The case for universality of the phase diagram of the Fabre and Bechgaard salts

We report the observation of superconductivity in the spin-Peierls Fabre salt (TMTTF)₂PF₆ from pressure dependent electrical transport measurements above a threshold of 4.35 GPa. The data complete the sequence of ground states of this compound in the temperature and pressure plane adducing an empirical basis to the universal character of the phase diagram of the Fabre salts and their selenide analogues, the Bechgaard salts. The structure of the phase diagram at the approach of the crossover between spin-density wave and superconducting states is compared with the results of scaling theory of the interplay between both electronic instabilities under pressure. The comparison supports the view that magnetism and superconductivity in these compounds have a common electronic origin. Received 10 January 2001     

The DLCA-RLCA transition arising in 2D-aggregation: simulations and mean field theory

A sticking probability model based on the average cluster lifetime is employed for deducing a kernel capable to describe the kinetics of computer simulated irreversible aggregation processes in two dimensions. The deduced kernel describes not only the time evolution of the cluster size distribution for diffusion limited aggregation (DLCA) and reaction limited aggregation (RLCA) but also for the entire transition region between both regimes. The model predicts a crossover to diffusion limited cluster aggregation for all sticking probabilities at long aggregation times. The time needed for reaching the DLCA limit increases for decreasing sticking probability. Received 16 April 2001 and Received in final form 24 May 2001     

Renormalized tricritical behaviour for wetting transitions

In this paper we study tricritical wetting behaviour in three dimensions. In particular we concentrate on systems with short-ranged forces and apply linear functional renormalization group techniques to elucidate the effect of fluctuations upon tricriticality. In comparison with studies of critical wetting we identify an additional fluctuation regime which is relevant for values of the capillary parameter between 2/9 and 1/2. We demonstrate that this regime essentially provides a crossover from mean-field like behaviour, in which tricritical exponents are always distinct from their critical counterparts, from intermediate- and strong-fluctuation behaviour where the critical exponents for tricritical and critical wetting are found to always coincide. We conclude by discussing briefly the possible relevance of these results for experimental studies of wetting. Received 4 January 2001 and Received in final form 11 May 2001     

Self-organized branching process for a one-dimensional rice-pile model

A self-organized branching process is introduced to describe one-dimensional rice-pile model with stochastic topplings. Although the branching processes are generally expected to describe well high-dimensional systems, our modification highlights some of the peculiarities present in one dimension. We find analytically that the crossover behavior from the trivial one-dimensional BTW behaviour to self-organized criticality is characterised by a power-law distribution of avalanches. The finite-size effects, which are crucial to the crossover, are calculated. Received 21 June 2001 and Received in final form 14 November 2001     

Application of the Dyson boson expansion method to the treatment of the pairing force

The treatment of the separable pairing interaction in the context of the BRST formalism and in the Dyson boson expansion method is discussed. The approach is based on the use of the vacuum expectation value of the boson number operator to define a suitable mean field. Received: 10 April 2000 / Accepted: 6 July 2001     

Relativistic many-body theory with radioactive ion beams: Surface pion condensation

We critically review the present relativistic mean-field theory from the viewpoint of missing pions. We introduce the interesting experimental data on pionic states taken at RCNP. These data seem to suggest the occurrence of pion condensation in the nuclear surface. Qualitative discussion is made on the consequence of surface pion condensation on Gamow-Teller transitions and spin response functions and others. The radioactive ion beams are the tools of studying the unstable nuclei, which have extended nuclear surfaces. We shall start with radioactive ion beams the nuclear surface science, which includes the surface pion condensation as the important ingredient in addition to spin-orbit splitting and surface pairing. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Magnetic scattering effects on magnetoresistance in a quasi-two-dimensional disordered electron system

Magnetic-impurity-scattering effects in a quasi-2D disordered electron system have been investigated theoretically with the diagrammatic techniques in perturbation theory. The analytical expressions for magnetoconductivities due to weak-localization effects have been obtained as functions of elastic, inelastic and magnetic scattering times. The relevant dimensional crossover behavior from 3D to 2D with decreasing the interlayer coupling has been discussed, and the condition for the crossover has been obtained. Received 20 March 2001 and Received in final form 28 June 2001     

Wilson's renormalization group applied to 2D lattice electrons in the presence of van Hove singularities

The weak coupling instabilities of a two dimensional Fermi system are investigated for the case of a square lattice using a Wilson renormalization group scheme to one loop order. We focus on a situation where the Fermi surface passes through two saddle points of the single particle dispersion. In the case of perfect nesting, the dominant instability is a spin density wave but d-wave superconductivity as well as charge or spin flux phases are also obtained in certain regions in the space of coupling parameters. The low energy regime in the vicinity of these instabilities can be studied analytically. Although saddle points play a major role (through their large contribution to the single particle density of states), the presence of low energy excitations along the Fermi surface rather than at isolated points is crucial and leads to an asymptotic decoupling of the various instabilities. This suggests a more mean-field like picture of these instabilities, than the one recently established by numerical studies using discretized Fermi surfaces. Received 11 April 2001 and Received in final form 6 September 2001     

