Gap-inhomogeneity-induced electronic states in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta)

In this Letter, we analyze, using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, the density of electronic states in nearly optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta) in zero magnetic field. Focusing on the superconducting gap, we find patches of what appear to be two different phases in a background of some average gap, one with a relatively small gap and sharp large coherence peaks and one characterized by a large gap with broad weak coherence peaks. We compare these spectra with calculations of the local density of states for a simple phenomenological model in which a 2xi0 x 2xi0 patch with an enhanced or suppressed d-wave gap amplitude is embedded in a region with a uniform average d-wave gap.     

Quasi first order transitions for an n-component field in one dimension

An n-component 1-D field theoretic model exhibiting first and second transitions in the mean field approximation is studied by exact methods. In the n → ∞ limit the second order transitions are found to broaden but a line of first order transitions terminating at a critical point remains. For large but finite n, the first order transitions have a width of order exp (-const. n).     

Effect of single ion anisotropy on the critical temperature of classical quasi-one-dimensional magnets

The effect of single ion anisotropy energy on the three-dimensional ordering temperature of a classical quasi-one-dimensional magnetic chain is estimated using a mean field approximation for the interchain coupling and a classical spin field model for a chain. Numerical results are presented for T_c as a function of the interchain and interchain exchange interactions and the single ion anisotropy.