Absorption enhancement of an electric quadrupole transition of cesium atoms in an evanescent field

We have observed for the first time reflection spectra of an electric quadrupole transition for the cesium atom (6 (2)S(1/2)-5 (2)D(5/2)) line at an angle of incidence from theta(c)-11.9 to theta(c)+107.5 mrad, where theta(c) is the critical angle for total reflection. From a comparison with the calculated absorption in the attenuated total reflection, the oscillator strengths for s and p polarizations were found to increase with an increase in the angle of incidence by a factor up to 1.5 at theta(c)+83.8 mrad and 2.4 at theta(c)+107.5 mrad, respectively, in the experiment. The dependences of the observed enhancement on the angle of incidence were in good agreement with the calculated ones for the oscillator strength of the quadrupole transition in the evanescent light.     

Universally diverging Grüneisen parameter and the magnetocaloric effect close to quantum critical points

At a generic quantum critical point, the thermal expansion alpha is more singular than the specific heat c(p). Consequently, the "Grüneisen ratio," Gamma=alpha/c(p), diverges. When scaling applies, Gamma approximately T(-1/(nu z)) at the critical pressure p=p(c), providing a means to measure the scaling dimension of the most relevant operator that pressure couples to; in the alternative limit T-->0 and p not equal p(c), Gamma approximately 1/(p-p(c)) with a prefactor that is, up to the molar volume, a simple universal combination of critical exponents. For a magnetic-field driven transition, similar relations hold for the magnetocaloric effect (1/T) partial differential T/ partial differential H|(S). Finally, we determine the corrections to scaling in a class of metallic quantum critical points.     

Resistance noise scaling in a dilute two-dimensional hole system in GaAs

We have measured the resistance noise of a two-dimensional (2D) hole system in a high mobility GaAs quantum well, around the 2D metal-insulator transition (MIT) at zero magnetic field. The normalized noise power S(R)/R(2) increases strongly when the hole density p(s) is decreased, increases slightly with temperature (T) at the largest densities, and decreases strongly with T at low p(s). The noise scales with the resistance, S(R)/R(2) approximately R2.4, as for a second order phase transition such as a percolation transition. The p(s) dependence of the conductivity is consistent with a critical behavior for such a transition, near a density p(*) which is lower than the observed MIT critical density p(c).     

Resilience of the internet to random breakdowns

A common property of many large networks, including the Internet, is that the connectivity of the various nodes follows a scale-free power-law distribution, P(k) = ck(-alpha). We study the stability of such networks with respect to crashes, such as random removal of sites. Our approach, based on percolation theory, leads to a general condition for the critical fraction of nodes, p(c), that needs to be removed before the network disintegrates. We show analytically and numerically that for alpha0.99.     

Stochastic Resonance in Neural Systems with Small-World Connections

We study the stochastic resonance （SR） in Hodgkin-Huxley （HH） neural systems with small-world （SW） connections under the noise synaptic current and periodic stimulus, focusing on the dependence of properties of SR on coupling strength c. It is found that there exists a critical coupling strength c^＊ such that if c 〈 c^＊, then the SR can appear on the SW neural network. Especially, dependence of the critical coupling strength c^＊ on the number of neurons N shows the monotonic even almost linear increase of c^＊ as N increases and c^＊ on the SW network is smaller than that on the random network. For the effect of the SW network on the phenomenon of SR, we show that decreasing the connection-rewiring probability p of the network topology leads to an enhancement of SR. This indicates that the SR on the SW network is more prominent than that on the random network （p = 1.0）. In addition, it is noted that the effect becomes remarkable as coupling strength increases. Moreover, it is found that the SR weakens but resonance range becomes wider with the increase of c on the SW neural network.     

Diffusion in a metallic melt at the critical temperature of mode coupling theory

According to mode coupling theory, liquidlike motion becomes frozen at a critical temperature T(c) well above the caloric glass transition temperature T(g). Here, for the first time, we report on radiotracer diffusion in a supercooled Pd43Cu27Ni10P20 alloy from T(g) to the equilibrium melt. Liquidlike motion is seen to set in exactly above T(c) as evidenced by a gradual drop of the effective activation energy. This strongly supports the mode coupling scenario. Isotope effect measurements, which have never been carried out near T(c) in any material, show atomic transport up to the equilibrium melt to be far away from the hydrodynamic regime of uncorrelated binary collisions.     

Active width at a slanted active boundary in directed percolation

The width W of the active region around an active moving wall in a directed percolation process diverges at the percolation threshold p(c) as W approximately Aepsilon(-nu( parallel)) ln(epsilon(0)/epsilon), with epsilon=p(c)-p, epsilon(0) a constant, and nu( parallel)=1.734 the critical exponent of the characteristic time needed to reach the stationary state xi( parallel) approximately epsilon(-nu(parallel)). The logarithmic factor arises from screening the statistically independent needle shaped subclusters in the active region. Numerical data confirm this scaling behavior.     

