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Kibble and Zurek proposed that rapid symmetry breaking transitions in the hot, early universe could result in causally disconnected topological defects such as cosmic strings. This type of first order transition has analogues in certain second order transitions present in condensed matter such as liquid crystals, super fluids, and charge density waves in terms of flux tubes or vortices. Recently, we discovered that Rhodopseudomonas acidophilus photosynthetic light harvesting complex might have different types of coherent ground and excited states, suggesting that there are two different symmetry breaking transitions. The B 850 ground states comprise eight identical rings each containing 18 bacteriochlorophyll components, and each ring has undergone a Bose Einstein phase transition to a charge density wave that lowers the energy. The excited state coherence results from polariton formation from the non-crossing of bosons, here an extension of exciton theory. The result is short-lived quasi-particles with very low mass that can form an unusual BEC. We suggest the oriented, circular B 850 and enclosed singlet B 875 compounds create a new cavity structure with some attributes of a nano pillar. Since both the ground and excited states should contain solitons, we envisage three fast light pulse experiments could be able to map both the Kibble Zurek Model phase transitions and energy transfers as a function of light intensity and time in this complex at room temperature.

A bacterial photosynthetic light harvesting complex PLHC absorbs a photon and transfers this energy almost perfectly at room temperature RT to a Reaction Center RC, where charge separation occurs. While there are a number of possible light absorbers involved in this process, our focus is the B850 and B875 complexes. We propose that the dominant feature of the ground states in the B850 ring and the B875 open chain are pseudo one dimensional metals due to each bacteriochlorophyll a BChl containing a coordinated magnesium ion Mg2+. The Mg ion structure undergoes a static Peierls distortion that results in symmetry breaking that changes the even spacing of the Mg/BChl molecules comprising the chains to the experimentally observed Mg/BChl dimers. The results are charge density waves CDW, one for each type of the two complexes that result in an energy gap in the single particle electronic spectrum and coherent phonon s spanning the entire rings. The ground state CDWs seem to have two functions the first is to form a stable optical platform and the second is to suppress radical formation and energy dissipation of the coherent excited state by creating single particle energy gaps. After excitation by a photon, the B850 exciton delocalizes on the ring a second photon can form a two-level exciton polariton that could be an alternative explanation for the splitting of the B850 exciton band. The coherent polariton formed could actively participate in uphill electronic energy transfer EET. Additionally we suggest other possible energy storage mechanisms and entanglement possibilities. We suggest experimental studies to clarify these proposals., Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures

Three solvable models are set out in some detail in reviewing different types of phase transitions. Two of these relate directly to emergent critical phenomena, viz. melting and magnetic transitions in heavy rare-earth metals, and secondly, via the $3d$ Ising model, to critical behaviour in an insulating ferromagnet such as CrBr$_3$. The final `transition', however, concerns ionization of an electron in an isoelectronic series with $N$ electrons as the atomic number $Z$ is reduced below that of the neutral atom. These solvable models are, throughout, brought into contact either with experiment, or with very precise numerical modelling on real materials., Comment: to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys. B

The Hartree-Fock (HF) method, supplemented by low-order Moller-Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory, has been utilized to predict the nuclear geometry, assuming planarity, of a low-lying isomer of the free space cluster BOSi$_2$. The planar structure found at equilibrium geometry is shown to be stable against small amplitude molecular vibrations. Finally, some brief comments are made on the possible relevance of the above free-space cluster geometry to the known B-O defects which limit the improvement of minority carrier lifetime in a form of p-type silicon., Comment: Chem. Phys. Lett., to appear

Over twenty years ago one of us suggested the title was affirmative. In 2012 Cooper pairs were identified in several, but not all aromatic compounds tested, benzene being one. This manuscript discusses the formation of three time-reversed pairs of states forming pseudobosons (high energy Cooper pairs) in benzene at room temperature. The large stabilization in energy that results is the additive effect of energy gaps of an s wave state and a charge density wave permitting the pseudobosons to exist at room temperature. The overall result of these interactions is three pseudobosons occupying the lowest boson state and the positions of the carbon nuclei are optimum by forming a perfect hexagon. The possibility of a persistent current exists; detection might not be easy., Comment: two sections rewritten; additional reference

The review begins with a consideration of 3 forms of quantum information entropy associated with Shannon and Jaynes. For model two-electron spin compensated systems, some analytic progress is first reported. The Jaynes entropy is clearly related to correlation kinetic energy. A way of testing the usefulness of a known uncertainty principle inequality is proposed for a whole class of model two-electron atoms with harmonic confinement but variable electron-electron interaction. Emerging properties are then studied by reference to bcc Na at ambient pressure and its modeling by `jellium'. Jellium itself has collective behaviour with changes of the density, especially noteworthy being the discontinuity of the momentum distribution at the Fermi surface. This has almost reduced to zero at $r_s = 100$ a.u., the neighbourhood in which the quantal Wigner electron solid transition is known to occur. However, various workers have studied crystalline Na under pressure and their results are compared and contrasted. Work by DFT on K, Rb, and Cs is discussed, but now with reduced density from the ambient pressure value. The crystalline results for the cohesive energy of these metals as a function of lattice parameters and local coordination number are shown to be closely reproduced by means of ground and excited states for dimer potential energy curves. Then, pair potentials for liquid Na and Be are reviewed, and compared with the results of computer simulations from the experimental structure factor for Na. Finally, magnetic field effects are discussed. First a phenomenological model of the metal-to-insulator transition is presented with an order parameter which is the discontinuity in the Fermi momentum distribution. Lastly, experiments on a two-dimensional electron assembly in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction in a perpendicular magnetic field are briefly reviewed and then interpreted.

Former results for a Tight-Binding (TB) model of CuO planes in La2CuO4 are reinterpreted here to underline their wider implications. It is noted that physical systems being appropriately described by the TB model can exhibit the main strongly correlated electron system (SCES) properties, when they are solved in the HF approximation, by also allowing crystal symmetry breaking effects and non-collinear spin orientations of the HF orbitals. It is argued how a simple 2D square lattice system of Coulomb interacting electrons can exhibit insulator gaps and pseudogap states, and quantum phase transitions as illustrated by the mentioned former works. A discussion is also presented here indicating the possibility of attaining room temperature superconductivity, by means of a surface coating with water molecules of cleaved planes of graphite, being orthogonal to its c-axis. The possibility that 2D arrays of quantum dots can give rise to the same effect is also proposed to consideration. The analysis also furnishes theoretical insight to solve the Mott-Slater debate, at least for the La2CuO4 and TMO band structures. The idea is to apply a properly non-collinear GW scheme to the electronic structure calculation of these materials. The fact is that the GW approach can be viewed as a HF procedure in which the screening polarization is also determined. This directly indicates the possibility of predicting the assumed dielectric constant in the previous works. Thus, the results seem to identify that the main correlation properties in these materials are determined by screening. Finally, the conclusions also seem to be of help for the description of the experimental observations of metal-insulator transitions and Mott properties in atoms trapped in planar photonic lattices., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures

After some introductory comments relating to antiferromagnetism of crystalline O_2, and brief remarks on the geometry of ozone, Hartree-Fock (HF) theory plus second-order Moller-Plesset (MP2) corrections are used to predict the nuclear structure of low-lying isomers of free-space O_n clusters, for n=6, 8, and 12. The equilibrium nuclear-nuclear potential energy is also discussed in relation to the number n of oxygen atoms in the cluster., Comment: To appear in Phys. Lett. A

Fingerprints of antiaromaticity in the negative ion (Li$_3$Al$_4$)$^-$, this species being realizable via a laser vaporization technique, are revealed by means of an \emph{ab initio} quantum-chemical investigation. First, the ground-state equilibrium geometry of this ion is predicted. Also, for the corresponding inhomogeneous electron liquid, the characteristics of the HOMO are studied, both for the square and the rectangular Al$_4$ geometry in two low-lying isomers of the negative ion. There is no particular sensitivity to the change in geometry of the Al$_4$ configuration. Therefore, we have calculated theoretically chemical shifts (NICS), which contain remarkable fingerprints of antiaromaticity. As to future directions, some comments are added in relation to the Shannon entropy., Comment: Phys. Chem. Liquids (to appear in vol. 52, 2014)

