Peculiarities in the low-temperature specific heat related to nanoscale structural inhomogeneity in fine-crystalline YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>6.93</Subscript> high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> superconductors

A comparative study of the low-temperature specific heat for two types of YBa₂Cu₃O _y high-T _c superconductor samples is performed within the temperature range of 2?10 K. The samples of the first type are fine-crystalline optimally doped ones with different degrees of nanoscale structural inhomogeneity. The second type includes coarse-crystalline equilibrium samples with different hole doping levels. A similarity in the behavior of different contributions to the specific heat for structurally inhomogeneous and underdoped samples is revealed. The samples of both types exhibit a metal-like contribution linear in temperature to the specific heat ~γT, which is not characteristic of the superconducting phase. It is found that this contribution moderately grows with the decrease in the oxygen content, whereas with the increase in the structural inhomogeneity, such growth of the linear contribution (γT) becomes anomalously large. This leads to the conclusion about the coexistence of metallic and superconducting states in the bulk of the samples under study. Such common feature of electron systems could be related to the formation of the pseudogap regime. It is demonstrated that this regime suppresses just the superconducting states, leaving intact the metallic ones.     

Investigations of the interlayer coupling in high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript> cuprates

Low-field magnetizationM(H) measurements can be used to probe the nature of the screening currents and the interlayer coupling in high-T _c cuprates. Here we compare theM(H) behaviour of single crystals of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ and fully oxygenated and oxygen reduced YBa₂Cu₃O_7??. In YBa₂Cu₃O₇, theM(H) behaviour is consistent with anisotropic 3D superconductivity whilst in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈, the surface screening currents are strongly affected by the presence of vortices, implying that the CuO₂ planes are coupled via a weak Josephson interaction. In oxygen-deficient YBa₂Cu₃O_6.7 (T _c =63K), theM(H) behaviour at low temperatures is similar to that found for Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈, implying that the removal of oxygen from the chains has resulted in a dimensional crossover of the superconducting state in YBa₂Cu₃O_7??. As the temperature approachesT _c , the 3D behaviour is eventually restored as thec-axis coherence length ξ _c becomes comparable with the interlayer spacingd.     

Possible universal cause of high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript> superconductivity in different metals

Using the theory of high-temperature superconductivity based on the idea of the fermion-condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT), we show that neither the d-wave pairing symmetry, the pseudogap phenomenon, nor the presence of the Cu-O₂ planes is of decisive importance for the existence of high-T _c superconductivity. We analyze recent experimental data on this type of superconductivity in different materials and show that these facts can be understood within the theory of superconductivity based on the FCQPT. The latter can be considered as a universal cause of high-T _c superconductivity. The main features of a room-temperature superconductor are discussed.     

Quasiparticles in the superconducting state of high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> metals

We consider the behavior of quasiparticles in the superconducting state of high-T_c metals within the framework of the theory of the superconducting state based on the fermion condensation quantum phase transition. We show that the behavior coincides with the behavior of Bogoliubov quasiparticles, whereas the maximum value of the superconducting gap and other exotic properties are determined by the presence of the fermion condensate. If at low temperatures the normal state is recovered by the application of a magnetic field suppressing the superconductivity, the induced state can be viewed as a Landau-Fermi liquid. These observations are in good agreement with recent experimental facts.     

Recent high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis></Subscript> results from STAR

We present selected recent results of multi-hadron correlation measurements in azimuth and pseudorapidity at intermediate and high p _T in Au+Au collisions at , from the STAR experiment at RHIC. At intermediate p _T , measurements are presented that attempt to determine the origin of the associated near-side (small Δφ) yield at large pseudo-rapidity difference Δη that is found to be present in heavy ion collisions. In addition, results are reported on new multi-hadron correlation measures at high-p _T that use di-hadron triggers and multi-hadron cluster triggers with the goal to constrain the underlying jet kinematics better than in the existing measurements of inclusive spectra and di-hadron correlations.     

Magnetism of gadolinium nanoparticles near <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript>

Influence of temperature and magnetic field H on magnetism of spherical Gd nanoparticles of different sizes (89, 63, 47, 28, and 18 nm) was studied in the temperature range 250 K < T < 325 K. The particles were obtained by metal vapor condensation in the flow of helium. The particles with d = 18 nm did not show a magnetic transition; their structure is a combination of two cubic phases (FCC1 and FCC2). Large particles remained in the HCP phase and had an admixture of the FCC1 phase, the amount of which decreased as the particle sizes increased; magnetic transition took place at T _c = 293 K. The admixture of O₂ did not alter the structure but decreased the magnetization σ and magnetic permeability μ. An orientation transition in polycrystalline gadolinium initiated by the magnetic field H was proved in an experiment. The orientation transition in Gd particles smaller than 63 nm, the magnetic structure of which is close to the single-domain structure, occurred near T _c without the influence of H.     

