Is electromagnetic gauge invariance spontaneously violated in superconductors?

We aim to give a pedagogical introduction to those elementary aspects of superconductivity which are not treated in the classic textbooks. In particular, we emphasize that global U (1) phase rotation symmetry, and not gauge symmetry, is spontaneously violated, and show that the BCS wave function is, contrary to claims in the literature, fully gauge invariant. We discuss the nature of the order parameter, the physical origin of the many degenerate states, and the relation between formulations of superconductivity with fixed particle numbers vs. well-defined phases. We motivate and to some extend derive the effective field theory at low temperatures, explore symmetries and conservation laws, and justify the classical nature of the theory. Most importantly, we show that the entire phenomenology of superconductivity essentially follows from the single assumption of a charged order parameter field. This phenomenology includes Anderson’s characteristic equations of superfluidity, electric and magnetic screening, the Bernoulli Hall effect, the balance of the Lorentz force, as well as the quantum effects, in which Planck’s constant manifests itself through the compactness of the U (1) phase field. The latter effects include flux quantization, phase slippage, and the Josephson effect.     

Comments on employing the Riesz-Feller derivative in the Schrödinger equation

In this paper, we deal with a fractional Schrödinger equation that contains the quantum Riesz-Feller derivative instead of the Laplace operator in the case of a particle moving in a potential field. In particular, this equation is solved for a free particle in terms of the Fox H-function. On the other hand, we show that from physical viewpoint, the fractional Schrödinger equation with the quantum Riesz-Feller derivative of order α, 0 < α ≤ 2 and skewness θ makes sense only if it reduces to the Laplace operator (α = 2) or to the quantum Riesz fractional derivative (θ = 0). The reason is that the quantum Riesz-Feller derivative is a Hermitian operator and possesses real eigenvalues only when α = 2 or θ = 0. We then focus on the time-independent one-dimensional fractional Schrödinger equation with the quantum Riesz derivative in the case of a particle moving in an infinite potential well. In particular, we show that the explicit formulas for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the time-independent fractional Schrödinger equation that some authors recently claimed to receive cannot be valid. The problem to find right formulas is still open.     

Semiclassical and quantum motions on the non-commutative plane

We study the canonical and the coherent state quantizations of a particle moving in a magnetic field on the non-commutative plane. Using a θ-modified action, we perform the canonical quantization and analyze the gauge dependence of the theory. We compare coherent states quantizations obtained through Malkin-Man'ko states and circular squeezed states. The relation between these states and the “classical” trajectories is investigated, and we present numerical explorations of some semiclassical quantities.     

Splitting of Landau levels in the presence of external potentials

We study the quantum mechanical problem of a charged particle moving in a constant magnetic field and an azimuthally symmetric external potential. We show that the lowest Landau level splits in a definite way if the external potential is a monotone function of the radial distance in the plane orthogonal to the magnetic field. For two-dimensional systems, we give sufficient conditions such that all Landau levels are completely ordered. For the lowest Landau level, this result holds for nonhomogeneous magnetic fields as long as they are cylindrically symmetric.Supported by the Federal Ministry of Science and Research, Austria. Part of Project P8916-PHY of the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftliche Forschung in Österreich.     

Supersymmetry-Based Approach to Quantum Particle Dynamics on a Curved Surface with Non-zero Magnetic Field

We present the N=2 supersymmetric formulation for the classical and quantum dynamics of a nonrelativistic charged particle on a curved surface in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. For a particle moving on a constant-curvature surface in a constant magnetic field, our Hamiltonian possesses the shape-invariance property in addition. On the surface of a sphere and also on the hyperbolic plane, we exploit the supersymmetry and shape-invariance properties to obtain complete solutions to the corresponding quantum mechanical problems.     

