Characterizing Topological Order in Superconducting Systems

Two established frameworks account for the onset of a gap in a superconducting system: one is based on spontaneous symmetry breaking via the Anderson-Higgs-Kibble mechanism, and the other is based on the recently developed paradigm of topological order. We show that, on manifolds with non trivial topology, both mechanisms yield a degeneracy of the ground state arising only from the {\it incompressibility} induced by the presence of a gap. We compute the topological entanglement entropy of a topological superconductor and argue that its measure allows to {\it distinguish} between the two mechanisms of generating a superconducting gap.Comment: 8 pages, no figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Weyl calculus and dual pairs

We consider a dual pair $(G,G')$, in the sense of Howe, with $G$ compact acting on $L^2(\mathbb R^n)$ for an appropriate $n$ via the Weil Representation. Let $\widetilde{G}$ be the preimage of $G$ in the metaplectic group. Given a genuine irreducible unitary representation $\Pi$ of $\widetilde{G}$ we compute the Weyl symbol of orthogonal projection onto $L^2(\mathbb R^n)_\Pi$, the $\Pi$-isotypic component. We apply the result to obtain an explicit formula for the character of the corresponding irreducible unitary representation $\Pi'$ of $\widetilde{G'}$ and to compute of the wave front set of $\Pi'$ by elementary means

A systematic analysis of X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray burst observed by XMM-Newton

This work is part of a systematic re-analysis program of all the data of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) X-ray afterglows observed so far, in order to constrain the GRB models. We present here a systematic analysis of those afterglows observed by XMM-Newton between January 2000 and March 2004. This dataset includes GRB 011211 and GRB 030329. We have obtained spectra, light curves and colors for these afterglows. In this paper we focus on the continuum spectral and temporal behavior. We compare these values with the theoretical ones expected from the fireball model. We derive constraints about the burst environment (absorption, density profile) and put constraints on their beaming angle.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, COSPAR proceeding accepted for publication in Advances in Space Researc

From topological insulators to superconductors and Confinement

Topological matter in 3D is characterized by the presence of a topological BF term in its long-distance effective action. We show that, in 3D, there is another marginal term that must be added to the action in order to fully determine the physical content of the model. The quantum phase structure is governed by three parameters that drive the condensation of topological defects: the BF coupling, the electric permittivity and the magnetic permeability of the material. For intermediate levels of electric permittivity and magnetic permeability the material is a topological insulator. We predict, however, new states of matter when these parameters cross critical values: a topological superconductor when electric permittivity is increased and magnetic permeability is lowered and a charge confinement phase in the opposite case of low electric permittivity and high magnetic permeability. Synthetic topological matter may be fabricated as 3D arrays of Josephson junctions.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, few references added, typos corrected and few comments adde

The "plus" side of epilepsy phenotyping

No abstract available