Weak to strong pinning crossover

Material defects in hard type II superconductors pin the flux lines and thus establish the dissipation-free current transport in the presence of a finite magnetic field. Depending on the density and pinning force of the defects and the vortex density, pinning is either weak collective or strong. We analyze the weak to strong pinning crossover of vortex matter in disordered superconductors and discuss the peak effect appearing naturally in this context.     

Mössbauer studies of the charge-density-wave state of 57FeK0.30MoO3

Mössbauer studies have been performed between 6 K and 300 K on single crystals of ⁵⁷Fe-doped K_0.30MoO₃, which show a Peierls transition at 180 K towards on incommensurate charge density wave state. The spectra show three doublets. A strong line broadening below 120 K indicates that the Fe impurities are strong pinning centers for the charge density wave above ∼ 120 K and become progressively weak pinning ones below, in agreement with theoretical models.     

An investigation of time-dependent domain wall pinning effects in Tb/Fe multilayer thin films

Reverse domain nucleation time measurements have been performed on two Tb/Fe multilayer magneto-optic films exhibiting different degrees of domain wall pinning. A linear relationship between ln (reverse domain nucleation time) and the applied field has been predicted and observed for a sample exhibiting weak domain wall pinning. This is in agreement with theoretical work presented which addresses time dependence in systems possessing weak domain wall pinning. A non-linear relationship applicable over a restricted field range has been derived for a sample exhibiting strong domain wall pinning. Experimental results have indicated that this relationship is also valid.     

Electron-phonon interaction and current in strong electric fields

Using the Houston-wave approach we investigate the electron-phonon interaction in electric fieldsF which are sufficiently strong to change an electron's Bloch state drastically during the relaxation time τ, but still too weak to support standing electron waves between the band edges. We calculate τ for the low density, high temperature limit and find τ～F ^?1/2. The electric current in the field region of the “hot electrons” between its ohmic rise and its decrease proportional toF ^?1 is determined. Its increase withF ^+1/2 in the limit of relatively low fields agrees with Shockley's result.     

Comparatively high in-field critical current in type-II superconductors from heterogeneous columnar pins: A molecular dynamics study

Theoretical work predicts that the strong dependence of T_c on pure shear strain within the a–b plane of optimally doped YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ results in heterogenous columnar pins of vortex lines about dislocation lines and about nano-columns inclusions aligned in parallel to the c axis. The critical current of a rigid vortex lattice driven by the Lorentz force in the presence of such clusters of pin/antipin lines is computed using two-dimensional (2D) collective pinning theory and by numerical simulation of the corresponding 2D vortex dynamics. Both theory and computer calculation find that the antipin component of the heterogenous columnar pins contributes substantially to the net in-field critical current.     

Influence of the surface electric field in ion-beam-surface interaction at grazing incidence

We have measured the polarization of light emitted after ion surface scattering at small angle of incidence. The measurements are carried out with H⁺-, H ₂ ⁺ - and He⁺-ions under UHV-conditions with mono- and polycrystalline targets. We explain the typical variation of the polarization as “post collision Stark interaction” (PCSI) in the surface electric field, which can force transitions between nearly degenerate terms. The electric field is composed of two different contributions, a strong but short range surface field which is “seen” by atomsand ions and a long range but weak field due to the image charge which is “seen” to first orderonly by ions. The influence of the electric field on H-Balmer radiation is negligible at typical survival distances r_s≧0.35nm. But in contrast to H-atoms He⁺-ions feel the additional influence of the image field leading to a strong alteration of the polarization of the emitted light. The polarization of the Balmer-radiation stemming from Coulomb exploding H ₂ ⁺ -beams is observed to be modified by the electric field of the “spectator proton”.     

Extreme waves statistics for the Ablowitz-Ladik system

We examine statistics of waves for the problem of modulation instability development in the framework of discrete integrable Ablowitz-Ladik (AL) system. Modulation instability depends on one free parameter h that has the meaning of the coupling between the nodes on the lattice. For strong coupling h ? 1, the probability density functions (PDFs) for waves amplitudes coincide with that for the continuous classical nonlinear Schrödinger equation; the PDFs for both systems are very close to Rayleigh ones. When the coupling is weak h ～ 1, there appear highly localized waves with very large amplitudes, that drastically change the PDFs to significantly non-Rayleigh ones, with so-called “fat tails” when the probability of a large wave occurrence is by several orders of magnitude higher than that predicted by the linear theory. Evolution of amplitudes for such rogue waves with time is similar to that of the Peregrine solution for the classical nonlinear Schrödinger equation.     

Z0 decay into neutralinos and the Higgs fermion mass mH

The Z⁰ decay width into neutralinos is calculated in the minimal supersymmetrics SU(2) × U(1) model. In some region of the parameters space “jet(s) + missing” and “ℓ⁺ℓ⁻ + missing” events at SPS are predicted with a ratio 5 : 1. If neutralino signals are not found at LEP and SLC, we can get a lower bound on m_H independently of all other parameters.     

Anomalous moments of heavy charged leptons

If leptons and quarks are composite particles we expect them to have anomalous moments: an anomalous magnetic moment and an analogue of this with respect to the weak neutral current. If these moments are suppressed by chiral symmetry they will have sizeable values only for heavy fermions, e.g. for fermions of the fourth generation. The forward-backward asymmetry of e⁺e⁻ → f̄f on the Z⁰ resonance is particularly suited for detecting the anomalous “weak magnetic” moment of f if f is the charged lepton of the fourth generation. Under favourable circumstances this moment may lead to a 10% effect.     

Magnetoexcitons in core/shell quantum dots

The ground-state energies of the “bright” and “dark” excitons formed by an electron and a hole localized in a thin spherical shell subjected to a high magnetic field are calculated. This model corresponds to a core/shell quantum dot. The high-field condition implies that the magnetic length is much shorter than the radius of the sphere. It is found that the ground-state energy of the bright exciton exhibits an unusual magnetic-field dependence: E ₀ ～ H ^2/3.     

Dynamics of vortices in type-II superconductors with periodic square columnar pins

The dynamics of a two-dimensional vortex system with strong periodic square columnar pins is investigated. For the case vortex number matching pinning number, we find that the vortex liquid is frozen into square lattice via a continuous transition, and the freezing (melting) temperature T_m is the same as the thermal depinning temperature of vortices, which are different from the first-order phase transition at weak pinning. The zero-temperature critical depinning force F_c0 is exactly the same as the maximum pinning force, and the depinning property at T = 0 can be expressed by scaling v ～ (F ? F_c0)^β with the exponent β close to 0.5. The v–F curves at temperatures below T_m show that vortices are pinned at small driving force.     

Barkhausen jumps in the motion of a single ferroelectric domain wall

It is shown that the motion of a domain wall in the improper ferroelectric-ferroelastic gadolinium molybdate Gd₂(MoO₄)₃ demonstrates a self-organized critical behavior under polarization reversal. Barkhausen pulses are measured experimentally during the jumpwise motion of a single plane domain wall in monocrystalline plates with artificial pinning centers of the “field inhomogeneity” type.     

Electron gas compression and Coulomb explosion in the surface layer of a conductor heated by femtosecond laser pulse

The hypothesis is put forward on the basis of experimental data that strong inhomogeneous heating of the skin layer of conducting materials by a femtosecond pulse gives rise to a double electrical layer that is formed of a “surface” layer of positive ions and a thin (about 1 nm) “subsurface” layer of a superdense (10²³–10²⁵ cm^?3) degenerate electron gas. The double layer breaks within one picosecond through the Coulomb explosion.     

