Experimental evidence for topological surface states wrapping around bulk SnTe crystal

We demonstrate that the metallic topological surface states wrap on all sides the 3D topological crystalline insulator SnTe. This is achieved by studying oscillatory quantum magneto-transport and magnetization at tilted magnetic fields which enables us to observe simultaneous contributions from neighbouring sample sides. Taking into account pinning of the Fermi energy by the SnTe reservoir we successfully describe theoretically the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations of magnetization. The determined \pi-Berry phase of surface states confirms their Dirac fermion character. We independently observe oscillatory contributions of magneto-transport and magnetization originating from the bulk SnTe reservoir of high hole density. It is concluded that the bulk and surface Landau states exist in parallel. Our main result that the bulk reservoir is surrounded on all sides by the topological surface states has an universal character.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 12 pages supplemental materia

Novel Quaternary Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As): Magnetic and Magneto-Transport Investigations

Magnetic and magneto-transport properties of thin layers of the (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As) quaternary dilute magnetic semiconductor grown by the low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy technique on GaAs substrates have been investigated. Ferromagnetic Curie temperature and magneto-crystalline anisotropy of the layers have been examined by using magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry and low-temperature magneto-transport measurements. Postgrowth annealing treatment has been shown to enhance the hole concentration and Curie temperature in the layers. Significant increase in the magnitude of magnetotransport effects caused by incorporation of a small amount of Bi into the (Ga,Mn)As layers revealed in the planar Hall effect (PHE) measurements, is interpreted as a result of enhanced spin-orbit coupling in the (Ga,Mn)(Bi,As) layers. Two-state behaviour of the planar Hall resistance at zero magnetic field provides its usefulness for applications in nonvolatile memory devices.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of ICSM-2016 conferenc

Entropy of generic quantum isolated horizons

We review our recent proposal of a method to extend the quantization of spherically symmetric isolated horizons, a seminal result of loop quantum gravity, to a phase space containing horizons of arbitrary geometry. Although the details of the quantization remain formally unchanged, the physical interpretation of the results can be quite different. We highlight several such differences, with particular emphasis on the physical interpretation of black hole entropy in loop quantum gravity.Comment: 4 pages, contribution to loops '11 conference proceedings; 2 references added, a sentence remove

Towards a spin foam model description of black hole entropy

We propose a way to describe the origin of black hole entropy in the spin foam models of quantum gravity. This stimulates a new way to study the relation of spin foam models and loop quantum gravity.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Post-growth annealing of GaMnAs under As capping - an alternative way to increase Tc

We demonstrate that in situ post-growth annealing of GaMnAs layers under As capping is adequate for achieving high Curie temperatures (Tc) in a similar way as ex situ annealing in air or in N2 atmosphere practiced earlier.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Black hole entropy for the general area spectrum

We consider the possibility that the horizon area is expressed by the general area spectrum in loop quantum gravity and calculate the black hole entropy by counting the degrees of freedom in spin-network states related to its area. Although the general area spectrum has a complex expression, we succeeded in obtaining the result that the black hole entropy is proportional to its area as in previous works where the simplified area formula has been used. This gives new values for the Barbero-Immirzi parameter ($\gamma =0.5802... \mathrm{or} 0.7847...$) which are larger than that of previous works.Comment: 5 page

Existence of a Semiclassical Approximation in Loop Quantum Gravity

We consider a spherical symmetric black hole in the Schwarzschild metric and apply Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization to determine the energy levels. The canonical partition function is then computed and we show that the entropy coincides with the Bekenstein-Hawking formula when the maximal number of states for the black hole is the same as computed in loop quantum gravity, proving in this case the existence of a semiclassical limit and obtaining an independent derivation of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter.Comment: 6 pages, no figures. Final version accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Renormalization and black hole entropy in Loop Quantum Gravity

Microscopic state counting for a black hole in Loop Quantum Gravity yields a result proportional to horizon area, and inversely proportional to Newton's constant and the Immirzi parameter. It is argued here that before this result can be compared to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of a macroscopic black hole, the scale dependence of both Newton's constant and the area must be accounted for. The two entropies could then agree for any value of the Immirzi parameter, if a certain renormalization property holds.Comment: 8 pages; v2: references added, typos corrected, version to appear in CQ

Entropy in Spin Foam Models: The Statistical Calculation

Recently an idea for computing the entropy of black holes in the spin foam formalism has been introduced. Particularly complete calculations for the three dimensional euclidean BTZ black hole were done. The whole calculation is based on observables living at the horizon of the black hole universe. Departing from this idea of observables living at the horizon, we now go further and compute the entropy of BTZ black hole in the spirit of statistical mechanics. We compare both calculations and show that they are very interrelated and equally valid. This latter behaviour is certainly due to the importance of the observables.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur