Particle-hole symmetry and the Pfaffian state

We show that the particle-hole conjugate of the Pfaffian state-or "anti-Pfaffian" state-is in a different universality class from the Pfaffian state, with different topological order. The two states can be distinguished easily by their edge physics: their edges differ in both their thermal Hall conductance and their tunneling exponents. At the same time, the two states are exactly degenerate in energy for a nu=5/2 quantum Hall system in the idealized limit of zero Landau level mixing. Thus, both are good candidates for the observed sigma_{xy}=5/2(e;{2}/h) quantum Hall plateau.     

Coherent single pion production by antineutrino charged current interactions and test of PCAC

The cross section for coherent production of a single π^? meson in charged current antineutrino interactions on neon nuclei has been measured in BEBC to be (175±25) 10^?40 cm²/neon nucleus, averaged over the energy spectrum of the antineutrino wide band beam at the CERN SPS; this corresponds to (0.9±0.1) % of the total charged current \(\bar v_\mu \) cross section. The distributions of kinematical variables are in agreement with theoretical predictions based on the PCAC hypothesis and the meson dominance model; in particular, theQ ² dependence is well described by a propagator containing a massm=(1.35±0.18) GeV. The absolute value of the cross section is also in agreement with the model. This analysis thus provides a test of the PCAC hypothesis in the antineutrino energy range 5–150 GeV.     

Fast reproducible identification and large-scale databasing of individual functional cognitive networks

Background  

Although cognitive processes such as reading and calculation are associated with reproducible cerebral networks, inter-individual variability is considerable. Understanding the origins of this variability will require the elaboration of large multimodal databases compiling behavioral, anatomical, genetic and functional neuroimaging data over hundreds of subjects. With this goal in mind, we designed a simple and fast acquisition procedure based on a 5-minute functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sequence that can be run as easily and as systematically as an anatomical scan, and is therefore used in every subject undergoing fMRI in our laboratory. This protocol captures the cerebral bases of auditory and visual perception, motor actions, reading, language comprehension and mental calculation at an individual level.     

Spin order in paired quantum Hall states

We consider quantum Hall states at even-denominator filling fractions, especially nu=5/2, in the limit of small Zeeman energy. Assuming that a paired quantum Hall state forms, we study spin ordering and its interplay with pairing. We give numerical evidence that at nu=5/2 an incompressible ground state will exhibit spontaneous ferromagnetism. The Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory for the spin degrees of freedom of paired Hall states is a perturbed CP2 model. We compute the coefficients in the GL theory by a BCS Stoner mean-field theory for coexisting order parameters, and show that even if repulsion is smaller than that required for a Stoner instability, ferromagnetic fluctuations can induce a partially or fully polarized superconducting state.     

Effect of laser beam incidence angle on the thermoelastic generation in semi-transparent materials

When a laser beam is absorbed in a semi-transparent material, a volume acoustic source is created owing to penetration of the laser beam inside the material and to thermoelastic transduction. Many experimental and theoretical studies have been conducted to better understand this ultrasound generation process with normal laser light incidence on the material surface. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of the asymmetry caused by oblique incidence of a laser line source on the generation of acoustic waves in semi-transparent isotropic materials. Experiments on a glass plate demonstrate that such an obliquely incident laser light strongly affects bulk acoustic waves generation. Compressional and shear waves are enhanced and the loss of symmetry of the acoustic source causes asymmetrical behavior of the acoustic waves. Surprisingly, compressional-wave amplitude decreases whereas shear-wave amplitude increases in the region where the electromagnetic energy is refracted. This feature is explained by semi-analytical calculations.     

Critical exponents of Manhattan Hamiltonian walks in two dimensions,from Potts andO(n) models

We consider a set of Hamiltonian circuits filling a Manhattan lattice, i.e., a square lattice with alternating traffic regulation. We show that the generating function (with fugacityz) of this set is identical to the critical partition function of aq-state Potts model on an unoriented square lattice withq ^1/2 =z. The set of critical exponents governing correlations of Hamiltonian circuits is derived using a Coulomb gas technique. These exponents are also found to be those of an O(n) vector model in the low-temperature phase withn =q ^1/2 =z. The critical exponents in the limitz = 0 are then those of spanning trees (q= 0) and of dense polymers (n=0,T < T_c), corresponding to a conformal theory with central chargeC = –2. This shows that the Manhattan orientation and the Hamiltonian constraint of filling all the lattice are irrelevant for the infrared critical properties of Hamiltonian walks.     

Limits on the high-energy gamma and neutrino fluxes from the SGR 1806-20 giant flare of 27 December 2004 with the AMANDA-II detector

On 27 December 2004, a giant gamma flare from the Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater 1806-20 saturated many satellite gamma-ray detectors, being the brightest transient event ever observed in the Galaxy. AMANDA-II was used to search for down-going muons indicative of high-energy gammas and/or neutrinos from this object. The data revealed no significant signal, so upper limits (at 90% C.L.) on the normalization constant were set: 0.05(0.5) TeV-1 m;{-2} s;{-1} for gamma=-1.47 (-2) in the gamma flux and 0.4(6.1) TeV-1 m;{-2} s;{-1} for gamma=-1.47 (-2) in the high-energy neutrino flux.     

Superfluidity and dimerization in a multilayered system of fermionic polar molecules

We consider a layered system of fermionic molecules with permanent dipole moments aligned perpendicular to the layers by an external field. The dipole interactions between fermions in adjacent layers are attractive and induce interlayer pairing. Because of the competition for pairing among adjacent layers, the mean-field ground state of the layered system is a dimerized superfluid, with pairing only between every other layer. We construct an effective Ising-XY lattice model that describes the interplay between dimerization and superfluid phase fluctuations. In addition to the dimerized superfluid ground state, and high-temperature normal state, at intermediate temperature, we find an unusual dimerized "pseudogap" state with only short-range phase coherence. We propose light-scattering experiments to detect dimerization.