Motivated by the theoretical study of Saito and Ono (2011) on three crystalline forms of SiO2 under pressure, quantum-chemical calculations on various free-space clusters of SiOn and GeOn for 1 < n <= 6 are reported here. Both neutral and cationic clusters have been examined, for both geometry and equilibrium bond lengths. Coupled clusters and correlation-corrected MP2 calculations are presented. For the cations, we emphasize especially the structural distortions occurring in removing degeneracies., Comment: Phys. Lett. A, to appear

We present a model for cuprate superconductivity based on the identification of an experimentally detected "local superconductor" as a charge 2 fermion pairing in a circular, stationary density wave. This wave acts like a highly correlated local "boson" satisfying a modified Cooper problem with additional correlation stabilization relative to the separate right- and left-handed density waves composing it. This local "boson" could be formed in a two-bound roton-like manner; it has Fermion statistics. Delocalized superconductive pairing (superconductivity) is achieved by a Feshbach resonance of two unpaired holes (electrons) resonating with a virtual energy level of the bound pair state of the local "boson" as described by the Boson-Fermion-Gossamer (BFG) model. The spin-charge order interaction offers an explanation for the overall shape of the superconducting dome as well a microscopic basis for the cuprate superconducting transition temperatures. An explanation of the correlation of superconducting transition temperature with experimental inelastic neutron and electron Raman scattering is proposed, based on the energy of the virtual bound pair. These and other modifications discussed suggest a microscopic explanation for the entire cuprate superconductivity dome shape., Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, presented at the 50th Sanibel Symposium

There has been considerable effort expended towards understanding high temperature superconductors (HTSC), and more specifically the cuprate phase diagram as a function of doping level. Yet, the only agreement seems to be that HTSC is an example of a strongly correlated material where Coulomb repulsion plays a major role. This manuscript proposes a model based on a Feshbach resonance pairing mechanism and competing orders. An initial BCS-type superconductivity at high doping is suppressed in the two particle channel by a localized preformed pair (PP) [1] (circular density wave) creating a quantum critical point (QCP). As doping continues to diminish, the PP then participates in a Feshbach resonance complex that creates a new electron (hole) pair that delocalizes and constitutes HTSC and the characteristic dome [2]. The resonant nature of the new pair contributes to its short coherence length. The model we propose also suggests an explanation (and necessity) for an experimentally observed correlated lattice that could restrict energy dissipation to enable the resonant Cooper pair to move over several correlation lengths, or essentially free. The PP density wave is responsible for the pseudogap as it appears as a localized superconductor since its density of states and quasiparticle spectrum are similar to those of a superconductor (Peierls-Frolich theory), but with no phase coherence between the PP., Comment: presented at Sanibel Symposium 2009; submitted to Intern. J. Quant. Chem

Starting from relativistic quantum field theories, Kovtun et al. (2005) have quite recently proposed a lower bound eta/s >= hbar /(4 pi kB), where eta is the shear viscosity and s the volume density of entropy for dense liquids. If their proposal can eventually be proved, then this would provide key theoretical underpinning to earlier semiempirical proposals on the relation between a transport coefficient eta and a thermodynamic quantity s. Here, we examine largely experimental data on some dense liquids, the insulators nitrogen, water, and ammonia, plus the alkali metals, where the shear viscosity eta(T) for the four heaviest alkalis is known to scale onto an `almost universal' curve, following the work of Tankeshwar and March a decade ago. So far, all known results for both insulating and metallic dense liquids correctly exceed the lower bound prediction of Kovtun et al., Comment: to appear in Phys. Lett. A

Using a proposed generalization of the pair distribution function for a gas of non-interacting particles obeying fractional exclusion statistics in arbitrary dimensionality, we derive the statistical correlations in the asymptotic limit of vanishing or low temperature. While Friedel-like oscillations are present in nearly all non-bosonic cases at T=0, they are characterized by exponential damping at low temperature. We discuss the dependence of these features on dimensionality and on the value of the statistical parameter alpha., Comment: to appear in Phys. Chem. Liquids

In both molecular physics and condensed matter theory, deeper understanding of the correlation energy density epsilon_c (r) remains a high priority. By adopting Loewdin's definition of correlation energy as the difference between the exact and the Hartree-Fock values, here we propose two alternative routes to define this. One of these involves both exact and Hartree-Fock (HF) wavefunctions, while the second requires a coupling constant integration. As an exact analytical example of the first route, we treat the two-electron model atom of Moshinsky, for which both confinement potential and interactions are harmonic. Though the correlation energy density epsilon_c (r) is known analytically, we also investigate numerically its relation to the exact ground-state density in this example., Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. A

