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Jue Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Jue Liu.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Non-relativistic spin splitting in a triangular metal-excess magnet Fe$_{1+\delta}$Sb

Non-relativistic spin-splitting (NRSS) antiferromagnets have recently emerged as an important class of magnetic materials that combine compensated magnetism with momentum-dependent spin splitting, offering new opportunities for spintronic applications. Here, we investigate a NiAs-type Fe$_{1+\delta}$Sb series ($\delta = 0.17$-0.30) using neutron diffraction, pair distribution function, magnetometry and density functional theory calculations. Neutron diffraction establishes that Fe$_{1+\delta}$Sb adopts a $120^\circ$ coplanar compensated magnetic order with a non-zero propagation vector $\mathbf{k}=(1/3,\,1/3,\,0)$. Increasing interstitial Fe suppresses the ordered magnetic moment while inducing local symmetry lowering, as revealed by pair distribution function refinements. Density functional theory predicts momentum-dependent spin splitting, dominated by an out-of-plane spin polarization with an odd-parity f-wave-like symmetry, establishing the material as a non-collinear NRSS antiferromagnet. Motivated by the structural similarities between Fe$_{1+\delta}$Sb and a known altermagnet CrSb, we further investigate their solid solution and find that Cr substitution at intermediate concentrations gives rise to a ferromagnetic component and a cluster spin-glass behavior. These results establish Fe$_{1+\delta}$Sb as a new platform for non-collinear NRSS antiferromagnetism and demonstrate metal interstitial and substitution as effective parameters for tuning the magnetic order and properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Symmetry-Protected Weyl Nodal Loops in a Triangular Altermagnet

Weyl semimetals and altermagnets represent two distinct classes of quantum materials exhibiting nontrivial topological and magnetic order, respectively. Here we report the realization of a Weyl nodal-loop altermagnet in Cr$_7$Se$_8$, combining neutron diffraction and first-principles calculations. The hexagonal system hosts a coplanar $120^\circ$ compensated magnetic order on a triangular lattice, which breaks inversion-time-reversal and translation-time-reversal symmetries simultaneously while preserving a crystalline mirror plane. The resulting electronic structure features linearly dispersing nodal loops close to the Fermi level ($E_F$) confined to the mirror-invariant $k_z=0$ plane. Along high-symmetry directions, the crossings near $E_F$ form Dirac-like fourfold degeneracies in the absence of spin-orbit coupling; at generic momenta, these crossings split into twofold and form continuous Weyl-like nodal loops protected by mirror symmetry. The momentum-dependent spin polarization exhibits an $f$-wave-like pattern characteristic of odd-parity altermagnets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

High temperature Jahn-Teller distortion and short-range order in CsCuCl$_3$

CsCuCl$_3$, chiral and Jahn-Teller distorted at room temperature, takes a more symmetric structure above 423 K. Describing this 'simpler' high temperature structure is far from simple and has been the subject of many, sometimes contradicting, studies. Here we reinvestigate the high temperature structure of CsCuCl$_3$, its thermal stability, and its effect on room temperature chirality. In situ pair distribution function data from powder neutron diffraction confirms that CsCuCl$_3$ is Jahn-Teller distorted both below and above $T_\mathrm{c}$, and provides a quantitative view of short-range order in the high temperature structure. In situ powder x-ray diffraction shows that CsCuCl$_3$ does not undergo any additional structural changes above 423 K and is congruently melting. In situ single crystal x-ray diffraction experiments reveal that the phase transition induces domains of mixed handedness in originally homochiral crystals. These findings contribute to a better understanding of phase transitions in Jahn-Teller distorted compounds, and highlight the potential use of phase transitions to control chiral domains.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Correlation-Driven Spin Reorientation via Competing Anisotropy Channels in CrPS4

We identify a correlation-driven mechanism for the temperature-induced spin reorientation in the quasi-one-dimensional van der Waals antiferromagnet CrPS4. Magnetic pair distribution function (mPDF) analysis resolves the local spin direction and shows that ferromagnetic intrachain correlations persist far above TN. Combining these correlations with a DFT-derived spin Hamiltonian reveals competing single-ion and exchange-anisotropy channels, with single-ion anisotropy remaining local while exchange anisotropy is renormalized as intersite correlations decay. This differential renormalization rotates the effective easy axis and captures the ordered-state canting. Above TN, the continued rotation beyond the model prediction delineates the limits of the dominant-chain approximation. These results establish mPDF-derived correlations as direct inputs to microscopic Hamiltonians and show how low-dimensional correlations can control magnetic anisotropy.

