π\pi-Electron Ferromagnetism in Metal Free Carbon Probed by Soft X-Ray Dichroism

Elemental carbon represents a fundamental building block of matter and the possibility of ferromagnetic order in carbon attracted widespread attention. However, the origin of magnetic order in such a light element is only poorly understood and has puzzled researchers. We present a spectromicroscopy study at room temperature of proton irradiated metal free carbon using the elemental and chemical specificity of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). We demonstrate that the magnetic order in the investigated system originates only from the carbon $\pi$-electron system.Comment: 10 pages 3 color figure

The role of hydrogen in room-temperature ferromagnetism at graphite surfaces

We present a x-ray dichroism study of graphite surfaces that addresses the origin and magnitude of ferromagnetism in metal-free carbon. We find that, in addition to carbon $\pi$ states, also hydrogen-mediated electronic states exhibit a net spin polarization with significant magnetic remanence at room temperature. The observed magnetism is restricted to the top $\approx$10 nm of the irradiated sample where the actual magnetization reaches $\simeq 15$ emu/g at room temperature. We prove that the ferromagnetism found in metal-free untreated graphite is intrinsic and has a similar origin as the one found in proton bombarded graphite.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, submitted to New Journal of Physic

X-ray edge singularity of bilayer graphene

The X-ray edge singularity of bilayer graphene is studied by generalizing the path integral approach based on local action which was employed for monolayer graphene. In sharp contrast to the case of monolayer graphene, the bilayer graphene is found to exhibit the edge singularity even at half-filling and its characteristics are determined by interlayer coupling. At finite bias the singular behaviors sensitively depend on the relative magnitude of fermi energy and applied bias, which is due to the peculiar shape of energy band at finite bias.Comment: RevTeX 4.1, 4 pages. No figur

The effect of heat stress, dehydration and exercise on global left ventricular function and mechanics in healthy humans

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis examined the effect of heat stress, dehydration and exercise on global left ventricular (LV) function and LV twist, untwisting and strain (LV mechanics) in healthy individuals. The primary aim was to identify whether the different haemodynamics induced by heat stress, dehydration and exercise would be associated with alterations in systolic and diastolic LV mechanics as assessed by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. Study one showed that enhanced systolic and diastolic LV mechanics during progressively increasing heat stress at rest likely compensate in part for a lower venous return, resulting in a maintained stroke volume (SV). In contrast, heat stress during knee-extensor exercise did not significantly increase LV twist, suggesting that exercise attenuates the increase in LV mechanics seen during passive heat stress. Study two revealed that dehydration enhances systolic LV mechanics whilst diastolic mechanics remain unaltered at rest, despite pronounced reductions in preload. The maintenance of systolic and diastolic LV mechanics with dehydration during knee-extensor exercise further suggests that the large decline in SV with dehydration and hyperthermia is caused by peripheral cardiovascular factors and not impaired LV mechanics. During both, heat stress and dehydration, enhanced systolic mechanics were achieved solely by increases in basal rotation. In contrast, the third study demonstrated that when individuals are normothermic and euhydrated, systolic and diastolic basal and apical mechanics increase significantly during incremental exercise to approximately 50% peak power. The subsequent plateau suggests that LV mechanics reach their peak at sub-maximal exercise intensities. Together, the present findings emphasise the importance of acute adjustments in both, basal and apical LV mechanics, during periods of increased cardiovascular demand