superconducting gap symmetry of PrRu4_{4}Sb12_{12}: A comparison with PrOs4_{4}Sb12_{12}

We report measurements of the magnetic penetration depth $\lambda$ in single crystals of PrRu$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ down to 0.1 K. Both $\lambda$ and superfluid density $\rho_{s}$ exhibit an exponential behavior for $T$ $<$ 0.5$T_{c}$, with parameters $\Delta$(0)/\textit{k}$_{B}$\textit{T}$_{c}$ = 1.9 and $\lambda(0)$ = 2900 \AA. The value of $\Delta$(0) is consistent with the specific-heat jump value of $\Delta C/\gamma T_{c}$ = 1.87 measured elsewhere, while the value of $\lambda(0)$ is consistent with the measured value of the electronic heat-capacity coefficient $\gamma$. Our data are consistent with PrRu$_{4}$Sb$_{12}$ being a moderate-coupling, fully-gapped superconductor. We suggest experiments to study how the nature of the superconducting state evolves with increasing Ru substitution for Os

Extranatural Inflation

We present a new model of inflation in which the inflaton is the extra component of a gauge field in a 5d theory compactified on a circle. The chief merit of this model is that the potential comes only from non-local effects so that its flatness is not spoiled by higher dimensional operators or quantum gravity corrections. The model predicts a red spectrum (n ~ 0.96) and a significant production of gravitational waves (r ~ 0.11). We also comment on the relevance of this idea to quintessence.Comment: 4 pages. Minor corrections and references added. Accepted for PR

Field-angle Dependence of the Zero-Energy Density of States in the Unconventional Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn5

Field-angle dependent specific heat measurement has been done on the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 down to ~ 0.29 K, in a magnetic field rotating in the tetragonal c-plane. A clear fourfold angular oscillation is observed in the specific heat with the minima (maxima) occurring along the [100] ([110]) directions. Oscillation persists down to low fields H << Hc2, thus directly proving the existence of gap nodes. The results indicate that the superconducting gap symmetry is most probably of dxy type.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Condens. Matte

Doping and temperature dependence of electron spectrum and quasiparticle dispersion in doped bilayer cuprates

Within the t-t'-J model, the electron spectrum and quasiparticle dispersion in doped bilayer cuprates in the normal state are discussed by considering the bilayer interaction. It is shown that the bilayer interaction splits the electron spectrum of doped bilayer cuprates into the bonding and antibonding components around the $(\pi,0)$ point. The differentiation between the bonding and antibonding components is essential, which leads to two main flat bands around the $(\pi,0)$ point below the Fermi energy. In analogy to the doped single layer cuprates, the lowest energy states in doped bilayer cuprates are located at the $(\pi/2,\pi/2)$ point. Our results also show that the striking behavior of the electronic structure in doped bilayer cuprates is intriguingly related to the bilayer interaction together with strong coupling between the electron quasiparticles and collective magnetic excitations.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, updated references, added figures and discussions, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Intrinsic dielectric and spectroscopic behavior of perovskite Ba(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3–Ba(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 microwave dielectric ceramics

[[abstract]]Ceramics of 0.35Ba(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.65Ba(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3 were prepared by the mixed oxide route. The effect of the cooling rate (2 °C–240 °C/h) after sintering on the microwave dielectric properties of the ceramics was examined. While the extrinsic factors, such as porosity and secondary phases, markedly influence the dielectric properties in the low-frequency regime, they have minimal effect on these properties in the high-frequency regime. The mechanisms involved in modifying the high-frequency dielectric properties of the materials were investigated by Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy, in conjunction with the Rietveld analysis of x-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra. A reduction in the cooling rate after sintering results in an increase in the high-frequency Q×f (product of dielectric Q value and measurement frequency) from 42 to 58 THz in the high-frequency regime (∼1.5 THz). Such behavior correlates very well with the increase in the B-site occupancy by Nb (deduced from the Rietveld analyses of XRD spectra) and the increase in the coherency of the lattice vibration (deduced from the reduction in the full-width-at-half-maximum of the A1g(O) Raman mode). In contrast, the cooling rate after sintering has very limited effect on the relative permittivity (varying from 40.8 to 41.9 at 1.5 THz), which is in accord with the phenomenon that the cell volume and the Raman shift of A1g(O) Raman mode are essentially independent of the cooling rate.[[booktype]]紙

Tunable magnetic interaction at the atomic scale in oxide heterostructures

We report on a systematic study of a number of structurally identical but chemically distinct transition metal oxides in order to determine how the material-specific properties such as the composition and the strain affect the properties at the interface of heterostructures. Our study considers a series of structures containing two layers of ferromagnetic SrRuO3, with antiferromagnetic insulating manganites sandwiched in between. The results demonstrate how to control the strength and relative orientation of interfacial ferromagnetism in correlated electron materials by means of valence state variation and substrate-induced strain, respectively

Acoustic Spectroscopy of the DNA in GHz range

We find a parametric resonance in the GHz range of the DNA dynamics, generated by pumping hypersound . There are localized phonon modes caused by the random structure of elastic modulii due to the sequence of base pairs