Unifying time evolution and optimization with matrix product states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haegeman, Jutho; Lubich, Christian; Oseledets, Ivan; Vandereycken, Bart; Verstraete, Frank

2016-10-01

We show that the time-dependent variational principle provides a unifying framework for time-evolution methods and optimization methods in the context of matrix product states. In particular, we introduce a new integration scheme for studying time evolution, which can cope with arbitrary Hamiltonians, including those with long-range interactions. Rather than a Suzuki-Trotter splitting of the Hamiltonian, which is the idea behind the adaptive time-dependent density matrix renormalization group method or time-evolving block decimation, our method is based on splitting the projector onto the matrix product state tangent space as it appears in the Dirac-Frenkel time-dependent variational principle. We discuss how the resulting algorithm resembles the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm for finding ground states so closely that it can be implemented by changing just a few lines of code and it inherits the same stability and efficiency. In particular, our method is compatible with any Hamiltonian for which ground-state DMRG can be implemented efficiently. In fact, DMRG is obtained as a special case of our scheme for imaginary time evolution with infinite time step.

Staggered chiral random matrix theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Osborn, James C.

2011-02-01

We present a random matrix theory for the staggered lattice QCD Dirac operator. The staggered random matrix theory is equivalent to the zero-momentum limit of the staggered chiral Lagrangian and includes all taste breaking terms at their leading order. This is an extension of previous work which only included some of the taste breaking terms. We will also present some results for the taste breaking contributions to the partition function and the Dirac eigenvalues.

BRST technique for the cosmological density matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barvinsky, A. O.

2013-10-01

The microcanonical density matrix in closed cosmology has a natural definition as a projector on the space of solutions of Wheeler-DeWitt equations, which is motivated by the absence of global non-vanishing charges and energy in spatially closed gravitational systems. Using the BRST/BFV formalism in relativistic phase space of gauge and ghost variables we derive the path integral representation for this projector and the relevant statistical sum. This derivation circumvents the difficulties associated with the open algebra of noncommutative quantum Dirac constraints and the construction/regularization of the physical inner product in the subspace of BRS singlets. This inner product is achieved via the Batalin-Marnelius gauge fixing in the space of BRS-invariant states, which in its turn is shown to be a result of truncation of the BRST/BFV formalism to the "matter" sector of relativistic phase space.

Quasi-Dirac neutrino oscillations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anamiati, Gaetana; Fonseca, Renato M.; Hirsch, Martin

2018-05-01

Dirac neutrino masses require two distinct neutral Weyl spinors per generation, with a special arrangement of masses and interactions with charged leptons. Once this arrangement is perturbed, lepton number is no longer conserved and neutrinos become Majorana particles. If these lepton number violating perturbations are small compared to the Dirac mass terms, neutrinos are quasi-Dirac particles. Alternatively, this scenario can be characterized by the existence of pairs of neutrinos with almost degenerate masses, and a lepton mixing matrix which has 12 angles and 12 phases. In this work we discuss the phenomenology of quasi-Dirac neutrino oscillations and derive limits on the relevant parameter space from various experiments. In one parameter perturbations of the Dirac limit, very stringent bounds can be derived on the mass splittings between the almost degenerate pairs of neutrinos. However, we also demonstrate that with suitable changes to the lepton mixing matrix, limits on such mass splittings are much weaker, or even completely absent. Finally, we consider the possibility that the mass splittings are too small to be measured and discuss bounds on the new, nonstandard lepton mixing angles from current experiments for this case.

Connection between the regular approximation and the normalized elimination of the small component in relativistic quantum theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filatov, Michael; Cremer, Dieter

2005-02-01

The regular approximation to the normalized elimination of the small component (NESC) in the modified Dirac equation has been developed and presented in matrix form. The matrix form of the infinite-order regular approximation (IORA) expressions, obtained in [Filatov and Cremer, J. Chem. Phys. 118, 6741 (2003)] using the resolution of the identity, is the exact matrix representation and corresponds to the zeroth-order regular approximation to NESC (NESC-ZORA). Because IORA (=NESC-ZORA) is a variationally stable method, it was used as a suitable starting point for the development of the second-order regular approximation to NESC (NESC-SORA). As shown for hydrogenlike ions, NESC-SORA energies are closer to the exact Dirac energies than the energies from the fifth-order Douglas-Kroll approximation, which is much more computationally demanding than NESC-SORA. For the application of IORA (=NESC-ZORA) and NESC-SORA to many-electron systems, the number of the two-electron integrals that need to be evaluated (identical to the number of the two-electron integrals of a full Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculation) was drastically reduced by using the resolution of the identity technique. An approximation was derived, which requires only the two-electron integrals of a nonrelativistic calculation. The accuracy of this approach was demonstrated for heliumlike ions. The total energy based on the approximate integrals deviates from the energy calculated with the exact integrals by less than 5×10-9hartree units. NESC-ZORA and NESC-SORA can easily be implemented in any nonrelativistic quantum chemical program. Their application is comparable in cost with that of nonrelativistic methods. The methods can be run with density functional theory and any wave function method. NESC-SORA has the advantage that it does not imply a picture change.

Existence of ground state of an electron in the BDF approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sok, Jérémy

2014-05-01

The Bogoliubov-Dirac-Fock (BDF) model allows us to describe relativistic electrons interacting with the Dirac sea. It can be seen as a mean-field approximation of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) where photons are neglected. This paper treats the case of an electron together with the Dirac sea in the absence of any external field. Such a system is described by its one-body density matrix, an infinite rank, self-adjoint operator. The parameters of the model are the coupling constant α > 0 and the ultraviolet cut-off Λ > 0: we consider the subspace of squared integrable functions made of the functions whose Fourier transform vanishes outside the ball B(0, Λ). We prove the existence of minimizers of the BDF energy under the charge constraint of one electron and no external field provided that α, Λ-1 and α log(Λ) are sufficiently small. The interpretation is the following: in this regime the electron creates a polarization in the Dirac vacuum which allows it to bind. We then study the non-relativistic limit of such a system in which the speed of light tends to infinity (or equivalently α tends to zero) with αlog(Λ) fixed: after rescaling and translation the electronic solution tends to a Choquard-Pekar ground state.

Neutrino CP violation and sign of baryon asymmetry in the minimal seesaw model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Yusuke; Takagi, Kenta; Tanimoto, Morimitsu

2018-03-01

We discuss the correlation between the CP violating Dirac phase of the lepton mixing matrix and the cosmological baryon asymmetry based on the leptogenesis in the minimal seesaw model with two right-handed Majorana neutrinos and the trimaximal mixing for neutrino flavors. The sign of the CP violating Dirac phase at low energy is fixed by the observed cosmological baryon asymmetry since there is only one phase parameter in the model. According to the recent T2K and NOνA data of the CP violation, the Dirac neutrino mass matrix of our model is fixed only for the normal hierarchy of neutrino masses.

Band nesting, massive Dirac fermions, and valley Landé and Zeeman effects in transition metal dichalcogenides: A tight-binding model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bieniek, Maciej; Korkusiński, Marek; Szulakowska, Ludmiła; Potasz, Paweł; Ozfidan, Isil; Hawrylak, Paweł

2018-02-01

We present here the minimal tight-binding model for a single layer of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) MX 2(M , metal; X , chalcogen) which illuminates the physics and captures band nesting, massive Dirac fermions, and valley Landé and Zeeman magnetic field effects. TMDCs share the hexagonal lattice with graphene but their electronic bands require much more complex atomic orbitals. Using symmetry arguments, a minimal basis consisting of three metal d orbitals and three chalcogen dimer p orbitals is constructed. The tunneling matrix elements between nearest-neighbor metal and chalcogen orbitals are explicitly derived at K ,-K , and Γ points of the Brillouin zone. The nearest-neighbor tunneling matrix elements connect specific metal and sulfur orbitals yielding an effective 6 ×6 Hamiltonian giving correct composition of metal and chalcogen orbitals but not the direct gap at K points. The direct gap at K , correct masses, and conduction band minima at Q points responsible for band nesting are obtained by inclusion of next-neighbor Mo-Mo tunneling. The parameters of the next-nearest-neighbor model are successfully fitted to MX 2(M =Mo ; X =S ) density functional ab initio calculations of the highest valence and lowest conduction band dispersion along K -Γ line in the Brillouin zone. The effective two-band massive Dirac Hamiltonian for MoS2, Landé g factors, and valley Zeeman splitting are obtained.

Pairing from dynamically screened Coulomb repulsion in bismuth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruhman, Jonathan; Lee, Patrick A.

2017-12-01

Recently, Prakash et al. have discovered bulk superconductivity in single crystals of bismuth, which is a semimetal with extremely low carrier density. At such low density, we argue that conventional electron-phonon coupling is too weak to be responsible for the binding of electrons into Cooper pairs. We study a dynamically screened Coulomb interaction with effective attraction generated on the scale of the collective plasma modes. We model the electronic states in bismuth to include three Dirac pockets with high velocity and one hole pocket with a significantly smaller velocity. We find a weak-coupling instability, which is greatly enhanced by the presence of the hole pocket. Therefore we argue that bismuth is the first material to exhibit superconductivity driven by retardation effects of Coulomb repulsion alone. By using realistic parameters for bismuth we find that the acoustic plasma mode does not play the central role in pairing. We also discuss a matrix element effect, resulting from the Dirac nature of the conduction band, which may affect Tc in the s -wave channel without breaking time-reversal symmetry.

Discriminating Majorana neutrino textures in light of the baryon asymmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borah, Manikanta; Borah, Debasish; Das, Mrinal Kumar

2015-06-01

We study all possible texture zeros in the Majorana neutrino mass matrix which are allowed from neutrino oscillation as well as cosmology data when the charged lepton mass matrix is assumed to take the diagonal form. In the case of one-zero texture, we write down the Majorana phases which are assumed to be equal and the lightest neutrino mass as a function of the Dirac C P phase. In the case of two-zero texture, we numerically evaluate all the three C P phases and lightest neutrino mass by solving four real constraint equations. We then constrain texture zero mass matrices from the requirement of producing correct baryon asymmetry through the mechanism of leptogenesis by assuming the Dirac neutrino mass matrix to be diagonal. Adopting a type I seesaw framework, we consider the C P -violating out of equilibrium decay of the lightest right-handed neutrino as the source of lepton asymmetry. Apart from discriminating between the texture zero mass matrices and light neutrino mass hierarchy, we also constrain the Dirac and Majorana C P phases so that the observed baryon asymmetry can be produced. In two-zero texture, we further constrain the diagonal form of the Dirac neutrino mass matrix from the requirement of producing correct baryon asymmetry.

Robustness against non-magnetic impurities in topological superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagai, Y.; Ota, Y.; Machida, M.

2014-12-01

We study the robustness against non-magnetic impurities in a three-dimensional topological superconductor, focusing on an effective model (massive Dirac Bogoliubov-de Gennes (BdG) Hamiltonian with s-wave on-site pairing) of CuxBi2Se3 with the parameter set determined by the first-principles calculation. With the use of the self-consistent T- matrix approximation for impurity scattering, we discuss the impurity-concentration dependence of the zero-energy density of states. We show that a single material variable, measuring relativistic effects in the Dirac-BdG Hamiltonian, well characterizes the numerical results. In the nonrelativistic limit, the odd-parity fully-gapped topological superconductivity is fragile against non-magnetic impurities, since this superconductivity can be mapped onto the p-wave superconductivity. On the other hand, in the ultrarelativistic limit, the superconductivity is robust against the non-magnetic impurities, since the effective model has the s-wave superconductivity. We derive the effective Hamiltonian in the both limit.

The positronium and the dipositronium in a Hartree-Fock approximation of quantum electrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sok, Jérémy

2016-02-01

The Bogoliubov-Dirac-Fock (BDF) model is a no-photon approximation of quantum electrodynamics. It allows to study relativistic electrons in interaction with the Dirac sea. A state is fully characterized by its one-body density matrix, an infinite rank non-negative projector. We prove the existence of the para-positronium, the bound state of an electron and a positron with antiparallel spins, in the BDF model represented by a critical point of the energy functional in the absence of an external field. We also prove the existence of the dipositronium, a molecule made of two electrons and two positrons that also appears as a critical point. More generally, for any half integer j ∈ 1/2 + Z + , we prove the existence of a critical point of the energy functional made of 2j + 1 electrons and 2j + 1 positrons.

Lattice gauge action suppressing near-zero modes of H{sub W}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fukaya, Hidenori; Hashimoto, Shoji; Kaneko, Takashi

2006-11-01

We propose a lattice action including unphysical Wilson fermions with a negative mass m{sub 0} of the order of the inverse lattice spacing. With this action, the exact zero mode of the Hermitian Wilson-Dirac operator H{sub W}(m{sub 0}) cannot appear and near-zero modes are strongly suppressed. By measuring the spectral density {rho}({lambda}{sub W}), we find a gap near {lambda}{sub W}=0 on the configurations generated with the standard and improved gauge actions. This gap provides a necessary condition for the proof of the exponential locality of the overlap-Dirac operator by Hernandez, Jansen, and Luescher. Since the number of near-zero modes ismore » small, the numerical cost to calculate the matrix sign function of H{sub W}(m{sub 0}) is significantly reduced, and the simulation including dynamical overlap fermions becomes feasible. We also introduce a pair of twisted mass pseudofermions to cancel the unwanted higher mode effects of the Wilson fermions. The gauge coupling renormalization due to the additional fields is then minimized. The topological charge measured through the index of the overlap-Dirac operator is conserved during continuous evolutions of gauge field variables.« less

Prediction on neutrino Dirac and Majorana phases and absolute mass scale from the CKM matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haba, Naoyuki; Yamada, Toshifumi

2018-03-01

In the type-I seesaw model, the lepton-flavor-mixing matrix (Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata matrix) and the quark-flavor-mixing matrix [Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix] may be connected implicitly through a relation between the neutrino Dirac Yukawa coupling YD and the quark Yukawa couplings. In this paper, we study whether YD can satisfy—in the flavor basis where the charged lepton Yukawa and right-handed neutrino Majorana mass matrices are diagonal—the relation YD∝diag (yd,ys,yb)VCKMT or YD∝diag (yu,yc,yt)VCKM* without contradicting the current experimental data on quarks and neutrino oscillations. We search for sets of values of the neutrino Dirac C P phase δC P, Majorana phases α2 , α3 , and the lightest active neutrino mass that satisfy either of the above relations, with the normal or inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses. In performing the search, we consider renormalization group evolutions of the quark masses and CKM matrix and the propagation of their experimental errors along the evolutions. We find that only the former relation YD∝diag (yd,ys,yb)VCKMT with the normal neutrino mass hierarchy holds, based on which we make predictions for δC P, α2, α3, and the lightest active neutrino mass.

Observation of a two-dimensional Fermi surface and Dirac dispersion in YbMnSb2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kealhofer, Robert; Jang, Sooyoung; Griffin, Sinéad M.; John, Caolan; Benavides, Katherine A.; Doyle, Spencer; Helm, T.; Moll, Philip J. W.; Neaton, Jeffrey B.; Chan, Julia Y.; Denlinger, J. D.; Analytis, James G.

2018-01-01

We present the crystal structure, electronic structure, and transport properties of the material YbMnSb2, a candidate system for the investigation of Dirac physics in the presence of magnetic order. Our measurements reveal that this system is a low-carrier-density semimetal with a two-dimensional Fermi surface arising from a Dirac dispersion, consistent with the predictions of density-functional-theory calculations of the antiferromagnetic system. The low temperature resistivity is very large, suggesting that scattering in this system is highly efficient at dissipating momentum despite its Dirac-like nature.

Generic Friedberg-Lee symmetry of Dirac neutrinos

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luo Shu; Xing Zhizhong; Li Xin

2008-12-01

We write out the generic Dirac neutrino mass operator which possesses the Friedberg-Lee symmetry and find that its corresponding neutrino mass matrix is asymmetric. Following a simple way to break the Friedberg-Lee symmetry, we calculate the neutrino mass eigenvalues and show that the resultant neutrino mixing pattern is nearly tri-bimaximal. Imposing the Hermitian condition on the neutrino mass matrix, we also show that the simplified ansatz is consistent with current experimental data and favors the normal neutrino mass hierarchy.

High efficiency and non-Richardson thermionics in three dimensional Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Sunchao; Sanderson, Matthew; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Chao

2017-10-01

Three dimensional (3D) topological materials have a linear energy dispersion and exhibit many electronic properties superior to conventional materials such as fast response times, high mobility, and chiral transport. In this work, we demonstrate that 3D Dirac materials also have advantages over conventional semiconductors and graphene in thermionic applications. The low emission current suffered in graphene due to the vanishing density of states is enhanced by an increased group velocity in 3D Dirac materials. Furthermore, the thermal energy carried by electrons in 3D Dirac materials is twice of that in conventional materials with a parabolic electron energy dispersion. As a result, 3D Dirac materials have the best thermal efficiency or coefficient of performance when compared to conventional semiconductors and graphene. The generalized Richardson-Dushman law in 3D Dirac materials is derived. The law exhibits the interplay of the reduced density of states and enhanced emission velocity.

Density functional theory for d- and f-electron materials and compounds

DOE PAGES

Mattson, Ann E.; Wills, John M.

2016-02-12

Here, the fundamental requirements for a computationally tractable Density Functional Theory-based method for relativistic f- and (nonrelativistic) d-electron materials and compounds are presented. The need for basing the Kohn–Sham equations on the Dirac equation is discussed. The full Dirac scheme needs exchange-correlation functionals in terms of four-currents, but ordinary functionals, using charge density and spin-magnetization, can be used in an approximate Dirac treatment. The construction of a functional that includes the additional confinement physics needed for these materials is illustrated using the subsystem-functional scheme. If future studies show that a full Dirac, four-current based, exchange-correlation functional is needed, the subsystemmore » functional scheme is one of the few schemes that can still be used for constructing functional approximations.« less

Effect of chiral symmetry on chaotic scattering from Majorana zero modes.

PubMed

Schomerus, H; Marciani, M; Beenakker, C W J

2015-04-24

In many of the experimental systems that may host Majorana zero modes, a so-called chiral symmetry exists that protects overlapping zero modes from splitting up. This symmetry is operative in a superconducting nanowire that is narrower than the spin-orbit scattering length, and at the Dirac point of a superconductor-topological insulator heterostructure. Here we show that chiral symmetry strongly modifies the dynamical and spectral properties of a chaotic scatterer, even if it binds only a single zero mode. These properties are quantified by the Wigner-Smith time-delay matrix Q=-iℏS^{†}dS/dE, the Hermitian energy derivative of the scattering matrix, related to the density of states by ρ=(2πℏ)^{-1}TrQ. We compute the probability distribution of Q and ρ, dependent on the number ν of Majorana zero modes, in the chiral ensembles of random-matrix theory. Chiral symmetry is essential for a significant ν dependence.

Coulomb disorder in three-dimensional Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skinner, Brian

2015-03-01

In three-dimensional materials with a Dirac spectrum, weak short-ranged disorder is essentially irrelevant near the Dirac point. This is manifestly not the case for Coulomb disorder, where the long-ranged nature of the potential produced by charged impurities implies large fluctuations of the disorder potential even when impurities are sparse, and these fluctuations are screened by the formation of electron/hole puddles. Here I outline a theory of such nonlinear screening of Coulomb disorder in three-dimensional Dirac systems, and present results for the typical magnitude of the disorder potential, the corresponding density of states, and the size and density of electron/hole puddles. The resulting conductivity is also discussed.

Application of relativistic mean field and effective field theory densities to scattering observables for Ca isotopes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bhuyan, M.; School of Physics, Sambalpur University, Jyotivihar, Burla 768 019; Panda, R. N.

In the framework of relativistic mean field (RMF) theory, we have calculated the density distribution of protons and neutrons for {sup 40,42,44,48}Ca with NL3 and G2 parameter sets. The microscopic proton-nucleus optical potentials for p+{sup 40,42,44,48}Ca systems are evaluated from the Dirac nucleon-nucleon scattering amplitude and the density of the target nucleus using relativistic-Love-Franey and McNeil-Ray-Wallace parametrizations. We have estimated the scattering observables, such as the elastic differential scattering cross section, analyzing power and the spin observables with the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA). The results have been compared with the experimental data for a few selective cases and we findmore » that the use of density as well as the scattering matrix parametrizations are crucial for the theoretical prediction.« less

Predictions for the Dirac C P -violating phase from sum rules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgadillo, Luis A.; Everett, Lisa L.; Ramos, Raymundo; Stuart, Alexander J.

2018-05-01

We explore the implications of recent results relating the Dirac C P -violating phase to predicted and measured leptonic mixing angles within a standard set of theoretical scenarios in which charged lepton corrections are responsible for generating a nonzero value of the reactor mixing angle. We employ a full set of leptonic sum rules as required by the unitarity of the lepton mixing matrix, which can be reduced to predictions for the observable mixing angles and the Dirac C P -violating phase in terms of model parameters. These sum rules are investigated within a given set of theoretical scenarios for the neutrino sector diagonalization matrix for several known classes of charged lepton corrections. The results provide explicit maps of the allowed model parameter space within each given scenario and assumed form of charged lepton perturbations.

Signatures of evanescent transport in ballistic suspended graphene-superconductor junctions

PubMed Central

Kumaravadivel, Piranavan; Du, Xu

2016-01-01

In Dirac materials, the low energy excitations behave like ultra-relativistic massless particles with linear energy dispersion. A particularly intriguing phenomenon arises with the intrinsic charge transport behavior at the Dirac point where the charge density approaches zero. In graphene, a 2-D Dirac fermion gas system, it was predicted that charge transport near the Dirac point is carried by evanescent modes, resulting in unconventional “pseudo-diffusive” charge transport even in the absence of disorder. In the past decade, experimental observation of this phenomenon remained challenging due to the presence of strong disorder in graphene devices which limits the accessibility of the low carrier density regime close enough to the Dirac point. Here we report transport measurements on ballistic suspended graphene-Niobium Josephson weak links that demonstrate a transition from ballistic to pseudo-diffusive like evanescent transport below a carrier density of ~1010 cm−2. Approaching the Dirac point, the sub-harmonic gap structures due to multiple Andreev reflections display a strong Fermi energy-dependence and become increasingly pronounced, while the normalized excess current through the superconductor-graphene interface decreases sharply. Our observations are in qualitative agreement with the long standing theoretical prediction for the emergence of evanescent transport mediated pseudo-diffusive transport in graphene. PMID:27080733

Radiatively induced neutrino mass model with flavor dependent gauge symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, SangJong; Nomura, Takaaki; Okada, Hiroshi

2018-06-01

We study a radiative seesaw model at one-loop level with a flavor dependent gauge symmetry U(1) μ - τ, in which we consider bosonic dark matter. We also analyze the constraints from lepton flavor violations, muon g - 2, relic density of dark matter, and collider physics, and carry out numerical analysis to search for allowed parameter region which satisfy all the constraints and to investigate some predictions. Furthermore we find that a simple but adhoc hypothesis induces specific two zero texture with inverse mass matrix, which provides us several predictions such as a specific pattern of Dirac CP phase.

Interdimensional effects in systems with quasirelativistic fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zulkoskey, A. C.; Dick, R.; Tanaka, K.

2017-07-01

We examine the Green function and the density of states for fermions moving in three-dimensional Dirac materials with interfaces which affect the propagation properties of particles. Motivation for our research comes from interest in materials that exhibit quasirelativistic dispersion relations. By modifying Dirac-type contributions to the Hamiltonian in an interface we are able to calculate the Green function and the density of states. The density of states inside the interface exhibits interpolating behavior between two and three dimensions, with two-dimensional behavior at high energies and three-dimensional behavior at low energies, provided that the shift in the mass parameter in the interface is small. We also discuss the impact of the interpolating density of states on optical absorption in Dirac materials with a two-dimensional substructure.

Effect of impurity doping on tunneling conductance in AB-stacked bi-layer graphene: A tight-binding study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rout, G. C., E-mail: siva1987@iopb.res.in, E-mail: skp@iopb.res.in, E-mail: gcr@iopb.res.in; Sahu, Sivabrata; Panda, S. K.

2016-04-13

We report here a microscopic tight-binding model calculation for AB-stacked bilayer graphene in presence of biasing potential between the two layers and the impurity effects to study the evolution of the total density of states with special emphasis on opening of band gap near Dirac point. We have calculated the electron Green’s functions for both the A and B sub-lattices by Zubarev technique. The imaginary part of the Green’s function gives the partial and total density of states of electrons. The density of states are computed numerically for 1000 × 1000 grid points of the electron momentum. The evolution ofmore » the opening of band gap near van-Hove singularities as well as near Dirac point is investigated by varying the different interlayer hoppings and the biasing potentials. The inter layer hopping splits the density of states at van-Hove singularities and produces a V-shaped gap near Dirac point. Further the biasing potential introduces a U shaped gap near Dirac point with a density minimum at the applied potential(i.e. at V/2).« less

Texture one zero Dirac neutrino mass matrix with vanishing determinant or trace condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Madan

2018-06-01

In the light of non-zero and relatively large value of rector mixing angle (θ13), we have performed a detailed analysis of texture one zero neutrino mass matrix Mν in the scenario of vanishing determinant/trace conditions, assuming the Dirac nature of neutrinos. In both the scenarios, normal mass ordering is ruled out for all the six possibilities of Mν, however for inverted mass ordering, only two are found to be viable with the current neutrino oscillation data at 3σ confidence level. Numerical and some approximate analytical results are presented.

Individual complex Dirac eigenvalue distributions from random matrix theory and comparison to quenched lattice QCD with a quark chemical potential.

PubMed

Akemann, G; Bloch, J; Shifrin, L; Wettig, T

2008-01-25

We analyze how individual eigenvalues of the QCD Dirac operator at nonzero quark chemical potential are distributed in the complex plane. Exact and approximate analytical results for both quenched and unquenched distributions are derived from non-Hermitian random matrix theory. When comparing these to quenched lattice QCD spectra close to the origin, excellent agreement is found for zero and nonzero topology at several values of the quark chemical potential. Our analytical results are also applicable to other physical systems in the same symmetry class.

Dirac R -matrix calculations for the electron-impact excitation of neutral tungsten providing noninvasive diagnostics for magnetic confinement fusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, R. T.; Ballance, C. P.; Ramsbottom, C. A.; Johnson, C. A.; Ennis, D. A.; Loch, S. D.

2018-05-01

Neutral tungsten is the primary candidate as a wall material in the divertor region of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The efficient operation of ITER depends heavily on precise atomic physics calculations for the determination of reliable erosion diagnostics, helping to characterize the influx of tungsten impurities into the core plasma. The following paper presents detailed calculations of the atomic structure of neutral tungsten using the multiconfigurational Dirac-Fock method, drawing comparisons with experimental measurements where available, and includes a critical assessment of existing atomic structure data. We investigate the electron-impact excitation of neutral tungsten using the Dirac R -matrix method, and by employing collisional-radiative models, we benchmark our results with recent Compact Toroidal Hybrid measurements. The resulting comparisons highlight alternative diagnostic lines to the widely used 400.88-nm line.

What does the value of the Dirac CP-violating phase teach us?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farzan, Yasaman

2008-02-21

The 3x3 neutrino mixing matrix accommodates a Dirac CP-violating phase which can in principle show up in the neutrino oscillation patterns. Measuring this phase is going to be one of the main challenges of neutrino physics. Moreover, from the theoretical side it is not clear what a certain value of this phase would indicate. The aim of this talk is to search for possible principles, symmetries and phenomenological relations that can lead to particular values of the Dirac CP-violating phase, {delta}.

Dirac-phase thermal leptogenesis in the extended type-I seesaw model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dolan, Matthew J.; Dutka, Tomasz P.; Volkas, Raymond R.

2018-06-01

Motivated by the fact that δCP, the Dirac phase in the PMNS matrix, is the only CP-violating parameter in the leptonic sector that can be measured in neutrino oscillation experiments, we examine the possibility that it is the dominant source of CP violation for leptogenesis caused by the out-of-equilibrium decays of heavy singlet fermions. We do so within a low-scale extended type-I seesaw model, featuring two Standard Model singlet fermions per family, in which lepton number is approximately conserved such that the heavy singlet neutrinos are pseudo-Dirac. We find that this produces a predictive model of leptogenesis. Our results show that for low-scale thermal leptogenesis, a pure inverse-seesaw scenario fails to produce the required asymmetry, even accounting for resonance effects, because wash-out processes are too efficient. Dirac-phase leptogenesis is, however, possible when the linear seesaw term is switched on, with the aid of the resonance contributions naturally present in the model. Degenerate and hierarchical spectra are considered—both can achieve δCP-leptogenesis, although the latter is more constrained. Finally, although unable to probe the parameter space of Dirac-phase leptogenesis, the contributions to unitarity violation of the PMNS matrix, collider constraints and charged-lepton flavour-violating processes are calculated and we further estimate the impact of the future experiments MEG-II and COMET for such models.

Relativistic scattered-wave theory. II - Normalization and symmetrization. [of Dirac wavefunctions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yang, C. Y.

1978-01-01

Formalisms for normalization and symmetrization of one-electron Dirac scattered-wave wavefunctions are presented. The normalization integral consists of one-dimensional radial integrals for the spherical regions and an analytic expression for the intersphere region. Symmetrization drastically reduces the size of the secular matrix to be solved. Examples for planar Pb2Se2 and tetrahedral Pd4 are discussed.

Ground-state properties of anyons in a one-dimensional lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Guixin; Eggert, Sebastian; Pelster, Axel

2015-12-01

Using the Anyon-Hubbard Hamiltonian, we analyze the ground-state properties of anyons in a one-dimensional lattice. To this end we map the hopping dynamics of correlated anyons to an occupation-dependent hopping Bose-Hubbard model using the fractional Jordan-Wigner transformation. In particular, we calculate the quasi-momentum distribution of anyons, which interpolates between Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics. Analytically, we apply a modified Gutzwiller mean-field approach, which goes beyond a classical one by including the influence of the fractional phase of anyons within the many-body wavefunction. Numerically, we use the density-matrix renormalization group by relying on the ansatz of matrix product states. As a result it turns out that the anyonic quasi-momentum distribution reveals both a peak-shift and an asymmetry which mainly originates from the nonlocal string property. In addition, we determine the corresponding quasi-momentum distribution of the Jordan-Wigner transformed bosons, where, in contrast to the hard-core case, we also observe an asymmetry for the soft-core case, which strongly depends on the particle number density.

Electronic properties of disordered Weyl semimetals at charge neutrality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holder, Tobias; Huang, Chia-Wei; Ostrovsky, Pavel M.

2017-11-01

Weyl semimetals have been intensely studied as a three-dimensional realization of a Dirac-like excitation spectrum where the conduction bands and valence bands touch at isolated Weyl points in momentum space. Like in graphene, this property entails various peculiar electronic properties. However, recent theoretical studies have suggested that resonant scattering from rare regions can give rise to a nonzero density of states even at charge neutrality. Here, we give a detailed account of this effect and demonstrate how the semimetallic nature is suppressed at the lowest scales. To this end, we develop a self-consistent T -matrix approach to investigate the density of states beyond the limit of weak disorder. Our results show a nonvanishing density of states at the Weyl point, which exhibits a nonanalytic dependence on the impurity density. This unusually strong effect of rare regions leads to a revised estimate for the conductivity close to the Weyl point and emphasizes possible deviations from semimetallic behavior in dirty Weyl semimetals at charge neutrality even with very low impurity concentration.

Statistical Entropy of Dirac Field Outside RN Black Hole and Modified Density Equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Fei; He, Feng

2012-02-01

Statistical entropy of Dirac field in Reissner-Nordstrom black hole space-time is computed by state density equation corrected by the generalized uncertainty principle to all orders in Planck length and WKB approximation. The result shows that the statistical entropy is proportional to the horizon area but the present result is convergent without any artificial cutoff.

Tuning carrier density across Dirac point in epitaxial graphene on SiC by corona discharge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lartsev, Arseniy; Yager, Tom; Lara-Avila, Samuel, E-mail: samuel.lara@chalmers.se

We demonstrate reversible carrier density control across the Dirac point (Δn ∼ 10{sup 13 }cm{sup −2}) in epitaxial graphene on SiC (SiC/G) via high electrostatic potential gating with ions produced by corona discharge. The method is attractive for applications where graphene with a fixed carrier density is needed, such as quantum metrology, and more generally as a simple method of gating 2DEGs formed at semiconductor interfaces and in topological insulators.

Progress on Complex Langevin simulations of a finite density matrix model for QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bloch, Jacques; Glesaaen, Jonas; Verbaarschot, Jacobus; Zafeiropoulos, Savvas

2018-03-01

We study the Stephanov model, which is an RMT model for QCD at finite density, using the Complex Langevin algorithm. Naive implementation of the algorithm shows convergence towards the phase quenched or quenched theory rather than to intended theory with dynamical quarks. A detailed analysis of this issue and a potential resolution of the failure of this algorithm are discussed. We study the effect of gauge cooling on the Dirac eigenvalue distribution and time evolution of the norm for various cooling norms, which were specifically designed to remove the pathologies of the complex Langevin evolution. The cooling is further supplemented with a shifted representation for the random matrices. Unfortunately, none of these modifications generate a substantial improvement on the complex Langevin evolution and the final results still do not agree with the analytical predictions.

Minimal modification of tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing and leptonic CP violation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Sin Kyu

2017-12-01

We confront possible forms of the minimal modification of the tri-bimaximal (TBM) neutrino mixing matrix proposed by Kang and Kim (Phys. Rev. D 90, 077301 (2014)) with the latest global fit to neutrino data. One form among them is singled out by the current experimental results at 1σ confidence level (C.L.) The minimal modification of the TBM mixing matrix makes possible the prediction of Dirac-type CP phase in the Pontecorbo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata neutrino mixing matrix in terms of two neutrino mixing angles. By carrying out a numerical analysis based on the latest experimental results for neutrino mixing angles, we are able to present new results on the prediction of the Dirac-type CP phase. We also compare our results on CP violation with those from the current global fit at 1 σ C.L.

Dirac node arcs in PtSn 4

DOE PAGES

Wu, Yun; Wang, Lin -Lin; Mun, Eundeok; ...

2016-04-04

In topological quantum materials 1,2,3 the conduction and valence bands are connected at points or along lines in the momentum space. A number of studies have demonstrated that several materials are indeed Dirac/Weyl semimetals 4,5,6,7,8. However, there is still no experimental confirmation of materials with line nodes, in which the Dirac nodes form closed loops in the momentum space 2,3. Here we report the discovery of a novel topological structure—Dirac node arcs—in the ultrahigh magnetoresistive material PtSn 4 using laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy data and density functional theory calculations. Unlike the closed loops of line nodes, the Dirac node arcmore » structure arises owing to the surface states and resembles the Dirac dispersion in graphene that is extended along a short line in the momentum space. Here, we propose that this reported Dirac node arc structure is a novel topological state that provides an exciting platform for studying the exotic properties of Dirac fermions.« less

Spin symmetry in the Dirac sea derived from the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Shihang; Liang, Haozhao; Meng, Jie; Ring, Peter; Zhang, Shuangquan

2018-06-01

The spin symmetry in the Dirac sea has been investigated with relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory using the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction. Taking the nucleus 16O as an example and comparing the theoretical results with the data, the definition of the single-particle potential in the Dirac sea is studied in detail. It is found that if the single-particle states in the Dirac sea are treated as occupied states, the ground state properties are in better agreement with experimental data. Moreover, in this case, the spin symmetry in the Dirac sea is better conserved and it is more consistent with the findings using phenomenological relativistic density functionals.

Competition of density waves and quantum multicritical behavior in Dirac materials from functional renormalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Classen, Laura; Herbut, Igor F.; Janssen, Lukas; Scherer, Michael M.

2016-03-01

We study the competition of spin- and charge-density waves and their quantum multicritical behavior for the semimetal-insulator transitions of low-dimensional Dirac fermions. Employing the effective Gross-Neveu-Yukawa theory with two order parameters as a model for graphene and a growing number of other two-dimensional Dirac materials allows us to describe the physics near the multicritical point at which the semimetallic and the spin- and charge-density-wave phases meet. With the help of a functional renormalization group approach, we are able to reveal a complex structure of fixed points, the stability properties of which decisively depend on the number of Dirac fermions Nf. We give estimates for the critical exponents and observe crucial quantitative corrections as compared to the previous first-order ɛ expansion. For small Nf, the universal behavior near the multicritical point is determined by the chiral Heisenberg universality class supplemented by a decoupled, purely bosonic, Ising sector. At large Nf, a novel fixed point with nontrivial couplings between all sectors becomes stable. At intermediate Nf, including the graphene case (Nf=2 ), no stable and physically admissible fixed point exists. Graphene's phase diagram in the vicinity of the intersection between the semimetal, antiferromagnetic, and staggered density phases should consequently be governed by a triple point exhibiting first-order transitions.

Relativistic coupled cluster theory based on the no-pair Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hamiltonian: Relativistic pair correlation energies of the Xe atom

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eliav, E.; Kaldor, U.; Ishikawa, Y.

1994-12-31

Relativistic pair correlation energies of Xe were computed by employing a recently developed relativistic coupled cluster theory based on the no-pair Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hamiltonian. The matrix Dirac-Fock-Breit SCF and relativistic coupled cluster calculations were performed by means of expansion in basis sets of well-tempered Gaussian spinors. A detailed study of the pair correlation energies in Xe is performed, in order to investigate the effects of the low-frequency Breit interaction on the correlation energies of Xe. Nonadditivity of correlation and relativistic (particularly Breit) effects is discussed.

STS studies of the surface of Bi2Se3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanowich, Megan; Lee, Mal-Soon; Mahanti, S. D.; Tessmer, Stuart; Chung, Duck Young; Song, Jung-Hwan; Kanatzidis, Mercouri

2012-02-01

We apply scanning tunneling spectroscopy to characterize the surface of the topological insulator Bi2Se3. Spectroscopy reveals that the minimum in the local density of states (LDOS) does not actually vanish in the region where Dirac cone states exist. We demonstrate with density functional theory calculations that this can be understood in terms of an asymmetric addition to the LDOS associated with a contribution from the bulk valence band that overlaps in energy with the Dirac point. We will discuss the origin of the fluctuations in the LDOS seen in the experiment near 0.2 eV above the Dirac point, which are associated with tunneling into the lowest conduction band states.

Electrodynamics in the Friedmann Robertson Walker universe: Maxwell and Dirac fields in Newman Penrose formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanal, U.

2006-07-01

Maxwell and Dirac fields in Friedmann Robertson Walker (FRW) spacetime are investigated using the Newman Penrose method. The variables are all separable, with the angular dependence given by spin-weighted spherical harmonics. All the radial parts reduce to the barrier penetration problem, with mostly repulsive potentials representing the centrifugal energies. Both the helicity states of the photon field see the same potential, but that of the Dirac field see different ones; one component even sees attractive potential in the open universe. The massless fields have the usual exponential time dependences; that of the massive Dirac field is coupled to the evolution of the cosmic scale factor a. The case of the radiation-filled flat universe is solved in terms of the Whittaker function. A formal series solution, valid in any FRW universe, is also presented. The energy density of the Maxwell field is explicitly shown to scale as a-4. The co-moving particle number density of the massless Dirac field is found to be conserved, but that of the massive one is not. Particles flow out of certain regions, and into others, creating regions that are depleted of certain linear and angular momenta states, and others with excess. Such a current of charged particles would constitute an electric current that could generate a cosmic magnetic field. In contrast, the energy density of these massive particles still scales as a-4.

Distribution law of the Dirac eigenmodes in QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catillo, Marco; Glozman, Leonid Ya.

2018-04-01

The near-zero modes of the Dirac operator are connected to spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry in QCD (SBCS) via the Banks-Casher relation. At the same time, the distribution of the near-zero modes is well described by the Random Matrix Theory (RMT) with the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE). Then, it has become a standard lore that a randomness, as observed through distributions of the near-zero modes of the Dirac operator, is a consequence of SBCS. The higher-lying modes of the Dirac operator are not affected by SBCS and are sensitive to confinement physics and related SU(2)CS and SU(2NF) symmetries. We study the distribution of the near-zero and higher-lying eigenmodes of the overlap Dirac operator within NF = 2 dynamical simulations. We find that both the distributions of the near-zero and higher-lying modes are perfectly described by GUE of RMT. This means that randomness, while consistent with SBCS, is not a consequence of SBCS and is linked to the confining chromo-electric field.

A B-spline Galerkin method for the Dirac equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Froese Fischer, Charlotte; Zatsarinny, Oleg

2009-06-01

The B-spline Galerkin method is first investigated for the simple eigenvalue problem, y=-λy, that can also be written as a pair of first-order equations y=λz, z=-λy. Expanding both y(r) and z(r) in the B basis results in many spurious solutions such as those observed for the Dirac equation. However, when y(r) is expanded in the B basis and z(r) in the dB/dr basis, solutions of the well-behaved second-order differential equation are obtained. From this analysis, we propose a stable method ( B,B) basis for the Dirac equation and evaluate its accuracy by comparing the computed and exact R-matrix for a wide range of nuclear charges Z and angular quantum numbers κ. When splines of the same order are used, many spurious solutions are found whereas none are found for splines of different order. Excellent agreement is obtained for the R-matrix and energies for bound states for low values of Z. For high Z, accuracy requires the use of a grid with many points near the nucleus. We demonstrate the accuracy of the bound-state wavefunctions by comparing integrals arising in hyperfine interaction matrix elements with exact analytic expressions. We also show that the Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn sum rule is not a good measure of the quality of the solutions obtained by the B-spline Galerkin method whereas the R-matrix is very sensitive to the appearance of pseudo-states.

A new Dirac cone material: a graphene-like Be3C2 monolayer.

PubMed

Wang, Bing; Yuan, Shijun; Li, Yunhai; Shi, Li; Wang, Jinlan

2017-05-04

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with Dirac cones exhibit rich physics and many intriguing properties, but the search for new 2D Dirac materials is still a current hotspot. Using the global particle-swarm optimization method and density functional theory, we predict a new stable graphene-like 2D Dirac material: a Be 3 C 2 monolayer with a hexagonal honeycomb structure. The Dirac point occurs exactly at the Fermi level and arises from the merging of the hybridized p z bands of Be and C atoms. Most interestingly, this monolayer exhibits a high Fermi velocity in the same order of graphene. Moreover, the Dirac cone is very robust and retains even included spin-orbit coupling or external strain. These outstanding properties render the Be 3 C 2 monolayer a promising 2D material for special electronics applications.

Recovery of Sparse Positive Signals on the Sphere from Low Resolution Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bendory, Tamir; Eldar, Yonina C.

2015-12-01

This letter considers the problem of recovering a positive stream of Diracs on a sphere from its projection onto the space of low-degree spherical harmonics, namely, from its low-resolution version. We suggest recovering the Diracs via a tractable convex optimization problem. The resulting recovery error is proportional to the noise level and depends on the density of the Diracs. We validate the theory by numerical experiments.

Dirac cone pairs in silicene induced by interface Si-Ag hybridization: A first-principles effective band study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lian, Chao; Meng, Sheng

2017-06-01

Using density functional theory combined with orbital-selective band unfolding techniques, we study the effective band structure of silicene (3 ×3 )/Ag(111) (4 ×4 ) structure. Consistent with the ARPES spectra recently obtained by [Feng et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 14656 (2016), 10.1073/pnas.1613434114], we observe six pairs of Dirac cones near the boundary of the Brillouin zone (BZ) of Ag (1 ×1 ) , while no Dirac cone is observed inside the BZ. Furthermore, we find that these Dirac cones are induced by the interfacial Si-Ag hybridization, mainly composed of Si pz orbitals and Ag s p bands, which is intrinsically different from the Dirac cones in free-standing silicene.

Progress on Complex Langevin simulations of a finite density matrix model for QCD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bloch, Jacques; Glesaan, Jonas; Verbaarschot, Jacobus

We study the Stephanov model, which is an RMT model for QCD at finite density, using the Complex Langevin algorithm. Naive implementation of the algorithm shows convergence towards the phase quenched or quenched theory rather than to intended theory with dynamical quarks. A detailed analysis of this issue and a potential resolution of the failure of this algorithm are discussed. We study the effect of gauge cooling on the Dirac eigenvalue distribution and time evolution of the norm for various cooling norms, which were specifically designed to remove the pathologies of the complex Langevin evolution. The cooling is further supplementedmore » with a shifted representation for the random matrices. Unfortunately, none of these modifications generate a substantial improvement on the complex Langevin evolution and the final results still do not agree with the analytical predictions.« less

All-Metallic Vertical Transistors Based on Stacked Dirac Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yangyang; Ni, Zeyuan; Liu, Qihang; Quhe, Ruge; Zheng, Jiaxin; Ye, Meng; Yu, Dapeng; Shi, Junjie; Yang, Jinbo; Li, Ju; Lu, Jing; Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing Collaboration

2015-03-01

All metallic transistor can be fabricated from pristine semimetallic Dirac materials (such as graphene, silicene, and germanene), but the on/off current ratio is very low. In a vertical heterostructure composed by two Dirac materials, the Dirac cones of the two materials survive the weak interlayer van der Waals interaction based on density functional theory method, and electron transport from the Dirac cone of one material to the one of the other material is therefore forbidden without assistance of phonon because of momentum mismatch. First-principles quantum transport simulations of the all-metallic vertical Dirac material heterostructure devices confirm the existence of a transport gap of over 0.4 eV, accompanied by a switching ratio of over 104. Such a striking behavior is robust against the relative rotation between the two Dirac materials and can be extended to twisted bilayer graphene. Therefore, all-metallic junction can be a semiconductor and novel avenue is opened up for Dirac material vertical structures in high-performance devices without opening their band gaps. A visiting student in MIT now.

Spin polarization effects and their time evolutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vernes, A.; Weinberger, P.

2015-04-01

The time evolution of the density corresponding to the polarization operator, originally constructed to commute with the Dirac Hamiltonian in the absence of an external electromagnetic field, is investigated in terms of the time-dependent Dirac equation taking the presence of an external electromagnetic field into account. It is found that this time evolution leads to 'tensorial' and 'vectorial' particle current densities and to the interaction of the spin density with the external electromagnetic field. As the time evolution of the spin density does not refer to a constant of motion (continuity condition) it only serves as auxiliary density. By taking the non-relativistic limit, it is shown that the polarization, spin and magnetization densities are independent of electric field effects and, in addition, no preferred directions can be defined.

Group-theoretical analysis of two-dimensional hexagonal materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minami, Susumu; Sugita, Itaru; Tomita, Ryosuke; Oshima, Hiroyuki; Saito, Mineo

2017-10-01

Two-dimensional hexagonal materials such as graphene and silicene have highly symmetric crystal structures and Dirac cones at the K point, which induce novel electronic properties. In this report, we calculate their electronic structures by using density functional theory and analyze their band structures on the basis of the group theory. Dirac cones frequently appear when the symmetry at the K point is high; thus, two-dimensional irreducible representations are included. We discuss the relationship between symmetry and the appearance of the Dirac cone.

One-dimensional Coulomb problem in Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downing, C. A.; Portnoi, M. E.

2014-11-01

We investigate the one-dimensional Coulomb potential with application to a class of quasirelativistic systems, so-called Dirac-Weyl materials, described by matrix Hamiltonians. We obtain the exact solution of the shifted and truncated Coulomb problems, with the wave functions expressed in terms of special functions (namely, Whittaker functions), while the energy spectrum must be determined via solutions to transcendental equations. Most notably, there are critical band gaps below which certain low-lying quantum states are missing in a manifestation of atomic collapse.

Dynamics of a Dirac oscillator coupled to an external field: a new class of solvable problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadurní, E.; Torres, J. M.; Seligman, T. H.

2010-07-01

The Dirac oscillator coupled to an external two-component field can retain its solvability, if couplings are appropriately chosen. This provides a new class of integrable systems. A simplified way of a solution is given by recasting the known solution of the Dirac oscillator into matrix form; there one notes that a block-diagonal form arises in a Hamiltonian formulation. The blocks are two dimensional. Choosing couplings that do not affect the block structure, these blow up the 2 × 2 matrices to 4 × 4 matrices, thus conserving solvability. The result can be cast again in covariant form. By way of an example we apply this exact solution to calculate the evolution of entanglement.

Ultrafast Terahertz Nonlinear Optics of Landau Level Transitions in a Monolayer Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yumoto, Go; Matsunaga, Ryusuke; Hibino, Hiroki; Shimano, Ryo

2018-03-01

We investigated the ultrafast terahertz (THz) nonlinearity in a monolayer graphene under the strong magnetic field using THz pump-THz probe spectroscopy. An ultrafast suppression of the Faraday rotation associated with inter-Landau level (LL) transitions is observed, reflecting the Dirac electron character of nonequidistant LLs with large transition dipole moments. A drastic modulation of electron distribution in LLs is induced by far off-resonant THz pulse excitation in the transparent region. Numerical simulation based on the density matrix formalism without rotating-wave approximation reproduces the experimental results. Our results indicate that the strong light-matter coupling regime is realized in graphene, with the Rabi frequency exceeding the carrier wave frequency and even the relevant energy scale of the inter-LL transition.

Excitonic gap formation in pumped Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Triola, Christopher; Pertsova, Anna; Markiewicz, Robert S.; Balatsky, Alexander V.

2017-05-01

Recent pump-probe experiments demonstrate the possibility that Dirac materials may be driven into transient excited states describable by two chemical potentials, one for the electrons and one for the holes. Given the Dirac nature of the spectrum, such an inverted population allows the optical tunability of the density of states of the electrons and holes, effectively offering control of the strength of the Coulomb interaction. Here we discuss the feasibility of realizing transient excitonic instabilities in optically pumped Dirac materials. We demonstrate, theoretically, the reduction of the critical coupling leading to the formation of a transient condensate of electron-hole pairs and identify signatures of this state. Furthermore, we provide guidelines for experiments by both identifying the regimes in which such exotic many-body states are more likely to be observed and estimating the magnitude of the excitonic gap for a few important examples of existing Dirac materials. We find a set of material parameters for which our theory predicts large gaps and high critical temperatures and which could be realized in future Dirac materials. We also comment on transient excitonic instabilities in three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl semimetals. This study provides an example of a transient collective instability in driven Dirac materials.

Relativistic R-matrix calculations for photoionization cross-sections of C IV: implications for photorecombination of C V

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sardar, Shahid; Xu, Xin; Xu, Long-Quan; Zhu, Lin-Fan

2018-02-01

In this paper we present photoionization cross-sections of the ground and excited states of Li-like carbon (C IV) in the framework of fully relativistic R-matrix formalism as implemented in Dirac atomic R-matrix code. For target wavefunctions expansion, Multiconfiguration Dirac Hartree Fock calculations are performed for the lowest 17 target states of He-like carbon (C V) arising from 1s2 and 1snl, with n = 2, 3 and l = s, p, d configurations. Our target energy levels and transition parameters belonging to these levels are ascertained to be in excellent agreement with the experimental and the well-established theoretical results. We use the principle of detailed balance to get the photorecombination (PR) cross-sections of the ground state of C V. Both photoionization and PR cross-sections manifest important KLL and KLM resonance structures which are in very good agreement with the accurate measurements at Advanced Light Source (ion photon end beam station) and CRYRING (synchrotron storage ring).

Density functional of a two-dimensional gas of dipolar atoms: Thomas-Fermi-Dirac treatment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Bess; Englert, Berthold-Georg

We derive the density functional for the ground-state energy of a two-dimensional, spin-polarized gas of neutral fermionic atoms with magnetic-dipole interaction, in the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac approximation. For many atoms in a harmonic trap, we give analytical solutions for the single-particle spatial density and the ground-state energy, in dependence on the interaction strength, and we discuss the weak-interaction limit that is relevant for experiments. We then lift the restriction of full spin polarization and account for a time-independent inhomogeneous external magnetic field. The field strength necessary to ensure full spin polarization is derived.

Transport properties of massless Dirac fermions in an organic conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 under pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajima, N.; Sugawara, S.; Tamura, M.; Kato, R.; Nishio, Y.; Kajita, K.

2007-11-01

A zero-gap state with the Dirac cone-type energy dispersion was found in an organic conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 under high hydrostatic pressures. This is the first two-dimensional zero-gap state discovered in bulk crystals with layered structures. In contrast to the case of graphene, the Dirac cone in this system is highly anisotropic. The present system, therefore, provides a new type of massless Dirac fermions with anisotropic Fermi velocity. From the galvano-magnetic measurements, the density and mobilities of electrons and holes were determined in the temperature region between 77 K and 2 K. In this region, the carrier density (n) depends on temperature (T) as n~T2 and decreases by about four orders of magnitude. On the other hand, the sheet resistance per BEDT-TTF layer (RS) stays almost constant in the region. The value is written as RS=gh/e2 in terms of the quantum resistance h/e2=25.8 kΩ, where g is a parameter that depends weakly on temperature.

Minimally doubled fermions and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osmanaj (Zeqirllari), Rudina; Hyka (Xhako), Dafina

2018-03-01

Chiral symmetry breaking in massless QCD is a very important feature in the current understanding of low energy physics. Low - lying Dirac modes are suitable to help us understand the spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, since the formation of a non zero chiral condensate is an effect of their accumulation near zero. The Banks - Casher relation links the spectral density of the Dirac operator to the condensate with an identity that can be read in both directions. In this work we propose a spectral method to achieve a reliable determination of the density of eigenvalues of Dirac operator near zero using the Gauss - Lanczos quadrature. In order to understand better the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and use the method we propose, we have chosen to work with minimally doubled fermions. These kind of fermions have been proposed as a strictly local discretization of the QCD fermions action, which preserves chiral symmetry at finite cut-off. Being chiral fermions, is easier to work with them and their low - lying Dirac modes and to understand the dynamical spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking.

Symmetry Breaking in Photonic Crystals: On-Demand Dispersion from Flatband to Dirac Cones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, H. S.; Dubois, F.; Deschamps, T.; Cueff, S.; Pardon, A.; Leclercq, J.-L.; Seassal, C.; Letartre, X.; Viktorovitch, P.

2018-02-01

We demonstrate that symmetry breaking opens a new degree of freedom to tailor energy-momentum dispersion in photonic crystals. Using a general theoretical framework in two illustrative practical structures, we show that breaking symmetry enables an on-demand tuning of the local density of states of the same photonic band from zero (Dirac cone dispersion) to infinity (flatband dispersion), as well as any constant density over an adjustable spectral range. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate experimentally the transformation of the very same photonic band from a conventional quadratic shape to a Dirac dispersion, a flatband dispersion, and a multivalley one. This transition is achieved by finely tuning the vertical symmetry breaking of the photonic structures. Our results provide an unprecedented degree of freedom for optical dispersion engineering in planar integrated photonic devices.

Symmetry Breaking in Photonic Crystals: On-Demand Dispersion from Flatband to Dirac Cones.

PubMed

Nguyen, H S; Dubois, F; Deschamps, T; Cueff, S; Pardon, A; Leclercq, J-L; Seassal, C; Letartre, X; Viktorovitch, P

2018-02-09

We demonstrate that symmetry breaking opens a new degree of freedom to tailor energy-momentum dispersion in photonic crystals. Using a general theoretical framework in two illustrative practical structures, we show that breaking symmetry enables an on-demand tuning of the local density of states of the same photonic band from zero (Dirac cone dispersion) to infinity (flatband dispersion), as well as any constant density over an adjustable spectral range. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate experimentally the transformation of the very same photonic band from a conventional quadratic shape to a Dirac dispersion, a flatband dispersion, and a multivalley one. This transition is achieved by finely tuning the vertical symmetry breaking of the photonic structures. Our results provide an unprecedented degree of freedom for optical dispersion engineering in planar integrated photonic devices.

Rare-Region-Induced Avoided Quantum Criticality in Disordered Three-Dimensional Dirac and Weyl Semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pixley, J. H.; Huse, David A.; Das Sarma, S.

2016-04-01

We numerically study the effect of short-ranged potential disorder on massless noninteracting three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl fermions, with a focus on the question of the proposed (and extensively theoretically studied) quantum critical point separating semimetal and diffusive-metal phases. We determine the properties of the eigenstates of the disordered Dirac Hamiltonian (H ) and exactly calculate the density of states (DOS) near zero energy, using a combination of Lanczos on H2 and the kernel polynomial method on H . We establish the existence of two distinct types of low-energy eigenstates contributing to the disordered density of states in the weak-disorder semimetal regime. These are (i) typical eigenstates that are well described by linearly dispersing perturbatively dressed Dirac states and (ii) nonperturbative rare eigenstates that are weakly dispersive and quasilocalized in the real-space regions with the largest (and rarest) local random potential. Using twisted boundary conditions, we are able to systematically find and study these two (essentially independent) types of eigenstates. We find that the Dirac states contribute low-energy peaks in the finite-size DOS that arise from the clean eigenstates which shift and broaden in the presence of disorder. On the other hand, we establish that the rare quasilocalized eigenstates contribute a nonzero background DOS which is only weakly energy dependent near zero energy and is exponentially small at weak disorder. We also find that the expected semimetal to diffusive-metal quantum critical point is converted to an avoided quantum criticality that is "rounded out" by nonperturbative effects, with no signs of any singular behavior in the DOS at the energy of the clean Dirac point. However, the crossover effects of the avoided (or hidden) criticality manifest themselves in a so-called quantum critical fan region away from the Dirac energy. We discuss the implications of our results for disordered Dirac and Weyl semimetals, and reconcile the large body of existing numerical work showing quantum criticality with the existence of these nonperturbative effects.

Many-body instabilities and mass generation in slow Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Triola, Christopher; Zhu, Jian-Xin; Migliori, Albert; Balatsky, Alexander V.

2015-07-01

Some Kondo insulators are expected to possess topologically protected surface states with linear Dirac spectrum: the topological Kondo insulators. Because the bulk states of these systems typically have heavy effective electron masses, the surface states may exhibit extraordinarily small Fermi velocities that could force the effective fine structure constant of the surface states into the strong coupling regime. Using a tight-binding model, we study the many-body instabilities of these systems and identify regions of parameter space in which the system exhibits spin density wave and charge density wave order.

Surface regulated arsenenes as Dirac materials: From density functional calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Junhui; Xie, Qingxing; Yu, Niannian; Wang, Jiafu

2017-02-01

Using first principle calculations based on density functional theory (DFT), we have systematically investigated the structure stability and electronic properties of chemically decorated arsenenes, AsX (X = CN, NC, NCO, NCS and NCSe). Phonon dispersion and formation energy analysis reveal that all the five chemically decorated buckled arsenenes are energetically favorable and could be synthesized. Our study shows that wide-bandgap arsenene would turn into Dirac materials when functionalized by -X (X = CN, NC, NCO, NCS and NCSe) groups, rendering new promises in next generation high-performance electronic devices.

Drive the Dirac electrons into Cooper pairs in SrxBi2Se3.

PubMed

Du, Guan; Shao, Jifeng; Yang, Xiong; Du, Zengyi; Fang, Delong; Wang, Jinghui; Ran, Kejing; Wen, Jinsheng; Zhang, Changjin; Yang, Huan; Zhang, Yuheng; Wen, Hai-Hu

2017-02-15

Topological superconductors are a very interesting and frontier topic in condensed matter physics. Despite the tremendous efforts in exploring topological superconductivity, its presence is however still under heavy debate. The Dirac electrons have been proven to exist on the surface of a topological insulator. It remains unclear whether and how the Dirac electrons fall into Cooper pairing in an intrinsic superconductor with the topological surface states. Here we show the systematic study of scanning tunnelling microscope/spectroscopy on the possible topological superconductor Sr x Bi 2 Se 3 . We first demonstrate that only the intercalated Sr atoms can induce superconductivity. Then we show the full superconducting gaps without any in-gap density of states as expected theoretically for a bulk topological superconductor. Finally, we find that the surface Dirac electrons will simultaneously condense into the superconducting state within the superconducting gap. This vividly demonstrates how the surface Dirac electrons are driven into Cooper pairs.

Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wehling, T. O.; Black-Schaffer, A. M.; Balatsky, A. V.

2014-01-01

A wide range of materials, like d-wave superconductors, graphene, and topological insulators, share a fundamental similarity: their low-energy fermionic excitations behave as massless Dirac particles rather than fermions obeying the usual Schrodinger Hamiltonian. This emergent behavior of Dirac fermions in condensed matter systems defines the unifying framework for a class of materials we call "Dirac materials''. In order to establish this class of materials, we illustrate how Dirac fermions emerge in multiple entirely different condensed matter systems and we discuss how Dirac fermions have been identified experimentally using electron spectroscopy techniques (angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy). As a consequence of their common low-energy excitations, this diverse set of materials shares a significant number of universal properties in the low-energy (infrared) limit. We review these common properties including nodal points in the excitation spectrum, density of states, specific heat, transport, thermodynamic properties, impurity resonances, and magnetic field responses, as well as discuss many-body interaction effects. We further review how the emergence of Dirac excitations is controlled by specific symmetries of the material, such as time-reversal, gauge, and spin-orbit symmetries, and how by breaking these symmetries a finite Dirac mass is generated. We give examples of how the interaction of Dirac fermions with their distinct real material background leads to rich novel physics with common fingerprints such as the suppression of back scattering and impurity-induced resonant states.

Manipulating Electromagnetic Local Density of States by Graphene Plasmonics

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-01

1) where h̄ is the reduced Plank’s constant, fd() =( e(−μc)/kBT + 1 )−1 is the Fermi - Dirac distribution , and kB is the Boltzmann’s constant...sheet of carbon atoms bonded in a honeycomb lattice. Due to a unique energy-momentum relationship, electrons in graphene behave like Dirac fermions [6

Current-phase relations in low carrier density graphene Josephson junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kratz, Philip; Amet, Francois; Watson, Christopher; Moler, Kathryn; Ke, Chung; Borzenets, Ivan; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Deacon, Russell; Yamamoto, Michihisa; Bomze, Yuriy; Tarucha, Seigo; Finkelstein, Gleb

Ideal Dirac semimetals have the unique property of being gate tunable to arbitrarily low electron and hole carrier concentrations near the Dirac point, without suffering from conduction channel pinch-off or Fermi level pinning to band edges and deep-level charge traps, which are common in typical semiconductors. SNS junctions, where N is a Dirac semimetal, can provide a versatile platform for studying few-mode superconducting weak links, with potential device applications for superconducting logic and qubits. We will use an inductive readout technique, scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry, to measure the current-phase relations of high-mobility graphene SNS junctions as a function of temperature and carrier density, complementing magnetic Fraunhofer diffraction analysis from transport measurements which previously have assumed sinusoidal current-phase relations for junction Andreev modes. Deviations from sinusoidal behavior convey information about resonant scattering processes, dissipation, and ballistic modes in few-mode superconducting weak links.

Quantum transport of two-species Dirac fermions in dual-gated three-dimensional topological insulators

DOE PAGES

Xu, Yang; Miotkowski, Ireneusz; Chen, Yong P.

2016-05-04

Topological insulators are a novel class of quantum matter with a gapped insulating bulk, yet gapless spin-helical Dirac fermion conducting surface states. Here, we report local and non-local electrical and magneto transport measurements in dual-gated BiSbTeSe 2 thin film topological insulator devices, with conduction dominated by the spatially separated top and bottom surfaces, each hosting a single species of Dirac fermions with independent gate control over the carrier type and density. We observe many intriguing quantum transport phenomena in such a fully tunable two-species topological Dirac gas, including a zero-magnetic-field minimum conductivity close to twice the conductance quantum at themore » double Dirac point, a series of ambipolar two-component half-integer Dirac quantum Hall states and an electron-hole total filling factor zero state (with a zero-Hall plateau), exhibiting dissipationless (chiral) and dissipative (non-chiral) edge conduction, respectively. As a result, such a system paves the way to explore rich physics, ranging from topological magnetoelectric effects to exciton condensation.« less

Out-of-Bounds Hydrodynamics in Anisotropic Dirac Fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Link, Julia M.; Narozhny, Boris N.; Kiselev, Egor I.; Schmalian, Jörg

2018-05-01

We study hydrodynamic transport in two-dimensional, interacting electronic systems with merging Dirac points at charge neutrality. The dispersion along one crystallographic direction is Dirac-like, while it is Newtonian-like in the orthogonal direction. As a result, the electrical conductivity is metallic in one and insulating in the other direction. The shear viscosity tensor contains six independent components, which can be probed by measuring an anisotropic thermal flow. One of the viscosity components vanishes at zero temperature leading to a generalization of the previously conjectured lower bound for the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio.

Observation of Dirac-like band dispersion in LaAgSb 2

DOE PAGES

Shi, X.; Richard, P.; Wang, Kefeng; ...

2016-02-16

In this paper, we present a combined angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles calculations study of the electronic structure of LaAgSb 2 in the entire first Brillouin zone. We observe a Dirac-cone-like structure in the vicinity of the Fermi level formed by the crossing of two linear energy bands, as well as the nested segments of a Fermi surface pocket emerging from the cone. In conclusion, our ARPES results show the close relationship of the Dirac cone to the charge-density-wave ordering, providing consistent explanations for exotic behaviors in this material.

Extremely large magnetoresistance and high-density Dirac-like fermions in ZrB2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Qi; Guo, Peng-Jie; Sun, Shanshan; Li, Chenghe; Liu, Kai; Lu, Zhong-Yi; Lei, Hechang

2018-05-01

We report the detailed study on transport properties of ZrB2 single crystal, a predicted topological nodal-line semimetal. ZrB2 exhibits extremely large magnetoresistance as well as field-induced resistivity upturn and plateau. These behaviors can be well understood by the two-band model with the perfect electron-hole compensation and high carrier mobilities. More importantly, the electrons with small effective masses and nontrivial Berry phase have significantly high density when compared to those in known topological semimetals. It strongly suggests that ZrB2 hosts Dirac-like nodal-line fermions.

Electrostatic modulation of the electronic properties of Dirac semimetal Na3Bi thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellerstedt, Jack; Yudhistira, Indra; Edmonds, Mark T.; Liu, Chang; Collins, James; Adam, Shaffique; Fuhrer, Michael S.

2017-10-01

Large-area thin films of topological Dirac semimetal Na3Bi are grown on amorphous SiO2:Si substrates to realize a field-effect transistor with the doped Si acting as a back gate. As-grown films show charge carrier mobilities exceeding 7 000 cm2/V s and carrier densities below 3 ×1018cm-3 , comparable to the best thin-film Na3Bi . An ambipolar field effect and minimum conductivity are observed, characteristic of Dirac electronic systems. The results are quantitatively understood within a model of disorder-induced charge inhomogeneity in topological Dirac semimetals. The hole mobility is significantly larger than the electron mobility in Na3Bi which we ascribe to the inverted band structure. When present, these holes dominate the transport properties.

Fierz bilinear formulation of the Maxwell–Dirac equations and symmetry reductions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Inglis, Shaun, E-mail: sminglis@utas.edu.au; Jarvis, Peter, E-mail: Peter.Jarvis@utas.edu.au

We study the Maxwell–Dirac equations in a manifestly gauge invariant presentation using only the spinor bilinear scalar and pseudoscalar densities, and the vector and pseudovector currents, together with their quadratic Fierz relations. The internally produced vector potential is expressed via algebraic manipulation of the Dirac equation, as a rational function of the Fierz bilinears and first derivatives (valid on the support of the scalar density), which allows a gauge invariant vector potential to be defined. This leads to a Fierz bilinear formulation of the Maxwell tensor and of the Maxwell–Dirac equations, without any reference to gauge dependent quantities. We showmore » how demanding invariance of tensor fields under the action of a fixed (but arbitrary) Lie subgroup of the Poincaré group leads to symmetry reduced equations. The procedure is illustrated, and the reduced equations worked out explicitly for standard spherical and cylindrical cases, which are coupled third order nonlinear PDEs. Spherical symmetry necessitates the existence of magnetic monopoles, which do not affect the coupled Maxwell–Dirac system due to magnetic terms cancelling. In this paper we do not take up numerical computations. As a demonstration of the power of our approach, we also work out the symmetry reduced equations for two distinct classes of dimension 4 one-parameter families of Poincaré subgroups, one splitting and one non-splitting. The splitting class yields no solutions, whereas for the non-splitting class we find a family of formal exact solutions in closed form. - Highlights: • Maxwell–Dirac equations derived in manifestly gauge invariant tensor form. • Invariant scalar and four vector fields for four Poincaré subgroups derived, including two unusual cases. • Symmetry reduction imposed on Maxwell–Dirac equations under example subgroups. • Magnetic monopole arises for spherically symmetric case, consistent with charge quantization condition.« less

Chiral Tricritical Point: A New Universality Class in Dirac Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Shuai; Jian, Shao-Kai; Yao, Hong

2018-05-01

Tricriticality, as a sister of criticality, is a fundamental and absorbing issue in condensed-matter physics. It has been verified that the bosonic Wilson-Fisher universality class can be changed by gapless fermionic modes at criticality. However, the counterpart phenomena at tricriticality have rarely been explored. In this Letter, we study a model in which a tricritical Ising model is coupled to massless Dirac fermions. We find that the massless Dirac fermions result in the emergence of a new tricritical point, which we refer to as the chiral tricritical point (CTP), at the phase boundary between the Dirac semimetal and the charge-density wave insulator. From functional renormalization group analysis of the effective action, we obtain the critical behaviors of the CTP, which are qualitatively distinct from both the tricritical Ising universality and the chiral Ising universality. We further extend the calculations of the chiral tricritical behaviors of Ising spins to the case of Heisenberg spins. The experimental relevance of the CTP in two-dimensional Dirac semimetals is also discussed.

Majorana zero modes in Dirac semimetal Josephson junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chuan; de Boer, Jorrit; de Ronde, Bob; Huang, Yingkai; Golden, Mark; Brinkman, Alexander

We have realized proximity-induced superconductivity in a Dirac semimetal and revealed the topological nature of the superconductivity by the observation of Majorana zero modes. As a Dirac semimetal, Bi0.97Sb0.03 is used, where a three-dimensional Dirac cone exists in the bulk due to an accidental touching between conduction and valence bands. Electronic transport measurements on Hall-bars fabricated out of Bi0.97Sb0.03 flakes consistently show negative magnetoresistance for magnetic fields parallel to the current, which is associated with the chiral anomaly. In perpendicular magnetic fields, we see Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations that indicate very low carrier densities. The low Fermi energy and protection against backscattering in our Dirac semimetal Josephson junctions provide favorable conditions for a large contribution of Majorana zero modes to the supercurrent. In radiofrequency irradiation experiments, we indeed observe these Majorana zero modes in Nb-Bi0.97Sb0.03-Nb Josephson junctions as a 4 π periodic contribution to the current-phase relation.

Hydrogenated arsenenes as planar magnet and Dirac material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shengli; Hu, Yonghong; Hu, Ziyu; Cai, Bo; Zeng, Haibo

2015-07-01

Arsenene and antimonene are predicted to have 2.49 and 2.28 eV band gaps, which have aroused intense interest in the two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors for nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Here, the hydrogenated arsenenes are reported to be planar magnet and 2D Dirac materials based on comprehensive first-principles calculations. The semi-hydrogenated (SH) arsenene is found to be a quasi-planar magnet, while the fully hydrogenated (FH) arsenene is a planar Dirac material. The buckling height of pristine arsenene is greatly decreased by the hydrogenation, resulting in a planar and relatively low-mass-density sheet. The electronic structures of arsenene are also evidently altered after hydrogenating from wide-band-gap semiconductor to metallic material for SH arsenene, and then to Dirac material for FH arsenene. The SH arsenene has an obvious magnetism, mainly contributed by the p orbital of the unsaturated As atom. Such magnetic and Dirac materials modified by hydrogenation of arsenene may have potential applications in future optoelectronic and spintronic devices.

Drive the Dirac electrons into Cooper pairs in SrxBi2Se3

PubMed Central

Du, Guan; Shao, Jifeng; Yang, Xiong; Du, Zengyi; Fang, Delong; Wang, Jinghui; Ran, Kejing; Wen, Jinsheng; Zhang, Changjin; Yang, Huan; Zhang, Yuheng; Wen, Hai-Hu

2017-01-01

Topological superconductors are a very interesting and frontier topic in condensed matter physics. Despite the tremendous efforts in exploring topological superconductivity, its presence is however still under heavy debate. The Dirac electrons have been proven to exist on the surface of a topological insulator. It remains unclear whether and how the Dirac electrons fall into Cooper pairing in an intrinsic superconductor with the topological surface states. Here we show the systematic study of scanning tunnelling microscope/spectroscopy on the possible topological superconductor SrxBi2Se3. We first demonstrate that only the intercalated Sr atoms can induce superconductivity. Then we show the full superconducting gaps without any in-gap density of states as expected theoretically for a bulk topological superconductor. Finally, we find that the surface Dirac electrons will simultaneously condense into the superconducting state within the superconducting gap. This vividly demonstrates how the surface Dirac electrons are driven into Cooper pairs. PMID:28198378

Dirac electrons in quantum rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gioia, L.; Zülicke, U.; Governale, M.; Winkler, R.

2018-05-01

We consider quantum rings realized in materials where the dynamics of charge carriers mimics that of two-dimensional (2D) Dirac electrons. A general theoretical description of the ring-subband structure is developed that applies to a range of currently available 2D systems, including graphene, transition-metal dichalcogenides, and narrow-gap semiconductor quantum wells. We employ the scattering-matrix approach to calculate the electronic two-terminal conductance through the ring and investigate how it is affected by Dirac-electron interference. The interplay of pseudospin chirality and hard-wall confinement is found to distinctly affect the geometric phase that is experimentally accessible in mesoscopic-conductance measurements. We derive an effective Hamiltonian for the azimuthal motion of charge carriers in the ring that yields deeper insight into the physical origin of the observed transport effects, including the unique behavior exhibited by the lowest ring subband in the normal and topological (i.e., band-inverted) regimes. Our paper provides a unified approach to characterizing confined Dirac electrons, which can be used to explore the design of valley- and spintronic devices based on quantum interference and the confinement-tunable geometric phase.

Fierz bilinear formulation of the Maxwell-Dirac equations and symmetry reductions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inglis, Shaun; Jarvis, Peter

2014-09-01

We study the Maxwell-Dirac equations in a manifestly gauge invariant presentation using only the spinor bilinear scalar and pseudoscalar densities, and the vector and pseudovector currents, together with their quadratic Fierz relations. The internally produced vector potential is expressed via algebraic manipulation of the Dirac equation, as a rational function of the Fierz bilinears and first derivatives (valid on the support of the scalar density), which allows a gauge invariant vector potential to be defined. This leads to a Fierz bilinear formulation of the Maxwell tensor and of the Maxwell-Dirac equations, without any reference to gauge dependent quantities. We show how demanding invariance of tensor fields under the action of a fixed (but arbitrary) Lie subgroup of the Poincaré group leads to symmetry reduced equations. The procedure is illustrated, and the reduced equations worked out explicitly for standard spherical and cylindrical cases, which are coupled third order nonlinear PDEs. Spherical symmetry necessitates the existence of magnetic monopoles, which do not affect the coupled Maxwell-Dirac system due to magnetic terms cancelling. In this paper we do not take up numerical computations. As a demonstration of the power of our approach, we also work out the symmetry reduced equations for two distinct classes of dimension 4 one-parameter families of Poincaré subgroups, one splitting and one non-splitting. The splitting class yields no solutions, whereas for the non-splitting class we find a family of formal exact solutions in closed form.

Tight-binding model for borophene and borophane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakhaee, M.; Ketabi, S. A.; Peeters, F. M.

2018-03-01

Starting from the simplified linear combination of atomic orbitals method in combination with first-principles calculations, we construct a tight-binding (TB) model in the two-centre approximation for borophene and hydrogenated borophene (borophane). The Slater and Koster approach is applied to calculate the TB Hamiltonian of these systems. We obtain expressions for the Hamiltonian and overlap matrix elements between different orbitals for the different atoms and present the SK coefficients in a nonorthogonal basis set. An anisotropic Dirac cone is found in the band structure of borophane. We derive a Dirac low-energy Hamiltonian and compare the Fermi velocities with that of graphene.

Asymptotic states and the definition of the S-matrix in quantum gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiesendanger, C.

2013-04-01

Viewing gravitational energy-momentum p_G^\\mu as equal by observation, but different in essence from inertial energy-momentum p_I^\\mu naturally leads to the gauge theory of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms of an inner Minkowski space M4. The generalized asymptotic free scalar, Dirac and gauge fields in that theory are canonically quantized, the Fock spaces of stationary states are constructed and the gravitational limit—mapping the gravitational energy-momentum onto the inertial energy-momentum to account for their observed equality—is introduced. Next the S-matrix in quantum gravity is defined as the gravitational limit of the transition amplitudes of asymptotic in- to out-states in the gauge theory of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms. The so-defined S-matrix relates in- and out-states of observable particles carrying gravitational equal to inertial energy-momentum. Finally, generalized Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann reduction formulae for scalar, Dirac and gauge fields are established which allow us to express S-matrix elements as the gravitational limit of truncated Fourier-transformed vacuum expectation values of time-ordered products of field operators of the interacting theory. Together with the generating functional of the latter established in Wiesendanger (2011 arXiv:1103.1012) any transition amplitude can in principle be computed consistently to any order in perturbative quantum gravity.

Semiclassics for matrix Hamiltonians: The Gutzwiller trace formula with applications to graphene-type systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogl, M.; Pankratov, O.; Shallcross, S.

2017-07-01

We present a tractable and physically transparent semiclassical theory of matrix-valued Hamiltonians, i.e., those that describe quantum systems with internal degrees of freedoms, based on a generalization of the Gutzwiller trace formula for a n ×n dimensional Hamiltonian H (p ̂,q ̂) . The classical dynamics is governed by n Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) equations that act in a phase space endowed with a classical Berry curvature encoding anholonomy in the parallel transport of the eigenvectors of H (p ,q ) ; these vectors describe the internal structure of the semiclassical particles. At the O (ℏ1) level and for nondegenerate HJ systems, this curvature results in an additional semiclassical phase composed of (i) a Berry phase and (ii) a dynamical phase resulting from the classical particles "moving through the Berry curvature". We show that the dynamical part of this semiclassical phase will, generally, be zero only for the case in which the Berry phase is topological (i.e., depends only on the winding number). We illustrate the method by calculating the Landau spectrum for monolayer graphene, the four-band model of AB bilayer graphene, and for a more complicated matrix Hamiltonian describing the silicene band structure. Finally, we apply our method to an inhomogeneous system consisting of a strain engineered one-dimensional moiré in bilayer graphene, finding localized states near the Dirac point that arise from electron trapping in a semiclassical moiré potential. The semiclassical density of states of these localized states we show to be in perfect agreement with an exact quantum mechanical calculation of the density of states.

A new approximation of Fermi-Dirac integrals of order 1/2 for degenerate semiconductor devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

AlQurashi, Ahmed; Selvakumar, C. R.

2018-06-01

There had been tremendous growth in the field of Integrated circuits (ICs) in the past fifty years. Scaling laws mandated both lateral and vertical dimensions to be reduced and a steady increase in doping densities. Most of the modern semiconductor devices have invariably heavily doped regions where Fermi-Dirac Integrals are required. Several attempts have been devoted to developing analytical approximations for Fermi-Dirac Integrals since numerical computations of Fermi-Dirac Integrals are difficult to use in semiconductor devices, although there are several highly accurate tabulated functions available. Most of these analytical expressions are not sufficiently suitable to be employed in semiconductor device applications due to their poor accuracy, the requirement of complicated calculations, and difficulties in differentiating and integrating. A new approximation has been developed for the Fermi-Dirac integrals of the order 1/2 by using Prony's method and discussed in this paper. The approximation is accurate enough (Mean Absolute Error (MAE) = 0.38%) and easy enough to be used in semiconductor device equations. The new approximation of Fermi-Dirac Integrals is applied to a more generalized Einstein Relation which is an important relation in semiconductor devices.

Designing Two-Dimensional Dirac Heterointerfaces of Few-Layer Graphene and Tetradymite-Type Sb2Te3 for Thermoelectric Applications.

PubMed

Jang, Woosun; Lee, Jiwoo; In, Chihun; Choi, Hyunyong; Soon, Aloysius

2017-12-06

Despite the ubiquitous nature of the Peltier effect in low-dimensional thermoelectric devices, the influence of finite temperature on the electronic structure and transport in the Dirac heterointerfaces of the few-layer graphene and layered tetradymite, Sb 2 Te 3 (which coincidently have excellent thermoelectric properties) are not well understood. In this work, using the first-principles density-functional theory calculations, we investigate the detailed atomic and electronic structure of these Dirac heterointerfaces of graphene and Sb 2 Te 3 and further re-examine the effect of finite temperature on the electronic band structures using a phenomenological temperature-broadening model based on Fermi-Dirac statistics. We then proceed to understand the underlying charge redistribution process in this Dirac heterointerfaces and through solving the Boltzmann transport equation, we present the theoretical evidence of electron-hole asymmetry in its electrical conductivity as a consequence of this charge redistribution mechanism. We finally propose that the hexagonal-stacked Dirac heterointerfaces are useful as efficient p-n junction building blocks in the next-generation thermoelectric devices where the electron-hole asymmetry promotes the thermoelectric transport by "hot" excited charge carriers.

STM on Gate-Tunable Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yuanbo

2009-03-01

We have successfully performed atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STS) on mechanically exfoliated graphene samples having tunable back-gates. We have discovered that the tunneling spectra of graphene flakes display an unexpected gap-like feature that is pinned to the Fermi level for different gate voltages, and which coexists with another depression in density-of-states that moves with gate voltage. Extensive tests and careful analysis show that the gap-feature is due to phonon-assisted inelastic tunneling, and the depression directly marks the location of the graphene Dirac point. Using tunneling spectroscopy as a new tool, we further probe the local energetic variations of the graphene charge neutral point (Dirac point) to map out spatial electron density inhomogeneities in graphene. Such measurements are two orders of magnitude higher in resolution than previous experiments, and they can be directly correlated with nanometer scale topographic features. Based on our observation of energy-dependent periodic electronic interference patterns, our measurements also reveal the nature of impurity scattering of Dirac fermions in graphene. These results are significant for understanding the sources of electron density inhomogeneity and electron scattering in graphene, and the microscopic causes of graphene electron mobility.

On scattering from the one-dimensional multiple Dirac delta potentials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erman, Fatih; Gadella, Manuel; Uncu, Haydar

2018-05-01

In this paper, we propose a pedagogical presentation of the Lippmann–Schwinger equation as a powerful tool, so as to obtain important scattering information. In particular, we consider a one-dimensional system with a Schrödinger-type free Hamiltonian decorated with a sequence of N attractive Dirac delta interactions. We first write the Lippmann–Schwinger equation for the system and then solve it explicitly in terms of an N × N matrix. Then, we discuss the reflection and the transmission coefficients for an arbitrary number of centres and study the threshold anomaly for the N = 2 and N = 4 cases. We also study further features like the quantum metastable states and resonances, including their corresponding Gamow functions and virtual or antibound states. The use of the Lippmann–Schwinger equation simplifies our analysis enormously and gives exact results for an arbitrary number of Dirac delta potentials.

Double-wells and double-layers in dusty Fermi-Dirac plasmas: Comparison with the semiclassical Thomas-Fermi counterpart

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

Based on the quantum hydrodynamics (QHD) model, a new relationship between the electrostatic-potential and the electron-density in the ultradense plasma is derived. Propagation of arbitrary amplitude nonlinear ion waves is, then, investigated in a completely degenerate dense dusty electron-ion plasma, using this new energy relation for the relativistic electrons, in the ground of quantum hydrodynamics model and the results are compared to the case of semiclassical Thomas-Fermi dusty plasma. Based on the standard pseudopotential approach, it is remarked that the Fermi-Dirac plasma, in contrast to the Thomas-Fermi counterpart, accommodates a wide variety of nonlinear excitations such as positive/negative-potential ion solitarymore » and periodic waves, double-layers, and double-wells. It is also remarked that the relativistic degeneracy parameter which relates to the mass-density of plasma has significant effects on the allowed matching-speed range in Fermi-Dirac dusty plasmas.« less

Dirac-electron-mediated magnetic proximity effect in topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Mingda; Song, Qichen; Zhao, Weiwei

The possible realization of dissipationless chiral edge current in a topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterostructure is based on the condition that the magnetic proximity exchange coupling at the interface is dominated by the Dirac surface states of the topological insulator. We report a polarized neutron reflectometry observation of Dirac-electron-mediated magnetic proximity effect in a bulk-insulating topological insulator (Bi 0.2Sb 0.8) 2Te 3/magnetic insulator EuS heterostructure. We are able to maximize the proximity-induced magnetism by applying an electrical back gate to tune the Fermi level of topological insulator to be close to the Dirac point. A phenomenological model based on diamagnetic screeningmore » is developed to explain the suppressed proximity-induced magnetism at high carrier density. Our work paves the way to utilize the magnetic proximity effect at the topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterointerface for low-power spintronic applications.« less

Dirac-electron-mediated magnetic proximity effect in topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterostructures

DOE PAGES

Li, Mingda; Song, Qichen; Zhao, Weiwei; ...

2017-11-01

The possible realization of dissipationless chiral edge current in a topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterostructure is based on the condition that the magnetic proximity exchange coupling at the interface is dominated by the Dirac surface states of the topological insulator. We report a polarized neutron reflectometry observation of Dirac-electron-mediated magnetic proximity effect in a bulk-insulating topological insulator (Bi 0.2Sb 0.8) 2Te 3/magnetic insulator EuS heterostructure. We are able to maximize the proximity-induced magnetism by applying an electrical back gate to tune the Fermi level of topological insulator to be close to the Dirac point. A phenomenological model based on diamagnetic screeningmore » is developed to explain the suppressed proximity-induced magnetism at high carrier density. Our work paves the way to utilize the magnetic proximity effect at the topological insulator/magnetic insulator heterointerface for low-power spintronic applications.« less

Dirac dispersion generates unusually large Nernst effect in Weyl semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watzman, Sarah J.; McCormick, Timothy M.; Shekhar, Chandra; Wu, Shu-Chun; Sun, Yan; Prakash, Arati; Felser, Claudia; Trivedi, Nandini; Heremans, Joseph P.

2018-04-01

Weyl semimetals contain linearly dispersing electronic states, offering interesting features in transport yet to be thoroughly explored thermally. Here we show how the Nernst effect, combining entropy with charge transport, gives a unique signature for the presence of Dirac bands and offers a diagnostic to determine if trivial pockets play a role in this transport. The Nernst thermopower of NbP exceeds its conventional thermopower by a 100-fold, and the temperature dependence of the Nernst effect has a pronounced maximum. The charge-neutrality condition dictates that the Fermi level shifts with increasing temperature toward the energy that has the minimum density of states (DOS). In NbP, the agreement of the Nernst and Seebeck data with a model that assumes this minimum DOS resides at the Dirac points is taken as strong experimental evidence that the trivial (non-Dirac) bands play no role in high-temperature transport.

Nonzero θ13 from the Triangular Ansatz and Leptogenesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benaoum, H. B.

2012-08-01

Recent experiments indicate a departure from the exact tri-bimaximal mixing by measure ring definitive nonzero value of θ13. Within the framework of type I seesaw mechanism, we reconstruct the triangular Dirac neutrino mass matrix from the μ - τ symmetric mass matrix. The deviation from μ - τ symmetry is then parametrized by adding dimensionless parameters yi in the triangular mass matrix. In this parametrization of the neutrino mass matrix, the nonzero value θ13 is controlled by Δy = y4 - y6. We also calculate the resulting leptogenesis and show that the triangular texture can generate the observed baryon asymmetry in the universe via leptogenesis scenario.

Baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis in a neutrino mass model with complex scaling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Samanta, Rome; Ghosal, Ambar; Chakraborty, Mainak

Baryogenesis via leptogenesis is investigated in a specific model of light neutrino masses and mixing angles. The latter was proposed on the basis of an assumed complex-extended scaling property of the neutrino Majorana mass matrix M {sub ν}, derived with a type-1 seesaw from a Dirac mass matrix m {sub D} and a heavy singlet neutrino Majorana mass matrix M {sub R} . One of its important features, highlighted here, is that there is a common source of the origin of a nonzero θ{sub 13} and the CP violating lepton asymmetry through the imaginary part of m {sub D} .more » The model predicted CP violation to be maximal for the Dirac type and vanishing for the Majorana type. We assume strongly hierarchical mass eigenvalues for M {sub R} . The leptonic CP asymmetry parameter ε{sup α}{sub 1} mm with lepton flavor α, originating from the decays of the lightest of the heavy neutrinos N {sub 1} (of mass M {sub 1}) at a temperature T ∼ M {sub 1}, is what matters here with the lepton asymmetries, originating from the decays of N {sub 2,3}, being washed out. The light leptonic and heavy neutrino number densities (normalized to the entropy density) are evolved via Boltzmann equations down to electroweak temperatures to yield a baryon asymmetry through sphaleronic transitions. The effects of flavored vs. unflavored leptogenesis in the three mass regimes (1) M {sub 1} < 10{sup 9} GeV, (2) 10{sup 9} GeV < M {sub 1} < 10{sup 12} GeV and (3) M {sub 1} > 10{sup 12} GeV are numerically worked out for both a normal and an inverted mass ordering of the light neutrinos. Corresponding results on the baryon asymmetry of the universe are obtained, displayed and discussed. For values close to the best-fit points of the input neutrino mass and mixing parameters, obtained from neutrino oscillation experiments, successful baryogenesis is achieved for the mass regime (2) and a normal mass ordering of the light neutrinos with a nonzero θ{sub 13} playing a crucial role. However, the other possibility of an inverted mass ordering for the same mass regime, though disfavored, cannot be excluded. A discussion is also given on the sensitivity of our result to the masses M {sub 2,3} of the heavier neutrinos N {sub 2,3}.« less

An infinite-order two-component relativistic Hamiltonian by a simple one-step transformation.

PubMed

Ilias, Miroslav; Saue, Trond

2007-02-14

The authors report the implementation of a simple one-step method for obtaining an infinite-order two-component (IOTC) relativistic Hamiltonian using matrix algebra. They apply the IOTC Hamiltonian to calculations of excitation and ionization energies as well as electric and magnetic properties of the radon atom. The results are compared to corresponding calculations using identical basis sets and based on the four-component Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian as well as Douglas-Kroll-Hess and zeroth-order regular approximation Hamiltonians, all implemented in the DIRAC program package, thus allowing a comprehensive comparison of relativistic Hamiltonians within the finite basis approximation.

On the basis property of the system of eigenfunctions and associated functions of a one-dimensional Dirac operator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savchuk, A. M.

2018-04-01

We study a one-dimensional Dirac system on a finite interval. The potential (a 2× 2 matrix) is assumed to be complex- valued and integrable. The boundary conditions are assumed to be regular in the sense of Birkhoff. It is known that such an operator has a discrete spectrum and the system \\{\\mathbf{y}_n\\}_1^∞ of its eigenfunctions and associated functions is a Riesz basis (possibly with brackets) in L_2\\oplus L_2. Our results concern the basis property of this system in the spaces L_μ\\oplus L_μ for μ\

Pseudo-Boltzmann model for modeling the junctionless transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avila-Herrera, F.; Cerdeira, A.; Roldan, J. B.; Sánchez-Moreno, P.; Tienda-Luna, I. M.; Iñiguez, B.

2014-05-01

Calculation of the carrier concentrations in semiconductors using the Fermi-Dirac integral requires complex numerical calculations; in this context, practically all analytical device models are based on Boltzmann statistics, even though it is known that it leads to an over-estimation of carriers densities for high doping concentrations. In this paper, a new approximation to Fermi-Dirac integral, called Pseudo-Boltzmann model, is presented for modeling junctionless transistors with high doping concentrations.

Tuning the Fano factor of graphene via Fermi velocity modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima, Jonas R. F.; Barbosa, Anderson L. R.; Bezerra, C. G.; Pereira, Luiz Felipe C.

2018-03-01

In this work we investigate the influence of a Fermi velocity modulation on the Fano factor of periodic and quasi-periodic graphene superlattices. We consider the continuum model and use the transfer matrix method to solve the Dirac-like equation for graphene where the electrostatic potential, energy gap and Fermi velocity are piecewise constant functions of the position x. We found that in the presence of an energy gap, it is possible to tune the energy of the Fano factor peak and consequently the location of the Dirac point, by a modulation in the Fermi velocity. Hence, the peak of the Fano factor can be used experimentally to identify the Dirac point. We show that for higher values of the Fermi velocity the Fano factor goes below 1/3 at the Dirac point. Furthermore, we show that in periodic superlattices the location of Fano factor peaks is symmetric when the Fermi velocity vA and vB is exchanged, however by introducing quasi-periodicity the symmetry is lost. The Fano factor usually holds a universal value for a specific transport regime, which reveals that the possibility of controlling it in graphene is a notable result.

Lattice QCD analysis for relation between quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Doi, Takahiro M.; Suganuma, Hideo; Iritani, Takumi

2016-01-22

The Polyakov loop and the Dirac modes are connected via a simple analytical relation on the temporally odd-number lattice, where the temporal lattice size is odd with the normal (nontwisted) periodic boundary condition. Using this relation, we investigate the relation between quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. In this paper, we discuss the properties of this analytical relation and numerically investigate each Dirac-mode contribution to the Polyakov loop in both confinement and deconfinement phases at the quenched level. This relation indicates that low-lying Dirac modes have little contribution to the Polyakov loop, and we numerically confirmed this fact.more » From our analysis, it is suggested that there is no direct one-to-one corresponding between quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. Also, in the confinement phase, we numerically find that there is a new “positive/negative symmetry” in the Dirac-mode matrix elements of link-variable operator which appear in the relation and the Polyakov loop becomes zero because of this symmetry. In the deconfinement phase, this symmetry is broken and the Polyakov loop is non-zero.« less

Stability of Weyl metals under impurity scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Zhoushen; Das, Tanmoy; Balatsky, Alexander V.; Arovas, Daniel P.

2013-04-01

We investigate the effects of bulk impurities on the electronic spectrum of Weyl semimetals, a recently identified class of Dirac-type materials. Using a T-matrix approach, we study resonant scattering due to a localized impurity in tight-binding versions of the continuum models recently discussed by [Burkov, Hook, and Balents, Phys. Rev. BPRBMDO1098-012110.1103/PhysRevB.84.235126 84, 235126 (2011)], describing perturbed four-component Dirac fermions in the vicinity of a critical point. The impurity potential is described by a strength g as well as a matrix structure Λ. Unlike the case in d-wave superconductors, where a zero energy resonance can always be induced by varying the scalar and/or magnetic impurity strength, we find that for certain types of impurity (Λ), the Weyl node is protected and that a scalar impurity will induce an intragap resonance over a wide range of scattering strength. A general framework is developed to address this question, as well as to determine the dependence of resonance energy on the impurity strength.

Full Parallel Implementation of an All-Electron Four-Component Dirac-Kohn-Sham Program.

PubMed

Rampino, Sergio; Belpassi, Leonardo; Tarantelli, Francesco; Storchi, Loriano

2014-09-09

A full distributed-memory implementation of the Dirac-Kohn-Sham (DKS) module of the program BERTHA (Belpassi et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2011, 13, 12368-12394) is presented, where the self-consistent field (SCF) procedure is replicated on all the parallel processes, each process working on subsets of the global matrices. The key feature of the implementation is an efficient procedure for switching between two matrix distribution schemes, one (integral-driven) optimal for the parallel computation of the matrix elements and another (block-cyclic) optimal for the parallel linear algebra operations. This approach, making both CPU-time and memory scalable with the number of processors used, virtually overcomes at once both time and memory barriers associated with DKS calculations. Performance, portability, and numerical stability of the code are illustrated on the basis of test calculations on three gold clusters of increasing size, an organometallic compound, and a perovskite model. The calculations are performed on a Beowulf and a BlueGene/Q system.

Kondo Effect in Dirac Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanagisawa, Takashi

2015-07-01

We investigate the Kondo effect in Dirac systems, where Dirac electrons interact with the localized spin via the s-d exchange coupling. The Dirac electron in solid state has the linear dispersion and is described typically by the Hamiltonian such as Hk = vk · σ for the wave number k where σj are Pauli matrices. We derived the formula of the Kondo temperature TK by means of the Green's function theory for small J. The TK is determined from a singularity of Green's functions in the form TK ≃ bar{D}exp ( - const./ρ |J|) when the exchange coupling |J| is small where bar{D} = D/√{1 + D2/(2μ )2} for a cutoff D and ρ is the density of states at the Fermi surface. When |μ| ≪ D, TK is proportional to |μ|: TK ≃ |μ| exp(-const./ρ|J|). The Kondo screening will, however, disappear when the Fermi surface shrinks to a point called the Dirac point, that is, TK vanishes when the chemical potential μ is just at the Dirac point. The resistivity and the specific heat exhibit a log-T singularity in the range TK < T ≪ |μ|/kB. Instead, for T ˜ O(|μ|) or T > |μ|, they never show log-T.

Determination of Energy Independent Neutron Densities using Dirac Phenomenology based on the RIA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, B. C.; Kerr, L. J.; Hama, S.; Mercer, R. L.

2002-04-01

A new method for extracting neutron densities from intermediate energy elastic proton-nucleus scattering observables using a global Dirac phenomenological (DP) approach based on the Relativistic Impulse Approximation (RIA) is presented. (B. C. Clark, et al.) BAPS Vol 46, No. 7 pg.139, 2001. We have considered data sets for ^40Ca, ^48Ca and ^208Pb and energies from 500 MeV to 1040 MeV. The global fits are successful in reproducing the data and in predicting data sets not included in the analysis. Using this global DP approach we have obtained energy independent neutron densities. The vector point proton density distribution, ρ^p_v, is determined from the empirical charge density after unfolding the proton form factor. The other densities, ρ^n_v, ρ^p_s, ρ^n_s, are parameterized using the cosh form given in our paper on global DP optical potentials.(E. D. Cooper, et al.) Phys Rev. 47C, pg. 297, 1993 Neutron skin thicknesses extracted using the global analysis are compared to predictions from theoretical models.

Exotic Phenomena in Quantum limit in nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Jin; Liu, Jinyu; Mao, Zhiqiang

2017-03-01

In quantum limit, all carriers condense to the lowest Landau level, leading to possible exotic quantum phenomena such as Lifshitz transition and density waves. Usually, quantum limit is not easily achieved due to relatively large Fermi surface in metals. Fortunately, the nodal-line semimetal ZrSiS possesses a very small Fermi pocket with a characteristic quantum oscillation frequency of 8.4T, which represents the 2D Dirac states protected by non-symmorphic symmetry. The quantum limit of such Dirac bands can be reached in moderate magnetic field ~25T, indicating that ZrSiS could be a nice platform to explore the novel quantum phenomena of Dirac fermionsmore » in quantum limit.« less

Hydrogenated and halogenated blue phosphorene as Dirac materials: A first principles study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Minglei; Wang, Sake; Yu, Jin; Tang, Wencheng

2017-01-01

Using first-principles calculations, we systematically investigate the structures and electronic properties of fully hydrogenated and halogenated blue phosphorene (P2X2). All these systems possess Dirac cone at high-symmetry K point, which are mainly contributed by P s px py orbitals. The Dirac cone in P2F2 and P2I2 systems lies exactly at the Fermi level. Formation energy analysis denotes that all the systems are energetically stable except P2I2. The mass density for P2H2 and P2F2 systems is rather small. Our calculations proposed that these systems, especially P2F2 system, have great potential applications in future nanoelectronics.

Electrical manipulation of dynamic magnetic impurity and spin texture of helical Dirac fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Rui-Qiang; Zhong, Min; Zheng, Shi-Han; Yang, Mou; Wang, Guang-Hui

2016-05-01

We have theoretically investigated the spin inelastic scattering of helical electrons off a high-spin nanomagnet absorbed on a topological surface. The nanomagnet is treated as a dynamic quantum spin and driven by the spin transfer torque effect. We proposed a mechanism to electrically manipulate the spin texture of helical Dirac fermions rather than by an external magnetic field. By tuning the bias voltage and the direction of impurity magnetization, we present rich patterns of spin texture, from which important fingerprints exclusively associated with the spin helical feature are obtained. Furthermore, it is found that the nonmagnetic potential can create the resonance state in the spin density with different physics as the previously reported resonance of charge density.

Data-driven discovery of new Dirac semimetal materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Qimin; Chen, Ru; Neaton, Jeffrey

In recent years, a significant amount of materials property data from high-throughput computations based on density functional theory (DFT) and the application of database technologies have enabled the rise of data-driven materials discovery. In this work, we initiate the extension of the data-driven materials discovery framework to the realm of topological semimetal materials and to accelerate the discovery of novel Dirac semimetals. We implement current available and develop new workflows to data-mine the Materials Project database for novel Dirac semimetals with desirable band structures and symmetry protected topological properties. This data-driven effort relies on the successful development of several automatic data generation and analysis tools, including a workflow for the automatic identification of topological invariants and pattern recognition techniques to find specific features in a massive number of computed band structures. Utilizing this approach, we successfully identified more than 15 novel Dirac point and Dirac nodal line systems that have not been theoretically predicted or experimentally identified. This work is supported by the Materials Project Predictive Modeling Center through the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Hydrodynamic & Transport Properties of Dirac Materials in the Quantum Limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gochan, Matthew; Bedell, Kevin

Dirac materials are a versatile class of materials in which an abundance of unique physical phenomena can be observed. Such materials are found in all dimensions, with the shared property that their low-energy fermionic excitations behave as massless Dirac fermions and are therefore governed by the Dirac equation. The most popular Dirac material, its two dimensional version in graphene, is the focus of this work. We seek a deeper understanding of the interactions in the quantum limit within graphene. Specifically, we derive hydrodynamic and transport properties, such as the conductivity, viscosity, and spin diffusion, in the low temperature regime where electron-electron scattering is dominant. To conclude, we look at the so-called universal lower bound conjectured by the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence for the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density ratio. The lower bound, given by η / s >= ℏ / (4 πkB) , is supposedly obeyed by all quantum fluids. This leads us to ask whether or not graphene can be considered a quantum fluid and perhaps a ''nearly perfect fluid''(NPF) if this is the case, is it possible to find a violation of this bound at low temperatures.

Tinene: a two-dimensional Dirac material with a 72 meV band gap.

PubMed

Cai, Bo; Zhang, Shengli; Hu, Ziyu; Hu, Yonghong; Zou, Yousheng; Zeng, Haibo

2015-05-21

Dirac materials have attracted great interest for both fundamental research and electronic devices due to their unique band structures, but the usual near zero bandgap of graphene results in a poor on-off ratio in the corresponding transistors. Here, we report on tinene, monolayer gray tin, as a new two-dimensional material with both Dirac characteristics and a remarkable 72 meV bandgap based on density functional theory calculations. Compared with silicene and germanene, tinene has a similar hexagonal honeycomb monolayer structure, but it has an obviously larger buckling height (∼0.70 Å). Interestingly, such a moderate buckling structure results in phonon dispersion without appreciable imaginary modes, indicating the strong dynamic stability of tinene. Significantly, a distinct transformation is discovered from the band structure that six Dirac cones would appear at high symmetry K points in the first Brillouin zone when gray tin is thinned from the bulk to monolayer, but a bandgap as large as 72 meV is still preserved. Considering the recent successful realization of silicene and germanene with a similar structure, the predicted stable tinene with Dirac characteristics and a suitable bandgap is a possibility for the "more than Moore" materials and devices.

Manipulation of Dirac cones in metal-intercalated epitaxial graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Cai-Zhuang; Kim, Minsung; Tringides, Michael; Ho, Kai-Ming

Graphene is one of the most attractive materials from both fundamental and practical points of view due to its characteristic Dirac cones. The electronic property of graphene can be modified through the interaction with substrate or another graphene layer as illustrated in few-layer epitaxial graphene. Recently, metal intercalation became an effective method to manipulate the electronic structure of graphene by modifying the coupling between the constituent layers. In this work, we show that the Dirac cones of epitaxial graphene can be manipulated by intercalating rare-earth metals. We demonstrate that rare-earth metal intercalated epitaxial graphene has tunable band structures and the energy levels of Dirac cones as well as the linear or quadratic band dispersion can be controlled depending on the location of the intercalation layer and density. Our results could be important for applications and characterizations of the intercalated epitaxial graphene. Supported by the U.S. DOE-BES under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358.

Topological Dirac semimetal phase in Pd and Pt oxides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Gang; Yan, Binghai; Wang, Zhijun; Held, Karsten

2017-01-01

Topological Dirac semimetals (DSMs) exhibit nodal points through which energy bands disperse linearly in three-dimensional (3D) momentum space, a 3D analog of graphene. The first experimentally confirmed DSMs with a pair of Dirac points (DPs), Na3Bi and Cd3As2 , show topological surface Fermi arc states and exotic magnetotransport properties, boosting the interest in the search for stable and nontoxic DSM materials. Based on density-functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory calculations, we predict a family of palladium and platinum oxides to be robust 3D DSMs with three pairs of Dirac points that are well separated from bulk bands. The Fermi arcs at the surface display a Lifshitz transition upon a continuous change of the chemical potential. Corresponding oxides are already available as high-quality single crystals, an excellent precondition for the verification of our predictions by photoemission and magnetotransport experiments, extending DSMs to the versatile family of transition-metal oxides.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Shengli; Cai, Bo; Zeng, Haibo, E-mail: Huziyu@csrc.ac.cn, E-mail: zeng.haibo@njust.edu.cn

Arsenene and antimonene are predicted to have 2.49 and 2.28 eV band gaps, which have aroused intense interest in the two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors for nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Here, the hydrogenated arsenenes are reported to be planar magnet and 2D Dirac materials based on comprehensive first-principles calculations. The semi-hydrogenated (SH) arsenene is found to be a quasi-planar magnet, while the fully hydrogenated (FH) arsenene is a planar Dirac material. The buckling height of pristine arsenene is greatly decreased by the hydrogenation, resulting in a planar and relatively low-mass-density sheet. The electronic structures of arsenene are also evidently altered after hydrogenating frommore » wide-band-gap semiconductor to metallic material for SH arsenene, and then to Dirac material for FH arsenene. The SH arsenene has an obvious magnetism, mainly contributed by the p orbital of the unsaturated As atom. Such magnetic and Dirac materials modified by hydrogenation of arsenene may have potential applications in future optoelectronic and spintronic devices.« less

Voltage-induced switching of an antiferromagnetically ordered topological Dirac semimetal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Youngseok; Kang, Kisung; Schleife, André; Gilbert, Matthew J.

2018-04-01

An antiferromagnetic semimetal has been recently identified as a new member of topological semimetals that may host three-dimensional symmetry-protected Dirac fermions. A reorientation of the Néel vector may break the underlying symmetry and open a gap in the quasiparticle spectrum, inducing the (semi)metal-insulator transition. Here, we predict that such a transition may be controlled by manipulating the chemical potential location of the material. We perform both analytical and numerical analysis on the thermodynamic potential of the model Hamiltonian and find that the gapped spectrum is preferred when the chemical potential is located at the Dirac point. As the chemical potential deviates from the Dirac point, the system shows a possible transition from the gapped to the gapless phase and switches the corresponding Néel vector configuration. We perform density functional theory calculations to verify our analysis using a realistic material and discuss a two terminal transport measurement as a possible route to identify the voltage-induced switching of the Néel vector.

Hybrid matrix method for stable numerical analysis of the propagation of Dirac electrons in gapless bilayer graphene superlattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briones-Torres, J. A.; Pernas-Salomón, R.; Pérez-Álvarez, R.; Rodríguez-Vargas, I.

2016-05-01

Gapless bilayer graphene (GBG), like monolayer graphene, is a material system with unique properties, such as anti-Klein tunneling and intrinsic Fano resonances. These properties rely on the gapless parabolic dispersion relation and the chiral nature of bilayer graphene electrons. In addition, propagating and evanescent electron states coexist inherently in this material, giving rise to these exotic properties. In this sense, bilayer graphene is unique, since in most material systems in which Fano resonance phenomena are manifested an external source that provides extended states is required. However, from a numerical standpoint, the presence of evanescent-divergent states in the eigenfunctions linear superposition representing the Dirac spinors, leads to a numerical degradation (the so called Ωd problem) in the practical applications of the standard Coefficient Transfer Matrix (K) method used to study charge transport properties in Bilayer Graphene based multi-barrier systems. We present here a straightforward procedure based in the hybrid compliance-stiffness matrix method (H) that can overcome this numerical degradation. Our results show that in contrast to standard matrix method, the proposed H method is suitable to study the transmission and transport properties of electrons in GBG superlattice since it remains numerically stable regardless the size of the superlattice and the range of values taken by the input parameters: the energy and angle of the incident electrons, the barrier height and the thickness and number of barriers. We show that the matrix determinant can be used as a test of the numerical accuracy in real calculations.

Relativistic space-charge-limited current for massive Dirac fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ang, Y. S.; Zubair, M.; Ang, L. K.

2017-04-01

A theory of relativistic space-charge-limited current (SCLC) is formulated to determine the SCLC scaling, J ∝Vα/Lβ , for a finite band-gap Dirac material of length L biased under a voltage V . In one-dimensional (1D) bulk geometry, our model allows (α ,β ) to vary from (2,3) for the nonrelativistic model in traditional solids to (3/2,2) for the ultrarelativistic model of massless Dirac fermions. For 2D thin-film geometry we obtain α =β , which varies between 2 and 3/2, respectively, at the nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic limits. We further provide rigorous proof based on a Green's-function approach that for a uniform SCLC model described by carrier-density-dependent mobility, the scaling relations of the 1D bulk model can be directly mapped into the case of 2D thin film for any contact geometries. Our simplified approach provides a convenient tool to obtain the 2D thin-film SCLC scaling relations without the need of explicitly solving the complicated 2D problems. Finally, this work clarifies the inconsistency in using the traditional SCLC models to explain the experimental measurement of a 2D Dirac semiconductor. We conclude that the voltage scaling 3 /2 <α <2 is a distinct signature of massive Dirac fermions in a Dirac semiconductor and is in agreement with experimental SCLC measurements in MoS2.

Dirac R-matrix calculations of photoionization cross sections of Ni XII and atomic structure data of Ni XIII

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nazir, R. T.; Bari, M. A.; Bilal, M.; Sardar, S.; Nasim, M. H.; Salahuddin, M.

2017-02-01

We performed R-matrix calculations for photoionization cross sections of the two ground state configuration 3s23p5 (^2P^o3/2,1/2) levels and 12 excited states of Ni XII using relativistic Dirac Atomic R-matrix Codes (DARC) across the photon energy range between the ionizations thresholds of the corresponding states and well above the thresholds of the last level of the Ni XIII target ion. Generally, a good agreement is obtained between our results and the earlier theoretical photoionization cross sections. Moreover, we have used two independent fully relativistic GRASP and FAC codes to calculate fine-structure energy levels, wavelengths, oscillator strengths, transitions rates among the lowest 48 levels belonging to the configuration (3s23p4, 3s3p5, 3p6, 3s23p33d) in Ni XIII. Additionally, radiative lifetimes of all the excited states of Ni XIII are presented. Our results of the atomic structure of Ni XIII show good agreement with other theoretical and experimental results available in the literature. A good agreement is found between our calculated lifetimes and the experimental ones. Our present results are useful for plasma diagnostic of fusion and astrophysical plasmas.

Anomalous electronic structure and magnetoresistance in TaAs2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Yongkang; McDonald, R. D.; Rosa, P. F. S.; Scott, B.; Wakeham, N.; Ghimire, N. J.; Bauer, E. D.; Thompson, J. D.; Ronning, F.

2016-06-01

The change in resistance of a material in a magnetic field reflects its electronic state. In metals with weakly- or non-interacting electrons, the resistance typically increases upon the application of a magnetic field. In contrast, negative magnetoresistance may appear under some circumstances, e.g., in metals with anisotropic Fermi surfaces or with spin-disorder scattering and semimetals with Dirac or Weyl electronic structures. Here we show that the non-magnetic semimetal TaAs2 possesses a very large negative magnetoresistance, with an unknown scattering mechanism. Density functional calculations find that TaAs2 is a new topological semimetal [ℤ2 invariant (0;111)] without Dirac dispersion, demonstrating that a negative magnetoresistance in non-magnetic semimetals cannot be attributed uniquely to the Adler-Bell-Jackiw chiral anomaly of bulk Dirac/Weyl fermions.

Anomalous electronic structure and magnetoresistance in TaAs2

PubMed Central

Luo, Yongkang; McDonald, R. D.; Rosa, P. F. S.; Scott, B.; Wakeham, N.; Ghimire, N. J.; Bauer, E. D.; Thompson, J. D.; Ronning, F.

2016-01-01

The change in resistance of a material in a magnetic field reflects its electronic state. In metals with weakly- or non-interacting electrons, the resistance typically increases upon the application of a magnetic field. In contrast, negative magnetoresistance may appear under some circumstances, e.g., in metals with anisotropic Fermi surfaces or with spin-disorder scattering and semimetals with Dirac or Weyl electronic structures. Here we show that the non-magnetic semimetal TaAs2 possesses a very large negative magnetoresistance, with an unknown scattering mechanism. Density functional calculations find that TaAs2 is a new topological semimetal [ℤ2 invariant (0;111)] without Dirac dispersion, demonstrating that a negative magnetoresistance in non-magnetic semimetals cannot be attributed uniquely to the Adler-Bell-Jackiw chiral anomaly of bulk Dirac/Weyl fermions. PMID:27271852

Optical spectroscopy study of the three-dimensional Dirac semimetal ZrTe 5

DOE PAGES

Chen, R. Y.; Gu, G. D.; Zhang, S. J.; ...

2015-08-05

Three-dimensional (3D) topological Dirac materials have been under intensive study recently. The layered compound ZrTe 5 has been suggested to be one such material as a result of transport and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. Here, we perform infrared reflectivity measurements to investigate the underlying physics of this material. The derived optical conductivity increases linearly with frequency below normal interband transitions, which provides optical spectroscopic proof of a 3D Dirac semimetal. In addition, the plasma edge shifts dramatically to lower energy upon temperature cooling, which might be due to the shrinking of the lattice parameters. Additionally, an extremely sharp peak showsmore » up in the frequency-dependent optical conductivity, indicating the presence of a Van Hove singularity in the joint density of state.« less

Stability of Weyl metals under imuurity scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Zhoushen; Das, Tanmoy; Balatsky, Alexander V.; Arovas, Daniel P.

2013-03-01

We investigate the effects of bulk impurities on the electronic spectrum of Weyl semimetals, a recently identified class of Dirac-type materials. Using a T-matrix approach, we study resonant scattering due to a localized impurity in tight binding versions of the continuum models recently discussed by Burkov, Hook, and Balents, describing perturbed four-component Dirac fermions in the vicinity of a critical point. The impurity potential is described by a strength g as well as a matrix structure Λ. Unlike the case in d-wave superconductors, where a zero energy resonance can always be induced by varying the impurity scalar and/or magnetic impurity strength, we find that for certain types of impurity (Λ), the Weyl node is protected, and that a scalar impurity will induce an intragap resonance over a wide range of scattering stength. A general framework is developed to address this question, as well as to determine the dependence of resonance energy on the impurity strength. This work is supported in part by the NSF through grant DMR-1007028. Work at LANL was supported by US DoE.

Observation of trapped light induced by Dwarf Dirac-cone in out-of-plane condition for photonic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Majumder, Subir; Biswas, Tushar; Bhadra, Shaymal K.

2016-10-01

Existence of out-of-plane conical dispersion for a triangular photonic crystal lattice is reported. It is observed that conical dispersion is maintained for a number of out-of-plane wave vectors (k z ). We study a case where Dirac like linear dispersion exists but the photonic density of states is not vanishing, called Dwarf Dirac cone (DDC) which does not support localized modes. We demonstrate the trapping of such modes by introducing defects in the crystal. Interestingly, we find by k-point sampling as well as by tuning trapped frequency that such a conical dispersion has an inherent light confining property and it is governed by neither of the known wave confining mechanisms like total internal reflection, band gap guidance. Our study reveals that such a conical dispersion in a non-vanishing photonic density of states induces unexpected intense trapping of light compared with those at other points in the continuum. Such studies provoke fabrication of new devices with exciting properties and new functionalities. Project supported by Director, CSIR-CGCRI, the DST, Government of India, and the CSIR 12th Plan Project (GLASSFIB), India.

Friedel oscillation near a van Hove singularity in two-dimensional Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Chi-Ken

2016-02-01

We consider Friedel oscillation in the two-dimensional Dirac materials when the Fermi level is near the van Hove singularity. Twisted graphene bilayer and the surface state of topological crystalline insulator are the representative materials which show low-energy saddle points that are feasible to probe by gating. We approximate the Fermi surface near saddle point with a hyperbola and calculate the static Lindhard response function. Employing a theorem of Lighthill, the induced charge density δ n due to an impurity is obtained and the algebraic decay of δ n is determined by the singularity of the static response function. Although a hyperbolic Fermi surface is rather different from a circular one, the static Lindhard response function in the present case shows a singularity similar with the response function associated with circular Fermi surface, which leads to the δ n\\propto {{R}-2} at large distance R. The dependences of charge density on the Fermi energy are different. Consequently, it is possible to observe in twisted graphene bilayer the evolution that δ n\\propto {{R}-3} near Dirac point changes to δ n\\propto {{R}-2} above the saddle point. Measurements using scanning tunnelling microscopy around the impurity sites could verify the prediction.

Universal properties of materials with the Dirac dispersion relation of low-energy excitations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Protogenov, A. P., E-mail: alprot@appl.sci-nnov.ru; Chulkov, E. V.

2015-12-15

The N-terminal scheme is considered for studying the contribution of edge states to the response of a two-dimensional topological insulator. A universal distribution of the nonlocal resistance between terminals is determined in the ballistic transport approach. The calculated responses are identical to experimentally observed values. The spectral properties of surface electronic states in Weyl semimetals are also studied. The density of surface states is accurately determined. The universal behavior of these characteristics is a distinctive feature of the considered Dirac materials which can be used in practical applications.

Helical Spin Order from Topological Dirac and Weyl Semimetals

DOE PAGES

Sun, Xiao-Qi; Zhang, Shou-Cheng; Wang, Zhong

2015-08-14

In this paper, we study dynamical mass generation and the resultant helical spin orders in topological Dirac and Weyl semimetals, including the edge states of quantum spin Hall insulators, the surface states of weak topological insulators, and the bulk materials of Weyl semimetals. In particular, the helical spin textures of Weyl semimetals manifest the spin-momentum locking of Weyl fermions in a visible manner. Finally, the spin-wave fluctuations of the helical order carry electric charge density; therefore, the spin textures can be electrically controlled in a simple and predictable manner.

QEDMOD: Fortran program for calculating the model Lamb-shift operator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shabaev, V. M.; Tupitsyn, I. I.; Yerokhin, V. A.

2018-02-01

We present Fortran package QEDMOD for computing the model QED operator hQED that can be used to account for the Lamb shift in accurate atomic-structure calculations. The package routines calculate the matrix elements of hQED with the user-specified one-electron wave functions. The operator can be used to calculate Lamb shift in many-electron atomic systems with a typical accuracy of few percent, either by evaluating the matrix element of hQED with the many-electron wave function, or by adding hQED to the Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hamiltonian.

Constructing the AdS dual of a Fermi liquid: AdS black holes with Dirac hair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Čubrović, Mihailo; Zaanen, Jan; Schalm, Koenraad

2011-10-01

We provide evidence that the holographic dual to a strongly coupled charged Fermi liquid has a non-zero fermion density in the bulk. We show that the pole-strength of the stable quasiparticle characterizing the Fermi surface is encoded in the AdS probability density of a single normalizable fermion wavefunction in AdS. Recalling Migdal's theorem which relates the pole strength to the Fermi-Dirac characteristic discontinuity in the number density at ω F , we conclude that the AdS dual of a Fermi liquid is described by occupied on-shell fermionic modes in AdS. Encoding the occupied levels in the total spatially averaged probability density of the fermion field directly, we show that an AdS Reissner-Nordström black holein a theory with charged fermions has a critical temperature, at which the system undergoes a first-order transition to a black hole with a non-vanishing profile for the bulk fermion field. Thermodynamics and spectral analysis support that the solution with non-zero AdS fermion-profile is the preferred ground state at low temperatures.

The effects of temperature on optical properties of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Zhu, Youhua; Huang, Jing; Deng, Honghai; Wang, Meiyu; Yin, HaiHong

2017-02-01

The effects of temperature on the optical properties of InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) light-emitting diodes have been investigated by using the six-by-six K-P method taking into account the temperature dependence of band gaps, lattice constants, and elastic constants. The numerical results indicate that the increase of temperature leads to the decrease of the spontaneous emission rate at the same injection current density due to the redistribution of carrier density and the increase of the non-radiative recombination rate. The product of Fermi-Dirac distribution functions of electron fc n and hole ( 1 - fv U m ) for the transitions between the three lowest conduction subbands (c1-c3) and the top six valence subbands (v1-v6) is larger at the lower temperature, which indicates that there are more electron-hole pairs distributed on the energy levels. It should be noted that the optical matrix elements of the inter-band transitions slightly increase at the higher temperature. In addition, the internal quantum efficiency of the InGaN/GaN QW structure is evidently decreased with increasing temperature.

Quantum Multicriticality near the Dirac-Semimetal to Band-Insulator Critical Point in Two Dimensions: A Controlled Ascent from One Dimension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Bitan; Foster, Matthew S.

2018-01-01

We compute the effects of generic short-range interactions on gapless electrons residing at the quantum critical point separating a two-dimensional Dirac semimetal and a symmetry-preserving band insulator. The electronic dispersion at this critical point is anisotropic (Ek=±√{v2kx2+b2ky2 n } with n =2 ), which results in unconventional scaling of thermodynamic and transport quantities. Because of the vanishing density of states [ϱ (E )˜|E |1 /n ], this anisotropic semimetal (ASM) is stable against weak short-range interactions. However, for stronger interactions, the direct Dirac-semimetal to band-insulator transition can either (i) become a fluctuation-driven first-order transition (although unlikely in a particular microscopic model considered here, the anisotropic honeycomb lattice extended Hubbard model) or (ii) get avoided by an intervening broken-symmetry phase. We perform a controlled renormalization group analysis with the small parameter ɛ =1 /n , augmented with a 1 /n expansion (parametrically suppressing quantum fluctuations in the higher dimension) by perturbing away from the one-dimensional limit, realized by setting ɛ =0 and n →∞ . We identify charge density wave (CDW), antiferromagnet (AFM), and singlet s -wave superconductivity as the three dominant candidates for broken symmetry. The onset of any such order at strong coupling (˜ɛ ) takes place through a continuous quantum phase transition across an interacting multicritical point, where the ordered phase, band insulator, Dirac, and anisotropic semimetals meet. We also present the phase diagram of an extended Hubbard model for the ASM, obtained via the controlled deformation of its counterpart in one dimension. The latter displays spin-charge separation and instabilities to CDW, spin density wave, and Luther-Emery liquid phases at arbitrarily weak coupling. The spin density wave and Luther-Emery liquid phases deform into pseudospin SU(2)-symmetric quantum critical points separating the ASM from the AFM and superconducting orders, respectively. Our phase diagram shows an intriguing interplay among CDW, AFM, and s -wave paired states that can be germane for a uniaxially strained optical honeycomb lattice for ultracold fermion atoms, or the organic compound α -(BEDT -TTF )2I3 .

Dirac cone and pseudogapped density of states in the topological half-Heusler compound YPtBi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kronenberg, A.; Braun, J.; Minár, J.; Elmers, H.-J.; Kutnyakhov, D.; Zaporozhchenko, A. V.; Wallauer, R.; Chernov, S.; Medjanik, K.; Schönhense, G.; Kläui, M.; Chadov, S.; Ebert, H.; Jourdan, M.

2016-10-01

Topological insulators (TIs) are exciting materials, which exhibit unprecedented properties, such as helical spin-momentum locking, which leads to large torques for magnetic switching and highly efficient spin current detection. Here we explore the compound YPtBi, an example from the class of half-Heusler materials, for which the typical band inversion of topological insulators was predicted. We prepared this material as thin films by conventional cosputtering from elementary targets. By in situ time-of-flight momentum microscopy, a Dirac conelike surface state with a Dirac point ≃300 meV below the Fermi energy was observed, in agreement with electronic structure-photoemission calculations. Only little additional spectral weight due to other states was observed at EF, which corroborates the identification of the topologically protected surface state and is highly relevant for spintronics applications.

Bulk and surface states carried supercurrent in ballistic Nb-Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 nanowire-Nb junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Cai-Zhen; Li, Chuan; Wang, Li-Xian; Wang, Shuo; Liao, Zhi-Min; Brinkman, Alexander; Yu, Da-Peng

2018-03-01

A three-dimensional Dirac semimetal has bulk Dirac cones in all three momentum directions and Fermi arc like surface states, and can be converted into a Weyl semimetal by breaking time-reversal symmetry. However, the highly conductive bulk state usually hides the electronic transport from the surface state in Dirac semimetal. Here, we demonstrate the supercurrent carried by bulk and surface states in Nb -Cd3As2 nanowire-Nb short and long junctions, respectively. For the ˜1 -μ m -long junction, the Fabry-Pérot interferences-induced oscillations of the critical supercurrent are observed, suggesting the ballistic transport of the surface states carried supercurrent, where the bulk states are decoherent and the topologically protected surface states still stay coherent. Moreover, a superconducting dome is observed in the long junction, which is attributed to the enhanced dephasing from the interaction between surface and bulk states as tuning gate voltage to increase the carrier density. The superconductivity of topological semimetal nanowire is promising for braiding of Majorana fermions toward topological quantum computing.

Theoretical study of the zero-gap organic conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3

PubMed Central

Kobayashi, Akito; Katayama, Shinya; Suzumura, Yoshikazu

2009-01-01

The quasi-two-dimensional molecular conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 exhibits anomalous transport phenomena where the temperature dependence of resistivity is weak but the ratio of the Hall coefficient at 10 K to that at room temperature is of the order of 104. These puzzling phenomena were solved by predicting massless Dirac fermions, whose motions are described using the tilted Weyl equation with anisotropic velocity. α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 is a unique material among several materials with Dirac fermions, i.e. graphene, bismuth, and quantum wells such as HgTe, from the view-points of both the structure and electronic states described as follows. α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 has the layered structure with highly two-dimensional massless Dirac fermions. The anisotropic velocity and incommensurate momenta of the contact points, ±k0, originate from the inequivalency of the BEDT-TTF sites in the unit cell, where ±k0 moves in the first Brillouin zone with increasing pressure. The massless Dirac fermions exist in the presence of the charge disproportionation and are robust against the increase in pressure. The electron densities on those inequivalent BEDT-TTF sites exhibit anomalous momentum distributions, reflecting the angular dependences of the wave functions around the contact points. Those unique electronic properties affect the spatial oscillations of the electron densities in the vicinity of an impurity. A marked behavior of the Hall coefficient, where the sign of the Hall coefficient reverses sharply but continuously at low temperatures around 5 K, is investigated by treating the interband effects of the magnetic field exactly. It is shown that such behavior is possible by assuming the existence of the extremely small amount of electron doping. The enhancement of the orbital diamagnetism is also expected. The results of the present research shed light on a new aspect of Dirac fermion physics, i.e. the emergence of unique electronic properties owing to the structure of the material. PMID:27877282

Observation of two-dimensional Fermi surface and Dirac dispersion in the new material YbMnSb2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kealhofer, Robert; Jang, Sooyoung; Griffin, Sinead; John, Caolan; Doyle, Spencer; Neaton, Jeffrey; Analytis, James G.; Denlinger, J. D.; Benavides, Katherine; Chan, Julia

We present the synthesis, crystal structure, electronic structure, and transport properties of the new material YbMnSb2. Our measurements reveal that this system is a low-carrier-density semimetal with a 2D Fermi surface arising from a 3D Dirac dispersion. This Fermi surface is consistent with the predictions of antiferromagnetic density functional theory calculations and the Fermi surface observed via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The quantitative agreement between these measurements and calculations indicates that YbMnSb2 may be a new topological semimetal in the presence of magnetic order. R. K. is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1106400. C. J., J. G. A., and much of this work received support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grant No. GBMF4374.

Broken symmetries, zero-energy modes, and quantum transport in disordered graphene: from supermetallic to insulating regimes.

PubMed

Cresti, Alessandro; Ortmann, Frank; Louvet, Thibaud; Van Tuan, Dinh; Roche, Stephan

2013-05-10

The role of defect-induced zero-energy modes on charge transport in graphene is investigated using Kubo and Landauer transport calculations. By tuning the density of random distributions of monovacancies either equally populating the two sublattices or exclusively located on a single sublattice, all conduction regimes are covered from direct tunneling through evanescent modes to mesoscopic transport in bulk disordered graphene. Depending on the transport measurement geometry, defect density, and broken sublattice symmetry, the Dirac-point conductivity is either exceptionally robust against disorder (supermetallic state) or suppressed through a gap opening or by algebraic localization of zero-energy modes, whereas weak localization and the Anderson insulating regime are obtained for higher energies. These findings clarify the contribution of zero-energy modes to transport at the Dirac point, hitherto controversial.

Excitonic instability in optically pumped three-dimensional Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pertsova, Anna; Balatsky, Alexander V.

2018-02-01

Recently it was suggested that transient excitonic instability can be realized in optically pumped two-dimensional (2D) Dirac materials (DMs), such as graphene and topological insulator surface states. Here we discuss the possibility of achieving a transient excitonic condensate in optically pumped three-dimensional (3D) DMs, such as Dirac and Weyl semimetals, described by nonequilibrium chemical potentials for photoexcited electrons and holes. Similar to the equilibrium case with long-range interactions, we find that for pumped 3D DMs with screened Coulomb potential two possible excitonic phases exist, an excitonic insulator phase and the charge density wave phase originating from intranodal and internodal interactions, respectively. In the pumped case, the critical coupling for excitonic instability vanishes; therefore the two phases coexist for arbitrarily weak coupling strengths. The excitonic gap in the charge density wave phase is always the largest one. The competition between screening effects and the increase of the density of states with optical pumping results in a rich phase diagram for the transient excitonic condensate. Based on the static theory of screening, we find that under certain conditions the value of the dimensionless coupling constant screening in 3D DMs can be weaker than in 2D DMs. Furthermore, we identify the signatures of the transient excitonic condensate that could be probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy, photoemission, and optical conductivity measurements. Finally, we provide estimates of critical temperatures and excitonic gaps for existing and hypothetical 3D DMs.

