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Anti-symmetric spin-orbit force (ALS) in the effective interaction for the shell model and its effect on nuclear structure is discussed. We investigate possible origins of the ALS and the effects on the level schemes of several nuclei.
The Cherenkov effect is a well-known phenomenon in the electrodynamics of fast charged particles passing through transparent media. If the particle is faster than the light in a given medium, the medium emits a forward light cone. This beautiful phenomenon has an acoustic counterpart where the role of photons is played by phonons and the role of the speed of light is played by the sound velocity. In this case the medium emits a forward sound cone. Here, we show that in a system with spin-orbit interactions in addition to this normal Cherenkov sound there appears an anomalous Cherenkov sound with forward and backward sound propagation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the transition from the normal to anomalous Cherenkov sound happens in a singular way at the Cherenkov cone angle. The detection of this acoustic singularity therefore represents an alternative experimental tool for the measurement of the spin-orbit coupling strength.
Our ab initio theory calculations predict a semiconducting band structure of I-Mn-V compounds. We demonstrate on LiMnAs that high-quality materials with group-I alkali metals in the crystal structure can be grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Optical measurements on the LiMnAs epilayers are consistent with the theoretical electronic structure. Our calculations also reproduce earlier reports of high antiferromagnetic ordering temperature and predict large, spin-orbit-coupling-induced magnetic anisotropy effects. We propose a strategy for employing antiferromagnetic semiconductors in high-temperature semiconductor spintronics.
A series of spinel compounds with composition CuFe{sub 0.5}(Sn{sub (1-x)}Ti{sub x}){sub 1.5}S{sub 4} (0{<=}x{<=}1) is analysed by X-ray diffraction, measurements of magnetic susceptibilities and {sup 57}Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy. All samples show a temperature-dependent equilibrium between an electronic low spin 3d(t{sub 2g}){sup 6}(e{sub g}){sup 0} and a high spin 3d(t{sub 2g}){sup 4}(e{sub g}){sup 2} state of the Fe(II) ions. The spin crossover is of the continuous type and extends over several hundred degrees in all samples. The Sn/Ti ratio influences the thermal equilibrium between the two spin states. Substitution of Sn(IV) by the smaller Ti(IV) ions leads to a more compact crystal lattice, which, in contrast to many metal-organic Fe(II) complexes, does not stabilise the low spin state, but increases the residual high spin fraction for T{yields}0 K. The role played by antiferromagnetic spin coupling in the stabilisation of the high spin state is discussed. The results are compared with model calculations treating the effect of magnetic interactions on spin state equilibria. -- Graphical Abstract: Comparison of fractions of high spin Fe(II) from Moessbauer spectra (circles) with plots of {chi}{sub m}T (dots) versus T. Discrepancies between both methods indicate anti-ferromagnetic spin coupling. Display Omitted Research highlights: {yields} Many Fe(II) complexes show thermally induced high spin-low spin crossover. {yields} Spin crossover in spinel compounds is extremely scarce. {yields} Usually, lattice contraction favours the low spin state in Fe(II) complexes. {yields} In these spinels, lattice contraction favours the high spin state. {yields} The stabilisation of the high spin state is explained by spin-spin interactions.
In this Rapid Communication we study finite-temperature properties of spin-1/2 interacting bosons with spin-orbit coupling in two dimensions. When the ground state has stripe order, we show that thermal fluctuations will first melt the stripe order and lead to a superfluid of boson pairs if the spin-orbit coupling is isotropic or nearly isotropic. Such a phase supports fractionalized quantum vortices. The Kosterlitz-Thouless transition from superfluid to normal state is driven by proliferation of half vortices. When the ground state is a plane-wave state, the transition to normal state is driven by conventional Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. However, the critical temperature will drop to zero for isotropic spin-orbit coupling.
We propose a magnetic field sensor consisting of a square ring made of metal with a strong Rashba spin-orbital coupling (RSOC) and contacted to half-metal electrodes. Due to the Aharonov-Casher effect, the presence of the RSOC imparts a spin-dependent geometric phase to conduction electrons in the ring. The combination of the magnetic flux emanating from the magnetic sample placed below the ring, and the Aharonov-Casher effect due to RSOC results in spin interference, which modulates the spin transport in the ring nanostructure. By using the tight-binding nonequilibrium Green's function formalism to model the transport across the nanoring detector, we theoretically show that with proper optimization, the Rashba ring can function as a sensitive and tunable magnetic probe to detect magnetic flux.
The complexity of ultrafast molecular photoionization presents an obstacle to the modeling of pump-probe experiments. Here, a simple optimized model of atomic rubidium is combined with a molecular dynamics model to predict quantitatively the results of a pump-probe experiment in which long-range rubidium dimers are first excited, then ionized after a variable delay. The method is illustrated by the outline of two proposed feasible experiments and the calculation of their outcomes. Both of these proposals use Feshbach {sup 87}Rb{sub 2} molecules. We show that long-range molecular pump-probe experiments should observe spin-orbit precession given a suitable pump pulse, and that the associated high-frequency beat signal in the ionization probability decays after a few tens of picoseconds. If the molecule was to be excited to only a single fine-structure state, then a low-frequency oscillation in the internuclear separation would be detectable through the time-dependent ionization cross section, giving a mechanism that would enable observation of coherent vibrational motion in this molecule.
We identify the molecular ion NH{sup +} as a potential candidate for probing variations in the fine-structure constant {alpha} and electron-to-proton mass ratio {mu}. NH{sup +} has an anomalously low-lying excited {sup 4}{Sigma}{sup -} state, being only a few hundred cm{sup -1} above the ground {sup 2}{Pi} state. Being a light molecule, this proximity is such that rotational levels of the respective states are highly intermixed for low angular momenta. We find that several low-frequency transitions within the collective rotational spectrum experience enhanced sensitivity to {alpha} and {mu} variation. This is attributable to the close proximity of the {sup 2}{Pi} and {sup 4}{Sigma}{sup -} states, as well as the ensuing strong spin-orbit coupling between them. Suggestions that NH{sup +} may exist in interstellar space and recent predictions that trapped-ion precision spectroscopy will be adaptable to molecular ions make NH{sup +} a promising system for future astrophysical and laboratory studies of {alpha} and {mu} variation.
We investigate the ground state of interacting spin-(1/2) fermions in three dimensions at a finite density ({rho}{approx}k{sub F}{sup 3}) in the presence of a uniform non-Abelian gauge field. The gauge-field configuration (GFC) described by a vector {lambda}{identical_to}({lambda}{sub x},{lambda}{sub y},{lambda}{sub z}), whose magnitude {lambda} determines the gauge coupling strength, generates a generalized Rashba spin-orbit interaction. For a weak attractive interaction in the singlet channel described by a small negative scattering length (k{sub F}|a{sub s}| < or approx. 1), the ground state in the absence of the gauge field ({lambda}=0) is a BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) superfluid with large overlapping pairs. With increasing gauge-coupling strength, a non-Abelian gauge field engenders a crossover of this BCS ground state to a BEC (Bose-Einstein condensate) of bosons even with a weak attractive interaction that fails to produce a two-body bound state in free vacuum ({lambda}=0). For large gauge couplings ({lambda}/k{sub F}>>1), the BEC attained is a condensate of bosons whose properties are solely determined by the Rashba gauge field (and not by the scattering length so long as it is nonzero)--we call these bosons ''rashbons.'' In the absence of interactions (a{sub s}=0{sup -}), the shape of the Fermi surface of the system undergoes a topological transition at a critical gauge coupling {lambda}{sub T}. For high-symmetry GFCs we show that the crossover from the BCS superfluid to the rashbon BEC occurs in the regime of {lambda} near {lambda}{sub T}. In the context of cold atomic systems, these results make an interesting suggestion of obtaining BCS-BEC crossover through a route other than tuning the interaction between the fermions.
In chiral magnets without inversion symmetry, the magnetic structure can form a lattice of magnetic whirl lines, a two-dimensional skyrmion lattice, stabilized by spin-orbit interactions in a small range of temperatures and magnetic fields. The twist of the magnetization within this phase gives rise to an efficient coupling of macroscopic magnetic domains to spin currents. We analyze the resulting spin-transfer effects, and, in particular, focus on the current-induced rotation of the magnetic texture by an angle. Such a rotation can arise from macroscopic temperature gradients in the system as has recently been shown experimentally and theoretically. Here we investigate an alternative mechanism, where small distortions of the skyrmion lattice and the transfer of angular momentum to the underlying atomic lattice play the key role. We employ the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation and adapt the Thiele method to derive an effective equation of motion for the rotational degree of freedom. We discuss the dependence of the rotation angle on the orientation of the applied magnetic field and the distance to the phase transition.
We show experimentally that optical phase singularities (PSs) can be written and erased, locally and in a controllable manner, into a light beam using the giant Kerr optical nonlinearities of liquid crystals. The method relies on the nonlinear optical spin-orbit coupling experienced by a collimated probe beam when a collinear focused pump beam imprints a radial birefringent pattern into a nematic film. In addition, experimental data are quantitatively described, accounting for the elastic anisotropy of the material and its nonlocal spatial response to the pump light field. Since we show that the optical intensity of a light beam (the 'pump') controls the phase of another beam (the 'probe') in a singular fashion (i.e., with the generation of a screw PS) via their interaction in a nonlinear medium that involves spin-orbit coupling, we dubbed such a nonlinear optical process as spin-orbit optical cross-phase-modulation.
The transition energies and rates for the 2s{sup 2}2p{sup 2} {sup 3}P{sub 1,2}-2s2p{sup 3} {sup 5}S{sub 2}{sup o} and 2s{sup 2}2p3s-2s{sup 2}2p3p intercombination transitions have been calculated using term-dependent nonorthogonal orbitals in the multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock approach. Several sets of spectroscopic and correlation nonorthogonal functions have been chosen to describe adequately term dependence of wave functions and various correlation corrections. Special attention has been focused on the accurate representation of strong interactions between the 2s2p{sup 3} {sup 1,3}P{sub 1}{sup o} and 2s{sup 2}2p3s {sup 1,3}P{sub 1}{sup o}levels. The relativistic corrections are included through the one-body mass correction, Darwin, and spin-orbit operators and two-body spin-other-orbit and spin-spin operators in the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian. The importance of core-valence correlation effects has been examined. The accuracy of present transition rates is evaluated by the agreement between the length and velocity formulations combined with the agreement between the calculated and measured transition energies. The present results for transition probabilities, branching fraction, and lifetimes have been compared with previous calculations and experiments.
In this paper we use a spin kinetic equation to study spin-polarization dynamics in one-dimensional (1D) wires and 2D channels. The spin kinetic equation is valid in both diffusive and ballistic spin transport regimes and therefore is more general than the usual spin drift-diffusion equations. In particular, we demonstrate that in infinite 1D wires with Rashba spin-orbit interaction the exponential spin-relaxation decay can be modulated by an oscillating function. In the case of spin relaxation in finite length 1D wires, it is shown that an initially homogeneous spin polarization spontaneously transforms into a persistent spin helix. We find that a propagating spin-polarization profile reflects from a system boundary and returns back to its initial position similarly to the reflectance of sound waves from an obstacle. The Green's function of the spin kinetic equation is derived for both finite and infinite 1D systems. Moreover, we demonstrate explicitly that the spin relaxation in specifically oriented 2D channels with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions of equal strength occurs similarly to that in 1D wires of finite length. Finally, a simple transformation mapping 1D spin kinetic equation into the Klein-Gordon equation with an imaginary mass is found thus establishing an interesting connection between semiconductor spintronics and relativistic quantum mechanics.