Determination of anisotropy constants of protein encapsulated iron oxide nanoparticles by electron magnetic resonance

Angle-dependent electron magnetic resonance was performed on 4.9, 8.0, and 19 nm iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated within protein capsids and suspended in water. Measurements were taken at liquid nitrogen temperature after cooling in a 1 T field to partially align the particles. The angle dependence of the shifts in the resonance field for the iron oxide nanoparticles (synthesized within Listeria-Dps, horse spleen ferritin, and cowpea chlorotic mottle virus) all show evidence of a uniaxial anisotropy. Using a Boltzmann distribution for the particles’ easy-axis direction, we are able to use the resonance field shifts to extract a value for the anisotropy energy, showing that the anisotropy energy density increases with decreasing particle size. This suggests that surface anisotropy plays a significant role in magnetic nanoparticles of this size.     

A novel “magnetic” field and its dual non-commutative phase space

In this Letter we have studied a new form of non-commutative (NC) phase space with an operatorial form of noncommutativity. A point particle in this space feels the effect of an interaction with an “internal  ” magnetic field, that is singular at a specific position θ⁻¹${\theta }^{\mathrm{-1}}$. By “internal” we mean that the effective magnetic fields depends essentially on the particle properties and modifies the symplectic structure. Here θ is the NC parameter and induces the coupling between the particle and the “internal” magnetic field. The magnetic moment of the particle is computed. Interaction with an external physical magnetic field reveals interesting features induced by the inherent fuzziness of the NC phase space: introduction of non-trivial structures into the charge and mass of the particle and possibility of the particle dynamics collapsing to a Hall type of motion. The dynamics is studied both from Lagrangian and symplectic (Hamiltonian) points of view. The canonical (Darboux) variables are also identified. We briefly comment, that the model presented here, can play interesting role in the context of (recently observed) real space Berry curvature in material systems.     

Discrete accidental symmetry for a particle in a constant magnetic field on a torus

A classical particle in a constant magnetic field undergoes cyclotron motion on a circular orbit. At the quantum level, the fact that all classical orbits are closed gives rise to degeneracies in the spectrum. It is well-known that the spectrum of a charged particle in a constant magnetic field consists of infinitely degenerate Landau levels. Just as for the 1/r and r² potentials, one thus expects some hidden accidental symmetry, in this case with infinite-dimensional representations. Indeed, the position of the center of the cyclotron circle plays the role of a Runge-Lenz vector. After identifying the corresponding accidental symmetry algebra, we re-analyze the system in a finite periodic volume. Interestingly, similar to the quantum mechanical breaking of CP invariance due to the θ-vacuum angle in non-Abelian gauge theories, quantum effects due to two self-adjoint extension parameters θ_x and θ_y explicitly break the continuous translation invariance of the classical theory. This reduces the symmetry to a discrete magnetic translation group and leads to finite degeneracy. Similar to a particle moving on a cone, a particle in a constant magnetic field shows a very peculiar realization of accidental symmetry in quantum mechanics.     

Effective Field Theories for Disordered Systems from a Generalized Phase Formulation

We consider a spinless particle moving in a d-dimensional box, subject to periodic boundary conditions, and in the presence of a random potential. Introducing the logarithm of the wave function transforms the time-independent Schrödinger equation into a stochastic differential equation with the random potential acting as the source. Using this as our starting point we write functional integral representations for the disorder averaged density of states, the two point correlator of the absolute value of the wave function, and inverse participation ratios. We also show how a deterministic or random magnetic field can be included in the formalism.     

The a.c. susceptibility third harmonic component of NdO1−0.14F0.14FeAs: A flux dynamic magnetic analysis

In this contribution we present the analysis of the third harmonic susceptibility data of the new superconductor NdFeAs_1−0.14F_0.14. ‘Cole-Cole’ polar plots respect to the magnetic frequency of the exciting field are presented and discussed. Data show that NdFeAs_1−0.14F_0.14 exhibit a ‘bulk pinning’ with a 3D flux dynamic character. A comparison of the responses of high T_c materials and an evaluation of theoretical critical states is also presented.     

Landau levels in deformed bilayer graphene at low magnetic fields

We review the effect of uniaxial strain on the low-energy electronic dispersion and Landau level structure of bilayer graphene. Based on the tight-binding approach, we derive a strain-induced term in the low-energy Hamiltonian and show how strain affects the low-energy electronic band structure. Depending on the magnitude and direction of applied strain, we identify three regimes of qualitatively different electronic dispersions. We also show that in a weak magnetic field, sufficient strain results in the filling factor ν=±4 being the most stable in the quantum Hall effect measurement, instead of ν=±8 in unperturbed bilayer at a weak magnetic field. To mention, in one of the strain regimes, the activation gap at ν=±4 is, down to very low fields, weakly dependent on the strength of the magnetic field.     

