Gap Symmetry an Thermal Conductivity in Nodal Superconductors

There are now many nodal superconductors in heavy fermion (HF) systems, charge conjugated organic metals, high Tc cuprates and ruthenates. On the other hand only few of them have a well established gap function. We present here a study of the angular dependent thermal conductivity in the vortex state of some of the nodal superconductors. We hope it will help to identify the nodal directions in the gap function of UPd_2Al_3, UNi_2Al_3, UBe_13 and URu_2Si_2.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Nonlinear response and scaling law in the vortex state of d-wave superconductors

We study the field dependence of the quasi-particle density of states, the thermodynamics and the transport properties in the vortex state of d-wave superconductors when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the conducting plane, specially for the low field and the low temperature compared to the upper critical field and transition temperature, respectively, $H/H_{c2} \ll 1$ and $T/T_c \ll 1$. Both the superfluid density and the spin susceptibility exhibit the characteristic $\sqrt{H}$-field dependence, while the nuclear spin lattice relaxation rate T$_1^{-1}$ and the thermal conductivity are linear in field $H$. With increasing temperature, these quantities exhibit the scaling behavior in $T/\sqrt{H}$. The present theory applies to 2D $f$-wave superconductor as well; a possible candidate of the superconductivity in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

A micromechanics model of the stiffness and strength of laminates with fiber waviness

A mathematical model based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory is proposed for predicting the effective Young's moduli of piecewise isotropic composite laminates with local ply curvatures in the main load-carrying layers. Strains in corrugated layers, In-Phase layers, Out-of-Phase layers are predicted for various geometries and material configurations by assuming matrix layers as elastic foundations of different spring constants. The effective Young's moduli measured from corrugated aluminum specimens and aluminum/epoxy specimens with In-Phase and Out-of-Phase wavy patterns coincide very well with the model predictions. Moire fringe analysis of an In-Phase specimen and an Out-of-Phase specimen are also presented confirming the main assumption of the model related to the elastic constraint due to the matrix layers. The present model is also compared with the experimental results and other models, including the micro-buckling models, published in the literature. The results of the present study show that even a very small scale local ply curvature produces a noticeable effect on the mechanical constitutive behavior of a laminated composite

The Nuclease Activity of the Yeast Dna2 Protein, Which Is Related to the RecB-like Nucleases, Is Essential in Vivo

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Dna2 protein is required for DNA replication and repair and is associated with multiple biochemical activities: DNA-dependent ATPase, DNA helicase, and DNA nuclease. To investigate which of these activities is important for the cellular functions of Dna2, we have identified separation of function mutations that selectively inactivate the helicase or nuclease. We describe the effect of six such mutations on ATPase, helicase, and nuclease after purification of the mutant proteins from yeast or baculovirus-infected insect cells. A mutation in the Walker A box in the C-terminal third of the protein affects helicase and ATPase but not nuclease; a mutation in the N-terminal domain (amino acid 504) affects ATPase, helicase, and nuclease. Two mutations in the N-terminal domain abolish nuclease but do not reduce helicase activity (amino acids 657 and 675) and identify the putative nuclease active site. Two mutations immediately adjacent to the proposed nuclease active site (amino acids 640 and 693) impair nuclease activity in the absence of ATP but completely abolish nuclease activity in the presence of ATP. These results suggest that, although the Dna2 helicase and nuclease activities can be independently affected by some mutations, the two activities appear to interact, and the nuclease activity is regulated in a complex manner by ATP. Physiological analysis shows that both ATPase and nuclease are important for the essential function of DNA2 in DNA replication and for its role in double-strand break repair. Four of the nuclease mutants are not only loss of function mutations but also exhibit a dominant negative phenotype

Effect of nuclear interactions of neutral kaons on CP asymmetry measurements

We examine the effect of the difference in nuclear interactions of ${K}^0$ and $\bar{K}^0$ mesons on the measurement of CP asymmetry for experiments at $e^+e^-$ colliders - charm and $B$-meson factories. We find that this effect on CP asymmetry can be as large as 0.3%, and therefore sufficiently significant in interpreting measurements of CP asymmetry when neutral kaons are present in the final state.Comment: accepted to PR

Possible f-wave superconductivity in Sr2_2RuO4_4?

Until recently it has been believed that the superconductivity in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ is described by p-wave pairing. However, both the recent specific heat and the magnetic penetration depth measurements on the purest single crystals of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ appear to be explained more consistently in terms of f-wave superconductivity. In order to further this hypothesis, we study theoretically the thermodynamics and thermal conductivity of f-wave superconductors in a planar magnetic field. We find the simple expressions for these quantities when $H \ll H_{c2}$ and $T \ll T_{c}$, which should be readily accessible experimentally.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure