Repositório RCAAP

We review the concept of the Bose metal state which arises in 2D superconductors in the quantum limit where vortex loops can grow spontaneously in (2+1) dimensions and, as zero point motions become larger, eventually lead to an insulating state. A nonlocal Coulomb charging term in a Josephson array type model leads to an effective transverse gauge field which can suppress the condensate of vortices in the superinsulating state leading to an intermediate Bose liquid which is not superfluid at T=0, the Bose metal state. We comment on recent work on this state and on other non-superfluid Bose liquids.

Superconductivity often occurs in crystals with one active electron per site with charge density wave (CDW) or spin density wave (SDW) as 'mother state'. It is proposed that superconductivity is possible when the differences in equilibrium geometry and energy between the diabatic CDW and SDW states are so small that there is interaction between them via the zero point vibrations. Electron pairing in real space is directly related to oxidation states being different in two units. Three valence states in succession have to be stable (ground state or low-energy excited states) and we therefore refer to this mixed valence model as the MV-3 model. Examples are chosen from bismuthates, cuprates, and fullerides. The theory is simple and straightforward and offers solutions to other important problems as well, for example for A3C(6)0(A = K; Rb), that (1) there are no magnetic moments in crystal phase, and (2) that these systems are superconducting metals while A4C(6)0 are insulators.

We study numerically superconductivity in a system characterized by the presence of a phenomenological ”pseudogap”, Eg, in the energy spectrum, for 0 < T < Ts.T* is a crossover temperature. As a simplification, the pseudogap and the superconducting gap have the same s-wave symmetry. We find that for<FONT FACE=Symbol>"</FONT>Eg <FONT FACE=Symbol>¹</FONT> 0 we require a critical value of the superconducting interaction, Vd, to produce a finite superconducting critical temperature, Tc and another one for deltao <FONT FACE=Symbol>¹</FONT> 0.

We argue that the spatial distribution of resonant impurity states in underdoped high-Tc superconductors serves as a probe for distinguishing different theoretical models for the pseudogap state. Superconducting pairing fluctuations are characterized by off-diagonal short-range order which distinguishes them from other possible instabilities that could give rise to the pseudogap phenomena. Due to the mixture of particle and hole states in a superconductor an impurity resonant state is composed of both a particle and a hole-like component. On the contrary a state with a gap induced by a particle-hole instability, like a d-density wave (DDW) or spin-density wave (SDW), exhibits no off-diagonal short-range order and consequently a resonant impurity state consists of only one either particle or hole-like component. Furthermore, a charge-spin separated state shows no resonance state at all inside the gap region.

Recently experiments on high critical temperature superconductors have shown that the doping levels and the superconducting gap are usually not uniform properties but strongly dependent on their positions inside a given sample. We show here that the large diamagnetic signal above the critical temperature Tc and the unusual temperature dependence of the upper critical field Hc2 with the temperature can be explained taking the inomo-geneities and a distribution of different local critical temperatures into account.

The superconductivity of graphite-sulfur composites is highly anisotropic and associated with the graphite planes. The superconducting state coexists with the ferromagnetism of pure graphite, and a continuous crossover from superconducting to ferromagnetic-like behavior could be achieved by increasing the magnetic field or the temperature. The angular dependence of the magnetic moment m(alpha) provides evidence for an interaction between the ferromagnetic and the superconducting order parameters.

We analyze how solar neutrino experiments could detect time fluctuations of the solar neutrino flux due to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) perturbations of the solar plasma. We state that if such time fluctuations are detected, this would provide a unique signature of the Resonant Spin-Flavor Precession (RSFP) mechanism as a solution to the Solar Neutrino Problem.

A secondary proton radiation belt can be observed in the equatorial region between the upper atmosphere and the interior edge of the main radiation belt. It is thought that the protons appear there in a result of ionization of energetic neutral hydrogen atoms coming from the internal area of the traditional radiation belt where they were born in charge exchange collisions of the trapped protons with the cold hydrogen of the gecorona. The process of formation of this secondary belt is numerically simulated in this paper assuming this charge exchange-re-ionization mechanism. Standard models of the trapped radiation, of the atmosphere and geocorona were used to simulate the source and the exospheric media. Experimental data were used for charge transfer cross sections. Result of simulation agrees very good with the experimental observation.

A theoretical and experimental study was developed about the applicability of a double probe system consisting of two directional Langmuir probes, both probes being located separately in a plasma column. The current- voltage characteristic of the double probe was obtained considering a plasma with a drifting maxwellian electron velocity distribution function and stationary ion background. In deriving the characteristic of the double probe, the plasma parameters, namely, electron temperature (Te), electron density (Ne), electron drift velocity (Vde) and plasma potential (Vp) are assumed to be non-uniform. The double probe characteristic is also dependent on the angle between the axial direction of the electron drift and the normal to the collecting area of the probe. Each probe can be rotated such that this angle can be varied between zero and 180 degrees. Various probe characteristics were simulated using plasma parameters obtained by independent single probe measurements in the positive column of a low-pressure arc discharge in mercury vapor. Typical parameters of the positive column, used in the simulation, are: Te = 5 eV, Ne = 10(17) m-3, v de = 8x10(5) ms-1. Experimental characteristics of the double probe were obtained and compared with the simulated results, showing good agreement. It is concluded that this directional probe system can be a reliable diagnostic tool especially for studies of non-uniform plasmas.

We have run electron optics simulations and determined the tolerance in the control voltages of all elements (retarding input lens, analyzer, accelerating exit lens) of the La Trobe University photoelectron analyzer, recently redesigned to reach a spectral resolution of 5000, and which will be installed at LNLS (Campinas Brasil) and BESSY II (Berlin, Germany).

