Input Sources and Properties of Position-Sensitive Oculomotor Fibres in the Rock Lobster, Panulirus Interruptus (Randall)

Sets of head-up, head-down, eye-up and eye-down motor fibres were studied in the oculomotor nerve of the rock lobster. An eye-withdrawal fibre was also investigated. Apart from the statocyst input, light distribution on the eyes has the strongest influence on the position-sensitive fibres. Weaker optokinetic input from moving targets is also present. Strongly habituating input is obtained from the antennal joints. This input causes orientation of the eye toward the direction in which the antenna points. The same antennule movement in the vertical plane can result in either excitation or inhibition of the head-down fibre, suggesting the presence of two opposing inputs, presumably from the statocysts and basal joint receptors of the antennule. The inputs on to the position-sensitive fibres which indicate body position are such as to stabilize the eye position in space during body movement. The optokinetic and antennal joint inputs are probably involved in tracking and antennal pointing reactions. The eye-withdrawal fibre is stimulated by touch of the head and around the eye, but is inhibited by the excited state

Properties of the Optokinetic Motor Fibres in the Rock Lobster: Build-Up, Flipback, Afterdischarge and Memory, Shown by Their Firing Patterns

The properties of sets of motor fibres responding to both clockwise and anticlockwise rotation have been studied in the oculomotor nerve of the rock lobster. There are probably three, but perhaps four, units in each set. None of these fibres has statocyst input, but there is weak input onto the tonic fibres from the antennal joints such that the eye turns in the direction toward which the antenna points. Many preparations show bilateral visual input onto all fibres but the degree of coupling between the eyes is very variable, and at times can be nearly totally absent. Depending on the speed of rotation the fibres show a gradual build-up in frequency, during rotation in the preferred direction, interrupted by flipbacks. During the fast stage of the resulting nystagmic movements all agonistic fibres can be completely inhibited and all antagonistic ones can be activated, usually for a period of about 0.5 sec. Fibre activity is demonstrated which appears to underlie an ‘optokinetic memory’ of contrasting target position in the visual field. It consists of (a) very prolonged after-discharges for a stationary striped pattern (b) resumption of discharges at an appropriate frequency after dark periods up to 2 min, and (c) adjustment of such frequencies to changes in stripe position during the dark period. The fibres show habituation to repeated stripe movement but the response can be dishabituated by passive rotation of the animal. The largest visual responses were obtained to intermediate speeds of stripe rotation (about 2°/sec)

Spectral Classification and Effective Temperatures of L and T Dwarfs Based of Near-Infrared Spectra

We have obtained near-infrared spectra of L dwarfs, L/T transition objects and T dwarfs using Subaru. Resulting spectra are examined in detail to see their dependence on the spectral types. We have obtained bolometric luminosities of the objects with known parallaxes in our sample, first by integrating the spectra and second by K band bolometric correction. We derive the relation between effective temperature and spectral type.Comment: To appear in May 20, 2004 issue of ApJ There is a companion paper by Tsuji, Nakajima and Yanagisaw

A Study of Ni-Substitution Effects on Heavy-Fermion CeCu2Si2 - Similarities between Ni Substitution and High-Pressure Effects -

The effects of Ni substitution on Ce(Cu1-xNix)2Si2 have been studied by specific heat and electrical resistivity measurements. The specific heat measurement has revealed that the enhanced quantum fluctuations around an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point are markedly suppressed by Ni substitution, and that the Fermi liquid state recovers in the Nirich region (x > 0.12). The characteristic T-linear dependence of the resistivity has been observed at approximately x ~ 0.10 together with a sign of superconductivity. The variation of n in the form of rho - rho0 = aT^n against Tmax^1, at which the resistivity peaks, coincides with the case of high-pressure experiments on pure CeCu2Si2. The anomalous T-linear behavior appears to occur in the crossover region from the Kondo regime to the valence fluctuation regime rather than in the conventional antiferromagnetic quantum critical region.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published (J. Phys. Soc. Jpn

Superconductivity, magnetic order, and quadrupolar order in the filled skutterudite system Pr1−x_{1-x}Ndx_{x}Os4_4Sb12_{12}