Dimensional crossover of quantum interference effects in thin quasicrystalline Al-Cu-Fe films

We present a study of the electrical transport properties of thin i-Al-Cu-Fe films. We observe clear signatures of a dimensional crossover in the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the conductivity for films thinner that ≃ 10³?. In particular for the thinnest sample the magnetoconductivity is strongly anisotropic, as is expected for the weak localisation contribution in two dimensions. These experiments show direct qualitative manifestations of the disorder induced quantum interference effects occurring in quasicrystals. Estimates of the electronic microscopic parameters are in accordance with those obtained in bulk samples. Their values and significance are discussed. Received 16 February 2001 and Received in final form 20 June 2001     

( Sr / Ca ) 14 Cu 24 O 41 spin ladders studied by NMR under pressure

⁶³Cu-NMR measurements have been performed on two-leg hole-doped spin ladders Sr_14-xCa_xCu₂₄O₄₁ single crystals 0 ? x ? 12 at several pressures up to the pressure domain where the stabilization of a superconducting ground state can be achieved. The data reveal a marked decrease of the spin gap derived from Knight shift measurements upon Ca substitution and also under pressure and confirm the onset of low lying spin excitations around P _c as previously reported. The spin gap in Sr ₂ Ca ₁₂ Cu ₂₄ O ₄₁ is strongly reduced above 20 kbar. However, the data of an experiment performed at P = 36 kbar where superconductivity has been detected at 6.7 K by an inductive technique have shown that a significant amount of spin excitations remains gapped at 80 K when superconductivity sets in. The standard relaxation model with two and three-magnon modes explains fairly well the activated relaxation data in the intermediate temperature regime corresponding to gapped spin excitations using the spin gap data derived from Knight shift experiments. The data of Gaussian relaxation rates of heavily doped samples support the limitation of the coherence length at low temperature by the average distance between doped holes. We discuss the interplay between superconductivity and the spin gap and suggest that these new results support the exciting prospect of superconductivity induced by the interladder tunneling of preformed pairs as long as the pressure remains lower than the pressure corresponding to the maximum of the superconducting critical temperature. Received 8 March 2001 and Received in final form 27 July 2001     

Combinatorial nuclear level densities based on the Gogny nucleon-nucleon effective interaction

A combinatorial method to calculate total level densities from an arbitrary single-particle level scheme is presented. Parity, angular momentum, pairing correlations as well as collective enhancements are explicitly treated. This method is employed using single-particle level schemes obtained from Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations based on the Gogny effective interaction. Sixty five even-even nuclei with masses 26 ?A? 250 are considered. Rather good agreements are obtained when comparing our predictions with experimental data for energies of the order of the neutron binding energies and for low excitation energies where discrete levels are experimentally observed. Received: 13 February 2001 / Accepted: 24 September 2001     

Sound modes in composite incommensurate crystals

We propose a simple phenomenological model describing composite crystals, constructed from two parallel sets of periodic inter-penetrating chains. In the harmonic approximation and neglecting thermal fluctuations we find the eigenmodes of the system. It is shown that at high frequencies there are two longitudinal sound modes with standard attenuation, while in the low frequency region there is one propagating sound mode and an over-damped phase mode. The crossover between these two regions is analyzed numerically and the dynamical structure factor is calculated. It is shown that the qualitative features of the experimentally observed spectra can be consistently described by our model. Received 28 November 2001 and Received in final form 23 January 2002     

Shell effects and pairing correlations in fission investigated with radioactive beams

The secondary-beam facility at GSI allows to produce a large variety of exotic nuclei at relativistic energies. This technique offers a unique oportunity to investigate systematically fission in inverse kinematics. In the present experiment, the fission properties of more than 70 different actinides and preactinides were investigated at low excitation energy. The elemental yields and kinetic energies of the fission residues present new signatures of shell structure and pairing correlations. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Nature of correlations in the atomic limit of the boson fermion model

Using the equation of motion technique for Green's functions we derive the exact solution of the boson fermion model in the atomic limit. Both (fermion and boson) subsystems are characterised by the effective three level excitation spectra. We compute the spectral weights of these states and analyse them in detail with respect to all possible parameters. Although in the atomic limit there is no true phase transition, we notice that upon decreasing temperature some pairing correlations start to appear. Their intensity is found to be proportional to the depleted amount of the fermion nonbonding state. We notice that pairing correlations behave in a fashion observed for the optimally doped and underdoped high T_c superconductors. We try to identify which parameter of the boson fermion model can possibly correspond to the actual doping level. This study clarifies the origin of pairing correlations within the boson fermion model and may elucidate how to apply it for interpretation of experimental data. Received 31 January 2003 / Received in final form 18 March 2003 Published online 23 May 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: doman@kft.umcs.lublin.pl     

GCM analysis of the collective properties of lead isotopes with exact projection on particle numbers

