117989993
Magnetically induced spin reorientation on the surface of a topological insulator (a surface magnetic topological insulator MBE film)
The surface of topological insulators is proposed as a promising platform for spintronics and quantum information applications. In particular, when time- reversal symmetry is broken, topological surface states are expected to exhibit a wide range of exotic spin phenomena for potential implementation in electronics. Such devices need to be fabricated using nanoscale artificial thin films. It is of critical importance to study the spin behavior of artificial topological MBE thin films associated with magnetic dopants, and with regards to quantum size effects related to surface-to-surface tunneling as well as experimentally isolate time-reversal breaking from non-intrinsic surface electronic gaps. Here we present observation of the first (and thorough) study of magnetically induced spin reorientation phenomena on the surface of a topological insulator. Our results reveal dramatic rearrangements of the spin configuration upon magnetic doping contrasted with chemically similar nonmagnetic doping as well as with quantum tunneling phenomena in ultra-thin high quality MBE films. While we observe that the spin rearrangement induced by quantum tunneling occurs in a time-reversal invariant fashion, we present critical and systematic observation of an out-of-plane spin texture evolution correlated with magnetic interactions, which breaks time-reversal symmetry, demonstrating microscopic TRB at a Kramers' point on the surface.
206531826
Topological Phase Transition and Texture Inversion in a Tunable Topological Insulator
Two types of bulk insulator are realized in the same family of compounds through chemical doping. The recently discovered three-dimensional or bulk topological insulators are expected to exhibit exotic quantum phenomena. It is believed that a trivial insulator can be twisted into a topological state by modulating the spin-orbit interaction or the crystal lattice, driving the system through a topological quantum phase transition. By directly measuring the topological quantum numbers and invariants, we report the observation of a phase transition in a tunable spin-orbit system, BiTl(S1–δSeδ)2, in which the topological state formation is visualized. In the topological state, vortex-like polarization states are observed to exhibit three-dimensional vectorial textures, which collectively feature a chirality transition as the spin momentum–locked electrons on the surface go through the zero carrier density point. Such phase transition and texture inversion can be the physical basis for observing fractional charge (±e/2) and other fractional topological phenomena.
55602833
A new platform for topological quantum phenomena : Topological Insulator states in thermoelectric Heusler-related ternary compounds
Topological insulators (TI) realize a novel state of quantum matter that are distinguished by topological invariants of bulk band structure rather than spontaneously broken symmetries. A number of exotic quantum phenomena have been predicted to exist in multiply-connected geometries which require an enormous amount of materials flexibility. We have extended our previous search for TI materials from binary (Bi2X3 series) to the thermoelectric ternary compounds. We discover that the distorted LuPtSb is the first ternary compound harboring a 3D topological insulator state. We also show that the half-Heusler LuPtSb-type series is a natural platform that hosts a range of candidate compounds, alloys and artificial heterostructures (quantum-wells). We also discovered several different paradigms of trivial and non-trivial topological ordering in this class, including a metallic nontrivial topological state in YAuPb. Some of these materials are grown (results will be reported separately).
118473600
Galaxy Rotation Curves in the Grumiller's Modified Gravity
The effective potential in the Grumiller's modified gravity includes the Newtonian potential and a Rindler term. The fitting to the rotation curve data of eight galaxies suggests a universal Rindler acceleration a approximate to 0.30 x 10(-10) ms(-2). We do a two-parameter fit first, with the mass-to-light ratio ((sic)(*)) and the Rindler acceleration (a) as free parameters. It is found that the data of six out of the eight galaxies fit well with the prediction of theory in the range 0 r less than or similar to 40 kpc, although the theoretical curves show a tendency of arising beyond this range. The Rindler accelerations of the six well-fitted galaxies have the same magnitude, with an average value (a) over bar approximate to 0.30 x 10(-10) ms(-2). Inspired by this fact, we then carry out a one-parameter ((sic)(*)) fit to the six galaxies, with a fixed at (a) over bar, and find that the theory can still reproduce the observation. The value of Rindler acceleration we get here is a quarter of that of Milgrom's modified Newtonian dynamics. For the rest two galaxies, NGC 5055 and DDO 154, the fitting results are significantly improved if the photometric scale length (h) is included as another free parameter.