Krueger some years ago proposed a cluster LiBeBCNOF, now called periodane. His ground-state isomer proposal has recently been refined by Bera et al. using DFT. Here, we take the approach of molecules in such a cluster as starting point. We first study therefore the triangular molecule LiOB by coupled cluster theory (CCSD) and thereby specify accurately its equilibrium geometry in free space. The second fragment we consider is FBeCN, but treated now by restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) theory. This four-center species is found to be linear, and the bond lengths are obtained from both RHF and CCSD calculations. Finally, we bring these two entities together and find that while LiOB remains largely intact, FBeCN becomes bent by the interaction with LiOB. Hartree-Fock and CCSD theories then predict precisely the same lowest isomer found by Bera et al. solely on the basis of DFT., Comment: to appear in Phys. Lett. A

After a brief discussion of the concepts of fractional exchange and fractional exclusion statistics, we report partly analytical and partly numerical results on thermodynamic properties of assemblies of particles obeying fractional exclusion statistics. The effect of dimensionality is one focal point, the ratio mu/kB T of chemical potential to thermal energy being obtained numerically as a function of a scaled particle density. Pair correlation functions are also presented as a function of the statistical parameter, with `Friedel' oscillations developing close to the fermion limit, for sufficiently large density., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. E

The chemical potential $\mu$ of a many-body system is valuable since it carries fingerprints of phase changes. Here, we summarize results for $\mu$ for a thre e-dimensional electron liquid in terms of average kinetic and potential energie s per particle. The difference between $\mu$ and the energy per particle is fou nd to be exactly the electrostatic potential step at the surface. We also prese nt calculations for an integrable one-dimensional many-body system with delta f unction interactions, exhibiting a BCS-BEC crossover. It is shown that in the B CS regime the chemical potential can be expressed solely in terms of the ground -state energy per particle. A brief discussion is also included of the strong c oupling BEC limit., Comment: 4 pages 3 figures

Holas, Howard and March [Phys. Lett. A {\bf 310}, 451 (2003)] have obtained analytic solutions for ground-state properties of a whole family of two-electron spin-compensated harmonically confined model atoms whose different members are characterized by a specific interparticle potential energy u($r_{12}$). Here, we make a start on the dynamic generalization of the harmonic external potential, the motivation being the serious criticism levelled recently against the foundations of time-dependent density-functional theory (e.g. [J. Schirmer and A. Dreuw, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 75}, 022513 (2007)]). In this context, we derive a simplified expression for the time-dependent electron density for arbitrary interparticle interaction, which is fully determined by an one-dimensional non-interacting Hamiltonian. Moreover, a closed solution for the momentum space density in the Moshinsky model is obtained., Comment: 5 pages, submitted to J. Phys. A

In earlier work, we have been concerned with the scaling properties of some classes of superconductors, specifically with heavy Fermion materials and with five bcc transition metals of BCS character. Both of these classes of superconductors were three-dimensional but here we are concerned solely with quasi-two-dimensional high-Tc cuprates in the underdoped region of their phase diagram. A characteristic feature of this part of the phase diagram is the existence of a pseudogap (pg). We therefore build our approach around the assumption that kB Tc / E_pg is the basic dimensionless ratio on which to focus, where the energy E_pg introduced above is a measure of the pseudogap. Since anyon fractional statistics apply to two-dimensional assemblies, we expect the fractional statistics parameter allowing `interpolation' between Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistical distribution functions as limiting cases to play a significant role in determining kB Tc / E_pg and experimental data are analyzed with this in mind., Comment: Phys. Chem. Liquids, to be published

Ab initio calculations including electron correlation are still extremely costly except for the smallest atoms and molecules. Therefore, our purpose in the present study is to employ a bond-order correlation approach to obtain, via equilibrium molecular energies, molecular dissociation energies and heats of formation for some 20 molecules containing C, H, and O atoms, with a maximum number of electrons around 40. Finally, basis set choice is shown to be important in the proposed procedure to include electron correlation effects in determining thermodynamic properties. With the optimum choice of basis set, the average percentage error for some 20 molecules is approximately 20% for heats of formation. For molecular dissociation energies the average error is much smaller: ~0.4., Comment: Mol. Phys., to be published