Relativistic R -matrix calculations for the electron-impact excitation of neutral molybdenum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, R. T.; Johnson, C. A.; Ennis, D. A.; Loch, S. D.; Ramsbottom, C. A.; Ballance, C. P.

2017-10-01

A recent PISCES-B Mod experiment [Nishijima et al., J. Phys. B 43, 225701 (2010), 10.1088/0953-4075/43/22/225701] has revealed up to a factor of 5 discrepancy between measurement and the two existing theoretical models [Badnell et al., J. Phys. B 29, 3683 (1996), 10.1088/0953-4075/29/16/014; Bartschat et al., J. Phys. B 35, 2899 (2002), 10.1088/0953-4075/35/13/305], providing important diagnostics for Mo i. In the following paper we address this issue by employing a relativistic atomic structure and R -matrix scattering calculations to improve upon the available models for future applications and benchmark results against a recent Compact Toroidal Hybrid experiment [Hartwell et al., Fusion Sci. Technol. 72, 76 (2017), 10.1080/15361055.2017.1291046]. We determine the atomic structure of Mo i using grasp0, which implements the multiconfigurational Dirac-Fock method. Fine structure energies and radiative transition rates are presented and compared to existing experimental and theoretical values. The electron-impact excitation of Mo i is investigated using the relativistic R -matrix method and the parallel versions of the Dirac atomic R -matrix codes. Electron-impact excitation cross sections are presented and compared to the few available theoretical cross sections. Throughout, our emphasis is on improving the results for the z 1,2,3o5P →a S52,z 2,3,4o7P → a S73 and y 2,3,4o7P → a S73 electric dipole transitions of particular relevance for diagnostic work.

Many-body effects and ultraviolet renormalization in three-dimensional Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Throckmorton, Robert E.; Hofmann, Johannes; Barnes, Edwin; Das Sarma, S.

2015-09-01

We develop a theory for electron-electron interaction-induced many-body effects in three-dimensional Weyl or Dirac semimetals, including interaction corrections to the polarizability, electron self-energy, and vertex function, up to second order in the effective fine-structure constant of the Dirac material. These results are used to derive the higher-order ultraviolet renormalization of the Fermi velocity, effective coupling, and quasiparticle residue, revealing that the corrections to the renormalization group flows of both the velocity and coupling counteract the leading-order tendencies of velocity enhancement and coupling suppression at low energies. This in turn leads to the emergence of a critical coupling above which the interaction strength grows with decreasing energy scale. In addition, we identify a range of coupling strengths below the critical point in which the Fermi velocity varies nonmonotonically as the low-energy, noninteracting fixed point is approached. Furthermore, we find that while the higher-order correction to the flow of the coupling is generally small compared to the leading order, the corresponding correction to the velocity flow carries an additional factor of the Dirac cone flavor number (the multiplicity of electron species, e.g. ground-state valley degeneracy arising from the band structure) relative to the leading-order result. Thus, for materials with a larger multiplicity, the regime of velocity nonmonotonicity is reached for modest values of the coupling strength. This is in stark contrast to an approach based on a large-N expansion or the random phase approximation (RPA), where higher-order corrections are strongly suppressed for larger values of the Dirac cone multiplicity. This suggests that perturbation theory in the coupling constant (i.e., the loop expansion) and the RPA/large-N expansion are complementary in the sense that they are applicable in different parameter regimes of the theory. We show how our results for the ultraviolet renormalization of quasiparticle properties can be tested experimentally through measurements of quantities such as the optical conductivity or dielectric function (with carrier density or temperature acting as the scale being varied to induce the running coupling). Although experiments typically access the finite-density regime, we show that our zero-density results still capture clear many-body signatures that should be visible at higher temperatures even in real systems with disorder and finite doping.

Spin-resolved conductance of Dirac electrons through multibarrier arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahal, Dipendra; Gumbs, Godfrey; Iurov, Andrii

We use a transfer matrix method to calculate the transmission coefficient of Dirac electrons through an arbitrary number of square potential barrier in gapped monolayer graphene(MLG) and bilayer graphene (BLG). The widths of barriers may not be chosen equal. The shift in the angle of incidence and the width of the barrier required for resonance are investigated numerically for both MLG and BLG. We compare the effects due to energy gap on these two transmission coefficient for each of these two structures (MLG and BLG). We present our results as functions of barrier width, height as well as incoming electron energy as well as band gap and examine the conditions for which perfect reflection or transmission occurs. Our transmission data are further used to calculate conductivity.

Imaging Dirac-mass disorder from magnetic dopant atoms in the ferromagnetic topological insulator Crx(Bi0.1Sb0.9)2-xTe3.

PubMed

Lee, Inhee; Kim, Chung Koo; Lee, Jinho; Billinge, Simon J L; Zhong, Ruidan; Schneeloch, John A; Liu, Tiansheng; Valla, Tonica; Tranquada, John M; Gu, Genda; Davis, J C Séamus

2015-02-03

To achieve and use the most exotic electronic phenomena predicted for the surface states of 3D topological insulators (TIs), it is necessary to open a "Dirac-mass gap" in their spectrum by breaking time-reversal symmetry. Use of magnetic dopant atoms to generate a ferromagnetic state is the most widely applied approach. However, it is unknown how the spatial arrangements of the magnetic dopant atoms influence the Dirac-mass gap at the atomic scale or, conversely, whether the ferromagnetic interactions between dopant atoms are influenced by the topological surface states. Here we image the locations of the magnetic (Cr) dopant atoms in the ferromagnetic TI Cr0.08(Bi0.1Sb0.9)1.92Te3. Simultaneous visualization of the Dirac-mass gap Δ(r) reveals its intense disorder, which we demonstrate is directly related to fluctuations in n(r), the Cr atom areal density in the termination layer. We find the relationship of surface-state Fermi wavevectors to the anisotropic structure of Δ(r) not inconsistent with predictions for surface ferromagnetism mediated by those states. Moreover, despite the intense Dirac-mass disorder, the anticipated relationship [Formula: see text] is confirmed throughout and exhibits an electron-dopant interaction energy J* = 145 meV·nm(2). These observations reveal how magnetic dopant atoms actually generate the TI mass gap locally and that, to achieve the novel physics expected of time-reversal symmetry breaking TI materials, control of the resulting Dirac-mass gap disorder will be essential.

Imaging Dirac-mass disorder from magnetic dopant atoms in the ferromagnetic topological insulator Crx(Bi0.1Sb0.9)2-xTe3

PubMed Central

Lee, Inhee; Kim, Chung Koo; Lee, Jinho; Billinge, Simon J. L.; Zhong, Ruidan; Schneeloch, John A.; Liu, Tiansheng; Valla, Tonica; Tranquada, John M.; Gu, Genda; Davis, J. C. Séamus

2015-01-01

To achieve and use the most exotic electronic phenomena predicted for the surface states of 3D topological insulators (TIs), it is necessary to open a “Dirac-mass gap” in their spectrum by breaking time-reversal symmetry. Use of magnetic dopant atoms to generate a ferromagnetic state is the most widely applied approach. However, it is unknown how the spatial arrangements of the magnetic dopant atoms influence the Dirac-mass gap at the atomic scale or, conversely, whether the ferromagnetic interactions between dopant atoms are influenced by the topological surface states. Here we image the locations of the magnetic (Cr) dopant atoms in the ferromagnetic TI Cr0.08(Bi0.1Sb0.9)1.92Te3. Simultaneous visualization of the Dirac-mass gap Δ(r) reveals its intense disorder, which we demonstrate is directly related to fluctuations in n(r), the Cr atom areal density in the termination layer. We find the relationship of surface-state Fermi wavevectors to the anisotropic structure of Δ(r) not inconsistent with predictions for surface ferromagnetism mediated by those states. Moreover, despite the intense Dirac-mass disorder, the anticipated relationship Δ(r)∝n(r) is confirmed throughout and exhibits an electron–dopant interaction energy J* = 145 meV·nm2. These observations reveal how magnetic dopant atoms actually generate the TI mass gap locally and that, to achieve the novel physics expected of time-reversal symmetry breaking TI materials, control of the resulting Dirac-mass gap disorder will be essential. PMID:25605947

Manipulation of Dirac cones in intercalated epitaxial graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Minsung; Tringides, Michael C.; Hershberger, Matthew T.

Graphene is an intriguing material in view of its unique Dirac quasi-particles, and the manipulation of its electronic structure is important in material design and applications. Here, we theoretically investigate the electronic band structure of epitaxial graphene on SiC with intercalation of rare earth metal ions (e.g., Yb and Dy) using first-principles calculations. We can use the intercalation to control the coupling of the constituent components (buffer layer, graphene, and substrate), resulting in strong modification of the graphene band structure. We also demonstrate that the metal-intercalated epitaxial graphene has tunable band structures by controlling the energies of Dirac cones asmore » well as the linear and quadratic band dispersion depending on the intercalation layer and density. Thus, the metal intercalation is a viable method to manipulate the electronic band structure of the epitaxial graphene, which can enhance the functional utility and controllability of the material.« less

Thin-film topological insulators for continuously tunable terahertz absorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

West, D.; Zhang, S. B.

2018-02-01

One of the defining characteristics of a three-dimensional topological insulator (TI) is the appearance of a Dirac cone on its surface when it creates an interface with vacuum. For thin film TIs, however, the Dirac cones on opposite surfaces interact forming a small gap. For the case of three quintuple layers of Bi2Se3, we show that this gap can be continuously tuned between 128 meV and 0 meV with the application of modest perpendicular electric fields of less than 30 meV Å-1. Through both the Hamiltonian model and first-principles density functional theory calculations, we show that the inherent nonlinearity in realistic Dirac cone interaction leads to a gap which can be continuously tuned through the application of an external electric field. This tunability, coupled with the high optical absorption of thin film TIs, make this a very promising platform for terahertz and infrared detection.

Anomalous electronic structure and magnetoresistance in TaAs 2

DOE PAGES

Luo, Yongkang; McDonald, R. D.; Rosa, P. F. S.; ...

2016-01-01

We report that the change in resistance of a material in a magnetic field reflects its electronic state. In metals with weakly- or non-interacting electrons, the resistance typically increases upon the application of a magnetic field. In contrast, negative magnetoresistance may appear under some circumstances, e.g., in metals with anisotropic Fermi surfaces or with spin-disorder scattering and semimetals with Dirac or Weyl electronic structures. Here we show that the non-magnetic semimetal TaAs 2 possesses a very large negative magnetoresistance, with an unknown scattering mechanism. In conclusion, density functional calculations find that TaAs 2 is a new topological semimetal [Z 2more » invariant (0;111)] without Dirac dispersion, demonstrating that a negative magnetoresistance in non-magnetic semimetals cannot be attributed uniquely to the Adler-Bell-Jackiw chiral anomaly of bulk Dirac/Weyl fermions.« less

Selenium-assisted controlled growth of graphene-Bi2Se3 nanoplates hybrid Dirac materials by chemical vapor deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Zhencui; Man, Baoyuan; Yang, Cheng; Liu, Mei; Jiang, Shouzhen; Zhang, Chao; Zhang, Jiaxin; Liu, Fuyan; Xu, Yuanyuan

2016-03-01

Se seed layers were used to synthesize the high-quality graphene-Bi2Se3 nanoplates hybrid Dirac materials via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The morphology, crystallization and structural properties of the hybrid Dirac materials were characterized by SEM, EDS, Raman, XRD, AFM and HRTEM. The measurement results verify that the Se seed layer on the graphene surface can effectively saturate the surface dangling bonds of the graphene, which not only impel the uniform Bi2Se3 nanoplates growing along the horizontal direction but also can supply enough Se atoms to fill the Se vacancies. We also demonstrate the Se seed layer can effectively avoid the interaction of Bi2Se3 and the graphene. Further experiments testify the different Se seed layer on the graphene surface can be used to control the density of the Bi2Se3 nanoplates.

Manipulation of Dirac cones in intercalated epitaxial graphene

DOE PAGES

Kim, Minsung; Tringides, Michael C.; Hershberger, Matthew T.; ...

2017-07-12

Graphene is an intriguing material in view of its unique Dirac quasi-particles, and the manipulation of its electronic structure is important in material design and applications. Here, we theoretically investigate the electronic band structure of epitaxial graphene on SiC with intercalation of rare earth metal ions (e.g., Yb and Dy) using first-principles calculations. We can use the intercalation to control the coupling of the constituent components (buffer layer, graphene, and substrate), resulting in strong modification of the graphene band structure. We also demonstrate that the metal-intercalated epitaxial graphene has tunable band structures by controlling the energies of Dirac cones asmore » well as the linear and quadratic band dispersion depending on the intercalation layer and density. Thus, the metal intercalation is a viable method to manipulate the electronic band structure of the epitaxial graphene, which can enhance the functional utility and controllability of the material.« less

Dynamical class of a two-dimensional plasmonic Dirac system.

PubMed

Silva, Érica de Mello

2015-10-01

A current goal in plasmonic science and technology is to figure out how to manage the relaxational dynamics of surface plasmons in graphene since its damping constitutes a hinder for the realization of graphene-based plasmonic devices. In this sense we believe it might be of interest to enlarge the knowledge on the dynamical class of two-dimensional plasmonic Dirac systems. According to the recurrence relations method, different systems are said to be dynamically equivalent if they have identical relaxation functions at all times, and such commonality may lead to deep connections between seemingly unrelated physical systems. We employ the recurrence relations approach to obtain relaxation and memory functions of density fluctuations and show that a two-dimensional plasmonic Dirac system at long wavelength and zero temperature belongs to the same dynamical class of standard two-dimensional electron gas and classical harmonic oscillator chain with an impurity mass.

Topological insulator behavior of WS{sub 2} monolayer with square-octagon ring structure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, Ashok, E-mail: ashok@cup.ac.in; Pandey, Ravindra; Ahluwalia, P. K.

We report electronic behavior of an allotrope of monolayer WS{sub 2} with a square octagon ring structure, refereed to as (so-WS{sub 2}) within state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The WS{sub 2} monolayer shows semi-metallic characteristics with Dirac-cone like features around Γ. Unlike p-orbital’s Dirac-cone in graphene, the Dirac-cone in the so-WS{sub 2} monolayer originates from the d-electrons of the W atom in the lattice. Most interestingly, the spin-orbit interaction associated with d-electrons induce a finite band-gap that results into the metal-semiconductor transition and topological insulator-like behavior in the so-WS{sub 2} monolayer. These characteristics suggest the so-WS{sub 2} monolayer tomore » be a promising candidate for the next-generation electronic and spintronics devices.« less

Spectral probes of the holographic Fermi ground state: Dialing between the electron star and AdS Dirac hair

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cubrovic, Mihailo; Liu Yan; Schalm, Koenraad

2011-10-15

We argue that the electron star and the anti-de Sitter (AdS) Dirac hair solution are two limits of the free charged Fermi gas in AdS. Spectral functions of holographic duals to probe fermions in the background of electron stars have a free parameter that quantifies the number of constituent fermions that make up the charge and energy density characterizing the electron star solution. The strict electron star limit takes this number to be infinite. The Dirac hair solution is the limit where this number is unity. This is evident in the behavior of the distribution of holographically dual Fermi surfaces.more » As we decrease the number of constituents in a fixed electron star background the number of Fermi surfaces also decreases. An improved holographic Fermi ground state should be a configuration that shares the qualitative properties of both limits.« less

Approximation methods in relativistic eigenvalue perturbation theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noble, Jonathan Howard

In this dissertation, three questions, concerning approximation methods for the eigenvalues of quantum mechanical systems, are investigated: (i) What is a pseudo--Hermitian Hamiltonian, and how can its eigenvalues be approximated via numerical calculations? This is a fairly broad topic, and the scope of the investigation is narrowed by focusing on a subgroup of pseudo--Hermitian operators, namely, PT--symmetric operators. Within a numerical approach, one projects a PT--symmetric Hamiltonian onto an appropriate basis, and uses a straightforward two--step algorithm to diagonalize the resulting matrix, leading to numerically approximated eigenvalues. (ii) Within an analytic ansatz, how can a relativistic Dirac Hamiltonian be decoupled into particle and antiparticle degrees of freedom, in appropriate kinematic limits? One possible answer is the Foldy--Wouthuysen transform; however, there are alter- native methods which seem to have some advantages over the time--tested approach. One such method is investigated by applying both the traditional Foldy--Wouthuysen transform and the "chiral" Foldy--Wouthuysen transform to a number of Dirac Hamiltonians, including the central-field Hamiltonian for a gravitationally bound system; namely, the Dirac-(Einstein-)Schwarzschild Hamiltonian, which requires the formal- ism of general relativity. (iii) Are there are pseudo--Hermitian variants of Dirac Hamiltonians that can be approximated using a decoupling transformation? The tachyonic Dirac Hamiltonian, which describes faster-than-light spin-1/2 particles, is gamma5--Hermitian, i.e., pseudo-Hermitian. Superluminal particles remain faster than light upon a Lorentz transformation, and hence, the Foldy--Wouthuysen program is unsuited for this case. Thus, inspired by the Foldy--Wouthuysen program, a decoupling transform in the ultrarelativistic limit is proposed, which is applicable to both sub- and superluminal particles.

Novel Principles and the Charge-Symmetric Design of Dirac's Quantum Mechanics: I. Enhanced Eriksen's Theorem and the Universal Charge-Index Formalism for Dirac's Equation in (Strong) External Static Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kononets, Yu. V.

2016-12-01

The presented enhanced version of Eriksen's theorem defines an universal transform of the Foldy-Wouthuysen type and in any external static electromagnetic field (ESEMF) reveals a discrete symmetry of Dirac's equation (DE), responsible for existence of a highly influential conserved quantum number—the charge index distinguishing two branches of DE spectrum. It launches the charge-index formalism (CIF) obeying the charge-index conservation law (CICL). Via its unique ability to manipulate each spectrum branch independently, the CIF creates a perfect charge-symmetric architecture of Dirac's quantum mechanics (DQM), which resolves all the riddles of the standard DE theory (SDET). Besides the abstract CIF algebra, the paper discusses: (1) the novel accurate charge-symmetric definition of the electric-current density; (2) DE in the true-particle representation, where electrons and positrons coexist on equal footing; (3) flawless "natural" scheme of second quantization; and (4) new physical grounds for the Fermi-Dirac statistics. As a fundamental quantum law, the CICL originates from the kinetic-energy sign conservation and leads to a novel single-particle physics in strong-field situations. Prohibiting Klein's tunneling (KT) in Klein's zone via the CICL, the precise CIF algebra defines a new class of weakly singular DE solutions, strictly confined in the coordinate space and experiencing the total reflection from the potential barrier.

Proximity-induced superconductivity in Landau-quantized graphene monolayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohnitz, Laura; De Martino, Alessandro; Häusler, Wolfgang; Egger, Reinhold

2017-10-01

We consider massless Dirac fermions in a graphene monolayer in the ballistic limit, subject to both a perpendicular magnetic field B and a proximity-induced pairing gap Δ . When the chemical potential is at the Dirac point, our exact solution of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation yields Δ -independent relativistic Landau levels. Since eigenstates depend on Δ , many observables nevertheless are sensitive to pairing, e.g., the local density of states or the edge state spectrum. By solving the problem with an additional in-plane electric field, we also discuss how snake states are influenced by a pairing gap.

Flat-band superconductivity in strained Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauppila, V. J.; Aikebaier, F.; Heikkilä, T. T.

2016-06-01

We consider superconducting properties of a two-dimensional Dirac material such as graphene under strain that produces a flat-band spectrum in the normal state. We show that in the superconducting state, such a model results in a highly increased critical temperature compared to the case without the strain, inhomogeneous order parameter with two-peak shaped local density of states and yet a large and almost uniform and isotropic supercurrent. This model could be realized in strained graphene or ultracold atom systems and could be responsible for unusually strong superconductivity observed in some graphite interfaces and certain IV-VI semiconductor heterostructures.

Many-body instabilities and mass generation in slow Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Triola, Christopher; Zhu, Jianxin; Migliori, Albert; Balatsky, Alexander

2015-03-01

Some Kondo insulators are expected to possess topologically protected surface states with linear Dirac spectrum, the topological Kondo insulators. Because the bulk states of these systems typically have heavy effective electron masses, the surface states may exhibit extraordinarily small Fermi velocities that could force the effective fine structure constant of the surface states into the strong coupling regime. Using a tight-binding model we study the many-body instabilities of these systems and identify regions of parameter space for which antiferromagnetic, ferromagnetic and charge density wave instabilities occur. Work Supported by USDOE BES E304.

Antibonding ground state of adatom molecules in bulk Dirac semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marques, Y.; Obispo, A. E.; Ricco, L. S.; de Souza, M.; Shelykh, I. A.; Seridonio, A. C.

2017-07-01

The ground state of the diatomic molecules in nature is inevitably bonding, and its first excited state is antibonding. We demonstrate theoretically that, for a pair of distant adatoms placed buried in three-dimensional-Dirac semimetals, this natural order of the states can be reversed and an antibonding ground state occurs at the lowest energy of the so-called bound states in the continuum. We propose an experimental protocol with the use of a scanning tunneling microscope tip to visualize the topographic map of the local density of states on the surface of the system to reveal the emerging physics.

Universal analytical scattering form factor for shell-, core-shell, or homogeneous particles with continuously variable density profile shape.

PubMed

Foster, Tobias

2011-09-01

A novel analytical and continuous density distribution function with a widely variable shape is reported and used to derive an analytical scattering form factor that allows us to universally describe the scattering from particles with the radial density profile of homogeneous spheres, shells, or core-shell particles. Composed by the sum of two Fermi-Dirac distribution functions, the shape of the density profile can be altered continuously from step-like via Gaussian-like or parabolic to asymptotically hyperbolic by varying a single "shape parameter", d. Using this density profile, the scattering form factor can be calculated numerically. An analytical form factor can be derived using an approximate expression for the original Fermi-Dirac distribution function. This approximation is accurate for sufficiently small rescaled shape parameters, d/R (R being the particle radius), up to values of d/R ≈ 0.1, and thus captures step-like, Gaussian-like, and parabolic as well as asymptotically hyperbolic profile shapes. It is expected that this form factor is particularly useful in a model-dependent analysis of small-angle scattering data since the applied continuous and analytical function for the particle density profile can be compared directly with the density profile extracted from the data by model-free approaches like the generalized inverse Fourier transform method. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Influence of the plasma environment on atomic structure using an ion-sphere model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belkhiri, Madeny; Fontes, Christopher J.; Poirier, Michel

2015-09-01

Plasma environment effects on atomic structure are analyzed using various atomic structure codes. To monitor the effect of high free-electron density or low temperatures, Fermi-Dirac and Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics are compared. After a discussion of the implementation of the Fermi-Dirac approach within the ion-sphere model, several applications are considered. In order to check the consistency of the modifications brought here to extant codes, calculations have been performed using the Los Alamos Cowan Atomic Structure (cats) code in its Hartree-Fock or Hartree-Fock-Slater form and the parametric potential Flexible Atomic Code (fac). The ground-state energy shifts due to the plasma effects for the six most ionized aluminum ions have been calculated using the fac and cats codes and fairly agree. For the intercombination resonance line in Fe22 +, the plasma effect within the uniform electron gas model results in a positive shift that agrees with the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock value of B. Saha and S. Fritzsche [J. Phys. B 40, 259 (2007), 10.1088/0953-4075/40/2/002]. Last, the present model is compared to experimental data in titanium measured on the terawatt Astra facility and provides values for electron temperature and density in agreement with the maria code.

A new look at an old mass relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gérard, J.-M.; Goffinet, F.; Herquet, M.

2006-02-01

New data from neutrino oscillation experiments motivate us to extend a successful mass relation for the charged leptons to the other fundamental fermions. This new universal relation requires a Dirac mass around 3 ×10-2 eV for the lightest neutrino and rules out a maximal atmospheric mixing. It also suggests a specific decomposition of the CKM mixing matrix.

The μ- τ reflection symmetry of Dirac neutrinos and its breaking effect via quantum corrections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xing, Zhi-zhong; Zhang, Di; Zhu, Jing-yu

2017-11-01

Given the Dirac neutrino mass term, we explore the constraint conditions which allow the corresponding mass matrix to be invariant under the μ- τ reflection transformation, leading us to the phenomenologically favored predictions θ 23 = π/4 and δ = 3 π/2 in the standard parametrization of the 3 × 3 lepton flavor mixing matrix. If such a flavor symmetry is realized at a superhigh energy scale Λ μτ , we investigate how it is spontaneously broken via the one-loop renormalization-group equations (RGEs) running from Λ μτ down to the Fermi scale ΛF. Such quantum corrections to the neutrino masses and flavor mixing parameters are derived, and an analytical link is established between the Jarlskog invariants of CP violation at Λ μτ and ΛF. Some numerical examples are also presented in both the minimal supersymmetric standard model and the type-II two-Higgs-doublet model, to illustrate how the octant of θ 23, the quadrant of δ and the neutrino mass ordering are correlated with one another as a result of the RGE-induced μ-τ reflection symmetry breaking effects.

On Parametrization of the Linear GL(4,C) and Unitary SU(4) Groups in Terms of Dirac Matrices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Red'Kov, Victor M.; Bogush, Andrei A.; Tokarevskaya, Natalia G.

2008-02-01

Parametrization of 4 × 4-matrices G of the complex linear group GL(4,C) in terms of four complex 4-vector parameters (k,m,n,l) is investigated. Additional restrictions separating some subgroups of GL(4,C) are given explicitly. In the given parametrization, the problem of inverting any 4 × 4 matrix G is solved. Expression for determinant of any matrix G is found: det G = F(k,m,n,l). Unitarity conditions G+ = G-1 have been formulated in the form of non-linear cubic algebraic equations including complex conjugation. Several simplest solutions of these unitarity equations have been found: three 2-parametric subgroups G1, G2, G3 - each of subgroups consists of two commuting Abelian unitary groups; 4-parametric unitary subgroup consis! ting of a product of a 3-parametric group isomorphic SU(2) and 1-parametric Abelian group. The Dirac basis of generators Λk, being of Gell-Mann type, substantially differs from the basis λi used in the literature on SU(4) group, formulas relating them are found - they permit to separate SU(3) subgroup in SU(4). Special way to list 15 Dirac generators of GL(4,C) can be used {Λk} = {μiÅνjÅ(μiVνj = KÅL ÅM )}, which permit to factorize SU(4) transformations according to S = eiaμ eibνeikKeilLeimM, where two first factors commute with each other and are isomorphic to SU(2) group, the three last ones are 3-parametric groups, each of them consisting of three Abelian commuting unitary subgroups. Besides, the structure of fifteen Dirac matrices Λk permits to separate twenty 3-parametric subgroups in SU(4) isomorphic to SU(2); those subgroups might be used as bigger elementary blocks in constructing of a general transformation SU(4). It is shown how one can specify the present approach for the pseudounitary group SU(2,2) and SU(3,1).

A robust variant of block Jacobi-Davidson for extracting a large number of eigenpairs: Application to grid-based real-space density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, M.; Leiter, K.; Eisner, C.; Breuer, A.; Wang, X.

2017-09-01

In this work, we investigate a block Jacobi-Davidson (J-D) variant suitable for sparse symmetric eigenproblems where a substantial number of extremal eigenvalues are desired (e.g., ground-state real-space quantum chemistry). Most J-D algorithm variations tend to slow down as the number of desired eigenpairs increases due to frequent orthogonalization against a growing list of solved eigenvectors. In our specification of block J-D, all of the steps of the algorithm are performed in clusters, including the linear solves, which allows us to greatly reduce computational effort with blocked matrix-vector multiplies. In addition, we move orthogonalization against locked eigenvectors and working eigenvectors outside of the inner loop but retain the single Ritz vector projection corresponding to the index of the correction vector. Furthermore, we minimize the computational effort by constraining the working subspace to the current vectors being updated and the latest set of corresponding correction vectors. Finally, we incorporate accuracy thresholds based on the precision required by the Fermi-Dirac distribution. The net result is a significant reduction in the computational effort against most previous block J-D implementations, especially as the number of wanted eigenpairs grows. We compare our approach with another robust implementation of block J-D (JDQMR) and the state-of-the-art Chebyshev filter subspace (CheFSI) method for various real-space density functional theory systems. Versus CheFSI, for first-row elements, our method yields competitive timings for valence-only systems and 4-6× speedups for all-electron systems with up to 10× reduced matrix-vector multiplies. For all-electron calculations on larger elements (e.g., gold) where the wanted spectrum is quite narrow compared to the full spectrum, we observe 60× speedup with 200× fewer matrix-vector multiples vs. CheFSI.

A robust variant of block Jacobi-Davidson for extracting a large number of eigenpairs: Application to grid-based real-space density functional theory.

PubMed

Lee, M; Leiter, K; Eisner, C; Breuer, A; Wang, X

2017-09-21

In this work, we investigate a block Jacobi-Davidson (J-D) variant suitable for sparse symmetric eigenproblems where a substantial number of extremal eigenvalues are desired (e.g., ground-state real-space quantum chemistry). Most J-D algorithm variations tend to slow down as the number of desired eigenpairs increases due to frequent orthogonalization against a growing list of solved eigenvectors. In our specification of block J-D, all of the steps of the algorithm are performed in clusters, including the linear solves, which allows us to greatly reduce computational effort with blocked matrix-vector multiplies. In addition, we move orthogonalization against locked eigenvectors and working eigenvectors outside of the inner loop but retain the single Ritz vector projection corresponding to the index of the correction vector. Furthermore, we minimize the computational effort by constraining the working subspace to the current vectors being updated and the latest set of corresponding correction vectors. Finally, we incorporate accuracy thresholds based on the precision required by the Fermi-Dirac distribution. The net result is a significant reduction in the computational effort against most previous block J-D implementations, especially as the number of wanted eigenpairs grows. We compare our approach with another robust implementation of block J-D (JDQMR) and the state-of-the-art Chebyshev filter subspace (CheFSI) method for various real-space density functional theory systems. Versus CheFSI, for first-row elements, our method yields competitive timings for valence-only systems and 4-6× speedups for all-electron systems with up to 10× reduced matrix-vector multiplies. For all-electron calculations on larger elements (e.g., gold) where the wanted spectrum is quite narrow compared to the full spectrum, we observe 60× speedup with 200× fewer matrix-vector multiples vs. CheFSI.

The Riemann problem for the relativistic full Euler system with generalized Chaplygin proper energy density-pressure relation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Zhiqiang

2018-04-01

The relativistic full Euler system with generalized Chaplygin proper energy density-pressure relation is studied. The Riemann problem is solved constructively. The delta shock wave arises in the Riemann solutions, provided that the initial data satisfy some certain conditions, although the system is strictly hyperbolic and the first and third characteristic fields are genuinely nonlinear, while the second one is linearly degenerate. There are five kinds of Riemann solutions, in which four only consist of a shock wave and a centered rarefaction wave or two shock waves or two centered rarefaction waves, and a contact discontinuity between the constant states (precisely speaking, the solutions consist in general of three waves), and the other involves delta shocks on which both the rest mass density and the proper energy density simultaneously contain the Dirac delta function. It is quite different from the previous ones on which only one state variable contains the Dirac delta function. The formation mechanism, generalized Rankine-Hugoniot relation and entropy condition are clarified for this type of delta shock wave. Under the generalized Rankine-Hugoniot relation and entropy condition, we establish the existence and uniqueness of solutions involving delta shocks for the Riemann problem.

Spatial charge inhomogeneity and defect states in topological Dirac semimetal thin films of Na3Bi

PubMed Central

Edmonds, Mark T.; Collins, James L.; Hellerstedt, Jack; Yudhistira, Indra; Gomes, Lídia C.; Rodrigues, João N. B.; Adam, Shaffique; Fuhrer, Michael S.

2017-01-01

Topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs) are three-dimensional analogs of graphene, with carriers behaving like massless Dirac fermions in three dimensions. In graphene, substrate disorder drives fluctuations in Fermi energy, necessitating construction of heterostructures of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) to minimize the fluctuations. Three-dimensional TDSs obviate the substrate and should show reduced EF fluctuations due to better metallic screening and higher dielectric constants. We map the potential fluctuations in TDS Na3Bi using a scanning tunneling microscope. The rms potential fluctuations are significantly smaller than the thermal energy room temperature (ΔEF,rms = 4 to 6 meV = 40 to 70 K) and comparable to the highest-quality graphene on h-BN. Surface Na vacancies produce a novel resonance close to the Dirac point with surprisingly large spatial extent and provide a unique way to tune the surface density of states in a TDS thin-film material. Sparse defect clusters show bound states whose occupation may be changed by applying a bias to the scanning tunneling microscope tip, offering an opportunity to study a quantum dot connected to a TDS reservoir. PMID:29291249

TOPICAL REVIEW: Experimental study of organic zero-gap conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajima, Naoya; Kajita, Koji

2009-04-01

A zero-gap state with a Dirac cone type energy dispersion was discovered in the organic conductor α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3 under high hydrostatic pressures. This is the first two-dimensional (2D) zero-gap state discovered in bulk crystals with a layered structure. In contrast to the case of graphene, the Dirac cone in this system is highly anisotropic. The present system, therefore, provides a new type of massless Dirac fermion system with anisotropic Fermi velocity. This system exhibits remarkable transport phenomena characteristic to electrons on the Dirac cone type energy structure. The carrier density, written as n~T2, is a characteristic feature of the 2D zero-gap structure. On the other hand, the resistivity per layer (sheet resistance RS) is given as RS=h/e2 and is independent of temperature. The effect of a magnetic field on samples in the zero-gap system was examined. The difference between zero-gap conductors and conventional conductors is the appearance of a Landau level called the zero mode at the contact points when a magnetic field is applied normal to the conductive layer. Zero-mode Landau carriers give rise to strong negative out-of-plane magnetoresistance.

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy and Dirac point resonances due to a single Co adatom on gated graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saffarzadeh, Alireza; Kirczenow, George

2012-06-01

Based on the standard tight-binding model of the graphene π-band electronic structure, the extended Hückel model for the adsorbate and graphene carbon atoms, and spin splittings estimated from density functional theory (DFT), the Dirac point resonances due to a single cobalt atom on graphene are studied. The relaxed geometry of the magnetic adsorbate and the graphene is calculated using DFT. The system shows strong spin polarization in the vicinity of the graphene Dirac point energy for all values of the gate voltage, due to the spin splitting of Co 3d orbitals. We also model the differential conductance spectra for this system that have been measured in the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments of Brar [Nat. Phys.1745-247310.1038/nphys1807 7, 43 (2011)]. We interpret the experimentally observed behavior of the S-peak in the STM differential conductance spectrum as evidence of tunneling between the STM tip and a cobalt-induced Dirac point resonant state of the graphene, via a Co 3d orbital. The cobalt ionization state which is determined by the energy position of the resonance can be tuned by gate voltage, similar to that seen in the experiment.

Successful N{sub 2} leptogenesis with flavour coupling effects in realistic unified models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bari, Pasquale Di; King, Stephen F.

2015-10-02

In realistic unified models involving so-called SO(10)-inspired patterns of Dirac and heavy right-handed (RH) neutrino masses, the lightest right-handed neutrino N{sub 1} is too light to yield successful thermal leptogenesis, barring highly fine tuned solutions, while the second heaviest right-handed neutrino N{sub 2} is typically in the correct mass range. We show that flavour coupling effects in the Boltzmann equations may be crucial to the success of such N{sub 2} dominated leptogenesis, by helping to ensure that the flavour asymmetries produced at the N{sub 2} scale survive N{sub 1} washout. To illustrate these effects we focus on N{sub 2} dominatedmore » leptogenesis in an existing model, the A to Z of flavour with Pati-Salam, where the neutrino Dirac mass matrix may be equal to an up-type quark mass matrix and has a particular constrained structure. The numerical results, supported by analytical insight, show that in order to achieve successful N{sub 2} leptogenesis, consistent with neutrino phenomenology, requires a “flavour swap scenario” together with a less hierarchical pattern of RH neutrino masses than naively expected, at the expense of some mild fine-tuning. In the considered A to Z model neutrino masses are predicted to be normal ordered, with an atmospheric neutrino mixing angle well into the second octant and the Dirac phase δ≃20{sup ∘}, a set of predictions that will be tested in the next years in neutrino oscillation experiments. Flavour coupling effects may be relevant for other SO(10)-inspired unified models where N{sub 2} leptogenesis is necessary.« less

Successful N{sub 2} leptogenesis with flavour coupling effects in realistic unified models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bari, Pasquale Di; King, Stephen F., E-mail: P.Di-Bari@soton.ac.uk, E-mail: king@soton.ac.uk

2015-10-01

In realistic unified models involving so-called SO(10)-inspired patterns of Dirac and heavy right-handed (RH) neutrino masses, the lightest right-handed neutrino N{sub 1} is too light to yield successful thermal leptogenesis, barring highly fine tuned solutions, while the second heaviest right-handed neutrino N{sub 2} is typically in the correct mass range. We show that flavour coupling effects in the Boltzmann equations may be crucial to the success of such N{sub 2} dominated leptogenesis, by helping to ensure that the flavour asymmetries produced at the N{sub 2} scale survive N{sub 1} washout. To illustrate these effects we focus on N{sub 2} dominatedmore » leptogenesis in an existing model, the A to Z of flavour with Pati-Salam, where the neutrino Dirac mass matrix may be equal to an up-type quark mass matrix and has a particular constrained structure. The numerical results, supported by analytical insight, show that in order to achieve successful N{sub 2} leptogenesis, consistent with neutrino phenomenology, requires a ''flavour swap scenario'' together with a less hierarchical pattern of RH neutrino masses than naively expected, at the expense of some mild fine-tuning. In the considered A to Z model neutrino masses are predicted to be normal ordered, with an atmospheric neutrino mixing angle well into the second octant and the Dirac phase δ≅ 20{sup o}, a set of predictions that will be tested in the next years in neutrino oscillation experiments. Flavour coupling effects may be relevant for other SO(10)-inspired unified models where N{sub 2} leptogenesis is necessary.« less

Itinerant quantum multicriticality of two-dimensional Dirac fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roy, Bitan; Goswami, Pallab; Juričić, Vladimir

2018-05-01

We analyze emergent quantum multicriticality for strongly interacting, massless Dirac fermions in two spatial dimensions (d =2 ) within the framework of Gross-Neveu-Yukawa models, by considering the competing order parameters that give rise to fully gapped (insulating or superconducting) ground states. We focus only on those competing orders which can be rotated into each other by generators of an exact or emergent chiral symmetry of massless Dirac fermions, and break O(S1) and O(S2) symmetries in the ordered phase. Performing a renormalization-group analysis by using the ɛ =(3 -d ) expansion scheme, we show that all the coupling constants in the critical hyperplane flow toward a new attractive fixed point, supporting an enlarged O(S1+S2) chiral symmetry. Such a fixed point acts as an exotic quantum multicritical point (MCP), governing the continuous semimetal-insulator as well as insulator-insulator (for example, antiferromagnet to valence bond solid) quantum phase transitions. In comparison with the lower symmetric semimetal-insulator quantum critical points, possessing either O(S1) or O(S2) chiral symmetry, the MCP displays enhanced correlation length exponents, and anomalous scaling dimensions for both fermionic and bosonic fields. We discuss the scaling properties of the ratio of bosonic and fermionic masses, and the increased dc resistivity at the MCP. By computing the scaling dimensions of different local fermion bilinears in the particle-hole channel, we establish that most of the four fermion operators or generalized density-density correlation functions display faster power-law decays at the MCP compared to the free fermion and lower symmetric itinerant quantum critical points. Possible generalization of this scenario to higher-dimensional Dirac fermions is also outlined.

Scale-invariant puddles in graphene: Geometric properties of electron-hole distribution at the Dirac point.

PubMed

Najafi, M N; Nezhadhaghighi, M Ghasemi

2017-03-01

We characterize the carrier density profile of the ground state of graphene in the presence of particle-particle interaction and random charged impurity in zero gate voltage. We provide detailed analysis on the resulting spatially inhomogeneous electron gas, taking into account the particle-particle interaction and the remote Coulomb disorder on an equal footing within the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac theory. We present some general features of the carrier density probability measure of the graphene sheet. We also show that, when viewed as a random surface, the electron-hole puddles at zero chemical potential show peculiar self-similar statistical properties. Although the disorder potential is chosen to be Gaussian, we show that the charge field is non-Gaussian with unusual Kondev relations, which can be regarded as a new class of two-dimensional random-field surfaces. Using Schramm-Loewner (SLE) evolution, we numerically demonstrate that the ungated graphene has conformal invariance and the random zero-charge density contours are SLE_{κ} with κ=1.8±0.2, consistent with c=-3 conformal field theory.

Nonperturbative vacuum polarization effects in two-dimensional supercritical Dirac-Coulomb system I. Vacuum charge density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davydov, A.; Sveshnikov, K.; Voronina, Yu.

2018-01-01

Based on the original combination of analytical methods, computer algebra tools and numerical calculations, proposed recently in Refs. 1-3, the nonperturbative vacuum polarization effects in the 2+1D supercritical Dirac-Coulomb system with Z > Zcr,1 are explored. Both the vacuum charge density ρV P(r→) and vacuum energy ℰV P are considered. The main result of the work is that in the overcritical region ℰV P turns out to be a rapidly decreasing function ˜-ηeffZ3/R with ηeff > 0 and R being the size of the external Coulomb source. Due to a lot of details of calculation the whole work is divided into two parts I and II. In the present part I, we consider the evaluation and behavior of the vacuum density ρV P, which further is used in part II for evaluation of the vacuum energy, with emphasis on the renormalization, convergence of the partial expansion for ρV P and behavior of the integral induced charge QV P in the overcritical region.

Imaging Dirac-mass disorder from magnetic dopant atoms in the ferromagnetic topological insulator Cr x(Bi 0.1Sb 0.9) 2-xTe 3

DOE PAGES

Lee, Inhee; Kim, Chung Koo; Lee, Jinho; ...

2015-01-20

To achieve and use the most exotic electronic phenomena predicted for the surface states of 3D topological insulators (TIs), it is necessary to open a “Dirac-mass gap” in their spectrum by breaking time-reversal symmetry. Use of magnetic dopant atoms to generate a ferromagnetic state is the most widely applied approach. However, it is unknown how the spatial arrangements of the magnetic dopant atoms influence the Dirac-mass gap at the atomic scale or, conversely, whether the ferromagnetic interactions between dopant atoms are influenced by the topological surface states. Here we image the locations of the magnetic (Cr) dopant atoms in themore » ferromagnetic TI Cr₀.₀₈(Bi₀.₁Sb₀.₉)₁.₉₂Te₃. Simultaneous visualization of the Dirac-mass gap Δ(r) reveals its intense disorder, which we demonstrate is directly related to fluctuations in n(r), the Cr atom areal density in the termination layer. We find the relationship of surface-state Fermi wavevectors to the anisotropic structure of Δ(r) not inconsistent with predictions for surface ferromagnetism mediated by those states. Moreover, despite the intense Dirac-mass disorder, the anticipated relationship Δ(r)∝n(r) is confirmed throughout and exhibits an electron–dopant interaction energy J* = 145 meV·nm². In addition, these observations reveal how magnetic dopant atoms actually generate the TI mass gap locally and that, to achieve the novel physics expected of time-reversal symmetry breaking TI materials, control of the resulting Dirac-mass gap disorder will be essential.« less

Individual eigenvalue distributions of crossover chiral random matrices and low-energy constants of SU(2) × U(1) lattice gauge theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Takuya; Nishigaki, Shinsuke M.

2018-02-01

We compute individual distributions of low-lying eigenvalues of a chiral random matrix ensemble interpolating symplectic and unitary symmetry classes by the Nyström-type method of evaluating the Fredholm Pfaffian and resolvents of the quaternion kernel. The one-parameter family of these distributions is shown to fit excellently the Dirac spectra of SU(2) lattice gauge theory with a constant U(1) background or dynamically fluctuating U(1) gauge field, which weakly breaks the pseudoreality of the unperturbed SU(2) Dirac operator. The observed linear dependence of the crossover parameter with the strength of the U(1) perturbations leads to precise determination of the pseudo-scalar decay constant, as well as the chiral condensate in the effective chiral Lagrangian of the AI class.

Studies of Dirac and Weyl fermions by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Lunan

2016-01-01

This dissertation consists of three parts. First, we study magnetic domains in Nd 2Fe 14B single crystals using high resolution magnetic force microscopy (MFM). In addition to the elongated, wavy nano-domains reported by a previous MFM study, we found that the micrometer size, star-shaped fractal pattern is constructed of an elongated network of nano-domains about 20 nm in width, with resolution-limited domain walls thinner than 2 nm. Second, we studied extra Dirac cones of multilayer graphene on SiC surface by ARPES and SPA-LEED. We discovered extra Dirac cones on Fermi surface due to SiC 6 x 6 and graphene 6√more » 3 6√ 3 coincidence lattice on both single-layer and three-layer graphene sheets. We interpreted the position and intensity of the Dirac cone replicas, based on the scattering vectors from LEED patterns. We found the positions of replica Dirac cones are determined mostly by the 6 6 SiC superlattice even graphene layers grown thicker. Finally, we studied the electronic structure of MoTe 2 by ARPES and experimentally con rmed the prediction of type II Weyl state in this material. By combining the result of Density Functional Theory calculations and Berry curvature calculations with out experimental data, we identi ed Fermi arcs, track states and Weyl points, all features predicted to exist in a type II Weyl semimetal. This material is an excellent playground for studies of exotic Fermions.« less

Direct measurement of Dirac point energy at the graphene/oxide interface.

PubMed

Xu, Kun; Zeng, Caifu; Zhang, Qin; Yan, Rusen; Ye, Peide; Wang, Kang; Seabaugh, Alan C; Xing, Huili Grace; Suehle, John S; Richter, Curt A; Gundlach, David J; Nguyen, N V

2013-01-09

We report the direct measurement of the Dirac point, the Fermi level, and the work function of graphene by performing internal photoemission measurements on a graphene/SiO(2)/Si structure with a unique optical-cavity enhanced test structure. A complete electronic band alignment at the graphene/SiO(2)/Si interfaces is accurately established. The observation of enhanced photoemission from a one-atom thick graphene layer was possible by taking advantage of the constructive optical interference in the SiO(2) cavity. The photoemission yield was found to follow the well-known linear density-of-states dispersion in the vicinity of the Dirac point. At the flat band condition, the Fermi level was extracted and found to reside 3.3 eV ± 0.05 eV below the bottom of the SiO(2) conduction band. When combined with the shift of the Fermi level from the Dirac point, we are able to ascertain the position of the Dirac point at 3.6 eV ± 0.05 eV with respect to the bottom of the SiO(2) conduction band edge, yielding a work function of 4.5 eV ± 0.05 eV which is in an excellent agreement with theory. The accurate determination of the work function of graphene is of significant importance to the engineering of graphene-based devices, and the measurement technique we have advanced in this Letter will have significant impact on numerous applications for emerging graphene-like 2-dimensional material systems.

PQ-symmetry for a small Dirac neutrino mass, dark radiation and cosmic neutrinos

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Wan-Il, E-mail: wipark@kias.re.kr

2014-06-01

We propose a supersymmetric scenario in which the small Yukawa couplings for the Dirac neutrino mass term are generated by the spontaneous-breaking of Pecci-Quinn symmetry. In this scenario, a right amount of dark matter relic density can be obtained by either right-handed sneutrino or axino LSP, and a sizable amount of axion dark radiation can be obtained. Interestingly, the decay of right-handed sneutrino NLSP to axino LSP is delayed to around the present epoch, and can leave an observable cosmological background of neutrinos at the energy scale of O(10−100) GeV.

Phagraphene: A Low-Energy Graphene Allotrope Composed of 5-6-7 Carbon Rings with Distorted Dirac Cones.

PubMed

Wang, Zhenhai; Zhou, Xiang-Feng; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhu, Qiang; Dong, Huafeng; Zhao, Mingwen; Oganov, Artem R

2015-09-09

Using systematic evolutionary structure searching we propose a new carbon allotrope, phagraphene [fæ'græfi:n], standing for penta-hexa-hepta-graphene, because the structure is composed of 5-6-7 carbon rings. This two-dimensional (2D) carbon structure is lower in energy than most of the predicted 2D carbon allotropes due to its sp(2)-binding features and density of atomic packing comparable to graphene. More interestingly, the electronic structure of phagraphene has distorted Dirac cones. The direction-dependent cones are further proved to be robust against external strain with tunable Fermi velocities.

Duality in left-right symmetric seesaw mechanism.

PubMed

Akhmedov, E Kh; Frigerio, M

2006-02-17

We consider type I + II seesaw mechanism, where the exchanges of both right-handed neutrinos and isotriplet Higgs bosons contribute to the neutrino mass. Working in the left-right symmetric framework and assuming the mass matrix of light neutrinos m(v) and the Dirac-type Yukawa couplings to be known, we find the triplet Yukawa coupling matrix f, which carries the information about the masses and mixing of the right-handed neutrinos. We show that in this case there exists a duality: for any solution f, there is a dual solution [symbol: see text] = m(v)/nu(L) - f, where nu(L) is the vacuum expectation value of the triplet Higgs boson. Thus, unlike in pure type I (II) seesaw, there is no unique allowed structure for the matrix f. For n lepton generations the number of solutions is 2(n). We develop an exact analytic method of solving the seesaw nonlinear matrix equation for f.

Electronic structure engineering in silicene via atom substitution and a new two-dimensional Dirac structure Si3C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Na; Dai, Ying; Wei, Wei; Huang, Baibiao

2018-04-01

A lot of efforts have been made towards the band gap opening in two-dimensional silicene, the silicon version of graphene. In the present work, the electronic structures of single atom doped (B, N, Al and P) and codoped (B/N and Al/P) silicene monolayers are systematically examined on the base of density functional electronic calculations. Our results demonstrate that single atom doping can realize electron or hole doping in the silicene; while codoping, due to the syergistic effects, results in finite band gap in silicene at the Dirac point without significantly degrading the electronic properties. In addition, the characteristic of band gap shows dependence on the doping concentration. Importantly, we predict a new two-dimensional Dirac structure, the graphene-like Si3C, which also shows linear band dispersion relation around the Fermi level. Our results demonstrates an important perspective to engineer the electronic and optical properties of silicene.

Kinklike structures in models of the Dirac-Born-Infeld type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazeia, D.; Lima, Elisama E. M.; Losano, L.

2018-01-01

The present work investigates several models of a single real scalar field, engendering kinetic term of the Dirac-Born- Infeld type. Such theories introduce nonlinearities to the kinetic part of the Lagrangian, which presents a square root restricting the field evolution and including additional powers in derivatives of the scalar field, controlled by a real parameter. In order to obtain topological solutions analytically, we propose a first-order framework that simplifies the equation of motion ensuring solutions that are linearly stable. This is implemented using the deformation method, and we introduce examples presenting two categories of potentials, one having polynomial interactions and the other with nonpolynomial interactions. We also explore how the Dirac-Born-Infeld kinetic term affects the properties of the solutions. In particular, we note that the kinklike solutions are similar to the ones obtained through models with standard kinetic term and canonical potential, but their energy densities and stability potentials vary according to the parameter introduced to control the new models.

Relativistic ponderomotive Hamiltonian of a Dirac particle in a vacuum laser field

DOE PAGES

Ruiz, D. E.; Ellison, C. L.; Dodin, I. Y.

2015-12-16

Here, we report a point-particle ponderomotive model of a Dirac electron oscillating in a high-frequency field. Starting from the Dirac Lagrangian density, we derive a reduced phase-space Lagrangian that describes the relativistic time-averaged dynamics of such a particle in a geometrical-optics laser pulse propagating in vacuum. The pulse is allowed to have an arbitrarily large amplitude provided that radiation damping and pair production are negligible. The model captures the Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi (BMT) spin dynamics, the Stern-Gerlach spin-orbital coupling, the conventional ponderomotive forces, and the interaction with large-scale background fields (if any). Agreement with the BMT spin precession equation is shown numerically.more » The commonly known theory in which ponderomotive effects are incorporated in the particle effective mass is reproduced as a special case when the spin-orbital coupling is negligible. This model could be useful for studying laser-plasma interactions in relativistic spin-1/2 plasmas.« less

DIRAC: A new version of computer algebra tools for studying the properties and behavior of hydrogen-like ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McConnell, Sean; Fritzsche, Stephan; Surzhykov, Andrey

2010-03-01

During recent years, the DIRAC package has proved to be an efficient tool for studying the structural properties and dynamic behavior of hydrogen-like ions. Originally designed as a set of MAPLE procedures, this package provides interactive access to the wave and Green's functions in the non-relativistic and relativistic frameworks and supports analytical evaluation of a large number of radial integrals that are required for the construction of transition amplitudes and interaction cross sections. We provide here a new version of the DIRAC program which is developed within the framework of MATHEMATICA (version 6.0). This new version aims to cater to a wider community of researchers that use the MATHEMATICA platform and to take advantage of the generally faster processing times therein. Moreover, the addition of new procedures, a more convenient and detailed help system, as well as source code revisions to overcome identified shortcomings should ensure expanded use of the new DIRAC program over its predecessor. New version program summaryProgram title: DIRAC Catalogue identifier: ADUQ_v2_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADUQ_v2_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC license, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 45 073 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 285 828 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Mathematica 6.0 or higher Computer: All computers with a license for the computer algebra package Mathematica (version 6.0 or higher) Operating system: Mathematica is O/S independent Classification: 2.1 Catalogue identifier of previous version: ADUQ_v1_0 Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 165 (2005) 139 Does the new version supersede the previous version?: Yes Nature of problem: Since the early days of quantum mechanics, the "hydrogen atom" has served as one of the key models for studying the structure and dynamics of various quantum systems. Its analytic solutions are frequently used in case studies in atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics, plasma physics, or even in the field of quantum information and computation. Fast and reliable access to functions and properties of the hydrogenic systems are frequently required, in both the non-relativistic and relativistic frameworks. Despite all the knowledge about one-electron ions, providing such an access is not a simple task, owing to the rather complicated mathematical structure of the Schrödinger and especially Dirac equations. Moreover, for analyzing experimental results as well as for performing advanced theoretical studies one often needs (apart from the detailed information on atomic wave- and Green's functions) to be able to calculate a number of integrals involving these functions. Although for many types of transition operators these integrals can be evaluated analytically in terms of special mathematical functions, such an evaluation is usually rather involved and prone to mistakes. Solution method: A set of Mathematica procedures is developed which provides both the non-relativistic and relativistic solutions of the "Hydrogen atom model". It facilitates, moreover, the symbolic evaluation of integrals involved in the calculations of cross sections and transition amplitudes. These procedures are based on a large number of relations among special mathematical functions, information about their integral representations, recurrence formulae and series expansions. Based on this knowledge, the DIRAC tools provide a fast and reliable algebraic (and if necessary, numeric) manipulation of functions and properties of one-electron systems, thus helping to obtain further insight into the behavior of quantum physical systems. Reasons for new version: The original version of the DIRAC program was developed as a toolbox of Maple procedures and was submitted to the CPC library in 2004 (cf. Ref. [1]). Since then DIRAC has found its niche in advanced theoretical studies carried out in realm of heavy ion physics. With the help of this program detailed analysis has been performed, in particular, for the various excitation and ionization processes occurring in relativistic ion-atom collisions [2], the polarization of the characteristic X-ray radiation following radiative electron capture [3], the correlation properties of the two-photon emission from few-electron heavy ions [4], the spin entanglement phenomena in atomic photoionization [5] and even for exploring the vibrational excitations of the heavy nuclei [6]. Although these studies have conclusively proven the potential of the program, they have also illuminated routes for its further enhancement. Apart from certain source code revisions, demand has grown for a new version of DIRAC compatible with the Mathematica platform. The version presented here includes a wider ranging and more user friendly interactive help system, a number of new procedures and reprogramming for greater computational efficiency. Summary of revisions: The most important new capabilities of the DIRAC program since the previous version are: The utilization of the Mathematica (version 6.0) platform. The addition of a number of new procedures. Since the complete list of the new (and updated) procedures can be found in the interactive help library of the program, we mention here only the most important ones: DiracGlobal[] - Displays a list of the current global settings which specify the framework, nuclear charge and the units which are to be used by the DIRAC program. DiracRadialOrbitalMomentum[] - Returns a non-relativistic radial orbital in momentum space for both, the bound and free electron states. DiracSlaterRadial[] - Evaluates the radial Slater integral both, with the non-relativistic and relativistic wavefunctions. In the previous version of the program this procedure was restricted to the non-relativistic framework only. DiracGreensIntegralRadial[] - Evaluates the two-dimensional radial integrals with the wave- and Green's functions both in non-relativistic and relativistic frameworks. DiracAngularMatrixElement[] - Calculates the angular matrix elements for various irreducible tensor operators. The elimination of some redundant procedures. In particular, the previous version supported evaluation of the spherical Bessel functions, Wigner 3j symbols, Clebsch-Gordan coefficients and spherical harmonics functions. These tools are now superseded by in-built procedures of Mathematica. The development of a full featured interactive help system which follows the style of the Mathematica Help Pages. Extensive revision of the source code in order to correct a number of bugs and inconsistencies that have been identified during use of the previous version of Dirac. The DIRAC package is distributed as a compressed tar file from which the DIRAC root directory can be (re-)generated. The root directory contains the source code and help libraries, a "Readme" file, Dirac_Installation_Instructions, as well as the notebook DemonstrationNotebook.nb that includes a number of test cases to illustrate the use of the program. These test cases, which concern the theoretical analysis of wavefunctions and the fine-structure of hydrogen-like ions, has already been discussed in detail in Ref. [1] and are provided here in order to underline the continuity between the previous (Maple) and new (Mathematica) versions of the DIRAC program. Unusual features: Even though all basic features of the previous Maple version have been retained in as close to the original form as possible, some small syntax changes became necessary in the new version of DIRAC in order to follow Mathematica standards. First of all, these changes concern naming conventions for DIRAC's procedures. As was discussed in Ref. [1], previously rather long names were employed in which each word was separated by an underscore. For example, when running the Maple version of the program one had to call the procedure Dirac_Slater_radial() in order to evaluate the Slater integral. Such a naming convention however, cannot be used in the Mathematica framework where the underscore character is reserved to represent Blank, a built-in symbol. In the new version of DIRAC we therefore follow the Mathematica convention of delimiting each word in a procedure's name by capitalization. Evaluation of the Slater determinant can be accomplished now simply by entering DiracSlaterRadial[]. Besides procedure names, a new convention is introduced to represent fundamental physical constants. In this version of DIRAC the group of (preset) global variables has changed to resemble their conventional symbols, specifically α, a, e, m, c and ℏ, being the fine structure constant, Bohr radius, electron charge, electron mass, speed of light and the Planck constant respectively. If the numerical evaluator N is wrapped around any of these constants, their numerical values are returned. Running time: Although the program replies promptly upon most requests, the running time also depends on the particular task. For example, computation of (radial) matrix elements involving components of relativistic wavefunctions might require a few seconds of a runtime. A number of test calculations performed regarding this and other tasks clearly indicate that the new version of Dirac requires up to 90% less evaluation time compared to its predecessor. References:A. Surzhykov, P. Koval, S. Fritzsche, Comput. Phys. Comm. 165 (2005) 139. H. Ogawa, et al., Phys. Rev. A 75 (2007) 1. A.V. Maiorova, et al., J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 42 (2009) 125003. L. Borowska, A. Surzhykov, Th. Stöhlker, S. Fritzsche, Phys. Rev. A 74 (2006) 062516. T. Radtke, S. Fritzsche, A. Surzhykov, Phys. Rev. A 74 (2006) 032709. A. Pálffy, Z. Harman, A. Surzhykov, U.D. Jentschura, Phys. Rev. A 75 (2007) 012712.

Radiation Effects in Nanostructures: Comparison of Proton Irradiation Induced Changes on Quantum Dots and Quantum Wells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leon, R.; Swift, G.; Magness, B.; Taylor, W.; Tang, Y.; Wang, K.; Dowd, P.; Zhang, Y.

2000-01-01

Successful implementation of technology using self-forming semiconductor Quantum Dots (QDs) has already demonstrated that temperature independent Dirac-delta density of states can be exploited in low current threshold QD lasers and QD infrared photodetectors.

Relating quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suganuma, Hideo; Doi, Takahiro M.; Redlich, Krzysztof; Sasaki, Chihiro

2017-12-01

We study the relation between quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. Using lattice QCD formalism, we analytically express the various ‘confinement indicators’, such as the Polyakov loop, its fluctuations, the Wilson loop, the inter-quark potential and the string tension, in terms of the Dirac eigenmodes. In the Dirac spectral representation, there appears a power of the Dirac eigenvalue {λ }n such as {λ }n{Nt-1}, which behaves as a reduction factor for small {λ }n. Consequently, since this reduction factor cannot be cancelled, the low-lying Dirac eigenmodes give negligibly small contribution to the confinement quantities, while they are essential for chiral symmetry breaking. These relations indicate that there is no direct one-to-one correspondence between confinement and chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. In other words, there is some independence of quark confinement from chiral symmetry breaking, which can generally lead to different transition temperatures/densities for deconfinement and chiral restoration. We also investigate the Polyakov loop in terms of the eigenmodes of the Wilson, the clover and the domain-wall fermion kernels, and find similar results. The independence of quark confinement from chiral symmetry breaking seems to be natural, because confinement is realized independently of quark masses and heavy quarks are also confined even without the chiral symmetry.

Optical study of Dirac fermions and related phonon anomalies in the antiferromagnetic compound CaFeAsF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, B.; Xiao, H.; Gao, B.; Ma, Y. H.; Mu, G.; Marsik, P.; Sheveleva, E.; Lyzwa, F.; Dai, Y. M.; Lobo, R. P. S. M.; Bernhard, C.

2018-05-01

We performed optical studies on CaFeAsF single crystals, a parent compound of the 1111-type iron-based superconductors that undergoes a structural phase transition from tetragonal to orthorhombic at Ts=121 K and a magnetic one to a spin density wave (SDW) state at TN=110 K. In the low-temperature optical conductivity spectrum, after the subtraction of a narrow Drude peak, we observe a pronounced singularity around 300 cm-1 that separates two regions of quasilinear conductivity. We outline that these characteristic absorption features are signatures of Dirac fermions, similar to what was previously reported for the BaFe2As2 system [Z.-G. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 096401 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.096401]. In support of this interpretation, we show that for the latter system this singular feature disappears rapidly upon electron and hole doping, as expected if it arises from a van Hove singularity in between two Dirac cones. Finally, we show that one of the infrared-active phonon modes (the Fe-As mode at 250 cm-1) develops a strongly asymmetric line shape in the SDW state and note that this behavior can be explained in terms of a strong coupling with the Dirac fermions.

Thermoelectric Properties of a Ferromagnetic Semiconductor Based on a Dirac Semimetal (Cd3As2) under High Pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnikova, N. V.; Tebenkov, A. V.; Sukhanova, G. V.; Babushkin, A. N.; Saipulaeva, L. A.; Zakhvalinskii, V. S.; Gabibov, S. F.; Alibekov, A. G.; Mollaev, A. Yu.

2018-03-01

The pressure dependences of thermal emf (a parameter that ranks among the most sensitive to phase transformations) are studied for the purpose of identifying baric phase transitions in the 10-50 GPa interval in the Cd3As2 + MnAs (44.7% MnAs) structure formed by ferromagnetic MnAs granules in a semiconductor Cd3As2 matrix.

Self-consistent average-atom scheme for electronic structure of hot and dense plasmas of mixture.

PubMed

Yuan, Jianmin

2002-10-01

An average-atom model is proposed to treat the electronic structures of hot and dense plasmas of mixture. It is assumed that the electron density consists of two parts. The first one is a uniform distribution with a constant value, which is equal to the electron density at the boundaries between the atoms. The second one is the total electron density minus the first constant distribution. The volume of each kind of atom is proportional to the sum of the charges of the second electron part and of the nucleus within each atomic sphere. By this way, one can make sure that electrical neutrality is satisfied within each atomic sphere. Because the integration of the electron charge within each atom needs the size of that atom in advance, the calculation is carried out in a usual self-consistent way. The occupation numbers of electron on the orbitals of each kind of atom are determined by the Fermi-Dirac distribution with the same chemical potential for all kinds of atoms. The wave functions and the orbital energies are calculated with the Dirac-Slater equations. As examples, the electronic structures of the mixture of Au and Cd, water (H2O), and CO2 at a few temperatures and densities are presented.

Physics of Electronic Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rammer, Jørgen

2017-03-01

1. Quantum mechanics; 2. Quantum tunneling; 3. Standard metal model; 4. Standard conductor model; 5. Electric circuit theory; 6. Quantum wells; 7. Particle in a periodic potential; 8. Bloch currents; 9. Crystalline solids; 10. Semiconductor doping; 11. Transistors; 12. Heterostructures; 13. Mesoscopic physics; 14. Arithmetic, logic and machines; Appendix A. Principles of quantum mechanics; Appendix B. Dirac's delta function; Appendix C. Fourier analysis; Appendix D. Classical mechanics; Appendix E. Wave function properties; Appendix F. Transfer matrix properties; Appendix G. Momentum; Appendix H. Confined particles; Appendix I. Spin and quantum statistics; Appendix J. Statistical mechanics; Appendix K. The Fermi-Dirac distribution; Appendix L. Thermal current fluctuations; Appendix M. Gaussian wave packets; Appendix N. Wave packet dynamics; Appendix O. Screening by symmetry method; Appendix P. Commutation and common eigenfunctions; Appendix Q. Interband coupling; Appendix R. Common crystal structures; Appendix S. Effective mass approximation; Appendix T. Integral doubling formula; Bibliography; Index.

Thomas-Fermi model electron density with correct boundary conditions: Application to atoms and ions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Patil, S.H.

1999-01-01

The author proposes an electron density in atoms and ions, which has the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac form in the intermediate region of r, satisfies the Kato condition for small r, and has the correct asymptotic behavior at large values of r, where r is the distance from the nucleus. He also analyzes the perturbation in the density produced by multipolar fields. He uses these densities in the Poisson equation to deduce average values of r{sup m}, multipolar polarizabilities, and dispersion coefficients of atoms and ions. The predictions are in good agreement with experimental and other theoretical values, generally within about 20%. Hemore » tabulates here the coefficient A in the asymptotic density; radial expectation values (r{sup m}) for m = 2, 4, 6; multipolar polarizabilities {alpha}{sub 1}, {alpha}{sub 2}, {alpha}{sub 3}; expectation values {l_angle}r{sup 0}{r_angle} and {l_angle}r{sup 2}{r_angle} of the asymptotic electron density; and the van der Waals coefficient C{sub 6} for atoms and ions with 2 {le} Z {le} 92. Many of the results, particularly the multipolar polarizabilities and the higher order dispersion coefficients, are the only ones available in the literature. The variation of these properties also provides interesting insight into the shell structure of atoms and ions. Overall, the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac model with the correct boundary conditions provides a good global description of atoms and ions.« less

Study of system-size effects on the emergent magnetic monopoles and Dirac strings in artificial kagome spin ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leon, Alejandro

2012-02-01

In this work we study the dynamical properties of a finite array of nanomagnets in artificial kagome spin ice at room temperature. The dynamic response of the array of nanomagnets is studied by implementing a ``frustrated celular aut'omata'' (FCA), based in the charge model. In this model, each dipole is replaced by a dumbbell of two opposite charges, which are situated at the neighbouring vertices of the honeycomb lattice. The FCA simulations, allow us to study in real-time and deterministic way, the dynamic of the system, with minimal computational resource. The update function is defined according to the coordination number of vertices in the system. Our results show that for a set geometric parameters of the array of nanomagnets, the system exhibits high density of Dirac strings and high density emergent magnetic monopoles. A study of the effect of disorder in the arrangement of nanomagnets is incorporated in this work.

Fermi-Dirac statistics and traffic in complex networks.

PubMed

de Moura, Alessandro P S

2005-06-01

We propose an idealized model for traffic in a network, in which many particles move randomly from node to node, following the network's links, and it is assumed that at most one particle can occupy any given node. This is intended to mimic the finite forwarding capacity of nodes in communication networks, thereby allowing the possibility of congestion and jamming phenomena. We show that the particles behave like free fermions, with appropriately defined energy-level structure and temperature. The statistical properties of this system are thus given by the corresponding Fermi-Dirac distribution. We use this to obtain analytical expressions for dynamical quantities of interest, such as the mean occupation of each node and the transport efficiency, for different network topologies and particle densities. We show that the subnetwork of free nodes always fragments into small isolated clusters for a sufficiently large number of particles, implying a communication breakdown at some density for all network topologies. These results are compared to direct simulations.

Inhomogeneous screening of gate electric field by interface states in graphene FETs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Anil Kumar; Gupta, Anjan Kumar

2017-09-01

The electronic states at graphene-SiO2 interface and their inhomogeneity is investigated using the back-gate-voltage dependence of local tunnel spectra acquired with a scanning tunneling microscope. The conductance spectra show two, or occasionally three, minima that evolve along the bias-voltage axis with the back gate voltage. This evolution is modeled using tip-gating and interface states. The energy dependent interface states’ density, Dit(E) , required to model the back-gate evolution of the minima, is found to have significant inhomogeneity in its energy-width. A broad Dit(E) leads to an effect similar to a reduction in the Fermi velocity while the narrow Dit(E) leads to the pinning of the Fermi energy close to the Dirac point, as observed in some places, due to enhanced screening of the gate electric field by the narrow Dit(E) . Finally, this also demonstrates STM as a tool to probe the density of interface states in various 2D Dirac materials.

Molecular Doping the Topological Dirac Semimetal Na3Bi across the Charge Neutrality Point with F4-TCNQ.

PubMed

Edmonds, Mark T; Hellerstedt, Jack; O'Donnell, Kane M; Tadich, Anton; Fuhrer, Michael S

2016-06-29

We perform low-temperature transport and high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy on 20 nm thin film topological Dirac semimetal Na3Bi grown by molecular beam epitaxy. We demonstrate efficient electron depletion ∼10(13) cm(-2) of Na3Bi via vacuum deposition of molecular F4-TCNQ without degrading the sample mobility. For samples with low as-grown n-type doping (1 × 10(12) cm(-2)), F4-TCNQ doping can achieve charge neutrality and even a net p-type doping. Photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory are utilized to investigate the behavior of F4-TCNQ on the Na3Bi surface.

Observation of Landau quantization and standing waves in HfSiS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiao, L.; Xu, Q. N.; Qi, Y. P.; Wu, S.-C.; Sun, Y.; Felser, C.; Wirth, S.

2018-05-01

Recently, HfSiS was found to be a new type of Dirac semimetal with a line of Dirac nodes in the band structure. Meanwhile, Rashba-split surface states are also pronounced in this compound. Here we report a systematic study of HfSiS by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy at low temperature and high magnetic field. The Rashba-split surface states are characterized by measuring Landau quantization and standing waves, which reveal a quasilinear dispersive band structure. First-principles calculations based on density-functional theory are conducted and compared with the experimental results. Based on these investigations, the properties of the Rashba-split surface states and their interplay with defects and collective modes are discussed.

Photoionization of the valence shells of the neutral tungsten atom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballance, C. P.; McLaughlin, B. M.

2015-04-01

Results from large-scale theoretical cross section calculations for the total photoionization (PI) of the 4f, 5s, 5p and 6s orbitals of the neutral tungsten atom using the Dirac Coulomb R-matrix approximation (DARC: Dirac-atomic R-matrix codes) are presented. Comparisons are made with previous theoretical methods and prior experimental measurements. In previous experiments a time-resolved dual laser approach was employed for the photo-absorption of metal vapours and photo-absorption measurements on tungsten in a solid, using synchrotron radiation. The lowest ground state level of neutral tungsten is 5{{p}6}5{{d}4}6{{s}2}{{ }5}{{D}J}, with J = 0, and requires only a single dipole matrix for PI. To make a meaningful comparison with existing experimental measurements, we statistically average the large-scale theoretical PI cross sections from the levels associated with the ground state 5{{p}6}5{{d}4}6{{s}2}{{ }5}{{D}J} (J = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) levels and the 5{{d}5}6{{s} 7}{{S}3} excited metastable level. As the experiments have a self-evident metastable component in their ground state measurement, averaging over the initial levels allows for a more consistent and realistic comparison to be made. In the wider context, the absence of many detailed electron-impact excitation (EIE) experiments for tungsten and its multi-charged ion stages allows current PI measurements and theory to provide a road-map for future EIE, ionization and di-electronic cross section calculations by identifying the dominant resonance structure and features across an energy range of hundreds of eV.

Common origin of nonzero θ13 and baryon asymmetry of the Universe in a TeV scale seesaw model with A4 flavor symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borah, Debasish; Das, Mrinal Kumar; Mukherjee, Ananya

2018-06-01

We study the possibility of generating nonzero reactor mixing angle θ13 and baryon asymmetry of the Universe within the framework of an A4 flavor symmetric model. Using the conventional type I seesaw mechanism we construct the Dirac and Majorana mass matrices that give rise to the correct light neutrino mass matrix. Keeping the right-handed neutrino mass matrix structure trivial so that it gives rise to a (quasi) degenerate spectrum of heavy neutrinos suitable for resonant leptogenesis at TeV scale, we generate the nontrivial structure of Dirac neutrino mass matrix that can lead to the light neutrino mixing through the type I seesaw formula. Interestingly, such a setup naturally leads to nonzero θ13 due to the existence of antisymmetric contraction of the product of two triplet representations of A4. Such an antisymmetric part of the triplet products usually vanishes for right-handed neutrino Majorana mass terms, leading to μ -τ symmetric scenarios in the most economical setups. We constrain the model parameters from the requirement of producing the correct neutrino data as well as baryon asymmetry of the Universe for right-handed neutrino mass scale around TeV. The A4 symmetry is augmented by additional Z3×Z2 symmetry to make sure that the splitting between right-handed neutrinos required for resonant leptogenesis is generated only by next to leading order terms, making it naturally small. We find that the inverted hierarchical light neutrino masses give more allowed parameter space consistent with neutrino and baryon asymmetry data.

Fine-structure excitation of Fe II and Fe III due to collisions with electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Yier; Qi, Yueying; Favreau, Connor; Loch, Stuart; Stancil, P.; Ballance, Connor; McLaughlin, Brendan

2018-06-01

Atomic data of iron peak elements are of great importance in astronomical observations. Among all the ionization stages of iron, Fe II and Fe III are of particular importance because of the high cosmic abundance, relatively low ionization potential and complex open d-shell atomic structure. Fe II and Fe III emission are observed from nearly all classes of astronomical objects over a wide spectral range from the infrared to the ultraviolet. To meaningfully interpret these spectra, astronomers have to employ highly complex modeling codes with reliable collision data to simulate the astrophysical observations. The major aim of this work is to provide reliable atomic data for diagnostics. We present new collision strengths and effective collisions for electron impact excitation of Fe II and Fe III for the forbidden transitions among the fine-structure levels of the ground terms. A very fine energy mesh is used for the collision strengths and the effective collision strengths are calculated over a wide range of electron temperatures of astrophysical importance (10-2000 K). The configuration interaction state wave functions are generated with a scaled Thomas-Fermi-Dirac-Amaldi (TFDA) potential, while the R-matrix plus intermediate coupling frame transformation (ICFT), Breit-Pauli R-matrix and Dirac R-matrix packages are used to obtain collision strengths. Influences of the different methods and configuration expansions on the collisional data are discussed. Comparison is made with earlier theoretical work and differences are found to occur at the low temperatures considered here.This work was funded by NASA grant NNX15AE47G.

Tailoring graphene-based electrodes from semiconducting to metallic to increase the energy density in supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vatamanu, Jenel; Ni, Xiaojuan; Liu, Feng; Bedrov, Dmitry

2015-11-01

The semiconducting character of graphene and some carbon-based electrodes can lead to noticeably lower total capacitances and stored energy densities in electric double layer (EDL) capacitors. This paper discusses the chemical and electronic structure modifications that enhance the available energy bands, density of states and quantum capacitance of graphene substrates near the Fermi level, therefore restoring the conducting character of these materials. The doping of graphene with p or n dopants, such as boron and nitrogen atoms, or the introduction of vacancy defects that introduce zigzag edges, can significantly increase the quantum capacitance within the potential range of interest for the energy storage applications by either shifting the Dirac point away from the Fermi level or by eliminating the Dirac point. We show that a combination of doping and vacancies at realistic concentrations is sufficient to increase the capacitance of a graphene-based electrode to within 1 μF cm-2 from that of a metallic surface. Using a combination of ab initio calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations we estimate how the changes in the quantum capacitance of these electrode materials affect the total capacitance stored by the open structure EDL capacitors containing room temperature ionic liquid electrolytes.

Polarization transfer in x-ray transitions due to photoionization in highly charged copper-like ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Kun; Chen, Zhan-Bin; Xie, Lu-You; Dong, Chen-Zhong

2018-02-01

Using the density matrix theory and the multi-configuration Dirac-Fock method, the 3{d}3/2 subshell photoionization of highly charged ions is studied, together with their subsequent radiative decay. The effects of polarization transfer on the linear polarization and angular distribution of the 3{d}94{s}2{}2{D}3/2\\to 3{d}104p{}2{P}1/2 characteristic line photoemission for selected Cu-like Zn+, Ba27+, {{{W}}}45+, and {{{U}}}63+ ions are investigated. Our results show that the polarization transfer, arising from the originally polarized incident light, may lead to a considerable change in the alignment parameters and the polarization properties of the radiation, the character of which is highly sensitive to the initial photon polarization, yet virtually independent of the photon energy. These characteristics are very similar to those of the electron bremsstrahlung process reported by Märtin et al (2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 264801). The present results are compared with available experimental results and show a good quantitative agreement.

Neutrino Oscillation in a Space-Time with Torsion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alimohammadi, M.; Shariati, A.

Using Einstein-Cartan-Dirac theory, we study the effect of torsion on neutrino oscillation. We see that torsion cannot induce neutrino oscillation, but affects it whenever oscillation exists for other reasons. We show that the torsion effect on neutrino oscillation is as important as the neutrino mass effect, whenever the ratio of neutrino number density to neutrino energy is ~ 1069 cm-3/eV, or the number density of the matter is ~ 1069cm-3.

Large single crystal growth, transport property, and spectroscopic characterizations of three-dimensional Dirac semimetal Cd3As2.

PubMed

Sankar, R; Neupane, M; Xu, S-Y; Butler, C J; Zeljkovic, I; Panneer Muthuselvam, I; Huang, F-T; Guo, S-T; Karna, Sunil K; Chu, M-W; Lee, W L; Lin, M-T; Jayavel, R; Madhavan, V; Hasan, M Z; Chou, F C

2015-08-14

The three dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetal is a new quantum state of matter that has attracted much attention recently in physics and material science. Here, we report on the growth of large plate-like single crystals of Cd3As2 in two major orientations by a self-selecting vapor growth (SSVG) method, and the optimum growth conditions have been experimentally determined. The crystalline imperfections and electrical properties of the crystals were examined with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and transport property measurements. This SSVG method makes it possible to control the as-grown crystal compositions with excess Cd or As leading to mobilities near 5-10(5) cm(2)V(-1)s(-1). Zn-doping can effectively reduce the carrier density to reach the maximum residual resistivity ratio (RRRρ300K/ρ5K) of 7.6. A vacuum-cleaved single crystal has been investigated using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to reveal a single Dirac cone near the center of the surface Brillouin zone with a binding energy of approximately 200 meV.

Deformation and stability of surface states in Dirac semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kargarian, Mehdi; Lu, Yuan-Ming; Randeria, Mohit

2018-04-01

The unusual surface states of topological semimetals have attracted a lot of attention. Recently, we showed [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 8648 (2016), 10.1073/pnas.1524787113] that for a Dirac semimetal (DSM) arising from band inversion, such as Na3Bi and Cd3As2 , the expected double Fermi arcs on the surface are not topologically protected. Quite generally, the arcs deform into states similar to those on the surface of a strong topological insulator. Here we address two questions related to deformation and stability of surface states in DSMs. First, we discuss why certain perturbations, no matter how large, are unable to destroy the double Fermi arcs. We show that this is related to a certain extra (particle-hole) symmetry, which is nongeneric in materials. Second, we discuss situations in which the surface states are completely destroyed without breaking any symmetry or impacting the bulk Dirac nodes. We are not aware of any experimental or density functional theory (DFT) candidates for a material which is a bulk DSM without any surface states, but our results clearly show that this is possible.

Final Technical Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Lian

2017-03-08

Our BES supported program integrates molecular beam epitaxy growth with in situ atomic scale imaging using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Aided by density functional theory calculations, we explore enhanced functionalities emerging from the interplay of strain, proximity, and spin-orbit interactions in heterostructures of wide band gap semiconductors, graphene, and Dirac materials, focusing on three thrusts: 1) doping wide bandgap semiconductors and graphene; 2) graphene nanoribbons and graphene-semiconductor heterostructures; and 3) Dirac materials. Our findings and discoveries have led to the publication of one book chapter and twenty-three refereed journal articles, including several in high impact journals suchmore » as Nature Communications, Physical Review Letters, and Nano Letters. Highlights of each thrust are provided in the report.« less

Analytic drain current model for III-V cylindrical nanowire transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marin, E. G.; Ruiz, F. G.; Schmidt, V.; Godoy, A.; Riel, H.; Gámiz, F.

2015-07-01

An analytical model is proposed to determine the drain current of III-V cylindrical nanowires (NWs). The model uses the gradual channel approximation and takes into account the complete analytical solution of the Poisson and Schrödinger equations for the Γ-valley and for an arbitrary number of subbands. Fermi-Dirac statistics are considered to describe the 1D electron gas in the NWs, being the resulting recursive Fermi-Dirac integral of order -1/2 successfully integrated under reasonable assumptions. The model has been validated against numerical simulations showing excellent agreement for different semiconductor materials, diameters up to 40 nm, gate overdrive biases up to 0.7 V, and densities of interface states up to 1013eV-1cm-2 .

Generalized model screening potentials for Fermi-Dirac plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

2016-04-01

In this paper, some properties of relativistically degenerate quantum plasmas, such as static ion screening, structure factor, and Thomson scattering cross-section, are studied in the framework of linearized quantum hydrodynamic theory with the newly proposed kinetic γ-correction to Bohm term in low frequency limit. It is found that the correction has a significant effect on the properties of quantum plasmas in all density regimes, ranging from solid-density up to that of white dwarf stars. It is also found that Shukla-Eliasson attractive force exists up to a few times the density of metals, and the ionic correlations are seemingly apparent in the radial distribution function signature. Simplified statically screened attractive and repulsive potentials are presented for zero-temperature Fermi-Dirac plasmas, valid for a wide range of quantum plasma number-density and atomic number values. Moreover, it is observed that crystallization of white dwarfs beyond a critical core number-density persists with this new kinetic correction, but it is shifted to a much higher number-density value of n0 ≃ 1.94 × 1037 cm-3 (1.77 × 1010 gr cm-3), which is nearly four orders of magnitude less than the nuclear density. It is found that the maximal Thomson scattering with the γ-corrected structure factor is a remarkable property of white dwarf stars. However, with the new γ-correction, the maximal scattering shifts to the spectrum region between hard X-ray and low-energy gamma-rays. White dwarfs composed of higher atomic-number ions are observed to maximally Thomson-scatter at slightly higher wavelengths, i.e., they maximally scatter slightly low-energy photons in the presence of correction.

Fermion Universality Manifesting Itself in the Dirac Component of Neutrino Mass Matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krolikowski, Wojciech

2002-02-01

An effective texture is presented for six Majorana conventional neutrinos (three active and three sterile), based on a 6× 6 neutrino mixing matrix whose 3× 3 active--active component arises from the popular bimaximal mixing matrix of active neutrinos ν e, ν μ , ν τ by three small rotations in the 14, 25, 36 planes of ν 1 , ν 2 , ν 3 and ν 4 , ν5, ν 6 neutrino mass states. The Dirac component (i.e. , 3 × 3 active-sterile component) of the resulting 6 × 6 neutrino mass matrix is conjectured to get a structure similar to the charged-lepton and quark 3 × 3 mass matrices, after the bimaximal mixing, specific for neutrinos, is transformed out unitarily from the neutrino mass matrix. The charged-lepton and quark mass matrices are taken in a universal form constructed previously by the author with a conside- rable phenomenological success. Then, for the option of m21 ≃ m22 ≃ m23 ≫ m24 ≃ m25 ≃ m26 ≃ 0, the proposed texture predicts oscillations of solar ν e's with Δ m2sol ≡ Δ m221 ˜ (1.1 to 1.2) × 10-5 eV2, not inconsistent with the LMA solar solution, if the SuperKamiokande value Δ m2atm ≡ Δ m232 ˜ (3 to 3.5) × 10-3eV2 for oscillations of atmospheric ν μ 's is taken as an input. Here, sin2 2θ sol ˜ 1 and sin2 2 θ atm ˜ 1. The texture predicts also an LSND effect with sin2 2θ LSND (1.4 to 1.9)× 10-11 (eV/m1)4 and Δ m2LSND ≡ Δ m225 ˜ m21 + (1.1 to 1.2) 10-5 eV}2. Unfortunately, the Chooz experiment imposes on the LSND effect (in our texture) a very small upper bound sin2 2θ LSND ≲ 1.3 × 10-3, which corresponds to the lower limit m1 ≳ (1.0 to 1.1)× 10-2 eV.

Universality of quantum information in chaotic CFTs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lashkari, Nima; Dymarsky, Anatoly; Liu, Hong

2018-03-01

We study the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH) in chaotic conformal field theories (CFTs) of arbitrary dimensions. Assuming local ETH, we compute the reduced density matrix of a ball-shaped subsystem of finite size in the infinite volume limit when the full system is an energy eigenstate. This reduced density matrix is close in trace distance to a density matrix, to which we refer as the ETH density matrix, that is independent of all the details of an eigenstate except its energy and charges under global symmetries. In two dimensions, the ETH density matrix is universal for all theories with the same value of central charge. We argue that the ETH density matrix is close in trace distance to the reduced density matrix of the (micro)canonical ensemble. We support the argument in higher dimensions by comparing the Von Neumann entropy of the ETH density matrix with the entropy of a black hole in holographic systems in the low temperature limit. Finally, we generalize our analysis to the coherent states with energy density that varies slowly in space, and show that locally such states are well described by the ETH density matrix.

Tailoring graphene-based electrodes from semiconducting to metallic to increase the energy density in supercapacitors.

PubMed

Vatamanu, Jenel; Ni, Xiaojuan; Liu, Feng; Bedrov, Dmitry

2015-11-20

The semiconducting character of graphene and some carbon-based electrodes can lead to noticeably lower total capacitances and stored energy densities in electric double layer (EDL)capacitors. This paper discusses the chemical and electronic structure modifications that enhance the available energy bands, density of states and quantum capacitance of graphene substrates near the Fermi level, therefore restoring the conducting character of these materials. The doping of graphene with p or n dopants, such as boron and nitrogen atoms, or the introduction of vacancy defects that introduce zigzag edges, can significantly increase the quantum capacitance within the potential range of interest for the energy storage applications by either shifting the Dirac point away from the Fermi level or by eliminating the Dirac point. We show that a combination of doping and vacancies at realistic concentrations is sufficient to increase the capacitance of a graphene-based electrode to within 1 μF cm(−2) from that of a metallic surface.Using a combination of ab initio calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations we estimate how the changes in the quantum capacitance of these electrode materials affect the total capacitance stored by the open structure EDL capacitors containing room temperature ionic liquid electrolytes.

Topological magnetoelectric pump in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukui, Takahiro; Fujiwara, Takanori

2017-11-01

We study the topological pump for a lattice fermion model mainly in three spatial dimensions. We first calculate the U(1) current density for the Dirac model defined in continuous space-time to review the known results as well as to introduce some technical details convenient for the calculations of the lattice model. We next investigate the U(1) current density for a lattice fermion model, a variant of the Wilson-Dirac model. The model we introduce is defined on a lattice in space but in continuous time, which is suited for the study of the topological pump. For such a model, we derive the conserved U(1) current density and calculate it directly for the (1 +1 )-dimensional system as well as (3 +1 )-dimensional system in the limit of the small lattice constant. We find that the current includes a nontrivial lattice effect characterized by the Chern number, and therefore the pumped particle number is quantized by the topological reason. Finally, we study the topological temporal pump in 3 +1 dimensions by numerical calculations. We discuss the relationship between the second Chern number and the first Chern number, the bulk-edge correspondence, and the generalized Streda formula which enables us to compute the second Chern number using the spectral asymmetry.

Relativistic semiempirical-core-potential calculations in Ca+,Sr+ , and Ba+ ions on Lagrange meshes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filippin, Livio; Schiffmann, Sacha; Dohet-Eraly, Jérémy; Baye, Daniel; Godefroid, Michel

2018-01-01

Relativistic atomic structure calculations are carried out in alkaline-earth-metal ions using a semiempirical-core-potential approach. The systems are partitioned into frozen-core electrons and an active valence electron. The core orbitals are defined by a Dirac-Hartree-Fock calculation using the grasp2k package. The valence electron is described by a Dirac-like Hamiltonian involving a core-polarization potential to simulate the core-valence electron correlation. The associated equation is solved with the Lagrange-mesh method, which is an approximate variational approach having the form of a mesh calculation because of the use of a Gauss quadrature to calculate matrix elements. Properties involving the low-lying metastable D 3 /2 ,5 /2 2 states of Ca+, Sr+, and Ba+ are studied, such as polarizabilities, one- and two-photon decay rates, and lifetimes. Good agreement is found with other theory and observation, which is promising for further applications in alkalilike systems.

Calculations of atomic magnetic nuclear shielding constants based on the two-component normalized elimination of the small component method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshizawa, Terutaka; Zou, Wenli; Cremer, Dieter

2017-04-01

A new method for calculating nuclear magnetic resonance shielding constants of relativistic atoms based on the two-component (2c), spin-orbit coupling including Dirac-exact NESC (Normalized Elimination of the Small Component) approach is developed where each term of the diamagnetic and paramagnetic contribution to the isotropic shielding constant σi s o is expressed in terms of analytical energy derivatives with regard to the magnetic field B and the nuclear magnetic moment 𝝁 . The picture change caused by renormalization of the wave function is correctly described. 2c-NESC/HF (Hartree-Fock) results for the σiso values of 13 atoms with a closed shell ground state reveal a deviation from 4c-DHF (Dirac-HF) values by 0.01%-0.76%. Since the 2-electron part is effectively calculated using a modified screened nuclear shielding approach, the calculation is efficient and based on a series of matrix manipulations scaling with (2M)3 (M: number of basis functions).

Solving lattice QCD systems of equations using mixed precision solvers on GPUs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, M. A.; Babich, R.; Barros, K.; Brower, R. C.; Rebbi, C.

2010-09-01

Modern graphics hardware is designed for highly parallel numerical tasks and promises significant cost and performance benefits for many scientific applications. One such application is lattice quantum chromodynamics (lattice QCD), where the main computational challenge is to efficiently solve the discretized Dirac equation in the presence of an SU(3) gauge field. Using NVIDIA's CUDA platform we have implemented a Wilson-Dirac sparse matrix-vector product that performs at up to 40, 135 and 212 Gflops for double, single and half precision respectively on NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 280 GPU. We have developed a new mixed precision approach for Krylov solvers using reliable updates which allows for full double precision accuracy while using only single or half precision arithmetic for the bulk of the computation. The resulting BiCGstab and CG solvers run in excess of 100 Gflops and, in terms of iterations until convergence, perform better than the usual defect-correction approach for mixed precision.

Disorder Effects in Charge Transport and Spin Response of Topological Insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Lukas Zhonghua

Topological insulators are a class of solids in which the non-trivial inverted bulk band structure gives rise to metallic surface states that are robust against impurity backscattering. First principle calculations predicted Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3 and Bi2Se3 to be three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators with a single Dirac cone on the surface. The topological surface states were subsequently observed by angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The investigations of charge transport through topological surfaces of 3D topological insulators, however, have faced a major challenge due to large charge carrier densities in the bulk donated by randomly distributed defects such as vacancies and antisites. This bulk disorder intermixes surface and bulk conduction channels, thereby complicating access to the low-energy (Dirac point) charge transport or magnetic response and resulting in the relatively low measured carrier mobilities. Moreover, charge inhomogeneity arising from bulk disorder can result in pronounced nanoscale spatial fluctuations of energy on the surface, leading to the formation of surface `puddles' of different carrier types. Great efforts have been made to combat the undesirable effects of disorder in 3D topological insulators and to reduce bulk carriers through chemical doping, nanostructure fabrication, and electric gating. In this work we have developed a new way to reduce bulk carrier densities using high-energy electron irradiation, thereby allowing us access to the topological surface quantum channels. We also found that disorder in 3D topological insulators can be beneficial. It can play an important part in enabling detection of unusual magnetic response from Dirac fermions and in uncovering new excitations, namely surface superconductivity in Dirac `puddles'. In Chapter 3 we show how by using differential magnetometry we could probe spin rotation in the 3D topological material family (Bi2Se 3, Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3), and describe our detection of paramagnetic singularity in the magnetic susceptibility at low magnetic fields that persists up to room temperature, and which we have demonstrated to arise from the surfaces of the samples. The singularity is universal to the entire family, largely independent of the bulk carrier density, and consistent with the existence of electronic states near the spin-degenerate Dirac point of the 2D helical metal. The exceptional thermal stability of the signal points to an intrinsic surface cooling process, probably of thermoelectric organ, and establishes a sustainable platform for the singular field-tunable Dirac spin response. In Chapter 4 we describe our discovery of surface superconductivity in a hole-conducting topological insulator Sb2Te3 with transition to zero resistance induced through a minor tuning of growth chemistry that depletes bulk conduction channels. The depletion shifts Fermi energy towards the Dirac point as witnessed by over two orders of magnitude reduced bulk hole density and by the largest carrier mobility (~ 25,000 cm 2 V-1 s-1) found in any topological material. Direct evidence from transport, the unprecedentedly large diamagnetic screening, and the presence of up to ~ 25 meV gaps in differential conductance detected by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STM) reveal the superconducting condensate to emerge first in surface puddles at unexpectedly high temperature, near 50 K. Percolative Josephson paths mediated by diffusing quasiparticles establish global phase coherence around 9 K. Rich structure of this state lends itself to manipulation and tuning via growth conditions and the topological material's parameters such as Fermi velocity and mean free path. In Chapter 5 we describe a new approach we have developed to reaching stable charge neutrality in 3D topological materials. The technique uses swift (~ 2.5 MeV energy) electron beams to compensate charged bulk defects and bring the Fermi level back into the bulk gap. By controlling the beam fluence we could tune bulk conductivity from p- (hole-like) to n-type (electron-like), crossing the Dirac point and back, while preserving the robust topological signatures of surface channels. We establish that at charge neutrality conductance has a two-dimensional (2D) character with a minimum value on the order of ten conductance quanta G=e 2 /h. From quantum interference contribution to 2D conductance we demonstrate in two systems, Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se 3, that at charge neutrality only two quantum channels corresponding to two topological surfaces are present. The charge neutrality point achieved using electron irradiation with long penetration range shows a route to intrinsic quantum transport of the topological states unconstrained by the bulk size.

Entanglement classification in the noninteracting Fermi gas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jafarizadeh, M. A.; Eghbalifam, F.; Nami, S.; Yahyavi, M.

In this paper, entanglement classification shared among the spins of localized fermions in the noninteracting Fermi gas is studied. It is proven that the Fermi gas density matrix is block diagonal on the basis of the projection operators to the irreducible representations of symmetric group Sn. Every block of density matrix is in the form of the direct product of a matrix and identity matrix. Then it is useful to study entanglement in every block of density matrix separately. The basis of corresponding Hilbert space are identified from the Schur-Weyl duality theorem. Also, it can be shown that the symmetric part of the density matrix is fully separable. Then it has been shown that the entanglement measure which is introduced in Eltschka et al. [New J. Phys. 10, 043104 (2008)] and Guhne et al. [New J. Phys. 7, 229 (2005)], is zero for the even n qubit Fermi gas density matrix. Then by focusing on three spin reduced density matrix, the entanglement classes have been investigated. In three qubit states there is an entanglement measure which is called 3-tangle. It can be shown that 3-tangle is zero for three qubit density matrix, but the density matrix is not biseparable for all possible values of its parameters and its eigenvectors are in the form of W-states. Then an entanglement witness for detecting non-separable state and an entanglement witness for detecting nonbiseparable states, have been introduced for three qubit density matrix by using convex optimization problem. Finally, the four spin reduced density matrix has been investigated by restricting the density matrix to the irreducible representations of Sn. The restricted density matrix to the subspaces of the irreducible representations: Ssym, S3,1 and S2,2 are denoted by ρsym, ρ3,1 and ρ2,2, respectively. It has been shown that some highly entangled classes (by using the results of Miyake [Phys. Rev. A 67, 012108 (2003)] for entanglement classification) do not exist in the blocks of density matrix ρ3,1 and ρ2,2, so these classes do not exist in the total Fermi gas density matrix.

Stability Analysis of Finite Difference Approximations to Hyperbolic Systems,and Problems in Applied and Computational Matrix and Operator Theory

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-07

Fundaqao Calouste Gulbenkian, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci~ncia, Centro de C6lculo Cientifico , Coimbra, 1973. 28, Dirac, P. A. M., Spinors in Hilbert Space...Office of Scientific Research grants 1965 Mathematical Association of America Editorial Prize for the article entitled: "Linear Transformations on...matrices" 1966 L.R. Ford Memorial Prize awarded by the Mathematical Association of America for the article , "Permanents" 1989 Outstanding Computer

Stratified turbulent Bunsen flames: flame surface analysis and flame surface density modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramaekers, W. J. S.; van Oijen, J. A.; de Goey, L. P. H.

2012-12-01

In this paper it is investigated whether the Flame Surface Density (FSD) model, developed for turbulent premixed combustion, is also applicable to stratified flames. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of turbulent stratified Bunsen flames have been carried out, using the Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) reduction method for reaction kinetics. Before examining the suitability of the FSD model, flame surfaces are characterized in terms of thickness, curvature and stratification. All flames are in the Thin Reaction Zones regime, and the maximum equivalence ratio range covers 0.1⩽φ⩽1.3. For all flames, local flame thicknesses correspond very well to those observed in stretchless, steady premixed flamelets. Extracted curvature radii and mixing length scales are significantly larger than the flame thickness, implying that the stratified flames all burn in a premixed mode. The remaining challenge is accounting for the large variation in (subfilter) mass burning rate. In this contribution, the FSD model is proven to be applicable for Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of stratified flames for the equivalence ratio range 0.1⩽φ⩽1.3. Subfilter mass burning rate variations are taken into account by a subfilter Probability Density Function (PDF) for the mixture fraction, on which the mass burning rate directly depends. A priori analysis point out that for small stratifications (0.4⩽φ⩽1.0), the replacement of the subfilter PDF (obtained from DNS data) by the corresponding Dirac function is appropriate. Integration of the Dirac function with the mass burning rate m=m(φ), can then adequately model the filtered mass burning rate obtained from filtered DNS data. For a larger stratification (0.1⩽φ⩽1.3), and filter widths up to ten flame thicknesses, a β-function for the subfilter PDF yields substantially better predictions than a Dirac function. Finally, inclusion of a simple algebraic model for the FSD resulted only in small additional deviations from DNS data, thereby rendering this approach promising for application in LES.

Chiral zero energy modes in two-dimensional disordered Dirac semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lei; Yu, Yan; Wu, Hai-Bin; Zhang, Yan-Yang; Liu, Jian-Jun; Li, Shu-Shen

2018-04-01

The vacancy-induced chiral zero energy modes (CZEMs) of chiral-unitary-class (AIII) and chiral-symplectic-class (CII) two-dimensional (2 D ) disordered Dirac semimetals realized on a square bipartite lattice are investigated numerically by using the Kubo-Greenwood formula with the kernel polynomial method. The results show that, for both systems, the CZEMs exhibit the critical delocalization. The CZEM conductivity remains a robust constant (i.e., σ CZEM≈1.05 e2/h ), which is insensitive to the sample sizes, the vacancy concentrations, and the numbers of moments of Chebyshev polynomials, i.e., the dephasing strength. For both kinds of chiral systems, the CZEM conductivities are almost identical. However, they are not equal to that of graphene (i.e., 4 e2/π h ), which belongs to the chiral orthogonal class (BDI) semimetal on a 2 D hexagonal bipartite lattice. In addition, for the case that the vacancy concentrations are different in the two sublattices, the CZEM conductivity vanishes, and thus both systems exhibit localization at the Dirac point. Moreover, a band gap and a mobility gap open around zero energy. The widths of the energy gaps and mobility gaps are increasing with larger vacancy concentration difference. The width of the mobility gap is greater than that of the band gap, and a δ -function-like peak of density of states emerges at the Dirac point within the band gap, implying the existence of numerous localized states.

Atomic rate coefficients in a degenerate plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aslanyan, Valentin; Tallents, Greg

2015-11-01

The electrons in a dense, degenerate plasma follow Fermi-Dirac statistics, which deviate significantly in this regime from the usual Maxwell-Boltzmann approach used by many models. We present methods to calculate the atomic rate coefficients for the Fermi-Dirac distribution and present a comparison of the ionization fraction of carbon calculated using both models. We have found that for densities close to solid, although the discrepancy is small for LTE conditions, there is a large divergence from the ionization fraction by using classical rate coefficients in the presence of strong photoionizing radiation. We have found that using these modified rates and the degenerate heat capacity may affect the time evolution of a plasma subject to extreme ultraviolet and x-ray radiation such as produced in free electron laser irradiation of solid targets.

Observation of antiphase coherent phonons in the warped Dirac cone of Bi2Te3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golias, E.; Sánchez-Barriga, J.

2016-10-01

In this Rapid Communication we investigate the coupling between excited electrons and phonons in the highly anisotropic electronic structure of the prototypical topological insulator Bi2Te3 . Using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy we are able to identify the emergence and ultrafast temporal evolution of the longitudinal-optical A1 g coherent-phonon mode in Bi2Te3 . We observe an antiphase behavior in the onset of the coherent-phonon oscillations between the Γ K ¯ and the Γ M ¯ high-symmetry directions that is consistent with warping. The qualitative agreement between our density-functional theory calculations and the experimental results reveals the critical role of the anisotropic coupling between Dirac fermions and phonon modes in the topological insulator Bi2Te3 .

Molecular beam epitaxy of three-dimensional Dirac material Sr3PbO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samal, D.; Nakamura, H.; Takagi, H.

2016-07-01

A series of anti-perovskites including Sr3PbO are recently predicted to be a three-dimensional Dirac material with a small mass gap, which may be a topological crystalline insulator. Here, we report the epitaxial growth of Sr3PbO thin films on LaAlO3 using molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction indicates (001) growth of Sr3PbO, where [110] of Sr3PbO matches [100] of LaAlO3. Measurements of the Sr3PbO films with parylene/Al capping layers reveal a metallic conduction with p-type carrier density of ˜1020 cm-3. The successful growth of high quality Sr3PbO film is an important step for the exploration of its unique topological properties.

Unfolding energy spectra of double-periodicity two-dimensional systems: Twisted bilayer graphene and MoS2 on graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsushita, Yu-ichiro; Nishi, Hirofumi; Iwata, Jun-ichi; Kosugi, Taichi; Oshiyama, Atsushi

2018-01-01

We propose an unfolding scheme to analyze energy spectra of complex large-scale systems which are inherently of double periodicity on the basis of the density-functional theory. Applying our method to a twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG) and a stack of monolayer MoS2 on graphene (MoS2/graphene) as examples, we first show that the conventional unfolding scheme in the past using a single primitive-cell representation causes serious problems in analyses of the energy spectra. We then introduce our multispace representation scheme in the unfolding method and clarify its validity. Velocity renormalization of Dirac electrons in tBLG and mini gaps of Dirac cones in MoS2/graphene are elucidated in the present unfolding scheme.

Tunneling Spectra of a Quasifreestanding Graphene Monolayer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Si-Yu; Bai, Ke-Ke; Zuo, Wei-Jie; Liu, Yi-Wen; Fu, Zhong-Qiu; Wang, Wen-Xiao; Zhang, Yu; Yin, Long-Jing; Qiao, Jia-Bin; He, Lin

2018-05-01

Considering the great success of scanning-tunneling-microscopy (STM) studies of graphene in the past ten years, it is quite surprising to notice that there is still a fundamental contradiction in the reported tunneling spectra of the quasifreestanding graphene monolayer. Many groups observed "V -shaped" spectra with linearly vanishing density of states at the Dirac point, whereas others reported spectra with a gap of ±60 meV pinned to the Fermi level in the quasifreestanding graphene monolayer. Here, we systematically study the two contradicting tunneling spectra of the quasifreestanding graphene monolayer on various substrates in the presence of different magnetic fields and demonstrate that both spectra are the "correct" spectra. However, the V -shaped spectrum exhibits only the contribution of the low-energy Dirac fermions, whereas the gapped spectrum is contributed by both the low-energy Dirac fermions and the high-energy nearly free-electron states due to the existence of the inelastic tunneling process. Our results indicate that interaction with substrates plays a vital role in affecting the spectra of graphene. We also show that it is possible to switch the tunneling spectra between the two distinct features at the nanoscale through voltage pulses applied to the STM tip.

Effect of electron-hole asymmetry on optical conductivity in 8 -P m m n borophene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Sonu; Mawrie, Alestin; Ghosh, Tarun Kanti

2017-10-01

We present a detailed theoretical study of the Drude weight and optical conductivity of 8-P m m n borophene having tilted anisotropic Dirac cones. We provide exact analytical expressions of x x and y y components of the Drude weight as well as maximum optical conductivity. We also obtain exact analytical expressions of the minimum energy (ɛ1) required to trigger the optical transitions and energy (ɛ2) needed to attain maximum optical conductivity. We find that the Drude weight and optical conductivity are highly anisotropic as a consequence of the anisotropic Dirac cone. The optical conductivities have a nonmonotonic behavior with photon energy in the regime between ɛ1 and ɛ2, as a result of the tilted parameter vt. The tilted parameter can be extracted by knowing ɛ1 and ɛ2 from optical measurements. The maximum values of the components of the optical conductivity do not depend on the carrier density and the tilted parameter. The product of the maximum values of the anisotropic conductivities has the universal value (e2/4ℏ ) 2. The tilted anisotropic Dirac cones in 8-P m m n borophene can be realized by the optical conductivity measurement.

Antimonene: Experiments and theory of surface conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palacios, Juan Jose; Ares, Pablo; Pakdel, Sahar; Paz, Wendel; Zamora, Felix; Gomez-Herrero, Julio

Very recently antimony has been demonstrated to be amenable to standard exfoliation procedures opening the possibility of studying the electronic properties of isolated few-layers flakes of this material, a.k.a. antimonene. Antimony is a topological semimetal, meaning that its electronic structure presents spin-split helical states (or Dirac cones) on the surface, but it is still trivially metallic in bulk. Antimonene, on the other hand, may present a much reduced electronic bulk contribution for a small number of layers. A novel technique to make electrical contacts on the surface of individual thin flakes (5-10 monolayers) has allowed us to measure the (surface) conductivity of these in ambient conditions. Our measurements show a high conductivity in the range of 1 - 2e2 / h , which we attribute to the surface Dirac electrons. We have also carried out theoretical work to address the origin of this value, in particular, the importance of scattering between the Dirac electrons and the bulk bands. Our calculations are based on density functional theory for the electronic structure and Kubo formalism for the conductivity, the latter considering random disorder and the presence of water. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Grant FIS2016-80434-P.

Quantum stream instability in coupled two-dimensional plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbari-Moghanjoughi, M.

2014-08-01

In this paper the quantum counter-streaming instability problem is studied in planar two-dimensional (2D) quantum plasmas using the coupled quantum hydrodynamic (CQHD) model which incorporates the most important quantum features such as the statistical Fermi-Dirac electron pressure, the electron-exchange potential and the quantum diffraction effect. The instability is investigated for different 2D quantum electron systems using the dynamics of Coulomb-coupled carriers on each plasma sheet when these plasmas are both monolayer doped graphene or metalfilm (corresponding to 2D Dirac or Fermi electron fluids). It is revealed that there are fundamental differences between these two cases regarding the effects of Bohm's quantum potential and the electron-exchange on the instability criteria. These differences mark yet another interesting feature of the effect of the energy band dispersion of Dirac electrons in graphene. Moreover, the effects of plasma number-density and coupling parameter on the instability criteria are shown to be significant. This study is most relevant to low dimensional graphene-based field-effect-transistor (FET) devices. The current study helps in understanding the collective interactions of the low-dimensional coupled ballistic conductors and the nanofabrication of future graphene-based integrated circuits.

Quasiclassical theory for the superconducting proximity effect in Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hugdal, Henning G.; Linder, Jacob; Jacobsen, Sol H.

2017-06-01

We derive the quasiclassical nonequilibrium Eilenberger and Usadel equations to first order in quantities small compared to the Fermi energy, valid for Dirac edge and surface electrons with spin-momentum locking p .σ ¯ , as relevant for topological insulators. We discuss in detail several of the key technical points and assumptions of the derivation, and provide a Riccati parametrization of the equations. Solving first the equilibrium equations for S/N and S/F bilayers and Josephson junctions, we study the superconducting proximity effect in Dirac materials. Similarly to related works, we find that the effect of an exchange field depends strongly on the direction of the field. Only components normal to the transport direction lead to attenuation of the Cooper pair wave function inside the F. Fields parallel to the transport direction lead to phase shifts in the dependence on the superconducting phase difference for both the charge current and density of states in an S/F/S junction. Moreover, we compute the differential conductance in S/N and S/F bilayers with an applied voltage bias and determine the dependence on the length of the N and F regions and the exchange field.

Predicted Realization of Cubic Dirac Fermion in Quasi-One-Dimensional Transition-Metal Monochalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Qihang; Zunger, Alex

2017-04-01

We show that the previously predicted "cubic Dirac fermion," composed of six conventional Weyl fermions including three with left-handed and three with right-handed chirality, is realized in a specific, stable solid state system that has been made years ago, but was not appreciated as a "cubically dispersed Dirac semimetal" (CDSM). We identify the crystal symmetry constraints and find the space group P 63/m as one of the two that can support a CDSM, of which the characteristic band crossing has linear dispersion along the principle axis but cubic dispersion in the plane perpendicular to it. We then conduct a material search using density functional theory, identifying a group of quasi-one-dimensional molybdenum monochalcogenide compounds AI(MoXVI)3 (AI=Na , K, Rb, In, Tl; XVI=S , Se, Te) as ideal CDSM candidates. Studying the stability of the A (MoX) 3 family reveals a few candidates such as Rb (MoTe) 3 and Tl (MoTe) 3 that are predicted to be resilient to Peierls distortion, thus retaining the metallic character. Furthermore, the combination of one dimensionality and metallic nature in this family provides a platform for unusual optical signature—polarization-dependent metallic vs insulating response.

Role of strangeness and isospin in low density expansions of hadronic matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Oliveira, Thamirys; Menezes, Débora P.; Pinto, Marcus B.; Gulminelli, Francesca

2018-05-01

We compare relativistic mean-field models with their low density expansion counterparts used to mimic nonrelativistic models by consistently expanding the baryonic scalar density in powers of the baryonic number density up to O (13 /3 ) , which goes two orders beyond the order considered in previous works. We show that, due to the nontrivial density dependence of the Dirac mass, the convergence of the expansion is very slow, and the validity of the nonrelativistic approximation is questionable even at subsaturation densities. In order to analyze the roles played by strangeness and isospin we consider n -Λ and n -p matter separately. Our results indicate that these degrees of freedom play quite different roles in the expansion mechanism and n -Λ matter can be better described by low density expansions than n -p matter in general.

Photoionization of Co+ and electron-impact excitation of Co2 + using the Dirac R-matrix method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyndall, N. B.; Ramsbottom, C. A.; Ballance, C. P.; Hibbert, A.

2016-11-01

Modelling of massive stars and supernovae (SNe) plays a crucial role in understanding galaxies. From this modelling we can derive fundamental constraints on stellar evolution, mass-loss processes, mixing, and the products of nucleosynthesis. Proper account must be taken of all important processes that populate and depopulate the levels (collisional excitation, de-excitation, ionization, recombination, photoionization, bound-bound processes). For the analysis of Type Ia SNe and core collapse SNe (Types Ib, Ic and II) Fe group elements are particularly important. Unfortunately little data is currently available and most noticeably absent are the photoionization cross-sections for the Fe-peaks which have high abundances in SNe. Important interactions for both photoionization and electron-impact excitation are calculated using the relativistic Dirac atomic R-matrix codes (DARC) for low-ionization stages of Cobalt. All results are calculated up to photon energies of 45 eV and electron energies up to 20 eV. The wavefunction representation of Co III has been generated using GRASP0 by including the dominant 3d7, 3d6[4s, 4p], 3p43d9 and 3p63d9 configurations, resulting in 292 fine structure levels. Electron-impact collision strengths and Maxwellian averaged effective collision strengths across a wide range of astrophysically relevant temperatures are computed for Co III. In addition, statistically weighted level-resolved ground and metastable photoionization cross-sections are presented for Co II and compared directly with existing work.

The noncommutative family Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theorem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yong

2016-12-01

In this paper, we define the eta cochain form and prove its regularity when the kernel of a family of Dirac operators is a vector bundle. We decompose the eta form as a pairing of the eta cochain form with the Chern character of an idempotent matrix and we also decompose the Chern character of the index bundle for a fibration with boundary as a pairing of the family Chern-Connes character for a manifold with boundary with the Chern character of an idempotent matrix. We define the family b-Chern-Connes character and then we prove that it is entire and give its variation formula. By this variation formula, we prove another noncommutative family Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theorem. Thus, we extend the results of Getzler and Wu to the family case.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Badnell, N. R.; Ballance, C. P.

Modeling the spectral emission of low-charge iron group ions enables the diagnostic determination of the local physical conditions of many cool plasma environments such as those found in H II regions, planetary nebulae, active galactic nuclei, etc. Electron-impact excitation drives the population of the emitting levels and, hence, their emissivities. By carrying-out Breit-Pauli and intermediate coupling frame transformation (ICFT) R-matrix calculations for the electron-impact excitation of Fe{sup 2+}, which both use the exact same atomic structure and the same close-coupling expansion, we demonstrate the validity of the application of the powerful ICFT method to low-charge iron group ions. This ismore » in contradiction to the finding of Bautista et al., who carried-out ICFT and Dirac R-matrix calculations for the same ion. We discuss possible reasons.« less

Quantum mechanical probability current as electromagnetic 4-current from topological EM fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Mark, Martin B.

2015-09-01

Starting from a complex 4-potential A = αdβ we show that the 4-current density in electromagnetism and the probability current density in relativistic quantum mechanics are of identical form. With the Dirac-Clifford algebra Cl1,3 as mathematical basis, the given 4-potential allows topological solutions of the fields, quite similar to Bateman's construction, but with a double field solution that was overlooked previously. A more general nullvector condition is found and wave-functions of charged and neutral particles appear as topological configurations of the electromagnetic fields.

Optical-model potential for electron and positron elastic scattering by atoms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Salvat, Francesc

2003-07-01

An optical-model potential for systematic calculations of elastic scattering of electrons and positrons by atoms and positive ions is proposed. The electrostatic interaction is determined from the Dirac-Hartree-Fock self-consistent atomic electron density. In the case of electron projectiles, the exchange interaction is described by means of the local-approximation of Furness and McCarthy. The correlation-polarization potential is obtained by combining the correlation potential derived from the local density approximation with a long-range polarization interaction, which is represented by means of a Buckingham potential with an empirical energy-dependent cutoff parameter. The absorption potential is obtained from the local-density approximation, using the Born-Ochkurmore » approximation and the Lindhard dielectric function to describe the binary collisions with a free-electron gas. The strength of the absorption potential is adjusted by means of an empirical parameter, which has been determined by fitting available absolute elastic differential cross-section data for noble gases and mercury. The Dirac partial-wave analysis with this optical-model potential provides a realistic description of elastic scattering of electrons and positrons with energies in the range from {approx}100 eV up to {approx}5 keV. At higher energies, correlation-polarization and absorption corrections are small and the usual static-exchange approximation is sufficiently accurate for most practical purposes.« less

Spectral Properties of Dirac Billiards at the van Hove Singularities.

PubMed

Dietz, B; Klaus, T; Miski-Oglu, M; Richter, A; Wunderle, M; Bouazza, C

2016-01-15

We study distributions of the ratios of level spacings of rectangular and Africa-shaped superconducting microwave resonators containing circular scatterers on a triangular grid, so-called Dirac billiards (DBs). The high-precision measurements allowed the determination of, respectively, all 1651 and 1823 eigenfrequencies in the first two bands. The resonance densities are similar to that of graphene. They exhibit two sharp peaks at the van Hove singularities which separate the band structure into regions with a linear and a quadratic dispersion relation, respectively. In the vicinity of the van Hove singularities we observe rapid changes in, e.g., the wave function structure. Accordingly, we question whether the spectral properties are there still determined by the shapes of the DBs. The commonly used statistical measures are no longer applicable; however, we demonstrate in this Letter that the ratio distributions provide suitable measures.

Wigner functions for fermions in strong magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, Xin-li; Rischke, Dirk H.; Vasak, David; Wang, Qun

2018-02-01

We compute the covariant Wigner function for spin-(1/2) fermions in an arbitrarily strong magnetic field by exactly solving the Dirac equation at non-zero fermion-number and chiral-charge densities. The Landau energy levels as well as a set of orthonormal eigenfunctions are found as solutions of the Dirac equation. With these orthonormal eigenfunctions we construct the fermion field operators and the corresponding Wigner-function operator. The Wigner function is obtained by taking the ensemble average of the Wigner-function operator in global thermodynamical equilibrium, i.e., at constant temperature T and non-zero fermion-number and chiral-charge chemical potentials μ and μ_5, respectively. Extracting the vector and axial-vector components of the Wigner function, we reproduce the currents of the chiral magnetic and separation effect in an arbitrarily strong magnetic field.

Landau levels and magnetic oscillations in gapped Dirac materials with intrinsic Rashba interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsaran, V. Yu.; Sharapov, S. G.

2014-11-01

A new family of the low-buckled Dirac materials which includes silicene, germanene, etc. is expected to possess a more complicated sequence of Landau levels than in pristine graphene. Their energies depend, among other factors, on the strength of the intrinsic spin-orbit (SO) and Rashba SO couplings and can be tuned by an applied electric field Ez. We studied the influence of the intrinsic Rashba SO term on the energies of Landau levels using both analytical and numerical methods. The quantum magnetic oscillations of the density of states are also investigated. A specific feature of the oscillations is the presence of the beats with the frequency proportional to the field Ez. The frequency of the beats becomes also dependent on the carrier concentration when Rashba interaction is present allowing experimental determination of its strength.

DIRAC distributed secure framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casajus, A.; Graciani, R.; LHCb DIRAC Team

2010-04-01

DIRAC, the LHCb community Grid solution, provides access to a vast amount of computing and storage resources to a large number of users. In DIRAC users are organized in groups with different needs and permissions. In order to ensure that only allowed users can access the resources and to enforce that there are no abuses, security is mandatory. All DIRAC services and clients use secure connections that are authenticated using certificates and grid proxies. Once a client has been authenticated, authorization rules are applied to the requested action based on the presented credentials. These authorization rules and the list of users and groups are centrally managed in the DIRAC Configuration Service. Users submit jobs to DIRAC using their local credentials. From then on, DIRAC has to interact with different Grid services on behalf of this user. DIRAC has a proxy management service where users upload short-lived proxies to be used when DIRAC needs to act on behalf of them. Long duration proxies are uploaded by users to a MyProxy service, and DIRAC retrieves new short delegated proxies when necessary. This contribution discusses the details of the implementation of this security infrastructure in DIRAC.

Electronic and thermal properties of germanene and stanene by first-principles calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jomehpour Zaveh, S.; Roknabadi, M. R.; Morshedloo, T.; Modarresi, M.

2016-03-01

The electronic, vibrational and thermal properties of germanene and stanene have been investigated based on density functional theory (DFT) and density functional perturbation theory (DFPT). The electronic band structure, total and partial density of states and phonon dispersion spectrum and states are analyzed. The phonon spectrum is positive for all modes in the first Brillouin zone and there is a phonon energy band gap between acoustic and optical modes which is around 50 cm-1 for both structure. The constant-volume specific heats of two structures are calculated by using phonon spectrum and density of states. The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) opens a direct energy band gap at the Dirac point, softens phonon spectrum and decreases phonon group velocity of ZA mode.

Weiss oscillations and particle-hole symmetry at the half-filled Landau level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheung, Alfred K. C.; Raghu, S.; Mulligan, Michael

2017-06-01

Particle-hole symmetry in the lowest Landau level of the two-dimensional electron gas requires the electrical Hall conductivity to equal ±e2/2 h at half filling. We study the consequences of weakly broken particle-hole symmetry for magnetoresistance oscillations about half filling in the presence of an applied periodic one-dimensional electrostatic potential using the Dirac composite fermion theory proposed by Son [Son, Phys. Rev. X 5, 031027 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevX.5.031027]. At fixed electron density, the oscillation minima are asymmetrically biased towards higher magnetic fields, while at fixed magnetic field the oscillations occur symmetrically as the electron density is varied about half filling. We find an approximate "sum rule" obeyed for all pairs of oscillation minima that can be tested in experiment. The locations of the magnetoresistance oscillation minima for the composite fermion theory of Halperin, Lee, and Read (HLR) and its particle-hole conjugate agree exactly. Within the current experimental resolution, the locations of the oscillation minima produced by the Dirac composite fermion coincide with those of HLR. These results may indicate that all three composite fermion theories describe the same long-wavelength physics.

Atomic and electronic structure of trilayer graphene/SiC(0001): Evidence of Strong Dependence on Stacking Sequence and charge transfer.

PubMed

Pierucci, Debora; Brumme, Thomas; Girard, Jean-Christophe; Calandra, Matteo; Silly, Mathieu G; Sirotti, Fausto; Barbier, Antoine; Mauri, Francesco; Ouerghi, Abdelkarim

2016-09-15

The transport properties of few-layer graphene are the directly result of a peculiar band structure near the Dirac point. Here, for epitaxial graphene grown on SiC, we determine the effect of charge transfer from the SiC substrate on the local density of states (LDOS) of trilayer graphene using scaning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Different spectra are observed and are attributed to the existence of two stable polytypes of trilayer: Bernal (ABA) and rhomboedreal (ABC) staking. Their electronic properties strongly depend on the charge transfer from the substrate. We show that the LDOS of ABC stacking shows an additional peak located above the Dirac point in comparison with the LDOS of ABA stacking. The observed LDOS features, reflecting the underlying symmetry of the two polytypes, were reproduced by explicit calculations within density functional theory (DFT) including the charge transfer from the substrate. These findings demonstrate the pronounced effect of stacking order and charge transfer on the electronic structure of trilayer or few layer graphene. Our approach represents a significant step toward understand the electronic properties of graphene layer under electrical field.

Weiss oscillations and particle-hole symmetry at the half-filled Landau level

DOE PAGES

Cheung, Alfred K. C.; Raghu, S.; Mulligan, Michael

2017-06-15

Particle-hole symmetry in the lowest Landau level of the two-dimensional electron gas requires the electrical Hall conductivity to equal ± e 2/2h at half filling. Here, we study the consequences of weakly broken particle-hole symmetry for magnetoresistance oscillations about half filling in the presence of an applied periodic one-dimensional electrostatic potential using the Dirac composite fermion theory proposed by Son [Son, Phys. Rev. X 5, 031027 (2015)]. At fixed electron density, the oscillation minima are asymmetrically biased towards higher magnetic fields, while at fixed magnetic field the oscillations occur symmetrically as the electron density is varied about half filling. Wemore » find an approximate “sum rule” obeyed for all pairs of oscillation minima that can be tested in experiment. The locations of the magnetoresistance oscillation minima for the composite fermion theory of Halperin, Lee, and Read (HLR) and its particle-hole conjugate agree exactly. Within the current experimental resolution, the locations of the oscillation minima produced by the Dirac composite fermion coincide with those of HLR. These results may indicate that all three composite fermion theories describe the same long-wavelength physics.« less

Weiss oscillations and particle-hole symmetry at the half-filled Landau level

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cheung, Alfred K. C.; Raghu, S.; Mulligan, Michael

Particle-hole symmetry in the lowest Landau level of the two-dimensional electron gas requires the electrical Hall conductivity to equal ± e 2/2h at half filling. Here, we study the consequences of weakly broken particle-hole symmetry for magnetoresistance oscillations about half filling in the presence of an applied periodic one-dimensional electrostatic potential using the Dirac composite fermion theory proposed by Son [Son, Phys. Rev. X 5, 031027 (2015)]. At fixed electron density, the oscillation minima are asymmetrically biased towards higher magnetic fields, while at fixed magnetic field the oscillations occur symmetrically as the electron density is varied about half filling. Wemore » find an approximate “sum rule” obeyed for all pairs of oscillation minima that can be tested in experiment. The locations of the magnetoresistance oscillation minima for the composite fermion theory of Halperin, Lee, and Read (HLR) and its particle-hole conjugate agree exactly. Within the current experimental resolution, the locations of the oscillation minima produced by the Dirac composite fermion coincide with those of HLR. These results may indicate that all three composite fermion theories describe the same long-wavelength physics.« less

Predictive equation of state method for heavy materials based on the Dirac equation and density functional theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wills, John M.; Mattsson, Ann E.

2012-02-01

Density functional theory (DFT) provides a formally predictive base for equation of state properties. Available approximations to the exchange/correlation functional provide accurate predictions for many materials in the periodic table. For heavy materials however, DFT calculations, using available functionals, fail to provide quantitative predictions, and often fail to be even qualitative. This deficiency is due both to the lack of the appropriate confinement physics in the exchange/correlation functional and to approximations used to evaluate the underlying equations. In order to assess and develop accurate functionals, it is essential to eliminate all other sources of error. In this talk we describe an efficient first-principles electronic structure method based on the Dirac equation and compare the results obtained with this method with other methods generally used. Implications for high-pressure equation of state of relativistic materials are demonstrated in application to Ce and the light actinides. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed andoperated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Efficient iterative method for solving the Dirac-Kohn-Sham density functional theory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, Lin; Shao, Sihong; E, Weinan

2012-11-06

We present for the first time an efficient iterative method to directly solve the four-component Dirac-Kohn-Sham (DKS) density functional theory. Due to the existence of the negative energy continuum in the DKS operator, the existing iterative techniques for solving the Kohn-Sham systems cannot be efficiently applied to solve the DKS systems. The key component of our method is a novel filtering step (F) which acts as a preconditioner in the framework of the locally optimal block preconditioned conjugate gradient (LOBPCG) method. The resulting method, dubbed the LOBPCG-F method, is able to compute the desired eigenvalues and eigenvectors in the positive energy band without computing any state in the negative energy band. The LOBPCG-F method introduces mild extra cost compared to the standard LOBPCG method and can be easily implemented. We demonstrate our method in the pseudopotential framework with a planewave basis set which naturally satisfies the kinetic balance prescription. Numerical results for Ptmore » $$_{2}$$, Au$$_{2}$$, TlF, and Bi$$_{2}$$Se$$_{3}$$ indicate that the LOBPCG-F method is a robust and efficient method for investigating the relativistic effect in systems containing heavy elements.« less

Yang-Mills matrix mechanics and quantum phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Mahul; Vaidya, Sachindeo

The SU(2) Yang-Mills matrix model coupled to fundamental fermions is studied in the adiabatic limit, and quantum critical behavior is seen at special corners of the gauge field configuration space. The quantum scalar potential for the gauge field induced by the fermions diverges at the corners, and is intimately related to points of enhanced degeneracy of the fermionic Hamiltonian. This in turn leads to superselection sectors in the Hilbert space of the gauge field, the ground states in different sectors being orthogonal to each other. The SU(2) Yang-Mills matrix model coupled to two Weyl fermions has three quantum phases. When coupled to a massless Dirac fermion, the number of quantum phases is four. One of these phases is the color-spin locked phase. This paper is an extended version of the lectures given by the second author (SV) at the International Workshop on Quantum Physics: Foundations and Applications, Bangalore, in February 2016, and is based on [1].

Terasonic Excitations in 2D Gold Nanoparticle Arrays in a Water Matrix as Revealed by Atomistic Simulations

DOE PAGES

Bolmatov, Dima; Zhernenkov, Mikhail; Zav’yalov, Dmitry; ...

2016-08-19

Here in this work we report on terahertz phononic excitations in 2D gold nanoparticle arrays in a water matrix through a series of large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. For the first time, we observe acoustic Dirac-like crossings in H (H 2O) atomic (molecular) networks which emerge due to an intraband phononic scattering. These crossings are the phononic fingerprints of ice-like arrangements of H (H 2O) atomic (molecular) networks at nanometer scale. We reveal how phononic excitations in metallic nanoparticles and the water matrix reciprocally impact on one another providing the mechanism for the THz phononics manipulation via structural engineering. In addition,more » we show that by tuning the arrangement of 2D gold nanoparticle assemblies the Au phononic polarizations experience sub-terahertz hybridization (Kohn anomaly) due to surface electron-phonon relaxation processes. This opens the way for the sound control and manipulation in soft matter metamaterials at nanoscale.« less

On thermalization of electron-positron-photon plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siutsou, I. A.; Aksenov, A. G.; Vereshchagin, G. V.

2015-12-01

Recently a progress has been made in understanding thermalization mechanism of relativistic plasma starting from a non-equilibrium state. Relativistic Boltzmann equations were solved numerically for homogeneous isotropic plasma with collision integrals for two- and three-particle interactions calculated from the first principles by means of QED matrix elements. All particles were assumed to fulfill Boltzmann statistics. In this work we follow plasma thermalization by accounting for Bose enhancement and Pauli blocking in particle interactions. Our results show that particle in equilibrium reach Bose-Einstein distribution for photons, and Fermi-Dirac one for electrons, respectively.

Energy band and transport properties in magnetic aperiodic graphene superlattices of Thue-Morse sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Yiheng; Niu, Yanxiong; Zhang, Huiyun; Zhang, Yuping; Liu, Haiyue

2016-02-01

Utilizing the transfer matrix method, we develop the electronic band structure and transport properties in Thue-Morse aperiodic graphene superlattices with magnetic barriers. It is found that the normal transmission is blocked and the position of the Dirac point can be shifted along the wavevector axis by changing the height and width ratio of magnetic barriers, which is intrinsic different from electronic field modulated superlattices. In addition, the angular threshold property of the transmission spectra and the oscillatory property of the conductance have been studied.

Graphene based d-character Dirac Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yuanchang; Zhang, S. B.; Duan, Wenhui

From graphene to topological insulators, Dirac material continues to be the hot topics in condensed matter physics. So far, almost all of the theoretically predicted or experimentally observed Dirac materials are composed of sp -electrons. By using first-principles calculations, we find the new Dirac system of transition-metal intercalated epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001). Intrinsically different from the conventional sp Dirac system, here the Dirac-fermions are dominantly contributed by the transition-metal d-electrons, which paves the way to incorporate correlation effect with Dirac-cone physics. Many intriguing quantum phenomena are proposed based on this system, including quantum spin Hall effect with large spin-orbital gap, quantum anomalous Hall effect, 100% spin-polarized Dirac fermions and ferromagnet-to-topological insulator transition.

Application of the dual-kinetic-balance sets in the relativistic many-body problem of atomic structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beloy, Kyle; Derevianko, Andrei

2008-05-01

The dual-kinetic-balance (DKB) finite basis set method for solving the Dirac equation for hydrogen-like ions [V. M. Shabaev et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 130405 (2004)] is extended to problems with a non-local spherically-symmetric Dirac-Hartree-Fock potential. We implement the DKB method using B-spline basis sets and compare its performance with the widely- employed approach of Notre Dame (ND) group [W.R. Johnson, S.A. Blundell, J. Sapirstein, Phys. Rev. A 37, 307-15 (1988)]. We compare the performance of the ND and DKB methods by computing various properties of Cs atom: energies, hyperfine integrals, the parity-non-conserving amplitude of the 6s1/2-7s1/2 transition, and the second-order many-body correction to the removal energy of the valence electrons. We find that for a comparable size of the basis set the accuracy of both methods is similar for matrix elements accumulated far from the nuclear region. However, for atomic properties determined by small distances, the DKB method outperforms the ND approach.

Ab initio computation of the transition temperature of the charge density wave transition in TiS e2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duong, Dinh Loc; Burghard, Marko; Schön, J. Christian

2015-12-01

We present a density functional perturbation theory approach to estimate the transition temperature of the charge density wave transition of TiS e2 . The softening of the phonon mode at the L point where in TiS e2 a giant Kohn anomaly occurs, and the energy difference between the normal and distorted phase are analyzed. Both features are studied as functions of the electronic temperature, which corresponds to the Fermi-Dirac distribution smearing value in the calculation. The transition temperature is found to be 500 and 600 K by phonon and energy analysis, respectively, in reasonable agreement with the experimental value of 200 K.

Predicted Realization of Cubic Dirac Fermion in Quasi-One-Dimensional Transition-Metal Monochalcogenides

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Qihang; Zunger, Alex

We show that the previously predicted “cubic Dirac fermion,” composed of six conventional Weyl fermions including three with left-handed and three with right-handed chirality, is realized in a specific, stable solid state system that has been made years ago, but was not appreciated as a “cubically dispersed Dirac semimetal” (CDSM). We identify the crystal symmetry constraints and find the space group P6 3/m as one of the two that can support a CDSM, of which the characteristic band crossing has linear dispersion along the principle axis but cubic dispersion in the plane perpendicular to it. We then conduct a materialmore » search using density functional theory, identifying a group of quasi-one-dimensional molybdenum monochalcogenide compounds A I(MoX VI) 3 (AI = Na, K, Rb, In, Tl; X VI = S , Se, Te) as ideal CDSM candidates. Studying the stability of the A ( MoX ) 3 family reveals a few candidates such as Rb(MoTe) 3 and Tl(MoTe) 3 that are predicted to be resilient to Peierls distortion, thus retaining the metallic character. Furthermore, the combination of one dimensionality and metallic nature in this family provides a platform for unusual optical signature—polarization-dependent metallic vs insulating response.« less

Intrinsic Dirac half-metal and quantum anomalous Hall phase in a hexagonal metal-oxide lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shou-juan; Zhang, Chang-wen; Zhang, Shu-feng; Ji, Wei-xiao; Li, Ping; Wang, Pei-ji; Li, Sheng-shi; Yan, Shi-shen

2017-11-01

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect has attracted extensive attention due to time-reversal symmetry broken by a staggered magnetic flux emerging from ferromagnetic ordering and spin-orbit coupling. However, the experimental observations of the QAH effect are still challenging due to its small nontrivial bulk gap. Here, based on density functional theory and Berry curvature calculations, we propose the realization of intrinsic QAH effect in two-dimensional hexagonal metal-oxide lattice, N b2O3 , which is characterized by the nonzero Chern number (C =1 ) and chiral edge states. Spin-polarized calculations indicate that it exhibits a Dirac half-metal feature with temperature as large as TC=392 K using spin-wave theory. When the spin-orbit coupling is switched on, N b2O3 becomes a QAH insulator. Notably, the nontrivial topology is robust against biaxial strain with its band gap reaching up to Eg=75 meV , which is far beyond room temperature. A tight-binding model is further constructed to understand the origin of nontrivially electronic properties. Our findings on the Dirac half-metal and room-temperature QAH effect in the N b2O3 lattice can serve as an ideal platform for developing future topotronics devices.

A maximally particle-hole asymmetric spectrum emanating from a semi-Dirac point.

PubMed

Quan, Yundi; Pickett, Warren E

2018-02-21

Tight binding models have proven an effective means of revealing Dirac (massless) dispersion, flat bands (infinite mass), and intermediate cases such as the semi-Dirac (sD) dispersion. This approach is extended to a three band model that yields, with chosen parameters in a two-band limit, a closed line with maximally asymmetric particle-hole dispersion: infinite mass holes, zero mass particles. The model retains the sD points for a general set of parameters. Adjacent to this limiting case, hole Fermi surfaces are tiny and needle-like. A pair of large electron Fermi surfaces at low doping merge and collapse at half filling to a flat (zero energy) closed contour with infinite mass along the contour and enclosing no carriers on either side, while the hole Fermi surface has shrunk to a point at zero energy, also containing no carriers. The tight binding model is used to study several characteristics of the dispersion and density of states. The model inspired generalization of sD dispersion to a general  ±[Formula: see text] form, for which analysis reveals that both n and m must be odd to provide a diabolical point with topological character. Evolution of the Hofstadter spectrum of this three band system with interband coupling strength is presented and discussed.

A maximally particle-hole asymmetric spectrum emanating from a semi-Dirac point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quan, Yundi; Pickett, Warren E.

2018-02-01

Tight binding models have proven an effective means of revealing Dirac (massless) dispersion, flat bands (infinite mass), and intermediate cases such as the semi-Dirac (sD) dispersion. This approach is extended to a three band model that yields, with chosen parameters in a two-band limit, a closed line with maximally asymmetric particle-hole dispersion: infinite mass holes, zero mass particles. The model retains the sD points for a general set of parameters. Adjacent to this limiting case, hole Fermi surfaces are tiny and needle-like. A pair of large electron Fermi surfaces at low doping merge and collapse at half filling to a flat (zero energy) closed contour with infinite mass along the contour and enclosing no carriers on either side, while the hole Fermi surface has shrunk to a point at zero energy, also containing no carriers. The tight binding model is used to study several characteristics of the dispersion and density of states. The model inspired generalization of sD dispersion to a general  ± \\sqrt{k_x2n +k_y2m} form, for which analysis reveals that both n and m must be odd to provide a diabolical point with topological character. Evolution of the Hofstadter spectrum of this three band system with interband coupling strength is presented and discussed.

Dirac potential in the Doebner-Goldin equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Wei; Ma, Yi Rong; Hu, Fang Qi; Zhao, Qing

2018-01-01

We study a dissipative quantum system which is described by the Doebner-Goldin equation (DGE) model. For time-independent states, the new three-dimensional analytical solutions of the DGE are obtained by binding the vertical relation of velocity and the gradient of density in the system, when the form of a central potential such as hard core or harmonic oscillator is suggested. Through the gauge-invariant parameters which characterize the physical nature of the dissipation, we find a novel set of gauge-invariant parameters which show that the Galilean invariance is broken in this system. Moreover, a subfamily of the DGE can be obtained after a gauge transformation, which describes a dissipative quantum system with the conserved Galilean invariance. It is interesting that this dissipative quantum system is completely equivalent to a charge-monopole system, in which the Dirac potential is supplied with the nonlinear terms and two cases of the velocity potential. Especially, the two gauge potentials given by Wu and Yang emerge from solving the DGE as two cases in our approach. The results not only present some new physical comprehension of the dissipative quantum system, but also might shed light on the Dirac monopole potential, in the sense that the partition into south and north hemisphere is avoided in our new solutions.

A relativistically interacting exactly solvable multi-time model for two massless Dirac particles in 1 + 1 dimensions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lienert, Matthias, E-mail: lienert@math.lmu.de

2015-04-15

The question how to Lorentz transform an N-particle wave function naturally leads to the concept of a so-called multi-time wave function, i.e., a map from (space-time){sup N} to a spin space. This concept was originally proposed by Dirac as the basis of relativistic quantum mechanics. In such a view, interaction potentials are mathematically inconsistent. This fact motivates the search for new mechanisms for relativistic interactions. In this paper, we explore the idea that relativistic interaction can be described by boundary conditions on the set of coincidence points of two particles in space-time. This extends ideas from zero-range physics to amore » relativistic setting. We illustrate the idea at the simplest model which still possesses essential physical properties like Lorentz invariance and a positive definite density: two-time equations for massless Dirac particles in 1 + 1 dimensions. In order to deal with a spatio-temporally non-trivial domain, a necessity in the multi-time picture, we develop a new method to prove existence and uniqueness of classical solutions: a generalized version of the method of characteristics. Both mathematical and physical considerations are combined to precisely formulate and answer the questions of probability conservation, Lorentz invariance, interaction, and antisymmetry.« less

Effect of Eu magnetism on the electronic properties of the candidate Dirac material EuMnBi2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

May, Andrew F.; McGuire, Michael A.; Sales, Brian C.

2014-08-01

The crystal structure and physical properties of the layered material EuMnBi2 have been characterized by measurements on single crystals. EuMnBi2 is isostructural with the Dirac material SrMnBi2 based on single-crystal x-ray diffraction, crystallizing in the I4/mmm space group (No. 139). Magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering of moments on divalent Eu ions near TN=22 K. For low fields, the ordered Eu moments are aligned along the c axis, and a spin flop is observed near 5.4 T at 5 K. The moment is not saturated in an applied field of 13 T at 5 K, which is uncommon for compounds containing Eu2+. The magnetic behavior suggests an anisotropy enhancement via interaction between Eu and the Mn moments that appear to be ordered antiferromagnetically below ≈310 K. A large increase in the magnetoresistance is observed across the spin flop, with absolute magnetoresistance reaching ≈650% at 5 K and 12 T. Hall effect measurements reveal a decrease in the carrier density below TN, which implies a manipulation of the Fermi surface by magnetism on the sites surrounding the Bi square nets that lead to Dirac cones in this family of materials.

Predicting a graphene-like WB4 nanosheet with a double Dirac cone, an ultra-high Fermi velocity and significant gap opening by spin-orbit coupling.

PubMed

Zhang, Chunmei; Jiao, Yalong; Ma, Fengxian; Bottle, Steven; Zhao, Mingwen; Chen, Zhongfang; Du, Aijun

2017-02-15

The zero-band gap nature of graphene prevents it from performing as a semi-conductor in modern electronics. Although various graphene modification strategies have been developed to address this limitation, the very small band gap of these materials and the suppressed charge carrier mobility of the devices developed still significantly hinder graphene's applications. In this work, a two dimensional (2D) WB 4 monolayer, which exhibits a double Dirac cone, was conceived and assessed using density functional theory (DFT) methods, which would provide a sizable band gap while maintaining higher charge mobility with a Fermi velocity of 1.099 × 10 6 m s -1 . Strong spin-orbit-coupling can generate an observable band gap of up to 0.27 eV that primarily originates from the d-orbit of the heavy metal atom W; therefore a 2D WB 4 nanosheet would be operable at room temperature (T = 300 K) and would be a promising candidate to fabricate nanoelectronics in the upcoming post-silicon era. The phonon-spectrum and ab initio molecular dynamics calculations further demonstrate the dynamic and thermal stability of such nanosheets, thus, suggesting a potentially synthesizable Dirac material.

Predicted Realization of Cubic Dirac Fermion in Quasi-One-Dimensional Transition-Metal Monochalcogenides

DOE PAGES

Liu, Qihang; Zunger, Alex

2017-05-09

We show that the previously predicted “cubic Dirac fermion,” composed of six conventional Weyl fermions including three with left-handed and three with right-handed chirality, is realized in a specific, stable solid state system that has been made years ago, but was not appreciated as a “cubically dispersed Dirac semimetal” (CDSM). We identify the crystal symmetry constraints and find the space group P6 3/m as one of the two that can support a CDSM, of which the characteristic band crossing has linear dispersion along the principle axis but cubic dispersion in the plane perpendicular to it. We then conduct a materialmore » search using density functional theory, identifying a group of quasi-one-dimensional molybdenum monochalcogenide compounds A I(MoX VI) 3 (AI = Na, K, Rb, In, Tl; X VI = S , Se, Te) as ideal CDSM candidates. Studying the stability of the A ( MoX ) 3 family reveals a few candidates such as Rb(MoTe) 3 and Tl(MoTe) 3 that are predicted to be resilient to Peierls distortion, thus retaining the metallic character. Furthermore, the combination of one dimensionality and metallic nature in this family provides a platform for unusual optical signature—polarization-dependent metallic vs insulating response.« less

Contact doping, Klein tunneling, and asymmetry of shot noise in suspended graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laitinen, Antti; Paraoanu, G. S.; Oksanen, Mika; Craciun, Monica F.; Russo, Saverio; Sonin, Edouard; Hakonen, Pertti

2016-01-01

The inherent asymmetry of the electric transport in graphene is attributed to Klein tunneling across barriers defined by p n interfaces between positively and negatively charged regions. By combining conductance and shot noise experiments, we determine the main characteristics of the tunneling barrier (height and slope) in a high-quality suspended sample with Au/Cr/Au contacts. We observe an asymmetric resistance Rodd=100 -70 Ω across the Dirac point of the suspended graphene at carrier density | nG|=(0.3 -4 ) × 1011cm-2 , while the Fano factor displays a nonmonotonic asymmetry in the range Fodd˜0.03 -0.1. Our findings agree with analytical calculations based on the Dirac equation with a trapezoidal barrier. Comparison between the model and the data yields the barrier height for tunneling, an estimate of the thickness of the p n interface d <20 nm, and the contact region doping corresponding to a Fermi level offset of ˜-18 meV. The strength of pinning of the Fermi level under the metallic contact is characterized in terms of the contact capacitance Cc=19 ×10-6 F/cm2 . Additionally, we show that the gate voltage corresponding to the Dirac point is given by the difference in work functions between the backgate material and graphene.

Magnon Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fransson, J.; Black-Schaffer, A. M.; Balatsky, A. V.

2016-08-01

We demonstrate how a Dirac-like magnon spectrum is generated for localized magnetic moments forming a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. The Dirac crossing point is proven to be robust against magnon-magnon interactions, as these only shift the spectrum. Local defects induce impurity resonances near the Dirac point, as well as magnon Friedel oscillations. The energy of the Dirac point is controlled by the exchange coupling, and thus a two-dimensional array of magnetic dots is an experimentally feasible realization of Dirac magnons with tunable dispersion.

Ultra-low contact resistance in graphene devices at the Dirac point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anzi, Luca; Mansouri, Aida; Pedrinazzi, Paolo; Guerriero, Erica; Fiocco, Marco; Pesquera, Amaia; Centeno, Alba; Zurutuza, Amaia; Behnam, Ashkan; Carrion, Enrique A.; Pop, Eric; Sordan, Roman

2018-04-01

Contact resistance is one of the main factors limiting performance of short-channel graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs), preventing their use in low-voltage applications. Here we investigated the contact resistance between graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and different metals, and found that etching holes in graphene below the contacts consistently reduced the contact resistance, down to 23 Ω \\cdot μ m with Au contacts. This low contact resistance was obtained at the Dirac point of graphene, in contrast to previous studies where the lowest contact resistance was obtained at the highest carrier density in graphene (here 200 Ω \\cdot μ m was obtained under such conditions). The ‘holey’ Au contacts were implemented in GFETs which exhibited an average transconductance of 940 S m-1 at a drain bias of only 0.8 V and gate length of 500 nm, which out-perform GFETs with conventional Au contacts.

Heptagraphene: Tunable dirac cones in a graphitic structure

DOE PAGES

Lopez-Bezanilla, Alejandro; Martin, Ivar; Littlewood, Peter B.

2016-09-13

Here, we predict the existence and dynamical stability of heptagraphene, a new graphitic structure formed of rings of 10 carbon atoms bridged by carbene groups yielding seven-membered rings. Despite the rectangular unit cell, the band structure is topologically equivalent to that of strongly distorted graphene. Density-functional-theory calculations demonstrate that heptagraphene has Dirac cones on symmetry lines that are robust against biaxial strain but which open a gap under shear. At high deformation values bond reconstructions lead to different electronic band arrangements in dynamically stable configurations. Within a tight-binding framework this richness of the electronic behavior is identified as a directmore » consequence of the symmetry breaking within the cell which, unlike other graphitic structures, leads to band gap opening. A combined approach of chemical and physical modification of graphene unit cell unfurls the opportunity to design carbon-based systems in which one aims to tune an electronic band gap.« less

On the correct implementation of Fermi-Dirac statistics and electron trapping in nonlinear electrostatic plane wave propagation in collisionless plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schamel, Hans; Eliasson, Bengt

2016-05-01

Quantum statistics and electron trapping have a decisive influence on the propagation characteristics of coherent stationary electrostatic waves. The description of these strictly nonlinear structures, which are of electron hole type and violate linear Vlasov theory due to the particle trapping at any excitation amplitude, is obtained by a correct reduction of the three-dimensional Fermi-Dirac distribution function to one dimension and by a proper incorporation of trapping. For small but finite amplitudes, the holes become of cnoidal wave type and the electron density is shown to be described by a ϕ ( x ) 1 / 2 rather than a ϕ ( x ) expansion, where ϕ ( x ) is the electrostatic potential. The general coefficients are presented for a degenerate plasma as well as the quantum statistical analogue to these steady state coherent structures, including the shape of ϕ ( x ) and the nonlinear dispersion relation, which describes their phase velocity.

Kinks in the σ band of graphene induced by electron-phonon coupling.

PubMed

Mazzola, Federico; Wells, Justin W; Yakimova, Rositza; Ulstrup, Søren; Miwa, Jill A; Balog, Richard; Bianchi, Marco; Leandersson, Mats; Adell, Johan; Hofmann, Philip; Balasubramanian, T

2013-11-22

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy reveals pronounced kinks in the dispersion of the σ band of graphene. Such kinks are usually caused by the combination of a strong electron-boson interaction and the cutoff in the Fermi-Dirac distribution. They are therefore not expected for the σ band of graphene that has a binding energy of more than ≈3.5 eV. We argue that the observed kinks are indeed caused by the electron-phonon interaction, but the role of the Fermi-Dirac distribution cutoff is assumed by a cutoff in the density of σ states. The existence of the effect suggests a very weak coupling of holes in the σ band not only to the π electrons of graphene but also to the substrate electronic states. This is confirmed by the presence of such kinks for graphene on several different substrates that all show a strong coupling constant of λ≈1.

Dirac strings and magnetic monopoles in the spin ice Dy2Ti2O7.

PubMed

Morris, D J P; Tennant, D A; Grigera, S A; Klemke, B; Castelnovo, C; Moessner, R; Czternasty, C; Meissner, M; Rule, K C; Hoffmann, J-U; Kiefer, K; Gerischer, S; Slobinsky, D; Perry, R S

2009-10-16

Sources of magnetic fields-magnetic monopoles-have so far proven elusive as elementary particles. Condensed-matter physicists have recently proposed several scenarios of emergent quasiparticles resembling monopoles. A particularly simple proposition pertains to spin ice on the highly frustrated pyrochlore lattice. The spin-ice state is argued to be well described by networks of aligned dipoles resembling solenoidal tubes-classical, and observable, versions of a Dirac string. Where these tubes end, the resulting defects look like magnetic monopoles. We demonstrated, by diffuse neutron scattering, the presence of such strings in the spin ice dysprosium titanate (Dy2Ti2O7). This is achieved by applying a symmetry-breaking magnetic field with which we can manipulate the density and orientation of the strings. In turn, heat capacity is described by a gas of magnetic monopoles interacting via a magnetic Coulomb interaction.

Decoupled electron and phonon transports in hexagonal boron nitride-silicene bilayer heterostructure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cai, Yongqing; Pei, Qing-Xiang, E-mail: peiqx@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg, E-mail: zhangg@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg; Zhang, Gang, E-mail: peiqx@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg, E-mail: zhangg@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg

2016-02-14

Calculations based on the density functional theory and empirical molecular dynamics are performed to investigate interlayer interaction, electronic structure and thermal transport of a bilayer heterostructure consisting of silicene and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). In this heterostructure, the two layers are found to interact weakly via a non-covalent binding. As a result, the Dirac cone of silicene is preserved with the Dirac cone point being located exactly at the Fermi level, and only a small amount of electrons are transferred from h-BN to silicene, suggesting that silicene dominates the electronic transport. Molecular dynamics calculation results demonstrate that the heat currentmore » along h-BN is six times of that along silicene, suggesting that h-BN dominates the thermal transport. This decoupled role of h-BN and silicene in thermal and electronic transport suggests that the BN-silicene bilayer heterostructure is promising for thermoelectric applications.« less

Asymmetric mass acquisition in LaBi. Topological semimetal candidate

DOE PAGES

Wu, Yun; Kong, Tai; Wang, Lin-Lin; ...

2016-08-18

We use our high resolution He-lamp-based, tunable laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and density functional theory calculations to study the electronic properties of LaBi, a binary system that was proposed to be a member of a new family of topological semimetals. Both bulk and surface bands are present in the spectra. Furthermore, the dispersion of the surface state is highly unusual. It resembles a Dirac cone, but upon closer inspection we can clearly detect an energy gap. The bottom band follows roughly a parabolic dispersion. The dispersion of the top band remains very linear, “V” -shape like, with the tipmore » approaching very closely to the extrapolated location of Dirac point. Finally, such asymmetric mass acquisition is highly unusual and opens a possibility of a new topological phenomenon that has yet to be understood.« less

Phase Transitions of the Polariton Condensate in 2D Dirac Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

2018-04-01

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon (e -ph) coupling can lead to the hybridizations of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polaritons, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped two-dimensional Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide MoS2 or WSe2 . Specifically, in forming the polariton, the e -ph coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase can compete against the Coulomb electron-electron (e -e ) interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to a rich phase diagram for the polariton condensate involving both topological and symmetry breaking phase transitions, with the former giving rise to the quantum anomalous Hall and the quantum spin Hall phases.

Phase Transitions of the Polariton Condensate in 2D Dirac Materials.

PubMed

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

2018-04-13

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon (e-ph) coupling can lead to the hybridizations of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polaritons, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped two-dimensional Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide MoS_{2} or WSe_{2}. Specifically, in forming the polariton, the e-ph coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase can compete against the Coulomb electron-electron (e-e) interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to a rich phase diagram for the polariton condensate involving both topological and symmetry breaking phase transitions, with the former giving rise to the quantum anomalous Hall and the quantum spin Hall phases.

Paul Dirac

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pais, Abraham; Jacob, Maurice; Olive, David I.; Atiyah, Michael F.

2005-09-01

Preface Peter Goddard; Dirac memorial address Stephen Hawking; 1. Paul Dirac: aspects of his life and work Abraham Pais; 2. Antimatter Maurice Jacob; 3. The monopole David Olive; 4. The Dirac equation and geometry Michael F. Atiyah.

Paul Dirac

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pais, Abraham; Jacob, Maurice; Olive, David I.; Atiyah, Michael F.

1998-02-01

Preface Peter Goddard; Dirac memorial address Stephen Hawking; 1. Paul Dirac: aspects of his life and work Abraham Pais; 2. Antimatter Maurice Jacob; 3. The monopole David Olive; 4. The Dirac equation and geometry Michael F. Atiyah.

Interplay of Dirac electrons and magnetism in CaMnBi 2 and SrMnBi 2

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Anmin; Liu, Changle; Yi, Changjiang; ...

2016-12-16

Dirac materials exhibit intriguing low-energy carrier dynamics that offer a fertile ground for novel physics discovery. Something of particular interest is the interplay of Dirac carriers with other quantum phenomena such as magnetism. We report on a two-magnon Raman scattering study of AMnBi 2 (A=Ca, Sr), a prototypical magnetic Dirac system comprising alternating Dirac carrier and magnetic layers. We present the first accurate determination of the exchange energies in these compounds and, by comparison with the reference compound BaMn 2Bi 2, we show that the Dirac carrier layers in AMnBi 2 significantly enhance the exchange coupling between the magnetic layers,more » which in turn drives a charge-gap opening along the Dirac locus. These findings break new grounds in unveiling the fundamental physics of magnetic Dirac materials, which offer a novel platform for probing a distinct type of spin–Fermion interaction. Our results also hold great promise for applications in magnetic Dirac devices.« less

Interplay of Dirac electrons and magnetism in CaMnBi2 and SrMnBi2

PubMed Central

Zhang, Anmin; Liu, Changle; Yi, Changjiang; Zhao, Guihua; Xia, Tian-long; Ji, Jianting; Shi, Youguo; Yu, Rong; Wang, Xiaoqun; Chen, Changfeng; Zhang, Qingming

2016-01-01

Dirac materials exhibit intriguing low-energy carrier dynamics that offer a fertile ground for novel physics discovery. Of particular interest is the interplay of Dirac carriers with other quantum phenomena such as magnetism. Here we report on a two-magnon Raman scattering study of AMnBi2 (A=Ca, Sr), a prototypical magnetic Dirac system comprising alternating Dirac carrier and magnetic layers. We present the first accurate determination of the exchange energies in these compounds and, by comparison with the reference compound BaMn2Bi2, we show that the Dirac carrier layers in AMnBi2 significantly enhance the exchange coupling between the magnetic layers, which in turn drives a charge-gap opening along the Dirac locus. Our findings break new grounds in unveiling the fundamental physics of magnetic Dirac materials, which offer a novel platform for probing a distinct type of spin–Fermion interaction. The results also hold great promise for applications in magnetic Dirac devices. PMID:27982036

Spatially resolving density-dependent screening around a single charged atom in graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Dillon; Corsetti, Fabiano; Wang, Yang; Brar, Victor W.; Tsai, Hsin-Zon; Wu, Qiong; Kawakami, Roland K.; Zettl, Alex; Mostofi, Arash A.; Lischner, Johannes; Crommie, Michael F.

2017-05-01

Electrons in two-dimensional graphene sheets behave as interacting chiral Dirac fermions and have unique screening properties due to their symmetry and reduced dimensionality. By using a combination of scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements and theoretical modeling we have characterized how graphene's massless charge carriers screen individual charged calcium atoms. A backgated graphene device configuration has allowed us to directly visualize how the screening length for this system can be tuned with carrier density. Our results provide insight into electron-impurity and electron-electron interactions in a relativistic setting with important consequences for other graphene-based electronic devices.

Photoconductivity in Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, J. M.; Yang, G. W.

2015-11-01

Two-dimensional (2D) Dirac materials including graphene and the surface of a three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator, and 3D Dirac materials including 3D Dirac semimetal and Weyl semimetal have attracted great attention due to their linear Dirac nodes and exotic properties. Here, we use the Fermi's golden rule and Boltzmann equation within the relaxation time approximation to study and compare the photoconductivity of Dirac materials under different far- or mid-infrared irradiation. Theoretical results show that the photoconductivity exhibits the anisotropic property under the polarized irradiation, but the anisotropic strength is different between 2D and 3D Dirac materials. The photoconductivity depends strongly on the relaxation time for different scattering mechanism, just like the dark conductivity.

A Short Biography of Paul A. M. Dirac and Historical Development of Dirac Delta Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Debnath, Lokenath

2013-01-01

This paper deals with a short biography of Paul Dirac, his first celebrated work on quantum mechanics, his first formal systematic use of the Dirac delta function and his famous work on quantum electrodynamics and quantum statistics. Included are his first discovery of the Dirac relativistic wave equation, existence of positron and the intrinsic…

Granular superconductor in a honeycomb lattice as a realization of bosonic Dirac material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, S.; Fransson, J.; Black-Schaffer, A. M.; Ågren, H.; Balatsky, A. V.

2016-04-01

We examine the low-energy effective theory of phase oscillations in a two-dimensional granular superconducting sheet where the grains are arranged in a honeycomb lattice structure. Using the example of graphene, we present evidence for the engineered Dirac nodes in the bosonic excitations: the spectra of the collective bosonic modes cross at the K and K' points in the Brillouin zone and form Dirac nodes. We show how two different types of collective phase oscillations are obtained and that they are analogous to the Leggett and the Bogoliubov-Anderson-Gorkov modes in a two-band superconductor. We show that the Dirac node is preserved in the presence of an intergrain interaction, despite induced changes of the qualitative features of the two collective modes. Finally, breaking the sublattice symmetry by choosing different on-site potentials for the two sublattices leads to a gap opening near the Dirac node, in analogy with fermionic Dirac materials. The Dirac node dispersion of bosonic excitations is thus expanding the discussion of the conventional Dirac cone excitations to the case of bosons. We call this case as a representative of bosonic Dirac materials (BDM), similar to the case of Fermionic Dirac materials extensively discussed in the literature.

Quasiparticle dynamics in reshaped helical Dirac cone of topological insulators

PubMed Central

Miao, Lin; Wang, Z. F.; Ming, Wenmei; Yao, Meng-Yu; Wang, Meixiao; Yang, Fang; Song, Y. R.; Zhu, Fengfeng; Fedorov, Alexei V.; Sun, Z.; Gao, C. L.; Liu, Canhua; Xue, Qi-Kun; Liu, Chao-Xing; Liu, Feng; Qian, Dong; Jia, Jin-Feng

2013-01-01

Topological insulators and graphene present two unique classes of materials, which are characterized by spin-polarized (helical) and nonpolarized Dirac cone band structures, respectively. The importance of many-body interactions that renormalize the linear bands near Dirac point in graphene has been well recognized and attracted much recent attention. However, renormalization of the helical Dirac point has not been observed in topological insulators. Here, we report the experimental observation of the renormalized quasiparticle spectrum with a skewed Dirac cone in a single Bi bilayer grown on Bi2Te3 substrate from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. First-principles band calculations indicate that the quasiparticle spectra are likely associated with the hybridization between the extrinsic substrate-induced Dirac states of Bi bilayer and the intrinsic surface Dirac states of Bi2Te3 film at close energy proximity. Without such hybridization, only single-particle Dirac spectra are observed in a single Bi bilayer grown on Bi2Se3, where the extrinsic Dirac states Bi bilayer and the intrinsic Dirac states of Bi2Se3 are well separated in energy. The possible origins of many-body interactions are discussed. Our findings provide a means to manipulate topological surface states. PMID:23382185

Quasiparticle dynamics in reshaped helical Dirac cone of topological insulators.

PubMed

Miao, Lin; Wang, Z F; Ming, Wenmei; Yao, Meng-Yu; Wang, Meixiao; Yang, Fang; Song, Y R; Zhu, Fengfeng; Fedorov, Alexei V; Sun, Z; Gao, C L; Liu, Canhua; Xue, Qi-Kun; Liu, Chao-Xing; Liu, Feng; Qian, Dong; Jia, Jin-Feng

2013-02-19

Topological insulators and graphene present two unique classes of materials, which are characterized by spin-polarized (helical) and nonpolarized Dirac cone band structures, respectively. The importance of many-body interactions that renormalize the linear bands near Dirac point in graphene has been well recognized and attracted much recent attention. However, renormalization of the helical Dirac point has not been observed in topological insulators. Here, we report the experimental observation of the renormalized quasiparticle spectrum with a skewed Dirac cone in a single Bi bilayer grown on Bi(2)Te(3) substrate from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. First-principles band calculations indicate that the quasiparticle spectra are likely associated with the hybridization between the extrinsic substrate-induced Dirac states of Bi bilayer and the intrinsic surface Dirac states of Bi(2)Te(3) film at close energy proximity. Without such hybridization, only single-particle Dirac spectra are observed in a single Bi bilayer grown on Bi(2)Se(3), where the extrinsic Dirac states Bi bilayer and the intrinsic Dirac states of Bi(2)Se(3) are well separated in energy. The possible origins of many-body interactions are discussed. Our findings provide a means to manipulate topological surface states.

La genèse du concept de champ quantique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darrigol, O.

This is a historical study of the roots of a concept which has proved to be essential in modern particle physics : the concept of quantum field. The first steps were accomplished by two young theoreticians : Pascual Jordan quantized the free electromagnetic field in 1925 by means of the formal rules of the just discovered matrix mechanics, and Paul Dirac quantized the whole system charges + field in 1927. Using Dirac's equation for electrons (1928) and Jordan's idea of quantized matter waves (second quantization), Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli provided in 1929-1930 an extension of Dirac's radiation theory and the proof of its relativistic invariance. Meanwhile Enrico Fermi discovered independently a more elegant and pedagogical formulation. To appreciate the degree of historical necessity of the quantization of fields, and the value of contemporaneous critics to this approach, it was necessary to investigate some of the history of the old radiation theory. We present the various arguments however provisional or naïve or wrong they could be in retrospect. So we hope to contribute to a more vivid picture of notions which, once deprived of their historical setting, might seem abstruse to the modern user. Nous présentons une étude historique des origines d'un concept devenu essentiel dans la physique moderne des particules : le concept de champ quantique. Deux jeunes théoriciens franchirent les premières étapes : Pascual Jordan quantifia le champ électromagnétique en 1925 grâce aux règles formelles de la mécanique des matrices naissante, et Paul Dirac quantifia le système complet charges + champ en 1927. Au moyen de l'équation de l'électron de Dirac (1928) et de l'idée de Jordan d'ondes de matière quantifiées (deuxième quantification), Werner Heisenberg et Wolfgang Pauli donnèrent en 1929-1930 une extension de la théorie du rayonnement de Dirac et la preuve de son invariance relativiste. Pendant ce temps Enrico Fermi découvrit indépendamment une formulation plus élégante et plus pédagogique. Pour apprécier le degré de nécessité historique de la quantification des champs et la valeur des critiques contemporaines à cette approche, nous avons dû analyser quelques points de l'histoire de l'ancienne théorie du rayonnement. Nous présentons les divers arguments quelque provisoires, naïfs ou faux qu'ils puissent sembler aujourd'hui. Ainsi nous espérons brosser un tableau plus vivant de notions menacées d'hermétisme si l'on oublie leurs fondements historiques.

Full utilization of semi-Dirac cones in photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasa, Utku G.; Turduev, Mirbek; Giden, Ibrahim H.; Kurt, Hamza

2018-05-01

In this study, realization and applications of anisotropic zero-refractive-index materials are proposed by exposing the unit cells of photonic crystals that exhibit Dirac-like cone dispersion to rotational symmetry reduction. Accidental degeneracy of two Bloch modes in the Brillouin zone center of two-dimensional C2-symmetric photonic crystals gives rise to the semi-Dirac cone dispersion. The proposed C2-symmetric photonic crystals behave as epsilon-and-mu-near-zero materials (ɛeff≈ 0 , μeff≈ 0 ) along one propagation direction, but behave as epsilon-near-zero material (ɛeff≈ 0 , μeff≠ 0 ) for the perpendicular direction at semi-Dirac frequency. By extracting the effective medium parameters of the proposed C4- and C2-symmetric periodic media that exhibit Dirac-like and semi-Dirac cone dispersions, intrinsic differences between isotropic and anisotropic materials are investigated. Furthermore, advantages of utilizing semi-Dirac cone materials instead of Dirac-like cone materials in photonic applications are demonstrated in both frequency and time domains. By using anisotropic transmission behavior of the semi-Dirac materials, photonic application concepts such as beam deflectors, beam splitters, and light focusing are proposed. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, semi-Dirac cone dispersion is also experimentally demonstrated for the first time by including negative, zero, and positive refraction states of the given material.

Lorentz-violating type-II Dirac fermions in transition metal dichalcogenide PtTe2.

PubMed

Yan, Mingzhe; Huang, Huaqing; Zhang, Kenan; Wang, Eryin; Yao, Wei; Deng, Ke; Wan, Guoliang; Zhang, Hongyun; Arita, Masashi; Yang, Haitao; Sun, Zhe; Yao, Hong; Wu, Yang; Fan, Shoushan; Duan, Wenhui; Zhou, Shuyun

2017-08-15

Topological semimetals have recently attracted extensive research interests as host materials to condensed matter physics counterparts of Dirac and Weyl fermions originally proposed in high energy physics. Although Lorentz invariance is required in high energy physics, it is not necessarily obeyed in condensed matter physics, and thus Lorentz-violating type-II Weyl/Dirac fermions could be realized in topological semimetals. The recent realization of type-II Weyl fermions raises the question whether their spin-degenerate counterpart-type-II Dirac fermions-can be experimentally realized too. Here, we report the experimental evidence of type-II Dirac fermions in bulk stoichiometric PtTe 2 single crystal. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first-principles calculations reveal a pair of strongly tilted Dirac cones along the Γ-A direction, confirming PtTe 2 as a type-II Dirac semimetal. Our results provide opportunities for investigating novel quantum phenomena (e.g., anisotropic magneto-transport) and topological phase transition.Whether the spin-degenerate counterpart of Lorentz-violating Weyl fermions, the Dirac fermions, can be realized remains as an open question. Here, Yan et al. report experimental evidence of such type-II Dirac fermions in bulk PtTe 2 single crystal with a pair of strongly tilted Dirac cones.

Dirac structures in vakonomic mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiménez, Fernando; Yoshimura, Hiroaki

2015-08-01

In this paper, we explore dynamics of the nonholonomic system called vakonomic mechanics in the context of Lagrange-Dirac dynamical systems using a Dirac structure and its associated Hamilton-Pontryagin variational principle. We first show the link between vakonomic mechanics and nonholonomic mechanics from the viewpoints of Dirac structures as well as Lagrangian submanifolds. Namely, we clarify that Lagrangian submanifold theory cannot represent nonholonomic mechanics properly, but vakonomic mechanics instead. Second, in order to represent vakonomic mechanics, we employ the space TQ ×V∗, where a vakonomic Lagrangian is defined from a given Lagrangian (possibly degenerate) subject to nonholonomic constraints. Then, we show how implicit vakonomic Euler-Lagrange equations can be formulated by the Hamilton-Pontryagin variational principle for the vakonomic Lagrangian on the extended Pontryagin bundle (TQ ⊕T∗ Q) ×V∗. Associated with this variational principle, we establish a Dirac structure on (TQ ⊕T∗ Q) ×V∗ in order to define an intrinsic vakonomic Lagrange-Dirac system. Furthermore, we also establish another construction for the vakonomic Lagrange-Dirac system using a Dirac structure on T∗ Q ×V∗, where we introduce a vakonomic Dirac differential. Finally, we illustrate our theory of vakonomic Lagrange-Dirac systems by some examples such as the vakonomic skate and the vertical rolling coin.

DIRAC in Large Particle Physics Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stagni, F.; Tsaregorodtsev, A.; Arrabito, L.; Sailer, A.; Hara, T.; Zhang, X.; Consortium, DIRAC

2017-10-01

The DIRAC project is developing interware to build and operate distributed computing systems. It provides a development framework and a rich set of services for both Workload and Data Management tasks of large scientific communities. A number of High Energy Physics and Astrophysics collaborations have adopted DIRAC as the base for their computing models. DIRAC was initially developed for the LHCb experiment at LHC, CERN. Later, the Belle II, BES III and CTA experiments as well as the linear collider detector collaborations started using DIRAC for their computing systems. Some of the experiments built their DIRAC-based systems from scratch, others migrated from previous solutions, ad-hoc or based on different middlewares. Adaptation of DIRAC for a particular experiment was enabled through the creation of extensions to meet their specific requirements. Each experiment has a heterogeneous set of computing and storage resources at their disposal that were aggregated through DIRAC into a coherent pool. Users from different experiments can interact with the system in different ways depending on their specific tasks, expertise level and previous experience using command line tools, python APIs or Web Portals. In this contribution we will summarize the experience of using DIRAC in particle physics collaborations. The problems of migration to DIRAC from previous systems and their solutions will be presented. An overview of specific DIRAC extensions will be given. We hope that this review will be useful for experiments considering an update, or for those designing their computing models.

Realization of non-symmorphic Dirac cones in PbFCl materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schoop, Leslie

While most 3D Dirac semimetals require two bands with different orbital character to be protected, there is also the possibility to find 3D Dirac semimetals that are guaranteed to exist in certain space groups. Those are resulting from the non-symmoprhic symmetry of the space group, which forces the bands to degenerate at high symmetry points in the Brillouin zone. Non-symmorphic space groups can force three- four, six and eight fold degeneracies which led to the proposal to find 3D Dirac Semimetals as well as new quasiparticles in such space groups. Problematic for realizing this types of Dirac materials is that they require and odd band filling in order to have the Fermi level located at or also near by the band crossing points. Therefore, although the first prediction for using non-symmoprhic symmetry to create a Dirac material was made in 2012, it took almost four years for an experimental verification of this type of Dirac crossing. In this talk I will introduce the material ZrSiS that has, besides other Dirac features, a Dirac cone protected by non-symmorphic symmetry at about 0.5 eV below the Fermi level and was the first material where this type of Dirac cone was imaged with ARPES. I will then proceed to discuss ways to shift this crossing to the Fermi edge and finally show an experimental verification of a fourfold Dirac crossing, protected by non-symmorphic symmetry, at the Fermi energy.

Dirac fermions in an antiferromagnetic semimetal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Peizhe; Zhou, Quan; Xu, Gang; Zhang, Shou-Cheng

2016-12-01

Analogues of the elementary particles have been extensively searched for in condensed-matter systems for both scientific interest and technological applications. Recently, massless Dirac fermions were found to emerge as low-energy excitations in materials now known as Dirac semimetals. All of the currently known Dirac semimetals are non-magnetic with both time-reversal symmetry and inversion symmetry . Here we show that Dirac fermions can exist in one type of antiferromagnetic system, where both and are broken but their combination is respected. We propose orthorhombic antiferromagnet CuMnAs as a candidate, analyse the robustness of the Dirac points under symmetry protections and demonstrate its distinctive bulk dispersions, as well as the corresponding surface states, by ab initio calculations. Our results provide a possible platform to study the interplay of Dirac fermion physics and magnetism.

Lifshitz Transitions, Type-II Dirac and Weyl Fermions, Event Horizon and All That

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volovik, G. E.; Zhang, K.

2017-12-01

The type-II Weyl and type-II Dirac points emerge in semimetals and also in relativistic systems. In particular, the type-II Weyl fermions may emerge behind the event horizon of black holes. In this case the horizon with Painlevé-Gullstrand metric serves as the surface of the Lifshitz transition. This relativistic analogy allows us to simulate the black hole horizon and Hawking radiation using the fermionic superfluid with supercritical velocity, and the Dirac and Weyl semimetals with the interface separating the type-I and type-II states. The difference between such type of the artificial event horizon and that which arises in acoustic metric is discussed. At the Lifshitz transition between type-I and type-II fermions the Dirac lines may also emerge, which are supported by the combined action of topology and symmetry. The type-II Weyl and Dirac points also emerge as the intermediate states of the topological Lifshitz transitions. Different configurations of the Fermi surfaces, involved in such Lifshitz transition, are discussed. In one case the type-II Weyl point connects the Fermi pockets and the Lifshitz transition corresponds to the transfer of the Berry flux between the Fermi pockets. In the other case the type-II Weyl point connects the outer and inner Fermi surfaces. At the Lifshitz transition the Weyl point is released from both Fermi surfaces. They loose their Berry flux, which guarantees the global stability, and without the topological support the inner surface disappears after shrinking to a point at the second Lifshitz transition. These examples reveal the complexity and universality of topological Lifshitz transitions, which originate from the ubiquitous interplay of a variety of topological characters of the momentum-space manifolds. For the interacting electrons, the Lifshitz transitions may lead to the formation of the dispersionless (flat) band with zero energy and singular density of states, which opens the route to room-temperature superconductivity. Originally, the idea of the enhancement of T_c due to flat band has been put forward by the nuclear physics community, and this also demonstrates the close connections between different areas of physics.

Heavy and Light Quarks with Lattice Chiral Fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, K. F.; Dong, S. J.

The feasibility of using lattice chiral fermions which are free of O(a) errors for both the heavy and light quarks is examined. The fact that the effective quark propagators in these fermions have the same form as that in the continuum with the quark mass being only an additive parameter to a chirally symmetric anti-Hermitian Dirac operator is highlighted. This implies that there is no distinction between the heavy and light quarks and no mass dependent tuning of the action or operators as long as the discretization error O(m2a2) is negligible. Using the overlap fermion, we find that the O(m2a2) (and O(ma2)) errors in the dispersion relations of the pseudoscalar and vector mesons and the renormalization of the axial-vector current and scalar density are small. This suggests that the applicable range of ma may be extended to ~0.56 with only 5% error, which is a factor of ~2.4 larger than the corresponding range of the improved Wilson action. We show that the generalized Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation with unequal masses can be utilized to determine the finite ma corrections in the renormalization of the matrix elements for the heavy-light decay constants and semileptonic decay constants of the B/D meson.

ELSEPA—Dirac partial-wave calculation of elastic scattering of electrons and positrons by atoms, positive ions and molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvat, Francesc; Jablonski, Aleksander; Powell, Cedric J.

2005-01-01

The FORTRAN 77 code system ELSEPA for the calculation of elastic scattering of electrons and positrons by atoms, positive ions and molecules is presented. These codes perform relativistic (Dirac) partial-wave calculations for scattering by a local central interaction potential V(r). For atoms and ions, the static-field approximation is adopted, with the potential set equal to the electrostatic interaction energy between the projectile and the target, plus an approximate local exchange interaction when the projectile is an electron. For projectiles with kinetic energies up to 10 keV, the potential may optionally include a semiempirical correlation-polarization potential to describe the effect of the target charge polarizability. Also, for projectiles with energies less than 1 MeV, an imaginary absorptive potential can be introduced to account for the depletion of the projectile wave function caused by open inelastic channels. Molecular cross sections are calculated by means of a single-scattering independent-atom approximation in which the electron density of a bound atom is approximated by that of the free neutral atom. Elastic scattering by individual atoms in solids is described by means of a muffin-tin model potential. Partial-wave calculations are feasible on modest personal computers for energies up to about 5 MeV. The ELSEPA code also implements approximate factorization methods that allow the fast calculation of elastic cross sections for much higher energies. The interaction model adopted in the calculations is defined by the user by combining the different options offered by the code. The nuclear charge distribution can be selected among four analytical models (point nucleus, uniformly charged sphere, Fermi's distribution and Helm's uniform-uniform distribution). The atomic electron density is handled in numerical form. The distribution package includes data files with electronic densities of neutral atoms of the elements hydrogen to lawrencium ( Z=1-103) obtained from multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock self-consistent calculations. For comparison purposes, three simple analytical approximations to the electron density of neutral atoms (corresponding to the Thomas-Fermi, the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac and the Dirac-Hartree-Fock-Slater models) are also included. For calculations of elastic scattering by ions, the electron density should be provided by the user. The exchange potential for electron scattering can be selected among three different analytical approximations (Thomas-Fermi, Furness-McCarthy, Riley-Truhlar). The offered options for the correlation-polarization potential are based on the empirical Buckingham potential. The imaginary absorption potential is calculated from the local-density approximation proposed by Salvat [Phys. Rev. A 68 (2003) 012708]. Program summaryTitle of program:ELSEPA Catalogue identifier: ADUS Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/cpc/summaries/ADUS Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland License provisions: none Computer for which the program is designed and others in which it is operable: Any computer with a FORTRAN 77 compiler Operating systems under which the program has been tested: Windows XP, Windows 2000, Debian GNU/Linux 3.0r0 (sarge) Compilers:Compaq Visual Fortran v6.5 (Windows); GNU FORTRAN, g77 (Windows and Linux) Programming language used: FORTRAN 77 No. of bits in a word: 32 Memory required to execute with typical data: 0.6 Mb No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.:135 489 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 280 006 Distribution format: tar.gz Keywords: Dirac partial-wave analysis, electron elastic scattering, positron elastic scattering, differential cross sections, momentum transfer cross sections, transport cross sections, scattering amplitudes, spin polarization, scattering by complex potentials, high-energy atomic screening functions Nature of the physical problem: The code calculates differential cross sections, total cross sections and transport cross sections for single elastic scattering of electrons and positrons by neutral atoms, positive ions and randomly oriented molecules. For projectiles with kinetic energies less than about 5 MeV, the programs can also compute scattering amplitudes and spin polarization functions. Method of solution: The effective interaction between the projectile and a target atom is represented by a local central potential that can optionally include an imaginary (absorptive) part to account approximately for the coupling with inelastic channels. For projectiles with kinetic energy less that about 5 MeV, the code performs a conventional relativistic Dirac partial-wave analysis. For higher kinetic energies, where the convergence of the partial-wave series is too slow, approximate factorization methods are used. Restrictions on the complexity of the program: The calculations are based on the static-field approximation. The optional correlation-polarization and inelastic absorption corrections are obtained from approximate, semiempirical models. Calculations for molecules are based on a single-scattering independent-atom approximation. To ensure accuracy of the results for scattering by ions, the electron density of the ion must be supplied by the user. Typical running time: on a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4, the calculation of elastic scattering by atoms and ions takes between a few seconds and about two minutes, depending on the atomic number of the target, the adopted potential model and the kinetic energy of the projectile. Unusual features of the program: The program calculates elastic cross sections for electrons and positrons with kinetic energies in a wide range, from a few tens of eV up to about 1 GeV. Calculations can be performed for neutral atoms of all elements, from hydrogen to lawrencium ( Z=1-103), ions and simple molecules. Commercial products are identified to specify the calculational procedures. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Barcelona or the Polish Academy of Sciences, nor does it imply that the products are necessarily the best available for the purpose.

Tuning the Fermi velocity in Dirac materials with an electric field.

PubMed

Díaz-Fernández, A; Chico, Leonor; González, J W; Domínguez-Adame, F

2017-08-14

Dirac materials are characterized by energy-momentum relations that resemble those of relativistic massless particles. Commonly denominated Dirac cones, these dispersion relations are considered to be their essential feature. These materials comprise quite diverse examples, such as graphene and topological insulators. Band-engineering techniques should aim to a full control of the parameter that characterizes the Dirac cones: the Fermi velocity. We propose a general mechanism that enables the fine-tuning of the Fermi velocity in Dirac materials in a readily accessible way for experiments. By embedding the sample in a uniform electric field, the Fermi velocity is substantially modified. We first prove this result analytically, for the surface states of a topological insulator/semiconductor interface, and postulate its universality in other Dirac materials. Then we check its correctness in carbon-based Dirac materials, namely graphene nanoribbons and nanotubes, thus showing the validity of our hypothesis in different Dirac systems by means of continuum, tight-binding and ab-initio calculations.

A Comparative Study of Collagen Matrix Density Effect on Endothelial Sprout Formation Using Experimental and Computational Approaches.

PubMed

Shamloo, Amir; Mohammadaliha, Negar; Heilshorn, Sarah C; Bauer, Amy L

2016-04-01

A thorough understanding of determining factors in angiogenesis is a necessary step to control the development of new blood vessels. Extracellular matrix density is known to have a significant influence on cellular behaviors and consequently can regulate vessel formation. The utilization of experimental platforms in combination with numerical models can be a powerful method to explore the mechanisms of new capillary sprout formation. In this study, using an integrative method, the interplay between the matrix density and angiogenesis was investigated. Owing the fact that the extracellular matrix density is a global parameter that can affect other parameters such as pore size, stiffness, cell-matrix adhesion and cross-linking, deeper understanding of the most important biomechanical or biochemical properties of the ECM causing changes in sprout morphogenesis is crucial. Here, we implemented both computational and experimental methods to analyze the mechanisms responsible for the influence of ECM density on the sprout formation that is difficult to be investigated comprehensively using each of these single methods. For this purpose, we first utilized an innovative approach to quantify the correspondence of the simulated collagen fibril density to the collagen density in the experimental part. Comparing the results of the experimental study and computational model led to some considerable achievements. First, we verified the results of the computational model using the experimental results. Then, we reported parameters such as the ratio of proliferating cells to migrating cells that was difficult to obtain from experimental study. Finally, this integrative system led to gain an understanding of the possible mechanisms responsible for the effect of ECM density on angiogenesis. The results showed that stable and long sprouts were observed at an intermediate collagen matrix density of 1.2 and 1.9 mg/ml due to a balance between the number of migrating and proliferating cells. As a result of weaker connections between the cells and matrix, a lower collagen matrix density (0.7 mg/ml) led to unstable and broken sprouts. However, higher matrix density (2.7 mg/ml) suppressed sprout formation due to the high level of matrix entanglement, which inhibited cell migration. This study also showed that extracellular matrix density can influence sprout branching. Our experimental results support this finding.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bolmatov, Dima; Zhernenkov, Mikhail; Zav’yalov, Dmitry

Here in this work we report on terahertz phononic excitations in 2D gold nanoparticle arrays in a water matrix through a series of large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. For the first time, we observe acoustic Dirac-like crossings in H (H 2O) atomic (molecular) networks which emerge due to an intraband phononic scattering. These crossings are the phononic fingerprints of ice-like arrangements of H (H 2O) atomic (molecular) networks at nanometer scale. We reveal how phononic excitations in metallic nanoparticles and the water matrix reciprocally impact on one another providing the mechanism for the THz phononics manipulation via structural engineering. In addition,more » we show that by tuning the arrangement of 2D gold nanoparticle assemblies the Au phononic polarizations experience sub-terahertz hybridization (Kohn anomaly) due to surface electron-phonon relaxation processes. This opens the way for the sound control and manipulation in soft matter metamaterials at nanoscale.« less

Tight-binding modeling and low-energy behavior of the semi-Dirac point.

PubMed

Banerjee, S; Singh, R R P; Pardo, V; Pickett, W E

2009-07-03

We develop a tight-binding model description of semi-Dirac electronic spectra, with highly anisotropic dispersion around point Fermi surfaces, recently discovered in electronic structure calculations of VO2-TiO2 nanoheterostructures. We contrast their spectral properties with the well-known Dirac points on the honeycomb lattice relevant to graphene layers and the spectra of bands touching each other in zero-gap semiconductors. We also consider the lowest order dispersion around one of the semi-Dirac points and calculate the resulting electronic energy levels in an external magnetic field. In spite of apparently similar electronic structures, Dirac and semi-Dirac systems support diverse low-energy physics.

Topological Anderson insulator phase in a Dirac-semimetal thin film

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Rui; Xu, Dong-Hui; Zhou, Bin

2017-06-01

The recently discovered topological Dirac semimetal represents a new exotic quantum state of matter. Topological Dirac semimetals can be viewed as three-dimensional analogues of graphene, in which the Dirac nodes are protected by crystalline symmetry. It has been found that the quantum confinement effect can gap out Dirac nodes and convert Dirac semimetal to a band insulator. The band insulator is either a normal insulator or quantum spin Hall insulator, depending on the thin-film thickness. We present the study of disorder effects in a thin film of Dirac semimetals. It is found that moderate Anderson disorder strength can drive a topological phase transition from a normal band insulator to a topological Anderson insulator in a Dirac-semimetal thin film. The numerical calculation based on the model parameters of Dirac semimetal Na3Bi shows that in the topological Anderson insulator phase, a quantized conductance plateau occurs in the bulk gap of the band insulator, and the distributions of local currents further confirm that the quantized conductance plateau arises from the helical edge states induced by disorder. Finally, an effective medium theory based on the Born approximation fits the numerical data.

Strong topological metal material with multiple Dirac cones

DOE PAGES

Ji, Huiwen; Valla, T.; Pletikosic, I.; ...

2016-01-25

We report a new, cleavable, strong topological metal, Zr 2Te 2P, which has the same tetradymite-type crystal structure as the topological insulator Bi 2Te 2Se. Instead of being a semiconductor, however, Zr 2Te 2P is metallic with a pseudogap between 0.2 and 0.7 eV above the Fermi energy (E F). Inside this pseudogap, two Dirac dispersions are predicted: one is a surface-originated Dirac cone protected by time-reversal symmetry (TRS), while the other is a bulk-originated and slightly gapped Dirac cone with a largely linear dispersion over a 2 eV energy range. A third surface TRS-protected Dirac cone is predicted, andmore » observed using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, making Z r2Te 2P the first system, to our knowledge, to realize TRS-protected Dirac cones at M¯ points. The high anisotropy of this Dirac cone is similar to the one in the hypothetical Dirac semimetal BiO 2. As a result, we propose that if E F can be tuned into the pseudogap where the Dirac dispersions exist, it may be possible to observe ultrahigh carrier mobility and large magnetoresistance in this material.« less

A reformulation of the coupled perturbed self-consistent field equations entirely within a local atomic orbital density matrix-based scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochsenfeld, Christian; Head-Gordon, Martin

1997-05-01

To exploit the exponential decay found in numerical studies for the density matrix and its derivative with respect to nuclear displacements, we reformulate the coupled perturbed self-consistent field (CPSCF) equations and a quadratically convergent SCF (QCSCF) method for Hartree-Fock and density functional theory within a local density matrix-based scheme. Our D-CPSCF (density matrix-based CPSCF) and D-QCSCF schemes open the way for exploiting sparsity and to achieve asymptotically linear scaling of computational complexity with molecular size ( M), in case of D-CPSCF for all O( M) derivative densities. Furthermore, these methods are even for small molecules strongly competitive to conventional algorithms.

Spin-orbital quantum liquid on the honeycomb lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corboz, Philippe

2013-03-01

The symmetric Kugel-Khomskii can be seen as a minimal model describing the interactions between spin and orbital degrees of freedom in transition-metal oxides with orbital degeneracy, and it is equivalent to the SU(4) Heisenberg model of four-color fermionic atoms. We present simulation results for this model on various two-dimensional lattices obtained with infinite projected-entangled pair states (iPEPS), an efficient variational tensor-network ansatz for two dimensional wave functions in the thermodynamic limit. This approach can be seen as a two-dimensional generalization of matrix product states - the underlying ansatz of the density matrix renormalization group method. We find a rich variety of exotic phases: while on the square and checkerboard lattices the ground state exhibits dimer-Néel order and plaquette order, respectively, quantum fluctuations on the honeycomb lattice destroy any order, giving rise to a spin-orbital liquid. Our results are supported from flavor-wave theory and exact diagonalization. Furthermore, the properties of the spin-orbital liquid state on the honeycomb lattice are accurately accounted for by a projected variational wave-function based on the pi-flux state of fermions on the honeycomb lattice at 1/4-filling. In that state, correlations are algebraic because of the presence of a Dirac point at the Fermi level, suggesting that the ground state is an algebraic spin-orbital liquid. This model provides a good starting point to understand the recently discovered spin-orbital liquid behavior of Ba3CuSb2O9. The present results also suggest to choose optical lattices with honeycomb geometry in the search for quantum liquids in ultra-cold four-color fermionic atoms. We acknowledge the financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

LHCbDIRAC as Apache Mesos microservices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haen, Christophe; Couturier, Benjamin

2017-10-01

The LHCb experiment relies on LHCbDIRAC, an extension of DIRAC, to drive its offline computing. This middleware provides a development framework and a complete set of components for building distributed computing systems. These components are currently installed and run on virtual machines (VM) or bare metal hardware. Due to the increased workload, high availability is becoming more and more important for the LHCbDIRAC services, and the current installation model is showing its limitations. Apache Mesos is a cluster manager which aims at abstracting heterogeneous physical resources on which various tasks can be distributed thanks to so called “frameworks” The Marathon framework is suitable for long running tasks such as the DIRAC services, while the Chronos framework meets the needs of cron-like tasks like the DIRAC agents. A combination of the service discovery tool Consul together with HAProxy allows to expose the running containers to the outside world while hiding their dynamic placements. Such an architecture brings a greater flexibility in the deployment of LHCbDirac services, allowing for easier deployment maintenance and scaling of services on demand (e..g LHCbDirac relies on 138 services and 116 agents). Higher reliability is also easier, as clustering is part of the toolset, which allows constraints on the location of the services. This paper describes the investigations carried out to package the LHCbDIRAC and DIRAC components into Docker containers and orchestrate them using the previously described set of tools.

Quark and lepton mixing as manifestations of violated mirror symmetry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dyatlov, I. T., E-mail: dyatlov@thd.pnpi.spb.ru

2015-06-15

The existence of heavy mirror analogs of ordinary fermions would provide deeper insight into the gedanken paradox appearing in the Standard Model upon direct parity violation and consisting in a physical distinguishability of left- and right-hand coordinate frames. Arguments are presented in support of the statement that such mirror states may also be involved in the formation of observed properties of the system of Standard Model quarks and leptons—that is, their mass spectra and their weak-mixing matrices: (i) In the case of the involvement of mirror generations, the quark mixing matrix assumes the experimentally observed form. It is determined bymore » the constraints imposed by weak SU(2) symmetry and by the quark-mass hierarchy. (ii) Under the same conditions and upon the involvement of mirror particles, the lepton mixing matrix (neutrino mixing) may become drastically different from its quark analog—the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix; that is, it may acquire properties suggested by experimental data. This character of mixing is also indicative of an inverse mass spectrum of Standard Model neutrinos and their Dirac (not Majorana) nature.« less

Double Dirac point semimetal in 2D material: Ta2Se3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Yandong; Jing, Yu; Heine, Thomas

2017-06-01

Here, we report by first-principles calculations one new stable 2D Dirac material, Ta2Se3 monolayer. For this system, stable layered bulk phase exists, and exfoliation should be possible. Ta2Se3 monolayer is demonstrated to support two Dirac points close to the Fermi level, achieving the exotic 2D double Dirac semimetal. And like 2D single Dirac and 2D node-line semimetals, spin-orbit coupling could introduce an insulating state in this new class of 2D Dirac semimetals. Moreover, the Dirac feature in this system is layer-dependent and a metal-to-insulator transition is identified in Ta2Se3 when reducing the layer-thickness from bilayer to monolayer. These findings are of fundamental interests and of great importance for nanoscale device applications.

Dirac fermions in an antiferromagnetic semimetal

DOE PAGES

Tang, Peizhe; Zhou, Quan; Xu, Gang; ...

2016-08-08

Analogues of the elementary particles have been extensively searched for in condensed-matter systems for both scientific interest and technological applications. Recently, massless Dirac fermions were found to emerge as low-energy excitations in materials now known as Dirac semimetals. All of the currently known Dirac semimetals are non-magnetic with both time-reversal symmetry and inversion symmetry. Here in this paper, we show that Dirac fermions can exist in one type of antiferromagnetic system, where both and are broken but their combination is respected. We propose orthorhombic antiferromagnet CuMnAs as a candidate, analyse the robustness of the Dirac points under symmetry protections andmore » demonstrate its distinctive bulk dispersions, as well as the corresponding surface states, by ab initio calculations. Our results provide a possible platform to study the interplay of Dirac fermion physics and magnetism.« less

A sparse matrix-vector multiplication based algorithm for accurate density matrix computations on systems of millions of atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghale, Purnima; Johnson, Harley T.

2018-06-01

We present an efficient sparse matrix-vector (SpMV) based method to compute the density matrix P from a given Hamiltonian in electronic structure computations. Our method is a hybrid approach based on Chebyshev-Jackson approximation theory and matrix purification methods like the second order spectral projection purification (SP2). Recent methods to compute the density matrix scale as O(N) in the number of floating point operations but are accompanied by large memory and communication overhead, and they are based on iterative use of the sparse matrix-matrix multiplication kernel (SpGEMM), which is known to be computationally irregular. In addition to irregularity in the sparse Hamiltonian H, the nonzero structure of intermediate estimates of P depends on products of H and evolves over the course of computation. On the other hand, an expansion of the density matrix P in terms of Chebyshev polynomials is straightforward and SpMV based; however, the resulting density matrix may not satisfy the required constraints exactly. In this paper, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the Chebyshev-Jackson polynomials and the second order spectral projection purification (SP2) method, and propose to combine them so that the accurate density matrix can be computed using the SpMV computational kernel only, and without having to store the density matrix P. Our method accomplishes these objectives by using the Chebyshev polynomial estimate as the initial guess for SP2, which is followed by using sparse matrix-vector multiplications (SpMVs) to replicate the behavior of the SP2 algorithm for purification. We demonstrate the method on a tight-binding model system of an oxide material containing more than 3 million atoms. In addition, we also present the predicted behavior of our method when applied to near-metallic Hamiltonians with a wide energy spectrum.

