Columnar defects and vortex fluctuations in layered superconductors

We investigate fluctuations of Josephson-coupled pancake vortices in layered superconductors in the presence of columnar defects. We study the thermodynamics of a single pancake stack pinned by columnar defects and obtain the temperature dependence of localization length, pinning energy and critical current. We study the creep regime and compute the crossover current between line-like creep and pancake-like creep motion. We find that columnar defects effectively increase interlayer Josephson coupling by suppressing thermal fluctuations of pancakes. This leads to an upward shift in the decoupling line most pronounced around the matching field.Comment: 5 pages, REVTeX, no figure

Effects of columnar disorder on flux-lattice melting in high-temperature superconductors

The effect of columnar pins on the flux-lines melting transition in high-temperature superconductors is studied using Path Integral Monte Carlo simulations. We highlight the similarities and differences in the effects of columnar disorder on the melting transition in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ (YBCO) and the highly anisotropic Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ (BSCCO) at magnetic fields such that the mean separation between flux-lines is smaller than the penetration length. For pure systems, a first order transition from a flux-line solid to a liquid phase is seen as the temperature is increased. When adding columnar defects to the system, the transition temperature is not affected in both materials as long as the strength of an individual columnar defect (expressed as a flux-line defect interaction) is less than a certain threshold for a given density of randomly distributed columnar pins. This threshold strength is lower for YBCO than for BSCCO. For higher strengths the transition line is shifted for both materials towards higher temperatures, and the sharp jump in energy, characteristic of a first order transition, gives way to a smoother and gradual rise of the energy, characteristic of a second order transition. Also, when columnar defects are present, the vortex solid phase is replaced by a pinned Bose glass phase and this is manifested by a marked decrease in translational order and orientational order as measured by the appropriate structure factors. For BSCCO, we report an unusual rise of the translational order and the hexatic order just before the melting transition. No such rise is observed in YBCO.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures, revte

Universal properties for linelike melting of the vortex lattice

Using numerical results obtained within two models describing vortex matter (interacting elastic lines (Bose model) and uniformly frustrated XY-model) we establish universal properties of the melting transition within the linelike regime. These properties, which are captured correctly by both models, include the scaling of the melting temperature with anisotropy and magnetic field, the effective line tension of vortices in the liquid regime, the latent heat, the entropy jump per entanglement length, and relative jump of Josephson energy at the transition as compared to the latent heat. The universal properties can serve as experimental fingerprints of the linelike regime of melting. Comparison of the models allows us to establish boundaries of the linelike regime in temperature and magnetic field.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, 2 EPS figure

Recent developments in planet migration theory

Planetary migration is the process by which a forming planet undergoes a drift of its semi-major axis caused by the tidal interaction with its parent protoplanetary disc. One of the key quantities to assess the migration of embedded planets is the tidal torque between the disc and planet, which has two components: the Lindblad torque and the corotation torque. We review the latest results on both torque components for planets on circular orbits, with a special emphasis on the various processes that give rise to additional, large components of the corotation torque, and those contributing to the saturation of this torque. These additional components of the corotation torque could help address the shortcomings that have recently been exposed by models of planet population syntheses. We also review recent results concerning the migration of giant planets that carve gaps in the disc (type II migration) and the migration of sub-giant planets that open partial gaps in massive discs (type III migration).Comment: 52 pages, 18 figures. Review article to be published in "Tidal effects in Astronomy and Astrophysics", Lecture Notes in Physic

Coherent Radio Pulses From GEANT Generated Electromagnetic Showers In Ice

Radio Cherenkov radiation is arguably the most efficient mechanism for detecting showers from ultra-high energy particles of 1 PeV and above. Showers occuring in Antarctic ice should be detectable at distances up to 1 km. We report on electromagnetic shower development in ice using a GEANT Monte Carlo simulation. We have studied energy deposition by shower particles and determined shower parameters for several different media, finding agreement with published results where available. We also report on radio pulse emission from the charged particles in the shower, focusing on coherent emission at the Cherenkov angle. Previous work has focused on frequencies in the 100 MHz to 1 GHz range. Surprisingly, we find that the coherence regime extends up to tens of Ghz. This may have substantial impact on future radio-based neutrino detection experiments as well as any test beam experiment which seeks to measure coherent Cherenkov radiation from an electromagnetic shower. Our study is particularly important for the RICE experiment at the South Pole.Comment: 44 pages, 29 figures. Minor changes made, reference added, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Tunneling Time Distribution by means of Nelson's Quantum Mechanics and Wave-Particle Duality

We calculate a tunneling time distribution by means of Nelson's quantum mechanics and investigate its statistical properties. The relationship between the average and deviation of tunneling time suggests the exsistence of ``wave-particle duality'' in the tunneling phenomena.Comment: 14 pages including 11 figures, the text has been revise

Vortex dynamics and states of artificially layered superconducting films with correlated defects

Linear resistances and $IV$-characteristics have been measured over a wide range in the parameter space of the mixed phase of multilayered a-TaGe/Ge films. Three films with varying interlayer coupling and correlated defects oriented at an angle $\approx 25$ from the film normal were investigated. Experimental data were analyzed within vortex glass models and a second order phase transition from a resistive vortex liquid to a pinned glass phase. Various vortex phases including changes from three to two dimensional behavior depending on anisotropy have been identified. Careful analysis of $IV$-characteristics in the glass phases revealed a distinctive $T$ and $H$-dependence of the glass exponent $\mu$. The vortex dynamics in the Bose-glass phase does not follow the predicted behavior for excitations of vortex kinks or loops.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Measurement of the Decay Asymmetry Parameters in Λc+→Λπ+\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda\pi^+ and Λc+→Σ+π0\Lambda_c^+ \to \Sigma^+\pi^0

We have measured the weak decay asymmetry parameters (\aLC ) for two \LC\ decay modes. Our measurements are \aLC = -0.94^{+0.21+0.12}_{-0.06-0.06} for the decay mode $\Lambda_c^+ \to \Lambda\pi^+$ and \aLC = -0.45\pm 0.31 \pm 0.06 for the decay mode $\Lambda_c \to \Sigma^+\pi^0$. By combining these measurements with the previously measured decay rates, we have extracted the parity-violating and parity-conserving amplitudes. These amplitudes are used to test models of nonleptonic charmed baryon decay.Comment: 11 pages including the figures. Uses REVTEX and psfig macros. Figures as uuencoded postscript. Also available as http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/1995/CLNS95-1319.p

Measurement of the branching fraction for Υ(1S)→τ+τ−\Upsilon (1S) \to \tau^+ \tau^-

We have studied the leptonic decay of the $\Upsilon (1S)$ resonance into tau pairs using the CLEO II detector. A clean sample of tau pair events is identified via events containing two charged particles where exactly one of the particles is an identified electron. We find $B(\Upsilon(1S) \to \tau^+ \tau^-) = (2.61~\pm~0.12~{+0.09\atop{-0.13}})$. The result is consistent with expectations from lepton universality.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, two Postscript figures available upon request, CLNS 94/1297, CLEO 94-20 (submitted to Physics Letters B