Quantum spin Hall effect in inverted InAs/GaSb quantum wells

We review the recent experimental progress towards observing quantum spin Hall effect in inverted InAs/GaSb quantum wells (QWs). Low temperature transport measurements in the hybridization gap show bulk conductivity of a non-trivial origin, while the length and width dependence of conductance in this regime show strong evidence for the existence of helical edge modes proposed by Liu et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett., 2008, 100: 236601]. Surprisingly, edge modes persist in spite of comparable bulk conduction and show only weak dependence on magnetic field. We elucidate that seeming independence of edge on bulk transport comes due to the disparity in Fermi-wave vectors between the bulk and the edge, leading to a total internal reflection of the edge modes.     

Preservation of the Pt(100) surface reconstruction after growth of a continuous layer of graphene

Scanning tunneling microscopy shows that a layer of graphene can be grown on the hex-reconstructed Pt(100) surface and that the reconstruction is preserved after growth. A continuous sheet of graphene can be grown across domain boundaries and step edges without loss of periodicity or change in direction. Density functional theory calculations on a simple model system support the observation that the graphene can have different rotation angles relative to the hex-reconstructed Pt surface. The graphene sheet direction can be changed by incorporating pentagon-heptagon defects giving rise to accommodation of edge dislocations. The defect formation energy and the induced buckling of the graphene have been characterized by DFT calculations.     

Analysis of spectral properties of acoustic noise produced during magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique enables non-invasive analysis of the human vocal tract during phonation. Creation of MR images of the vocal tract is accompanied by simultaneous recording of the produced speech. The paper analyzes and compares spectral properties of an acoustical noise produced by mechanical vibration of the gradient coils during scanning in the open-air MRI equipment working in a weak magnetic field with low B₀ up to 0.2 T. This noise exhibits harmonic character, so it is suitable to analyze its properties in the spectral domain. Obtained results of spectral analysis will be used to devise a new cepstral-based filtering method for noise suppression of recorded speech.     

Climbing Mount Scalable: Physical Resource Requirements for a Scalable Quantum Computer

The primary resource for quantum computation is Hilbert-space dimension. Whereas Hilbert space itself is an abstract construction, the number of dimensions available to a system is a physical quantity that requires physical resources. Avoiding a demand for an exponential amount of these resources places a fundamental constraint on the systems that are suitable for scalable quantum computation. To be scalable, the effective number of degrees of freedom in the computer must grow nearly linearly with the number of qubits in an equivalent qubit-based quantum computer.     

Q-shear transformation for MQMAS and STMAS NMR spectra

The multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning (MQMAS) and satellite-transition magic-angle spinning (STMAS) experiments refocus second-order quadrupolar broadening of half-integer quadrupolar spins in the form of two-dimensional experiments. Isotropic shearing is usually applied along the indirect dimension of the 2D spectra such that an isotropic projection free of anisotropic quadrupolar broadening can be obtained. An alternative shear transformation by a factor equal to the coherence level (quantum number) selected during the evolution period is proposed. Such a transformation eliminates chemical shift along the indirect dimension leaving only the second-order quadrupolar-induced shift and anisotropic broadening, and is expected to be particularly useful for disordered systems. This transformation, dubbed Q-shearing, can help avoid aliasing problems due to large chemical shift ranges and spinning sidebands. It can also be used as an intermediate step to the isotropic representation for expanding the spectral window of rotor-synchronized experiments.     

Artifact Reduction Based on Sinogram Interpolation for the 3D Reconstruction of Nanoparticles Using Electron Tomography

Electron tomography is a well‐known technique providing a 3D characterization of the morphology and chemical composition of nanoparticles. However, several reasons hamper the acquisition of tilt series with a large number of projection images, which deteriorate the quality of the 3D reconstruction. Here, an inpainting method that is based on sinogram interpolation is proposed, which enables one to reduce artifacts in the reconstruction related to a limited tilt series of projection images. The advantages of the approach will be demonstrated for the 3D characterization of nanoparticles using phantoms and several case studies.     

Shallow Donors and Deep-Level Color Centers in Bulk AlN Crystals: EPR, ENDOR, ODMR and Optical Studies

The results of studies of shallow donors and deep-level color centers in bulk AlN crystals are presented. Two shallow donors (presumably oxygen located on the nitrogen site and carbon located on the aluminum site) are suggested to exhibit the DX-relaxation. Third shallow donor (presumably silicon on the Al site) shows the shallow donor behavior up to the room temperature and can be observed without light excitation at temperatures above 200 K. The values of the Bohr radius of the shallow donors are estimated. The structure of deep-level color centers (neutral nitrogen vacancy V _N) in bulk AlN crystals is determined and analyzed by electron paramagnetic resonance, electron-nuclear double resonance, optical absorption and thermoluminescence induced by X-ray irradiation. Spin-dependent recombination processes in AlN crystals are studied by means of optically detected magnetic resonance.     

Directed random polymers via nested contour integrals

We study the partition function of two versions of the continuum directed polymer in 1+1$1+1$ dimension. In the full-space version, the polymer starts at the origin and is free to move transversally in R$\mathbb{R}$, and in the half-space version, the polymer starts at the origin but is reflected at the origin and stays in R₋${\mathbb{R}}_{-}$. The partition functions solve the stochastic heat equation in full-space or half-space with mixed boundary condition at the origin; or equivalently the free energy satisfies the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation.     

Gravitomagnetic and Gravitoelectric Waves in General Relativity

Lower-order terms in expansions of the equations of General Relativity in powers of v/c (post-Newtonian approximations) have long been a source of analogies with em theory. A classic textbook example is the steadily spinning sphere generating a constant dipole gravitomagnetic field, with its associated vector potential B^* ₀ = × (analog of the magnetic field B of a spinning charged sphere). In the nonsteady case there are associated gravitoelectric fields E* = – _t – * also, where * is the gravitational Coulomb potential. The case of a rigid sphere spun up from rest by an external (nongravitational) torque at t = 0 is enlightening, as it demonstrates the generation of B* and E* wave fields propagating outward with the velocity of light c: for large t, B* B^* ₀. In a coordinate system for which the metric tensor is nearly equal to the Minkowski tensor, the three-vector potential obeys an equation isomorphic to the electrodynamic equation, that is, ² = –*j* with j* = –v, where is the mass density, v the three-velocity, and * = 16Gc^–2 = 3.7 × 10^–26 mksu, G being the gravitational constant. Significantly, one can construct a gauge invariant four-vector potential F* = (ic^–14*, ), obeying field equations isomorphic to Maxwell's in the Lorentz gauge F _, = 0. The traveling transient dipole field exerts torques on matter in its path, setting up shear strains that may be measurable for very large momentum transfers, for example, between massive astronomical bodies. A rough calculation suggests that such strains are in principle observable.