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C. Herold

Publications and source records attributed to C. Herold.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Search for $\barΛ$-$Λ$ oscillations in the decay $J/ψ\to p K^- \barΛ+c.c.$

We report the first search for $\barΛ$--$Λ$ oscillations in the decay $J/ψ\to p K^- \barΛ + c.c.$ by analyzing $1.31\times10^9$ $J/ψ$ events accumulated with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The $J/ψ$ events are produced using $e^+e^-$ collisions at a center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}= 3.097$~GeV. No evidence for hyperon oscillations is observed. The upper limit for the oscillation rate of $\barΛ$ to $Λ$ hyperons is determined to be $\mathcal{P}(Λ)=\frac{\mathcal{B}(J/ψ\to pK^-Λ+c.c.)}{\mathcal{B}(J/ψ\to pK^-\barΛ+c.c.)}<4.4\times10^{-6}$ corresponding to an oscillation parameter $δm_{Λ\barΛ}$ of less than $3.8\times10^{-18}$~GeV at the 90\% confidence level.

hep-ex

Pulsed discharge plasma for graphite exfoliation in liquid nitrogen

Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite was exfoliated via pulsed discharge plasma in liquid nitrogen. The potential mechanisms involved were investigated by observing the treated surface of the graphitic material and the obtained particles. Non-exfoliating defects from the plasma treatment were observed and experimental parameter were modified to counteract those. One experiment was performed without exposing the HOPG directly to the discharges so as to better understand the plasma role. The exfoliated particles were observed via TEM and SEM to evaluate the defects, the size, the purity and the crystallinity but no quantitative characterization of their thickness was possible so the actual number of layer of each particle is unknown. Nonetheless, few layers graphene (FLG) was successfully exfoliated through this process. The proposed mechanisms were extrapolated from the observation of the damaged HOPG surface and the obtained particles but the correlation found does not prove causation.

physics.app-ph

Study of the exfoliation and functionalization of graphene from graphite flakes with plasma discharge in solution

Graphene flakes were produced by nanosecond plasma discharge at atmospheric pressure between an electrode and the surface of distilled water, in which were placed graphite flakes. The discharge ionizes the gas and forms free radicals on the surface of the water, functionalizing the graphite flakes in solution. The plasma also gives enough energy to break the Van der Waals bonds between the graphene layers but not enough to break the covalent C-C bonds within the layers. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the hexagonal structure of graphene sheets, and showed that they were monocrystalline. No contamination was found in the obtained nanomaterial. An unknown phenomenon has been found in the activated distilled water, making its electrical conductivity decrease with an increasing temperature. An acidification of the water is observed. The gas in which the discharge takes place plays a major role on the process, no exfoliation is observed if plasmogen argon gas is used.

physics.app-ph

Dynamics of critical fluctuations: Theory -- phenomenology -- heavy-ion collisions

This report summarizes the presentations and discussions during the Rapid Reaction Task Force "Dynamics of critical fluctuations: Theory -- phenomenology -- heavy-ion collisions", which was organized by the ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI and held at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany in April 2019. We address the current understanding of the dynamics of critical fluctuations in QCD and their measurement in heavy-ion collision experiments. In addition, we outline what might be learned from studying correlations in other physical systems, such as cold atomic gases.

nucl-th

Higher order net-proton number cumulants dependence on the centrality definition and other spurious effects

We study the dependence of the normalized moments of the net-proton multiplicity distributions on the definition of centrality in relativistic nuclear collisions at a beam energy of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}= 7.7$ GeV. Using the UrQMD model as event generator we find that the centrality definition has a large effect on the extracted cumulant ratios. Furthermore we find that the finite efficiency for the determination of the centrality introduces an additional systematic uncertainty. Finally, we quantitatively investigate the effects of event-pile up and other possible spurious effects which may change the measured proton number. We find that pile-up alone is not sufficient to describe the data and show that a random double counting of events, adding significantly to the measured proton number, affects mainly the higher order cumulants in most central collisions.

nucl-th

Phonon dispersion and low energy anomaly in CaC$_6$

We report measurements of phonon dispersion in CaC$_6$ using inelastic X-ray and neutron scattering. We find good overall agreement, particularly in the 50 meV energy region, between experimental data and first-principles density-functional-theory calculations. However, on the longitudinal dispersion along the $(1 1 1)$ axis of the rhombohedral representation, we find an unexpected anti-crossing with an additional longitudinal mode, at about 11 meV. At a comparable energy, we observe also unexpected intensity on the in-plane direction. These results resolve the previous incorrect assignment of a longitudinal phonon mode to a transverse mode in the same energy range. By calculating the electron susceptibility from first principles we show that this longitudinal excitation is unlikely to be due to a plasmon and consequently can probably be due to defects or vacancies present in the sample.

