Spin-Glass-like Transition and Hall Resistivity of Y2-xBixIr2O7

Various physical properties of the pyrochlore oxide Y2-xBixIr2O7 have been studied. The magnetizations M measured under the conditions of the zero-field-cooling(ZFC) and the field-cooling(FC) have different values below the temperature T=TG. The anomalous T-dependence of the electrical resistivities r and the thermoelectric powers S observed at around TG indicates that the behavior of the magnetization is due to the transition to the state with the spin freezing. In this spin-frozen state, the Hall resistivities rH measured with the ZFC and FC conditions are found to have different values, too, in the low temperature phase (T<TG). Possible mechanisms which induce such the hysteretic behavior are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 72 (2003) No.

Magnetic field-induced quantum critical point in YbPtIn and YbPt0.98_{0.98}In single crystals

Detailed anisotropic (H$\parallel$ab and H$\parallel$c) resistivity and specific heat measurements were performed on online-grown YbPtIn and solution-grown YbPt$_{0.98}$In single crystals for temperatures down to 0.4 K, and fields up to 140 kG; H$\parallel$ab Hall resistivity was also measured on the YbPt$_{0.98}$In system for the same temperature and field ranges. All these measurements indicate that the small change in stoichiometry between the two compounds drastically affects their ordering temperatures (T$_{ord}\approx3.4$ K in YbPtIn, and $\sim2.2$ K in YbPt$_{0.98}$In). Furthermore, a field-induced quantum critical point is apparent in each of these heavy fermion systems, with the corresponding critical field values of YbPt$_{0.98}$In (H$^{ab}_c$ around 35-45 kG and H$^{c}_c\approx120$ kG) also reduced compared to the analogous values for YbPtIn (H$^{ab}_c\approx60$ kG and H$^{c}_c>140$ kG

Magnetization plateaux in the classical Shastry-Sutherland lattice

We investigated the classical Shastry-Sutherland lattice under an external magnetic field in order to understand the recently discovered magnetization plateaux in the rare-earth tetraborides compounds RB$_4$. A detailed study of the role of thermal fluctuations was carried out by mean of classical spin waves theory and Monte-Carlo simulations. Magnetization quasi-plateaux were observed at 1/3 of the saturation magnetization at non zero temperature. We showed that the existence of these quasi-plateaux is due to an entropic selection of a particular collinear state. We also obtained a phase diagram that shows the domains of existence of different spin configurations in the magnetic field versus temperature plane.Comment: 4 pages, proceedings of HFM200

High-field magnetization and magnetoresistance of the AA-site ordered perovskite oxide CaCu3_{3}Ti4−x_{4-x}Rux_{x}O12_{12}~(0≤x≤40 \le x \le 4)

We have measured high-field magnetization and magnetoresistance of polycrystalline samples of the A-site ordered perovskite CaCu3Ti4-xRuxO12 (x=0 - 4) utilizing a non-destructive pulsed magnet. We find that the magnetization for x=0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 is nonlinear, and tends to saturate in high fields. This is highly nontrivial because the magnetization for x=0 and 4 is linear in external field up to the highest one. We have analyzed this field dependence based on the thermodynamics of magnetic materials, and propose that the external fields delocalize the holes on the Cu2+ ions in order to maximize the entropy. This scenario is qualitatively consistent with a large magnetoresistance of -70% observed at 4.2 K at 52 T for x=1.5.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Evolution of the Luminosity Density in the Universe: Implications for the Nonzero Cosmological Constant

We show that evolution of the luminosity density of galaxies in the universe provides a powerful test for the geometry of the universe. Using reasonable galaxy evolution models of population synthesis which reproduce the colors of local galaxies of various morphological types, we have calculated the luminosity density of galaxies as a function of redshift $z$. Comparison of the result with recent measurements by the Canada-France Redshift Survey in three wavebands of 2800{\AA}, 4400{\AA}, and 1 micron at z<1 indicates that the \Lambda-dominated flat universe with \lambda_0 \sim 0.8 is favored, and the lower limit on \lambda_0 yields 0.37 (99% C.L.) or 0.53 (95% C.L.) if \Omega_0+\lambda_0=1. The Einstein-de Sitter universe with (\Omega_0, \lambda_0)=(1, 0) and the low-density open universe with (0.2, 0) are however ruled out with 99.86% C.L. and 98.6% C.L., respectively. The confidence levels quoted apply unless the standard assumptions on galaxy evolution are drastically violated. We have also calculated a global star formation rate in the universe to be compared with the observed rate beyond z \sim 2. We find from this comparison that spiral galaxies are formed from material accretion over an extended period of a few Gyrs, while elliptical galaxies are formed from initial star burst at z >~ 5 supplying enough amount of metals and ionizing photons in the intergalactic medium.Comment: 11 pages including 3 figures, LaTeX, uses AASTeX. To Appear in ApJ Letter

The Optical/Near-Infrared Light Curves of SN 2002ap for the First 140 Days after Discovery

Supernova (SN) 2002ap in M74 was observed in the $UBVRIJHK$ bands for the first 40 days following its discovery (2002 January 29) until it disappeared because of solar conjunction, and then in June after it reappeared. The magnitudes and dates of peak brightness in each band were determined. While the rate of increase of the brightness before the peak is almost independent of wavelength, the subsequent rate of decrease becomes smaller with wavelength from the $U$ to the $R$ band, and is constant at wavelengths beyond $I$. The photometric evolution is faster than in the well-known ``hypernovae'' SNe~1998bw and 1997ef, indicating that SN 2002ap ejected less mass. The bolometric light curve of SN 2002ap for the full period of observations was constructed. The absolute magnitude is found to be much fainter than that of SN 1998bw, but is similar to that of SN 1997ef, which lies at the faint end of the hypernova population. The bolometric light curve at the early epochs was best reproduced with the explosion of a C+O star that ejects 2.5~M_\sun with kinetic energy $E_{\rm K}=4\times 10^{51}~{\rm ergs}$. A comparison of the predicted brightness of SN 2002ap with that observed after solar conjunction may imply that $\gamma$-ray deposition at the later epochs was more efficient than in the model. This may be due to an asymmetric explosion.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, quality of figure1 is reduced for smaller filesize, accepted for publication in Ap

New limits on a cosmological constant from statistics of gravitational lensing

We present new limits on cosmological parameters from the statistics of gravitational lensing, based on the recently revised knowledge of the luminosity function and internal dynamics of E/S0 galaxies that are essential in lensing high-redshift QSOs. We find that the lens models using updated Schechter parameters for such galaxies, derived from the recent redshift surveys combined with morphological classification, are found to give smaller lensing probabilities than earlier calculated. Inconsistent adoption of these parameters from a mixture of various galaxy surveys gives rise to systematic biases in the results. We also show that less compact dwarf-type galaxies which largely dominate the faint part of the Schechter-form luminosity function contribute little to lensing probabilities, so that earlier lens models overestimate incidents of small separation lenses. Applications of the lens models to the existing lens surveys indicate that reproduction of both the lensing probability of optical sources and the image separations of optical and radio lenses is significantly improved in the revised lens models. The likelihood analyses allow us to conclude that a flat universe with Omega=0.3(+0.2-0.1) and Omega+Lambda=1 is most preferable, and a matter-dominated flat universe with Lambda=0 is ruled out at 98 % confidence level. These new limits are unaffected by inclusion of uncertainties in the lens properties.Comment: 30 pages, 9 ps figures, AASTeX, ApJ in pres