A crystalline form of LiBC is known which has been predicted to be superconducting, with a Tc comparable to that of MgB_2. In both compounds, superconductivity is enhanced by the presence of two electronic bands, one of which is close to a dimensional crossover. Here, we take a quantum chemical approach, and investigate the structural and electronic properties of small clusters (LiBC)_n (n=1-4). With increasing cluster size, we find that several properties of crystalline LiBC evolve naturally from the corresponding properties of the clusters. In particular, one may recognize the origin of the solid bilayered structure, typical of magnesium diboride, and the character of the electronic sigma-band, arising from the overlap of the atomic orbitals in the in-plane BC rings. Two aspects especially emphasized are (a) the HOMO-LUMO gap as function of n and (b) the role of different spin multiplicity., Comment: Phys. Lett. A, accepted

The superconducting transition temperature Tc has earlier been correlated with coherence length and effective mass for a series of heavy Fermion (HF) materials at atmospheric pressure. Here, a further physical property, the dc electrical conductivity sigma(Tc), is one focal point, another being the pressure dependence of both Tc and sigma(Tc) for several HF materials. The relaxation time tau(Tc) is also studied in relation to an Uncertainty Principle limit, involving only the thermal energy kB Tc and Planck's constant., Comment: Supercond. Sci. Tech., to appear

The present study of small molecules containing silicon has been motivated by (a) the considerable interest being shown currently in the kinetics and reactivity of such molecules, and (b) the biotechnological potential of silicon-derivate surfaces as substrates in the adsorption of, for instance, amino acids and proteins. Therefore, we have studied by (i) a semi-empirical approach and (ii) an ab initio procedure employing low-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory, the molecular correlation energies of some neutral closed and open shell silicon-containing molecules in the series SiXnYm. Procedure (i) is shown to have particular merit for the correlation of the ionic members studied in the above series, while the ab initio procedures employed come into their own for neutral species., Comment: Mol. Phys., to be published

A simple derivation of the static Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation is given from an energy variational principle. The result is then generalized heuristically to the time-dependent GP form. With this as background, a number of different experimental areas explored very recently are reviewed, in each case contact being established between the measurements and the predictions of the GP equations. The various limitations of these equations as used on dilute inhomogeneous condensed Boson atomic gases are then summarized, reference also being made to the fact that there is no many-body wave function underlying the GP formulation. This then leads into a discussion of a recently proposed integral equation, derived by taking the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation as starting point. Some limitations of the static GP differential equation are thereby removed, though it is a matter of further study to determine whether a correlated wave function exists as underpinning for the integral equation formulation., Comment: To appear in "Trends in Boson Research", edited by A. V. Ling (Nova Science, New York, ISBN 1594545219). Better quality figures available upon request

For a given crystal structure, say body-centred-cubic, the many-body Hamiltonian in which nuclear and electron motions are to be treated from the outset on the same footing, has parameters, for the elements, which can be classified as (i) atomic mass M, (ii) atomic number Z, characterizing the external potential in which electrons move, and (iii) bcc lattice spacing, or equivalently one can utilize atomic volume, Omega. Since the thermodynamic quantities can be determined from H, we conclude that Tc, the superconducting transition temperature, when it is non-zero, may be formally expressed as Tc = Tc^(M) (Z, Omega). One piece of evidence in support is that, in an atomic number vs atomic volume graph, the superconducting elements lie in a well defined region. Two other relevant points are that (a) Tc is related by BCS theory, though not simply, to the Debye temperature, which in turn is calculable from the elastic constants C_{11}, C_{12}, and C_{44}, the atomic weight and the atomic volume, and (b) Tc for five bcc transition metals is linear in the Cauchy deviation C* = (C_{12} - C_{44})/(C_{12} + C_{44}). Finally, via elastic constants, mass density and atomic volume, a correlation between C* and the Debye temperature is established for the five bcc transition elements., Comment: EPJB, accepted

The recent experimental study by means of time-resolved luminescence measurements of an electron-hole liquid (EHL) in diamond by Shimano et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 057404] prompts us to compare and contrast critical temperature T_c and critical density n_c relations in liquid alkali metals with those in electron-hole liquids. The conclusion drawn is that these systems have similarities with regard to critical properties. In both cases the critical temperature is related to the cube root of the critical density. The existence of this relation is traced to Coulomb interactions and to systematic trends in the dielectric constant of the electron-hole systems. Finally a brief comparison between the alkalis and EHLs of the critical values for the compressibility ratio Z_c is also given.