Self-similar transmission patterns induced by magnetic field effects in graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez-González, R.; Rodríguez-Vargas, I.; Díaz-Guerrero, D. S.; Gaggero-Sager, L. M.

2018-07-01

In this work we study the propagation of Dirac electrons through Cantor-like structures in graphene. In concrete, we are considering structures with magnetic and electrostatic barriers arrange in Cantor-like fashion. The Dirac-like equation and the transfer matrix approach have been used to obtain the transmission properties. We found self-similar patterns in the transmission probability or transmittance once the magnetic field is incorporated. Moreover, these patterns can be connected with other ones at different scales through well-defined scaling rules. In particular, we have found two scaling rules that become a useful tool to describe the self-similarity of our system. The first expression is related to the generation and the second one to the length of the Cantor-like structure. As far as we know it is the first time that a special self-similar structure in conjunction with magnetic field effects give rise to self-similar transmission patterns. It is also important to remark that according to our knowledge it is fundamental to break some symmetry of graphene in order to obtain self-similar transmission properties. In fact, in our case the time-reversal symmetry is broken by the magnetic field effects.

Type-II Dirac photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hai-Xiao; Chen, Yige; Hang, Zhi Hong; Kee, Hae-Young; Jiang, Jian-Hua

2017-09-01

The Dirac equation for relativistic electron waves is the parent model for Weyl and Majorana fermions as well as topological insulators. Simulation of Dirac physics in three-dimensional photonic crystals, though fundamentally important for topological phenomena at optical frequencies, encounters the challenge of synthesis of both Kramers double degeneracy and parity inversion. Here we show how type-II Dirac points—exotic Dirac relativistic waves yet to be discovered—are robustly realized through the nonsymmorphic screw symmetry. The emergent type-II Dirac points carry nontrivial topology and are the mother states of type-II Weyl points. The proposed all-dielectric architecture enables robust cavity states at photonic-crystal—air interfaces and anomalous refraction, with very low energy dissipation.

Aspects of Quantum Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salam, Abdus; Wigner, E. P.

2010-03-01

Preface; List of contributors; Bibliography of P. A. M. Dirac; 1. Dirac in Cambridge R. J. Eden and J. C. Polkinghorne; 2. Travels with Dirac in the Rockies J. H. Van Vleck; 3. 'The golden age of theoretical physics': P. A. M. Dirac's scientific work from 1924 to 1933 Jagdish Mehra; 4. Foundation of quantum field theory Res Jost; 5. The early history of the theory of electron: 1897-1947 A. Pais; 6. The Dirac equation A. S. Wightman; 7. Fermi-Dirac statistics Rudolph Peierls; 8. Indefinite metric in state space W. Heisenberg; 9. On bras and kets J. M. Jauch; 10. The Poisson bracket C. Lanczos; 11. La 'fonction' et les noyaux L. Schwartz; 12. On the Dirac magnetic poles Edoardo Amadli and Nicola Cabibbo; 13. The fundamental constants and their time variation Freeman J. Dyson; 14. On the time-energy uncertainty relation Eugene P. Wigner; 15. The path-integral quantisation of gravity Abdus Salam and J. Strathdee; Index; Plates.

Bosonic Dirac materials in two dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Saikat; Fransson, Jonas; Black-Schaffer, Annica; Ågren, Hans; Balatsky, Alexander

We examine the low energy effective theory of phase oscillations in a two-dimensional granular superconducting sheet where the grains are arranged in honeycomb lattice structure. Two different types of collective phase oscillations are obtained, which are analogous to the massive Leggett and massless Bogoliubov-Anderson-Gorkov modes in a two-band superconductor. It is shown that the spectra of these collective bosonic modes cross each other at the K and K' points in the Brillouin zone and form a Dirac node. Dirac node dispersion of bosonic excitations is representative of Bosonic Dirac Materials (BDM). We show that the Dirac node is preserved in presence of an inter-grain interaction, despite induced changes of the qualitative features of the two collective modes. Finally, breaking the sublattice symmetry by choosing different on-site potentials for the two sublattices leads to a gap opening near the Dirac node, in analogy with Fermionic Dirac materials.

Tilted Dirac Cone Effect on Interlayer Magnetoresistance in α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tajima, Naoya; Morinari, Takao

2018-04-01

We report the effect of Dirac cone tilting on interlayer magnetoresistance in α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3, which is a Dirac semimetal under pressure. Fitting of the experimental data by the theoretical formula suggests that the system is close to a type-II Dirac semimetal.

Detection of Matrix Crack Density of CFRP using an Electrical Potential Change Method with Multiple Probes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Todoroki, Akira; Omagari, Kazuomi

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) laminates are adopted for fuel tank structures of next generation space rockets or automobiles. Matrix cracks may cause fuel leak or trigger fatigue damage. A monitoring system of the matrix crack density is required. The authors have developed an electrical resistance change method for the monitoring of delamination cracks in CFRP laminates. Reinforcement fibers are used as a self-sensing system. In the present study, the electric potential method is adopted for matrix crack density monitoring. Finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to investigate the possibility of monitoring matrix crack density using multiple electrodes mounted on a single surface of a specimen. The FEA reveals the matrix crack density increases electrical resistance for a target segment between electrodes. Experimental confirmation was also performed using cross-ply laminates. Eight electrodes were mounted on a single surface of a specimen using silver paste after polishing of the specimen surface with sandpaper. The two outermost electrodes applied electrical current, and the inner electrodes measured electric voltage changes. The slope of electrical resistance during reloading is revealed to be an appropriate index for the detection of matrix crack density.

The GridPP DIRAC project - DIRAC for non-LHC communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauer, D.; Colling, D.; Currie, R.; Fayer, S.; Huffman, A.; Martyniak, J.; Rand, D.; Richards, A.

2015-12-01

The GridPP consortium in the UK is currently testing a multi-VO DIRAC service aimed at non-LHC VOs. These VOs (Virtual Organisations) are typically small and generally do not have a dedicated computing support post. The majority of these represent particle physics experiments (e.g. NA62 and COMET), although the scope of the DIRAC service is not limited to this field. A few VOs have designed bespoke tools around the EMI-WMS & LFC, while others have so far eschewed distributed resources as they perceive the overhead for accessing them to be too high. The aim of the GridPP DIRAC project is to provide an easily adaptable toolkit for such VOs in order to lower the threshold for access to distributed resources such as Grid and cloud computing. As well as hosting a centrally run DIRAC service, we will also publish our changes and additions to the upstream DIRAC codebase under an open-source license. We report on the current status of this project and show increasing adoption of DIRAC within the non-LHC communities.

Dirac cones in isogonal hexagonal metallic structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Kang

2018-03-01

A honeycomb hexagonal metallic lattice is equivalent to a triangular atomic one and cannot create Dirac cones in its electromagnetic wave spectrum. We study in this work the low-frequency electromagnetic band structures in isogonal hexagonal metallic lattices that are directly related to the honeycomb one and show that such structures can create Dirac cones. The band formation can be described by a tight-binding model that allows investigating, in terms of correlations between local resonance modes, the condition for the Dirac cones and the consequence of the third structure tile sustaining an extra resonance mode in the unit cell that induces band shifts and thus nonlinear deformation of the Dirac cones following the wave vectors departing from the Dirac points. We show further that, under structure deformation, the deformations of the Dirac cones result from two different correlation mechanisms, both reinforced by the lattice's metallic nature, which directly affects the resonance mode correlations. The isogonal structures provide new degrees of freedom for tuning the Dirac cones, allowing adjustment of the cone shape by modulating the structure tiles at the local scale without modifying the lattice periodicity and symmetry.

Status of the DIRAC Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casajus, A.; Ciba, K.; Fernandez, V.; Graciani, R.; Hamar, V.; Mendez, V.; Poss, S.; Sapunov, M.; Stagni, F.; Tsaregorodtsev, A.; Ubeda, M.

2012-12-01

The DIRAC Project was initiated to provide a data processing system for the LHCb Experiment at CERN. It provides all the necessary functionality and performance to satisfy the current and projected future requirements of the LHCb Computing Model. A considerable restructuring of the DIRAC software was undertaken in order to turn it into a general purpose framework for building distributed computing systems that can be used by various user communities in High Energy Physics and other scientific application domains. The CLIC and ILC-SID detector projects started to use DIRAC for their data production system. The Belle Collaboration at KEK, Japan, has adopted the Computing Model based on the DIRAC system for its second phase starting in 2015. The CTA Collaboration uses DIRAC for the data analysis tasks. A large number of other experiments are starting to use DIRAC or are evaluating this solution for their data processing tasks. DIRAC services are included as part of the production infrastructure of the GISELA Latin America grid. Similar services are provided for the users of the France-Grilles and IBERGrid National Grid Initiatives in France and Spain respectively. The new communities using DIRAC started to provide important contributions to its functionality. Among recent additions can be mentioned the support of the Amazon EC2 computing resources as well as other Cloud management systems; a versatile File Replica Catalog with File Metadata capabilities; support for running MPI jobs in the pilot based Workload Management System. Integration with existing application Web Portals, like WS-PGRADE, is demonstrated. In this paper we will describe the current status of the DIRAC Project, recent developments of its framework and functionality as well as the status of the rapidly evolving community of the DIRAC users.

Domain wall fermion QCD with the exact one flavor algorithm

DOE PAGES

Jung, C.; Kelly, C.; Mawhinney, R. D.; ...

2018-03-13

Lattice QCD calculations including the effects of one or more nondegenerate sea quark flavors are conventionally performed using the rational hybrid Monte Carlo (RHMC) algorithm, which computes the square root of the determinant ofmore » $${\\mathcal{D}}^{\\dagger{}}\\mathcal{D}$$, where $$\\mathcal{D}$$ is the Dirac operator. The special case of two degenerate quark flavors with the same mass is described directly by the determinant of $${\\mathcal{D}}^{\\dagger{}}\\mathcal{D}$$—in particular, no square root is necessary—enabling a variety of algorithmic developments, which have driven down the cost of simulating the light (up and down) quarks in the isospin-symmetric limit of equal masses. As a result, the relative cost of single quark flavors—such as the strange or charm—computed with RHMC has become more expensive. This problem is even more severe in the context of our measurements of the $$\\mathrm{{\\Delta}}I=1/2$$ $$K{\\rightarrow}{\\pi}{\\pi}$$ matrix elements on lattice ensembles with $G$-parity boundary conditions, since $G$-parity is associated with a doubling of the number of quark flavors described by $$\\mathcal{D}$$ , and thus RHMC is needed for the isospin-symmetric light quarks as well. In this paper we report on our implementation of the exact one flavor algorithm (EOFA) introduced by the TWQCD Collaboration for simulations including single flavors of domain wall quarks. We have developed a new preconditioner for the EOFA Dirac equation, which both reduces the cost of solving the Dirac equation and allows us to reuse the bulk of our existing high-performance code. Coupling these improvements with careful tuning of our integrator, the time per accepted trajectory in the production of our $2+1$ flavor $G$-parity ensembles with physical pion and kaon masses has been decreased by a factor of 4.2.« less

Domain wall fermion QCD with the exact one flavor algorithm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jung, C.; Kelly, C.; Mawhinney, R. D.

Lattice QCD calculations including the effects of one or more nondegenerate sea quark flavors are conventionally performed using the rational hybrid Monte Carlo (RHMC) algorithm, which computes the square root of the determinant ofmore » $${\\mathcal{D}}^{\\dagger{}}\\mathcal{D}$$, where $$\\mathcal{D}$$ is the Dirac operator. The special case of two degenerate quark flavors with the same mass is described directly by the determinant of $${\\mathcal{D}}^{\\dagger{}}\\mathcal{D}$$—in particular, no square root is necessary—enabling a variety of algorithmic developments, which have driven down the cost of simulating the light (up and down) quarks in the isospin-symmetric limit of equal masses. As a result, the relative cost of single quark flavors—such as the strange or charm—computed with RHMC has become more expensive. This problem is even more severe in the context of our measurements of the $$\\mathrm{{\\Delta}}I=1/2$$ $$K{\\rightarrow}{\\pi}{\\pi}$$ matrix elements on lattice ensembles with $G$-parity boundary conditions, since $G$-parity is associated with a doubling of the number of quark flavors described by $$\\mathcal{D}$$ , and thus RHMC is needed for the isospin-symmetric light quarks as well. In this paper we report on our implementation of the exact one flavor algorithm (EOFA) introduced by the TWQCD Collaboration for simulations including single flavors of domain wall quarks. We have developed a new preconditioner for the EOFA Dirac equation, which both reduces the cost of solving the Dirac equation and allows us to reuse the bulk of our existing high-performance code. Coupling these improvements with careful tuning of our integrator, the time per accepted trajectory in the production of our $2+1$ flavor $G$-parity ensembles with physical pion and kaon masses has been decreased by a factor of 4.2.« less

Domain wall fermion QCD with the exact one flavor algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, C.; Kelly, C.; Mawhinney, R. D.; Murphy, D. J.

2018-03-01

Lattice QCD calculations including the effects of one or more nondegenerate sea quark flavors are conventionally performed using the rational hybrid Monte Carlo (RHMC) algorithm, which computes the square root of the determinant of D†D , where D is the Dirac operator. The special case of two degenerate quark flavors with the same mass is described directly by the determinant of D†D —in particular, no square root is necessary—enabling a variety of algorithmic developments, which have driven down the cost of simulating the light (up and down) quarks in the isospin-symmetric limit of equal masses. As a result, the relative cost of single quark flavors—such as the strange or charm—computed with RHMC has become more expensive. This problem is even more severe in the context of our measurements of the Δ I =1 /2 K →π π matrix elements on lattice ensembles with G -parity boundary conditions, since G -parity is associated with a doubling of the number of quark flavors described by D , and thus RHMC is needed for the isospin-symmetric light quarks as well. In this paper we report on our implementation of the exact one flavor algorithm (EOFA) introduced by the TWQCD Collaboration for simulations including single flavors of domain wall quarks. We have developed a new preconditioner for the EOFA Dirac equation, which both reduces the cost of solving the Dirac equation and allows us to reuse the bulk of our existing high-performance code. Coupling these improvements with careful tuning of our integrator, the time per accepted trajectory in the production of our 2 +1 flavor G -parity ensembles with physical pion and kaon masses has been decreased by a factor of 4.2.

Polar phase of superfluid 3He: Dirac lines in the parameter and momentum spaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volovik, G. E.

2018-03-01

The time reversal symmetric polar phase of the spin-triplet superfluid 3He has two types of Dirac nodal lines. In addition to the Dirac loop in the spectrum of the fermionic Bogoliubov quasiparticles in the momentum space (p x , p y , p z ), the spectrum of bosons (magnons) has Dirac loop in the 3D space of parameters-the components of magnetic field (H x , H y , H z ). The bosonic Dirac system lives on the border between the type-I and type-II.

Photoinduced Chern insulating states in semi-Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saha, Kush

2016-08-01

Two-dimensional (2D) semi-Dirac materials are characterized by a quadratic dispersion in one direction and a linear dispersion along the orthogonal direction. We study the topological phase transition in such 2D systems in the presence of an electromagnetic field. We show that a Chern insulating state emerges in a semi-Dirac system with two gapless Dirac nodes in the presence of light. In particular, we show that the intensity of a circularly polarized light can be used as a knob to generate topological states with nonzero Chern number. In addition, for fixed intensity and frequency of the light, a semi-Dirac system with two gapped Dirac nodes with trivial band topology can reveal the topological transition as a function of polarization of the light.

Three-Dimensional Models of Topological Insulators: Engineering of Dirac Cones and Robustness of the Spin Texture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soriano, David; Ortmann, Frank; Roche, Stephan

2012-12-01

We design three-dimensional models of topological insulator thin films, showing a tunability of the odd number of Dirac cones driven by the atomic-scale geometry at the boundaries. A single Dirac cone at the Γ-point can be obtained as well as full suppression of quantum tunneling between Dirac states at geometrically differentiated surfaces. The spin texture of surface states changes from a spin-momentum-locking symmetry to a surface spin randomization upon the introduction of bulk disorder. These findings illustrate the richness of the Dirac physics emerging in thin films of topological insulators and may prove utile for engineering Dirac cones and for quantifying bulk disorder in materials with ultraclean surfaces.

Gradient-based stochastic estimation of the density matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhentao; Chern, Gia-Wei; Batista, Cristian D.; Barros, Kipton

2018-03-01

Fast estimation of the single-particle density matrix is key to many applications in quantum chemistry and condensed matter physics. The best numerical methods leverage the fact that the density matrix elements f(H)ij decay rapidly with distance rij between orbitals. This decay is usually exponential. However, for the special case of metals at zero temperature, algebraic decay of the density matrix appears and poses a significant numerical challenge. We introduce a gradient-based probing method to estimate all local density matrix elements at a computational cost that scales linearly with system size. For zero-temperature metals, the stochastic error scales like S-(d+2)/2d, where d is the dimension and S is a prefactor to the computational cost. The convergence becomes exponential if the system is at finite temperature or is insulating.

Ubiquitous formation of bulk Dirac cones and topological surface states from a single orbital manifold in transition-metal dichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahramy, M. S.; Clark, O. J.; Yang, B.-J.; Feng, J.; Bawden, L.; Riley, J. M.; Marković, I.; Mazzola, F.; Sunko, V.; Biswas, D.; Cooil, S. P.; Jorge, M.; Wells, J. W.; Leandersson, M.; Balasubramanian, T.; Fujii, J.; Vobornik, I.; Rault, J. E.; Kim, T. K.; Hoesch, M.; Okawa, K.; Asakawa, M.; Sasagawa, T.; Eknapakul, T.; Meevasana, W.; King, P. D. C.

2018-01-01

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are renowned for their rich and varied bulk properties, while their single-layer variants have become one of the most prominent examples of two-dimensional materials beyond graphene. Their disparate ground states largely depend on transition metal d-electron-derived electronic states, on which the vast majority of attention has been concentrated to date. Here, we focus on the chalcogen-derived states. From density-functional theory calculations together with spin- and angle-resolved photoemission, we find that these generically host a co-existence of type-I and type-II three-dimensional bulk Dirac fermions as well as ladders of topological surface states and surface resonances. We demonstrate how these naturally arise within a single p-orbital manifold as a general consequence of a trigonal crystal field, and as such can be expected across a large number of compounds. Already, we demonstrate their existence in six separate TMDs, opening routes to tune, and ultimately exploit, their topological physics.

Finite-size correction scheme for supercell calculations in Dirac-point two-dimensional materials.

PubMed

Rocha, C G; Rocha, A R; Venezuela, P; Garcia, J H; Ferreira, M S

2018-06-19

Modern electronic structure calculations are predominantly implemented within the super cell representation in which unit cells are periodically arranged in space. Even in the case of non-crystalline materials, defect-embedded unit cells are commonly used to describe doped structures. However, this type of computation becomes prohibitively demanding when convergence rates are sufficiently slow and may require calculations with very large unit cells. Here we show that a hitherto unexplored feature displayed by several 2D materials may be used to achieve convergence in formation- and adsorption-energy calculations with relatively small unit-cell sizes. The generality of our method is illustrated with Density Functional Theory calculations for different 2D hosts doped with different impurities, all of which providing accuracy levels that would otherwise require enormously large unit cells. This approach provides an efficient route to calculating the physical properties of 2D systems in general but is particularly suitable for Dirac-point materials doped with impurities that break their sublattice symmetry.

Influence of the plasma environment on atomic structure using an ion-sphere model

DOE PAGES

Belkhiri, Madeny Jean; Fontes, Christopher John; Poirier, Michel

2015-09-03

Plasma environment effects on atomic structure are analyzed using various atomic structure codes. To monitor the effect of high free-electron density or low temperatures, Fermi-Dirac and Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics are compared. After a discussion of the implementation of the Fermi-Dirac approach within the ion-sphere model, several applications are considered. In order to check the consistency of the modifications brought here to extant codes, calculations have been performed using the Los Alamos Cowan Atomic Structure (cats) code in its Hartree-Fock or Hartree-Fock-Slater form and the parametric potential Flexible Atomic Code (fac). The ground-state energy shifts due to the plasma effects for themore » six most ionized aluminum ions have been calculated using the fac and cats codes and fairly agree. For the intercombination resonance line in Fe 22+, the plasma effect within the uniform electron gas model results in a positive shift that agrees with the MCDF value of B. Saha et al.« less

Influence of the plasma environment on atomic structure using an ion-sphere model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belkhiri, Madeny Jean; Fontes, Christopher John; Poirier, Michel

Plasma environment effects on atomic structure are analyzed using various atomic structure codes. To monitor the effect of high free-electron density or low temperatures, Fermi-Dirac and Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics are compared. After a discussion of the implementation of the Fermi-Dirac approach within the ion-sphere model, several applications are considered. In order to check the consistency of the modifications brought here to extant codes, calculations have been performed using the Los Alamos Cowan Atomic Structure (cats) code in its Hartree-Fock or Hartree-Fock-Slater form and the parametric potential Flexible Atomic Code (fac). The ground-state energy shifts due to the plasma effects for themore » six most ionized aluminum ions have been calculated using the fac and cats codes and fairly agree. For the intercombination resonance line in Fe 22+, the plasma effect within the uniform electron gas model results in a positive shift that agrees with the MCDF value of B. Saha et al.« less

Nonvolatile Solid-State Charged-Polymer Gating of Topological Insulators into the Topological Insulating Regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ireland, R. M.; Wu, Liang; Salehi, M.; Oh, S.; Armitage, N. P.; Katz, H. E.

2018-04-01

We demonstrate the ability to reduce the carrier concentration of thin films of the topological insulator (TI) Bi2 Se3 by utilizing a nonvolatile electrostatic gating via corona charging of electret polymers. Sufficient electric field can be imparted to a polymer-TI bilayer to result in significant electron density depletion, even without the continuous connection of a gate electrode or the chemical modification of the TI. We show that the Fermi level of Bi2 Se3 is shifted toward the Dirac point with this method. Using terahertz spectroscopy, we find that the surface chemical potential is lowered into the bulk band gap (approximately 50 meV above the Dirac point and 170 meV below the conduction-band minimum), and it is stabilized in the intrinsic regime while enhancing electron mobility. The mobility of surface state electrons is enhanced to a value as high as approximately 1600 cm2/V s at 5 K.

Strain effects on the optical conductivity of gapped graphene in the presence of Holstein phonons beyond the Dirac cone approximation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yarmohammadi, Mohsen, E-mail: m.yarmohammadi69@gmail.com

2016-08-15

In this paper we study the optical conductivity and density of states (DOS) of doped gapped graphene beyond the Dirac cone approximation in the presence of electron-phonon (e-ph) interaction under strain, i.e., within the framework of a full π-band Holstein model, by using the Kubo linear response formalism that is established upon the retarded self-energy. A new peak in the optical conductivity for a large enough e-ph interaction strength is found which is associated to transitions between the midgap states and the Van Hove singularities of the main π-band. Optical conductivity decreases with strain and at large strains, the systemmore » has a zero optical conductivity at low energies due to optically inter-band excitations through the limit of zero doping. As a result, the Drude weight changes with e-ph interaction, temperature and strain. Consequently, DOS and optical conductivity remains stable with temperature at low e-ph coupling strengths.« less

Transient many-body instability in driven Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pertsova, Anna; Triola, Christopher; Balatsky, Alexander

The defining feature of a Dirac material (DM) is the presence of nodes in the low-energy excitation spectrum leading to a strong energy dependence of the density of states (DOS). The vanishing of the DOS at the nodal point implies a very low effective coupling constant which leads to stability of the node against electron-electron interactions. Non-equilibrium or driven DM, in which the DOS and hence the effective coupling can be controlled by external drive, offer a new platform for investigating collective instabilities. In this work, we discuss the possibility of realizing transient collective states in driven DMs. Motivated by recent pump-probe experiments which demonstrate the existence of long-lived photo-excited states in DMs, we consider an example of a transient excitonic instability in an optically-pumped DM. We identify experimental signatures of the transient excitonic condensate and provide estimates of the critical temperatures and lifetimes of these states for few important examples of DMs, such as single-layer graphene and topological-insulator surfaces.

Statistical mechanics of light elements at high pressure. VI - Liquid-state calculations with Thomas-Fermi-Dirac theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macfarlane, J. J.

1984-01-01

A model free energy is developed for hydrogen-helium mixtures based on solid-state Thomas-Fermi-Dirac calculations at pressures relevant to the interiors of giant planets. Using a model potential similar to that for a two-component plasma, effective charges for the nuclei (which are in general smaller than the actual charges because of screening effects) are parameterized, being constrained by calculations at a number of densities, compositions, and lattice structures. These model potentials are then used to compute the equilibrium properties of H-He fluids using a charged hard-sphere model. The results find critical temperatures of about 0 K, 500 K, and 1500 K, for pressures of 10, 100, and 1000 Mbar, respectively. These phase separation temperatures are considerably lower (approximately 6,000-10,000 K) than those found from calculations using free electron perturbation theory, and suggest that H-He solutions should be stable against phase separation in the metallic zones of Jupiter and Saturn.

Passivation and Depassivation of Defects in Graphene-based field-effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Hara, Andrew; Wang, Pan; Perini, Chris J.; Fleetwood, Daniel M.; Vogel, Eric M.; Pantelides, Sokrates T.

Field effect transistors based on graphene on amorphous SiO2 substrates were fabricated, both with and without a top oxide passivation layer of Al2O3. Initial I-V characteristics of these devices show that the Fermi energy occurs below the Dirac point in graphene (i.e. p-type behavior). Introduction of environmental stresses, e.g. baking the devices, causes a shift in the Fermi energy relative to the Dirac point. 1/f noise measurements indicate the presence of charge trapping defects. In order to find the origins of this behavior, we construct atomistic models of the substrate/graphene interface and the graphene/oxide passivation layer interface. Using density functional theory, we investigate the role that the introduction and removal of hydrogen and hydroxide passivants has on the electronic structure of the graphene layer as well as the relative energetics for these processes to occur in order to gain insights into the experimental results. Supported by DTRA: 1-16-0032 and NSF: ECCS-1508898.

Alloyed surfaces: New substrates for graphene growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tresca, C.; Verbitskiy, N. I.; Fedorov, A.; Grüneis, A.; Profeta, G.

2017-11-01

We report a systematic ab-initio density functional theory investigation of Ni(111) surface alloyed with elements of group IV (Si, Ge and Sn), demonstrating the possibility to use it to grow high quality graphene. Ni(111) surface represents an ideal substrate for graphene, due to its catalytic properties and perfect matching with the graphene lattice constant. However, Dirac bands of graphene growth on Ni(111) are completely destroyed due to the strong hybridization between carbon pz and Ni d orbitals. Group IV atoms, namely Si, Ge and Sn, once deposited on Ni(111) surface, form an ordered alloyed surface with √{ 3} ×√{ 3} -R30° reconstruction. We demonstrate that, at variance with the pure Ni(111) surface, alloyed surfaces effectively decouple graphene from the substrate, resulting unstrained due to the nearly perfect lattice matching and preserves linear Dirac bands without the strong hybridization with Ni d states. The proposed surfaces can be prepared before graphene growth without resorting on post-growth processes which necessarily alter the electronic and structural properties of graphene.

Effect of strain on the electronic structure of graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez, Edgar; Cifuentes, Eduardo; de Coss, Romeo

2008-03-01

Graphene has been attracting interest due to its remarkable physical properties resulting from an electron spectrum resembling relativistic dynamics (Dirac fermions). Thus, is desirable to know methods for controling the charge carriers in graphene. In this work, we propose that the electronic properties of graphene can be modulated via isotropic and uniaxial strain. We have studied the electronic structure of graphene under mechanical deformation by means of first principles calculations. We present results for the charge distribution, electronic density of states, and band structure. We focus the analysis on the behavior of the Dirac cones and the number of the charge carriers as a function of strain. We find that an isotropic tensile strain increases the effective mass of carriers and an isotropic compression strain decrease it. Uniaxial tensile strain induce a similar behavior, as strain increase effective mass increase. Thus, our results show that strain allows controllable tuning of the graphene electronic properties. This research was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog'ia (Conacyt) under Grant No. 43830-F.

Topological interface states in the natural heterostructure (PbSe)5(Bi2Se3 )6 with BiPb defects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Momida, Hiroyoshi; Bihlmayer, Gustav; Blügel, Stefan; Segawa, Kouji; Ando, Yoichi; Oguchi, Tamio

2018-01-01

We study theoretically the electronic band structure of (PbSe) 5(Bi2Se3 )6, which consists of an ordinary insulator PbSe and a topological insulator Bi2Se3 . The first-principles calculations show that this material has a gapped Dirac-cone energy dispersion inside the bulk, which originates from the topological states of Bi2Se3 layers encapsulated by PbSe layers. Furthermore, we calculate the band structures of (BixPb1 -xSe )5(Bi2Se3 )6 with BiPb antisite defects included in the PbSe layers. The result shows that a high density of BiPb defects can exist in real materials, consistent with the experimentally estimated x of more than 30%. The BiPb defects strongly modify the band alignment between Bi2Se3 and PbSe layers, while the topological interface states of Bi2Se3 are kept as a gapped Dirac-cone-like dispersion.

Clifford Algebra Implying Three Fermion Generations Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krolikowski, Wojciech

2002-09-01

The author's idea of algebraic compositeness of fundamental particles, allowing to understand the existence in Nature of three fermion generations, is revisited. It is based on two postulates. Primo, for all fundamental particles of matter the Dirac square-root procedure √ {p2} → {Γ }(N)p works, leading to a sequence N = 1,2,3, ... of Dirac-type equations, where four Dirac-type matrices {Γ }(N)μ are embedded into a Clifford algebra via a Jacobi definition introducing four ``centre-of-mass'' and (N-1)× four ``relative'' Dirac-type matrices. These define one ``centre-of-mass'' and (N-1) ``relative'' Dirac bispinor indices. Secundo, the ``centre-of-mass'' Dirac bispinor index is coupled to the Standard Model gauge fields, while (N-1) ``relative'' Dirac bispinor indices are all free indistinguishable physical objects obeying Fermi statistics along with the Pauli principle which requires the full antisymmetry with respect to ``relative'' Dirac indices. This allows only for three Dirac-type equations with N = 1,3,5 in the case of N odd, and two with N = 2,4 in the case of N even. The first of these results implies unavoidably the existence of three and only three generations of fundamental fermions, namely leptons and quarks, as labelled by the Standard Model signature. At the end, a comment is added on the possible shape of Dirac 3x3 mass matrices for four sorts of spin-1/2 fundamental fermions appearing in three generations. For charged leptons a prediction is mτ = 1776.80 MeV, when the input of experimental me and mμ is used.

Surface Snow Density of East Antarctica Derived from In-Situ Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Y.; Zhang, S.; Du, W.; Chen, J.; Xie, H.; Tong, X.; Li, R.

2018-04-01

Models based on physical principles or semi-empirical parameterizations have used to compute the firn density, which is essential for the study of surface processes in the Antarctic ice sheet. However, parameterization of surface snow density is often challenged by the description of detailed local characterization. In this study we propose to generate a surface density map for East Antarctica from all the filed observations that are available. Considering that the observations are non-uniformly distributed around East Antarctica, obtained by different methods, and temporally inhomogeneous, the field observations are used to establish an initial density map with a grid size of 30 × 30 km2 in which the observations are averaged at a temporal scale of five years. We then construct an observation matrix with its columns as the map grids and rows as the temporal scale. If a site has an unknown density value for a period, we will set it to 0 in the matrix. In order to construct the main spatial and temple information of surface snow density matrix we adopt Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) method to decompose the observation matrix and only take first several lower-order modes, because these modes already contain most information of the observation matrix. However, there are a lot of zeros in the matrix and we solve it by using matrix completion algorithm, and then we derive the time series of surface snow density at each observation site. Finally, we can obtain the surface snow density by multiplying the modes interpolated by kriging with the corresponding amplitude of the modes. Comparative analysis have done between our surface snow density map and model results. The above details will be introduced in the paper.

Strong Anisotropy of Dirac Cones in SrMnBi2 and CaMnBi2 Revealed by Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Feng, Ya; Wang, Zhijun; Chen, Chaoyu; Shi, Youguo; Xie, Zhuojin; Yi, Hemian; Liang, Aiji; He, Shaolong; He, Junfeng; Peng, Yingying; Liu, Xu; Liu, Yan; Zhao, Lin; Liu, Guodong; Dong, Xiaoli; Zhang, Jun; Chen, Chuangtian; Xu, Zuyan; Dai, Xi; Fang, Zhong; Zhou, X. J.

2014-01-01

The Dirac materials, such as graphene and three-dimensional topological insulators, have attracted much attention because they exhibit novel quantum phenomena with their low energy electrons governed by the relativistic Dirac equations. One particular interest is to generate Dirac cone anisotropy so that the electrons can propagate differently from one direction to the other, creating an additional tunability for new properties and applications. While various theoretical approaches have been proposed to make the isotropic Dirac cones of graphene into anisotropic ones, it has not yet been met with success. There are also some theoretical predictions and/or experimental indications of anisotropic Dirac cone in novel topological insulators and AMnBi2 (A = Sr and Ca) but more experimental investigations are needed. Here we report systematic high resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements that have provided direct evidence on the existence of strongly anisotropic Dirac cones in SrMnBi2 and CaMnBi2. Distinct behaviors of the Dirac cones between SrMnBi2 and CaMnBi2 are also observed. These results have provided important information on the strong anisotropy of the Dirac cones in AMnBi2 system that can be governed by the spin-orbital coupling and the local environment surrounding the Bi square net. PMID:24947490

A Route to Dirac Liquid Theory: A Fermi Liquid Description for Dirac Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gochan, Matthew; Bedell, Kevin

Since the pioneering work developed by L.V. Landau sixty years ago, Fermi Liquid Theory has seen great success in describing interacting Fermi systems. While much interest has been generated over the study of non-Fermi Liquid systems, Fermi Liquid theory serves as a formidable model for many systems and offers a rich amount of of results and insight. The recent classification of Dirac Materials, and the lack of a unifying theoretical framework for them, has motivated our study. Dirac materials are a versatile class of materials in which an abundance of unique physical phenomena can be observed. Such materials are found in all dimensions, with the shared property that their low-energy fermionic excitations behave as massless Dirac fermions and are therefore governed by the Dirac equation. The most popular Dirac material, graphene, is the focus of this work. We present our Fermi Liquid description of Graphene. We find many interesting results, specifically in the transport and dynamics of the system. Additionally, we expand on previous work regarding the Virial Theorem and its impact on the Fermi Liquid parameters in graphene. Finally, we remark on viscoelasticity of Dirac Materials and other unusual results that are consequences of AdS-CFT.

Inverse Perovskites - A New Platform For 3D Dirac Electron Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rost, A. W.; Kim, J.; Shota, S.; Hayama, K.; Abdolazimi, V.; Bruin, J. A. N.; Muehle, C.; Schnyder, A.; Yaresko, A. N.; Nuss, J.; Takagi, H.

3D Dirac semimetals show a wealth of phenomena including ultrahigh mobility, extreme transverse magnetoresistance and potential for negative longitudinal magnetoresistance. Furthermore, by introducing a gap these are often found to be topological crystalline insulators. Here, I will introduce our experiments on a new family of 3D Dirac materials - the inverse perovskites A3BO (A =Ca,Sr,Eu/B =Pb,Sn). These open up the possibility to chemically control the properties of Dirac electrons including (i) the anisotropy of the Dirac dispersion, (ii) role of spin orbit coupling, and (iii) magnetism. Our physical property measurements show all (Ca/Sr)3(Pb/Sn)O compounds host Dirac electrons at the Fermi energy with no other bands crossing EF. Quantum oscillations unveil small Fermi surfaces (frequencies <5 T) and light carriers (<0.02 me) only consistent with Dirac electrons. With the successful synthesis of Sr3Pb0.5Sn0.5O this group of materials therefore offers a unique chemical control over the physical properties of 3D Dirac electrons. Crucially, Eu3(Pb/Sn)O compounds allow for the introduction of magnetism. I will discuss the implications of this in particular with respect to surface states in these topological crystalline insulators.

Dirac Fermions in an Antiferromagnetic Semimetal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Peizhe; Zhou, Quan; Xu, Gang; Zhang, Shou-Cheng; Shou-Cheng Zhang's Group Team, Prof.

Analogues of the elementary particles have been extensively searched for in condensed matter systems for both scientific interest and technological applications. Recently, massless Dirac fermions were found to emerge as low energy excitations in materials now known as Dirac semimetals. All the currently known Dirac semimetals are nonmagnetic with both time-reversal symmetry  and inversion symmetry "". Here we show that Dirac fermions can exist in one type of antiferromagnetic systems, where both  and "" are broken but their combination "" is respected. We propose orthorhombic antiferromagnet CuMnAs as a candidate, analyze the robustness of the Dirac points under symmetry protections, and demonstrate its distinctive bulk dispersions as well as the corresponding surface states by ab initio calculations. Our results provide a possible platform to study the interplay of Dirac fermion physics and magnetism. We acknowledge the DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515, NSF under Grant No.DMR-1305677 and FAME, one of six centers of STARnet.

Manipulating type-I and type-II Dirac polaritons in cavity-embedded honeycomb metasurfaces.

PubMed

Mann, Charlie-Ray; Sturges, Thomas J; Weick, Guillaume; Barnes, William L; Mariani, Eros

2018-06-06

Pseudorelativistic Dirac quasiparticles have emerged in a plethora of artificial graphene systems that mimic the underlying honeycomb symmetry of graphene. However, it is notoriously difficult to manipulate their properties without modifying the lattice structure. Here we theoretically investigate polaritons supported by honeycomb metasurfaces and, despite the trivial nature of the resonant elements, we unveil rich Dirac physics stemming from a non-trivial winding in the light-matter interaction. The metasurfaces simultaneously exhibit two distinct species of massless Dirac polaritons, namely type-I and type-II. By modifying only the photonic environment via an enclosing cavity, one can manipulate the location of the type-II Dirac points, leading to qualitatively different polariton phases. This enables one to alter the fundamental properties of the emergent Dirac polaritons while preserving the lattice structure-a unique scenario which has no analog in real or artificial graphene systems. Exploiting the photonic environment will thus give rise to unexplored Dirac physics at the subwavelength scale.

Three Dimensional Photonic Dirac Points in Metamaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Qinghua; Yang, Biao; Xia, Lingbo; Gao, Wenlong; Liu, Hongchao; Chen, Jing; Xiang, Yuanjiang; Zhang, Shuang

2017-11-01

Topological semimetals, representing a new topological phase that lacks a full band gap in bulk states and exhibiting nontrivial topological orders, recently have been extended to photonic systems, predominantly in photonic crystals and to a lesser extent metamaterials. Photonic crystal realizations of Dirac degeneracies are protected by various space symmetries, where Bloch modes span the spin and orbital subspaces. Here, we theoretically show that Dirac points can also be realized in effective media through the intrinsic degrees of freedom in electromagnetism under electromagnetic duality. A pair of spin-polarized Fermi-arc-like surface states is observed at the interface between air and the Dirac metamaterials. Furthermore, eigenreflection fields show the decoupling process from a Dirac point to two Weyl points. We also find the topological correlation between a Dirac point and vortex or vector beams in classical photonics. The experimental feasibility of our scheme is demonstrated by designing a realistic metamaterial structure. The theoretical proposal of the photonic Dirac point lays the foundation for unveiling the connection between intrinsic physics and global topology in electromagnetism.

Bosonic Dirac Materials in 2 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Saikat; Black-Schaffer, A. M.; Fransson, J.; Agren, H.; Balatsky, A. V.

We examine the low energy effective theory of phase oscillations in a two dimensional granular superconducting sheet where the grains are arranged in honeycomb lattice structure. Two different types of collective phase oscillations are obtained, which are analogous to the massive Leggett and massless Bogoliubov-Anderson-Gorkov modes for two-band superconductor. It is explicitly shown that the spectra of these collective Bosonic modes cross each other at K and K' points in the Brillouin zone and form a Dirac node. This Dirac node behavior in Bosonic excitations represent the case of Bosonic Dirac Materials (BDM). Dirac node is preserved in presence of an inter-grain interaction despite induced changes of the qualitative features of the two collective modes. Finally, breaking the sub lattice symmetry by choosing different on-site potentials for the two sub lattices leads to a gap opening near the Dirac node, in analogy with Fermionic Dirac material. Supported by US DOE E304, ERC DM 321031, KAW, VR2012-3447.

Self-Assembled Si(111) Surface States: 2D Dirac Material for THz Plasmonics.

PubMed

Wang, Z F; Liu, Feng

2015-07-10

Graphene, the first discovered 2D Dirac material, has had a profound impact on science and technology. In the last decade, we have witnessed huge advances in graphene related fundamental and applied research. Here, based on first-principles calculations, we propose a new 2D Dirac band on the Si(111) surface with 1/3 monolayer halogen coverage. The sp(3) dangling bonds form a honeycomb superstructure on the Si(111) surface that results in an anisotropic Dirac band with a group velocity (∼10(6)  m/s) comparable to that in graphene. Most remarkably, the Si-based surface Dirac band can be used to excite a tunable THz plasmon through electron-hole doping. Our results demonstrate a new way to design Dirac states on a traditional semiconductor surface, so as to make them directly compatible with Si technology. We envision this new type of Dirac material to be generalized to other semiconductor surfaces with broad applications.

Self-Assembled Si(111) Surface States: 2D Dirac Material for THz Plasmonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Z. F.; Liu, Feng

2015-07-01

Graphene, the first discovered 2D Dirac material, has had a profound impact on science and technology. In the last decade, we have witnessed huge advances in graphene related fundamental and applied research. Here, based on first-principles calculations, we propose a new 2D Dirac band on the Si(111) surface with 1 /3 monolayer halogen coverage. The s p3 dangling bonds form a honeycomb superstructure on the Si(111) surface that results in an anisotropic Dirac band with a group velocity (˜106 m /s ) comparable to that in graphene. Most remarkably, the Si-based surface Dirac band can be used to excite a tunable THz plasmon through electron-hole doping. Our results demonstrate a new way to design Dirac states on a traditional semiconductor surface, so as to make them directly compatible with Si technology. We envision this new type of Dirac material to be generalized to other semiconductor surfaces with broad applications.

Zeeman splitting and dynamical mass generation in Dirac semimetal ZrTe5

PubMed Central

Liu, Yanwen; Yuan, Xiang; Zhang, Cheng; Jin, Zhao; Narayan, Awadhesh; Luo, Chen; Chen, Zhigang; Yang, Lei; Zou, Jin; Wu, Xing; Sanvito, Stefano; Xia, Zhengcai; Li, Liang; Wang, Zhong; Xiu, Faxian

2016-01-01

Dirac semimetals have attracted extensive attentions in recent years. It has been theoretically suggested that many-body interactions may drive exotic phase transitions, spontaneously generating a Dirac mass for the nominally massless Dirac electrons. So far, signature of interaction-driven transition has been lacking. In this work, we report high-magnetic-field transport measurements of the Dirac semimetal candidate ZrTe5. Owing to the large g factor in ZrTe5, the Zeeman splitting can be observed at magnetic field as low as 3 T. Most prominently, high pulsed magnetic field up to 60 T drives the system into the ultra-quantum limit, where we observe abrupt changes in the magnetoresistance, indicating field-induced phase transitions. This is interpreted as an interaction-induced spontaneous mass generation of the Dirac fermions, which bears resemblance to the dynamical mass generation of nucleons in high-energy physics. Our work establishes Dirac semimetals as ideal platforms for investigating emerging correlation effects in topological matters. PMID:27515493

Effects of increased collagen-matrix density on the mechanical properties and in vivo absorbability of hydroxyapatite-collagen composites as artificial bone materials.

PubMed

Yunoki, Shunji; Sugiura, Hiroaki; Ikoma, Toshiyuki; Kondo, Eiji; Yasuda, Kazunori; Tanaka, Junzo

2011-02-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of increased collagen-matrix density on the mechanical properties and in vivo absorbability of porous hydroxyapatite (HAp)-collagen composites as artificial bone materials. Seven types of porous HAp-collagen composites were prepared from HAp nanocrystals and dense collagen fibrils. Their densities and HAp/collagen weight ratios ranged from 122 to 331 mg cm⁻³ and from 20/80 to 80/20, respectively. The flexural modulus and strength increased with an increase in density, reaching 2.46 ± 0.48 and 0.651 ± 0.103 MPa, respectively. The porous composites with a higher collagen-matrix density exhibited much higher mechanical properties at the same densities, suggesting that increasing the collagen-matrix density is an effective way of improving the mechanical properties. It was also suggested that other structural factors in addition to collagen-matrix density are required to achieve bone-like mechanical properties. The in vivo absorbability of the composites was investigated in bone defects of rabbit femurs, demonstrating that the absorption rate decreased with increases in the composite density. An exhaustive increase in density is probably limited by decreases in absorbability as artificial bones.

Berry phase jumps and giant nonreciprocity in Dirac quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez-Nieva, Joaquin F.; Levitov, Leonid S.

2016-12-01

We predict that a strong nonreciprocity in the resonance spectra of Dirac quantum dots can be induced by the Berry phase. The nonreciprocity arises in relatively weak magnetic fields and is manifest in anomalously large field-induced splittings of quantum dot resonances which are degenerate at B =0 due to time-reversal symmetry. This exotic behavior, which is governed by field-induced jumps in the Berry phase of confined electronic states, is unique to quantum dots in Dirac materials and is absent in conventional quantum dots. The effect is strong for gapless Dirac particles and can overwhelm the B -induced orbital and Zeeman splittings. A finite Dirac mass suppresses the effect. The nonreciprocity, predicted for generic two-dimensional Dirac materials, is accessible through Faraday and Kerr optical rotation measurements and scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

First Experimental Realization of the Dirac Oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franco-Villafañe, J. A.; Sadurní, E.; Barkhofen, S.; Kuhl, U.; Mortessagne, F.; Seligman, T. H.

2013-10-01

We present the first experimental microwave realization of the one-dimensional Dirac oscillator, a paradigm in exactly solvable relativistic systems. The experiment relies on a relation of the Dirac oscillator to a corresponding tight-binding system. This tight-binding system is implemented as a microwave system by a chain of coupled dielectric disks, where the coupling is evanescent and can be adjusted appropriately. The resonances of the finite microwave system yield the spectrum of the one-dimensional Dirac oscillator with and without a mass term. The flexibility of the experimental setup allows the implementation of other one-dimensional Dirac-type equations.

Pythagoras's theorem on a two-dimensional lattice from a `natural' Dirac operator and Connes's distance formula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Jian; Song, Xing-Chang

2001-07-01

One of the key ingredients of Connes's noncommutative geometry is a generalized Dirac operator which induces a metric (Connes's distance) on the pure state space. We generalize such a Dirac operator devised by Dimakis et al, whose Connes distance recovers the linear distance on an one-dimensional lattice, to the two-dimensional case. This Dirac operator has the local eigenvalue property and induces a Euclidean distance on this two-dimensional lattice, which is referred to as `natural'. This kind of Dirac operator can be easily generalized into any higher-dimensional lattices.

Direct Measurement of the Density Matrix of a Quantum System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thekkadath, G. S.; Giner, L.; Chalich, Y.; Horton, M. J.; Banker, J.; Lundeen, J. S.

2016-09-01

One drawback of conventional quantum state tomography is that it does not readily provide access to single density matrix elements since it requires a global reconstruction. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a scheme that can be used to directly measure individual density matrix elements of general quantum states. The scheme relies on measuring a sequence of three observables, each complementary to the last. The first two measurements are made weak to minimize the disturbance they cause to the state, while the final measurement is strong. We perform this joint measurement on polarized photons in pure and mixed states to directly measure their density matrix. The weak measurements are achieved using two walk-off crystals, each inducing a polarization-dependent spatial shift that couples the spatial and polarization degrees of freedom of the photons. This direct measurement method provides an operational meaning to the density matrix and promises to be especially useful for large dimensional states.

Direct Measurement of the Density Matrix of a Quantum System.

PubMed

Thekkadath, G S; Giner, L; Chalich, Y; Horton, M J; Banker, J; Lundeen, J S

2016-09-16

One drawback of conventional quantum state tomography is that it does not readily provide access to single density matrix elements since it requires a global reconstruction. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a scheme that can be used to directly measure individual density matrix elements of general quantum states. The scheme relies on measuring a sequence of three observables, each complementary to the last. The first two measurements are made weak to minimize the disturbance they cause to the state, while the final measurement is strong. We perform this joint measurement on polarized photons in pure and mixed states to directly measure their density matrix. The weak measurements are achieved using two walk-off crystals, each inducing a polarization-dependent spatial shift that couples the spatial and polarization degrees of freedom of the photons. This direct measurement method provides an operational meaning to the density matrix and promises to be especially useful for large dimensional states.

Absolute Single Photoionization Cross Sections of Se^3+ For the Determination of Elemental Abundances in Planetary Nebulae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esteves, David; Sterling, Nicholas; Aguilar, Alex; Kilcoyne, A. L. David; Phaneuf, Ronald; Bilodeau, Rene; Red, Eddie; McLaughlin, Brendan; Norrington, Patrick; Balance, Connor

2009-05-01

Numerical simulations show that derived elemental abundances in astrophysical nebulae can be uncertain by factors of two or more due to atomic data uncertainties alone, and of these uncertainties, absolute photoionization cross sections are the most important. Absolute single photoionization cross sections for Se^3+ ions have been measured from 42 eV to 56 eV at the ALS using the merged beams photo-ion technique. Theoretical photoionization cross section calculations were also performed for these ions using the state-of-the-art fully relativistic Dirac R-matrix code (DARC). The calculations show encouraging agreement with the experimental measurements.

A nonperturbative light-front coupled-cluster method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hiller, J. R.

2012-10-01

The nonperturbative Hamiltonian eigenvalue problem for bound states of a quantum field theory is formulated in terms of Dirac's light-front coordinates and then approximated by the exponential-operator technique of the many-body coupled-cluster method. This approximation eliminates any need for the usual approximation of Fock-space truncation. Instead, the exponentiated operator is truncated, and the terms retained are determined by a set of nonlinear integral equations. These equations are solved simultaneously with an effective eigenvalue problem in the valence sector, where the number of constituents is small. Matrix elements can be calculated, with extensions of techniques from standard coupled-cluster theory, to obtain form factors and other observables.

Computational code in atomic and nuclear quantum optics: Advanced computing multiphoton resonance parameters for atoms in a strong laser field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glushkov, A. V.; Gurskaya, M. Yu; Ignatenko, A. V.; Smirnov, A. V.; Serga, I. N.; Svinarenko, A. A.; Ternovsky, E. V.

2017-10-01

The consistent relativistic energy approach to the finite Fermi-systems (atoms and nuclei) in a strong realistic laser field is presented and applied to computing the multiphoton resonances parameters in some atoms and nuclei. The approach is based on the Gell-Mann and Low S-matrix formalism, multiphoton resonance lines moments technique and advanced Ivanov-Ivanova algorithm of calculating the Green’s function of the Dirac equation. The data for multiphoton resonance width and shift for the Cs atom and the 57Fe nucleus in dependence upon the laser intensity are listed.

Naturalness, dark matter, and the muon anomalous magnetic moment in supersymmetric extensions of the standard model with a pseudo-Dirac gluino

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Chuang; Zhu, Bin; Li, Tianjun

2018-02-01

We study the naturalness, dark matter, and muon anomalous magnetic moment in the Supersymmetric Standard Models (SSMs) with a pseudo-Dirac gluino (PDGSSMs) from hybrid F- and D-term supersymmetry (SUSY) breakings. To obtain the observed dark matter relic density and explain the muon anomalous magnetic moment, we find that the low energy fine-tuning measures are larger than about 30 due to strong constraints from the LUX and PANDAX experiments. Thus, to study the natural PDGSSMs, we consider multi-component dark matter and then the relic density of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) neutralino is smaller than the correct value. We classify our models into six kinds: (i) Case A is a general case, which has small low energy fine-tuning measure and can explain the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon; (ii) Case B with the LSP neutralino and light stau coannihilation; (iii) Case C with Higgs funnel; (iv) Case D with Higgsino LSP; (v) Case E with light stau coannihilation and Higgsino LSP; (vi) Case F with Higgs funnel and Higgsino LSP. We study these Cases in details, and show that our models can be natural and consistent with the LUX and PANDAX experiments, as well as explain the muon anomalous magnetic moment. In particular, all these cases except the stau coannihilation can even have low energy fine-tuning measures around 10.

Hydrodynamics of the Dirac fluid in graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucas, Andrew

Recent advances in materials physics have allowed us to observe hydrodynamic electron flow in multiple materials. A uniquely interesting possibility is the emergence of a quasi-relativistic plasma of electrons and holes appearing in Dirac semimetals such as graphene. I will briefly review the unique features of the hydrodynamics of the Dirac fluid, and then discuss the theroetical signatures for the Dirac fluid, and its observation in experiment.

A real-space stochastic density matrix approach for density functional electronic structure.

PubMed

Beck, Thomas L

2015-12-21

The recent development of real-space grid methods has led to more efficient, accurate, and adaptable approaches for large-scale electrostatics and density functional electronic structure modeling. With the incorporation of multiscale techniques, linear-scaling real-space solvers are possible for density functional problems if localized orbitals are used to represent the Kohn-Sham energy functional. These methods still suffer from high computational and storage overheads, however, due to extensive matrix operations related to the underlying wave function grid representation. In this paper, an alternative stochastic method is outlined that aims to solve directly for the one-electron density matrix in real space. In order to illustrate aspects of the method, model calculations are performed for simple one-dimensional problems that display some features of the more general problem, such as spatial nodes in the density matrix. This orbital-free approach may prove helpful considering a future involving increasingly parallel computing architectures. Its primary advantage is the near-locality of the random walks, allowing for simultaneous updates of the density matrix in different regions of space partitioned across the processors. In addition, it allows for testing and enforcement of the particle number and idempotency constraints through stabilization of a Feynman-Kac functional integral as opposed to the extensive matrix operations in traditional approaches.

Relative Contribution of Matrix Structure, Patch Resources and Management to the Local Densities of Two Large Blue Butterfly Species

PubMed Central

Skórka, Piotr; Nowicki, Piotr; Bonk, Maciej; Król, Wiesław; Szpiłyk, Damian; Woyciechowski, Michal

2016-01-01

The type of matrix, the landscape surrounding habitat patches, may determine the distribution and function of local populations. However, the matrix is often heterogeneous, and its various components may differentially contribute to metapopulation processes at different spatial scales, a phenomenon that has rarely been investigated. The aim of this study was to estimate the relative importance of matrix composition and spatial scale, habitat quality, and management intensity on the occurrence and density of local populations of two endangered large blue butterflies: Phengaris teleius and P. nausithous. Presence and abundance data were assessed over two years, 2011–12, in 100 local patches within two heterogeneous regions (near Kraków and Tarnów, southern Poland). The matrix composition was analyzed at eight spatial scales. We observed high occupancy rates in both species, regions and years. With the exception of area and isolation, almost all of the matrix components contributed to Phengaris sp. densities. The different matrix components acted at different spatial scales (grassland cover within 4 and 3 km, field cover within 0.4 and 0.3 km and water cover within 4 km radii for P. teleius and P. nausithous, respectively) and provided the highest independent contribution to the butterfly densities. Additionally, the effects of a 0.4 km radius of forest cover and a food plant cover on P. teleius, and a 1 km radius of settlement cover and management intensity on P. nausithous densities were observed. Contrary to former studies we conclude that the matrix heterogeneity and spatial scale rather than general matrix type are of relevance for densities of butterflies. Conservation strategies for these umbrella species should concentrate on maintaining habitat quality and managing matrix composition at the most appropriate spatial scales. PMID:28005942

Relative Contribution of Matrix Structure, Patch Resources and Management to the Local Densities of Two Large Blue Butterfly Species.

PubMed

Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna; Skórka, Piotr; Nowicki, Piotr; Bonk, Maciej; Król, Wiesław; Szpiłyk, Damian; Woyciechowski, Michal

2016-01-01

The type of matrix, the landscape surrounding habitat patches, may determine the distribution and function of local populations. However, the matrix is often heterogeneous, and its various components may differentially contribute to metapopulation processes at different spatial scales, a phenomenon that has rarely been investigated. The aim of this study was to estimate the relative importance of matrix composition and spatial scale, habitat quality, and management intensity on the occurrence and density of local populations of two endangered large blue butterflies: Phengaris teleius and P. nausithous. Presence and abundance data were assessed over two years, 2011-12, in 100 local patches within two heterogeneous regions (near Kraków and Tarnów, southern Poland). The matrix composition was analyzed at eight spatial scales. We observed high occupancy rates in both species, regions and years. With the exception of area and isolation, almost all of the matrix components contributed to Phengaris sp. densities. The different matrix components acted at different spatial scales (grassland cover within 4 and 3 km, field cover within 0.4 and 0.3 km and water cover within 4 km radii for P. teleius and P. nausithous, respectively) and provided the highest independent contribution to the butterfly densities. Additionally, the effects of a 0.4 km radius of forest cover and a food plant cover on P. teleius, and a 1 km radius of settlement cover and management intensity on P. nausithous densities were observed. Contrary to former studies we conclude that the matrix heterogeneity and spatial scale rather than general matrix type are of relevance for densities of butterflies. Conservation strategies for these umbrella species should concentrate on maintaining habitat quality and managing matrix composition at the most appropriate spatial scales.

Dirac Equation in (1 +1 )-Dimensional Curved Spacetime and the Multiphoton Quantum Rabi Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedernales, J. S.; Beau, M.; Pittman, S. M.; Egusquiza, I. L.; Lamata, L.; Solano, E.; del Campo, A.

2018-04-01

We introduce an exact mapping between the Dirac equation in (1 +1 )-dimensional curved spacetime (DCS) and a multiphoton quantum Rabi model (QRM). A background of a (1 +1 )-dimensional black hole requires a QRM with one- and two-photon terms that can be implemented in a trapped ion for the quantum simulation of Dirac particles in curved spacetime. We illustrate our proposal with a numerical analysis of the free fall of a Dirac particle into a (1 +1 )-dimensional black hole, and find that the Zitterbewegung effect, measurable via the oscillatory trajectory of the Dirac particle, persists in the presence of gravity. From the duality between the squeezing term in the multiphoton QRM and the metric coupling in the DCS, we show that gravity generates squeezing of the Dirac particle wave function.

Light trapping and circularly polarization at a Dirac point in 2D plasma photonic crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Qian; Hu, Lei; Mao, Qiuping; Jiang, Haiming; Hu, Zhijia; Xie, Kang; Wei, Zhang

2018-03-01

Light trapping at the Dirac point in 2D plasma photonic crystal has been obtained. The new localized mode, Dirac mode, is attributable to neither photonic bandgap nor total internal reflection. It exhibits a unique algebraic profile and possesses a high-Q factor resonator of about 105. The Dirac point could be modulated by tuning the filling factor, plasma frequency and plasma cyclotron frequency, respectively. When a magnetic field parallel to the wave vector is applied, Dirac modes for right circularly polarized and left circularly polarized waves could be obtained at different frequencies, and the Q factor could be tuned. This property will add more controllability and flexibility to the design and modulation of novel photonic devices. It is also valuable for the possibilities of Dirac modes in photonic crystal containing other kinds of metamaterials.

Using OSG Computing Resources with (iLC)Dirac

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sailer, A.; Petric, M.; CLICdp Collaboration

2017-10-01

CPU cycles for small experiments and projects can be scarce, thus making use of all available resources, whether dedicated or opportunistic, is mandatory. While enabling uniform access to the LCG computing elements (ARC, CREAM), the DIRAC grid interware was not able to use OSG computing elements (GlobusCE, HTCondor-CE) without dedicated support at the grid site through so called ‘SiteDirectors’, which directly submit to the local batch system. This in turn requires additional dedicated effort for small experiments on the grid site. Adding interfaces to the OSG CEs through the respective grid middleware is therefore allowing accessing them within the DIRAC software without additional site-specific infrastructure. This enables greater use of opportunistic resources for experiments and projects without dedicated clusters or an established computing infrastructure with the DIRAC software. To allow sending jobs to HTCondor-CE and legacy Globus computing elements inside DIRAC the required wrapper classes were developed. Not only is the usage of these types of computing elements now completely transparent for all DIRAC instances, which makes DIRAC a flexible solution for OSG based virtual organisations, but it also allows LCG Grid Sites to move to the HTCondor-CE software, without shutting DIRAC based VOs out of their site. In these proceedings we detail how we interfaced the DIRAC system to the HTCondor-CE and Globus computing elements and explain the encountered obstacles and solutions developed, and how the linear collider community uses resources in the OSG.

Fully adaptive propagation of the quantum-classical Liouville equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horenko, Illia; Weiser, Martin; Schmidt, Burkhard; Schütte, Christof

2004-05-01

In mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics few but important degrees of freedom of a dynamical system are modeled quantum-mechanically while the remaining ones are treated within the classical approximation. Rothe methods established in the theory of partial differential equations are used to control both temporal and spatial discretization errors on grounds of a global tolerance criterion. The TRAIL (trapezoidal rule for adaptive integration of Liouville dynamics) scheme [I. Horenko and M. Weiser, J. Comput. Chem. 24, 1921 (2003)] has been extended to account for nonadiabatic effects in molecular dynamics described by the quantum-classical Liouville equation. In the context of particle methods, the quality of the spatial approximation of the phase-space distributions is maximized while the numerical condition of the least-squares problem for the parameters of particles is minimized. The resulting dynamical scheme is based on a simultaneous propagation of moving particles (Gaussian and Dirac deltalike trajectories) in phase space employing a fully adaptive strategy to upgrade Dirac to Gaussian particles and, vice versa, downgrading Gaussians to Dirac-type trajectories. This allows for the combination of Monte-Carlo-based strategies for the sampling of densities and coherences in multidimensional problems with deterministic treatment of nonadiabatic effects. Numerical examples demonstrate the application of the method to spin-boson systems in different dimensionality. Nonadiabatic effects occurring at conical intersections are treated in the diabatic representation. By decreasing the global tolerance, the numerical solution obtained from the TRAIL scheme are shown to converge towards exact results.

Singular solution of the Feller diffusion equation via a spectral decomposition.

PubMed

Gan, Xinjun; Waxman, David

2015-01-01

Feller studied a branching process and found that the distribution for this process approximately obeys a diffusion equation [W. Feller, in Proceedings of the Second Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1951), pp. 227-246]. This diffusion equation and its generalizations play an important role in many scientific problems, including, physics, biology, finance, and probability theory. We work under the assumption that the fundamental solution represents a probability density and should account for all of the probability in the problem. Thus, under the circumstances where the random process can be irreversibly absorbed at the boundary, this should lead to the presence of a Dirac delta function in the fundamental solution at the boundary. However, such a feature is not present in the standard approach (Laplace transformation). Here we require that the total integrated probability is conserved. This yields a fundamental solution which, when appropriate, contains a term proportional to a Dirac delta function at the boundary. We determine the fundamental solution directly from the diffusion equation via spectral decomposition. We obtain exact expressions for the eigenfunctions, and when the fundamental solution contains a Dirac delta function at the boundary, every eigenfunction of the forward diffusion operator contains a delta function. We show how these combine to produce a weight of the delta function at the boundary which ensures the total integrated probability is conserved. The solution we present covers cases where parameters are time dependent, thereby greatly extending its applicability.

Fully adaptive propagation of the quantum-classical Liouville equation.

PubMed

Horenko, Illia; Weiser, Martin; Schmidt, Burkhard; Schütte, Christof

2004-05-15

In mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics few but important degrees of freedom of a dynamical system are modeled quantum-mechanically while the remaining ones are treated within the classical approximation. Rothe methods established in the theory of partial differential equations are used to control both temporal and spatial discretization errors on grounds of a global tolerance criterion. The TRAIL (trapezoidal rule for adaptive integration of Liouville dynamics) scheme [I. Horenko and M. Weiser, J. Comput. Chem. 24, 1921 (2003)] has been extended to account for nonadiabatic effects in molecular dynamics described by the quantum-classical Liouville equation. In the context of particle methods, the quality of the spatial approximation of the phase-space distributions is maximized while the numerical condition of the least-squares problem for the parameters of particles is minimized. The resulting dynamical scheme is based on a simultaneous propagation of moving particles (Gaussian and Dirac deltalike trajectories) in phase space employing a fully adaptive strategy to upgrade Dirac to Gaussian particles and, vice versa, downgrading Gaussians to Dirac-type trajectories. This allows for the combination of Monte-Carlo-based strategies for the sampling of densities and coherences in multidimensional problems with deterministic treatment of nonadiabatic effects. Numerical examples demonstrate the application of the method to spin-boson systems in different dimensionality. Nonadiabatic effects occurring at conical intersections are treated in the diabatic representation. By decreasing the global tolerance, the numerical solution obtained from the TRAIL scheme are shown to converge towards exact results.

New quantum number for the many-electron Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Komorovsky, Stanislav; Repisky, Michal; Bučinský, Lukáš

2016-11-01

By breaking the spin symmetry in the relativistic domain, a powerful tool in physical sciences was lost. In this work, we examine an alternative of spin symmetry for systems described by the many-electron Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian. We show that the square of many-electron operator K+, defined as a sum of individual single-electron time-reversal (TR) operators, is a linear Hermitian operator which commutes with the Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian in a finite Fock subspace. In contrast to the square of a standard unitary many-electron TR operator K , the K+2 has a rich eigenspectrum having potential to substitute spin symmetry in the relativistic domain. We demonstrate that K+ is connected to K through an exponential mapping, in the same way as spin operators are mapped to the spin rotational group. Consequently, we call K+ the generator of the many-electron TR symmetry. By diagonalizing the operator K+2 in the basis of Kramers-restricted Slater determinants, we introduce the relativistic variant of configuration state functions (CSF), denoted as Kramers CSF. A new quantum number associated with K+2 has potential to be used in many areas, for instance, (a) to design effective spin Hamiltonians for electron spin resonance spectroscopy of heavy-element containing systems; (b) to increase efficiency of methods for the solution of many-electron problems in relativistic computational chemistry and physics; (c) to define Kramers contamination in unrestricted density functional and Hartree-Fock theory as a relativistic analog of the spin contamination in the nonrelativistic domain.

Singular solution of the Feller diffusion equation via a spectral decomposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan, Xinjun; Waxman, David

2015-01-01

Feller studied a branching process and found that the distribution for this process approximately obeys a diffusion equation [W. Feller, in Proceedings of the Second Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1951), pp. 227-246]. This diffusion equation and its generalizations play an important role in many scientific problems, including, physics, biology, finance, and probability theory. We work under the assumption that the fundamental solution represents a probability density and should account for all of the probability in the problem. Thus, under the circumstances where the random process can be irreversibly absorbed at the boundary, this should lead to the presence of a Dirac delta function in the fundamental solution at the boundary. However, such a feature is not present in the standard approach (Laplace transformation). Here we require that the total integrated probability is conserved. This yields a fundamental solution which, when appropriate, contains a term proportional to a Dirac delta function at the boundary. We determine the fundamental solution directly from the diffusion equation via spectral decomposition. We obtain exact expressions for the eigenfunctions, and when the fundamental solution contains a Dirac delta function at the boundary, every eigenfunction of the forward diffusion operator contains a delta function. We show how these combine to produce a weight of the delta function at the boundary which ensures the total integrated probability is conserved. The solution we present covers cases where parameters are time dependent, thereby greatly extending its applicability.

Cubic Dirac fermions in quasi-one-dimensional transition-metal chalcogenide semimetals immune to Peierls distortion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Qihang; Zunger, Alex

A Cubic Dirac Fermion in condensed-matter physics refers to a band crossing in periodic solids that has 4-fold degeneracy with cubic dispersions in certain directions. Such a crystalline symmetry induced fermion is composed of 6 Weyl fermions where 3 have left-handed and 3 have right-handed chirality, and constitutes one of the ``new fermions'' that have no counterpart in high-energy physics. However, no prediction has yet pointed to a plausible example of a material candidate hosting such a cubically-dispersed Dirac semimetal (CDSM). Here we establish the design principles for CDSM finding that only 2 out of 230 space groups possess the required symmetry elements. Adding the required band occupancy criteria, we conduct a material search using density functional band theory identifying a group of quasi-one-dimensional molybdenum chalcogenide compounds A(MoX)3 (A = Na, K, Rb, In, Tl; X = S, Se, Te) with space group P63/m as ideal CDSM candidates. Studying the stability of the A(MoX)3 family towards a Peierls distortion reveals a few candidates such as Rb(MoTe)3 and Tl(MoTe)3 that are resilliant to Peierls distortion, thus retaining the metallic character. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division under Grant No. DE-FG02-13ER46959 to University of Colorado, Boulder.

Quantum Reflection of Massless Neutrinos from a Torsion-Induced Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alimohammadi, M.; Shariati, A.

In the context of the Einstein-Cartan-Dirac model, where the torsion of the space-time couples to the axial currents of the fermions, we study the effects of this quantum-gravitational interaction on a massless neutrino beam crossing through a medium with a high number density of fermions at rest. We calculate the reflection amplitude and show that a specific fraction of the incident neutrinos reflects from this potential if the polarization of the medium is different from zero. We also discuss the order of magnitude of the fermionic number density in which this phenomenon is observable, in other theoretical contexts, for example, the strong gravity regime and the effective field theory approach.

Random hopping fermions on bipartite lattices: density of states, inverse participation ratios, and their correlations in a strong disorder regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Hiroki; Fukui, Takahiro

2004-02-01

We study Anderson localization of non-interacting random hopping fermions on bipartite lattices in two dimensions, focusing our attention to strong disorder features of the model. We concentrate ourselves on specific models with a linear dispersion in the vicinity of the band center, which can be described by a Dirac fermion in the continuum limit. Based on the recent renormalization group method developed by Carpentier and Le Doussal for the XY gauge glass model, we calculate the density of states, inverse participation ratios, and their spatial correlations. It turns out that their behavior is quite different from those expected within naive weak disorder approaches.

Water in the presence of inert Lennard-Jones obstacles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurtjak, Mario; Urbic, Tomaz

2014-04-01

Water confined by the presence of a 'sea' of inert obstacles was examined. In the article, freely mobile two-dimensional Mercedes-Benz (MB) water put to a disordered, but fixed, matrix of Lennard-Jones disks was studied by the Monte Carlo computer simulations. For the MB water molecules in the matrix of Lennard-Jones disks, we explored the structures, hydrogen-bond-network formation and thermodynamics as a function of temperature and size and density of matrix particles. We found that the structure of model water is perturbed by the presence of the obstacles. Density of confined water, which was in equilibrium with the bulk water, was smaller than the density of the bulk water and the temperature dependence of the density of absorbed water did not show the density anomaly in the studied temperature range. The behaviour observed as a consequence of confinement is similar to that of increasing temperature, which can for a matrix lead to a process similar to capillary evaporation. At the same occupancy of space, smaller matrix molecules cause higher destruction effect on the absorbed water molecules than the bigger ones. We have also tested the hypothesis that at low matrix densities the obstacles induce an increased ordering and 'hydrogen bonding' of the MB model molecules, relative to pure fluid, while at high densities the obstacles reduce MB water structuring, as they prevent the fluid to form good 'hydrogen-bonding' networks. However, for the size of matrix molecules similar to that of water, we did not observe this effect.

A beautiful sea: P. A. M. Dirac's epistemology and ontology of the vacuum.

PubMed

Wright, Aaron Sidney

2016-07-01

This paper charts P.A.M. Dirac's development of his theory of the electron, and its radical picture of empty space as an almost-full plenum. Dirac's Quantum Electrodynamics famously accomplished more than the unification of special relativity and quantum mechanics. It also accounted for the 'duplexity phenomena' of spectral line splitting that we now attribute to electron spin. But the extra mathematical terms that allowed for spin were not alone, and this paper charts Dirac's struggle to ignore or account for them as a sea of strange, negative-energy, particles with positive 'holes'. This work was not done in solitude, but rather in exchanges with Dirac's correspondence network. This social context for Dirac's work contests his image as a lone genius, and documents a community wrestling with the ontological consequences of their work. Unification, consistency, causality, and community are common factors in explanations in the history of physics. This paper argues on the basis of materials in Dirac's archive that --- in addition --- mathematical beauty was an epistemological factor in the development of the electron and hole theory. In fact, if we believe that Dirac's beautiful mathematics captures something of the world, then there is both an epistemology and an ontology of mathematical beauty.

Hidden symmetries of Eisenhart-Duval lift metrics and the Dirac equation with flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cariglia, Marco

2012-10-01

The Eisenhart-Duval lift allows embedding nonrelativistic theories into a Lorentzian geometrical setting. In this paper we study the lift from the point of view of the Dirac equation and its hidden symmetries. We show that dimensional reduction of the Dirac equation for the Eisenhart-Duval metric in general gives rise to the nonrelativistic Lévy-Leblond equation in lower dimension. We study in detail in which specific cases the lower dimensional limit is given by the Dirac equation, with scalar and vector flux, and the relation between lift, reduction, and the hidden symmetries of the Dirac equation. While there is a precise correspondence in the case of the lower dimensional massive Dirac equation with no flux, we find that for generic fluxes it is not possible to lift or reduce all solutions and hidden symmetries. As a by-product of this analysis, we construct new Lorentzian metrics with special tensors by lifting Killing-Yano and closed conformal Killing-Yano tensors and describe the general conformal Killing-Yano tensor of the Eisenhart-Duval lift metrics in terms of lower dimensional forms. Last, we show how, by dimensionally reducing the higher dimensional operators of the massless Dirac equation that are associated with shared hidden symmetries, it is possible to recover hidden symmetry operators for the Dirac equation with flux.

Spatial fluctuations of helical Dirac fermions on the surface of topological insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beidenkopf, Haim

2013-03-01

Strong topological insulators are materials that host exotic states on their surfaces due to a topological band inversion in their bulk band structure. These surface states have Dirac dispersion as if they were massless relativistic particles, and are assured to remain metallic by time reversal symmetry. The helical spin texture associated with the Dirac dispersion prohibits backscattering, which we have imaged using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopic mappings. This topological protection can be lifted by time-reversal breaking perturbations that induce a gap at the Dirac point and cant the helical spin texture. Massive Dirac electrons had been visualized by angular resolved photo emission spectroscopy in magnetically doped topological insulators. While we do not identify a gapped spectrum in our STM measurements of similar compounds, we do find a dominating electrostatic response to the charged content of those dopants. In their presence the Dirac spectrum exhibits strong spatial fluctuations. As a result translational invariance is broken over a characteristic length scale and the Dirac-point energy is only locally defined. Possible global manifestations of these local fluctuations will be discussed, as well as alternative avenues for breaking time reversal symmetry while maintaining the integrity of the Dirac spectrum. This work was supported by NSF, NSF-MRSEC, and DARPA.

A Concise Introduction to Quantum Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swanson, Mark S.

2018-02-01

Assuming a background in basic classical physics, multivariable calculus, and differential equations, A Concise Introduction to Quantum Mechanics provides a self-contained presentation of the mathematics and physics of quantum mechanics. The relevant aspects of classical mechanics and electrodynamics are reviewed, and the basic concepts of wave-particle duality are developed as a logical outgrowth of experiments involving blackbody radiation, the photoelectric effect, and electron diffraction. The Copenhagen interpretation of the wave function and its relation to the particle probability density is presented in conjunction with Fourier analysis and its generalization to function spaces. These concepts are combined to analyze the system consisting of a particle confined to a box, developing the probabilistic interpretation of observations and their associated expectation values. The Schrödinger equation is then derived by using these results and demanding both Galilean invariance of the probability density and Newtonian energy-momentum relations. The general properties of the Schrödinger equation and its solutions are analyzed, and the theory of observables is developed along with the associated Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Basic applications of wave mechanics are made to free wave packet spreading, barrier penetration, the simple harmonic oscillator, the Hydrogen atom, and an electric charge in a uniform magnetic field. In addition, Dirac notation, elements of Hilbert space theory, operator techniques, and matrix algebra are presented and used to analyze coherent states, the linear potential, two state oscillations, and electron diffraction. Applications are made to photon and electron spin and the addition of angular momentum, and direct product multiparticle states are used to formulate both the Pauli exclusion principle and quantum decoherence. The book concludes with an introduction to the rotation group and the general properties of angular momentum.

Data Mining for 3D Organic Dirac Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geilhufe, R. Matthias; Borysov, Stanislav S.; Bouhon, Adrien; Balatsky, Alexander V.

The study of Dirac materials, i.e. materials where the low-energy fermionic excitations behave as massless Dirac particles has been of ongoing interest for more than two decades. Such massless Dirac fermions are characterized by a linear dispersion relation with respect to the particle momentum. A combined study using group theory and data mining within the Organic Materials Database leads to the discovery of stable Dirac-point nodes and Dirac line-nodes within the electronic band structure in the class of 3-dimensional organic crystals. The nodes are protected by crystalline symmetry. As a result of this study, we present band structure calculations and symmetry analysis for previously synthesized organic materials. In all these materials, the Dirac nodes are well separated within the energy and located near the Fermi surface, which opens up a possibility for their direct experimental observation. The authors acknowledge support by the US Department of Energy, BES E3B7, the swedish Research Council Grant No. 638-2013-9243, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and the European Research Council (FP/2207-2013)/ERC Grant Agreement No. DM-321031.

Electrodynamic properties of the semimetallic Dirac material SrMnB i2 : Two-carrier-model analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, H. J.; Park, Byung Cheol; Lee, Min-Cheol; Jeong, D. W.; Park, Joonbum; Kim, Jun Sung; Ji, Hyo Seok; Shim, J. H.; Kim, K. W.; Moon, S. J.; Kim, Hyeong-Do; Cho, Deok-Yong; Noh, T. W.

2017-10-01

The electrodynamics of free carriers in the semimetallic Dirac material SrMnB i2 was investigated using optical spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. Using a two-carrier-model analysis, the total free-carrier response was successfully decomposed into individual contributions from Dirac fermions and non-Dirac free carriers. Possible roles of chiral pseudospin, spin-orbit interaction (SOI), antiferromagnetism, and electron-phonon (e -p h ) coupling in the Dirac fermion transport were also addressed. The Dirac fermions possess a low scattering rate of ˜10 meV at low temperature and thereby experience coherent transport. However, at high temperatures, we observed that the Dirac fermion transport becomes significantly incoherent, possibly due to strong e -p h interactions. The SOI-induced gap and antiferromagnetism play minor roles in the electrodynamics of the free carriers in SrMnB i2 . We also observed a seemingly optical-gap-like feature near 120 meV, which emerges at low temperatures but becomes filled in with increasing temperature. This gap-filling phenomenon is ascribed to phonon-assisted indirect transitions promoted at high temperatures.

Spatial Charge Inhomogeneity and Defect States in Topological Dirac Semimetal Thin Films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edmonds, Mark; Collins, James; Hellerstedt, Jack; Yudhistira, Indra; Rodrigues, Joao Nuno Barbosa; Gomes, Lidia Carvalho; Adam, Shaffique; Fuhrer, Michael

Dirac materials are characterized by a charge neutrality point, where the system breaks into electron/hole puddles. In graphene, substrate disorder drives fluctuations in EF, necessitating ultra-clean substrates to observe Dirac point physics. Three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetals (TDS) obviate the substrate, and should show reduced EF fluctuations due to better metallic screening and higher dielectric constants. Yet, the local response of the charge carriers in a TDS to various perturbations has yet to be explored. Here we map the potential fluctuations in TDS 20nm Na3Bi films grown via MBE using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. The potential fluctuations are significantly smaller than room temperature (ΔEF 5 meV = 60 K) and comparable to the highest quality graphene on h-BN; far smaller than graphene on SiO2,or the Dirac surface state of a topological insulator. This observation bodes well for exploration of Dirac point physics in TDS materials. Furthermore, surface Na vacancies show a bound resonance state close to the Dirac point with large spatial extent, a possible analogue to resonant impurities in graphene.

First-Principles Prediction of Spin-Polarized Multiple Dirac Rings in Manganese Fluoride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiao, Yalong; Ma, Fengxian; Zhang, Chunmei; Bell, John; Sanvito, Stefano; Du, Aijun

2017-07-01

Spin-polarized materials with Dirac features have sparked great scientific interest due to their potential applications in spintronics. But such a type of structure is very rare and none has been fabricated. Here, we investigate the already experimentally synthesized manganese fluoride (MnF3 ) as a novel spin-polarized Dirac material by using first-principles calculations. MnF3 exhibits multiple Dirac cones in one spin orientation, while it behaves like a large gap semiconductor in the other spin channel. The estimated Fermi velocity for each cone is of the same order of magnitude as that in graphene. The 3D band structure further reveals that MnF3 possesses rings of Dirac nodes in the Brillouin zone. Such a spin-polarized multiple Dirac ring feature is reported for the first time in an experimentally realized material. Moreover, similar band dispersions can be also found in other transition metal fluorides (e.g., CoF3 , CrF3 , and FeF3 ). Our results highlight a new interesting single-spin Dirac material with promising applications in spintronics and information technologies.

First-Principles Prediction of Spin-Polarized Multiple Dirac Rings in Manganese Fluoride.

PubMed

Jiao, Yalong; Ma, Fengxian; Zhang, Chunmei; Bell, John; Sanvito, Stefano; Du, Aijun

2017-07-07

Spin-polarized materials with Dirac features have sparked great scientific interest due to their potential applications in spintronics. But such a type of structure is very rare and none has been fabricated. Here, we investigate the already experimentally synthesized manganese fluoride (MnF_{3}) as a novel spin-polarized Dirac material by using first-principles calculations. MnF_{3} exhibits multiple Dirac cones in one spin orientation, while it behaves like a large gap semiconductor in the other spin channel. The estimated Fermi velocity for each cone is of the same order of magnitude as that in graphene. The 3D band structure further reveals that MnF_{3} possesses rings of Dirac nodes in the Brillouin zone. Such a spin-polarized multiple Dirac ring feature is reported for the first time in an experimentally realized material. Moreover, similar band dispersions can be also found in other transition metal fluorides (e.g., CoF_{3}, CrF_{3}, and FeF_{3}). Our results highlight a new interesting single-spin Dirac material with promising applications in spintronics and information technologies.

Kohn-Sham potentials from electron densities using a matrix representation within finite atomic orbital basis sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xing; Carter, Emily A.

2018-01-01

We revisit the static response function-based Kohn-Sham (KS) inversion procedure for determining the KS effective potential that corresponds to a given target electron density within finite atomic orbital basis sets. Instead of expanding the potential in an auxiliary basis set, we directly update the potential in its matrix representation. Through numerical examples, we show that the reconstructed density rapidly converges to the target density. Preliminary results are presented to illustrate the possibility of obtaining a local potential in real space from the optimized potential in its matrix representation. We have further applied this matrix-based KS inversion approach to density functional embedding theory. A proof-of-concept study of a solvated proton transfer reaction demonstrates the method's promise.

Wave Functions for Time-Dependent Dirac Equation under GUP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Meng-Yao; Long, Chao-Yun; Long, Zheng-Wen

2018-04-01

In this work, the time-dependent Dirac equation is investigated under generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) framework. It is possible to construct the exact solutions of Dirac equation when the time-dependent potentials satisfied the proper conditions. In (1+1) dimensions, the analytical wave functions of the Dirac equation under GUP have been obtained for the two kinds time-dependent potentials. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11565009

Seesaw roadmap to neutrino mass and dark matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Centelles Chuliá, Salvador; Srivastava, Rahul; Valle, José W. F.

2018-06-01

We describe the many pathways to generate Majorana and Dirac neutrino mass through generalized dimension-5 operators a la Weinberg. The presence of new scalars beyond the Standard Model Higgs doublet implies new possible field contractions, which are required in the case of Dirac neutrinos. We also notice that, in the Dirac neutrino case, the extra symmetries needed to ensure the Dirac nature of neutrinos can also be made responsible for stability of dark matter.

On the spring and mass of the Dirac oscillator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crawford, James P.

1993-01-01

The Dirac oscillator is a relativistic generalization of the quantum harmonic oscillator. In particular, the square of the Hamiltonian for the Dirac oscillator yields the Klein-Gordon equation with a potential of the form: (ar(sub 2) + b(L x S)), where a and b are constants. To obtain the Dirac oscillator, a 'minimal substitution' is made in the Dirac equation, where the ordinary derivative is replaced with a covariant derivative. However, an unusual feature of the covariant derivative in this case is that the potential is a non-trivial element of the Clifford algebra. A theory which naturally gives rise to gage potentials which are non-trivial elements of the Clifford algebra is that based on local automorphism invariance. An exact solution of the automorphism gage field equations which reproduces both the potential term and the mass term of the Dirac oscillator is presented.

Dirac structures in nonequilibrium thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gay-Balmaz, François; Yoshimura, Hiroaki

2018-01-01

Dirac structures are geometric objects that generalize both Poisson structures and presymplectic structures on manifolds. They naturally appear in the formulation of constrained mechanical systems. In this paper, we show that the evolution equations for nonequilibrium thermodynamics admit an intrinsic formulation in terms of Dirac structures, both on the Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian settings. In the absence of irreversible processes, these Dirac structures reduce to canonical Dirac structures associated with canonical symplectic forms on phase spaces. Our geometric formulation of nonequilibrium thermodynamic thus consistently extends the geometric formulation of mechanics, to which it reduces in the absence of irreversible processes. The Dirac structures are associated with the variational formulation of nonequilibrium thermodynamics developed in the work of Gay-Balmaz and Yoshimura, J. Geom. Phys. 111, 169-193 (2017a) and are induced from a nonlinear nonholonomic constraint given by the expression of the entropy production of the system.

Optical analogue of relativistic Dirac solitons in binary waveguide arrays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tran, Truong X., E-mail: truong.tran@mpl.mpg.de; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Günther-Scharowsky str. 1, 91058 Erlangen; Longhi, Stefano

2014-01-15

We study analytically and numerically an optical analogue of Dirac solitons in binary waveguide arrays in the presence of Kerr nonlinearity. Pseudo-relativistic soliton solutions of the coupled-mode equations describing dynamics in the array are analytically derived. We demonstrate that with the found soliton solutions, the coupled mode equations can be converted into the nonlinear relativistic 1D Dirac equation. This paves the way for using binary waveguide arrays as a classical simulator of quantum nonlinear effects arising from the Dirac equation, something that is thought to be impossible to achieve in conventional (i.e. linear) quantum field theory. -- Highlights: •An opticalmore » analogue of Dirac solitons in nonlinear binary waveguide arrays is suggested. •Analytical solutions to pseudo-relativistic solitons are presented. •A correspondence of optical coupled-mode equations with the nonlinear relativistic Dirac equation is established.« less

Observation of an anisotropic Dirac cone reshaping and ferrimagnetic spin polarization in an organic conductor

PubMed Central

Hirata, Michihiro; Ishikawa, Kyohei; Miyagawa, Kazuya; Tamura, Masafumi; Berthier, Claude; Basko, Denis; Kobayashi, Akito; Matsuno, Genki; Kanoda, Kazushi

2016-01-01

The Coulomb interaction among massless Dirac fermions in graphene is unscreened around the isotropic Dirac points, causing a logarithmic velocity renormalization and a cone reshaping. In less symmetric Dirac materials possessing anisotropic cones with tilted axes, the Coulomb interaction can provide still more exotic phenomena, which have not been experimentally unveiled yet. Here, using site-selective nuclear magnetic resonance, we find a non-uniform cone reshaping accompanied by a bandwidth reduction and an emergent ferrimagnetism in tilted Dirac cones that appear on the verge of charge ordering in an organic compound. Our theoretical analyses based on the renormalization-group approach and the Hubbard model show that these observations are the direct consequences of the long-range and short-range parts of the Coulomb interaction, respectively. The cone reshaping and the bandwidth renormalization, as well as the magnetic behaviour revealed here, can be ubiquitous and vital for many Dirac materials. PMID:27578363

Quantum Hall effect in a bulk antiferromagnet EuMnBi2 with magnetically confined two-dimensional Dirac fermions.

PubMed

Masuda, Hidetoshi; Sakai, Hideaki; Tokunaga, Masashi; Yamasaki, Yuichi; Miyake, Atsushi; Shiogai, Junichi; Nakamura, Shintaro; Awaji, Satoshi; Tsukazaki, Atsushi; Nakao, Hironori; Murakami, Youichi; Arima, Taka-hisa; Tokura, Yoshinori; Ishiwata, Shintaro

2016-01-01

For the innovation of spintronic technologies, Dirac materials, in which low-energy excitation is described as relativistic Dirac fermions, are one of the most promising systems because of the fascinating magnetotransport associated with extremely high mobility. To incorporate Dirac fermions into spintronic applications, their quantum transport phenomena are desired to be manipulated to a large extent by magnetic order in a solid. We report a bulk half-integer quantum Hall effect in a layered antiferromagnet EuMnBi2, in which field-controllable Eu magnetic order significantly suppresses the interlayer coupling between the Bi layers with Dirac fermions. In addition to the high mobility of more than 10,000 cm(2)/V s, Landau level splittings presumably due to the lifting of spin and valley degeneracy are noticeable even in a bulk magnet. These results will pave a route to the engineering of magnetically functionalized Dirac materials.

Face Centered Cubic SnSe as a Z2 Trivial Dirac Nodal Line Material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tateishi, Ikuma; Matsuura, Hiroyasu

2018-07-01

The presence of a Dirac nodal line in a time-reversal and inversion symmetric system is dictated by the Z2 index when spin-orbit interaction is absent. In a first principles calculation, we show that a Dirac nodal line can emerge in Z2 trivial material by calculating the band structure of SnSe in a face centered cubic lattice as an example. We qualitatively show that it becomes a topological crystalline insulator when spin-orbit interaction is taken into account. We clarify the origin of the Dirac nodal line by obtaining irreducible representations corresponding to bands and explain the triviality of the Z2 index. We construct an effective model representing the Dirac nodal line using the k · p method, and discuss the Berry phase and a surface state expected from the Dirac nodal line.

Graphene Dirac point tuned by ferroelectric polarization field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xudong; Chen, Yan; Wu, Guangjian; Wang, Jianlu; Tian, Bobo; Sun, Shuo; Shen, Hong; Lin, Tie; Hu, Weida; Kang, Tingting; Tang, Minghua; Xiao, Yongguang; Sun, Jinglan; Meng, Xiangjian; Chu, Junhao

2018-04-01

Graphene has received numerous attention for future nanoelectronics and optoelectronics. The Dirac point is a key parameter of graphene that provides information about its carrier properties. There are lots of methods to tune the Dirac point of graphene, such as chemical doping, impurities, defects, and disorder. In this study, we report a different approach to tune the Dirac point of graphene using a ferroelectric polarization field. The Dirac point can be adjusted to near the ferroelectric coercive voltage regardless its original position. We have ensured this phenomenon by temperature-dependent experiments, and analyzed its mechanism with the theory of impurity correlation in graphene. Additionally, with the modulation of ferroelectric polymer, the current on/off ratio and mobility of graphene transistor both have been improved. This work provides an effective method to tune the Dirac point of graphene, which can be readily used to configure functional devices such as p-n junctions and inverters.

Electron momentum density and Compton profile by a semi-empirical approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aguiar, Julio C.; Mitnik, Darío; Di Rocco, Héctor O.

2015-08-01

Here we propose a semi-empirical approach to describe with good accuracy the electron momentum densities and Compton profiles for a wide range of pure crystalline metals. In the present approach, we use an experimental Compton profile to fit an analytical expression for the momentum densities of the valence electrons. This expression is similar to a Fermi-Dirac distribution function with two parameters, one of which coincides with the ground state kinetic energy of the free-electron gas and the other resembles the electron-electron interaction energy. In the proposed scheme conduction electrons are neither completely free nor completely bound to the atomic nucleus. This procedure allows us to include correlation effects. We tested the approach for all metals with Z=3-50 and showed the results for three representative elements: Li, Be and Al from high-resolution experiments.

On Schrödinger's bridge problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedland, S.

2017-11-01

In the first part of this paper we generalize Georgiou-Pavon's result that a positive square matrix can be scaled uniquely to a column stochastic matrix which maps a given positive probability vector to another given positive probability vector. In the second part we prove that a positive quantum channel can be scaled to another positive quantum channel which maps a given positive definite density matrix to another given positive definite density matrix using Brouwer's fixed point theorem. This result proves the Georgiou-Pavon conjecture for two positive definite density matrices, made in their recent paper. We show that the fixed points are unique for certain pairs of positive definite density matrices. Bibliography: 15 titles.

Tuning Electrostatic Potentials for Imaging the Quantum Properties of Massless Dirac Fermions in Graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Dillon

Graphene, a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice of sp 2-bonded carbon atoms, is renowned for its many extraordinary properties. Not only does it have an extremely high carrier mobility, exceptional mechanical strength, and fascinating optical behavior, graphene additionally has an interesting energy-momentum relationship that is emergent from its space group symmetry. Graphene's low-energy electronic excitations consist of quasiparticles whose energies disperse linearly with wavevector and obey a 2D massless Dirac equation with a modified speed of light. This fortuitous circumstance allows for the exploration of ultra-relativistic phenomena using conventional tabletop techniques common to solid state physics and material science. Here I discuss experiments that probe these ultra-relativistic effects via application of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) to graphene field-effect transistors (FETs) in proximity with charged impurities. The first part of this dissertation focuses on the ultra-relativistic Coulomb problem. Depending on the strength of the potential, the Coulomb problem for massless Dirac particles is divided into two regimes: the subcritical and the supercritical. The subcritical regime is characterized by an electron-hole asymmetry in the local density of states (LDOS) and, unlike in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, does not support bound states. In contrast, the supercritical regime hosts quasi-bound states that are analogous to "atomic collapse" orbits predicted to occur in atoms with nuclear charge Z > 170. By using an STM tip to directly position calcium (Ca) impurities on a graphene surface, we assembled "artificial nuclei" and observed a transition between the subcritical and supercritical regimes with increasing nuclear charge. We also investigated the screening of these charged impurities by massless Dirac fermions while varying the graphene carrier concentration with an electrostatic gate. The second part of this dissertation focuses on the ultra-relativistic harmonic oscillator. We developed a method for manipulating charged defects inside the boron nitride (BN) substrate underneath graphene to construct circular graphene p-n junctions. These p-n junctions were effectively quantum dots that electrostatically trapped graphene's relativistic charge carriers, and we imaged the interference patterns corresponding to this quantum confinement. The observed energy-level spectra in our p-n junctions closely matched a theoretical spectrum obtained by solving the 2D massless Dirac equation with a quadratic potential, allowing us to identify each observed state with principal and angular momentum quantum numbers. The results discussed here provide insight into fundamental aspects of relativistic quantum mechanics and into graphene properties pertinent to technological applications. In particular, graphene's response to electrostatic potentials determines the scope in which its charge carriers can be directed and harnessed for useful purposes. Furthermore, many of the results contained in this dissertation are expected to generalize to other Dirac materials.

Dirac mass generation from crystal symmetry breaking on the surfaces of topological crystalline insulators

DOE PAGES

Zeljkovic, Ilija; Okada, Yoshinori; Serbyn, Maksym; ...

2015-02-16

The tunability of topological surface states and controllable opening of the Dirac gap are of fundamental and practical interest in the field of topological materials. In the newly discovered topological crystalline insulators (TCIs), theory predicts that the Dirac node is protected by a crystalline symmetry and that the surface state electrons can acquire a mass if this symmetry is broken. Recent studies have detected signatures of a spontaneously generated Dirac gap in TCIs; however, the mechanism of mass formation remains elusive. In this work, we present scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) measurements of the TCI Pb 1-xSn xSe for a widemore » range of alloy compositions spanning the topological and non-topological regimes. The STM topographies reveal a symmetry-breaking distortion on the surface, which imparts mass to the otherwise massless Dirac electrons—a mechanism analogous to the long sought-after Higgs mechanism in particle physics. Interestingly, the measured Dirac gap decreases on approaching the trivial phase, whereas the magnitude of the distortion remains nearly constant. Our data and calculations reveal that the penetration depth of Dirac surface states controls the magnitude of the Dirac mass. At the limit of the critical composition, the penetration depth is predicted to go to infinity, resulting in zero mass, consistent with our measurements. Lastly, we discover the existence of surface states in the non-topological regime, which have the characteristics of gapped, double-branched Dirac fermions and could be exploited in realizing superconductivity in these materials.« less

Observation of cyclotron resonance and electron-phonon coupling in surface states of the bulk-insulating topological insulator Cu 0.02Bi 2Se 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Liang; Tse, Wang-Kong; Morris, C. M.

2015-02-05

We have utilized magneto-optical time-domain spectroscopy to investigate the low frequency optical response of topological insulator Cu 0.02Bi 2Se 3 and Bi 2Se 3 films. With both field and frequency depedence, such experiments give sufficient information to measure the mobility and carrier density of multiple conduction channels simultaneously. We observe sharp cyclotron resonances (CRs) in both samples. The small amount of Cu substitution into the Cu 0.02Bi 2Se 3 induces a true bulk insulator with only a single conduction channel with total sheet carrier density 4.9 x 10 12/cm 2 and mobility as large as 4000 cm 2/V s. Thismore » is consistent with pure topological surface state (TSSs) conduction with a chemical potential 150 meV above the Dirac point. Hence, a true topological insulator with an insulating bulk is realized. The CR broadens at high fields, an e ect that we attribute to an electron-phonon interaction. This assignment is supported by an extended Drude model analysis on the zero field data. In contrast to Cu 0.02Bi 2Se 3, two charge channels were observed in normal Bi 2Se 3 films. We demonstrate a method to distinguish between the dominant TSSs and trivial bulk/2DEG states. The dominant channel exhibits a CR with a carrier density of ~2.0 x 10 13/cm 2 and mobility ~3200 cm 2/V s, consistent with TSSs with a chemical potential ~350meV above the Dirac point.« less

Stable solitary waves in super dense plasmas at external magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghaani, Azam; Javidan, Kurosh; Sarbishaei, Mohsen

2015-07-01

Propagation of localized waves in a Fermi-Dirac distributed super dense matter at the presence of strong external magnetic fields is studied using the reductive perturbation method. We have shown that stable solitons can be created in such non-relativistic fluids in the presence of an external magnetic field. Such solitary waves are governed by the Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) equation. Properties of solitonic solutions are studied in media with different values of background mass density and strength of magnetic field.

Modulation Doped GaAs/Al sub xGA sub (1-x)As Layered Structures with Applications to Field Effect Transistors.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-02-15

function of the doping density at 300 and 77 K for the classical Boltzmann statistics or depletion approximation (solid line) and for the approximate...Fermi-Dirac statistics (equation (19) dotted line)• This comparison demonstrates that the deviation from Boltzmann statistics is quite noticeable...tunneling Schottky barriers cannot be obtained at these doping levels. The dotted lines are obtained when Boltzmann statistics are used in the Al Ga

Excitation energies from range-separated time-dependent density and density matrix functional theory.

PubMed

Pernal, Katarzyna

2012-05-14

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) in the adiabatic formulation exhibits known failures when applied to predicting excitation energies. One of them is the lack of the doubly excited configurations. On the other hand, the time-dependent theory based on a one-electron reduced density matrix functional (time-dependent density matrix functional theory, TD-DMFT) has proven accurate in determining single and double excitations of H(2) molecule if the exact functional is employed in the adiabatic approximation. We propose a new approach for computing excited state energies that relies on functionals of electron density and one-electron reduced density matrix, where the latter is applied in the long-range region of electron-electron interactions. A similar approach has been recently successfully employed in predicting ground state potential energy curves of diatomic molecules even in the dissociation limit, where static correlation effects are dominating. In the paper, a time-dependent functional theory based on the range-separation of electronic interaction operator is rigorously formulated. To turn the approach into a practical scheme the adiabatic approximation is proposed for the short- and long-range components of the coupling matrix present in the linear response equations. In the end, the problem of finding excitation energies is turned into an eigenproblem for a symmetric matrix. Assignment of obtained excitations is discussed and it is shown how to identify double excitations from the analysis of approximate transition density matrix elements. The proposed method used with the short-range local density approximation (srLDA) and the long-range Buijse-Baerends density matrix functional (lrBB) is applied to H(2) molecule (at equilibrium geometry and in the dissociation limit) and to Be atom. The method accounts for double excitations in the investigated systems but, unfortunately, the accuracy of some of them is poor. The quality of the other excitations is in general much better than that offered by TD-DFT-LDA or TD-DMFT-BB approximations if the range-separation parameter is properly chosen. The latter remains an open problem.

Fermi field and Dirac oscillator in a Som-Raychaudhuri space-time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Montigny, Marc; Zare, Soroush; Hassanabadi, Hassan

2018-05-01

We investigate the relativistic dynamics of a Dirac field in the Som-Raychaudhuri space-time, which is described by a Gödel-type metric and a stationary cylindrical symmetric solution of Einstein field equations for a charged dust distribution in rigid rotation. In order to analyze the effect of various physical parameters of this space-time, we solve the Dirac equation in the Som-Raychaudhuri space-time and obtain the energy levels and eigenfunctions of the Dirac operator by using the Nikiforov-Uvarov method. We also examine the behaviour of the Dirac oscillator in the Som-Raychaudhuri space-time, in particular, the effect of its frequency and the vorticity parameter.

Decay Rates and Probability Estimatesfor Massive Dirac Particlesin the Kerr-Newman Black Hole Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finster, F.; Kamran, N.; Smoller, J.; Yau, S.-T.

The Cauchy problem is considered for the massive Dirac equation in the non-extreme Kerr-Newman geometry, for smooth initial data with compact support outside the event horizon and bounded angular momentum. We prove that the Dirac wave function decays in L∞ {loc} at least at the rate t-5/6. For generic initial data, this rate of decay is sharp. We derive a formula for the probability p that the Dirac particle escapes to infinity. For various conditions on the initial data, we show that p = 0, 1 or 0 < p < 1. The proofs are based on a refined analysis of the Dirac propagator constructed in [4].

Non-Existence of Black Hole Solutionsfor a Spherically Symmetric, Static Einstein-Dirac-Maxwell System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finster, Felix; Smoller, Joel; Yau, Shing-Tung

We consider for j=1/2, 3/2,... a spherically symmetric, static system of (2j+1) Dirac particles, each having total angular momentum j. The Dirac particles interact via a classical gravitational and electromagnetic field. The Einstein-Dirac-Maxwell equations for this system are derived. It is shown that, under weak regularity conditions on the form of the horizon, the only black hole solutions of the EDM equations are the Reissner-Nordstrom solutions. In other words, the spinors must vanish identically. Applied to the gravitational collapse of a "cloud" of spin-1/2-particles to a black hole, our result indicates that the Dirac particles must eventually disappear inside the event horizon.

Application of the dual-kinetic-balance sets in the relativistic many-body problem of atomic structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beloy, Kyle; Derevianko, Andrei

2008-09-01

The dual-kinetic-balance (DKB) finite basis set method for solving the Dirac equation for hydrogen-like ions [V.M. Shabaev et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 (2004) 130405] is extended to problems with a non-local spherically-symmetric Dirac-Hartree-Fock potential. We implement the DKB method using B-spline basis sets and compare its performance with the widely-employed approach of Notre Dame (ND) group [W.R. Johnson, S.A. Blundell, J. Sapirstein, Phys. Rev. A 37 (1988) 307-315]. We compare the performance of the ND and DKB methods by computing various properties of Cs atom: energies, hyperfine integrals, the parity-non-conserving amplitude of the 6s-7s transition, and the second-order many-body correction to the removal energy of the valence electrons. We find that for a comparable size of the basis set the accuracy of both methods is similar for matrix elements accumulated far from the nuclear region. However, for atomic properties determined by small distances, the DKB method outperforms the ND approach. In addition, we present a strategy for optimizing the size of the basis sets by choosing progressively smaller number of basis functions for increasingly higher partial waves. This strategy exploits suppression of contributions of high partial waves to typical many-body correlation corrections.

Information loss in effective field theory: Entanglement and thermal entropies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyanovsky, Daniel

2018-03-01

Integrating out high energy degrees of freedom to yield a low energy effective field theory leads to a loss of information with a concomitant increase in entropy. We obtain the effective field theory of a light scalar field interacting with heavy fields after tracing out the heavy degrees of freedom from the time evolved density matrix. The initial density matrix describes the light field in its ground state and the heavy fields in equilibrium at a common temperature T . For T =0 , we obtain the reduced density matrix in a perturbative expansion; it reveals an emergent mixed state as a consequence of the entanglement between light and heavy fields. We obtain the effective action that determines the time evolution of the reduced density matrix for the light field in a nonperturbative Dyson resummation of one-loop correlations of the heavy fields. The Von-Neumann entanglement entropy associated with the reduced density matrix is obtained for the nonresonant and resonant cases in the asymptotic long time limit. In the nonresonant case the reduced density matrix displays an incipient thermalization albeit with a wave-vector, time and coupling dependent effective temperature as a consequence of memory of initial conditions. The entanglement entropy is time independent and is the thermal entropy for this effective, nonequilibrium temperature. In the resonant case the light field fully thermalizes with the heavy fields, the reduced density matrix loses memory of the initial conditions and the entanglement entropy becomes the thermal entropy of the light field. We discuss the relation between the entanglement entropy ultraviolet divergences and renormalization.

The influence of hyaluronic acid hydrogel crosslinking density and macromolecular diffusivity on human MSC chondrogenesis and hypertrophy.

PubMed

Bian, Liming; Hou, Chieh; Tous, Elena; Rai, Reena; Mauck, Robert L; Burdick, Jason A

2013-01-01

Hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels formed via photocrosslinking provide stable 3D hydrogel environments that support the chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Crosslinking density has a significant impact on the physical properties of hydrogels, including their mechanical stiffness and macromolecular diffusivity. Variations in the HA hydrogel crosslinking density can be obtained by either changes in the HA macromer concentration (1, 3, or 5% w/v at 15 min exposure) or the extent of reaction through light exposure time (5% w/v at 5, 10, or 15 min). In this work, increased crosslinking by either method resulted in an overall decrease in cartilage matrix content and more restricted matrix distribution. Increased crosslinking also promoted hypertrophic differentiation of the chondrogenically induced MSCs, resulting in more matrix calcification in vitro. For example, type X collagen expression in the high crosslinking density 5% 15 min group was ~156 and 285% higher when compared to the low crosslinking density 1% 15 min and 5% 5 min groups on day 42, respectively. Supplementation with inhibitors of the small GTPase pathway involved in cytoskeletal tension or myosin II had no effect on hypertrophic differentiation and matrix calcification, indicating that the differential response is unlikely to be related to force-sensing mechanotransduction mechanisms. When implanted subcutaneously in nude mice, higher crosslinking density again resulted in reduced cartilage matrix content, restricted matrix distribution, and increased matrix calcification. This study demonstrates that hydrogel properties mediated through alterations in crosslinking density must be considered in the context of the hypertrophic differentiation of chondrogenically induced MSCs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

BOOK REVIEWS: Quantum Mechanics: Fundamentals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitaker, A.

2004-02-01

This review is of three books, all published by Springer, all on quantum theory at a level above introductory, but very different in content, style and intended audience. That of Gottfried and Yan is of exceptional interest, historical and otherwise. It is a second edition of Gottfried’s well-known book published by Benjamin in 1966. This was written as a text for a graduate quantum mechanics course, and has become one of the most used and respected accounts of quantum theory, at a level mathematically respectable but not rigorous. Quantum mechanics was already solidly established by 1966, but this second edition gives an indication of progress made and changes in perspective over the last thirty-five years, and also recognises the very substantial increase in knowledge of quantum theory obtained at the undergraduate level. Topics absent from the first edition but included in the second include the Feynman path integral, seen in 1966 as an imaginative but not very useful formulation of quantum theory. Feynman methods were given only a cursory mention by Gottfried. Their practical importance has now been fully recognised, and a substantial account of them is provided in the new book. Other new topics include semiclassical quantum mechanics, motion in a magnetic field, the S matrix and inelastic collisions, radiation and scattering of light, identical particle systems and the Dirac equation. A topic that was all but totally neglected in 1966, but which has flourished increasingly since, is that of the foundations of quantum theory. John Bell’s work of the mid-1960s has led to genuine theoretical and experimental achievement, which has facilitated the development of quantum optics and quantum information theory. Gottfried’s 1966 book played a modest part in this development. When Bell became increasingly irritated with the standard theoretical approach to quantum measurement, Viki Weisskopf repeatedly directed him to Gottfried’s book. Gottfried had devoted a chapter of his book to these matters, titled ‘The Measurement Process and the Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics’. Gottfried considered the von Neumann or Dirac ‘collapse of state-vector’ (or ‘reduction postulate’ or ‘projection postulate’) was unsatisfactory, as he argued that it led inevitably to the requirement to include ‘consciousness’ in the theory. He replaced this by a more mathematically and conceptually sophisticated treatment in which, following measurement, the density matrix of the correlated measured and measuring systems, rho, is replaced by hat rho, in which the interference terms from rho have been removed. rho represents a pure state, and hat rho a mixture, but Gottfried argued that they are ‘indistinguishable’, and that we may make our replacement, ‘safe in the knowledge that the error will never be found’. Now our combined state is represented as a mixture, it is intuitive, Gottfried argued, to interpret it in a probabilistic way, |cm|2 being the probability of obtaining the mth measurement result. Bell liked Gottfried’s treatment little more than the cruder ‘collapse’ idea of von Neumann, and when, shortly before Bell’s death, his polemical article ‘Against measurement’ was published in the August 1990 issue of Physics World (pages 33-40), his targets included, not only Landau and Lifshitz’s classic Quantum Mechanics, pilloried for its advocacy of old-fashioned collapse, and a paper by van Kampen in Physica, but also Gottfried’s approach. Bell regarded his replacement of rho by hat rho as a ‘butchering’ of the density matrix, and considered, in any case, that even the butchered density matrix should represent co-existence of different terms, not a set of probabilities. Gottfried has replied to Bell ( Physics World, October 1991, pages 34-40; Nature 405, 533-36 (2000)). He has also become a major commentator on Bell’s work, for example editing the section on quantum foundations in the World Scientific edition of Bell’s collected works. Thus it is exceedingly interesting to discover how he has responded to Bell’s criticisms in the new edition of the book. To commence with general discussion of the new book, the authors recognise that the graduate student of today almost certainly has substantial experience of wave mechanics, and is probably familiar with the Dirac formalism. The 1966 edition had what seems, at least in retrospect, a relatively soft opening covering the basic ideas of wave mechanics and a substantial number of applications; it did not reach the Dirac formalism in the first two hundred pages, though it then moved on to tackle rather advanced topics, including a very substantial section on symmetries, which tackled a range of sophisticated issues. The new edition has been almost entirely rewritten; even at the level of basic text, it is difficult to trace sentences or paragraphs that have moved unscathed from one edition to the next. As well as the new topics, many of the old ones are discussed in much greater depth, and the general organisation is entirely different. As compared with the steady rise in level of the 1966 edition, the level of this book is fairly consistent throughout, and from the perspective of a beginning graduate student, I would estimate, a little tough. A brief introductory chapter gives a useful, though not particularly straightforward, discussion of complementarity, uncertainty and superposition, and concludes with an informative though very short summary of the discovery of quantum mechanics, together with a few nice photographs of some of its founders. There follow two substantial chapters which are preparation for the later study of actual systems. The first, called ‘The Formal Framework’ is a fairly comprehensive survey of the methods of quantum theory---Hilbert space, Dirac notation, mixtures, the density matrix, entanglement, canonical quantization, equations of motion, symmetries, conservation laws, propagators, Green’s functions, semiclassical quantum mechanics. The level of mathematical rigour is stated as ‘typical of the bulk of theoretical physics literature---slovenly’; those unhappy with this are directed to the well-known books of Jordan and Thirring. The next chapter---‘Basic Tools’---explains a set of topics which students will need to use when studying particular systems---angular momentum and its addition, free particles, the two-body system, and the standard approximation techniques. There follow chapters on low-dimensional systems---harmonic oscillator, Aharanov--Bohm effect, one-dimensional scattering, WKB and so on; hydrogenic atoms---the Kepler problem, fine and hyperfine structure, Zeeman and Stark effects; and on two-electron atoms---spin and statistics. As in the first edition, there is a substantial treatment of symmetries, including time reversal, Galileo transformations, the rotation group, the Wigner-Eckart theorem and the Berry phase. There are two long chapters on scattering---elastic and inelastic respectively, including an account of the S matrix. The treatment of electrodynamics is much extended and modernised compared to that in the first edition. There are discussions of the quantization of the free field, causality and uncertainty in electrodynamics, vacuum fluctuations including the Casimir effect and the Lamb shift, and radiative transitions. There is a treatment of quantum optics, but this a only a brief introduction to a rapidly expanding subject, designed to facilitate understanding of the experiments on Bell’s inequalities discussed in the later chapter on interpretation. Other topics are the photoeffect in hydrogen, scattering of photons, resonant scattering and spontaneous decay. Identical particles are discussed, with a treatment of second quantization and an introduction to Bose--Einstein condensation, and the last chapter is a brief introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics, including the Dirac equation, the electromagnetic interaction of a Dirac particle, the scattering of ultra-relativistic electrons and a treatment of bound states in a Coulomb field. Gottfried and Yan’s response both to the growing interest in work on foundational matters in general, and to the specific criticism of Bell on the previous edition is included in the chapter entitled `Interpretation'. This chapter appears to be something of a hybrid. The first four sections broadly discuss hidden variables. An account of the Einstein--Podolsky--Rosen approach is followed by a general study of hidden variables, including a discussion of what the authors call the Bell--Kochen--Specker theorem. Bell’s theorem is analysed in some detail; also included are the Clauser--Horne inequality and the experimental test of the Bell inequality by Aspect. There is an interesting discussion of locality. Granted that both quantum mechanics and experiment (the latter admittedly with a remaining loophole) are in conflict with what the authors call a classical conception of locality as embodied in the Bell inequality, they ask whether quantum mechanics is actually non-local if one uses a definition of locality entailing no ingredients unknown to quantum mechanics. Their answer is that it is a matter of taste. In the statistical distribution of measurement outcomes on separate systems in entangled states, there is no hint of non-locality and no question of superluminal signalling. But quantum mechanics displays perfect correlations between distant outcomes, even though Bell’s theorem demonstrates that pre-existing values cannot be assumed. The second part of this chapter is a discussion of the measurement procedure similar to that in the first edition. The authors aim to show how measurement results are obtained and displayed, and how the appropriate probabilities are determined. The expression of this intention, however, is accompanied by the statement that they are not attempting to derive the statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics, which is assumed, but to examine whether it gives a consistent account of measurement. The conclusion is that after a measurement, interference terms are ‘effectively’ absent; the set of ‘one-to-one correlations between states of the apparatus and the object’ has the same form as that of everyday statistics and is thus a probability distribution. This probability distribution refers to potentialities, only one of which is actually realized in any one trial. Opinions may differ on whether their treatment is any less vulnerable to criticisms such as those of Bell. To sum up, Gottfried and Yan’s book contains a vast amount of knowledge and understanding. As well as explaining the way in which quantum theory works, it attempts to illuminate fundamental aspects of the theory. A typical example is the ‘fable’ elaborated in Gottfried’s article in Nature cited above, that if Newton were shown Maxwell’s equations and the Lorentz force law, he could deduce the meaning of E and B, but if Maxwell were shown Schrödinger’s equation, he could not deduce the meaning of Psi. For use with a well-constructed course (and, of course, this is the avowed purpose of the book; a useful range of problems is provided for each chapter), or for the relative expert getting to grips with particular aspects of the subject or aiming for a deeper understanding, the book is certainly ideal. It might be suggested, though, that, even compared to the first edition, the isolated learner might find the wide range of topics, and the very large number of mathematical and conceptual techniques, introduced in necessarily limited space, somewhat overwhelming. The second book under consideration, that of Schwabl, contains ‘Advanced’ elements of quantum theory; it is designed for a course following on from one for which Gottfried and Yan, or Schwabl’s own `Quantum Mechanics' might be recommended. It is the second edition in English, and is a translation of the third German edition. It has a restricted range of general topics, and consists of three parts entitled `Nonrelativistic Many-Particle Systems', `Relativistic Wave Equations', and `Relativistic Fields'. Thus it studies in some depth areas of physics which are either dealt with in an introductory fashion, or not reached at all, by Gottfried and Yan. Despite its more advanced level, this book may actually be the more accessible to an isolated learner, because the various aspects are developed in an unhurried fashion; the author remarks that ‘the inclusion of all mathematical steps and full presentation of intermediate calculations ensures ease of understanding’. Many useful student problems are included. The presentation is said to be rigorous, but again this is a book for the physicist rather than the mathematician. The treatment of many-particle systems begins with a rather general introduction to second quantization, and then applies this formalism to spin-1/2 fermions and bosons. The study of fermions includes consideration of the Fermi sphere, the electron gas, and the Hartree--Fock equations for atoms; that of bosons includes Bose--Einstein condensation, Bogoliubov theory of the weakly interacting Bose gas, and a brief account of superfluidity. The last section of this part of the book investigates in detail the dynamics of many-particle systems on a microscopic quantum-mechanical basis using, in particular, the dynamical correlation functions. In the second part which considers relativistic wave equations, the Klein--Gordon and Dirac equations are derived, and the Lorentz covariance of the Dirac equation is established. The role of angular momentum in relativistic quantum mechanics is explained, as a preliminary to the study of the energy levels in a Coulomb potential using both the Klein--Gordon and Dirac equations, the latter being solved exactly for the hydrogen atom. For larger atoms, the Foldy--Wouthuysen transformation is explained, and also relativistic corrections and the Lamb shift. There is an interesting chapter on the physical interpretation of the Dirac equation, including such topics as the negative energy solutions, the Zitterbewegung and the Klein paradox. The last chapter in this part of the book is an extensive treatment of the symmetries and other properties of the Dirac equation, including the behaviour under rotation, translation, reflection, charge conjugation and time reversal. Helicity is explained, and the behaviour of zero-mass fermions is discussed; even though it now seems certain that neutrinos do not have zero-mass, this treatment provides a good approximation to their behaviour if they have high enough momenta. The last section on relativistic fields contains chapters on the quantization of relativistic fields, the free Klein--Gordon and Dirac fields, quantization of the radiation field, interacting fields and quantum electrodynamics, including the S matrix, Wick’s theorem and Feynman diagrams. Schwabl’s book would be excellent for those requiring a detailed presentation of the topics it includes, at a level of rigour appropriate to the physicist. It includes a substantial number of interesting problems. The third book under consideration, that by Gustafson and Sigal is very different from the others. In academic level, at least the initial sections may actually be slightly lower; the book covers a one-term course taken by senior undergraduates or junior graduate students in mathematics or physics, and the initial chapters are on basic topics, such as the physical background, basic dynamics, observables and the uncertainty principle. However the level of mathematical sophistication is far higher than in the other books. While the mathematical prerequisites are modest---real and complex analysis, elementary differential equations and preferably Lebesgue integration, a third of the book is made up of what are called mathematical supplements---on operator adjoints, the Fourier transform, tensor products, the trace and trace class operators, the Trotter product formula, operator determinants, the calculus of variations (a substantial treatment in a full chapter), spectral projections, and the projecting-out procedure. On the basis of these supplements, the level of mathematical sophistication and difficulty is increased substantially in the middle section of the book, where the topics considered are many-particle systems, density matrices, positive temperatures, the Feynman path integral, and quasi-classical analysis, and there is a final substantial step for the concluding chapters on resonances, an introduction to quantum field theory, and quantum electrodynamics of non-relativistic particles. A supplementary chapter contains an interesting approach to the remormalization group due to Bach, Fröhlich and Sigal himself. This book is well-written, and the topics discussed have been well thought-out. It would provide a useful approach to quantum theory for the mathematician, and would also provide access for the physicist to some mathematically advanced methods and topics, but the physicist would definitely have to be prepared to work hard at the mathematics required.

Renormalization of Coulomb interactions in a system of two-dimensional tilted Dirac fermions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yu-Wen; Lee, Yu-Li

2018-01-01

We investigate the effects of long-ranged Coulomb interactions in a tilted Dirac semimetal in two dimensions by using the perturbative renormalization-group (RG) method. Depending on the magnitude of the tilting parameter, the undoped system can have either Fermi points (type I) or Fermi lines (type II). Previous studies usually performed the renormalization-group transformations by integrating out the modes with large momenta. This is problematic when the Fermi surface is open, like type-II Dirac fermions. In this work we study the effects of Coulomb interactions, following the spirit of Shankar [Rev. Mod. Phys. 66, 129 (1994), 10.1103/RevModPhys.66.129], by introducing a cutoff in the energy scale around the Fermi surface and integrating out the high-energy modes. For type-I Dirac fermions, our result is consistent with that of the previous work. On the other hand, we find that for type-II Dirac fermions, the magnitude of the tilting parameter increases monotonically with lowering energies. This implies the stability of type-II Dirac fermions in the presence of Coulomb interactions, in contrast with previous results. Furthermore, for type-II Dirac fermions, the velocities in different directions acquire different renormalization even if they have the same bare values. By taking into account the renormalization of the tilting parameter and the velocities due to the Coulomb interactions, we show that while the presence of a charged impurity leads only to charge redistribution around the impurity for type-I Dirac fermions, for type-II Dirac fermions, the impurity charge is completely screened, albeit with a very long screening length. The latter indicates that the temperature dependence of physical observables are essentially determined by the RG equations we derived. We illustrate this by calculating the temperature dependence of the compressibility and specific heat of the interacting tilted Dirac fermions.

Bulk Fermi Surfaces of the Dirac Type-II Semimetallic Candidates M Al3 (Where M =V , Nb, and Ta)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, K.-W.; Lian, X.; Lai, Y.; Aryal, N.; Chiu, Y.-C.; Lan, W.; Graf, D.; Manousakis, E.; Baumbach, R. E.; Balicas, L.

2018-05-01

We report a de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect study on the Dirac type-II semimetallic candidates M Al3 (where, M =V , Nb and Ta). The angular dependence of their Fermi surface (FS) cross-sectional areas reveals a remarkably good agreement with our first-principles calculations. Therefore, dHvA supports the existence of tilted Dirac cones with Dirac type-II nodes located at 100, 230 and 250 meV above the Fermi level ɛF for VAl3 , NbAl3 and TaAl3 respectively, in agreement with the prediction of broken Lorentz invariance in these compounds. However, for all three compounds we find that the cyclotron orbits on their FSs, including an orbit nearly enclosing the Dirac type-II node, yield trivial Berry phases. We explain this via an analysis of the Berry phase where the position of this orbit, relative to the Dirac node, is adjusted within the error implied by the small disagreement between our calculations and the experiments. We suggest that a very small amount of doping could displace ɛF to produce topologically nontrivial orbits encircling their Dirac node(s).

DIRAC3 - the new generation of the LHCb grid software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsaregorodtsev, A.; Brook, N.; Casajus Ramo, A.; Charpentier, Ph; Closier, J.; Cowan, G.; Graciani Diaz, R.; Lanciotti, E.; Mathe, Z.; Nandakumar, R.; Paterson, S.; Romanovsky, V.; Santinelli, R.; Sapunov, M.; Smith, A. C.; Seco Miguelez, M.; Zhelezov, A.

2010-04-01

DIRAC, the LHCb community Grid solution, was considerably reengineered in order to meet all the requirements for processing the data coming from the LHCb experiment. It is covering all the tasks starting with raw data transportation from the experiment area to the grid storage, data processing up to the final user analysis. The reengineered DIRAC3 version of the system includes a fully grid security compliant framework for building service oriented distributed systems; complete Pilot Job framework for creating efficient workload management systems; several subsystems to manage high level operations like data production and distribution management. The user interfaces of the DIRAC3 system providing rich command line and scripting tools are complemented by a full-featured Web portal providing users with a secure access to all the details of the system status and ongoing activities. We will present an overview of the DIRAC3 architecture, new innovative features and the achieved performance. Extending DIRAC3 to manage computing resources beyond the WLCG grid will be discussed. Experience with using DIRAC3 by other user communities than LHCb and in other application domains than High Energy Physics will be shown to demonstrate the general-purpose nature of the system.

Counter-diabatic driving for Dirac dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Qi-Zhen; Cheng, Xiao-Hang; Chen, Xi

2018-03-01

In this paper, we investigate the fast quantum control of Dirac equation dynamics by counter-diabatic driving, sharing the concept of shortcut to adiabaticity. We systematically calculate the counter-diabatic terms in different Dirac systems, like graphene and trapped ions. Specially, the fast and robust population inversion processes are achieved in Dirac system, taking into account the quantum simulation with trapped ions. In addition, the population transfer between two bands can be suppressed by counter-diabatic driving in graphene system, which might have potential applications in opt-electric devices.

Non-existence of time-periodic solutions of the Dirac equation in a Reissner-Nordström black hole background

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finster, Felix; Smoller, Joel; Yau, Shing-Tung

2000-04-01

It is shown analytically that the Dirac equation has no normalizable, time-periodic solutions in a Reissner-Nordström black hole background; in particular, there are no static solutions of the Dirac equation in such a background metric. The physical interpretation is that Dirac particles can either disappear into the black hole or escape to infinity, but they cannot stay on a periodic orbit around the black hole.

Magnetotransport study of Dirac fermions in YbMnBi 2 antiferromagnet

DOE PAGES

Wang, Aifeng; Zaliznyak, I.; Ren, Weijun; ...

2016-10-15

We report quantum transport and Dirac fermions in YbMnBi 2 single crystals. YbMnBi 2 is a layered material with anisotropic conductivity and magnetic order below 290 K. Magnetotransport properties, nonzero Berry phase, and small cyclotron mass indicate the presence of Dirac fermions. Lastly, angular-dependent magnetoresistance indicates a possible quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface, whereas the deviation from the nontrivial Berry phase expected for Dirac states suggests the contribution of parabolic bands at the Fermi level or spin-orbit coupling.

Matrix Methods for Estimating the Coherence Functions from Estimates of the Cross-Spectral Density Matrix

DOE PAGES

Smallwood, D. O.

1996-01-01

It is shown that the usual method for estimating the coherence functions (ordinary, partial, and multiple) for a general multiple-input! multiple-output problem can be expressed as a modified form of Cholesky decomposition of the cross-spectral density matrix of the input and output records. The results can be equivalently obtained using singular value decomposition (SVD) of the cross-spectral density matrix. Using SVD suggests a new form of fractional coherence. The formulation as a SVD problem also suggests a way to order the inputs when a natural physical order of the inputs is absent.

Digital quantum simulation of Dirac equation with a trapped ion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yangchao; Zhang, Xiang; Zhang, Junhua; Casanova, Jorge; Lamata, Lucas; Solano, Enrique; Yung, Man-Hong; Zhang, Jingning; Kim, Kihwan; Department Of Physical Chemistry Collaboration

2014-05-01

Recently there has been growing interest in simulating relativistic effects in controllable physical system. We digitally simulate the Dirac equation in 3 +1 dimensions with a single trapped ion. We map four internal levels of 171Yb+ ion to the Dirac bispinor. The time evolution of the Dirac equation is implemented by trotter expansion. In the 3 +1 dimension, we can observe a helicoidal motion of a free Dirac particle which reduces to Zitterbewegung in 1 +1 dimension. This work was supported in part by the National Basic Research Program of China Grant 2011CBA00300, 2011CBA00301, the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant 61033001, 61061130540. KK acknowledge the support from the recruitment program of global youth experts.

Evolution of magnetic Dirac bosons in a honeycomb lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boyko, D.; Balatsky, A. V.; Haraldsen, J. T.

2018-01-01

We examine the presence and evolution of magnetic Dirac nodes in the Heisenberg honeycomb lattice. Using linear spin theory, we evaluate the collinear phase diagram as well as the change in the spin dynamics with various exchange interactions. We show that the ferromagnetic structure produces bosonic Dirac and Weyl points due to the competition between the interactions. Furthermore, it is shown that the criteria for magnetic Dirac nodes are coupled to the magnetic structure and not the overall crystal symmetry, where the breaking of inversion symmetry greatly affects the antiferromagnetic configurations. The tunability of the nodal points through variation of the exchange parameters leads to the possibility of controlling Dirac symmetries through an external manipulation of the orbital interactions.

Magnetotransport in Layered Dirac Fermion System Coupled with Magnetic Moments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwasaki, Yoshiki; Morinari, Takao

2018-03-01

We theoretically investigate the magnetotransport of Dirac fermions coupled with localized moments to understand the physical properties of the Dirac material EuMnBi2. Using an interlayer hopping form, which simplifies the complicated interaction between the layers of Dirac fermions and the layers of magnetic moments in EuMnBi2, the theory reproduces most of the features observed in this system. The hysteresis observed in EuMnBi2 can be caused by the valley splitting that is induced by the spin-orbit coupling and the external magnetic field with the molecular field created by localized moments. Our theory suggests that the magnetotransport in EuMnBi2 is due to the interplay among Dirac fermions, localized moments, and spin-orbit coupling.

Use of Fermi-Dirac statistics for defects in solids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, R. A.

1981-12-01

The Fermi-Dirac distribution function is an approximation describing a special case of Boltzmann statistics. A general occupation probability formula is derived and a criterion given for the use of Fermi-Dirac statistics. Application to classical problems of defects in solids is discussed.

Nonlinear Dirac cones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bomantara, Raditya Weda; Zhao, Wenlei; Zhou, Longwen; Gong, Jiangbin

2017-09-01

Physics arising from two-dimensional (2D) Dirac cones has been a topic of great theoretical and experimental interest to studies of gapless topological phases and to simulations of relativistic systems. Such 2D Dirac cones are often characterized by a π Berry phase and are destroyed by a perturbative mass term. By considering mean-field nonlinearity in a minimal two-band Chern insulator model, we obtain a different type of Dirac cone that is robust to local perturbations without symmetry restrictions. Due to a different pseudospin texture, the Berry phase of the Dirac cone is no longer quantized in π , and can be continuously tuned as an order parameter. Furthermore, in an Aharonov-Bohm (AB) interference setup to detect such Dirac cones, the adiabatic AB phase is found to be π both theoretically and computationally, offering an observable topological invariant and a fascinating example where the Berry phase and AB phase are fundamentally different. We hence discover a nonlinearity-induced quantum phase transition from a known topological insulating phase to an unusual gapless topological phase.