Magnetic and superconducting properties of FeAs-based high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> superconductors with Gd

We report on successful synthesis under high pressure of a series of polycrystalline GdFeAsO_{1 − x} F _x high-T _c superconductors with different oxygen deficiency x = 0.12−0.16 and also with no fluorine. We have found that the high-pressure synthesis technique is crucial for obtaining the single-phase superconducting materials: by sythesizing the same compounds with no pressure in ampoules, we obtained non-superconducting materials with an admixture of incidental phases. Critical temperature for all the materials was in the range 40 to 53 K. The temperature derivative of the critical field dH _c2/dT is remarkably high, indicating potentially high value of the second critical field H _c2 ∼ 130 T.     

Pseudogap behavior of nuclear spin relaxation in high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript> superconductors in terms of phase separation

We analyze anew experiments on the NMR in cuprates and find an important information on their phase separation and its strip character hidden in the dependence of 1/⁶³T₁ on the degree of doping. In a broad class of materials, 1/⁶³T₁ is the sum of two terms: the temperature-independent one attributed to “ incommensurate” strips that occur at external doping and a “universal” temperature-dependent term ascribed to moving metallic and antiferromagnetic subphases. We argue that the frustrated first-order phase transition in a broad temperature interval bears a dynamical character.     

Effect of the nanoscale structural inhomogeneity on the magnetic and superconducting characteristics of fine-grained YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis></Subscript> HTSCs

It has been experimentally established that the nanoscale structural inhomogeneity, inherent in fine-grained (0.4 ≤ 〈D〉 ≤ 2μm) high-temperature superconductors YBa₂Cu₃O _y (y ≈ 6.92, T _C ≈ 92 K) and manifesting itself in partial interplane redistribution of oxygen [1, 2], changes the density of states near the Fermi level and decreases the coherence length and density of superconducting carriers in CuO₂ planes. The revealed relationship between the changes in these characteristics with respect to their equilibrium values corresponds to the relationship that might occur for conventional superconductors.     

Irradiation-induced suppression of the critical temperature in high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript> superconductors: Pair breaking versus phase fluctuations

Experiments on the irradiation-induced suppression of the critical temperature in high-T _c superconductors are analyzed within the mean-field Abrikosov-Gor’kov-like approach. It is shown that the experimental data for YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ single crystals can be quantitatively explained by the pair-breaking effects under the assumption of the combined effect of potential and spin-flip scattering on the critical temperature and with an accounting for a nonpure d-wave superconducting order parameter.     

Topological electronic transition in cuprate high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> superconductors occurring before the superconducting transition

It is shown for the first time that the superconducting transition in optimally doped Y- and Bi-based high-T _c superconductors is preceded by the Lifshitz topological transition in their electron systems. A intense hole-electron conversion occurring in the system of charge carriers at T = T _c + (~10 K) is a clear cut signature of such transition.     

Energy and system dependence of high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis></Subscript> triggered two-particle near-side correlations

Previous studies have indicated that the near-side peak of high-p _T triggered correlations can be decomposed into two parts, the Jet and the Ridge. We present data on the yield per trigger of the Jet and the Ridge from d+Au, Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at GeV and 200 GeV and compare data on the Jet to PYTHIA 8.1 simulations for p+p. PYTHIA describes the Jet component up to a scaling factor, meaning that PYTHIA can provide a better understanding of the Ridge by giving insight into the effects of the kinematic cuts. We present collision energy and system dependence of the Ridge yield, which should help distinguish models for the production mechanism of the Ridge.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">z</Emphasis>-Scaling and high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis></Subscript> particle production in hadron-hadron and hadron-nucleus collisions at high energies

The general features of particle production in hadron-hadron and hadron-nucleus collisions at high energy and transverse momentum using the concept of z-scaling are reviewed. z-Presentation of experimental data on the inclusive cross sections obtained at ISR, SPS, and Tevatron is presented and its properties are discussed. It is argued that the properties reflect the fundamental symmetries such as self-similarity, locality, and fractality. z-Scaling is used to predict particle yields in hadron-hadron and hadron-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. The violation of z-scaling is considered as a signature of new physics phenomena.     

