Andreev bound states and tunneling characteristics of a non-centrosymmetric superconductor

The tunneling characteristics of planar junctions between a normal metal and a non-centrosymmetric superconductor like CePt3Si are examined. It is shown that the superconducting phase with mixed parity can give rise to characteristic zero-bias anomalies in certain junction directions. The origin of these zero-bias anomalies are Andreev bound states at the interface. The tunneling characteristics for different directions allow to test the structure of the parity-mixed pairing state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Scaling property and peculiar velocity of global monopoles

We investigate the scaling property of global monopoles in the expanding universe. By directly solving the equations of motion for scalar fields, we follow the time development of the number density of global monopoles in the radiation dominated (RD) universe and the matter dominated (MD) universe. It is confirmed that the global monopole network relaxes into the scaling regime and the number per hubble volume is a constant irrespective of the cosmic time. The number density $n(t)$ of global monopoles is given by $n(t) \simeq (0.43\pm0.07) / t^{3}$ during the RD era and $n(t) \simeq (0.25\pm0.05) / t^{3}$ during the MD era. We also examine the peculiar velocity $v$ of global monopoles. For this purpose, we establish a method to measure the peculiar velocity by use of only the local quantities of the scalar fields. It is found that $v \sim (1.0 \pm 0.3)$ during the RD era and $v \sim (0.8 \pm 0.3)$ during the MD era. By use of it, a more accurate analytic estimate for the number density of global monopoles is obtained.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Magnetic Properties of the t-J Model in the Dynamical Mean-Field Theory

We present a theory for the spin correlation function of the t-J model in the framework of the dynamical mean-field theory. Using this mapping between the lattice and a local model we are able to obtain an intuitive expression for the non-local spin susceptibility, with the corresponding local correlation function as input. The latter is calculated by means of local Goldstone diagrams following closely the procedures developed and successfully applied for the (single impurity) Anderson model.We present a systematic study of the magnetic susceptibility and compare our results with those of a Hubbard model at large U. Similarities and differences are pointed out and the magnetic phase diagram of the t-J model is discussed.Comment: 28 pages LaTeX, postscript figures as compressed and uuencoded file included fil

Magnetic Reconnection Triggered by the Parker Instability in the Galaxy: Two-Dimensional Numerical Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations and Application to the Origin of X-Ray Gas in the Galactic Halo

We propose the Galactic flare model for the origin of the X-ray gas in the Galactic halo. For this purpose, we examine the magnetic reconnection triggered by Parker instability (magnetic buoyancy instability), by performing the two-dimensional resistive numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations. As a result of numerical simulations, the system evolves as following phases: Parker instability occurs in the Galactic disk. In the nonlinear phase of Parker instability, the magnetic loop inflates from the Galactic disk into the Galactic halo, and collides with the anti-parallel magnetic field, so that the current sheets are created in the Galactic halo. The tearing instability occurs, and creates the plasmoids (magnetic islands). Just after the plasmoid ejection, further current-sheet thinning occurs in the sheet, and the anomalous resistivity sets in. Petschek reconnection starts, and heats the gas quickly in the Galactic halo. It also creates the slow and fast shock regions in the Galactic halo. The magnetic field ($B\sim 3 \mu$G), for example, can heat the gas ($n\sim 10^{-3}$ cm$^{-3}$) to temperature of $\sim 10^6$ K via the reconnection in the Galactic halo. The gas is accelerated to Alfv\'en velocity ($\sim 300$ km s$^{-1}$). Such high velocity jets are the evidence of the Galactic flare model we present in this paper, if the Doppler shift of the bipolar jet is detected in the Galactic halo. Full size figures are available at http://www.kwasan.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~tanuma/study/ApJ2002/ApJ2002.htmlComment: 13 pages, 12 figures, uses emulateapj.sty, accepted by Ap

Lagrangian evolution of global strings

We establish a method to trace the Lagrangian evolution of extended objects consisting of a multicomponent scalar field in terms of a numerical calculation of field equations in three dimensional Eulerian meshes. We apply our method to the cosmological evolution of global strings and evaluate the energy density, peculiar velocity, Lorentz factor, formation rate of loops, and emission rate of Nambu-Goldstone (NG) bosons. We confirm the scaling behavior with a number of long strings per horizon volume smaller than the case of local strings by a factor of $\sim$ 10. The strategy and the method established here are applicable to a variety of fields in physics.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Cosmological Evolution of Global Monopoles

