140 research outputs found
The spin 1/2 Heisenberg star with frustration II: The influence of the embedding medium
We investigate the spin 1/2 Heisenberg star introduced in J. Richter and A.
Voigt, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. {\bf 27}, 1139 (1994). The model is defined by
; , . In extension to the Ref. we consider a more general
describing the properties of the spins surrounding the
central spin . The Heisenberg star may be considered as an essential
structure element of a lattice with frustration (namely a spin embedded in a
magnetic matrix ) or, alternatively, as a magnetic system with a
perturbation by an extra spin. We present some general features of the
eigenvalues, the eigenfunctions as well as the spin correlation of the model. For being a linear chain, a square
lattice or a Lieb-Mattis type system we present the ground state properties of
the model in dependence on the frustration parameter .
Furthermore the thermodynamic properties are calculated for being a
Lieb--Mattis antiferromagnet.Comment: 16 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript file, accepted to J. Phys.
A: Math. Ge
Can a frustrated spin-cluster model describe the low-temperature physics of NaV_2O_5 ?
Recent experimental evidence suggest the existence of three distinct
V-valence states (V^{+4}, V^{+4.5} and V^{+5}) in the low-temperature phase of
NaV_2O_5 in apparent discrepancy with the observed spin-gap. We investigate a
novel spin cluster model, consisting of weakly coupled, frustrated four-spin
clusters aligned along the crystallographic b-axis that was recently proposed
to reconcile these experimental observations. We have studied the phase diagram
and the magnon dispersion relation of this model using DMRG, exact
diagonalization and a novel cluster-operator theory. We find a spin-gap for all
parameter values and two distinct phases, a cluster phase and a Haldane phase.
We evaluate the size of the gap and the magnon dispersion and find no parameter
regime which would reproduce the experimental results. We conclude that this
model is inappropriate for the low-temperature regime of NaV_2O_5
Theory of Non-Reciprocal Optical Effects in Antiferromagnets: The Case Cr_2O_3
A microscopic model of non-reciprocal optical effects in antiferromagnets is
developed by considering the case of Cr_2O_3 where such effects have been
observed. These effects are due to a direct coupling between light and the
antiferromagnetic order parameter. This coupling is mediated by the spin-orbit
interaction and involves an interplay between the breaking of inversion
symmetry due to the antiferromagnetic order parameter and the trigonal field
contribution to the ligand field at the magnetic ion. We evaluate the matrix
elements relevant for the non-reciprocal second harmonic generation and
gyrotropic birefringence.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Frustration induced Raman scattering in CuGeO_3
We present experimental data for the Raman intensity in the spin-Peierls
compound CuGeO_3 and theoretical calculations from a one-dimensional frustrated
spin model. The theory is based on (a) exact diagonalization and (b) a recently
developed solitonic mean field theory. We find good agreement between the
1D-theory in the homogeneous phase and evidence for a novel dimerization of the
Raman operator in the spin-Peierls state. Finally we present evidence for a
coupling between the interchain exchange, the spin-Peierls order parameter and
the magnetic excitations along the chains.Comment: Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Comm, in Pres
Quantum Monte Carlo simulation for the conductance of one-dimensional quantum spin systems
Recently, the stochastic series expansion (SSE) has been proposed as a
powerful MC-method, which allows simulations at low for quantum-spin
systems. We show that the SSE allows to compute the magnetic conductance for
various one-dimensional spin systems without further approximations. We
consider various modifications of the anisotropic Heisenberg chain. We recover
the Kane-Fisher scaling for one impurity in a Luttinger-liquid and study the
influence of non-interacting leads for the conductance of an interacting
system.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Molecular-field approach to the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO_3
We present a theory for the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO_3. We map the
elementary excitations of the dimerized chain (solitons) on an effective Ising
model. Inter-chain coupling (or phonons) then introduce a linear binding
potential between a pair of soliton and anti-soliton, leading to a finite
transition temperature. We evaluate, as a function of temperature, the order
parameter, the singlet-triplet gap, the specific heat, and the susceptibility
and compare with experimental data on CuGeO_3. We find that CuGeO_3 is close to
a first-order phase transition. We point out, that the famous scaling law
\sim\delta^{2/3} of the triplet gap is a simple consequence of the linear
binding potential between pairs of solitons and anti-solitons in dimerized spin
chains.Comment: 7.1 pages, figures include
Phonon-mediated room-temperature quantum Hall transport in graphene
The quantum Hall (QH) effect in two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) is
conventionally observed at liquid-helium temperatures, where lattice vibrations
are strongly suppressed and bulk carrier scattering is dominated by disorder.