Structural and thermodynamic properties of hydrogen molecular clusters formed around an atomic or molecular cation are examined. The shell distribution of H2 molecules and the size of the clusters are discussed. The Bloom-Margenau model for predicting the number of neutral molecules that could bind to a cation core is investigated and its limitations are illustrated using the Li+(H2)k clusters as test case. Finally, results for the entropy of the H+n clusters (n = 5 - 27, odd) and for the Gibbs free energy variations associated to the cluster formation are presented and the spontaneity of the clustering process in different conditions is examined.

In this work we present experimental results of electron plasma waves excited in a beam plasma system. Based on our experimental results we determine the transition from the quasi-linear to non-linear regime. We present the space evolution of the electron beam distribution function for both regimes. The spectrum of the electron plasma wave in the non-linear regime shows a component with frequency larger than the plasma frequency besides the plasma frequency itself. We show that the higher frequency component is strongly affected by Landau damping, indicating a dissipation region. The measured experimental power spectrum of this wave shows a dependence on wave number k given by Wk <FONT FACE=Symbol>µ</FONT> k-7/2 as theoretically predicted.

In the present paper we discuss stochastic diffusion of energetic ions by a set of lower hybrid waves with frequencies close to each other and random phases which change along the time evolution of the system. We obtain efficient long term diffusion in velocity space, which is more representative of the diffusion produced by a continuous wave packet than the diffusion produced by a set of waves with random phases which are constant along the time evolution.

We present a review of experimental data on the nonlinear optical properties of thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals probed by the Z-scan technique. Depending on the time scale, different processes originate a nonlinear optical response. Particularly, at nanosecond range, the physical processes associated with the nonlinear response in thermotropics are not completely understood. In lyotropics, the nonlinear response at ms time scale is from thermal origin and depends on the particular mesophase, relative concentration of the components, and temperature.

The absence of ghost-negative energy radiative modes in a proposed generalized theory of gravitation based on a non-symmetric metric is reanalyzed. The missing contribution of the symmetric sector of the Lagrangian is calculated and shown to be null. The ghost free character of the theory is then firmly established.

Explaining codon evolution in the standard genetic code is a remarkable subject in Molecular Biology. There are many works which try to develop a model to represent this evolution, sometimes using a certain amount of mathematical tools. The present work has as its main objective to explain one possible dynamical evolution model, which is based in the algebraic approach proposed in 1993 by Hornos and Hornos. This model made an analogy between the evolution of elementary particles and evolution of codons. As a result, the symmetry group that better adjusts degeneracy of the genetic code is the simplectic group Sp(6). The dynamical model present here is based in the 3 dimensional weight space of Sp(6), called Codon Space. This space is invariant under the action of the Octahedral Group. A map, <FONT FACE=Symbol>Â</FONT>³ -> <FONT FACE=Symbol>Â</FONT>³, was constructed using an equivariance principle and its action in the Codon Space was observed. The results were based in the analysis of the attractors and their preserved symmetries. The dynamical system action reproduces the main aspects of the labeling proposed in the algebraic approach. Moreover, the map separates the codons in distinguished sets, coupling codons from the same aminoacid in the same attractor. These dynamical results indicate that the algebraic model proposed in 1993 may be an important contribution to explain codon evolution, both in the algebraic and in the dynamical aspects.

We consider the process m -> nue e$\bar{\nu}$mu in the framework of a two Higgs doublet model with flavor changing neutral currents (FCNC). Since FCNC generates in turn flavor changing charged currents in the lepton sector, this process appears at tree level mediated by a charged Higgs boson exchange. From the experimental upper limit for this decay, we obtain the bound |ximue/mH+| < 3.8 x 10-3 GeV-1, where ximue refers to the mixing between the first and second lepton generations, and mH± denotes the mass of the charged Higgs boson. This bound is independent on the other free parameters of the model. In particular, for mH± ~ 100 GeV we get |ximue| $\lessim$0.38.

A fluid of domain walls may have an effective equation of state p w = -<img id="_x0000_i1026" src="../../../img/revistas/bjp/v33n4/a39img01.gif" align=absbottom>rhow. This equation of state is qualitatively in agreement with the supernova type Ia observations. We exploit a cosmological model where the matter content is given by a dust fluid and a domain wall fluid. The process of formation of galaxies is essentially preserved. On the other hand, the behaviour of the density contrast in the ordinary fluid is highly altered when domain walls begin to dominate the matter content of the Universe. This domain wall phase occurs at relative recent era, and its possible consequences are discussed, specially concerning the Sachs-Wolfe effect.

We study the $^{6}_{\Lambda\Lambda}$He and $^{10}_{\Lambda\Lambda}$Be hypernuclei in the three- and four-body models, respectively, employing harmonic oscillator bases and presently most realistic alpha-alpha, alpha-lambda and lambda-lambda interactions. In order to improve convergence we use correlation functions in the case of $^{10}_{\Lambda\Lambda}$Be. Comparison is made with results obtained using similar interactions and other methods, and it is performed an analysis concerning the possibility of a unified description of both hypernuclei.

This paper describes the general characteristics of spherical tokamaks, or spherical tori, with a brief overview of work in this area already performed or in progress at several institutions worldwide. The paper presents also the steps in the development of the ETE (Experimento Tokamak Esférico) project, its research program, technical characteristics and operating conditions as of December, 2002 at the Associated Plasma Laboratory (LAP) of the National Space Research Institute (INPE) in Brazil.