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At least 55 records · Page 3

Enhancement and destruction of spin-Peierls physics in a one-dimensional quantum magnet under pressure

The application of pressure reveals a rich phase diagram for the quantum S = 1/2 spin chain material TiOCl. Here, we performed x-ray diffraction on single-crystal samples in a diamond-anvil cell down to T = 4 K and pressures up to 14.5 GPa. Remarkably, the magnetic interaction scale increases dramatically with increasing pressure, as indicated by the high onset temperature of the spin-Peierls phase. The spin-Peierls phase was probed at ~ 6 GPa up to 215 K but possibly extends in temperature to above T = 300 K, indicating the possibility of a quantum singlet state at room temperature. Near the critical pressure for the transition to the more metallic phase, coexisting phases are exemplified by incommensurate order in two directions. Further comparisons are made with the phase diagrams of related spin-Peierls systems that display metallicity and superconductivity under pressure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Strange Particles and Heavy Ion Physics

This very long-running grant has supported many experiments in nuclear and particle physics by a group from the University of New Mexico. The gamut of these experiments runs from many aspects of Strangeness Nuclear Physics, to rare Kaon decays, to searches for exotic Hadrons such as Pentaquark or H-Dibaryon, and finally to Spin Physics within the PHENIX collaboration at RHIC. These experiments were performed at a number of laboratories worldwide: first and foremost at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL), but also at CERN, KEK, and most recently at J-PARC. In this Final Technical Report we summarize progress and achievements for this award since our last Progress Report, i.e. for the period of fall 2013 until the award’s termination on November 30, 2015. The report consists of two parts, representing our two most recent experimental efforts, participation in the Nucleon Spin Physics program of the PHENIX experiment at RHIC, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at BNL – Task 1, led by Douglas Fields; and participation in several Strangeness Nuclear Physics experiments at J-PARC, the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Center in Tokai-mura, Japan – Task 2, led by Bernd Bassalleck.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

WE-DE-206-00: MRI Physics

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an essential part of clinical imaging due to its ability to render high soft tissue contrast. Instead of ionizing radiation, MRI use strong magnetic field, radio frequency waves and field gradients to create diagnostic useful images. It can be used to image the anatomy and also functional and physiological activities within the human body. Knowledge of the basic physical principles underlying MRI acquisition is vitally important to successful image production and proper image interpretation. This lecture will give an overview of the spin physics, imaging principle of MRI, the hardware of the MRI scanner, and various pulse sequences and their applications. It aims to provide a conceptual foundation to understand the image formation process of a clinical MRI scanner. Learning Objectives: Understand the origin of the MR signal and contrast from the spin physics level. Understand the main hardware components of a MRI scanner and their purposes Understand steps for MR image formation including spatial encoding and image reconstruction Understand the main kinds of MR pulse sequences and their characteristics.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-DE-206-02: MRI Hardware - Magnet, Gradient, RF Coils

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an essential part of clinical imaging due to its ability to render high soft tissue contrast. Instead of ionizing radiation, MRI use strong magnetic field, radio frequency waves and field gradients to create diagnostic useful images. It can be used to image the anatomy and also functional and physiological activities within the human body. Knowledge of the basic physical principles underlying MRI acquisition is vitally important to successful image production and proper image interpretation. This lecture will give an overview of the spin physics, imaging principle of MRI, the hardware of the MRI scanner, and various pulse sequences and their applications. It aims to provide a conceptual foundation to understand the image formation process of a clinical MRI scanner. Learning Objectives: Understand the origin of the MR signal and contrast from the spin physics level. Understand the main hardware components of a MRI scanner and their purposes Understand steps for MR image formation including spatial encoding and image reconstruction Understand the main kinds of MR pulse sequences and their characteristics.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

WE-DE-206-03: MRI Image Formation - Slice Selection, Phase Encoding, Frequency Encoding, K-Space, SNR

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an essential part of clinical imaging due to its ability to render high soft tissue contrast. Instead of ionizing radiation, MRI use strong magnetic field, radio frequency waves and field gradients to create diagnostic useful images. It can be used to image the anatomy and also functional and physiological activities within the human body. Knowledge of the basic physical principles underlying MRI acquisition is vitally important to successful image production and proper image interpretation. This lecture will give an overview of the spin physics, imaging principle of MRI, the hardware of the MRI scanner, and various pulse sequences and their applications. It aims to provide a conceptual foundation to understand the image formation process of a clinical MRI scanner. Learning Objectives: Understand the origin of the MR signal and contrast from the spin physics level. Understand the main hardware components of a MRI scanner and their purposes Understand steps for MR image formation including spatial encoding and image reconstruction Understand the main kinds of MR pulse sequences and their characteristics.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Physics opportunities with a fixed target experiment at the LHC (AFTER@LHC)

By extracting the beam with a bent crystal or by using an internal gas target, the multi-TeV proton and lead LHC beams allow one to perform the most energetic fixed-target experiments (AFTER@LHC) and to study p+p and p+A collisions at \sqrt{s_NN}=115 GeV and Pb+p and Pb+A collisions at \sqrt{s_NN}=72 GeV. Such studies would address open questions in the domain of the nucleon and nucleus partonic structure at high-x, quark-gluon plasma and, by using longitudinally or transversally polarised targets, spin physics. In this paper, we discuss the physics opportunities of a fixed-target experiment at the LHC and we report on the possible technical implementations of a high-luminosity experiment. We finally present feasibility studies for Drell-Yan, open heavy-flavour and quarkonium production, with an emphasis on high-x and spin physics.

Hadjidakis, Cynthia↗

Project Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility at JINR

The project of Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) that is under development at JINR (Dubna) is presented. The general goals of the project are experimental studies of both hot and dense baryonic matter and spin physics (in collisions of polarized protons and deuterons). The first program requires providing of heavy ion collisions in the energy range of √(s{sub NN}) = 4–11 Gev at average luminosity of L = 1 × 10{sup 27} cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} for {sup 197}Au{sup 79+} nuclei. The polarized beams mode is proposed to be used in energy range of √(s{sub NN}) = 12–27 Gev (protons at luminosity of L ≥ 1 × 10{sup 30} cm{sup −2} s{sup −1}. The report contains description of the facility scheme and its characteristics in heavy ion operation mode. The Collider will be equipped with two detectors—MultiPurpose Detector (MPD), which is in an active stage of construction, and Spin Physics Detector (SPD) that is in the stage of conceptual design. Fixed target experiment “Baryonic matter at Nuclotron” (BM@N) will be performed in very beginning of the project. The wide program of applied researches at NICA facility is being developed as well.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Methods for organizing the interaction of circulating particle beams with internal targets in nuclear physics experiments at synchrotrons and storage rings

The first methods for using internal targets and their further development for organization of nuclear physics experiments at synchrotrons and storage rings are reviewed. With these methods, new results are obtained and discoveries are made in physics of interactions of elementary particles and nuclei. Current uses of various internal targets and circulating particle beams in ongoing and projected research in particle physics, relativistic nuclear and spin physics, and physics of interactions of exotic and radioactive nuclei and for producing fluxes of secondary particles (mesons, neutrons, exotic and radioactive nuclei, etc.) for physics experiments are described.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

12 GeV CEBAF - The Physics and Experiments

In this talk the role of spin and polarization is discussed in experimental search for new excited baryon states and in the study of the internal quark-gluon structure of the proton and neutron. Also the perspective of spin physics at the 12 GeV CEBAF electron accelerator is discussed and what we hope to learn about fundamental properties of hadrons such as their multi-dimensional structure through the momentum and spatial imaging, and about the forces on the quarks in the proton and how quark confinement may be realized through the spatial distribution of such forces.

Burkert, Volker↗

Optical, Electrical and Magnetic Studies of Pi-Conjugated Organic Semiconductor Systems

Over the duration of this grant our group has studied the transient and cw optical response of various π-conjugated polymers, oligomers, single crystals, fullerene molecules and blends of organic donor-acceptor molecules. We have been also involved in complementary experiments such as magneto-optical studies and spin-physics. We have advanced the field of photophysics of these materials by providing information on their excited state energies and primodal and long-lived photoexcitations such as singlet excitons, triplet excitons, polaron-pairs, excimers and exciplexes. We also fabricated various organic optoelectronic devices such as organic light emitting diodes (OLED), electrochemical cells, organic diodes, organic spin-valves (OSV), and organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells. These devices benefited the society in terms of cheap and energy saving illumination, as well as harnessing the solar energy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