On long-wave sound scattering by a Rankine vortex: Non-resonant and resonant cases

The well-known two-dimensional problem of sound scattering by a Rankine vortex at small Mach number M is considered. Despite its long history, the solutions obtained by many authors still are not free from serious objections. The common approach to the problem consists in the transformation of governing equations to the d’Alembert equation with right-hand part. It was recently shown [I.V. Belyaev, V.F. Kopiev, On the problem formulation of sound scattering by cylindrical vortex, Acoustical Physics 54(5) (2008) 603-614] that due to the slow decay of the mean velocity field at infinity the convective equation with nonuniform coefficients instead of the d’Alembert equation should be considered, and the incident wave should be excited by a point source placed at a large but finite distance from the vortex instead of specifying an incident plane wave (which is not a solution of the governing equations).Here we use the new formulation of Belyaev and Kopiev to obtain the correct solution for the problem of non-resonant sound scattering, to second order in Mach number M. The partial harmonic expansion approach and the method of matched asymptotic expansions are employed. The scattered field in the region far outside the vortex is determined as the solution of the convective wave equation, and van Dyke's matching principle is used to match the fields inside and outside the vortical region. Finally, resonant scattering is also considered; an O(M²) result is found that unifies earlier solutions in the literature. These problems are considered for the first time.     

Phase transitions in one-dimensional mechanical models of thermodynamics and the physics of the Hall bar system

We study one-dimensional mechanical systems by using a thermodynamic approach. In this framework we discuss the appearance of distinct thermodynamic phases corresponding to different types of trajectories for a charge carrier moving in a Hall bar, i.e. a channel patterned in a two-dimensional electron gas subject to a transverse magnetic field. In this device different kinds of orbits are allowed, cyclotron orbits, skipping orbits (when the particle collides with one channel wall), and traversing trajectories (when the particle collides with both channel walls). The passage from one type of orbits to the other can be characterized as a phase transition; so, in this system two different phase transitions can be identified.     

Magnetic field dependence of asymmetry in the magnetization reversal of ultrathin Co films and Co/Pt multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy

We studied the magnetization reversal in ultrathin [Co/Pt]_n films (n=1, 2, and 4) using magneto-optical Kerr microscopy. These materials demonstrate unusual asymmetries in the activity of nucleation centers and domain wall motion. It was found that application of very high holding magnetic field prior to magnetization reversal, exceeding some critical value much larger than the apparent saturation field, suppresses the subsequent ‘asymmetric’ nucleation centers, activity. We revealed that the ‘asymmetric’ nucleation centers become active again after subsequent reversal cycles coming from a smaller holding field and studied how the asymmetry returns with the decrease of applied holding field. It was found that in low-coercivity ultrathin Co films, the asymmetry in domain wall velocity decreased sharply with the applied field increase and disappeared when the reversal field is greater than μ₀H=1.5 mT.     

Physical meaning for Mandelbrot and Julia sets

We consider the dynamics of a kicked charged particle moving in a double-well potential and a time-dependent magnetic field. In certain cases the stroboscopic dynamics reduces to the complex logistic map, thus providing physical meaning for the Mandelbrot set. In other cases we obtain iterated function systems consisting of the inverse complex logistic map, thus providing physical meaning for Julia sets. Our approach can be generalized to complex mappings with a maximum of order q.     

Theory of fluctuations in a network of parallel superconducting wires

We show how the partition function of a network of parallel superconducting wires weakly coupled together by the proximity effect, subjected to a vector potential along the wires, can be mapped onto N-distinguishable two dimensional quantum-mechanics problem with a perpendicular imaginary magnetic field. Then, we show, using a mean field approximation, that, for a given coupling, there is a critical temperature for onset of inter-wire phase coherence. The transition temperature T_c is plotted on both cases for non-magnetic and a magnetic field perpendicular to the wires.     

