Magnetic Phase Diagram of the Ferromagnetically Stacked Triangular XY Antiferromagnet: A Finite-Size Scaling Study

Histogram Monte-Carlo simulation results are presented for the magnetic-field -- temperature phase diagram of the XY model on a stacked triangular lattice with antiferromagnetic intraplane and ferromagnetic interplane interactions. Finite-size scaling results at the various transition boundaries are consistent with expectations based on symmetry arguments. Although a molecular-field treatment of the Hamiltonian fails to reproduce the correct structure for the phase diagram, it is demonstrated that a phenomenological Landau-type free-energy model contains all the esstential features. These results serve to complement and extend our earlier work [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 48}, 3840 (1993)].Comment: 5 pages (RevTex 3.0), 6 figures available upon request, CRPS 93-

Superoscillations and tunneling times

It is proposed that superoscillations play an important role in the interferences which give rise to superluminal effects. To exemplify that, we consider a toy model which allows for a wave packet to travel, in zero time and negligible distortion a distance arbitrarily larger than the width of the wave packet. The peak is shown to result from a superoscillatory superposition at the tail. Similar reasoning applies to the dwell time.Comment: 12 page

Very large dielectric response of thin ferroelectric films with the dead layers

We study the dielectric response of ferroelectric (FE) thin films with "dead" dielectric layer at the interface with electrodes. The domain structure inevitably forms in the FE film in presence of the dead layer. As a result, the effective dielectric constant of the capacitor $\epsilon_{eff}$ increases abruptly when the dead layer is thin and, consequently, the pattern of 180-degree domains becomes "soft". We compare the exact results for this problem with the description in terms of a popular "capacitor" model, which is shown to give qualitatively incorrect results. We relate the present results to fatigue observed in thin ferroelectric films.Comment: 5 pages, REVTeX 3.1 with one eps-figure. A note added that the linear response is not changed by electromechanical effect. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Systematic review of the effects of bisphosphonates on bone density and fracture incidence in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

Skeletal fragility is a common complication of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) but the impact of bisphosphonate therapy on bone mass and fracture is unclear. We aim to conduct a systematic review to evaluate the effects of bisphosphonates on bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture incidence in children with ALL. EMBASE, Medline and the Cochrane Library were thoroughly searched by two researchers. Inclusion criteria was any child under the age of 18 years with a diagnosis of ALL, who had received any bisphosphonate treatment and had serial measurements of bone density performed thereafter. All primary research studies of any study design, excluding case reports, were included. Ten full text papers were identified with two exclusively meeting the inclusion criteria. Both studies administered bisphosphonates to children receiving maintenance chemotherapy for varying durations. Bone density was assessed at regular intervals by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The majority of participants had an improvement in bone density at the end of each study. However, no size adjustment of DXA data was performed. Limited information on fracture occurrence was provided by one study but did not include routine screening for vertebral fractures. This systematic review identified that there is insufficient evidence to support routine use of prophylactic bisphosphonate therapy in childhood ALL for prevention of fracture and improvement of bone mass. Future well-designed clinical trials in those at highest risk of fractures in ALL are now needed

Density-functional calculation of ionization energies of current-carrying atomic states

Current-density-functional theory is used to calculate ionization energies of current-carrying atomic states. A perturbative approximation to full current-density-functional theory is implemented for the first time, and found to be numerically feasible. Different parametrizations for the current-dependence of the density functional are critically compared. Orbital currents in open-shell atoms turn out to produce a small shift in the ionization energies. We find that modern density functionals have reached an accuracy at which small current-related terms appearing in open-shell configurations are not negligible anymore compared to the remaining difference to experiment.Comment: 7 pages, 2 tables, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Magnetic-Field Induced First-Order Transition in the Frustrated XY Model on a Stacked Triangular Lattice

The results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations of magnetic-field induced transitions in the xy model on a stacked triangular lattice with antiferromagnetic intraplane and ferromagnetic interplane interactions are discussed. A low-field transition from the paramagnetic to a 3-state (Potts) phase is found to be very weakly first order with behavior suggesting tricriticality at zero field. In addition to clarifying some long-standing ambiguity concerning the nature of this Potts-like transition, the present work also serves to further our understanding of the critical behavior at $T_N$, about which there has been much controversy.Comment: 10 pages (RevTex 3.0), 4 figures available upon request, CRPS-93-0

Quasiballistic correction to the density of states in three-dimensional metal

We study the exchange correction to the density of states in the three-dimensional metal near the Fermi energy. In the ballistic limit, when the distance to the Fermi level exceeds the inverse transport relaxation time $1/\tau$, we find the correction linear in the distance from the Fermi level. By a large parameter $\epsilon_{\rm F} \tau$ this ballistic correction exceeds the diffusive correction obtained earlier.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figur