Superconductivity, magnetic order, and quadrupolar order have been investigated in the filled skutterudite system Pr$_{1-x}$Nd$_{x}$Os$_4$Sb$_{12}$ as a function of composition $x$ in magnetic fields up to 9 tesla and at temperatures between 50 mK and 10 K. Electrical resistivity measurements indicate that the high field ordered phase (HFOP), which has been identified with antiferroquadruoplar order, persists to $x$ $\sim$ 0.5. The superconducting critical temperature $T_c$ of PrOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ is depressed linearly with Nd concentration to $x$ $\sim$ 0.55, whereas the Curie temperature $T_{FM}$ of NdOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ is depressed linearly with Pr composition to ($1-x$) $\sim$ 0.45. In the superconducting region, the upper critical field $H_{c2}(x,0)$ is depressed quadratically with $x$ in the range 0 $<$ $x$ $\lesssim$ 0.3, exhibits a kink at $x$ $\approx$ 0.3, and then decreases linearly with $x$ in the range 0.3 $\lesssim$ $x$ $\lesssim$ 0.6. The behavior of $H_{c2}(x,0)$ appears to be due to pair breaking caused by the applied magnetic field and the exhange field associated with the polarization of the Nd magnetic moments, in the superconducting state. From magnetic susceptibility measurements, the correlations between the Nd moments in the superconducting state appear to change from ferromagnetic in the range 0.3 $\lesssim$ $x$ $\lesssim$ 0.6 to antiferromagnetic in the range 0 $<$ $x$ $\lesssim$ 0.3. Specific heat measurements on a sample with $x$ $=$ 0.45 indicate that magnetic order occurs in the superconducting state, as is also inferred from the depression of $H_{c2}(x,0)$ with $x$.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, currently submitted to Phys. Rev.

Off-diagonal Wave Function Monte Carlo Studies of Hubbard Model I

We propose a Monte Carlo method, which is a hybrid method of the quantum Monte Carlo method and variational Monte Carlo theory, to study the Hubbard model. The theory is based on the off-diagonal and the Gutzwiller type correlation factors which are taken into account by a Monte Carlo algorithm. In the 4x4 system our method is able to reproduce the exact results obtained by the diagonalization. An application is given to investigate the half-filled band case of two-dimensional square lattice. The energy is favorably compared with quantum Monte Carlo data.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Quantum conductance-temperature phase diagram of granular superconductor KxFe2-ySe2

It is now well established that the microstructure of Fe-based chalcogenide KxFe2−ySe2 consists of, at least, a minor (~15 percent), nano-sized, superconducting KsFe2Se2 phase and a major (~85 percent) insulating antiferromagnetic K2Fe4Se5 matrix. Other intercalated A1−xFe2−ySe2 (A = Li, Na, Ba, Sr, Ca, Yb, Eu, ammonia, amide, pyridine, ethylenediamine etc.) manifest a similar microstructure. On subjecting each of these systems to a varying control parameter (e.g. heat treatment, concentration x,y, or pressure p), one obtains an exotic normal-state and superconducting phase diagram. With the objective of rationalizing the properties of such a diagram, we envisage a system consisting of nanosized superconducting granules which are embedded within an insulating continuum. Then, based on the standard granular superconductor model, an induced variation in size, distribution, separation and Fe-content of the superconducting granules can be expressed in terms of model parameters (e.g. tunneling conductance, g, Coulomb charging energy, Ec, superconducting gap of single granule, Δ, and Josephson energy J = πΔg/2). We show, with illustration from experiments, that this granular scenario explains satisfactorily the evolution of normal-state and superconducting properties (best visualized on a g - E c/∆ T phase diagram) of AxFe2−ySe2 when any of x, y, p, or heat treatment is varied

Ground state of the three-band Hubbard model

The ground state of the two-dimensional three-band Hubbard model in oxide superconductors is investigated by using the variational Monte Carlo method. The Gutzwiller-projected BCS and spin- density wave (SDW) functions are employed in the search for a possible ground state with respect to dependences on electron density. Antiferromagnetic correlations are considerably enhanced near half-filling. It is shown that the d-wave state may exist away from half-filling for both the hole and electron doping cases. The overall structure of the phase diagram obtained by the calculations qualitatively agrees with experimental indications. The superconducting condensation energy is in reasonable agreement with the experimental value obtained from specific heat and critical magnetic field measurements for optimally doped samples. The inhomogeneous SDW state is also examined near 1/8-hole doping.Comment: 10 pages, 17 figure