Fermi surface of 3d1 perovskite CaVO3 near the Mott transition

We present a detailed de Haas-van Alphen effect study of the perovskite CaVO3, offering an unprecedented test of electronic structure calculations in a 3d transition metal oxide. Our experimental and calculated Fermi surfaces are in good agreement, but only if we ignore large orthorhombic distortions of the cubic perovskite structure. Subtle discrepancies may shed light on an apparent conflict between the low energy properties of CaVO3, which are those of a simple metal, and high energy probes which reveal strong correlations that place CaVO3 on the verge of a metal-insulator transition.     

High-resolution calorimetric study of pb(mg_{1/3}nb_{2/3})o_{3} single crystal

Motivated by the long-standing unresolved enigma of the relaxor ferroelectric ground state, we performed a high-resolution heat capacity and polarization study of the field-induced phase transition in the relaxor ferroelectric single crystal Pb(Mg_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_{3} (PMN) oriented along the [110] direction. We show that the discontinuous evolution of polarization as a function of the electric field or temperature is a consequence of a true first order transition from a glassy to ferroelectric state, which is accompanied by an excess heat capacity anomaly and released latent heat. We also find that in a zero field there is no ferroelectric phase transition in bulk PMN at any temperature, indicating that the nonergodic dipolar glass phase persists down to the lowest temperatures.     

Ferromagnetism of 3He films in the low-field limit

We provide evidence for a finite-temperature ferromagnetic transition in two dimensions as H -->0 in thin films of 3He on graphite, a model system for the study of two-dimensional magnetism. We perform pulsed and cw NMR experiments at fields of 0.03-0.48 mT on 3He at areal densities of 20.5-24.2 atoms/nm(2). At these densities, the second layer of 3He has a strongly ferromagnetic tendency. With decreasing temperature, we find a rapid onset of magnetization that becomes independent of the applied field at temperatures in the vicinity of 1 mK. Both the dipolar field and the NMR linewidth grow rapidly as well, which is consistent with a large (order unity) polarization of the 3He spins.     

One-dimensional instability in BaVS3

The 3d(1) system BaVS3 undergoes a series of remarkable electronic phase transitions. We show that the metal-insulator transition at T(MI)=70 K is associated with a structural transition announced by a huge regime of one-dimensional (1D) lattice fluctuations, detected up to 170 K. These 1D fluctuations correspond to a 2k(F)=c(*)/2 charge-density wave (CDW) instability of the d(z(2)) electron gas. We discuss the formation below T(MI) of an unconventional CDW state involving the condensation of the other V4+ 3d(1) electrons of the quasidegenerate e(t(2g)) orbitals. This study stresses the role of the orbital degrees of freedom in the physics of BaVS3 and reveals the inadequacy of current first principle band calculations to describe its electronic ground state.     

Fine structure of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism for early 3<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> transition metals

We have performed a systematic study of the L_2,3 absorption fine structure along the 3d transition metals using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. This is of importance since the decreased spin–orbit splitting for the early 3d transition metals results in stronger electron core–hole correlations, which lead to dramatic changes in the spectral intensities. For the Fe/V system we demonstrate that the fine structures can be modelled theoretically by means of fully relativistic ab initio calculations that also provide corresponding magnetic moments for vanadium. It turns out that in contrast to the late 3d elements Fe, Co, and Ni, the classical analysis by means of the integral sum rules yields erroneous results for the early 3d transition metals. PACS 78.70.Dm; 75.70.-i     

Thermodynamic stability of solid and fluid phases in the Si3B3N7 system

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of the ceramic material Si₃B₃N₇ which has so far only been synthesized as an amorphous compound. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the stability of both solid and fluid phases of Si₃B₃N₇, in order to gain insights into the proper synthetic conditions needed to generate the stable amorphous and crystalline phases of this compound. We study the ternary liquid–gas region of the phase diagram at temperatures above the theoretical glass transition in this system, and construct an approximate ‘metastable’ phase diagram of Si₃B₃N₇. In addition we study the stability of the amorphous and crystalline phases in the solid state against the decomposition into the binary phases h-BN and β-Si₃N₄ as a function of the size of the crystallites involved, and the stability of the melt against evolution of nitrogen as a function of nitrogen pressure.     

Optimisation of multifractal analysis at the 3D Anderson transition using box-size scaling

We study various box-size scaling techniques to obtain the multifractal properties, in terms of the singularity spectrum f(α), of the critical eigenstates at the metal-insulator transition within the 3-D Anderson model of localisation. The typical and ensemble averaged scaling laws of the generalised inverse participation ratios are considered. In pursuit of a numerical optimisation of the box-scaling technique we discuss different box-partitioning schemes including cubic and non-cubic boxes, use of periodic boundary conditions to enlarge the system and single and multiple origins for the partitioning grid are also implemented. We show that the numerically most reliable method is to divide a system of linear size L equally into cubic boxes of size l for which L/l is an integer. This method is the least numerically expensive while having a good reliability.     

Zeroing in on SU(3)

We present an improved numerical method for calculating the density of states for lattice field theories. We use it to study the SU(3) pure gauge theory at both zero and finite temperature. We also compute strong and weak coupling expansions for the density of states and find excellent agreement with our data. Using a specially developed algorithm for solving high-order polynomials, we find the zeroes of the partition function. For lattices with L_t = 2, we test the finite-size scaling prediction for the rounding of the transition by following the motion of these zeroes for L_s=6, 8, 10, and 12. We find that the correlation length exponent is 1/v = 3.02 ± 0.05, in excellent agreement with the value d=3 expected for a first-order deconfinement transition.     

Deconfinement phase transition in a 3D nonlocal U(1) lattice gauge theory

We introduce a 3D compact U(1) lattice gauge theory having nonlocal interactions in the temporal direction, and study its phase structure. The model is relevant for the compact QED3 and strongly correlated electron systems like the t-J model of cuprates. For a power-law decaying long-range interaction, which simulates the effect of gapless matter fields, a second-order phase transition takes place separating the confinement and deconfinement phases. For an exponentially decaying interaction simulating matter fields with gaps, the system exhibits no signals of a second-order transition.     

Scaling law and critical exponent for α0 at the 3D Anderson transition

We use high‐precision, large system‐size wave function data to analyse the scaling properties of the multifractal spectra around the disorder‐induced three‐dimensional Anderson transition in order to extract the critical exponents of the transition. Using a previously suggested scaling law, we find that the critical exponent ν is significantly larger than suggested by previous results. We speculate that this discrepancy is due to the use of an oversimplified scaling relation.     

Quantum-electrodynamical coherence and superfluidity in3He

Summary We explore the possibility that the superfluid³He transition is related to the quantum-electrodynamical coherent interaction, occurring in the system at low temperatures and producing coherent oscillation in phase with particular classical modes of the electromagnetic field. We give a microscopic explanation for the BCS pairing potential and calculate the phase diagram for³He finding a transition toA- andB-phases with the correct temperatures.     

Dynamic compensation temperatures in a mixed spin-1 and spin-3/2 Ising system under a time-dependent oscillating magnetic field

We study the existence of dynamic compensation temperatures in the mixed spin-1 and spin-3/2 Ising ferrimagnetic system Hamiltonian with bilinear and crystal-field interactions in the presence of a time-dependent oscillating external magnetic field on a hexagonal lattice. We employ the Glauber transitions rates to construct the mean-field dynamic equations. We investigate the time dependence of an average sublattice magnetizations, the thermal behavior of the dynamic sublattice magnetizations and the total magnetization. From these studies, we find the phases in the system, and characterize the nature (continuous or discontinuous) of transitions as well as obtain the dynamic phase transition (DPT) points and the dynamic compensation temperatures. We also present dynamic phase diagrams, including the compensation temperatures, in the five different planes. A comparison is made with the results of the available mixed spin Ising systems.     

Spinodal decomposition in solid isotopic helium mixtures

We report the first observations of spinodal decomposition in solid helium isotopic mixtures, using NMR measurements. The experiments were performed at a 3He concentration of 50% where the transition proceeds through the critical point. We used an initial pressure such that the system remained solid. Our observations indicate that the transition occurs by the mechanism of spinodal decomposition and we are able to study its evolution in real time.     

Direct measurement of the low-temperature spin-state transition in LaCoO3

LaCoO3 exhibits an anomaly in its magnetic susceptibility around 80 K associated with a thermally excited transition of the Co3+-ion spin. We show that electron energy-loss spectroscopy is sensitive to this Co3+-ion spin-state transition, and that the O K edge prepeak provides a direct measure of the Co3+ spin state in LaCoO3 as a function of temperature. Our experimental results are confirmed by first-principles calculations, and we conclude that the thermally excited spin-state transition occurs from a low to an intermediate spin state, which can be distinguished from the high-spin state.     

SrTiO3 displacive transition revisited via coherent X-ray diffraction

We present a coherent x-ray diffraction study of the antiferrodistortive displacive transition of SrTiO3, a prototypical example of a phase transition for which the critical fluctuations exhibit two length scales and two time scales. From the microbeam x-ray coherent diffraction patterns, we show that the broad (short-length scale) and the narrow (long-length scale) components can be spatially disentangled, due to 100-microm-scale spatial variations of the latter. Moreover, both components exhibit a speckle pattern, which is static on a approximately 10 mn time scale. This gives evidence that the narrow component corresponds to static ordered domains. We interpret the speckles in the broad component as due to a very slow dynamical process, corresponding to the well-known central peak seen in inelastic neutron scattering.     

A comparative Raman study of 0.65(PbMg<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>2/3</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>) -0.35(PbTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript>) single crystal and thin film

We report a comparative Raman study of 0.65(PbMg_1/3Nb_2/3O₃)-0.35(PbTiO₃) (PMN-0.35PT) single crystal and thin film. Raman spectra investigation indicates a change in bulk from the high temperature cubic to the tetragonal phase and then to the low temperature Mc monoclinic phase. The transition temperatures are in good agreement with the ones previously observed by dielectric measurements on the same sample. In contrast, we observe no phase transition to the monoclinic phase in the PMN-0.35PT 4000 Å thick film and only a cubic to tetragonal diffuse transition has been determined at high temperature. The enhanced stability of the tetragonal phase and the absence of low temperature monoclinic phase have been attributed to the in plane strain.     

Dynamic Phase Transitions and Compensation Temperatures in a Mixed Spin-3/2 and Spin-5/2 Ising System

We examine the dynamic phase transitions and the dynamic compensation temperatures, within a mean-field approach, in the mixed spin-3/2 and spin-5/2 Ising system with a crystal-field interaction under a time-varying magnetic field on a hexagonal lattice by using Glauber-type stochastic dynamics. The model system consists of two interpenetrating sublattices with σ=3/2 and S=5/2. The Hamiltonian model includes intersublattice, intrasublattice, and crystal-field interactions. The intersublattice interaction is considered antiferromagnetic and to be a simple but interesting model of a ferrimagnetic system. We employ the Glauber transition rates to construct the mean-field dynamic equations, and we solve these equations in order to find the phases in the system. We also investigate the thermal behavior of the dynamic sublattice magnetizations and the dynamic total magnetization to obtain the dynamic phase transition points and compensation temperatures as well as to characterize the nature (continuous and discontinuous) of transitions. We also calculate the dynamic phase diagrams including the compensation temperatures in five different planes. According to the values of Hamiltonian parameters, five different fundamental phases, three different mixed phases, and six different types of compensation behaviors in the Néel classification nomenclature exist in the system.     

Topological spin liquid on the hyperkagome lattice of Na4Ir3O8

Recent experiments on the "hyperkagome" lattice system Na4Ir3O8 have demonstrated that it is a rare example of a three-dimensional spin-1/2 frustrated antiferromagnet. We investigate the role of quantum fluctuations as the primary mechanism lifting the macroscopic degeneracy inherited by classical spins on this lattice. In the semiclassical limit we predict, based on large-N calculations, that an unusual q[over -->]=0 coplanar magnetically ordered ground state is stabilized with no local zero modes that correspond to local deformations of the spin configurations. This phase melts in the quantum limit and a gapped topological Z2 spin liquid phase emerges. In the vicinity of this quantum phase transition, we study the dynamic spin structure factor and comment on the relevance of our results for future neutron scattering experiments.     

La2/3Ca1/3MnO3的巨磁熵效应

本文对超大磁阻材料Ｌａ２／３Ｃａ１／３ＭｎＯ３的巨磁熵效应进行了研究,通过测量不同磁场下的磁化－温度曲线,发现伴随铁磁－顺磁相变有一个大的磁熵变化,这个结果表明钙钛矿锰氧化物可以作为磁致冷技术中的工作物质。