We investigate the cosmological evolution of global monopoles in the radiation dominated (RD) and matter dominated (MD) universes by numerically solving field equations of scalar fields. It is shown that the global monopole network relaxes into the scaling regime, unlike the gauge monopole network. The number density of global monopoles is given by $n(t) \simeq (0.43\pm0.07) / t^{3}$ during the RD era and $n(t) \simeq (0.25\pm0.05) / t^{3}$ during the MD era. Thus, we have confirmed that density fluctuations produced by global monopoles become scale invariant and are given by $\delta \rho \sim 7.2(5.0) \sigma^{2} / t^{2}$ during the RD (MD) era, where $\sigma$ is the breaking scale of the symmetry.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. D (R

Probing the equation of state of the early universe with a space laser interferometer

We propose a method to probe the equation of state of the early universe and its evolution, using the stochastic gravitational wave background from inflation. A small deviation from purely radiation dominated universe ($w= 1/3$) would be clearly imprinted on the gravitational wave spectrum $\Omega_{GW}(f)$ due to the nearly scale invariant nature of inflationary generated waves.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Theory of Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling in High-T_c c-Axis Josephson Junctions

We study macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) in c-axis twist Josephson junctions made of high-T_c superconductors in order to clarify the influence of the anisotropic order parameter symmetry (OPS) on MQT. The dependence of the MQT rate on the twist angle $\gamma$ about the c-axis is calculated by using the functional integral and the bounce method. Due to the d-wave OPS, the $\gamma$ dependence of standard deviation of the switching current distribution and the crossover temperature from thermal activation to MQT are found to be given by $\cos2\gamma$ and $\sqrt{\cos2\gamma}$, respectively. We also show that a dissipative effect resulting from the nodal quasiparticle excitation on MQT is negligibly small, which is consistent with recent MQT experiments using Bi${}_2$Sr${}_2$CaCu${}_2$O${}_{8 + \delta}$ intrinsic junctions. These results indicate that MQT in c-axis twist junctions becomes a useful experimental tool for testing the OPS of high-T_c materials at low temperature, and suggest high potential of such junctions for qubit applications.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

Substrate specificity of microbial transglutaminase as revealed by three-dimensional docking simulation and mutagenesis

Transglutaminases (TGases) are used in fields such as food and pharmaceuticals. Unlike other TGases, microbial transglutaminase (MTG) activity is Ca2+-independent, broadening its application. Here, a three-dimensional docking model of MTG binding to a peptide substrate, CBZ-Gln-Gly, was simulated. The data reveal CBZ-Gln-Gly to be stretched along the MTG active site cleft with hydrophobic and/or aromatic residues interacting directly with the substrate. Moreover, an oxyanion binding site for TGase activity may be constructed from the amide groups of Cys64 and/or Val65. Alanine mutagenesis verified the simulated binding region and indicated that large molecules can be widely recognized on the MTG cleft

Plasmoid-Induced-Reconnection and Fractal Reconnection

As a key to undertanding the basic mechanism for fast reconnection in solar flares, plasmoid-induced-reconnection and fractal reconnection are proposed and examined. We first briefly summarize recent solar observations that give us hints on the role of plasmoid (flux rope) ejections in flare energy release. We then discuss the plasmoid-induced-reconnection model, which is an extention of the classical two-ribbon-flare model which we refer to as the CSHKP model. An essential ingredient of the new model is the formation and ejection of a plasmoid which play an essential role in the storage of magnetic energy (by inhibiting reconnection) and the induction of a strong inflow into reconnection region. Using a simple analytical model, we show that the plasmoid ejection and acceleration are closely coupled with the reconnection process, leading to a nonlinear instability for the whole dynamics that determines the macroscopic reconnection rate uniquely. Next we show that the current sheet tends to have a fractal structure via the following process path: tearing, sheet thinning, Sweet- Parker sheet, secondary tearing, further sheet thinning... These processes occur repeatedly at smaller scales until a microscopic plasma scale (either the ion Larmor radius or the ion inertial length) is reached where anomalous resistivity or collisionless reconnection can occur. The current sheet eventually has a fractal structure with many plasmoids (magnetic islands) of different sizes. When these plasmoids are ejected out of the current sheets, fast reconnection occurs at various different scales in a highly time dependent manner. Finally, a scenario is presented for fast reconnection in the solar corona on the basis of above plasmoid-induced-reconnection in a fractal current sheet.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, with using eps.sty; Earth, Planets and Space in press; ps-file is also available at http://stesun8.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~tanuma/study/shibata2001