Two-dimensional quantum interference contributions to the magnetoresistance of Nd{2-x}Ce{x}CuO{4-d} single crystals

The 2D weak localization effects at low temperatures T = (0.2-4.2)K have been investigated in nonsuperconducting sample Nd{1.88}Ce{0.12}CuO{4-d} and in the normal state of the superconducting sample Nd{1.82}Ce{0.18}CuO{4-d} for B>B_c2. The phase coherence time and the effective thickness $d$ of a conducting CuO_2 layer have been estimated by the fitting of 2D weak localization theory expressions to the magnetoresistivity data for the normal to plane and the in-plane magnetic fields.Comment: 5 pages, 4 postscript figure

Spectral Function of Fermion Coupled with Massive Vector Boson at Finite Temperature in Gauge Invariant Formalism

We investigate spectral properties of a fermion coupled with a massive gauge boson with a mass m at finite temperature (T) in the perturbation theory. The massive gauge boson is introduced as a U(1) gauge boson in the Stueckelberg formalism with a gauge parameter \alpha. We find that the fermion spectral function has a three-peak structure for T \sim m irrespective of the choice of the gauge parameter, while it tends to have one faint peak at the origin and two peaks corresponding to the normal fermion and anti-plasmino excitations familiar in QED in the hard thermal loop approximation for T \gg m. We show that our formalism successfully describe the fermion spectral function in the whole T region with the correct high-T limit except for the faint peak at the origin, although some care is needed for choice of the gauge parameter for T \gg m. We clarify that for T \sim m, the fermion pole is almost independent of the gauge parameter in the one-loop order, while for T \gg m, the one-loop analysis is valid only for \alpha \ll 1/g where g is the fermion-boson coupling constant, implying that the one-loop analysis can not be valid for large gauge parameters as in the unitary gauge.Comment: 28pages, 11figures. v2: typos fixe

Soft-mode turbulence in electrohydrodynamic convection of a homeotropically aligned nematic layer

The experimental study of electroconvection in a homeotropically aligned nematic ~MBBA! is reported. Thesystem undergoes a supercritical bifurcation ‘‘rest state-spatiotemporal chaos.’’ The chaos is caused by longwavelengthmodulation of the orientation of convective rolls. For the first time the observations both below andbeyond the Lifshitz point are accompanied by quantitative analysis of temporal autocorrelation functions ofturbulent modes. The dependence of the correlation time on the control parameter is obtained. A secondarybifurcation from normal to abnormal rolls is discussed

Fatigue crack analysis of ferrite material by acoustic emission technique

Among various methods of Non-destructive techniques (NDT), analysis using released acoustic emission (AE) waves due to crack propagation is very effective due to its dynamic monitoring features. In fragmentation theory for AE there are some proportional relationships among the AE parameters i.e. AE event, AE energy, area and volume of cracks etc., which are calculated from the released AE waves from the dynamic crack inside any material. The necessity of calculating the fractal dimension has been found in such relationships and the value is emphasized for determining the geometry of the irregularity in crack surface and crack volume. In this paper a novel approach for evaluating that value based on image processing by MATLAB is proposed. The images of the cracks during propagation are preserved and utilized to find out the fractal dimension for analyzing the crack propagation characteristics. The AE energy is also estimated from the received AE waves. The positioning of the sensors plays a great impact on this calculation. Finally, the theoretical proportionality relations of AE parameters are interpreted experimentally during crack propagation behavior in ferrite cast iron under fatigue loading

Brillouin propagation modes in optical lattices: Interpretation in terms of nonconventional stochastic resonance

We report the first direct observation of Brillouin-like propagation modes in a dissipative periodic optical lattice. This has been done by observing a resonant behavior of the spatial diffusion coefficient in the direction corresponding to the propagation mode with the phase velocity of the moving intensity modulation used to excite these propagation modes. Furthermore, we show theoretically that the amplitude of the Brillouin mode is a nonmonotonic function of the strength of the noise corresponding to the optical pumping, and discuss this behavior in terms of nonconventional stochastic resonance

Minimal model to describe the magnetism of CuGeO3CuGeO_{3}

We show that to describe properly the low energy excitations of $CuGeO_{3}$ one must include the effects of a transverse antiferromagnetic coupling, which is estimated to be $J_{\perp}=0.15 J$. Owing to this coupling the frustration in the chains is significantly lower than recent 1D estimates based on purely one-dimensional arguments, we find $J_{2}=0.2 J$. Furthermore we have found a strong modulation of the nearest neighbour coupling due to the static distortion $\delta = 0.065$, which is 5 times higher than that previously deduced from a 1D chain approach. Our set of parameters gives, i) a value of the distorsion which agreeswell with some recent estimate for a lower bound, we are able to perfectly reproduce ii)the dispersions, iii) the experimental susceptibility at both high and low temperatures. By performing DMRG calculations for 2 coupled chains we have analysed the effect of the transverse coupling on the ratio of singlet to triplet gaps. The ratio is very sensitive to the parameters and the universality reported in the strict one dimensional case is lost. As an additional point, we provide a simple picture to explain the interesting new feature observed in recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments: the existence of a second branch of excitations.Comment: 7 pages latex, figure included, accepted in PRB (issue dec.99

The c2d Spitzer Spectroscopic Survey of Ices Around Low-Mass Young Stellar Objects. IV. NH3 and CH3OH

NH3 and CH3OH are key molecules in astrochemical networks leading to the formation of more complex N- and O-bearing molecules, such as CH3CN and HCOOCH3. Despite a number of recent studies, little is known about their abundances in the solid state. (...) In this work, we investigate the ~ 8-10 micron region in the Spitzer IRS (InfraRed Spectrograph) spectra of 41 low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs). These data are part of a survey of interstellar ices in a sample of low-mass YSOs studied in earlier papers in this series. We used both an empirical and a local continuum method to correct for the contribution from the 10 micron silicate absorption in the recorded spectra. In addition, we conducted a systematic laboratory study of NH3- and CH3OH-containing ices to help interpret the astronomical spectra. We clearly detect a feature at ~9 micron in 24 low-mass YSOs. Within the uncertainty in continuum determination, we identify this feature with the NH3 nu_2 umbrella mode, and derive abundances with respect to water between ~2 and 15%. Simultaneously, we also revisited the case of CH3OH ice by studying the nu_4 C-O stretch mode of this molecule at ~9.7 micron in 16 objects, yielding abundances consistent with those derived by Boogert et al. 2008 (hereafter paper I) based on a simultaneous 9.75 and 3.53 micron data analysis. Our study indicates that NH3 is present primarily in H2O-rich ices, but that in some cases, such ices are insufficient to explain the observed narrow FWHM. The laboratory data point to CH3OH being in an almost pure methanol ice, or mixed mainly with CO or CO2, consistent with its formation through hydrogenation on grains. Finally, we use our derived NH3 abundances in combination with previously published abundances of other solid N-bearing species to find that up to 10-20 % of nitrogen is locked up in known ices.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap