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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Bandwidth Tuning Triggers Interplay Of Charge Order And Superconductivity In Two-Dimensional Organic Materials, S. Kaiser, M. Dressel, Y. Sun, A. Greco, J. A. Schlueter, Gary L. Gard, N. Drichko Nov 2010

Bandwidth Tuning Triggers Interplay Of Charge Order And Superconductivity In Two-Dimensional Organic Materials, S. Kaiser, M. Dressel, Y. Sun, A. Greco, J. A. Schlueter, Gary L. Gard, N. Drichko

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

We observe charge-order fluctuations in the quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductor β″-(BEDT-TTF)₂SF₅CH₂CF₂SO₃, both by means of vibrational spectroscopy, locally probing the fluctuating charge order, and by investigating the in-plane dynamical response by infrared reflectance spectroscopy. The decrease of the effective electronic interaction in an isostructural metal suppresses both charge-order fluctuations and superconductivity, pointing to their interplay. We compare the results of our experiments with calculations on the extended Hubbard model.


Dynamical Conductivity At The Dirty Superconductor-Metal Quantum Phase Transition, Adrian Del Maestro, Bernd Rosenow, Jose A. Hoyos, Thomas Vojta Oct 2010

Dynamical Conductivity At The Dirty Superconductor-Metal Quantum Phase Transition, Adrian Del Maestro, Bernd Rosenow, Jose A. Hoyos, Thomas Vojta

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We study the transport properties of ultrathin disordered nanowires in the neighborhood of the superconductor-metal quantum phase transition. To this end we combine numerical calculations with analytical strong-disorder renormalization group results. The quantum critical conductivity at zero temperature diverges logarithmically as a function of frequency. In the metallic phase, it obeys activated scaling associated with an infinite-randomness quantum critical point. We extend the scaling theory to higher dimensions and discuss implications for experiments.


Interplay Between Structure And Chemistry Of Materials And Their Physical Properties, Alaska Subedi Aug 2010

Interplay Between Structure And Chemistry Of Materials And Their Physical Properties, Alaska Subedi

Doctoral Dissertations

First principles calculations provide a powerful tool for sorting out the interplay of chemical composition and structure with the physical properties of materials. In this dissertation, I discuss the physical properties and their microscopic basis within this framework for following illustrative examples. (i) The Zintl phase hydrides, where I find H is anionic and the formation of covalent sp2 bonds in the Al/Ga/Al-Si planes, which is a highly unusual bonding configuration for these elements. (ii) PbTe, which shows strong coupling between the longitudinal acoustic and transverse optic modes that may explain its low thermal conductivity. (iii) The double perovskites BiPbZnNbO6 …


Anomalously Elastic Intermediate Phase In Randomly Layered Superfluids, Superconductors, And Planar Magnets, Priyanka Mohan, Paul M. Goldbart, Rajesh Narayanan, John Toner, Thomas Vojta Aug 2010

Anomalously Elastic Intermediate Phase In Randomly Layered Superfluids, Superconductors, And Planar Magnets, Priyanka Mohan, Paul M. Goldbart, Rajesh Narayanan, John Toner, Thomas Vojta

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We show that layered quenched randomness in planar magnets leads to an unusual intermediate phase between the conventional ferromagnetic low-temperature and paramagnetic high-temperature phases. In this intermediate phase, which is part of the Griffiths region, the spin-wave stiffness perpendicular to the random layers displays anomalous scaling behavior, with a continuously variable anomalous exponent, while the magnetization and the stiffness parallel to the layers both remain finite. Analogous results hold for superfluids and superconductors. We study the two phase transitions into the anomalous elastic phase, and we discuss the universality of these results, and implications of finite sample size as well …


Miniaturized Superconducting Metamaterials For Radio Frequencies, Cihan Kurter, John A. Abrahams, Steven Mark Anlage Jun 2010

Miniaturized Superconducting Metamaterials For Radio Frequencies, Cihan Kurter, John A. Abrahams, Steven Mark Anlage

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have developed a low-loss, ultrasmall radio frequency (rf) metamaterial operating at ~76 MHz. This miniaturized medium is made up of planar spiral elements with diameter as small as ~λ/658 (λ is the free space wavelength), fashioned from Nb thin films on quartz substrates. The transmission data are examined below and above the superconducting transition temperature of Nb for both a single spiral and a one dimensional array. The validity of the design is tested through numerical simulations and good agreement is found. We discuss how superconductors enable such a compact design in the rf with high loaded-quality factor (in …


Upper Limits On A Possible Gluon Mass, Shmuel Nussinov, Robert Shrock Jan 2010

Upper Limits On A Possible Gluon Mass, Shmuel Nussinov, Robert Shrock

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

We analyze upper limits on a possible gluon mass, mg. We first discuss various ways to modify quantum chromodynamics to include m(g) not equal 0, including a bare mass, a Higgs mechanism, and dynamical breaking of color SU(3)(c). From an examination of experimental data, we infer an upper limit m(g) < O(1) MeV. As part of our analysis, we show that a claim, hitherto unrefuted in the literature, of a much stronger upper limit on m(g), is invalid. We discuss subtleties in interpreting gluon mass limits in view of the fact that at scales below Lambda(QCD), quantum chromodynamics is strongly coupled, perturbation theory is not reliable, and the physics is not accurately described in terms of the Lagrangian degrees of freedom, including gluons. We also point out a fundamental difference in the behavior of quantum chromodynamics with a nonzero gluon mass and a weakly coupled gauge theory with a gauge boson mass.