Intrinsic spin Hall effect in platinum metal

Spin Hall effect in metallic Pt is studied with first-principles relativistic band calculations. It is found that intrinsic spin Hall conductivity (SHC) is as large as $\sim 2000 (\hbar/e)(\Omega {\rm cm})^{-1}$ at low temperature, and decreases down to $\sim 200 (\hbar/e)(\Omega {\rm cm})^{-1}$ at room temperature. It is due to the resonant contribution from the spin-orbit splitting of the doubly degenerated $d$-bands at high-symmetry $L$ and $X$ points near the Fermi level. By modeling these near degeneracies by effective Hamiltonian, we show that SHC has a peak near the Fermi energy and that the vertex correction due to impurity scattering vanishes. We therefore argue that the large spin Hall effect observed experimentally in platinum is of intrinsic nature.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Electronic structure interpolation via atomic orbitals

We present an efficient scheme for accurate electronic structure interpolations based on the systematically improvable optimized atomic orbitals. The atomic orbitals are generated by minimizing the spillage value between the atomic basis calculations and the converged plane wave basis calculations on some coarse $k$-point grid. They are then used to calculate the band structure of the full Brillouin zone using the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) algorithms. We find that usually 16 -- 25 orbitals per atom can give an accuracy of about 10 meV compared to the full {\it ab initio} calculations. The current scheme has several advantages over the existing interpolation schemes. The scheme is easy to implement and robust which works equally well for metallic systems and systems with complex band structures. Furthermore, the atomic orbitals have much better transferability than the Shirley's basis and Wannier functions, which is very useful for the perturbation calculations

Persuasion Through the Water Metaphor in Dao De Jing

This paper analyzes how Lao Zi uses the water metaphor in Dao De Jing to transform meanings of Dao from the metaphysical level to social and behavioral levels. Through the water metaphor Dao is unified into three concepts: Zhi xu (attainment of complete vacuity), yong rou (softness/weakness), and chu xia (subordination)/bu zheng (non-competition. Judging from the rhetorical perspective the water metaphor used by Lao Zi not only frames a unifying image of Dao by creating a shared meaning among the public mind, but also helps people capture the real picture of the society and further persuade them to adopt a new way of thinking. In this sense, as a persuasive rhetor, Lao Zi successfully demonstrates that the metaphor, as a linguistic tool of expression, is a powerful means of transmitting and elaborating an intended meaning of a metaphysical concept

Theoretical Study on Rotational Bands and Shape Coexistence of 183,185,187^{183,185,187}{Tl} in the Particle Triaxial-Rotor Model

By taking the particle triaxial-rotor model with variable moment of inertia, we investigate the energy spectra, the deformations and the single particle configurations of the nuclei $^{183,185,187}$Tl systemically. The calculated energy spectra agree with experimental data quite well. The obtained results indicate that the aligned bands observed in $^{183,185,187}$Tl originate from the $[530]{{1/2}}^{-}$, $[532]{{3/2}}^{-}$, $[660]{{1/2}}^{+}$ proton configuration coupled to a prolate deformed core, respectively. Whereas, the negative parity bands built upon the ${{9/2}}^{-}$ isomeric states in $^{183,185,187}$Tl are formed by a proton with the $[505]{{9/2}}^{-}$ configuration coupled to a core with triaxial oblate deformation, and the positive parity band on the ${{13/2}}^{+}$ isomeric state in $^{187}$Tl is generated by a proton with configuration $[606]{{13/2}}^{+}$ coupled to a triaxial oblate core.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Physical Review