Reentrant Metallic Behavior in the Weyl Semimetal NbP

We report the occurrence of reentrant metallic behavior in the Weyl semimetal NbP. When the applied magnetic field $H$ is above a critical value $H_c$, a reentrance appears as a peak in the temperature dependent resistivity $\rho_{xx}(T)$ at $T$ = $T_p$, similar to that observed in graphite where it was attributed to local superconductivity. The $T_p(H)$ relationship follows a power-law dependence $T_p\sim(H-H_c)^{1/v}$ where $v$ can be derived from the temperature dependence of the zero-field resistivity $\rho_0(T) \sim T^v$. From concurrent measurements of the transverse $\rho_{xx}(T)$ and Hall $\rho_{xy}(T)$ magnetoresistivities, we reveal a clear correlation between the rapidly increasing $\rho_{xy}(T)$ and the occurrence of a peak in the $\rho_{xx}(T)$ curve. Quantitative analysis indicates that the reentrant metallic behavior arises from the competition of the magneto conductivity $\sigma_{xx}(T)$ with an additional component $\Delta\sigma_{xx}(T)=\kappa_H\sigma_{xx}(T)$ where $\kappa_H=[\rho_{xy}(T)/\rho_{xx}(T)]^2$ is the Hall factor. We find that the Hall factor ($\kappa_H \approx 0.4$) at peak temperature $T_p$ is nearly field-independent, leading to the observed $T_p(H)$ relationship. Furthermore, the reentrant metallic behavior in $\rho_{xx}(T)$ also is reflected in the behavior of $\rho_{xx}(H)$ that ranges from non-saturating at $T>70$ K to saturation at liquid helium temperatures. The latter can be explained with the magnetic field dependence of the Hall factor $\kappa_H(H)$. Our studies demonstrate that a semiclassical theory can account for the 'anomalies' in the magnetotransport phenomena of NbP without invoking an exotic mechanism.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Spatial Mixing of Coloring Random Graphs

We study the strong spatial mixing (decay of correlation) property of proper $q$-colorings of random graph $G(n, d/n)$ with a fixed $d$. The strong spatial mixing of coloring and related models have been extensively studied on graphs with bounded maximum degree. However, for typical classes of graphs with bounded average degree, such as $G(n, d/n)$, an easy counterexample shows that colorings do not exhibit strong spatial mixing with high probability. Nevertheless, we show that for $q\ge\alpha d+\beta$ with $\alpha>2$ and sufficiently large $\beta=O(1)$, with high probability proper $q$-colorings of random graph $G(n, d/n)$ exhibit strong spatial mixing with respect to an arbitrarily fixed vertex. This is the first strong spatial mixing result for colorings of graphs with unbounded maximum degree. Our analysis of strong spatial mixing establishes a block-wise correlation decay instead of the standard point-wise decay, which may be of interest by itself, especially for graphs with unbounded degree

Gravity Waves as a Probe of Hubble Expansion Rate During An Electroweak Scale Phase Transition

Just as big bang nucleosynthesis allows us to probe the expansion rate when the temperature of the universe was around 1 MeV, the measurement of gravity waves from electroweak scale first order phase transitions may allow us to probe the expansion rate when the temperature of the universe was at the electroweak scale. We compute the simple transformation rule for the gravity wave spectrum under the scaling transformation of the Hubble expansion rate. We then apply this directly to the scenario of quintessence kination domination and show how gravity wave spectra would shift relative to LISA and BBO projected sensitivities.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figures

Quintessential Kination and Leptogenesis

Thermal leptogenesis induced by the CP-violating decay of a right-handed neutrino (RHN) is discussed in the background of quintessential kination, i.e., in a cosmological model where the energy density of the early Universe is assumed to be dominated by the kinetic term of a quintessence field during some epoch of its evolution. This assumption may lead to very different observational consequences compared to the case of a standard cosmology where the energy density of the Universe is dominated by radiation. We show that, depending on the choice of the temperature T_r above which kination dominates over radiation, any situation between the strong and the super--weak wash--out regime are equally viable for leptogenesis, even with the RHN Yukawa coupling fixed to provide the observed atmospheric neutrino mass scale ~ 0.05 eV. For M< T_r < M/100, i.e., when kination stops to dominate at a time which is not much later than when leptogenesis takes place, the efficiency of the process, defined as the ratio between the produced lepton asymmetry and the amount of CP violation in the RHN decay, can be larger than in the standard scenario of radiation domination. This possibility is limited to the case when the neutrino mass scale is larger than about 0.01 eV. The super--weak wash--out regime is obtained for T_r << M/100, and includes the case when T_r is close to the nucleosynthesis temperature ~ 1 MeV. Irrespective of T_r, we always find a sufficient window above the electroweak temperature T ~ 100 GeV for the sphaleron transition to thermalize, so that the lepton asymmetry can always be converted to the observed baryon asymmetry.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Specific volumes of the Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10.0Be22.5 alloy in the liquid, glass, and crystalline states

The specific volumes of the Zr41.2Ti13.8CU12.5Ni10.0Be2.25 alloy as a function of temperature, T, are determined by employing an image digitizing technique and numerical calculation methods applied to the electrostatically levitated spherical alloy. The linear fitting of the volumes of the alloy in the liquid, V-l, glass, V-g, and crystalline V-c, states in the temperature ranges shown in parentheses are V-l(T) = 0.1583 + 8.877 x 10(-6)T(cm^(3)/g) (700-1300 K); V-g(T) = 0.1603 + 5.528 x 10^(-6)T (400-550 K); V-c(T) = 0.1583 + 6.211 x 10(-6)T(400-850 K). The average volume thermal expansion coefficients within the temperature ranges are determined to be 5.32, 3.39, and 3.83 x 10^(-5) (1/K) for the liquid, glass, and crystalline states, respectively

Quantum criticality in Kondo quantum dot coupled to helical edge states of interacting 2D topological insulators

We investigate theoretically the quantum phase transition (QPT) between the one-channel Kondo (1CK) and two-channel Kondo (2CK) fixed points in a quantum dot coupled to helical edge states of interacting 2D topological insulators (2DTI) with Luttinger parameter $0<K<1$. The model has been studied in Ref. 21, and was mapped onto an anisotropic two-channel Kondo model via bosonization. For K<1, the strong coupling 2CK fixed point was argued to be stable for infinitesimally weak tunnelings between dot and the 2DTI based on a simple scaling dimensional analysis[21]. We re-examine this model beyond the bare scaling dimension analysis via a 1-loop renormalization group (RG) approach combined with bosonization and re-fermionization techniques near weak-coupling and strong-coupling (2CK) fixed points. We find for K -->1 that the 2CK fixed point can be unstable towards the 1CK fixed point and the system may undergo a quantum phase transition between 1CK and 2CK fixed points. The QPT in our model comes as a result of the combined Kondo and the helical Luttinger physics in 2DTI, and it serves as the first example of the 1CK-2CK QPT that is accessible by the controlled RG approach. We extract quantum critical and crossover behaviors from various thermodynamical quantities near the transition. Our results are robust against particle-hole asymmetry for 1/2<K<1.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, more details added, typos corrected, revised Sec. IV, V, Appendix A and

Random Vibrational Networks and Renormalization Group

We consider the properties of vibrational dynamics on random networks, with random masses and spring constants. The localization properties of the eigenstates contrast greatly with the Laplacian case on these networks. We introduce several real-space renormalization techniques which can be used to describe this dynamics on general networks, drawing on strong disorder techniques developed for regular lattices. The renormalization group is capable of elucidating the localization properties, and provides, even for specific network instances, a fast approximation technique for determining the spectra which compares well with exact results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

From heterotaxy to VACTER-H syndrome: the clinical variability of ZIC3-related disorders

BACKGROUND: The ZIC3 gene functions as a transcription factor in early stages of left-right body axis formation. Mutations in ZIC3 gene cause a variety of clinical manifestations including isolated congenital heart disease (CHD), heterotaxy & other midline CNS, urogenital & hindgut malformations. We report a four generation family with X-linked heterotaxy associated with a deletion of the ZIC3 gene at ...postprin