arXiv subjects

Z. Y. Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Z. Y. Liu.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Superconductivity at ~70 K in Tin Hydride SnHx under High Pressure

Various tin hydrides SnHx (x = 4, 8, 12, 14) have been theoretically predicted to be stable at high pressures and to show high-critical-temperature superconductivity with Tc ranging from about 70 to 100 K. However, experimental verifications for any of these phases are still lacking to date. Here, we report on the in-situ synthesis, electrical resistance, and synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements of SnHx at ~ 200 GPa. The main phase of the obtained sample can be indexed with the monoclinic C2/m SnH12 via comparison with the theoretical structural modes. A sudden drop of resistance and the systematic downward shift under external magnetic fields signals the occurrence of superconductivity in SnHx at Tc = ~ 70 K with an upper critical field u0Hc2(0) = ~ 11.2 T, which is relatively low in comparison with other reported high-Tc superhydrides. Various characteristic superconducting parameters are estimated based on the BCS theory.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Superconductivity in Scandium Borocarbide with orbital hybridization

Exploration of superconductivity in light element compounds has drawn considerable attention because those materials can easily realize the high $T_{c}$ superconductivity, such as ${\mathrm{LnNi}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}_{2}}{\mathrm{C}}$ ($T_{c}$ =17 K), ${\mathrm{Mg}}{\mathrm{B}}_{2}$ ($T_{c}$ =39 K), and very recently super-hydrides under pressure ($T_{c}$ =250 K). Here we report the discovery of bulk superconductivity at 7.8 K in scandium borocarbide ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{20}{\mathrm{B}}{\mathrm{C}}_{27}$ with a tetragonal lattice which structure changes based on the compound of ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}{\mathrm{C}}_{4}$ with very little B doping. Magnetization and specific heat measurements show bulk superconductivity. An upper critical field of Hc2(0) ~ 8 T is determined. Low temperature specific-heat shows that this system is a BCS fully gapped s-wave superconductor. Electronic structure calculations demonstrate that compared with ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{3}{\mathrm{C}}_{4}$ there are more orbital overlap and hybridization between Sc 3d electrons and 2p electrons of C-C(B)-C fragment in ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{20}{\mathrm{B}}{\mathrm{C}}_{27}$, which form a new electric conduction path of Sc-C(B)-Sc. Those changes influence the band structure at the Fermi level and may be the reason of superconductivity in ${\mathrm{Sc}}_{20}{\mathrm{B}}{\mathrm{C}}_{27}$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Results of 12 Years of Pulsar Timing at Nanshan -- I

We have used the Nanshan 25-m Radio Telescope at Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory to obtain timing observations of 87 pulsars from 2002 July to 2014 March. Using the "Cholesky" timing analysis method we have determined positions and proper motions for 48 pulsars, 24 of which are improved positions compared to previously published values. We also present the first published proper motions for nine pulsars and improved proper motions for 21 pulsars using pulsar timing and position comparison method. The pulsar rotation parameters are derived and are more accurate than previously published values for 36 pulsars. Glitches are detected in three pulsars: PSRs J1722$-$3632, J1852$-$0635 and J1957+2831. For the first two, the glitches are large, with $Δν_g/ν> 10^{-6}$, and they are the first detected glitches in these pulsars. PSR J1722$-$3632 is the second oldest pulsar with large glitch. For the middle-age pulsars ($τ_c > 10^5$~yr), the calculated braking indices, $|n|$, are strongly correlated with $τ_c$ and the numbers of positive and negative values of $n$ are almost equal. For young pulsars ($τ_c < 10^5$~yr), there is no correlation between $|n|$ and $τ_c$ and most have $n>0$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Discovery of delayed spin-up behavior following two large glitches in the Crab pulsar, and the statistics of such processes

Glitches correspond to sudden jumps of rotation frequency ($ν$) and its derivative ($\dotν$) of pulsars, the origin of which remains not well understood yet, partly because the jump processes of most glitches are not well time-resolved. There are three large glitches of the Crab pulsar, detected in 1989, 1996 and 2017, which were found to have delayed spin-up processes before the normal recovery processes. Here we report two additional glitches of the Crab pulsar occurred in 2004 and 2011 for which we discovered delayed spin up processes, and present refined parameters of the largest glitch occurred in 2017. The initial rising time of the glitch is determined as $<0.48$ hour. We also carried out a statistical study of these five glitches with observed spin-up processes. The two glitches occurred in 2004 and 2011 have delayed spin-up time scales ($τ_{1}$) of $1.7\pm0.8$\,days and $1.6\pm0.4$\,days, respectively. We find that the $Δν$ vs. $|Δ{\dotν}|$ relation of these five glitches is similar to those with no detected delayed spin-up process, indicating that they are similar to the others in nature except that they have larger amplitudes. For these five glitches, the amplitudes of the delayed spin-up process ($|Δν_{\rm d1}|$) and recovery process ($Δν_{\rm d2}$), their time scales ($τ_{1}$, $τ_{2}$), and permanent changes in spin frequency ($Δν_{\rm p}$) and total frequency step ($Δν_{\rm g}$) have positive correlations. From these correlations, we suggest that the delayed spin-up processes are common for all glitches, but are too short and thus difficult to be detected for most glitches.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2020