On the physics potential to study the gluon content of proton and deuteron at NICA SPD

The Spin Physics Detector (SPD) is a future multipurpose experiment foreseen to run at the NICA collider, which is currently under construction at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna, Russia). The physics program of the experiment is based on collisions of longitudinally and transversely polarized protons and deuterons at √s up to 27 GeV and luminosity up to 10 32 cm –2 s –1 . SPD will operate as a universal facility for the comprehensive study of the unpolarized and polarized gluon content of the nucleon, using complementary probes such as: charmonia, open-charm, and prompt-photon production processes. Furthermore, the aim of this work is to provide a thorough review of the physics objectives that can potentially be addressed at SPD, underlining related theoretical aspects and discussing relevant experimental results when available. Among different pertinent phenomena particular attention is drawn to the study of the gluon helicity, gluon Sivers and Boer-Mulders functions in the nucleon, as well as the gluon transversity distribution in the deuteron, via the measurement of single and double spin asymmetries.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Efficient Four-Component Dirac–Coulomb–Gaunt Hartree–Fock in the Pauli Spinor Representation

Four-component Dirac Hartree--Fock is an accurate mean-field method for treating molecular systems where relativistic effects are important. However, the computational cost and complexity of the two-electron interaction makes this method less common, even though we can consider the Dirac Hartree--Fock Hamiltonian the ``ground truth" of electronic structure, barring explicit quantum-electrodynamical effects. Being able to calculate these effects is then vital to the design of lower scaling methods for accurate predictions in computational spectroscopy and properties of heavy element complexes that must include relativistic effects for even qualitative accuracy. In this work, we present a Pauli quaternion formalism of maximal component- and spin-separation for computing the Dirac-Coulomb-Gaunt Hartree-Fock ground state, with a minimal floating-point-operation count algorithm. Furthermore, this approach also allows one to explicitly separate different spin physics from the two-body interactions, such as spin-free, spin-orbit, and the spin-spin contributions. Additionally, we use this formalism to examine relativistic trends in the periodic table, and analyze the basis set dependence of atomic gold and gold dimer systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Improved perfect-fluid energy-momentum tensor with spin in Einstein-Cartan space-time

The description of the spin given here is classical in that it is intrinsic but not quantized. The approach in this matter is similar to, for example, the work of Bailey and Israel (1973, 1975, 1979), where the fluid particles, which have intrinsic spin, may be galaxies or clusters of galaxies. The elementary particles of these objects and the 'ferromagnetic alignment' of their quantum spins are not resorted to in order to describe a fluid with spin. Physically this means that the equation of motion for the spin tensor is a modified Fermi-Walker transport equation (Misner et al., 1973), arising as a direct result of the inclusion of spin as an intrinsic variable in the thermodynamic description of the internal energy. The variables in this description are classical variables throughout and are not microscopic fields. An improved perfect-fluid energy-momentum tensor that includes spin and torsion is presented. Use is made of a Lagrangian variational principle based on the tetrad formalism of Halbwach (1960) and the method od constraints of Ray (1972).

Ray, J. R.↗

Magnetoelectroluminescence of organic heterostructures: Analytical theory and spectrally resolved measurements

The effect of a magnetic field on the electroluminescence of organic light emitting devices originates from the hyperfine interaction between the electron/hole polarons and the hydrogen nuclei of the host molecules. In this paper, we present an analytical theory of magnetoelectroluminescence for organic semiconductors. To be specific, we focus on bilayer heterostructure devices. In the case we are considering, light generation at the interface of the donor and acceptor layers results from the formation and recombination of exciplexes. The spin physics is described by a stochastic Liouville equation for the electron/hole spin density matrix. By finding the steady-state analytical solution using Bloch-Wangsness-Redfield theory, we explore how the singlet/triplet exciplex ratio is affected by the hyperfine interaction strength and by the external magnetic field. In order to validate the theory, spectrally resolved electroluminescence experiments on BPhen/m-MTDATA devices are analyzed. With increasing emission wavelength, the width of the magnetic field modulation curve of the electroluminescence increases while its depth decreases. Furthermore, these observations are consistent with the model.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Interface-assisted molecular spintronics

Molecular spintronics, a field that utilizes the spin state of organic molecules to develop magneto-electronic devices, has shown an enormous scientific activity for more than a decade. But, in the last couple of years, new insights in understanding the fundamental phenomena of molecular interaction on magnetic surfaces, forming a hybrid interface, are presenting a new pathway for developing the subfield of interface-assisted molecular spintronics. The recent exploration of such hybrid interfaces involving carbon based aromatic molecules shows a significant excitement and promise over the previously studied single molecular magnets. In the above new scenario, hybridization of the molecular orbitals with the spin-polarized bands of the surface creates new interface states with unique electronic and magnetic character. This study opens up a molecular-genome initiative in designing new handles to functionalize the spin dependent electronic properties of the hybrid interface to construct spin-functional tailor-made devices. Through this article, we review this subject by presenting a fundamental understanding of the interface spin-chemistry and spin-physics by taking support of advanced computational and spectroscopy tools to investigate molecular spin responses with demonstration of new interface phenomena. Spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy is favorably considered to be an important tool to investigate these hybrid interfaces with intra-molecular spatial resolution. Finally, by addressing some of the recent findings, we propose novel device schemes towards building interface tailored molecular spintronic devices for applications in sensor, memory, and quantum computing.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY STRAINED SUPERLATTICE SPIN POLARIZED PHOTOCATHODES VIA METAL ORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION

Spin polarized photocathodes are necessary to examine parity violations and other fundamental phenomena in the field of high energy physics. To create these devices, expensive and complicated growth processes are necessary. While integral to accelerator physics, spin polarized electrons could have other exciting applications in materials science and other fields of physics. In order to explore these other applications feasibly, the relative supply of spin polarized photocathodes with a high rate of both polarization and photoemission needs to be increased. One such way to increase this supply is to develop the means to grow them faster and at a larger scale. Because most photocathodes are grown in slow, small-scale processes like Molecular Beam Epitaxy, an alternative needed to be found. In the following work, strained superlattice photocathodes were fabricated using metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. Using this growth process, we demonstrated that it is possible to create high quality photocathodes at a higher rate while maintaining a high quality of polarization and quantum efficiency, thus allowing for the exploration of other applications for these devices.

Belfore, Benjamin↗

Perspective: Ultrafast magnetism and THz spintronics

This year the discovery of femtosecond demagnetization by laser pulses is 20 years old. For the first time, this milestone work by Bigot and coworkers gave insight directly into the time scales of microscopic interactions that connect the spin and electron system. While intense discussions in the field were fueled by the complexity of the processes in the past, it now became evident that it is a puzzle of many different parts. Rather than providing an overview that has been presented in previous reviews on ultrafast processes in ferromagnets, this perspective will show that with our current depth of knowledge the first applications are developed: THz spintronics and all-optical spin manipulation are becoming more and more feasible. The aim of this perspective is to point out where we can connect the different puzzle pieces of understanding gathered over 20 years to develop novel applications. Based on many observations in a large number of experiments. Differences in the theoretical models arise from the localized and delocalized nature of ferromagnetism. Transport effects are intrinsically non-local in spintronic devices and at interfaces. We review the need for multiscale modeling to address the processes starting from electronic excitation of the spin system on the picometer length scale and sub-femtosecond time scale, to spin wave generation, and towards the modeling of ultrafast phase transitions that altogether determine the response time of the ferromagnetic system. Today, our current understanding gives rise to the first usage of ultrafast spin physics for ultrafast magnetism control: THz spintronic devices. This makes the field of ultrafast spin-dynamics an emerging topic open for many researchers right now.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Twist analysis of the spin-orbit correlation in QCD

We present a QCD analysis of the twist-three parton distribution functions associated with the spin-orbit correlation of quarks and gluons in spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ and spin-0 hadrons. We derive exact non-perturbative identities decomposing the spin-orbit correlations into the Wandzura-Wilczek part and the genuine twist-three part. In the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ case, the result is partially related to the kinematical twist-three part of the g T (x) distribution familiar in the context of transverse spin physics. We use these identities to obtain a novel longitudinal momentum sum rule which may be regarded as the momentum version of the Jaffe-Manohar spin sum rule. We explore the physical interpretation of the sum rule and make a connection to the color Lorentz forces and their associated potential energies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