118372786
GAMMA-RAY POLARIZATION OF THE SYNCHROTRON SELF-COMPTON PROCESS FROM A HIGHLY RELATIVISTIC JET
The high polarization observed in the prompt phase of some gamma-ray bursts invites extensive study of the emission mechanism. In this paper, we investigate the polarization properties of the synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) process from a highly relativistic jet. Amagnetic-dominated, baryon-loaded jet ejected from the central engine travels with a large Lorentz factor. Shells with slightly different velocities collide with each other and produce shocks. The shocks accelerate electrons to a power-law distribution and, at the same time, magnify the magnetic field. Electrons move in the magnetic field and produce synchrotron photons. Synchrotron photons suffer from the Compton scattering (CS) process and then are detected by an observer located slightly off-axis. We analytically derive the formulae of photon polarization in the SSC process in two magnetic configurations: a magnetic field in the shock plane and perpendicular to the shock plane. We show that photons induced by the SSC process can be highly polarized, with the maximum polarization Pi similar to 24% in the energy band [0.5, 5] MeV. The polarization depends on the viewing angles, peaking in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. In the energy band [0.05, 0.5] MeV, in which most gamma-ray polarimeters are active, the polarization is about twice that in the Thomson limit, reaching Pi similar to 20%. This implies that the Klein-Nishina effect, which is often neglected in the literature, should be carefully considered.
145047134
Finslerian MOND vs . observations of Bullet Cluster 1 E 0657-558
It is known that theory of MOND with spherical symmetry cannot account for the convergence κ-map of Bullet Cluster 1E0657-558. In this paper, we try to set up a Finslerian MOND, a generalization of MOND in Finsler spacetime. We use Ric = 0 to obtain the gravitational vacuum field equation in a four-dimensional Finsler spacetime. To leading order in the post-Newtonian approximation, we obtain the explicit form of the Finslerian line element. It is simply the Schwarzschild’s metric except for the Finslerian rescaling coefficient f(v) of the radial coordinate r, i.e. R = f(v(r))r. By setting f(v(r)) = (1 − √ a0r/GM) , we obtain the famous MOND in a Finslerian framework. Taking a dipole and a quadrupole term into consideration, we give the convergence κ in gravitational lensing astrophysics in our model. Numerical analysis shows that our prediction is to a certain extent in agreement with the observations of Bullet Cluster 1E0657-558. With the theoretical temperature T taking the observed value 14.8 keV, the mass density profile of the main cluster obtained in our model is the same order as that given by the best-fit King β-model.
119482794
The Supergravity dual of the BMN matrix model
We propose type IIA supergravity solutions dual to the 1/2 BPS vacua of the BMN matrix model. These dual solutions are analyzed using the Polchinski-Strassler method and have brane configurations of concentric shells of D2 branes (or NS5 branes) with various radii and D0 charge. These branes can be viewed as polarized from N D0 branes by a transverse R-R magnetic 6-form flux and an NS-NS 3-form flux. In the region far from branes, the solutions reduce to perturbation around the near horizon geometry of N D0 branes, by turning on these R-R and NS-NS fluxes, which are dual to the deformation of the BFSS matrix model by adding mass terms and the Myers term. The solutions with these additional fluxes preserve 16 supersymmetries. We also briefly discuss these fluxes in the possible supergravity duals of M(atrix) theories on less supersymmetric plane-waves.
7503241
Kac-Moody extensions of 3-algebras and M2-branes
We study the 3-algebraic structure involved in the recently shown M2-branes worldvolume gauge theories. We first extend an arbitrary finite dimensional 3-algebra into an infinite dimensional 3-algebra by adding a mode number to each generator. A unique central charge in the algebra of gauge transformations appears naturally in this extension. We present an infinite dimensional extended 3-algebra with a general metric and also a different extension with a Lorentzian metric. We then study ordinary finite dimensional 3-algebras with different signatures of the metric, focusing on the cases with a negative eigenvalue and the cases with a zero eigenvalue. In the latter cases we present a new algebra, whose corresponding theory is a decoupled abelian gauge theory together with a free theory with global gauge symmetry, and there is no negative kinetic term from this algebra.