In a recent study by Kornath et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 118 (2003) 6957], the Li_n clusters with n=2, 4 and 8 have been isolated in argon matrices at 15 K and characterized by Raman spectroscopy. This has prompted us to carry out a theoretical study on such clusters up to n=10, using Hartree-Fock theory, plus low-order Moeller-Plesset perturbation corrections. To check against the above study of Kornath et al., as a by-product we have made the same approximations for n=6 and 8 as we have for n=10. This has led us to emphasize trends with n through the Li_n clusters for (i) ground-state energy, (ii) HOMO-LUMO energy gap, (iii) dissociation energy, and (iv) Hartree-Fock eigenvalue sum. The role of electron correlation in distinguishing between low-lying isomers is plainly crucial, and will need a combination of experiment and theory to obtain decisive results such as that of Kornath et al. for Li_8. In particular, it is shown that Hartree-Fock theory plus bond order correlations does account for the experimentally observed symmetry T_d symmetry for Li_8., Comment: accepted for publication in J. Chem. Phys

Motivated by solid-state studies on the cleavage force in Si, and the consequent stretching of chemical bonds, we here study bond stretching in the, as yet unsynthesized, free space molecule Si6H6. We address the question as to whether substantial bond stretching (but constrained to uniform scaling on all bonds) can result in a transition from ring current behaviour, characteristic say of benzene at its equilibrium geometry, to localized pi-electrons on Si atoms. Some calculations are also recorded on dissociation into 6 SiH radicals. While the main studies have been carried out by unrestricted Hartree-Fock (HF) theory, the influence of electron correlation has been examined using two forms of density functional theory. Planar Si6H6 treated by HF is bound to be unstable, not all vibrational frequencies being real. Some buckling is then allowed, which results in real frequencies and stability. Evidence is then provided that the non-planar structure, as the Si-Si distance is increased, exhibits pi-electron localization in the range 1.2-1.5 times the equilibrium distance.

We give here the derivation of a Gross-Pitaevskii--type equation for inhomogeneous condensed bosons. Instead of the original Gross-Pitaevskii differential equation, we obtain an integral equation that implies less restrictive assumptions than are made in the very recent study of Pieri and Strinati [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 (2003) 030401]. In particular, the Thomas-Fermi approximation and the restriction to small spatial variations of the order parameter invoked in their study are avoided., Comment: Phys. Rev. A (accepted)

By solution of the Bethe-Goldstone equation for the Cooper pairing problem, an approximate analytic relation is derived between coherence length xi and the binding energy of the Cooper pair. This relation is then qualitatively confirmed by numerically solving the corresponding self-consistent gap equations, following the crossover from weak to strong coupling, in non-s-wave superconductors. The relation applies to non-conventional superconductors, and in particular to heavy Fermions and to high-Tc cuprates. Utilizing in addition a phenomenological link between kB*Tc and a characteristic energy epsilon_c = hbar^2 / 2m^* xi^2, with m^* the effective mass, major differences are exposed in the functional relation between kB*Tc and epsilon_c for s-wave materials and for non-conventional superconductors. The relation between critical temperature and epsilon_c thereby proposed correctly reflects the qualitative properties of heavy Fermion superconductors., Comment: Phys. Lett. A (accepted)

After a brief discussion of the structural trends which appear with increasing number of atoms in B cages, a one-to one correspondence between the connectivity of B cages and C cage structures will be proposed. The electronic level spectra of both systems from Hartree-Fock calculations is given and discussed. The relation of curvature introduced into an originally planar graphitic fragment to pentagonal 'defects' such as are present in buckminsterfullerene is also briefly treated. A study of the structure and electronic properties of B nanotubes will then be introduced. We start by presenting a solution of the free-electron network approach for a 'model boron' planar lattice with local coordination number 6. In particular the dispersion relation E(k) for the pi-electron bands, together with the corresponding electronic Density Of States (DOS), will be exhibited. This is then used within the zone folding scheme to obtain information about the electronic DOS of different nanotubes obtained by folding this model boron sheet. To obtain the self-consistent potential in which the valence electrons move in a nanotube, 'the March model' in its original form was invoked and results are reported for a carbon nanotube. Finally, heterostructures, such as BN cages and fluorinated buckminsterfullerene, will be briefly treated, the new feature here being electronegativity difference., Comment: 22 pages (revtex4) 12 figures

Imaging the effects of an impurity like Zn in high-Tc superconductors [Nature 61 (2000) 746] has rekindled interest in defect problems in the superconducting phase. This has prompted us here to re-examine the early work of March and Murray [Phys. Rev. 120 (1960) 830] on the linear response function in an initially translationally invariant Fermi gas. In particular, we present corresponding results for a superconductor at zero temperature, both in the s- and in the d-wave case, and mention their direct physical relevance in the case when the impurity potential is highly localized.

Following earlier work on electron or hole liquids flowing through assemblies with magnetic fluctuations, we have recently exposed a marked correlation of the superconducting temperature Tc, for non s-wave pairing materials, with coherence length xi and effective mass m*. The very recent study of Abanov et al. [Europhys. Lett. 54, 488 (2001)] and the prior investigation of Monthoux and Lonzarich [Phys. Rev. B 59, 14598 (1999)] have each focussed on the concept of a spin-fluctuation temperature T_sf, which again is intimately related to Tc. For the d-wave pairing via antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the cuprates, these studies are brought into close contact with our own work, and the result is that k_B T_sf ~ hbar^2 / m* xi^2. This demonstrates that xi is also determined by such antiferromagnetic spin-fluctuation mediated pair interaction. The coherence length in units of the lattice spacing is then essentially given in the cuprates as the square root of the ratio of two characteristic energies, namely: the kinetic energy of localization of a charge carrier of mass m* in a specified magnetic correlation length to the hopping energy. The quasi-2D ruthenate Sr_2RuO_4, with Tc ~ 1.3 K, has p-wave spin-triplet pairing and so is also briefly discussed here., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

For unconventional heavy Fermion superconductors, typified by UBe_13, the superconducting transition temperatures Tc are shown to correlate with a characteristic energy hbar^2 /(m* xi^2), m* being the effective mass and xi the coherence length. For four of the six materials for which Tc, m* and xi are available, kB Tc ~ 20 hbar^2 / (m* xi^2). One heavy Fermion material, UPd_2Al_3, reveals a tendency for the above linear behaviour to saturate at substantially larger hbar^2 / (m* xi^2) than for UBe_13. The sixth material considered, URu_2Si_2, falls between UBe_13 and UPd_2Al_3. To embrace d-wave pairing in cuprates, a log-log plot reveals that kB Tc ~ hbar^2 / (m* xi^2), but more materials for which m* and xi are measured will be required to substantiate the correlation in these high-Tc substances.

Two equations are constructed which reflect, for fermions moving independently in a spherical harmonic potential, a differential virial theorem and a relation between the turning points of kinetic energy and particle densities. These equations are used to derive a differential equation for the particle density and a non-local kinetic energy functional., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures

We evaluate analytically some ground state properties of two-dimensional harmonically confined Fermi vapors with isotropy and for an arbitrary number of closed shells. We first derive a differential form of the virial theorem and an expression for the kinetic energy density in terms of the fermion particle density and its low-order derivatives. These results allow an explicit differential equation to be obtained for the particle density. The equation is third-order, linear and homogeneous. We also obtain a relation between the turning points of kinetic energy and particle densities, and an expression of the non-local kinetic energy density functional., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures

The fact that the ground-state first-order density matrix for Bosons in a parabolic potential with interparticle harmonic interactions is known in exact form is here exploited to study collective excitations in the weak-coupling regime. Oscillations about the ground-state density are treated analytically by a linearized equation of motion which includes a kinetic energy contribution. We show that the dipole mode has the frequency of the bare trap, in accord with the Kohn theorem, and derive explicit expressions for the frequencies of the higher-multipole modes in terms of a frequency renormalized by the interactions., Comment: 6 pages, no figures, accepted for publication on Physics Letters A