The “Forgotten” Pseudomomenta and Gauge Changes in Generalized Landau Level Problems: Spatially Nonuniform Magnetic and Temporally Varying Electric Fields

By perceiving gauge invariance as an analytical tool in order to get insight into the states of the “generalized Landau problem” (a charged quantum particle moving inside a magnetic, and possibly electric field), and motivated by an early article that correctly warns against a naive use of gauge transformation procedures in the usual Landau problem (i.e. with the magnetic field being static and uniform), we first show how to bypass the complications pointed out in that article by solving the problem in full generality through gauge transformation techniques in a more appropriate manner. Our solution provides in simple and closed analytical forms all Landau Level-wavefunctions without the need to specify a particular vector potential. This we do by proper handling of the so-called pseudomomentum \(\vec {{K}}\) (or of a quantity that we term pseudo-angular momentum L _z ), a method that is crucially different from the old warning argument, but also from standard treatments in textbooks and in research literature (where the usual Landau-wavefunctions are employed - labeled with canonical momenta quantum numbers). Most importantly, we go further by showing that a similar procedure can be followed in the more difficult case of spatially-nonuniform magnetic fields: in such case we define \(\vec {{K}}\) and L _z as plausible generalizations of the previous ordinary case, namely as appropriate line integrals of the inhomogeneous magnetic field – our method providing closed analytical expressions for all stationary state wavefunctions in an easy manner and in a broad set of geometries and gauges. It can thus be viewed as complementary to the few existing works on inhomogeneous magnetic fields, that have so far mostly focused on determining the energy eigenvalues rather than the corresponding eigenkets (on which they have claimed that, even in the simplest cases, it is not possible to obtain in closed form the associated wavefunctions). The analytical forms derived here for these wavefunctions enable us to also provide explicit Berry’s phase calculations and a quick study of their connection to probability currents and to some recent interesting issues in elementary Quantum Mechanics and Condensed Matter Physics. As an added feature, we also show how the possible presence of an additional electric field can be treated through a further generalization of pseudomomenta and their proper handling.     

Phase diagram of uniaxial antiferromagnetic particles: Field perpendicular to the easy axis

We consider a spherical uniaxial antiferromagnetic particle in the presence of an external magnetic field perpendicular to its easy axis. The model is described by a classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian including a single-ion uniaxial anisotropy, where the magnetic moments of the particle are represented by continuous spin vectors. We employ mean-field calculations and Monte Carlo simulations to determine the phase diagram of the system. The phase diagram in the plane field versus temperature is obtained for particles with radii ranging from three up to twelve spacing lattice units. We have seen that a particle with more than nine shells behaves as a true thermodynamic system. We find the explicit dependence of the zero temperature critical field and the Néel temperature on the diameter of the particle. At low temperatures, we have also shown that, for particles with three or more shells, the critical field follows a T² law, which is in agreement with the predictions of the spin-wave theory, when the field is perpendicular to the easy axis.     

Combinatorial and Topological Analysis of the Ising Chain in a Field

We present an alternative solution of the Ising chain in a field under free and periodic boundary conditions, in the microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensembles, from a unified combinatorial and topological perspective. In particular, the computation of the per-site entropy as a function of the energy unveils a residual value for critical values of the magnetic field, a phenomenon for which we provide a topological interpretation and a connection with the Fibonacci sequence. We also show that, in the thermodynamic limit, the per-site microcanonical entropy is equal to the logarithm of the per-site Euler characteristic. The canonical and grand canonical partition functions are identified as combinatorial generating functions of the microcanonical problem, which allows us to evaluate them. A detailed analysis of the magnetic field-dependent thermodynamics, including positive and negative temperatures, reveals interesting features. Finally, we emphasize that our combinatorial approach to the canonical ensemble allows exact computation of the thermally averaged value <????> of the Euler characteristic associated with the spin configurations of the chain, which is discontinuous at the critical fields, and whose thermal behavior is expected to determine the phase transition of the model. Indeed, our results show that the conjecture <????>?(T _C)?=?0, where T _C is the critical temperature, is valid for the Ising chain.