We present a microscopic analysis of the collective behaviour of the lead isotopes in the vicinity of ²⁰⁸Pb. In this study, we rely on a coherent approach based on the Generator Coordinate Method (GCM) including exact projection on N and Z numbers within a collective space generated by means of the constrained Hartree-Fock BCS method. With the same Hamiltonian used in HF + BCS calculations, we have performed a comprehensive study including monopole, quadrupole and octupole excitations as well as pairing vibrations. We find that, for the considered nuclei, the collective modes which modify the most the conclusions drawn from the mean-field theory are the octupole and pairing vibrations. Received: 31 May 2001 / Accepted: 23 August 2001     

Integrated quantum key distribution system using single sideband detection

We report a new quantum cryptographic system involving single sideband detection and allowing an implementation of the BB84 protocol. The transmitted bits are reliably coded by the phase of a high frequency modulating signal. The principle of operation is described in terms of both classical and quantum optics. The method has been demonstrated experimentally at 1 550 nm using compact and conventional device technology. Single photon interference has been obtained with a fringe visibility greater than 98%, indicating that the system can be used in view of quantum key distribution potentially beyond 50-km-long standard single-mode fiber. Received 13 July 2001 and Received in final form 30 November 2001     

Thermodynamics and optical conductivity of unconventional spin density waves

We consider the possibility of formation of an unconventional spin density wave (USDW) in quasi-one-dimensional electronic systems. In analogy with unconventional superconductivity, we develop a mean field theory of SDW allowing for the momentum dependent gap Δ() on the Fermi surface. Conditions for the appearance of such a low temperature phase are investigated. The excitation spectrum and basic thermodynamic properties of the model are found to be very similar to those of d-wave superconductors in spite of the different topology of their Fermi surfaces. Several correlation functions are calculated, and the frequency dependent conductivity is evaluated for various gap functions. The latter is found to reflect the maximum gap value, however with no sharp onset for absorbtion. Received 19 February 2001     

Differences between pairing and zero-range effective interactions for nuclear binding energies

In this paper, we show that, although the spectroscopic properties of the monopole pairing force and a zero-range delta-function interaction are very similar, their saturation properties are quite different. In particular, the predictions for binding energies when filling up a major shell are radically different past mid-shell. This has significant consequences for understanding the masses and binding energies of long isotopic chains of nuclei that will be accessible with advanced exotic beam facilities. Received: 29 November 2001 / Accepted: 13 February 2002     

Electron phonon interactions and superconductivity in α ′ -TTF[Pd(dmit)2]2

A simple model is developed to understand superconductivity in α ^′ -TTF[Pd(dmit)₂]₂. We include electron-intra molecular and intermolecular phonon interactions as the mechanism of superconductivity. Intramolecular vibrations included are the eight symmetric A_g modes of the Pd(dmit)₂ molecule. Intermolecular vibrations included are the longitudinal acoustic and transverse acoustic (LA and TA) modes of the Pd(dmit)₂ column. All the electron-phonon coupling constants are calculated from first principles. We find that largest el-intramolecular vibration coupling is to the A_g mode with the highest frequency (1449 cm^-1). The el-intermolecular coupling to the LA mode is found to be larger than the total el-intramolecular couplings. We also find el-(TA)phonon coupling to be at least an order of magnitude smaller than el-(LA)phonon coupling. Estimate of superconducting transition temperature is comparable to experimental result. We also provide a detailed discussion, employing the results of recent numerical calculations on two-chain Hubbard model and the specific material parameters, on the relative importance of el-ph and Coulomb-origin mechanisms of superconductivity in α ^′ -TTF[Pd(dmit)₂]₂ and TTF[Ni(dmit) ₂ ] ₂ . Received 29 March 2001 and Received in final form 7 August 2001     

Ginzburg-Landau theory and effects of pressure on a two-band superconductor: application to MgB <Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis>

We present a model of pressure effects of a two-band superconductor based on a Ginzburg-Landau free energy with two order parameters. The parameters of the theory are pressure as well as temperature dependent. New pressure effects emerge as a result of the competition between the two bands. The theory then is applied to MgB₂. We identify two possible scenaria regarding the fate of the two σ subbands under pressure, depending on whether or not both subbands are above the Fermi energy at ambient pressure. The splitting of the two subbands is probably caused by the E_2g distortion. If only one subband is above the Fermi energy at ambient pressure (scenario I), application of pressure diminishes the splitting and it is possible that the lower subband participates in the superconductivity. The corresponding crossover pressure and Gr neisen parameter are estimated. In the second scenario both bands start above the Fermi energy and they move below it, either by pressure or via the substitution of Mg by Al. In both scenaria, the possibility of electronical topological transition is emphasized. Experimental signatures of both scenaria are presented and existing experiments are discussed in the light of the different physical pictures. Received 3 September 2002 / Received in final form 16 December 2002 Published online 14 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: joseph.betouras@ua.ac.be RID="b" ID="b"On leave from N.S. Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 31 Leninskii prospekt, 117915, Moscow, Russia