Electric and magnetic superlattices in trilayer graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uddin, Salah; Chan, K. S.

2016-01-01

The properties of one dimensional Kronig-Penney type of periodic electric and vector potential on ABC-trilayer graphene superlattices are investigated. The energy spectra obtained with periodic vector potentials shows the emergence of extra Dirac points in the energy spectrum with finite energies. For identical barrier and well widths, the original as well as the extra Dirac points are located in the ky = 0 plane. An asymmetry between the barrier and well widths causes a shift in the extra Dirac points away from the ky = 0 plane. Extra Dirac points having same electron hole crossing energy as that of the original Dirac point as well as finite energy Dirac points are generated in the energy spectrum when periodic electric potential is applied to the system. By applying electric and vector potential together, the symmetry of the energy spectrum about the Fermi level is broken. A tunable band gap is induced in the energy spectrum by applying both electric and vector potential simultaneously with different barrier and well widths.

Photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers enabled by an accidental Dirac point

DOEpatents

Chua, Song Liang; Lu, Ling; Soljacic, Marin

2014-12-02

A photonic-crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) includes a gain medium electromagnetically coupled to a photonic crystal whose energy band structure exhibits a Dirac cone of linear dispersion at the center of the photonic crystal's Brillouin zone. This Dirac cone's vertex is called a Dirac point; because it is at the Brillouin zone center, it is called an accidental Dirac point. Tuning the photonic crystal's band structure (e.g., by changing the photonic crystal's dimensions or refractive index) to exhibit an accidental Dirac point increases the photonic crystal's mode spacing by orders of magnitudes and reduces or eliminates the photonic crystal's distributed in-plane feedback. Thus, the photonic crystal can act as a resonator that supports single-mode output from the PCSEL over a larger area than is possible with conventional PCSELs, which have quadratic band edge dispersion. Because output power generally scales with output area, this increase in output area results in higher possible output powers.

Topological edge states in ultra thin Bi(110) puckered crystal lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Baokai; Hsu, Chuanghan; Chang, Guoqing; Lin, Hsin; Bansil, Arun

We discuss the electronic structure of a 2-ML Bi(110) film with a crystal structure similar to that of black phosphorene. In the absence of Spin-Orbit coupling (SOC), the film is found to be a semimetal with two kinds of Dirac cones, which are classified by their locations in the Brillouin zone. All Dirac nodes are protected by crystal symmetry and carry non-zero winding numbers. When considering ribbons, along specific directions, projections of Dirac nodes serve as starting or ending points of edge bands depending on the sign of their carried winding number. After the inclusion of the SOC, all Dirac nodes are gapped out. Correspondingly, the edge states connecting Dirac nodes split and cross each other, and thus form a Dirac node at the boundary of the 1D Brillouin zone, which suggests that the system is a Quantum Spin Hall insulator. The nontrivial Quantum Spin Hall phase is also confirmed by counting the product of parities of the occupied bands at time-reversal invariant points.

C4N3H monolayer: A two-dimensional organic Dirac material with high Fermi velocity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Hongzhe; Zhang, Hongyu; Sun, Yuanyuan; Li, Jianfu; Du, Youwei; Tang, Nujiang

2017-11-01

Searching for two-dimensional (2D) organic Dirac materials, which have more adaptable practical applications compared with inorganic ones, is of great significance and has been ongoing. However, only two such materials with low Fermi velocity have been discovered so far. Herein, we report the design of an organic monolayer with C4N3H stoichiometry that possesses fascinating structure and good stability in its free-standing state. More importantly, we demonstrate that this monolayer is a semimetal with anisotropic Dirac cones and very high Fermi velocity. This Fermi velocity is roughly one order of magnitude larger than the largest velocity ever reported in 2D organic Dirac materials, and it is comparable to that in graphene. The Dirac states in this monolayer arise from the extended π -electron conjugation system formed by the overlapping 2 pz orbitals of carbon and nitrogen atoms. Our finding paves the way to a search for more 2D organic Dirac materials with high Fermi velocity.

Magnetoinfrared spectroscopy of Landau levels and Zeeman splitting of three-dimensional massless Dirac Fermions in ZrTe 5

DOE PAGES

R. Y. Chen; Gu, G. D.; Chen, Z. G.; ...

2015-10-22

We present a magnetoinfrared spectroscopy study on a newly identified three-dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetal ZrTe 5. We observe clear transitions between Landau levels and their further splitting under a magnetic field. Both the sequence of transitions and their field dependence follow quantitatively the relation expected for 3D massless Dirac fermions. The measurement also reveals an exceptionally low magnetic field needed to drive the compound into its quantum limit, demonstrating that ZrTe 5 is an extremely clean system and ideal platform for studying 3D Dirac fermions. The splitting of the Landau levels provides direct, bulk spectroscopic evidence that a relatively weakmore » magnetic field can produce a sizable Zeeman effect on the 3D Dirac fermions, which lifts the spin degeneracy of Landau levels. As a result, our analysis indicates that the compound evolves from a Dirac semimetal into a topological line-node semimetal under the current magnetic field configuration.« less

Matrix-valued Boltzmann equation for the nonintegrable Hubbard chain.

PubMed

Fürst, Martin L R; Mendl, Christian B; Spohn, Herbert

2013-07-01

The standard Fermi-Hubbard chain becomes nonintegrable by adding to the nearest neighbor hopping additional longer range hopping amplitudes. We assume that the quartic interaction is weak and investigate numerically the dynamics of the chain on the level of the Boltzmann type kinetic equation. Only the spatially homogeneous case is considered. We observe that the huge degeneracy of stationary states in the case of nearest neighbor hopping is lost and the convergence to the thermal Fermi-Dirac distribution is restored. The convergence to equilibrium is exponentially fast. However for small next-nearest neighbor hopping amplitudes one has a rapid relaxation towards the manifold of quasistationary states and slow relaxation to the final equilibrium state.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, Wencan; Vishwanath, Suresh; Liu, Jianpeng

Topological crystalline insulators have been recently predicted and observed in rock-salt structure SnSe {111} thin films. Previous studies have suggested that the Se-terminated surface of this thin film with hydrogen passivation has a reduced surface energy and is thus a preferred configuration. In this paper, synchrotron-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, along with density functional theory calculations, is used to demonstrate that a rock-salt SnSe {111} thin film epitaxially grown on Bi 2Se 3 has a stable Sn-terminated surface. These observations are supported by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) intensity-voltage measurements and dynamical LEED calculations, which further show that the Sn-terminated SnSe {111}more » thin film has undergone a surface structural relaxation of the interlayer spacing between the Sn and Se atomic planes. In sharp contrast to the Se-terminated counterpart, the observed Dirac surface state in the Sn-terminated SnSe {111} thin film is shown to yield a high Fermi velocity, 0.50 x 10 6 m/s, which suggests a potential mechanism of engineering the Dirac surface state of topological materials by tuning the surface configuration.« less

Magnetothermoelectric effects in graphene and their dependence on scatterer concentration, magnetic field, and band gap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kundu, Arpan; Alrefae, Majed A.; Fisher, Timothy S.

2017-03-01

Using a semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation approach, we derive analytical expressions for electric and thermoelectric transport coefficients of graphene in the presence and absence of a magnetic field. Scattering due to acoustic phonons, charged impurities, and vacancies is considered in the model. Seebeck (Sxx) and Nernst (N) coefficients are evaluated as functions of carrier density, temperature, scatterer concentration, magnetic field, and induced band gap, and the results are compared to experimental data. Sxx is an odd function of Fermi energy, while N is an even function, as observed in experiments. The peak values of both coefficients are found to increase with the decreasing scatterer concentration and increasing temperature. Furthermore, opening a band gap decreases N but increases Sxx. Applying a magnetic field introduces an asymmetry in the variation of Sxx with Fermi energy across the Dirac point. The formalism is more accurate and computationally efficient than the conventional Green's function approach used to model transport coefficients and can be used to explore transport properties of other materials with Dirac cones such as Weyl semimetals.

Observation of reduced 1/f noise in graphene field effect transistors on boron nitride substrates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kayyalha, Morteza; School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907; Chen, Yong P., E-mail: yongchen@purdue.edu

2015-09-14

We have investigated the low frequency (f) flicker (also called 1/f) noise of single-layer graphene devices on h-BN (placed on SiO{sub 2}/Si) along with those on SiO{sub 2}/Si. We observe that the devices fabricated on h-BN have on average one order of magnitude lower noise amplitude compared with devices fabricated on SiO{sub 2}/Si despite having comparable mobilities at room temperature. We associate this noise reduction to the lower densities of impurities and trap sites in h-BN than in SiO{sub 2}. Furthermore, the gate voltage dependent noise amplitude shows a broad maximum at Dirac point for devices on h-BN, in contrastmore » to the M-shaped behavior showing a minimum at Dirac point for devices on SiO{sub 2}, consistent with the reduced charge inhomogeneity (puddles) for graphene on h-BN. This study demonstrates that the use of h-BN as a substrate or dielectric can be a simple and efficient noise reduction technique valuable for electronic applications of graphene and other nanomaterials.« less

Topologically invariant double Dirac states in bismuth-based perovskites: Consequence of ambivalent charge states and covalent bonding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khamari, Bramhachari; Kashikar, Ravi; Nanda, B. R. K.

2018-01-01

Density functional calculations and model tight-binding Hamiltonian studies are carried out to examine the bulk and surface electronic structure of the largely unexplored perovskite family of A BiO3 , where A is a group I-II element. From the study, we reveal the existence of two TI states, one in valence band (V-TI) and the other in conduction band (C-TI), as the universal feature of A BiO3 . The V-TI and C-TI are, respectively, born out of bonding and antibonding states caused by Bi-{s ,p } -O-{p } coordinated covalent interactions. Further, we outline a classification scheme in this family where one class follows spin orbit coupling and the other follows the second neighbor Bi-Bi hybridization to induce s-p band inversion for the realization of C-TI states. Below a certain critical thickness of the film, which varies with A , TI states of top and bottom surfaces couple to destroy the Dirac type linear dispersion and consequently to open narrow surface energy gaps.

Nonlinear propagation of light in Dirac matter.

PubMed

Eliasson, Bengt; Shukla, P K

2011-09-01

The nonlinear interaction between intense laser light and a quantum plasma is modeled by a collective Dirac equation coupled with the Maxwell equations. The model is used to study the nonlinear propagation of relativistically intense laser light in a quantum plasma including the electron spin-1/2 effect. The relativistic effects due to the high-intensity laser light lead, in general, to a downshift of the laser frequency, similar to a classical plasma where the relativistic mass increase leads to self-induced transparency of laser light and other associated effects. The electron spin-1/2 effects lead to a frequency upshift or downshift of the electromagnetic (EM) wave, depending on the spin state of the plasma and the polarization of the EM wave. For laboratory solid density plasmas, the spin-1/2 effects on the propagation of light are small, but they may be significant in superdense plasma in the core of white dwarf stars. We also discuss extensions of the model to include kinetic effects of a distribution of the electrons on the nonlinear propagation of EM waves in a quantum plasma.

Matter-antimatter asymmetry and dark matter from torsion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poplawski, Nikodem J.

2011-04-15

We propose a simple scenario which explains the observed matter-antimatter imbalance and the origin of dark matter in the Universe. We use the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity which naturally extends general relativity to include the intrinsic spin of matter. Spacetime torsion produced by spin generates, in the classical Dirac equation, the Hehl-Datta term which is cubic in spinor fields. We show that under a charge-conjugation transformation this term changes sign relative to the mass term. A classical Dirac spinor and its charge conjugate therefore satisfy different field equations. Fermions in the presence of torsion have higher energy levels than antifermions,more » which leads to their decay asymmetry. Such a difference is significant only at extremely high densities that existed in the very early Universe. We propose that this difference caused a mechanism, according to which heavy fermions existing in such a Universe and carrying the baryon number decayed mostly to normal matter, whereas their antiparticles decayed mostly to hidden antimatter which forms dark matter. The conserved total baryon number of the Universe remained zero.« less

Topological phase transitions of (BixSb1-x)2Se3 alloys by density functional theory.

PubMed

Abdalla, L B; Padilha José, E; Schmidt, T M; Miwa, R H; Fazzio, A

2015-07-01

We have performed an ab initio total energy investigation of the topological phase transition, and the electronic properties of topologically protected surface states of (BixSb1-x)2Se3 alloys. In order to provide an accurate alloy concentration for the phase transition, we have considered the special quasirandom structures to describe the alloy system. The trivial → topological transition concentration was obtained by (i) the calculation of the band gap closing as a function of Bi concentration (x), and (ii) the calculation of the Z2 topological invariant number. We show that there is a topological phase transition, for x around 0.4, verified for both procedures (i) and (ii). We also show that in the concentration range 0.4 < x < 0.7, the alloy does not present any other band at the Fermi level besides the Dirac cone, where the Dirac point is far from the bulk states. This indicates that a possible suppression of the scattering process due to bulk states will occur.

Two interacting current model of holographic Dirac fluid in graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogatko, Marek; Wysokinski, Karol I.

2018-02-01

The electrons in graphene for energies close to the Dirac point have been found to form strongly interacting fluid. Taking this fact into account we have extended previous work on the transport properties of graphene by taking into account possible interactions between the currents and adding the external magnetic field directed perpendicularly to the graphene sheet. The perpendicular magnetic field B severely modifies the transport parameters. In the present approach the quantization of the spectrum and formation of Landau levels is ignored. Gauge/gravity duality has been used in the probe limit. The dependence on the charge density of the Seebeck coefficient and thermoelectric parameters αi j nicely agree with recent experimental data for graphene. The holographic model allows for the interpretation of one of the fields representing the currents as resulting from the dark matter sector. For the studied geometry with electric field perpendicular to the thermal gradient the effect of the dark sector has been found to modify the transport parameters but mostly in a quantitative way only. This makes difficult the detection of this elusive component of the Universe by studying transport properties of graphene.

Nearly massless Dirac fermions hosted by Sb square net in BaMnSb2

PubMed Central

Liu, Jinyu; Hu, Jin; Cao, Huibo; Zhu, Yanglin; Chuang, Alyssa; Graf, D.; Adams, D. J.; Radmanesh, S. M. A.; Spinu, L.; Chiorescu, I.; Mao, Zhiqiang

2016-01-01

Layered compounds AMnBi2 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba, or rare earth element) have been established as Dirac materials. Dirac electrons generated by the two-dimensional (2D) Bi square net in these materials are normally massive due to the presence of a spin-orbital coupling (SOC) induced gap at Dirac nodes. Here we report that the Sb square net in an isostructural compound BaMnSb2 can host nearly massless Dirac fermions. We observed strong Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations in this material. From the analyses of the SdH oscillations, we find key signatures of Dirac fermions, including light effective mass (~0.052m0; m0, mass of free electron), high quantum mobility (1280 cm2V−1S−1) and a π Berry phase accumulated along cyclotron orbit. Compared with AMnBi2, BaMnSb2 also exhibits much more significant quasi two-dimensional (2D) electronic structure, with the out-of-plane transport showing nonmetallic conduction below 120 K and the ratio of the out-of-plane and in-plane resistivity reaching ~670. Additionally, BaMnSb2 also exhibits a G-type antiferromagnetic order below 283 K. The combination of nearly massless Dirac fermions on quasi-2D planes with a magnetic order makes BaMnSb2 an intriguing platform for seeking novel exotic phenomena of massless Dirac electrons. PMID:27466151

Dirac-Kähler particle in Riemann spherical space: boson interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishkhanyan, A. M.; Florea, O.; Ovsiyuk, E. M.; Red'kov, V. M.

2015-11-01

In the context of the composite boson interpretation, we construct the exact general solution of the Dirac--K\\"ahler equation for the case of the spherical Riemann space of constant positive curvature, for which due to the geometry itself one may expect to have a discrete energy spectrum. In the case of the minimal value of the total angular momentum, $j=0$, the radial equations are reduced to second-order ordinary differential equations, which are straightforwardly solved in terms of the hypergeometric functions. For non-zero values of the total angular momentum, however, the radial equations are reduced to a pair of complicated fourth-order differential equations. Employing the factorization approach, we derive the general solution of these equations involving four independent fundamental solutions written in terms of combinations of the hypergeometric functions. The corresponding discrete energy spectrum is then determined via termination of the involved hypergeometric series, resulting in quasi-polynomial wave-functions. The constructed solutions lead to notable observations when compared with those for the ordinary Dirac particle. The energy spectrum for the Dirac-K\\"ahler particle in spherical space is much more complicated. Its structure substantially differs from that for the Dirac particle since it consists of two paralleled energy level series each of which is twofold degenerate. Besides, none of the two separate series coincides with the series for the Dirac particle. Thus, the Dirac--K\\"ahler field cannot be interpreted as a system of four Dirac fermions. Additional arguments supporting this conclusion are discussed.

Fermion number of twisted kinks in the NJL2 model revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thies, Michael

2018-03-01

As a consequence of axial current conservation, fermions cannot be bound in localized lumps in the massless Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. In the case of twisted kinks, this manifests itself in a cancellation between the valence fermion density and the fermion density induced in the Dirac sea. To attribute the correct fermion number to these bound states requires an infrared regularization. Recently, this has been achieved by introducing a bare fermion mass, at least in the nonrelativistic regime of small twist angles and fermion numbers. Here, we propose a simpler regularization using a finite box which preserves integrability and can be applied at any twist angle. A consistent and physically plausible assignment of fermion number to all twisted kinks emerges.

Impact of semi-annihilation of ℤ{sub 3} symmetric dark matter with radiative neutrino masses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aoki, Mayumi; Toma, Takashi

2014-09-08

We investigate a ℤ{sub 3} symmetric model with two-loop radiative neutrino masses. Dark matter in the model is either a Dirac fermion or a complex scalar as a result of an unbroken ℤ{sub 3} symmetry. In addition to standard annihilation processes, semi-annihilation of the dark matter contributes to the relic density. We study the effect of the semi-annihilation in the model and find that those contributions are important to obtain the observed relic density. The experimental signatures in dark matter searches are also discussed, where some of them are expected to be different from the signatures of dark matter inmore » ℤ{sub 2} symmetric models.« less

Impact of semi-annihilation of Z{sub 3} symmetric dark matter with radiative neutrino masses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aoki, Mayumi; Toma, Takashi, E-mail: mayumi@hep.s.kanazawa-u.ac.jp, E-mail: takashi.toma@durham.ac.uk

2014-09-01

We investigate a Z{sub 3} symmetric model with two-loop radiative neutrino masses. Dark matter in the model is either a Dirac fermion or a complex scalar as a result of an unbroken Z{sub 3} symmetry. In addition to standard annihilation processes, semi-annihilation of the dark matter contributes to the relic density. We study the effect of the semi-annihilation in the model and find that those contributions are important to obtain the observed relic density. The experimental signatures in dark matter searches are also discussed, where some of them are expected to be different from the signatures of dark matter inmore » Z{sub 2} symmetric models.« less

Lepton flavor violation induced by dark matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arcadi, Giorgio; Ferreira, C. P.; Goertz, Florian; Guzzo, M. M.; Queiroz, Farinaldo S.; Santos, A. C. O.

2018-04-01

Guided by gauge principles we discuss a predictive and falsifiable UV complete model where the Dirac fermion that accounts for the cold dark matter abundance in our Universe induces the lepton flavor violation (LFV) decays μ →e γ and μ →e e e as well as μ -e conversion. We explore the interplay between direct dark matter detection, relic density, collider probes and lepton flavor violation to conclusively show that one may have a viable dark matter candidate yielding flavor violation signatures that can be probed in the upcoming experiments. In fact, keeping the dark matter mass at the TeV scale, a sizable LFV signal is possible, while reproducing the correct dark matter relic density and meeting limits from direct-detection experiments.

Hydrodynamic model for conductivity in graphene.

PubMed

Mendoza, M; Herrmann, H J; Succi, S

2013-01-01

Based on the recently developed picture of an electronic ideal relativistic fluid at the Dirac point, we present an analytical model for the conductivity in graphene that is able to describe the linear dependence on the carrier density and the existence of a minimum conductivity. The model treats impurities as submerged rigid obstacles, forming a disordered medium through which graphene electrons flow, in close analogy with classical fluid dynamics. To describe the minimum conductivity, we take into account the additional carrier density induced by the impurities in the sample. The model, which predicts the conductivity as a function of the impurity fraction of the sample, is supported by extensive simulations for different values of ε, the dimensionless strength of the electric field, and provides excellent agreement with experimental data.

Electronic structure, Dirac points and Fermi arc surface states in three-dimensional Dirac semimetal Na3Bi from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiji, Liang; Chaoyu, Chen; Zhijun, Wang; Youguo, Shi; Ya, Feng; Hemian, Yi; Zhuojin, Xie; Shaolong, He; Junfeng, He; Yingying, Peng; Yan, Liu; Defa, Liu; Cheng, Hu; Lin, Zhao; Guodong, Liu; Xiaoli, Dong; Jun, Zhang; M, Nakatake; H, Iwasawa; K, Shimada; M, Arita; H, Namatame; M, Taniguchi; Zuyan, Xu; Chuangtian, Chen; Hongming, Weng; Xi, Dai; Zhong, Fang; Xing-Jiang, Zhou

2016-07-01

The three-dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetals have linearly dispersive 3D Dirac nodes where the conduction band and valence band are connected. They have isolated 3D Dirac nodes in the whole Brillouin zone and can be viewed as a 3D counterpart of graphene. Recent theoretical calculations and experimental results indicate that the 3D Dirac semimetal state can be realized in a simple stoichiometric compound A 3Bi (A = Na, K, Rb). Here we report comprehensive high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) measurements on the two cleaved surfaces, (001) and (100), of Na3Bi. On the (001) surface, by comparison with theoretical calculations, we provide a proper assignment of the observed bands, and in particular, pinpoint the band that is responsible for the formation of the three-dimensional Dirac cones. We observe clear evidence of 3D Dirac cones in the three-dimensional momentum space by directly measuring on the k x -k y plane and by varying the photon energy to get access to different out-of-plane k z s. In addition, we reveal new features around the Brillouin zone corners that may be related with surface reconstruction. On the (100) surface, our ARPES measurements over a large momentum space raise an issue on the selection of the basic Brillouin zone in the (100) plane. We directly observe two isolated 3D Dirac nodes on the (100) surface. We observe the signature of the Fermi-arc surface states connecting the two 3D Dirac nodes that extend to a binding energy of ˜150 meV before merging into the bulk band. Our observations constitute strong evidence on the existence of the Dirac semimetal state in Na3Bi that are consistent with previous theoretical and experimental work. In addition, our results provide new information to clarify on the nature of the band that forms the 3D Dirac cones, on the possible formation of surface reconstruction of the (001) surface, and on the issue of basic Brillouin zone selection for the (100) surface. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11574367), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2013CB921700, 2013CB921904, and 2015CB921300), and the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB07020300). The synchrotron radiation experiments have been done under the HiSOR Proposal numbers, 12-B-47 and 13-B-16.

Spin-orbit coupling, strong correlation, and insulator-metal transitions: The J eff = 3 2 ferromagnetic Dirac-Mott insulator Ba 2 NaOsO 6

DOE PAGES

Gangopadhyay, Shruba; Pickett, Warren E.

2015-01-15

The double perovskite Ba 2NaOsO 6 (BNOO), an exotic example of a very high oxidation state (heptavalent) osmium d1 compound and also uncommon by being a ferromagnetic open d-shell (Mott) insulator without Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion, is modeled using a density functional theory based hybrid functional incorporating exact exchange for correlated electronic orbitals and including the large spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The experimentally observed narrow-gap ferromagnetic insulating ground state is obtained, but only when including spin-orbit coupling, making this a Dirac-Mott insulator. The calculated easy axis along [110] is in accord with experiment, providing additional support that this approach provides a realisticmore » method for studying this system. The predicted spin density for [110] spin orientation is nearly cubic (unlike for other directions), providing an explanation for the absence of JT distortion. An orbital moment of –0.4μ B strongly compensates the +0.5μ B spin moment on Os, leaving a strongly compensated moment more in line with experiment. Remarkably, the net moment lies primarily on the oxygen ions. An insulator-metal transition, by rotating the magnetization direction with an external field under moderate pressure, is predicted as one consequence of strong SOC, and metallization under moderate pressure is predicted. In conclusion, a comparison is made with the isostructural, isovalent insulator Ba 2LiOsO 6, which, however, orders antiferromagnetically.« less

Partially coherent electron transport in terahertz quantum cascade lasers based on a Markovian master equation for the density matrix

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jonasson, O.; Karimi, F.; Knezevic, I.

2016-08-01

We derive a Markovian master equation for the single-electron density matrix, applicable to quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). The equation conserves the positivity of the density matrix, includes off-diagonal elements (coherences) as well as in-plane dynamics, and accounts for electron scattering with phonons and impurities. We use the model to simulate a terahertz-frequency QCL, and compare the results with both experiment and simulation via nonequilibrium Green's functions (NEGF). We obtain very good agreement with both experiment and NEGF when the QCL is biased for optimal lasing. For the considered device, we show that the magnitude of coherences can be a significantmore » fraction of the diagonal matrix elements, which demonstrates their importance when describing THz QCLs. We show that the in-plane energy distribution can deviate far from a heated Maxwellian distribution, which suggests that the assumption of thermalized subbands in simplified density-matrix models is inadequate. As a result, we also show that the current density and subband occupations relax towards their steady-state values on very different time scales.« less

Upper-Division Student Difficulties with the Dirac Delta Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilcox, Bethany R.; Pollock, Steven J.

2015-01-01

The Dirac delta function is a standard mathematical tool that appears repeatedly in the undergraduate physics curriculum in multiple topical areas including electrostatics, and quantum mechanics. While Dirac delta functions are often introduced in order to simplify a problem mathematically, students still struggle to manipulate and interpret them.…

Electron-hole asymmetry, Dirac fermions, and quantum magnetoresistance in BaMnBi 2

DOE PAGES

Li, Lijun; Wang, Kefeng; Graf, D.; ...

2016-03-28

Here, we report two-dimensional quantum transport and Dirac fermions in BaMnBi 2 single crystals. BaMnBi 2 is a layered bad metal with highly anisotropic conductivity and magnetic order below 290 K. Magnetotransport properties, nonzero Berry phase, small cyclotron mass, and the first-principles band structure calculations indicate the presence of Dirac fermions in Bi square nets. Quantum oscillations in the Hall channel suggest the presence of both electron and hole pockets, whereas Dirac and parabolic states coexist at the Fermi level.

Variational Integrators for Interconnected Lagrange-Dirac Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parks, Helen; Leok, Melvin

2017-10-01

Interconnected systems are an important class of mathematical models, as they allow for the construction of complex, hierarchical, multiphysics, and multiscale models by the interconnection of simpler subsystems. Lagrange-Dirac mechanical systems provide a broad category of mathematical models that are closed under interconnection, and in this paper, we develop a framework for the interconnection of discrete Lagrange-Dirac mechanical systems, with a view toward constructing geometric structure-preserving discretizations of interconnected systems. This work builds on previous work on the interconnection of continuous Lagrange-Dirac systems (Jacobs and Yoshimura in J Geom Mech 6(1):67-98, 2014) and discrete Dirac variational integrators (Leok and Ohsawa in Found Comput Math 11(5), 529-562, 2011). We test our results by simulating some of the continuous examples given in Jacobs and Yoshimura (2014).

Dirac cones in artificial structures of 3d transitional-metals doped Mg-Al spinels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yuan; Feng, Min; Shao, Bin; Zuo, Xu

2014-05-01

Motivated by recent theoretical predications for Dirac cone in two-dimensional (2D) triangular lattice [H. Ishizuka, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 237207 (2012)], first-principles studies are performed to predict Dirac cones in artificial structures of 3d transitional-metals (TM = Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) doped Mg-Al spinels. In investigated artificial structures, TM dopants substitute specific positions of the B sub-lattice in Mg-Al spinel, and form a quasi-2D triangular lattice in the a-b plane. Calculated results illustrate the existence of the spin-polarized Dirac cones formed in d-wave bands at (around) the K-point in the momentum space. The study provides a promising route for engineering Dirac physics in condensed matters.

Large optical conductivity of Dirac semimetal Fermi arc surface states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Li-kun; Song, Justin C. W.

2017-08-01

Fermi arc surface states, a hallmark of topological Dirac semimetals, can host carriers that exhibit unusual dynamics distinct from that of their parent bulk. Here we find that Fermi arc carriers in intrinsic Dirac semimetals possess a strong and anisotropic light-matter interaction. This is characterized by a large Fermi arc optical conductivity when light is polarized transverse to the Fermi arc; when light is polarized along the Fermi arc, Fermi arc optical conductivity is significantly muted. The large surface spectral weight is locked to the wide separation between Dirac nodes and persists as a large Drude weight of Fermi arc carriers when the system is doped. As a result, large and anisotropic Fermi arc conductivity provides a novel means of optically interrogating the topological surfaces states of Dirac semimetals.

A drain current model for amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors considering temperature effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, M. X.; Yao, R. H.

2018-03-01

Temperature dependent electrical characteristics of amorphous InGaZnO (a-IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) are investigated considering the percolation and multiple trapping and release (MTR) conduction mechanisms. Carrier-density and temperature dependent carrier mobility in a-IGZO is derived with the Boltzmann transport equation, which is affected by potential barriers above the conduction band edge with Gaussian-like distributions. The free and trapped charge densities in the channel are calculated with Fermi-Dirac statistics, and the field effective mobility of a-IGZO TFTs is then deduced based on the MTR theory. Temperature dependent drain current model for a-IGZO TFTs is finally derived with the obtained low field mobility and free charge density, which is applicable to both non-degenerate and degenerate conductions. This physical-based model is verified by available experiment results at various temperatures.

Atomic structure data based on average-atom model for opacity calculations in astrophysical plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trzhaskovskaya, M. B.; Nikulin, V. K.

2018-03-01

Influence of the plasmas parameters on the electron structure of ions in astrophysical plasmas is studied on the basis of the average-atom model in the local thermodynamic equilibrium approximation. The relativistic Dirac-Slater method is used for the electron density estimation. The emphasis is on the investigation of an impact of the plasmas temperature and density on the ionization stages required for calculations of the plasmas opacities. The level population distributions and level energy spectra are calculated and analyzed for all ions with 6 ≤ Z ≤ 32 occurring in astrophysical plasmas. The plasma temperature range 2 - 200 eV and the density range 2 - 100 mg/cm3 are considered. The validity of the method used is supported by good agreement between our values of ionization stages for a number of ions, from oxygen up to uranium, and results obtained earlier by various methods among which are more complicated procedures.

Determination of the density of surface states at the semiconductor-insulator interface in a metal-insulator-semiconductor structure

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gulyamov, G., E-mail: Gulyamov1949@rambler.ru; Sharibaev, N. U.

2011-02-15

The temporal dependence of thermal generation of electrons from occupied surface states at the semiconductor-insulator interface in a metal-insulator-semiconductor structure is studied. It is established that, at low temperatures, the derivative of the probability of depopulation of occupied surface states with respect to energy is represented by the Dirac {delta} function. It is shown that the density of states of a finite number of discrete energy levels under high-temperature measurements manifests itself as a continuous spectrum, whereas this spectrum appears discrete at low temperatures. A method for processing the continuous spectrum of the density of surface states is suggested thatmore » method makes it possible to determine the discrete energy spectrum. The obtained results may be conducive to an increase in resolution of the method of non-stationary spectroscopy of surface states.« less

Complex Langevin simulation of QCD at finite density and low temperature using the deformation technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagata, Keitro; Nishimura, Jun; Shimasaki, Shinji

2018-03-01

We study QCD at finite density and low temperature by using the complex Langevin method. We employ the gauge cooling to control the unitarity norm and intro-duce a deformation parameter in the Dirac operator to avoid the singular-drift problem. The reliability of the obtained results are judged by the probability distribution of the magnitude of the drift term. By making extrapolations with respect to the deformation parameter using only the reliable results, we obtain results for the original system. We perform simulations on a 43 × 8 lattice and show that our method works well even in the region where the reweighing method fails due to the severe sign problem. As a result we observe a delayed onset of the baryon number density as compared with the phase-quenched model, which is a clear sign of the Silver Blaze phenomenon.

The ab-initio density matrix renormalization group in practice.

PubMed

Olivares-Amaya, Roberto; Hu, Weifeng; Nakatani, Naoki; Sharma, Sandeep; Yang, Jun; Chan, Garnet Kin-Lic

2015-01-21

The ab-initio density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) is a tool that can be applied to a wide variety of interesting problems in quantum chemistry. Here, we examine the density matrix renormalization group from the vantage point of the quantum chemistry user. What kinds of problems is the DMRG well-suited to? What are the largest systems that can be treated at practical cost? What sort of accuracies can be obtained, and how do we reason about the computational difficulty in different molecules? By examining a diverse benchmark set of molecules: π-electron systems, benchmark main-group and transition metal dimers, and the Mn-oxo-salen and Fe-porphine organometallic compounds, we provide some answers to these questions, and show how the density matrix renormalization group is used in practice.

Development of edge effects around experimental ecosystem hotspots is affected by edge density and matrix type

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Ecological edge effects are sensitive to landscape context. In particular, edge effects can be altered by matrix type and by the presence of other nearby edges. We experimentally altered patch configurations in an African savanna to determine how edge density and matrix type influence edge effect de...

Ground-state Properties of Inhomogeneous Graphene Sheets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polini, Marco

2009-03-01

When inter-valley scattering is weak and gauge fields due to e.g. ripples are neglected, doped and gated graphene sheets can be described using an envelope-function Hamiltonian with a new sublattice pseudospin degree-of freedom, an ultrarelativistic massless-Dirac free-fermion term, a pseudospin scalar disorder potential, and a non-relativistic instantaneous Coulombic interaction term. There is considerable evidence from experiment that this simplified description of a honeycomb lattice of Carbon atoms is usually a valid starting point for theories of those observables that depend solely on the electronic properties of π-electrons near the graphene Dirac point [1]. Although the use of this model simplifies the physics considerably it still leaves us with a many-body problem without translational invariance, which we do not know how to solve. In this talk we present a Kohn-Sham-Dirac density-functional-theory (DFT) scheme for graphene sheets that treats slowly-varying inhomogeneous scalar external potentials and electron-electron interactions on an equal footing [2]. The theory is able to account for the unusual property that the exchange-correlation contribution to chemical potential increases with carrier density in graphene [3,4]. Consequences of this property, and advantages and disadvantages of using the DFT approach to describe it, are discussed. The approach is illustrated by solving the Kohn-Sham-Dirac equations self-consistently for a model random potential describing charged point-like impurities located close to the graphene plane. The influence of electron-electron interactions on these non-linear screening calculations is discussed at length, in the light of recent experiments [5,6] reporting evidence for the presence of electron-hole puddles in nearly-neutral graphene sheets. [4pt] [1] A.K. Geim and K.S. Novoselov, Nature Mater. 6, 183 (2007); A.K. Geim and A.H. MacDonald, Phys. Today 60, 35 (2007); A.H. Castro Neto, F. Guinea, N.M.R. Peres, K.S. Novoselov, and A.K. Geim, arXiv:0709.1163v2 (2007).[0pt] [2] M. Polini, A. Tomadin, R. Asgari, and A.H. MacDonald, Phys. Rev. B 78, 115426 (2008).[0pt] [3] Y. Barlas, T. Pereg-Barnea, M. Polini, R. Asgari, and A.H. MacDonald, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 236601 (2007); M. Polini, R. Asgari, Y. Barlas, T. Pereg-Barnea, and A.H. MacDonald, Solid State Commun. 143, 58 (2007). [0pt] [4] E.H. Hwang, B.Y.-K. Hu, and S. Das Sarma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 226801 (2007).[0pt] [5] J. Martin, N. Akerman, G. Ulbricht, T. Lohmann, J.H. Smet, K. von Klitzing, and A. Yacoby, Nature Phys. 4, 144 (2008).[0pt] [6] V.W. Brar, Y. Zhang, C. Girit, F. Wang, A. Zettl, and M. Crommie, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 53 (2), 443 (2008).

Density matrix renormalization group with efficient dynamical electron correlation through range separation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hedegård, Erik Donovan, E-mail: erik.hedegard@phys.chem.ethz.ch; Knecht, Stefan; Reiher, Markus, E-mail: markus.reiher@phys.chem.ethz.ch

2015-06-14

We present a new hybrid multiconfigurational method based on the concept of range-separation that combines the density matrix renormalization group approach with density functional theory. This new method is designed for the simultaneous description of dynamical and static electron-correlation effects in multiconfigurational electronic structure problems.

A matrix-based approach to solving the inverse Frobenius-Perron problem using sequences of density functions of stochastically perturbed dynamical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Xiaokai; Coca, Daniel

2018-01-01

The paper introduces a matrix-based approach to estimate the unique one-dimensional discrete-time dynamical system that generated a given sequence of probability density functions whilst subjected to an additive stochastic perturbation with known density.

A matrix-based approach to solving the inverse Frobenius-Perron problem using sequences of density functions of stochastically perturbed dynamical systems.

PubMed

Nie, Xiaokai; Coca, Daniel

2018-01-01

The paper introduces a matrix-based approach to estimate the unique one-dimensional discrete-time dynamical system that generated a given sequence of probability density functions whilst subjected to an additive stochastic perturbation with known density.

Direct evidence of interaction-induced Dirac cones in a monolayer silicene/Ag(111) system

PubMed Central

Feng, Ya; Liu, Defa; Feng, Baojie; Liu, Xu; Zhao, Lin; Xie, Zhuojin; Liu, Yan; Liang, Aiji; Hu, Cheng; Hu, Yong; He, Shaolong; Liu, Guodong; Zhang, Jun; Chen, Chuangtian; Xu, Zuyan; Chen, Lan; Wu, Kehui; Liu, Yu-Tzu; Lin, Hsin; Huang, Zhi-Quan; Hsu, Chia-Hsiu; Chuang, Feng-Chuan; Bansil, Arun; Zhou, X. J.

2016-01-01

Silicene, analogous to graphene, is a one-atom-thick 2D crystal of silicon, which is expected to share many of the remarkable properties of graphene. The buckled honeycomb structure of silicene, along with enhanced spin-orbit coupling, endows silicene with considerable advantages over graphene in that the spin-split states in silicene are tunable with external fields. Although the low-energy Dirac cone states lie at the heart of all novel quantum phenomena in a pristine sheet of silicene, a hotly debated question is whether these key states can survive when silicene is grown or supported on a substrate. Here we report our direct observation of Dirac cones in monolayer silicene grown on a Ag(111) substrate. By performing angle-resolved photoemission measurements on silicene(3 × 3)/Ag(111), we reveal the presence of six pairs of Dirac cones located on the edges of the first Brillouin zone of Ag(111), which is in sharp contrast to the expected six Dirac cones centered at the K points of the primary silicene(1 × 1) Brillouin zone. Our analysis shows clearly that the unusual Dirac cone structure we have observed is not tied to pristine silicene alone but originates from the combined effects of silicene(3 × 3) and the Ag(111) substrate. Our study thus identifies the case of a unique type of Dirac cone generated through the interaction of two different constituents. The observation of Dirac cones in silicene/Ag(111) opens a unique materials platform for investigating unusual quantum phenomena and for applications based on 2D silicon systems. PMID:27930314

Direct evidence of interaction-induced Dirac cones in a monolayer silicene/Ag(111) system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Ya; Liu, Defa; Feng, Baojie; Liu, Xu; Zhao, Lin; Xie, Zhuojin; Liu, Yan; Liang, Aiji; Hu, Cheng; Hu, Yong; He, Shaolong; Liu, Guodong; Zhang, Jun; Chen, Chuangtian; Xu, Zuyan; Chen, Lan; Wu, Kehui; Liu, Yu-Tzu; Lin, Hsin; Huang, Zhi-Quan; Hsu, Chia-Hsiu; Chuang, Feng-Chuan; Bansil, Arun; Zhou, X. J.

2016-12-01

Silicene, analogous to graphene, is a one-atom-thick 2D crystal of silicon, which is expected to share many of the remarkable properties of graphene. The buckled honeycomb structure of silicene, along with enhanced spin-orbit coupling, endows silicene with considerable advantages over graphene in that the spin-split states in silicene are tunable with external fields. Although the low-energy Dirac cone states lie at the heart of all novel quantum phenomena in a pristine sheet of silicene, a hotly debated question is whether these key states can survive when silicene is grown or supported on a substrate. Here we report our direct observation of Dirac cones in monolayer silicene grown on a Ag(111) substrate. By performing angle-resolved photoemission measurements on silicene(3 × 3)/Ag(111), we reveal the presence of six pairs of Dirac cones located on the edges of the first Brillouin zone of Ag(111), which is in sharp contrast to the expected six Dirac cones centered at the K points of the primary silicene(1 × 1) Brillouin zone. Our analysis shows clearly that the unusual Dirac cone structure we have observed is not tied to pristine silicene alone but originates from the combined effects of silicene(3 × 3) and the Ag(111) substrate. Our study thus identifies the case of a unique type of Dirac cone generated through the interaction of two different constituents. The observation of Dirac cones in silicene/Ag(111) opens a unique materials platform for investigating unusual quantum phenomena and for applications based on 2D silicon systems.

Parallel scalability of Hartree-Fock calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chow, Edmond; Liu, Xing; Smelyanskiy, Mikhail; Hammond, Jeff R.

2015-03-01

Quantum chemistry is increasingly performed using large cluster computers consisting of multiple interconnected nodes. For a fixed molecular problem, the efficiency of a calculation usually decreases as more nodes are used, due to the cost of communication between the nodes. This paper empirically investigates the parallel scalability of Hartree-Fock calculations. The construction of the Fock matrix and the density matrix calculation are analyzed separately. For the former, we use a parallelization of Fock matrix construction based on a static partitioning of work followed by a work stealing phase. For the latter, we use density matrix purification from the linear scaling methods literature, but without using sparsity. When using large numbers of nodes for moderately sized problems, density matrix computations are network-bandwidth bound, making purification methods potentially faster than eigendecomposition methods.

Notes on oscillator-like interactions of various spin relativistic particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dvoeglazov, Valeri V.; Delsolmesa, Antonio

1995-01-01

The equations for various spin particles with oscillator-like interactions are discussed in this talk. Topics discussed include: (1) comment on 'The Klein-Gordon Oscillator'; (2) the Dirac oscillator in quaternion form; (3) the Dirac-Dowker oscillator; (4) the Weinberg oscillator; and (5) note on the two-body Dirac oscillator.

Quantum oscillations in the type-II Dirac semi-metal candidate PtSe2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Hao; Schmidt, Marcus; Süss, Vicky; Chan, Mun; Balakirev, Fedor F.; McDonald, Ross D.; Parkin, Stuart S. P.; Felser, Claudia; Yan, Binghai; Moll, Philip J. W.

2018-04-01

Three-dimensional topological semi-metals carry quasiparticle states that mimic massless relativistic Dirac fermions, elusive particles that have never been observed in nature. As they appear in the solid body, they are not bound to the usual symmetries of space-time and thus new types of fermionic excitations that explicitly violate Lorentz-invariance have been proposed, the so-called type-II Dirac fermions. We investigate the electronic spectrum of the transition-metal dichalcogenide PtSe2 by means of quantum oscillation measurements in fields up to 65 T. The observed Fermi surfaces agree well with the expectations from band structure calculations, that recently predicted a type-II Dirac node to occur in this material. A hole- and an electron-like Fermi surface dominate the semi-metal at the Fermi level. The quasiparticle mass is significantly enhanced over the bare band mass value, likely by phonon renormalization. Our work is consistent with the existence of type-II Dirac nodes in PtSe2, yet the Dirac node is too far below the Fermi level to support free Dirac–fermion excitations.

Spin Nernst effect and intrinsic magnetization in two-dimensional Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusynin, V. P.; Sharapov, S. G.; Varlamov, A. A.

2015-05-01

We begin with a brief description of the role of the Nernst-Ettingshausen effect in the studies of the high-temperature superconductors and Dirac materials such as graphene. The theoretical analysis of the NE effect is involved because the standard Kubo formalism has to be modified by the presence of magnetization currents in order to satisfy the third law of thermodynamics. A new generation of the low-buckled Dirac materials is expected to have a strong spin Nernst effect that represents the spintronics analog of the NE effect. These Dirac materials can be considered as made of two independent electron subsystems of the two-component gapped Dirac fermions. For each subsystem the gap breaks a time-reversal symmetry and thus plays a role of an effective magnetic field. We explicitly demonstrate how the correct thermoelectric coefficient emerges both by the explicit calculation of the magnetization and by a formal cancelation in the modified Kubo formula. We conclude by showing that the nontrivial dependences of the spin Nersnt signal on the carrier concentration and electric field applied are expected in silicene and other low-buckled Dirac materials.

Magnons in a honeycomb ferromagnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Saikat

The original discovery of the Dirac electron dispersion in graphene led naturally to the question of Dirac cone stability with respect to interactions, and the Coulomb interaction between electrons was shown to induce a logarithmic renormalization of the Dirac dispersion. With the rapid expansion of the list of Dirac fermion compounds, the concept of bosonic Dirac materials has emerged. At the single particle level, these materials closely resemble the fermionic counterparts. However, the changed particle statistics affects the stability of Dirac cones differently. Here we study the effect of interactions focusing on the honeycomb ferromagnet - where the quasi-particles are magnetic spin waves (magnons). We demonstrate that magnon-magnon interactions lead to a significant renormalization of the bare band structure. We also address the question of the edge and surface states for a finite system. We applied these results to ferromagnetic CrBr3, where the Cr3+ atoms are arranged in weakly coupled honeycomb layers. Our theory qualitatively accounts for the unexplained anomalies in neutron scattering data from 40 years ago for CrBr3 and hereby expand the theory of ferromagnets beyond the standard Dyson theory.

Multiple Dirac cones and topological magnetism in honeycomb-monolayer transition metal trichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugita, Yusuke; Miyake, Takashi; Motome, Yukitoshi

2018-01-01

The discovery of monolayer graphene has initiated two fertile fields in condensed matter physics: Dirac semimetals and atomically thin layered materials. When these trends meet again in transition metal compounds, which possess spin and orbital degrees of freedom and strong electron correlations, more exotic phenomena are expected to emerge in the cross section of topological states of matter and Mott physics. Here, we show by using ab initio calculations that a monolayer form of transition metal trichalcogenides (TMTs), which has a honeycomb network of 4 d and 5 d transition metal cations, may exhibit multiple Dirac cones in the electronic structure of the half-filled eg orbitals. The Dirac cones are gapped by the spin-orbit coupling under the trigonal lattice distortion and, hence, can be tuned by tensile strain. Furthermore, we show that electron correlations and carrier doping turn the multiple Dirac semimetal into a topological ferromagnet with high Chern number. Our findings indicate that the honeycomb-monolayer TMTs provide a good playground for correlated Dirac electrons and topologically nontrivial magnetism.

Dirac State in Giant Magnetoresistive Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Y.; Jo, N. H.; Ochi, M.; Huang, L.; Mou, D.; Kong, T.; Mun, E.; Wang, L.; Lee, Y.; Bud'Ko, S. L.; Canfield, P. C.; Trivedi, N.; Arito, R.; Kaminski, A.

We use ultrahigh resolution, tunable, vacuum ultraviolet laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to study the electronic properties of materials that recently were discovered to display titanic magnetoresistance. We find that that several of these materials have Dirac-like features in their band structure. In some materials those features are ``ordinary'' Dirac cones, while in others the linear Dirac dispersion of two crossing bands forms a linear object in 3D momentum space. Our observation poses an important question about the role of Dirac dispersion in the unusually high, non-saturating magnetoresistance of these materials. Research was supported by the US DOE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation EPiQS Initiative (Grant No. GBMF4411); CEM, a NSF MRSEC, under Grant No. DMR-1420451.

Covariant Conservation Laws and the Spin Hall Effect in Dirac-Rashba Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milletarı, Mirco; Offidani, Manuel; Ferreira, Aires; Raimondi, Roberto

2017-12-01

We present a theoretical analysis of two-dimensional Dirac-Rashba systems in the presence of disorder and external perturbations. We unveil a set of exact symmetry relations (Ward identities) that impose strong constraints on the spin dynamics of Dirac fermions subject to proximity-induced interactions. This allows us to demonstrate that an arbitrary dilute concentration of scalar impurities results in the total suppression of nonequilibrium spin Hall currents when only Rashba spin-orbit coupling is present. Remarkably, a finite spin Hall conductivity is restored when the minimal Dirac-Rashba model is supplemented with a spin-valley interaction. The Ward identities provide a systematic way to predict the emergence of the spin Hall effect in a wider class of Dirac-Rashba systems of experimental relevance and represent an important benchmark for testing the validity of numerical methodologies.

Two-Dimensional Dirac Fermions Protected by Space-Time Inversion Symmetry in Black Phosphorus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Jimin; Baik, Seung Su; Jung, Sung Won; Sohn, Yeongsup; Ryu, Sae Hee; Choi, Hyoung Joon; Yang, Bohm-Jung; Kim, Keun Su

2017-12-01

We report the realization of novel symmetry-protected Dirac fermions in a surface-doped two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, black phosphorus. The widely tunable band gap of black phosphorus by the surface Stark effect is employed to achieve a surprisingly large band inversion up to ˜0.6 eV . High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectra directly reveal the pair creation of Dirac points and their movement along the axis of the glide-mirror symmetry. Unlike graphene, the Dirac point of black phosphorus is stable, as protected by space-time inversion symmetry, even in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Our results establish black phosphorus in the inverted regime as a simple model system of 2D symmetry-protected (topological) Dirac semimetals, offering an unprecedented opportunity for the discovery of 2D Weyl semimetals.

Dirac Fermions in Borophene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Baojie; Sugino, Osamu; Liu, Ro-Ya; Zhang, Jin; Yukawa, Ryu; Kawamura, Mitsuaki; Iimori, Takushi; Kim, Howon; Hasegawa, Yukio; Li, Hui; Chen, Lan; Wu, Kehui; Kumigashira, Hiroshi; Komori, Fumio; Chiang, Tai-Chang; Meng, Sheng; Matsuda, Iwao

2017-03-01

Honeycomb structures of group IV elements can host massless Dirac fermions with nontrivial Berry phases. Their potential for electronic applications has attracted great interest and spurred a broad search for new Dirac materials especially in monolayer structures. We present a detailed investigation of the β12 sheet, which is a borophene structure that can form spontaneously on a Ag(111) surface. Our tight-binding analysis revealed that the lattice of the β12 sheet could be decomposed into two triangular sublattices in a way similar to that for a honeycomb lattice, thereby hosting Dirac cones. Furthermore, each Dirac cone could be split by introducing periodic perturbations representing overlayer-substrate interactions. These unusual electronic structures were confirmed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and validated by first-principles calculations. Our results suggest monolayer boron as a new platform for realizing novel high-speed low-dissipation devices.

Elastic gauge fields and Hall viscosity of Dirac magnons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreiros, Yago; Vozmediano, María A. H.

2018-02-01

We analyze the coupling of elastic lattice deformations to the magnon degrees of freedom of magnon Dirac materials. For a honeycomb ferromagnet we find that, as happens in the case of graphene, elastic gauge fields appear coupled to the magnon pseudospinors. For deformations that induce constant pseudomagnetic fields, the spectrum around the Dirac nodes splits into pseudo-Landau levels. We show that when a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is considered, a topological gap opens in the system and a Chern-Simons effective action for the elastic degrees of freedom is generated. Such a term encodes a phonon Hall viscosity response, entirely generated by quantum fluctuations of magnons living in the vicinity of the Dirac points. The magnon Hall viscosity vanishes at zero temperature, and grows as temperature is raised and the states around the Dirac points are increasingly populated.

Dirac directional emission in anisotropic zero refractive index photonic crystals.

PubMed

He, Xin-Tao; Zhong, Yao-Nan; Zhou, You; Zhong, Zhi-Chao; Dong, Jian-Wen

2015-08-14

A certain class of photonic crystals with conical dispersion is known to behave as isotropic zero-refractive-index medium. However, the discrete building blocks in such photonic crystals are limited to construct multidirectional devices, even for high-symmetric photonic crystals. Here, we show multidirectional emission from low-symmetric photonic crystals with semi-Dirac dispersion at the zone center. We demonstrate that such low-symmetric photonic crystal can be considered as an effective anisotropic zero-refractive-index medium, as long as there is only one propagation mode near Dirac frequency. Four kinds of Dirac multidirectional emitters are achieved with the channel numbers of five, seven, eleven, and thirteen, respectively. Spatial power combination for such kind of Dirac directional emitter is also verified even when multiple sources are randomly placed in the anisotropic zero-refractive-index photonic crystal.

The Emergence of Dirac points in Photonic Crystals with Mirror Symmetry

PubMed Central

He, Wen-Yu; Chan, C. T.

2015-01-01

We show that Dirac points can emerge in photonic crystals possessing mirror symmetry when band gap closes. The mechanism of generating Dirac points is discussed in a two-dimensional photonic square lattice, in which four Dirac points split out naturally after the touching of two bands with different parity. The emergence of such nodal points, characterized by vortex structure in momentum space, is attributed to the unavoidable band crossing protected by mirror symmetry. The Dirac nodes can be unbuckled through breaking the mirror symmetry and a photonic analog of Chern insulator can be achieved through time reversal symmetry breaking. Breaking time reversal symmetry can lead to unidirectional helical edge states and breaking mirror symmetry can reduce the band gap to amplify the finite size effect, providing ways to engineer helical edge states. PMID:25640993

Dirac directional emission in anisotropic zero refractive index photonic crystals

PubMed Central

He, Xin-Tao; Zhong, Yao-Nan; Zhou, You; Zhong, Zhi-Chao; Dong, Jian-Wen

2015-01-01

A certain class of photonic crystals with conical dispersion is known to behave as isotropic zero-refractive-index medium. However, the discrete building blocks in such photonic crystals are limited to construct multidirectional devices, even for high-symmetric photonic crystals. Here, we show multidirectional emission from low-symmetric photonic crystals with semi-Dirac dispersion at the zone center. We demonstrate that such low-symmetric photonic crystal can be considered as an effective anisotropic zero-refractive-index medium, as long as there is only one propagation mode near Dirac frequency. Four kinds of Dirac multidirectional emitters are achieved with the channel numbers of five, seven, eleven, and thirteen, respectively. Spatial power combination for such kind of Dirac directional emitter is also verified even when multiple sources are randomly placed in the anisotropic zero-refractive-index photonic crystal. PMID:26271208

Topology-optimized dual-polarization Dirac cones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Zin; Christakis, Lysander; Li, Yang; Mazur, Eric; Rodriguez, Alejandro W.; Lončar, Marko

2018-02-01

We apply a large-scale computational technique, known as topology optimization, to the inverse design of photonic Dirac cones. In particular, we report on a variety of photonic crystal geometries, realizable in simple isotropic dielectric materials, which exhibit dual-polarization Dirac cones. We present photonic crystals of different symmetry types, such as fourfold and sixfold rotational symmetries, with Dirac cones at different points within the Brillouin zone. The demonstrated and related optimization techniques open avenues to band-structure engineering and manipulating the propagation of light in periodic media, with possible applications to exotic optical phenomena such as effective zero-index media and topological photonics.

On the dispersion characteristics of extraordinary mode in a relativistic fully degenerate electron plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noureen, S.; Abbas, G.; Sarfraz, M.

2018-01-01

The study of relativistic degenerate plasmas is important in many astrophysical and laboratory environments. Using linearized relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell equations, a generalized expression for the plasma conductivity tensor is derived. Employing Fermi-Dirac distribution at zero temperature, the dispersion relation of the extraordinary mode in a relativistic degenerate electron plasma is investigated. The propagation characteristics are examined in different relativistic density ranges. The shifting of cutoff points due to relativistic effects is observed analytically and graphically. Non-relativistic and ultra-relativistic limiting cases are also presented.

Band structure and unconventional electronic topology of CoSi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pshenay-Severin, D. A.; Ivanov, Y. V.; Burkov, A. A.; Burkov, A. T.

2018-04-01

Semimetals with certain crystal symmetries may possess unusual electronic structure topology, distinct from that of the conventional Weyl and Dirac semimetals. Characteristic property of these materials is the existence of band-touching points with multiple (higher than two-fold) degeneracy and nonzero Chern number. CoSi is a representative of this group of materials exhibiting the so-called ‘new fermions’. We report on an ab initio calculation of the electronic structure of CoSi using density functional methods, taking into account the spin-orbit interactions. The linearized \

Modified Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory at finite temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinh Dang, Nguyen; Arima, Akito

2003-07-01

The modified Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (MHFB) theory at finite temperature is derived, which conserves the unitarity relation of the particle-density matrix. This is achieved by constructing a modified-quasiparticle-density matrix, where the fluctuation of the quasiparticle number is microscopically built in. This matrix can be directly obtained from the usual quasiparticle-density matrix by applying the secondary Bogoliubov transformation, which includes the quasiparticle-occupation number. It is shown that, in the limit of constant pairing parameter, the MHFB theory yields the previously obtained modified BCS (MBCS) equations. It is also proved that the modified quasiparticle-random-phase approximation, which is based on the MBCS quasiparticle excitations, conserves the Ikeda sum rule. The numerical calculations of the pairing gap, heat capacity, level density, and level-density parameter within the MBCS theory are carried out for 120Sn. The results show that the superfluid-normal phase transition is completely washed out. The applicability of the MBCS up to a temperature as high as T˜5 MeV is analyzed in detail.

Alternative dimensional reduction via the density matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Carvalho, C. A.; Cornwall, J. M.; da Silva, A. J.

2001-07-01

We give graphical rules, based on earlier work for the functional Schrödinger equation, for constructing the density matrix for scalar and gauge fields in equilibrium at finite temperature T. More useful is a dimensionally reduced effective action (DREA) constructed from the density matrix by further functional integration over the arguments of the density matrix coupled to a source. The DREA is an effective action in one less dimension which may be computed order by order in perturbation theory or by dressed-loop expansions; it encodes all thermal matrix elements. We term the DREA procedure alternative dimensional reduction, to distinguish it from the conventional dimensionally reduced field theory (DRFT) which applies at infinite T. The DREA is useful because it gives a dimensionally reduced theory usable at any T including infinity, where it yields the DRFT, and because it does not and cannot have certain spurious infinities which sometimes occur in the density matrix itself or the conventional DRFT; these come from ln T factors at infinite temperature. The DREA can be constructed to all orders (in principle) and the only regularizations needed are those which control the ultraviolet behavior of the zero-T theory. An example of spurious divergences in the DRFT occurs in d=2+1φ4 theory dimensionally reduced to d=2. We study this theory and show that the rules for the DREA replace these ``wrong'' divergences in physical parameters by calculable powers of ln T; we also compute the phase transition temperature of this φ4 theory in one-loop order. Our density-matrix construction is equivalent to a construction of the Landau-Ginzburg ``coarse-grained free energy'' from a microscopic Hamiltonian.

Minimal type-I seesaw model with maximally restricted texture zeros

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barreiros, D. M.; Felipe, R. G.; Joaquim, F. R.

2018-06-01

In the context of Standard Model (SM) extensions, the seesaw mechanism provides the most natural explanation for the smallness of neutrino masses. In this work we consider the most economical type-I seesaw realization in which two right-handed neutrinos are added to the SM field content. For the sake of predictability, we impose the maximum number of texture zeros in the lepton Yukawa and mass matrices. All possible patterns are analyzed in the light of the most recent neutrino oscillation data, and predictions for leptonic C P violation are presented. We conclude that, in the charged-lepton mass basis, eight different texture combinations are compatible with neutrino data at 1 σ , all of them for an inverted-hierarchical neutrino mass spectrum. Four of these cases predict a C P -violating Dirac phase close to 3 π /2 , which is around the current best-fit value from the global analysis of neutrino oscillation data. If one further reduces the number of free parameters by considering three equal elements in the Dirac neutrino Yukawa coupling matrix, several texture combinations are still compatible with data but only at 3 σ . For all viable textures, the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is computed in the context of thermal leptogenesis, assuming (mildly) hierarchical heavy Majorana neutrino masses M1 ,2. It is shown that the flavored regime is ruled out, while the unflavored one requires M1˜1014 GeV .

Tunable negative differential resistance in planar graphene superlattice resonant tunneling diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sattari-Esfahlan, S. M.; Fouladi-Oskuei, J.; Shojaei, S.

2017-04-01

Here, we study the negative differential resistance (NDR) of Dirac electrons in biased planar graphene superlattice (PGSL) and investigate the transport characteristics by adopted transfer matrix method within Landauer-Buttiker formalism. Our model device is based on one-dimensional Kronig-Penney type electrostatic potential in monolayer graphene deposited on a substrate, where the bias voltage is applied by two electrodes in the left and right. At Low bias voltages, we found that NDR appears due to breaking of minibands to Wannier-Stark ladders (WSLs). At the critical bias voltage, delocalization appeared by WS states leads to tunneling peak current in current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. With increasing bias voltage, crossing of rungs from various WSL results in multi-peak NDR. The results demonstrate that the structure parameters like barrier/well thickness and barrier height have remarkable effect on I-V characteristics of PGSL. In addition, Dirac gap enhances peak to valley (PVR) value due to suppressing Klein tunneling. Our results show that the tunable PVR in PGSL resonant tunneling diode can be achievable by structure parameters engineering. NDR at ultra-low bias voltages, such as 100 mV, with giant PVR of 20 is obtained. In our device, the multiple same NDR peaks with ultra-low bias voltage provide promising prospect for multi-valued memories and the low power nanoelectronic tunneling devices.

Giant Faraday effect due to Pauli exclusion principle in 3D topological insulators.

PubMed

Paudel, Hari P; Leuenberger, Michael N

2014-02-26

Experiments using ARPES, which is based on the photoelectric effect, show that the surface states in 3D topological insulators (TI) are helical. Here we consider Weyl interface fermions due to band inversion in narrow-bandgap semiconductors, such as Pb1-xSnxTe. The positive and negative energy solutions can be identified by means of opposite helicity in terms of the spin helicity operator in 3D TI as ĥ(TI) = (1/ |p|_ |) β (σ|_ x p|_ ) · z^, where β is a Dirac matrix and z^ points perpendicular to the interface. Using the 3D Dirac equation and bandstructure calculations we show that the transitions between positive and negative energy solutions, giving rise to electron-hole pairs, obey strict optical selection rules. In order to demonstrate the consequences of these selection rules, we consider the Faraday effect due to the Pauli exclusion principle in a pump-probe setup using a 3D TI double interface of a PbTe/Pb₀.₃₁Sn₀.₆₉Te/PbTe heterostructure. For that we calculate the optical conductivity tensor of this heterostructure, which we use to solve Maxwell's equations. The Faraday rotation angle exhibits oscillations as a function of probe wavelength and thickness of the heterostructure. The maxima in the Faraday rotation angle are of the order of mrds.

Dirac equation in Kerr-NUT-(A)dS spacetimes: Intrinsic characterization of separability in all dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cariglia, Marco; Krtouš, Pavel; Kubizňák, David

2011-07-01

We intrinsically characterize separability of the Dirac equation in Kerr-NUT-(A)dS spacetimes in all dimensions. Namely, we explicitly demonstrate that, in such spacetimes, there exists a complete set of first-order mutually commuting operators, one of which is the Dirac operator, that allows for common eigenfunctions which can be found in a separated form and correspond precisely to the general solution of the Dirac equation found by Oota and Yasui [Phys. Lett. BPYLBAJ0370-2693 659, 688 (2008)10.1016/j.physletb.2007.11.057]. Since all the operators in the set can be generated from the principal conformal Killing-Yano tensor, this establishes the (up-to-now) missing link among the existence of hidden symmetry, presence of a complete set of commuting operators, and separability of the Dirac equation in these spacetimes.

Creation of half-metallic f -orbital Dirac fermion with superlight elements in orbital-designed molecular lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Bin; Huang, Bing; Li, Chong; Zhang, Xiaoming; Jin, Kyung-Hwan; Zhang, Lizhi; Jiang, Wei; Liu, Desheng; Liu, Feng

2017-08-01

Magnetism in solids generally originates from the localized d or f orbitals that are hosted by heavy transition-metal elements. Here, we demonstrate a mechanism for designing a half-metallic f -orbital Dirac fermion from superlight s p elements. Combining first-principles and model calculations, we show that bare and flat-band-sandwiched (FBS) Dirac bands can be created when C20 molecules are deposited into a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice, which are composed of f -molecular orbitals (MOs) derived from s p -atomic orbitals (AOs). Furthermore, charge doping of the FBS Dirac bands induces spontaneous spin polarization, converting the system into a half-metallic Dirac state. Based on this discovery, a model of a spin field effect transistor is proposed to generate and transport 100% spin-polarized carriers. Our finding illustrates a concept to realize exotic quantum states by manipulating MOs, instead of AOs, in orbital-designed molecular crystal lattices.