Effective band-structure in the insulating phase versus strong dynamical correlations in metallic VO2

Using a general analytical continuation scheme for cluster dynamical mean field calculations, we analyze real-frequency self-energies, momentum-resolved spectral functions, and one-particle excitations of the metallic and insulating phases of VO2. While for the former dynamical correlations and lifetime effects prevent a description in terms of quasi-particles, the excitations of the latter allow for an effective band-structure. We construct an orbital-dependent, but static one-particle potential that reproduces the full many-body spectrum. Yet, the ground state is well beyond a static one-particle description. The emerging picture gives a non-trivial answer to the decade-old question of the nature of the insulator, which we characterize as a ``many-body Peierls'' state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 color figure

Electronic band structure and exchange coupling constants in ACr2X4 spinels

We present the results of band structure calculations for ACr2X4 (A=Zn, Cd, Hg and X=O, S, Se) spinels. Effective exchange coupling constants between Cr spins are determined by fitting the energy of spin spirals to a classical Heisenberg model. The calculations reproduce the change of the sign of the dominant nearest-neighbor exchange interaction J1 from antiferromagnetic in oxides to ferromagnetic in sulfides and selenides. It is verified that the ferromagnetic contribution to J1 is due to indirect hopping between Cr t2g and eg states via X p states. Antiferromagnetic coupling between 3-rd Cr neighbors is found to be important in all the ACr2X4 spinels studied, whereas other interactions are much weaker. The results are compared to predictions based on the Goodenough-Kanamori rules of superexchange.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 3 table

Spectral (MIR) determination of kaolinite and gibbsite contents in lateritic soils

Kaolinite et gibbsite sont, avec les oxyhydroxydes de fer et le quartz, les constituants de base des sols latéritiques. Les proportions relatives de ces deux minéraux sont des témoins du degré d'évolution de ces sols, d'où l'intérêt de leur détermination quantitative, généralement réalisée par des analyses chimiques ou par diffraction des rayons X, techniques longues et coûteuses. Une procédure nouvelle est proposée; elle est fondée sur la spectroscopie optique en réflectance diffuse et permet une estimation satisfaisante de la teneur en gibbsite et en kaolinite dans les sols étudiés. Pour cette dernière, l'estimation concerne la teneur en kaolinite dans la seule fraction argileuse de la terre fine. En outre, un indice basé sur les intensités d'absorption de la kaolinite et de la gibbsite a été trouvé pour estimer d'une façon précise le rapport Ki = SiO2/Al2O3 dans les sols latéritiques. Ces déterminations peuvent être effectuées directement sur le terrain à l'aide d'un spectromètre portable. (Résumé d'auteur

Polar phonons and intrinsic dielectric response of the ferromagnetic insulating spinel CdCr2_2S4_4 from first principles

We have studied the dielectric properties of the ferromagnetic spinel CdCr$_2$S$_4$ from first principles. Zone-center phonons and Born effective charges were calculated by frozen-phonon and Berry phase techniques within LSDA+U. We find that all infrared-active phonons are quite stable within the cubic space group. The calculated static dielectric constant agrees well with previous measurements. These results suggest that the recently observed anomalous dielectric behavior in CdCr$_2$S$_4$ is not due to the softening of a polar mode. We suggest further experiments to clarify this point

Effect of Inter-Site Repulsions on Magnetic Susceptibility of One-Dimensional Electron Systems at Quarter-Filling

The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, \chi (T), is investigated for one-dimensional interacting electron systems at quarter-filling within the Kadanoff-Wilson renormalization-group method. The forward scattering on the same branch (the g_4-process) is examined together with the backward (g_1) and forward (g_2) scattering amplitudes on opposite branches. In connection with lattice models, we show that \chi (T) is strongly enhanced by the nearest-neighbor interaction, an enhancement that surpasses one of the next-nearest-neighbor interaction. A connection between our predictions for \chi (T) and experimental results for \chi (T) in quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors is presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, vol. 74, No. 1

Triplet superconducting pairing and density-wave instabilities in organic conductors

Using a renormalization group approach, we determine the phase diagram of an extended quasi-one-dimensional electron gas model that includes interchain hopping, nesting deviations and both intrachain and interchain repulsive interactions. We find a close proximity of spin-density- and charge-density-wave phases, singlet d-wave and triplet f-wave superconducting phases. There is a striking correspondence between our results and recent puzzling experimental findings in the Bechgaard salts, including the coexistence of spin-density-wave and charge-density-wave phases and the possibility of a triplet pairing in the superconducting phase.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figure

Quantum Phase Transition in Pr2CuO4 to Collinear Spin State in Inclined Magnetic Field: A Neutron Diffraction Observation

In the external field slightly inclined to the $x$- or y-axis of the frustrated tetragonal atiferromagnet Pr2CuO4, a transition is discovered from the phase with orthogonal antiferromagnetic spin subsystems along [1,0,0] and [0,1,0] to the phase with the collinear spins. This phase is shown to be due to the pseudodipolar interaction, and transforms into the spin-flop phase S perp H asymptotically at very high field. The discovered phase transition holds at T=0 and is a quantum one, with the transition field being the critical point and the angle between two subsystems being the order parameter

Interaction Properties of the Periodic and Step-like Solutions of the Double-Sine-Gordon Equation

The periodic and step-like solutions of the double-Sine-Gordon equation are investigated, with different initial conditions and for various values of the potential parameter $\epsilon$. We plot energy and force diagrams, as functions of the inter-soliton distance for such solutions. This allows us to consider our system as an interacting many-body system in 1+1 dimension. We therefore plot state diagrams (pressure vs. average density) for step-like as well as periodic solutions. Step-like solutions are shown to behave similarly to their counterparts in the Sine-Gordon system. However, periodic solutions show a fundamentally different behavior as the parameter $\epsilon$ is increased. We show that two distinct phases of periodic solutions exist which exhibit manifestly different behavior. Response functions for these phases are shown to behave differently, joining at an apparent phase transition point.Comment: 17pages, 15 figure

The Cost of Accumulating Evidence in Perceptual Decision Making

Decision making often involves the accumulation of information over time, but acquiring information typically comes at a cost. Little is known about the cost incurred by animals and humans for acquiring additional information from sensory variables due, for instance, to attentional efforts. Through a novel integration of diffusion models and dynamic programming, we were able to estimate the cost of making additional observations per unit of time from two monkeys and six humans in a reaction time (RT) random-dot motion discrimination task. Surprisingly, we find that the cost is neither zero nor constant over time, but for the animals and humans features a brief period in which it is constant but increases thereafter. In addition, we show that our theory accurately matches the observed reaction time distributions for each stimulus condition, the time-dependent choice accuracy both conditional on stimulus strength and independent of it, and choice accuracy and mean reaction times as a function of stimulus strength. The theory also correctly predicts that urgency signals in the brain should be independent of the difficulty, or stimulus strength, at each trial

Role of Phase Variables in Quarter-Filled Spin Density Wave States

Several kinds of spin density wave (SDW) states with both quarter-filled band and dimerization are reexamined for a one-dimensional system with on-site, nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor repulsive interactions, which has been investigated by Kobayashi et al. (J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 67 (1998) 1098). Within the mean-field theory, the ground state and the response to the density variation are calculated in terms of phase variables, $\theta$ and $\phi$, where $\theta$ expresses the charge fluctuation of SDW and $\phi$ describes the relative motion between density wave with up spin and that with down spin respectively. It is shown that the exotic state of coexistence of 2k_F-SDW and 2k_F-charge density wave (CDW) is followed by 4k_F-SDW but not by 4k_F-CDW where k_F denotes a Fermi wave vector. The harmonic potential with respect to the variation of $\theta$ and/or $\phi$ disappears for the interactions, which lead to the boundary between the pure 2k_F-SDW state and the corresponding coexistent state.Comment: 9 pages, 15 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 69 No.3 (2000) 79