d-symmetry superconductivity due to valence bond correlations

It is shown that d-symmetry superconductivity due to valence bond correlations is possible. Valence bond correlations are compatible with antiferromagnetic spin order. In order to explictly construct a homogeneous state with the valence bond structure in the two-dimensional Hubbard model for an arbitrary doping, we have used the variational method based on unitary local transformation. Attraction between holes in the d-channel is due to modulation of hopping by the site population in course of the valence bond formation, and corresponding parameters have been calculated variationally. An important factor for the gap width is the increase in the density of states on the Fermi level due to antiferromagnetic splitting of the band. The gap width and its ratio to the T _c are 2Δ≃0.1t and 2Δ/kT _c≃4.5−4 for U/t≃8. The correspondence between the theoretical phase diagram and experimental data is discussed. The dependence of T _c on the doping δ=|n−1| and the Fermi surface shape are highly sensitive to the weak interaction t′ leading to diagonal hoppings. In the case of t′>0 and p-doping, the peak on the curve of T _c(δ) occurs at the doping δ _opt, when the energy of the flattest part of the lower Hubbard subband crosses the Fermi level at k∼(π,0). In underdoped samples with δ<δ _opt, the anisotropic pseudogap in the normal state corresponds to the energy difference |E(π,0)−μ| between this part of the spectrum and the Fermi level. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 985–1005 (September 1998)     

Enhanced superconductivity by correlations between two Kondo impurities

We study the interplay between magnetic correlations of two Kondo impurities and superconducting singlet pairing. Performing a Schrieffer-Wolff transformation in the zero-bandwidth limit of the two-impurity Anderson model we obtain the Hamiltonian of two magnetic impurities and we add a superconducting term to the conduction electrons. The model allows us to study the effect of the magnetic correlation between the impurities on the superconducting ground state. At zero temperature, different superconducting ground states can be obtained depending on the magnitude of magnetic coupling between S₁ and S₂. For increasing coupling, the superconducting region is enlarged showing an interesting result: in the strong coupling limit, where the impurities are in a very strong ferromagnetic correlation state, half of the conduction electrons are decoupled from the local moments of the impurities and take advantage of the superconducting pairing lowering the ground state energy. On the contrary, when the coupling between S₁and S₂ decreases, the scenario of the two independent Kondo impurities in presence of superconductivity emerges and all the conduction electrons are involved in the pair breaking physics. At finite temperature, we obtain the phase diagram and we observe a region of parameters where the re-entrance phenomenon occurs.     

Entanglement in a valence-bond solid state

We study entanglement in a valence-bond solid state, which describes the ground state of an Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki quantum spin chain, consisting of bulk spin-1's and two spin-1/2's at the ends. We characterize entanglement between various subsystems of the ground state by mostly calculating the entropy of one of the subsystems; when appropriate, we evaluate concurrences as well. We show that the reduced density matrix of a continuous block of bulk spins is independent of the size of the chain and the location of the block relative to the ends. Moreover, we show that the entanglement of the block with the rest of the sites approaches a constant value exponentially fast, as the size of the block increases. We also calculate the entanglement of (i) any two bulk spins with the rest, and (ii) the end spin-1/2's (together and separately) with the rest of the ground state.     

Transport as a consequence of state-dependent diffusion

Overdamped particles subject to a drift in a force field with sinusoidal space dependence and also a sinusoidally modulated space-dependent diffusion, with the same period as the drift, experience a net driving force. The resulting current depends on the amplitude of the modulation of the diffusion and is a periodic function of the phase difference between the sinusoidal drift and the sinusoidal modulation of the diffusion. For small modulation amplitudes a particle subject to state-dependent noise behaves the same way as a particle subject to thermal noise but with a drift which, in addition to the sinusoidal term, contains a net force term.Dedicated to Professor Harry Thomas on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Transport as a consequence of state-dependent diffusion