However, due to large Landau level (LL) separation (~2000 K at B = 30 T),
graphene can support the QH effect up to room temperature (RT), concomitant
with a non-negligible population of acoustic phonons with a wave-vector
commensurate to the inverse electronic magnetic length. Here, we demonstrate
that graphene encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) realizes a novel
transport regime, where dissipation in the QH phase is governed predominantly
by electron-phonon scattering. Investigating thermally-activated transport at
filling factor 2 up to RT in an ensemble of back-gated devices, we show that
the high B-field behaviour correlates with their zero B-field transport
mobility. By this means, we extend the well-accepted notion of phonon-limited
resistivity in ultra-clean graphene to a hitherto unexplored high-field realm.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary information available at
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-35986-
Malignant Precursor Cells Pre-Exist in Human Breast DCIS and Require Autophagy for Survival
BACKGROUND: While it is accepted that a majority of invasive breast cancer progresses from a ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) precursor stage, very little is known about the factors that promote survival of DCIS neoplastic cells within the hypoxic, nutrient deprived intraductal microenvironment. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined the hypothesis that fresh human DCIS lesions contain pre-existing carcinoma precursor cells. We characterized these cells by full genome molecular cytogenetics (Illumina HumanCytoSNP profile), and signal pathway profiling (Reverse Phase Protein Microarray, 59 endpoints), and demonstrated that autophagy is required for survival and anchorage independent growth of the cytogenetically abnormal tumorigenic DCIS cells. Ex vivo organoid culture of fresh human DCIS lesions, without enzymatic treatment or sorting, induced the emergence of neoplastic epithelial cells exhibiting the following characteristics: a) spontaneous generation of hundreds of spheroids and duct-like 3-D structures in culture within 2-4 weeks; b) tumorigenicity in NOD/SCID mice; c) cytogenetically abnormal (copy number loss or gain in chromosomes including 1, 5, 6, 8, 13, 17) compared to the normal karyotype of the non-neoplastic cells in the source patient's breast tissue; d) in vitro migration and invasion of autologous breast stroma; and e) up-regulation of signal pathways linked to, and components of, cellular autophagy. Multiple autophagy markers were present in the patient's original DCIS lesion and the mouse xenograft. We tested whether autophagy was necessary for survival of cytogenetically abnormal DCIS cells. The lysosomotropic inhibitor (chloroquine phosphate) of autophagy completely suppressed the generation of DCIS spheroids/3-D structures, suppressed ex vivo invasion of autologous stroma, induced apoptosis, suppressed autophagy associated proteins including Atg5, AKT/PI3 Kinase and mTOR, eliminated cytogenetically abnormal spheroid forming cells from the organ culture, and abrogated xenograft tumor formation. CONCLUSIONS: Cytogenetically abnormal spheroid forming, tumorigenic, and invasive neoplastic epithelial cells pre-exist in human DCIS and require cellular autophagy for survival
Evaluating predictive pharmacogenetic signatures of adverse events in colorectal cancer patients treated with fluoropyrimidines
The potential clinical utility of genetic markers associated with response to fluoropyrimidine treatment in colorectal cancer patients remains controversial despite extensive study. Our aim was to test the clinical validity of both novel and previously identified markers of adverse events in a broad clinical setting. We have conducted an observational pharmacogenetic study of early adverse events in a cohort study of 254 colorectal cancer patients treated with 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine. Sixteen variants of nine key folate (pharmacodynamic) and drug metabolising (pharmacokinetic) enzymes have been analysed as individual markers and/or signatures of markers. We found a significant association between TYMP S471L (rs11479) and early dose modifications and/or severe adverse events (adjusted OR = 2.02 [1.03; 4.00], p = 0.042, adjusted OR = 2.70 [1.23; 5.92], p = 0.01 respectively). There was also a significant association between these phenotypes and a signature of DPYD mutations (Adjusted OR = 3.96 [1.17; 13.33], p = 0.03, adjusted OR = 6.76 [1.99; 22.96], p = 0.002 respectively). We did not identify any significant associations between the individual candidate pharmacodynamic markers and toxicity. If a predictive test for early adverse events analysed the TYMP and DPYD variants as a signature, the sensitivity would be 45.5 %, with a positive predictive value of just 33.9 % and thus poor clinical validity. Most studies to date have been under-powered to consider multiple pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variants simultaneously but this and similar individualised data sets could be pooled in meta-analyses to resolve uncertainties about the potential clinical utility of these markers
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