Metallic state in cubic FeGe beyond its quantum phase transition

We report on results of electrical resistivity and structural investigations on the cubic modification of FeGe under high pressure. The long-wavelength helical order (T(C) = 280 K) is suppressed at a critical pressure p(c) approximately 19 GPa. An anomaly at T(X)(p) and strong deviations from a Fermi-liquid behavior in a wide pressure range above p(c) suggest that the suppression of T(C) disagrees with the standard notion of a quantum critical phase transition. The metallic ground state persisting at high pressure can be described by band-structure calculations if zero-point motion is included. The shortest FeGe interatomic distance display discontinuous changes in the pressure dependence close to the T(C)(p) phase line.     

Mean-field effects on the aging transitions in the damaged networks

We investigate the dynamical robustness property of the damaged network of active and inactive oscillators under the influence of the mean-field diffusion. The tolerance of dynamical activity of the entire coupled network has realized through the aging transition in the coupled dynamical network. We analytically derived the critical threshold of mean-field density and coupling values for the appearance of the aging transition in the damaged network. By using the critical values as a quantifiable measure of dynamical robustness of the damaged network, we showed that higher mean-field value is favorable to increase the dynamical robustness of the entire network. We also perform the numerical experiment on the network of Stuart-Landau oscillators and the obtained numerical results have an excellent agreement with the analytical findings. Finally, we extend our investigation into the coupled time-delayed network and discussed the affirmative influence of the mean-field parameter on the dynamical robustness of the network.     

Spin freezing transition and non-Fermi-liquid self-energy in a three-orbital model

A single-site dynamical mean-field study of a three band model with the rotationally invariant interactions appropriate to the t_(2g) levels of a transition metal oxide reveals a quantum phase transition between a paramagnetic metallic phase and an incoherent metallic phase with frozen moments. The Mott transitions occurring at electron densities n=2, 3 per site take place inside the frozen moment phase. The critical line separating the two phases is characterized by a self-energy with the frequency dependence Sigma(omega) approximately sqrt[omega] and a broad quantum critical regime. The findings are discussed in the context of the power law observed in the optical conductivity of SrRuO3.     

Universality class of nonequilibrium phase transitions with infinitely many absorbing states

We consider systems whose steady states exhibit a nonequilibrium phase transition from an active state to one-among an infinite number-absorbing state, as some control parameter is varied across a threshold value. The pair contact process, stochastic fixed-energy sandpiles, activated random walks, and many other cellular automata or reaction-diffusion processes are covered by our analysis. We argue that the upper-critical dimension below which anomalous fluctuation driven scaling appears is d(c)=6, in contrast to a widespread belief. We provide the exponents governing the critical behavior close to or at the transition point to first order in an epsilon =6-d expansion.     

Noise enhanced activity in a complex network

We consider the influence of local noise on a generalized network of populations having positive and negative feedbacks. The population dynamics at the nodes is nonlinear, typically chaotic, and allows cessation of activity if the population falls below a threshold value. We investigate the global stability of this large interactive system, as indicated by the average number of nodal populations that manage to remain active. Our central result is that the probability of obtaining active nodes in this network is significantly enhanced under fluctuations. Further, we find a sharp transition in the number of active nodes as noise strength is varied, along with clearly evident scaling behaviour near the critical noise strength. Lastly, we also observe noise induced temporal coherence in the active sub-network, namely, there is an enhancement in synchrony among the nodes at an intermediate noise strength.     

Heat Capacity Under Pressure of CeCoIn 5

Among heavy-fermion (HF) superconductors, CeCoIn 5 exhibits a record high value of T c =2.3 K at ambient pressure [1]. CeCoIn 5 belongs to a new class of HF-superconductors that crystallize in the tetragonal HoCoGa 5 -structure. This structure can be regarded as alternating layers of CeIn 3 and CoIn 2 . Bulk CeIn 3 undergoes a transition from an antiferromagnetic (AFM) state at ambient pressure ( T N =10.2 K) to a superconducting state with very low T C =0.15 K at a critical pressure p c =2.8 GPa [2] at which long range magnetic order vanishes. It is, therefore, regarded as a possible candidate for magnetically mediated superconductivity (SC). We report on measurements of the heat capacity of CeCoIn 5 at hydrostatic pressures p h 1.5 GPa. While T c increases with increasing pressure, the effective mass of the quasi-particles m eff decreases, as indicated by the ratio C / T | T c . As a working hypothesis based on theories of a nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi-liquid (NAFFL), this may be interpreted as the stabilization of the superconducting state by an increase of the characteristic spin fluctuation temperature T_{SF} (T_{SF}\propto k_F^2/m_{\rm eff}).     