Parameterized potentials obtained within the relativistic, optimized, effective potential framework are reported for the ground state of the atoms He through Ra. The potentials are expressed in terms of Yukawian functions times a power of r. The total, kinetic, exchange, and single-particle energies and the expectation value of the spin-spin interaction are given for each atom.
Research Highlights: > We derive a modified LLG equation in magnetic systems with spin-orbit coupling (SOC). > Our results are applied to magnetic multilayers, and DMS and magnetic Rashba systems. > SOC mediated magnetization switching is predicted in rare earth metals (large SOC). > The magnetization trajectory and frequency can be modulated by applied voltage. > This facilitates potential application as tunable microwave oscillators. - Abstract: We present a theoretical description of local spin dynamics in magnetic systems with a chiral spin texture and finite spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Spin precession about the relativistic effective magnetic field in a SOC system gives rise to a non-Abelian SU(2) gauge field reminiscent of the Yang-Mills field. In addition, the adiabatic relaxation of electron spin along the local spin yields an U(1) x U(1) topological gauge (Berry) field. We derive the corresponding equation of motion i.e. modified Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation, for the local spin under the influence of these effects. Focusing on the SU(2) gauge, we obtain the spin torque magnitude, and the amplitude and frequency of spin oscillations in this system. Our theoretical estimates indicate significant spin torque and oscillations in systems with large spin-orbit coupling, which may be utilized in technological applications such as current-induced magnetization-switching and tunable microwave oscillators.
We investigate properties of the generator coordinate method (GCM) on a collective basis of antisymmetrized quasicluster states to describe the cluster-shell competition in {sup 20}Ne and {sup 24}Mg owing to the spin-orbit interaction. By introducing a single additional parameter in the antisymmetrized-cluster basis function, a continuous transformation of the {alpha} cluster(s) into independent nucleons can be described. We apply this GCM trial wave function to study in detail the transition from cluster states [{sup 16}O+{alpha}] and [{sup 16}O+{alpha}+{alpha}] to shell-model states [{sup 16}O+4N] and [{sup 16}O+8N], respectively. An optimal value of the strength of the spin-orbit interaction is deduced by reproducing level spacing in {sup 20}Ne. A possible connection to the group theoretical understanding of the cluster-shell configuration transition is also discussed.
Asymptotic energy expressions for the weak-correlation limits of the two lowest energy states of the three-electron harmonium atom are obtained in closed forms. When combined with the known results for the strong-correlation limit, these expressions, which are correct through the second order of perturbation theory, yield robust Pade approximants that allow accurate estimation of energies in question for all magnitudes of the confinement strength.
The parallel components of static electric dipole polarizabilities have been calculated for the lowest lying spin-orbit states of the penta- and hexavalent oxidation states of the actinides (An) U, Np, and Pu, in both their atomic and molecular diyl ion forms (An{sup 5+/6+} and AnO{sub 2}{sup +/2+}) using the numerical finite-field technique within a four-component relativistic framework. The four-component Dirac-Hartree-Fock method formed the reference for MP2 and CCSD(T) calculations, while multireference Fock space coupled-cluster (FSCC), intermediate Hamiltonian Fock space coupled-cluster (IH-FSCC) and Kramers restricted configuration interaction (KRCI) methods were used to incorporate additional electron correlation. It is observed that electron correlation has significant (∼5 a.u.{sup 3}) impact upon the parallel component of the polarizabilities of the diyls. To the best of our knowledge, these quantities have not been previously reported and they can serve as reference values in the determination of various electronic and response properties (for example intermolecular forces, optical properties, etc.) relevant to the nuclear fuel cycle and material science applications. The highest quality numbers for the parallel components (α{sub zz}) of the polarizability for the lowest Ω levels corresponding to the ground electronic states are (in a.u.{sup 3}) 44.15 and 41.17 for UO{sub 2}{sup +} and UO{sub 2}{sup 2+}, respectively, 45.64 and 41.42 for NpO{sub 2}{sup +} and NpO{sub 2}{sup 2+}, respectively, and 47.15 for the PuO{sub 2}{sup +} ion.