cond-mat.str-el

Electrochemical and thermal control of continuous phase transitions in P2-NaxNi1/3Mn2/3O2

Sodium layered oxides often undergo phase transformations involving ordering or disordering of Na+ upon desodiation, i.e., when cycled as a battery electrode. Accurately characterizing these phases is crucial for understanding functional properties, such as chemical diffusivity. In this work, we reveal that Na+-vacancy (dis)ordering in a layered oxide is intrinsically coupled to symmetry-changing phase transformations of the host structure. We examine the low-symmetry orthorhombic unit cell of P2-NaxNi1/3Mn2/3O2 (NNM) using both neutron and X-ray diffraction. Specifically, special sodium stoichiometries (x = 2/3 and 1/2) exhibit concomitant Na+-vacancy ordering and an orthorhombic distortion from the parent hexagonal unit cell. We then demonstrate that electrochemical desodiation drives symmetry-changing transformations in NNM that are linked to Na+-vacancy (dis)ordering, with evidence of second-order behavior observed near x = 2/3. Variable-temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction further clarifies the coupling between Na+-vacancy disordering and orthorhombic-to-hexagonal phase transitions in NNM. Surprisingly, the temperature-driven phase transitions at x = 2/3 and 1/2 differ in character, appearing second-order and first-order, respectively. Our analysis of the phase transitions in NNM has fundamental consequences for sodium chemical diffusivity in the vicinity of the ordered phases and leads to design principles for modifying phase transition behavior in the broader class of intercalation electrodes.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Disorder-induced proximate quantum spin ice phase in Pr2Sn2O7

Magnetic pyrochlores with non-Kramers rare-earth ions provide a platform for exploring emergent gauge physics and quantum spin-ice behavior, yet the influence of structural disorder on their ground states remains insufficiently understood. Here we combine bulk characterization and single-crystal neutron-scattering measurements to investigate the non-Kramers pyrochlore Pr2Sn2O7. At temperatures below ~1 K, the system exhibits key hallmarks of quantum spin-ice physics, including anisotropic spin-ice correlations and two distinct dynamical timescales. Upon further cooling, however, we observe a complete spin-freezing transition at T_f ~ 0.15 K, accompanied by recovery of the full nuclear Schottky anomaly, the emergence of a gapped magnetic excitation, and the development of incipient (100) magnetic correlations. Comparison with related Pr-based pyrochlores places Pr2Sn2O7 near the spin-frozen boundary of a disorder-perturbed phase diagram. These results establish a disorder-driven framework for the evolution of quantum spin-ice behavior into frozen ground states, revealing how signatures of a proximate quantum spin liquid can persist despite disorder-induced spin freezing in non-Kramers pyrochlores.

cond-mat.str-el

La$_2$O$_3$Mn$_2$Se$_2$: a correlated insulating layered d-wave altermagnet

Altermagnets represent a new class of magnetic phases without net magnetization that are invariant under a combination of rotation and time reversal. Unlike conventional collinear antiferromagnets (AFM), altermagnets could lead to new correlated states and important material properties deriving from their non-relativistic spin-split band structure. Indeed, they are the magnetic analogue of unconventional superconductors and can yield spin polarized electrical currents in the absence of external magnetic fields, making them promising candidates for next-generation spintronics. Here, we report altermagnetism in the correlated insulator, magnetically-ordered tetragonal oxychalcogenide, La$_2$O$_3$Mn$_2$Se$_2$. Symmetry analysis reveals a $\mathit{d}_{x^2 - y^2}$-wave type spin momentum locking, which is supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Magnetic measurements confirm the AFM transition below $\sim$166 K while neutron pair distribution function analysis reveals a 2D short-range magnetic order that persists above the N\'eel temperature. Single crystals are grown and characterized using X-ray diffraction, optical and electron microscopy, and microRaman spectroscopy to confirm the crystal structure, stoichiometry, and uniformity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Displacive Jahn--Teller transition in NaNiO$_2$

Below its Jahn--Teller transition temperature, $T_\mathrm{JT}$, NaNiO$_2$ has a monoclinic layered structure consisting of alternating layers of edge-sharing NaO$_6$ and Jahn-Teller-distorted NiO$_6$ octahedra. Above $T_\mathrm{JT}$ where NaNiO$_2$ is rhombohedral, diffraction measurements show the absence of a cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion, accompanied by an increase in the unit cell volume. Using neutron total scattering, solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) experiments as local probes of the structure we find direct evidence for a displacive, as opposed to order-disorder Jahn-Teller transition at $T_\mathrm{JT}$. This is supported by \textit{ab initio} molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations. To our knowledge this study is the first to show a displacive Jahn-Teller transition in any material using direct observations with local probe techniques.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Local spin structure in the layered van der Waals materials MnPS$_{x}$Se$_{3-x}$

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, whether in bulk form or reduced to just a single layer, have potential applications in spintronics and capacity for advanced quantum phenomena. A prerequisite for harnessing these opportunities lies in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the spin behavior in 2D materials. The low dimensionality motivates an understanding of the spin correlations over a wide length scale, from local to long range order. In this context, we focus on the magnetism in bulk \MPSe ~and \MPS, 2D layered van der Waals antiferromagnetic semiconductors. These materials have similar honeycomb Mn layers and magnetic ordering temperatures, but distinct spin orientations and exchange interactions. We utilize neutron scattering to gain deeper insights into the local magnetic structures and spin correlations in the paramagnetic and ordered phases by systematically investigating a MnPS$_{x}$Se$_{3-x}$ ($x$ = 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 3) series of powder samples using total neutron scattering measurements. By employing magnetic pair distribution function (mPDF) analysis, we unraveled the short-range magnetic correlations in these materials and explored how the non-magnetic anion S/Se mixing impacts the magnetic correlations. The results reveal that the magnetism can be gradually tuned through alteration of the non-magnetic S/Se content, which tunes the atomic structure. The change in magnetic structure is also accompanied by a control of the magnetic correlation length within the 2D honeycomb layers. Complimentary inelastic neutron scattering measurements allowed a quantification of the change in the magnetic exchange interactions for the series and further highlighted the gradual evolution of spin interactions in the series MnPS$_{x}$Se$_{3-x}$.

cond-mat.str-el

Exotic magnetism in perovskite KOsO3

A new perovskite KOsO3 has been stabilized under high-pressure and high temperature conditions. It is cubic at 500 K (Pm-3m) and undergoes subsequent phase transitions to tetragonal at 320 K (P4/mmm) and rhombohedral (R-3m) at 230 K as shown from refining synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction (SXRD) data. The larger orbital overlap integral and the extended wavefunction of 5d electrons in the perovskite KOsO3 allow to explore physics from the regime where Mott and Hund's rule couplings dominate to the state where the multiple interactions are on equal footing. We demonstrate an exotic magnetic ordering phase found by neutron powder diffraction along with physical properties via a suite of measurements including magnetic and transport properties, differential scanning calorimetry, and specific heat, which provide comprehensive information for a system at the crossover from localized to itinerant electronic behavior.

cond-mat.str-el

DSFFNet: Dual-Side Feature Fusion Network for 3D Pose Transfer

To solve the problem of pose distortion in the forward propagation of pose features in existing methods, this pa-per proposes a Dual-Side Feature Fusion Network for pose transfer (DSFFNet). Firstly, a fixed-length pose code is extracted from the source mesh by a pose encoder and combined with the target vertices to form a mixed feature; Then, a Feature Fusion Adaptive Instance Normalization module (FFAdaIN) is designed, which can process both pose and identity features simultaneously, so that the pose features can be compensated in layer-by-layer for-ward propagation, thus solving the pose distortion problem; Finally, using the mesh decoder composed of this module, the pose are gradually transferred to the target mesh. Experimental results on SMPL, SMAL, FAUST and MultiGarment datasets show that DSFFNet successfully solves the pose distortion problem while maintaining a smaller network structure with stronger pose transfer capability and faster convergence speed, and can adapt to meshes with different numbers of vertices. Code is available at https://github.com/YikiDragon/DSFFNet

cs.CV

Realization of Quantum Dipoles in Triangular Lattice Crystal Ba3Yb(BO3)3

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of the ytterbium-based triangular lattice compound Ba3Yb(BO3)3. The results demonstrate the absence of any long-range ordering down to 56 mK. Analysis of the magnetization, susceptibility and specific heat measurements suggests that Ba3Yb(BO3)3 may realize a S = 1/2 quantum dipole lattice, in which the dominant interaction is the long range dipole-dipole coupling on the geometrically frustrated triangular lattice, and exchange interactions are subdominant or negligible.

cond-mat.str-el

Towards understanding the magnetic properties of the breathing pyrochlore compound Ba3Yb2Zn5O11: A single crystal study