Theory and simulation of positionally frozen Heisenberg spin systems

The structure, thermodynamics and the ferromagnetic phase transition of a positionally frozen disordered Heisenberg spin system are studied by means of extensive Monte Carlo calculations in combination with finite size scaling techniques, as well as resorting to the Replica Ornstein-Zernike formalism. The system is formed by a collection of Heisenberg spins whose spatial distribution corresponds to a soft sphere fluid with its particle positions frozen at a certain quench temperature. The spin orientations are allowed to equilibrate at a given equilibrium temperature. If the quench and equilibrium temperatures are similar the properties of the positionally frozen system are practically indistinguishable from those of the fully equilibrated Heisenberg spin fluid. On the other hand, one observes that as the quenching temperature of the spatial degrees of freedom increases, so does the Curie temperature of the Heisenberg spins. The theory fails to reproduce the location of the ferromagnetic transition, despite its relative accuracy in the determination of the orientational structure in the supercritical region.Received: 25 July 2003, Published online: 9 September 2003PACS: 75.50.Lk Spin glasses and other random magnets - 64.60.Fr Equilibrium properties near critical points     

Stability and topology of scale-free networks under attack and defense strategies

We study tolerance and topology of random scale-free networks under attack and defense strategies that depend on the degree k of the nodes. This situation occurs, for example, when the robustness of a node depends on its degree or in an intentional attack with insufficient knowledge of the network. We determine, for all strategies, the critical fraction p(c) of nodes that must be removed for disintegrating the network. We find that, for an intentional attack, little knowledge of the well-connected sites is sufficient to strongly reduce p(c). At criticality, the topology of the network depends on the removal strategy, implying that different strategies may lead to different kinds of percolation transitions.     

Macroscopic superconducting current through a silicon surface reconstruction with indium adatoms: Si(111)-(√7 × √3)-In

Macroscopic and robust supercurrents are observed by direct electron transport measurements on a silicon surface reconstruction with In adatoms [Si(111)-(√7 × √3)-In]. The superconducting transition manifests itself as an emergence of the zero resistance state below 2.8 K. I-V characteristics exhibit sharp and hysteretic switching between superconducting and normal states with well-defined critical and retrapping currents. The two-dimensional (2D) critical current density J(2D,c) is estimated to be as high as 1.8 A/m at 1.8 K. The temperature dependence of J(2D,c) indicates that the surface atomic steps play the role of strongly coupled Josephson junctions.     

Evidence for a percolation-driven transition to coherent surface superconductivity

Above the upper critical field we have investigated the field dependences of the surface conductance, G'-iG" and the critical current J(c) of an electropolished pure niobium cylinder. The low frequency limits of G', G", and J(c) display power-law singularities, defining a transition to coherent surface superconductivity at H(c)(c3). The critical exponents as well as the dynamical scaling of G'-iG" are consistent with predictions for a two-dimensional percolation transition. Relating H(c)(c3) to the conventional onset field, we find H(c)(c3)/H(c3)=0.81, and, surprisingly, this ratio turns out to be independent of significant variations of H(c3) due to differently structured surfaces.     

Limited path percolation in complex networks

We study the stability of network communication after removal of a fraction q=1-p of links under the assumption that communication is effective only if the shortest path between nodes i and j after removal is shorter than al(ij)(a> or =1) where l(ij) is the shortest path before removal. For a large class of networks, we find analytically and numerically a new percolation transition at p(c)=(kappa(0)-1)((1-a)/a), where kappa(0) [triple bond] / and k is the node degree. Above p(c), order N nodes can communicate within the limited path length al(ij), while below p(c), N(delta) (delta<1) nodes can communicate. We expect our results to influence network design, routing algorithms, and immunization strategies, where short paths are most relevant.     

DSC studies of freezing in terrestrial enchytraeids (Annelida: oligochaeta)

Specimens of six enchytraeid species from a wide range of terrestrial habitats were cooled to -25 degree C and rewarmed at 1 degree C/min and their cryobiological features measured by DSC. All were freezing intolerant, supercooling on average to c.-9 degree C. The quantity of frozen (osmotically active) water, calculated from the melt endotherm, varied considerably from 17 to 62% depending on the species and formed three groups. It is suggested that variation in the amount of water frozen in the worms reflects the acclimatisation of these species to the environmental conditions of their habitats.     

Redistributing Chern numbers of Landau subbands: tight-binding electrons under staggered modulated magnetic fields

We investigate the magnetotransport properties of electrons on a square lattice under a magnetic field with the alternate flux strength phi+/-Deltaphi in neighboring plaquettes. A new peculiar behavior of the Hall conductance has been found and is robust against weak disorder: if phi=(p/2N)2pi (p and 2N are coprime integers) is fixed, the Chern numbers of Landau subbands will be redistributed between neighboring pairs and hence the total quantized Hall conductance exhibits a direct transition by +/-Ne2/h at critical fillings when Deltaphi is increased from 0 up to a critical value Deltaphi_{c}. This effect can be an experimental probe of the staggered-flux phase.