Numerical calculation of elastic pinning parameters by point pins

One-dimensional numerical simulations of the pinned vortex lattice have been carried out using an inverted model in which widely spaced and weak point pinning centres are distorted by a rigid lattice. This allows us to simulate a much larger array than if we had to find the position of each vortex separately. Using steepest descent and molecular dynamics methods, the Labusch parameter is found to have similar power law dependencies on the density of pins and elementary pinning force to the bulk pinning force. This implies that the maximum reversible displacement is a constant and it is found to be roughly 0.2 of a vortex spacing. The results are in agreement with the Larkin-Ovchinnikov theory of collective pinning. Quasi-static shifting of the pins over the rigid vortex lattice allowed the size of avalanches in the flow state to be measured. The distribution of avalanche sizes displays power law behaviour over several decades.     

Effects of Superaging and Percolation Crossover on the Nonequilibrium Critical Behavior of the Two-Dimensional Disordered Ising Model

A Monte Carlo study of the specific features of the nonequilibrium critical behavior has been performed for the two-dimensional “pure” and structurally disordered Ising models in the course of their evolution from the low-temperature initial state at spin concentrations p = 1.0, 0.9, and 0.8. It is shown for the first time that the pinning of domain walls by structural defects leads to the anomalously strong slowing down in the evolution of the autocorrelation function characterized by the superaging effect with exponents μ = 6.25(5) and μ = 6.75(5) for the model with the spin concentrations p = 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. The pure model exhibits the conventional aging with the exponent μ = 1. It is found that the superaging effects in structurally disordered systems lead to vanishing of the limiting fluctuation?dissipation ratio X^∞, whereas X^∞ = 0.751(24) for the pure model.     

Interference of quantum states in electronic waveguides with impurities

Effects of interference between propagating and localized states in quasi-one-dimensional electronic waveguides containing finite-size attracting impurities (quantum dots) are investigated. The electron scattering matrix is calculated in the framework of the Feshbach theory [H. Feshbach, Ann. Phys. 5, 357 (1958); Ann. Phys. 19, 287 (1962)], when resonant states in closed channels are taken into account exactly, while non-resonant states are taken into account in perturbation theory. It is shown that finite-size attracting impurities may generate a series of asymmetric Fano resonances in the waveguide transmission. As a result of interference of electron states, the characteristics of resonances may oscillate upon a change in the impurity parameters. The conditions are determined under which the interference of an electron wave leads to a “collapse” and “swing” of Fano resonances.     

Rapid synthesis of N,S co-doped carbon dots and their application for Fe<Superscript>3+</Superscript> ion detection

In this study, nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon dots (NSCDs) were fabricated by microwave-assisted one-pot synthesis using vitamin C and thiourea as precursors. The as-prepared NSCDs demonstrated excellent properties, including aqueous dispensability, strong fluorescence emission, excellent environmental stability, high selectivity, and sensitivity toward Fe³⁺ ions. The NSCD-based material can be used as a “turn off” fluorescent probe for detecting Fe³⁺ ions at a low detection limit (4.2 nM). In addition, the “turn off” and “turn on” of NSCD fluorescent probe could be modulated by adding Fe³⁺ and EDTA, indicating weak interaction between the Fe³⁺ ions and NSCDs.     

A gauge model without parity violation in heavy atoms

We address the question: “are weak right-handed non-singlet representations of quarks and leptons necessary?” An extension of the Weinberg-Salam model to SU(2) ? U(1) ? U(1) is found to adequately describe all existing weak interaction data including the lack of parity violation in atomic physics experiments. These data tightly constrain the additional parameters introduced by adding the second weak hypercharge. Although such a model may seem regressive when considered from the standpoint of “simple” unification schemes, we feel that it is aesthetics rather than experiment which leads to non-trivial right-handed multiplet structure. In contrast to most other models, ours predicts a substantial parity-violation effect in atomic experiments on hydrogen. We note that the second weak boson in our model is not constrained to be heavy by existing data and thus might already by accessable in pp → μ⁺μ^?X or possibly in the next generation of colliding beam facilities through e⁺e^? → μ⁺μ^?.