A BCS-BEC crossover in the extended Falicov-Kimball model: Variational cluster approach

We study the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the excitonic insulator state induced by the Coulomb interaction $U$ in the two-dimensional extended Falicov-Kimball model. Using the variational cluster approximation (VCA) and Hartree-Fock approximation (HFA), we evaluate the order parameter, single-particle excitation gap, momentum distribution functions, coherence length of excitons, and single-particle and anomalous excitation spectra, as a function of $U$ at zero temperature. We find that in the weak-to-intermediate coupling regime, the Fermi surface plays an essential role and calculated results can be understood in close correspondence with the BCS theory, whereas in the strong-coupling regime, the Fermi surface plays no role and results are consistent with the picture of BEC. Moreover, we find that HFA works well both in the weak- and strong-coupling regime, and that the difference between the results of VCA and HFA mostly appears in the intermediate-coupling regime. The reason for this is discussed from a viewpoint of the self-energy. We thereby clarify the excitonic insulator state that typifies either a BCS condensate of electron-hole pairs (weak-coupling regime) or a Bose-Einstein condensate of preformed excitons (strong-coupling regime).Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Theory of the waterfall phenomenon in cuprate superconductors

Based on exact diagonalization and variational cluster approximation calculations we study the relationship between charge transfer models and the corresponding single band Hubbard models. We present an explanation for the waterfall phenomenon observed in angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on cuprate superconductors. The phenomenon is due to the destructive interference between the phases of the O2p orbitals belonging to a given Zhang-Rice singlet and the Bloch phases of the photohole which occurs in certain regions of k-space. It therefore may be viewed as a direct experimental visualisation of the Zhang-Rice construction of an effective single band model for the CuO2 plane.Comment: 11 pages, 9 Postscript figure

Mott transition and ferrimagnetism in the Hubbard model on the anisotropic kagom\'e lattice

Mott transition and ferrimagnetism are studied in the Hubbard model on the anisotropic kagom\'e lattice using the variational cluster approximation and the phase diagram at zero temperature and half-filling is analyzed. The ferrimagnetic phase rapidly grows as the geometric frustration is relaxed, and the Mott insulator phase disappears in moderately frustrated region, showing that the ferrimagnetic fluctuations stemming from the relaxation of the geometric frustration is enhanced by the electron correlations. In metallic phase, heavy fermion behavior is observed and mass enhancement factor is computed. Enhancement of effective spatial anisotropy by the electron correlations is also confirmed in moderately frustrated region, and its effect on heavy fermion behavior is examined.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Self-energy and Fermi surface of the 2-dimensional Hubbard model

We present an exact diagonalization study of the self-energy of the two-dimensional Hubbard model. To increase the range of available cluster sizes we use a corrected t-J model to compute approximate Greens functions for the Hubbard model. This allows to obtain spectra for clusters with 18 and 20 sites. The self-energy has several `bands' of poles with strong dispersion and extended incoherent continua with k-dependent intensity. We fit the self-energy by a minimal model and use this to extrapolate the cluster results to the infinite lattice. The resulting Fermi surface shows a transition from hole pockets in the underdoped regime to a large Fermi surface in the overdoped regime. We demonstrate that hole pockets can be completely consistent with the Luttinger theorem. Introduction of next-nearest neighbor hopping changes the self-energy stronlgy and the spectral function with nonvanishing next-nearest-neighbor hopping in the underdoped region is in good agreement with angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figure

A Potent CD1d-binding Glycolipid for iNKT-Cell-based Therapy Against Human Breast Cancer

Background/Aim: Invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT) stimulated by CD1d-binding glycolipids have been shown to exert antitumor effects by a number of studies in a mouse model. Breast cancer is a devastating disease, with different types of breast cancer recurring locally or distant as metastatic/advanced disease following initial treatment. The aim of this study was to examine the tumoricidal effect of a CD1d-binding glycolipid, called 7DW8-5, against a highly invasive human breast cancer cell line both in vitro and in vivo. Materials and Methods: Parental MDA-MB-231 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells transduced with human CD1d were labeled with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), followed by loading with glycolipids. After co-culturing with human iNKT cells, the cells were permeabilized and stained with Alexa Flour 647-conjugated antibody to active caspase-3, and analyzed using a BD LSR II. For the in vivo tumoricidal effect, MDA-MB-231 cells transduced with human CD1d and luciferase genes were injected into the mammary fat pad of female NOD/SCID/IL2rγnull (NSG) mice, followed by the injection of human iNKT cells with or without 7DW8-5, and the levels of luminescence were analyzed with whole-body imaging. Results: Human iNKT cells could kill CD1d-expressing human breast cancer cells in vitro in the presence of 7DW8-5, but not α-GalCer. As for in vivo, the adoptive transfer of human iNKT cells into tumor-challenged NSG mice significantly inhibited the growth of CD1d+ MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells in the presence of 7DW8-5. Conclusion: CD1d-binding, glycolipid-based iNKT-cell therapy is suggested as a potent and effective treatment against breast cancer in humans

Monoid automata for displacement context-free languages

In 2007 Kambites presented an algebraic interpretation of Chomsky-Schutzenberger theorem for context-free languages. We give an interpretation of the corresponding theorem for the class of displacement context-free languages which are equivalent to well-nested multiple context-free languages. We also obtain a characterization of k-displacement context-free languages in terms of monoid automata and show how such automata can be simulated on two stacks. We introduce the simultaneous two-stack automata and compare different variants of its definition. All the definitions considered are shown to be equivalent basing on the geometric interpretation of memory operations of these automata.Comment: Revised version for ESSLLI Student Session 2013 selected paper

Nuclear Matter on a Lattice

We investigate nuclear matter on a cubic lattice. An exact thermal formalism is applied to nucleons with a Hamiltonian that accommodates on-site and next-neighbor parts of the central, spin- and isospin-exchange interactions. We describe the nuclear matter Monte Carlo methods which contain elements from shell model Monte Carlo methods and from numerical simulations of the Hubbard model. We show that energy and basic saturation properties of nuclear matter can be reproduced. Evidence of a first-order phase transition from an uncorrelated Fermi gas to a clustered system is observed by computing mechanical and thermodynamical quantities such as compressibility, heat capacity, entropy and grand potential. We compare symmetry energy and first sound velocities with literature and find reasonable agreement.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures (some in color), to be submitted to Phys. Rev.