Overdamped particles subject to a drift in a force field with sinusoidal space dependence and also a sinusoidally modulated space-dependent diffusion, with the same period as the drift, experience a net driving force. The resulting current depends on the amplitude of the modulation of the diffusion and is a periodic function of the phase difference between the sinusoidal drift and the sinusoidal modulation of the diffusion. For small modulation amplitudes a particle subject to state-dependent noise behaves the same way as a particle subject to thermal noise but with a drift which, in addition to the sinusoidal term, contains a net force term [M. Büttiker,Z. Phys. B 68:161 (1987)]. A specific example of this behavior [N. G. van Kampen,IBM J. Res. Dev. 32:107 (1988); R. Landauer,J. Stat. Phys. 53:233 (1988).] is the motion of overdamped particles in a ring subject to a nonuniform temperature field. When the drift and the temperature, which are periodic with a period equal to the ring circumference, are not in phase a noise-induced circulating current results.This paper will appear in a forthcoming issue of theJournal of Statistical Physics.     

Unconventional superconductivity in two-dimensional electron systems with long-range correlations

Properties of superfluid states of two-dimensional electron systems with critical antiferromagnetic fluctuations are investigated. These correlations are found to result in the emergence of rapid variation in the momentum space terms in all components of the mass operator, including the gap function Δ(p). It is shown that the domain where these terms reside shrinks with temperature, leading to a significant difference between the temperature T _c , at which superconductivity is terminated, and the temperature T*, where the gap in the single-particle spectrum vanishes.     

Tunable interplay between superconductivity and correlations in nanoscopic heterostructures

Artificial heterostructures consisting of the superconducting electrode(s) and the free electron reservoir(s) interconnected through various nanoscopic objects, like: quantum dots, nanowires or molecules enable a fully controllable confrontation of the correlation effects with electron pairing. Discrete energy spectrum of the nanoscopic objects (due to the quantum size effect) strongly depends on the many-body effects. Via the proximity effect, these nanoscopic objects are converted into the superconducting grains. Since the coupling to external electrodes can be varied experimentally, this enables a fully controllable investigation of an interplay between the electron correlations and superconductivity. In this work, we explore the subgap (Shiba) states arising from the induced pairing and analyse their influence on the Kondo-type correlations. This issue is currently widely explored using various nanoscopic devices.     

Intermediate statistics as a consequence of deformed algebra

We present a formulation of deformed oscillator algebra which leads to intermediate statistics as a continuous interpolation between Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics. It is deduced that a generalized permutation or exchange symmetry leads to the introduction of the basic number and it is then established that this in turn leads to the deformed algebra of oscillators. We obtain the mean occupation number describing the particles obeying intermediate statistics which thus establishes the interpolating statistics and describe boson-like and fermion-like particles obeying intermediate statistics. We also obtain an expression for the mean occupation number in terms of an infinite continued fraction, thus clarifying successive approximations.     

Destruction of type I superconductivity by a current in a cylindrical wire

The transition time of the isothermal destruction of type I superconductivity in a cylinder by a current is computed as function of the total current J for values of J/J_c not exceeding 2, J_c being equal to the critical current.     

Kinetics of the destruction of type I superconductivity by a current

The dynamics of the destruction of type I superconductivity in a wire by an overcritical current are studied. In a first time interval a normal region grows from the surface surrounding a superconducting cylindrical core which contracts until its radius reaches the radius of the intermediate state core according to London's picture of the static state. In a second step the intermediate state is built up between the normal shell and the superconducting core, which finally disappears. The onset of the intermediate state is a consequence of an instability of the interphase boundary.     

On the electron tunneling as a mechanism of superconductivity

Assuming the presence of electron double-well potential in high-T_c oxide superconductors, we examine the low-lying electron excitations of the tunneling type as a mechanism of superconductivity.     

Evidence for intermediate temperature superconductivity as a bulk effect

The specific heat was measured in a highly homogenized sample of (La_0.9936Ce_0.0064) Al₂ between 0.35 and 1.5 K, both in the superconducting and in the normal state. The difference of the specific heats ΔC = C_S ? C_N was observed to change its sign twice. Hence the existence of an ‘intermediate temperature superconductor’ is suggested by means of a true volume effect. Reasonable agreement is found between the conclusions from the specific heat experiment and recent results of Winzer obtained for the upper critical magnetic field.     

Popescu-Rohrlich correlations as a unit of nonlocality

A set of nonlocal correlations that have come to be known as a Popescu-Rohrlich (PR) box suggest themselves as a natural unit of nonlocality, much as a singlet is a natural unit of entanglement. We present two results relevant to this idea. One is that a wide class of multipartite correlations can be simulated using local operations on PR boxes only. We show this with an explicit scheme, which has the interesting feature that the number of PR boxes required is related to the computational resources necessary to represent a function defining the multipartite box. The second result is that there are quantum multipartite correlations, arising from measurements on a cluster state, that cannot be simulated with n PR boxes, for any n.     

Local anharmonic vibrations strong correlations and superconductivity: A quantum simulation study

We investigate the importance of local anharmonic vibrations of the bridging oxygen in the copper oxide high-T _c materials in the context of superconductivity. For the numerical simulation we employ the projector quantum Monte Carlo method to study the ground state properties of the coupled electron-phonon system. The quantum Monte Carlo simulation allows an accurate treatment of electronic interactions which investigates the influence of strong correlations on superconductivity mediated by additional quantum degrees of freedom. As a generic model for such a system, we study the two-dimensional single band Hubbard model coupled to local pseudo spins (bridging oxygen), which mediate an effective attractive electron-electron interaction leading to superconductivity. The results are compared to those of an effective negativeU model.     

Optical magnus effect as a consequence of Berry phase anisotropy

Presented in this work is a modified geometric optics of smoothly inhomogeneous isotropic medium, which takes into account weak anisotropy introduced by inhomogeneity. Pointed out is the common nature of two fundamental phenomena: Berry’s geometrical phase and the optical Magnus effect, that is, propagation of rays of right and left circular polarization along different trajectories. Shown is that the former phenomenon can be explained by the difference in phase velocity of waves of right-hand and left-hand polarizations, while the latter one is the result of the difference in their group velocity. This work demonstrates that the optical Magnus effect is quite a topological effect that exclusively depends on the geometry of the system’s contour in the momentum space. We predict the effect of the splitting of a ray of mixed polarization into two circularly polarized rays and propose a scheme for the experimental observation of this phenomenon.     

Mott transition in a valence-bond solid insulator with a triangular lattice

We have investigated the Mott transition in a quasi-two-dimensional Mott insulator EtMe{3}P[Pd(dmit){2}]{2} with a spin-frustrated triangular-lattice in hydrostatic pressure and magnetic-field [Et and Me denote C2H5 and CH3, respectively, and Pd(dmit){2} (dmit=1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate,dithiolate) is an electron-acceptor molecule]. In the pressure-temperature (P-T) phase diagram, a valence-bond solid phase is found to neighbor the superconductor and metal phases at low temperatures. The profile of the phase diagram is common to those of Mott insulators with antiferromagnetic order. In contrast to the antiferromagnetic Mott insulators, the resistivity in the metallic phase exhibits anomalous temperature dependence, rho=rho{0}+AT(2.5).     

Fluctuations and correlations as a signal of deconfinement

Event-by-event fluctuations of the K/??, K/p, and p/?? ratio in central AA collisions have been studied for SPS and RHIC energies. The Hadron-String-Dynamical transport approach (HSD) can qualitatively reproduce the measured excitation function for the K/?? ratio fluctuations. The di-jet azimuthal correlations also have been investigated within the HSD model. We found that the suppression of the away-side jet in the hadronic mediumis not enough to explain the experimental data from RHIC. The additional suppression should be attributed to a quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions.     

Fractional quantization of Hall resistance as a consequence of mesoscopic feedback

A nonlinear single-particle model is introduced, which captures the characteristic of systems in the quantum Hall regime. The model involves the magnetic Schrödinger equation with spatially variable magnetic flux density. The distribution of flux is prescribed via the postulates of the mesoscopic mechanics (MeM) introduced in my previous articles (cf. [9, 10]). The model is found to imply exact integer and fractional quantitzation of the Hall conductance. In fact, Hall resistance is found to be R _H = (h/e ²)(M/N) at the filling factor value N/M. The assumed geometry of the Hall plate is rectangular. Special properties of the magnetic Schrödinger equation with the mesoscopic feedback loop allow us to demonstrate quantization of Hall resistance as a direct consequence of charge and flux quantization. I believe results presented here shed light at the overall status of the MeM in quantum physics, confirming its validity.