Five-fold way to new high <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript> superconductors

Discovery of high T _c superconductivity in La_2?x Ba _x CuO₄ by Bednorz and Muller in 1986 was a breakthrough in the 75-year long search for new superconductors. Since then new high T _c superconductors, not involving copper, have also been discovered. Superconductivity in cuprates also inspired resonating valence bond (RVB) mechanism of superconductivity. In turn, RVB theory provided a new hope for finding new superconductors through a novel electronic mechanism. This article first reviews an electron correlation-based RVB mechanism and our own application of these ideas to some new noncuprate superconducting families. In the process we abstract, using available phenomenology and RVB theory, that there are five directions to search for new high T _c superconductors. We call them five-fold way. As the paths are reasonably exclusive and well-defined, they provide more guided opportunities, than before, for discovering new superconductors. The five-fold ways are (i) copper route, (ii) pressure route, (iii) diamond route, (iv) graphene route and (v) double RVB route. Copper route is the doped spin-½ Mott insulator route. In this route one synthesizes new spin-½ Mott insulators and dopes them chemically. In pressure route, doping is not external, but internal, a (chemical or external) pressure-induced self-doping suggested by organic ET-salts. In the diamond route we are inspired by superconductivity in boron-doped diamond and our theory. Here one creates impurity band Mott insulators in a band insulator template that enables superconductivity. Graphene route follows from our recent suggestion of superconductivity in doped graphene, a two-dimensional broadband metal with moderate electron correlations, compared to cuprates. Double RVB route follows from our recent theory of doped spin-1 Mott insulator for superconductivity in iron pnictide family.     

Summary on high <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis></Subscript> probes

Results on high-p _T probes shown at the Hard Probes 2008 Conference are summarized, with an appreciation of the improvements in precision of the measurements and experimental techniques since the beginning of RHIC operation. Particular attention is given to the latest measurements of the nuclear modification factor of identified particles, photon-hadron correlation measurements, and full jet reconstruction.     

Generation of complete events containing very high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis><Subscript>T</Subscript> jets

The study of very high transverse-momentum jets will be an important issue at the LHC, in particular since the corresponding cross sections will be considerably larger than at RHIC energies. Jets are expected to provide information on QGP formation, due to the energy loss of fast partons in the medium. Jet cross sections can in principle be compared to simple pQCD calculations, based on the hypothesis of factorization. But often it is useful or even necessary to not only compute the production rate of the very high-p _T jets, but in addition the “rest of the event”. The proposed talk is based on recent work, where we try to construct an event generator—fully compatible with pQCD—which allows one to compute complete events, consisting of high-p _T jets plus all the other low p _T particles produced at the same time. Whereas in “generators of inclusive spectra” like Pythia one may easily trigger on high-p _T phenomena, this is not so obvious for “generators of physical events”, where in principle one has to generate a very large number of events in order to finally obtain rare events (like those with a very high-p _T jet). We shall discuss how we overcome these difficulties in the framework of the EPOS model.     

Anion height dependence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript> and the density of states in iron-based superconductors

Systematic ab initio LDA calculations were performed for all the typical representatives of recently discovered class of iron-based high-temperature superconductors: REOFe(As,P) (RE = La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Tb), Ba₂Fe₂As, (Sr,Ca)FFeAs, Sr₄Sc₂O₆Fe₂P₂, LiFeAs and Fe(Se,Te). Non-monotonic behavior of total density of states at the Fermi level is observed as a function of anion height relative to Fe layer with maximum at about Δz _a ～ 1.37 Å, attributed to changing Fe-As (P, Se, Te) hybridization. This leads to a similar dependence of superconducting transition temperature T _c as observed in the experiments. The fit of this dependence to elementary BCS theory produces semiquantitative agreement with experimental data for T _c for the whole class of iron-based superconductors. The similar fit to Allen-Dynes formula underestimates T _c in the vicinity of the maximum, signifying the possible importance of non-phonon pairing in this region. These results unambiguously demonstrate that the main effect of T _c variation between different types of iron-based superconductors is due to the corresponding variation of the density of states at the Fermi level.     

Suppression of hole doping in fine-grained HTSC YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis></Subscript> due to structural disordering

It was proven experimentally that the structural disordering inherent to fine-grained high-temper- ature YBa₂Cu₃O _y superconductors (with an average grain size of 〈D〉 < 2 μm) leads to a reduction of the level of hole doping and the creation of features inherent to the pseudogap state (antiferromagnetic correlations and the lowered density of states at the Fermi level) even in samples with optimum oxygen content y ≈ 6.92.     

Magnetic susceptibility of fine crystalline high-temperature YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>6.93</Subscript> superconductors. The role of nanoscale structural disordering

Static magnetic susceptibility χ(T) in the normal state (T_c ≤ T ≤ 400 K) and specific heat C(T) near temperature T_c of the transition to the superconducting state are experimentally studied for a series of fine crystalline samples of high-temperature YBa₂Cu₃O_y superconductor, having y and T_c close to optimal but differing in the degree of nanoscale structural disordering. It is shown that under the influence of structural disordering, there is enhancement of anomalous pseudogap behavior of the studied characteristics and a significant increase in the width of the pseudogap.