Ba3Yb2Zn5O11 is unique among breathing pyrochlore compounds for being in the nearly decoupled limit where inter-tetrahedron interactions are weak, hosting isolated clusters or "molecular magnet" like tetrahedra of magnetic ytterbium (Yb3+) ions. In this work, we present the first study carried out on single-crystal samples of the breathing pyrochlore Ba3Yb2Zn5O11, using a variety of magnetometry and neutron scattering techniques along with theoretical modeling. We employ inelastic neutron scattering to investigate the magnetic dynamics as a function of applied field (with respect to both magnitude and direction) down to a temperature of 70 mK, where inelastic scattering reveals dispersionless bands of excitations as found in earlier powder sample studies, in good agreement with a single-tetrahedron model. However, diffuse neutron scattering at zero field and dc-susceptibility at finite field exhibit features suggesting the presence of excitations at low-energy that are not captured by the single tetrahedron model. Analysis of the local structure down to 2 K via pair distribution function analysis finds no evidence of structural disorder. We conclude that effects beyond the single tetrahedron model are important in describing the low-energy, low temperature physics of Ba3Yb2Zn5O11, but their nature remains undetermined.

cond-mat.str-el

Impact of pandemic fatigue on the spread of COVID-19: a mathematical modelling study

In late-2020, many countries around the world faced another surge in number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, including United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, United States, etc., which resulted in a large nationwide and even worldwide wave. While there have been indications that precaution fatigue could be a key factor, no scientific evidence has been provided so far. We used a stochastic metapopulation model with a hierarchical structure and fitted the model to the positive cases in the US from the start of outbreak to the end of 2020. We incorporated non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) into this model by assuming that the precaution strength grows with positive cases and studied two types of pandemic fatigue. We found that people in most states and in the whole US respond to the outbreak in a sublinear manner (with exponent k=0.5), while only three states (Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey) have linear reaction (k=1). Case fatigue (decline in people's vigilance to positive cases) is responsible for 58% of cases, while precaution fatigue (decay of maximal fraction of vigilant group) accounts for 26% cases. If there were no pandemic fatigue (no case fatigue and no precaution fatigue), total positive cases would have reduced by 68% on average. Our study shows that pandemic fatigue is the major cause of the worsening situation of COVID-19 in United States. Reduced vigilance is responsible for most positive cases, and higher mortality rate tends to push local people to react to the outbreak faster and maintain vigilant for longer time.

q-bio.PE

Instability of spherical naked singularities of a scalar field under gravitational perturbations

In this paper, we initiate the study of the instability of naked singularities without symmetries. In a series of papers, Christodoulou proved that naked singularities are not stable in the context of the spherically symmetric Einstein equations coupled with a massless scalar field. We study in this paper the next simplest case: a characteristic initial value problem of this coupled system with the initial data given on two intersecting null cones, the incoming one of which is assumed to be spherically symmetric and singular at its vertex, and the outgoing one of which has no symmetries. It is shown that, arbitrarily fixing the initial scalar field, the set of the initial conformal metrics on the outgoing null cone such that the maximal future development does not have any sequences of closed trapped surfaces approaching the singularity, is of first category in the whole space in which the shear tensors are continuous. Such a set can then be viewed as exceptional, although the exceptionality is weaker than the at least $1$ co-dimensionality in spherical symmetry. Almost equivalently, it is also proved that, arbitrarily fixing an incoming null cone $\underline{C}_\varepsilon$ to the future of the initial incoming null cone, the set of the initial conformal metrics such that the maximal future development has at least one closed trapped surface before $\underline{C}_\varepsilon$, contains an open and dense subset of the whole space. Since the initial scalar field can be chosen such that the singularity is naked if the initial shear is set to be zero, we may say that the spherical naked singularities of a self-gravitating scalar field are not stable under gravitational perturbations. This in particular gives new families of non-spherically symmetric gravitational perturbations different from the original spherically symmetric scalar perturbations given by Christodoulou.

gr-qc

A robust proof of the instability of naked singularities of a scalar field in spherical symmetry

Published in 1999, Christodoulou proved that the naked singularities of a self-gravitating scalar field are not stable in spherical symmetry and therefore the cosmic censorship conjecture is true in this context. The original proof is by contradiction and sharp estimates are obtained strictly depending on spherical symmetry. In this paper, appropriate a priori estimates for the solution are obtained. These estimates are more relaxed but sufficient for giving another robust argument in proving the instability, in particular not by contradiction. In another related paper, we are able to prove instability theorems of the spherical symmetric naked singularities under certain isotropic gravitational perturbations without symmetries. The argument given in this paper plays a central role.

gr-qc