cond-mat.supr-con

Pressure-induced order-disorder phase transition in superconducting CaC6

By means of synchrotron X-ray diffraction, we studied the effect of high pressure, P, up to 13 GPa on the room temperature crystal structure of superconducting CaC6. In this P range, no change of the pristine space group symmetry, \textit{R\=3m}, is found. However, at 9 GPa, i.e. close to the critical value at which a large T_c reduction was reported recently, we observed a compressibility jump concomitant to a large broadening of Bragg peaks. The reversibility of both effects upon depressurization and symmetry arguments give evidence of an order-disorder phase transition of second order, presumably associated with the Ca sublattice, which provides a full account for the above Tc reduction.

cond-mat.supr-con

Linear and nonlinear electrodynamic response of bulk CaC6 in the microwave regime

The linear and nonlinear response to a microwave electromagnetic field of two c-axis oriented polycrystalline samples of the newly discovered superconductor CaC6 (Tc = 11.5 K) is studied in the superconducting state down to 2 K. The surface resistance Rs and the third order intermodulation distortion, arising from a two-tone excitation, have been measured as a function of temperature and microwave circulating power. Experiments are carried out using a dielectrically loaded copper cavity operating at 7 GHz in a "hot finger" configuration. The results confirm recent experimental findings that CaC6 behaves as a weakly-coupled, fully gapped, superconductor. The weak power dependence of Rs encourages a further investigation of this novel superconductor as a possible alternative to Nb in specific microwave applications.

cond-mat.supr-con

Microwave losses of bulk CaC6

We report a study of the temperature dependence of the surface resistance RS in the graphite intercalated compound (GIC) CaC6, where superconductivity at 11.5 K was recently discovered. Experiments are carried out using a copper dielectrically loaded cavity operating at 7 GHz in a "hot finger" configuration. Bulk CaC6 samples have been synthesized from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. Microwave data allows to extract unique information on the quasiparticle density and on the nature of pairing in superconductors. The analysis of RS(T) confirms our recent experimental findings that CaC6 behaves as a weakly-coupled, fully gapped, superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con

Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy on the novel superconductor CaC6

We present scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of the newly discovered superconductor CaC$_6$. The tunneling conductance spectra, measured between 3 K and 15 K, show a clear superconducting gap in the quasiparticle density of states. The gap function extracted from the spectra is in good agreement with the conventional BCS theory with $Δ(0)$ = 1.6 $\pm$ 0.2 meV. The possibility of gap anisotropy and two-gap superconductivity is also discussed. In a magnetic field, direct imaging of the vortices allows to deduce a coherence length in the ab plane $ξ_{ab}\simeq$ 33 nm.

cond-mat.supr-con

Pressure-induced enhancement of superconductivity and superconducting-superconducting transition in CaC$\_6$

We measured the electrical resistivity, $\varrho(T)$, of superconducting CaC$\_6$ at ambient and high pressure up to 16 GPa. For $P \leq$8 GPa, we found a large increase of $T\_c$ with pressure from 11.5 up to 15.1 K. At 8 GPa, $T\_c$ drops and levels off at 5 K above 10 GPa. Correspondingly, the residual $\varrho$ increases by $\approx$ 200 times and the $\varrho(T)$ behavior becomes flat. The recovery of the pristine behavior after depressurization is suggestive of a phase transition at 8 GPa between two superconducting phases with good and bad metallic properties, the latter with a lower $T\_c$ and more static disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con

Experimental evidence of s-wave superconductivity in bulk CaC$_{6}$

The temperature dependence of the in-plane magnetic penetration depth, $λ_{ab}(T)$, has been measured in a c-axis oriented polycrystalline CaC$_{6}$ bulk sample using a high-resolution mutual inductance technique. A clear exponential behavior of $λ_{ab}(T)$ has been observed at low temperatures, strongly suggesting isotropic s-wave pairing. Data fit using the standard BCS theory yields $λ_{ab}(0)=(720\pm 80)$ Angstroem and $Δ(0)=(1.79\pm 0.08)$ meV. The ratio $2Δ(0)/k_{_B}T_{c}=(3.6\pm 0.2)$ gives indication for a conventional weakly coupled superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con

Superconductivity of bulk CaC6

We have obtained bulk samples of the graphite intercalation compound, CaC6, by a novel method of synthesis from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. The crystal structure has been completely determined showing that it is the only member of the MC6, metal-graphite compounds, which has rhombohedral symmetry. We have clearly shown the occurrence of superconductivity in the bulk sample at 11.5K, using magnetization measurements.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci