895 research outputs found
Anomalous magnetic field dependence of the thermodynamic transition line in the isotropic superconductor (K,Ba)Bi03
Thermodynamic (specific heat, reversible magnetization, tunneling
spectroscopy) and transport measurements have been performed on high quality
(K,Ba)BiO single crystals. The temperature dependence of the magnetic field
corresponding to the onset of the specific heat anomaly presents a
clear positive curvature. is significantly smaller than the field
for which the superconducting gap vanishes but is closely related to
the irreversibility line deduced from transport data. Moreover, the temperature
dependence of the reversible magnetization present a strong deviation from the
Ginzburg--Landau theory emphasazing the peculiar nature of the superconducting
transition in this material.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 28 reference
The London Classification: Improving Characterization and Classification of Anorectal Function with Anorectal Manometry.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Objective measurement of anorectal sensorimotor function is a requisite component in the clinical evaluation of patients with intractable symptoms of anorectal dysfunction. Regrettably, the utility of the most established and widely employed investigations for such measurement (anorectal manometry (ARM), rectal sensory testing and the balloon expulsion test) has been limited by wide variations in clinical practice. RECENT FINDINGS: This article summarizes the recently published International Anorectal Physiology Working Group (IAPWG) consensus and London Classification of anorectal disorders, together with relevant allied literature, to provide guidance on the indications for, equipment, protocol, measurement definitions and results interpretation for ARM, rectal sensory testing and the balloon expulsion test. The London Classification is a standardized method and nomenclature for description of alterations in anorectal motor and sensory function using office-based investigations, adoption of which should bring much needed harmonization of practice
Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect in thermal field theory
In recent studies, the production rate of photons or lepton pairs by a quark
gluon plasma has been found to be enhanced due to collinear singularities. This
enhancement pattern is very dependent on rather strict collinearity conditions
between the photon and the quark momenta. It was estimated by neglecting the
collisional width of quasi-particles. In this paper, we study the modifications
of this collinear enhancement when we take into account the possibility for the
quarks to have a finite mean free path. Assuming a mean free path of order
, we find that only low invariant mass photons are
affected. The region where collision effects are important can be interpreted
as the region where the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect plays a role in
thermal photon production by bremsstrahlung. It is found that this effect
modifies the spectrum of very energetic photons as well. Based on these results
and on a previous work on infrared singularities, we end this paper by a
reasonable physical picture for photon production by a quark gluon plasma, that
should be useful to set directions for future technical developments.Comment: 28 pages Latex document, 9 postscript figures, typos corrected,
semantics cleanup, final version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Non-Locality and Strong Coupling in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn: A Penetration Depth Study
We report measurements of the magnetic penetration depth in single
crystals of CeCoIn down to 0.14 K using a tunnel-diode based,
self-inductive technique at 28 MHz. While the in-plane penetration depth tends
to follow a power law, , the data are better
described as a crossover between linear ({\it T} ) and
quadratic ({\it T} ) behavior, with the
crossover temperature in the strong-coupling limit. The {\it c}-axis
penetration depth is linear in {\it T}, providing evidence
that CeCoIn is a {\it d}-wave superconductor with line nodes along the
{\it c}-axis. The different temperature dependences of and
rule out impurity effects as the source of .Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Superconducting Magnetization above the Irreversibility Line in Tl2Ba2CuO6
Piezolever torque magnetometry has been used to measure the magnetization of
superconducting Tl2Ba2CuO6. Three crystals with different levels of oxygen
overdoping were investigated in magnetic fields up to 10 Tesla. In all cases,
the magnetization above the irreversibility line was found to depart from the
behaviour M ~ ln(Hc2/H) of a simple London-like vortex liquid. In particular,
for a strongly overdoped (Tc = 15K) crystal, the remnant superconducting order
above the irreversibility line is characterized by a linear diamagnetic
response (M ~ H) that persists well above Tc and also up to the highest field
employed.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 7 encapsulated PostScript figures, submitted to
Physical Review
Electroweak bubbles and sphalerons
We consider non-perturbative solutions of the Weinberg-Salam model at finite
temperature. We employ an effective temperature-dependent potential yielding a
first order phase transition. In the region of the phase transition, there
exist two kinds of static, spherically symmetric solutions: sphalerons and
bubbles. We analyze these solutions as functions of temperature. We consider
the most general spherically symmetric fluctuations about the two solutions and
construct the discrete modes in the region of the phase transition. Sphalerons
and bubbles both possess a single unstable mode. We present simple
approximation formulae for these levels.Comment: 14 pages, plain tex, 9 figures appended as postscript files at the
end of the paper. THU-93/0
Campbell Penetration Depth of a Superconductor in the Critical State
The magnetic penetration depth was measured in the presence
of a slowly relaxing supercurrent, . In single crystal
below approximately 25 K, is
strongly hysteretic. We propose that the irreversibility arises from a shift of
the vortex position within its pinning well as changes. The Campbell length
depends upon the ratio where is the critical current defined
through the Labusch parameter. Similar effects were observed in other cuprates
and in an organic superconductor
Understanding the evolution and spread of chikungunya virus in the Americas using complete genome sequences
Local transmission of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) was first
detected in the Americas in December 2013, after which it spread
rapidly throughout the Caribbean islands and American mainland,
causing a major chikungunya fever epidemic. Previous
phylogenetic analysis of CHIKV from a limited number of
countries in the Americas suggests that an Asian genotype strain
was responsible, except in Brazil where both Asian and
East/Central/South African (ECSA) lineage strains were detected.
In this study, we sequenced thirty-three complete CHIKV genomes
from viruses isolated in 2014 from fourteen Caribbean islands,
the Bahamas and two mainland countries in the Americas.
Phylogenetic analyses confirmed that they all belonged to the
Asian genotype and clustered together with other Caribbean and
mainland sequences isolated during the American outbreak,
forming an 'Asian/American' lineage defined by two amino acid
substitutions, E2 V368A and 6K L20M, and divided into two
well-supported clades. This lineage is estimated to be evolving
at a mean rate of 5 x 10-4 substitutions per site per year (95%
higher probability density, 2.9-7.9 x 10-4) and to have arisen
from an ancestor introduced to the Caribbean (most likely from
Oceania) in about March 2013, 9 months prior to the first report
of CHIKV in the Americas. Estimation of evolutionary rates for
individual gene regions and selection analyses indicate that (in
contrast to the Indian Ocean Lineage that emerged from the ECSA
genotype followed by adaptive evolution and with a significantly
higher substitution rate) the evolutionary dynamics of the
Asian/American lineage are very similar to the rest of the Asian
genotype and natural selection does not appear to have played a
major role in its emergence. However, several codon sites with
evidence of positive selection were identified within the
non-structural regions of Asian genotype sequences outside of
the Asian/American lineage
Electron transport, penetration depth and upper critical magnetic field of ZrB12 and MgB2
We report on the synthesis and measurements of the temperature dependence of
resistivity, R(T), the penetration depth, l(T), and upper critical magnetic
field, Hc2(T), for polycrystalline samples of dodecaboride ZrB12 and diboride
MgB2. We conclude that ZrB12 as well as MgB2 behave like simple metals in the
normal state with usual Bloch-Gruneisen temperature dependence of resistivity
and with rather low resistive Debye temperature, TR=280 K, for ZrB12 (as
compared to MgB2 with TR=900 K). The R(T) and l(T) dependencies of ZrB12 reveal
a superconducting transition at Tc=6.0 K. Although a clear exponential
l(T)dependence in MgB2 thin films and ceramic pellets was observed at low
temperatures, this dependence was almost linear for ZrB12 below Tc/2. These
features indicate s-wave pairing state in MgB2, whereas a d-wave pairing state
is possible in ZrB12. A fit to the data gives a reduced energy gap
2D(0)/kTc=1.6 for MgB2 films and pellets, in good agreement with published data
for 3D \pi - sheets of the Fermi surface. Contrary to conventional theories we
found a linear temperature dependence of Hc2(T) for ZrB12 (Hc2(0)=0.15 T).Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, submitted to JET
The postulates of gravitational thermodynamics
The general principles and logical structure of a thermodynamic formalism
that incorporates strongly self-gravitating systems are presented. This
framework generalizes and simplifies the formulation of thermodynamics
developed by Callen. The definition of extensive variables, the homogeneity
properties of intensive parameters, and the fundamental problem of
gravitational thermodynamics are discussed in detail. In particular, extensive
parameters include quasilocal quantities and are naturally incorporated into a
set of basic general postulates for thermodynamics. These include additivity of
entropies (Massieu functions) and the generalized second law. Fundamental
equations are no longer homogeneous first-order functions of their extensive
variables. It is shown that the postulates lead to a formal resolution of the
fundamental problem despite non-additivity of extensive parameters and
thermodynamic potentials. Therefore, all the results of (gravitational)
thermodynamics are an outgrowth of these postulates. The origin and nature of
the differences with ordinary thermodynamics are analyzed. Consequences of the
formalism include the (spatially) inhomogeneous character of thermodynamic
equilibrium states, a reformulation of the Euler equation, and the absence of a
Gibbs-Duhem relation.Comment: 28 pages, Revtex, no figures. An important sentence and several minor
corrections included. To appear in Physical Review
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