Edge Temperature Ring Oscillation Modulated by Turbulence Transition for Sustaining Stationary Improved Energy Confinement Plasmas

A reproducible stationary improved confinement mode (I-mode) has been achieved recently in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, featuring good confinement without particle transport barrier, which could be beneficial to solving the heat flux problem caused by edge localized modes (ELM) and the helium ash problem for future fusion reactors. The microscopic mechanism of sustaining stationary I-mode, based on the coupling between turbulence transition and the edge temperature oscillation, has been discovered for the first time. A radially localized edge temperature ring oscillation (ETRO) with azimuthally symmetric structure ($n=0$,$m=0$) has been identified and it is caused by alternative turbulence transitions between ion temperature gradient modes (ITG) and trapped electron modes (TEM). The ITG-TEM transition is controlled by local electron temperature gradient and consistent with the gyrokinetic simulations. The self-organizing system consisting with ETRO, turbulence and transport transitions plays the key role in sustaining the I-mode confinement. These results provide a novel physics basis for accessing, maintaining and controlling stationary I-mode in the future.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Piggyback search for fast radio bursts using Nanshan 26m and Kunming 40m radio telescopes -- I. Observing and data analysis systems, discovery of a mysterious peryton

We present our piggyback search for fast radio bursts using the Nanshan 26m Radio Telescope and the Kunming 40m Radio Telescope. The observations are performed in the L-band from 1380 MHz to 1700 MHz at Nanshan and S-band from 2170 MHz to 2310 MHz at Kunming. We built the \textsc{Roach2}-based FFT spectrometer and developed the real-time transient search software. We introduce a new radio interference mitigation technique named \emph{zero-DM matched filter} and give the formula of the signal-to-noise ratio loss in the transient search. Though we have no positive detection of bursts in about 1600 and 2400 hours data at Nanshan and Kunming respectively, an intriguing peryton was detected at Nanshan, from which hundreds of bursts were recorded. Perytons are terrestrial radio signals that mimic celestial fast radio bursts. They were first reported at Parkes and identified as microwave oven interferences later. The bursts detected at Nanshan show similar frequency swept emission and have double-peaked profiles. They appeared in different sky regions in about tens of minutes observations and the dispersion measure index is not exactly 2, which indicates the terrestrial origin. The peryton differs drastically from the known perytons detected at Parkes, because it appeared in a precise period of $p=1.71287\pm 0.00004$ s. Its origin remains unknown.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

I-mode investigation on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

By analyzing large quantities of discharges in the unfavorable ion $ \vec B\times \nabla B $ drift direction, the I-mode operation has been confirmed in EAST tokamak. During the L-mode to I-mode transition, the energy confinement has a prominent improvement by the formation of a high-temperature edge pedestal, while the particle confinement remains almost identical to that in the L-mode. Similar with the I-mode observation on other devices, the $ E_r $ profiles obtained by the eight-channel Doppler backscattering system (DBS8)\cite{J.Q.Hu} show a deeper edge $ E_r $ well in the I-mode than that in the L-mode. And a weak coherent mode (WCM) with the frequency range of 40-150 kHz is observed at the edge plasma with the radial extend of about 2-3 cm. WCM could be observed in both density fluctuation and radial electric field fluctuation, and the bicoherence analyses showed significant couplings between WCM and high frequency turbulence, implying that the $ E_r $ fluctuation and the caused flow shear from WCM should play an important role during I-mode. In addition, a low-frequency oscillation with a frequency range of 5-10 kHz is always accompanied with WCM, where GAM intensity is decreased or disappeared. Many evidences show that the a low-frequency oscillation may be a novel kind of limited cycle oscillation but further investigations are needed to explain the new properties such as the harmonics and obvious magnetical perturbations.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Asymmetric Ferromagnetic Criticality in Pyrochlore Ferromagnet Lu$_2$V$_2$O$_7$

Critical phenomenon at the phase transition reveals the universal and long-distance properties of the criticality. We study the ferromagnetic criticality of the pyrochlore magnet Lu$_2$V$_2$O$_7$ at the ferromagnetic transition ${T_\text{c}\approx 70\, \text{K}}$ from the isotherms of magnetization $M(H)$ via an iteration process and the Kouvel-Fisher method. The critical exponents associated with the transition are determined as ${β= 0.32(1)}$, ${γ= 1.41(1)}$, and ${δ= 5.38}$. The validity of these critical exponents is further verified by scaling all the $M(H)$ data in the vicinity of $T_\text{c}$ onto two universal curves in the plot of $M/|\varepsilon|^β$ versus $H/|\varepsilon|^{β+γ}$, where ${\varepsilon = T/T_\text{c} -1}$. The obtained $β$ and $γ$ values show asymmetric behaviors on the ${T < T_\text{c}}$ and the ${T > T_\text{c}}$ sides, and are consistent with the predicted values of 3D Ising and cubic universality classes, respectively. This makes Lu$_2$V$_2$O$_7$ a rare example in which the critical behaviors associated with a ferromagnetic transition belong to different universality classes. We describe the observed criticality from the Ginzburg-Landau theory with the quartic cubic anisotropy that microscopically originates from the anti-symmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction as revealed by recent magnon thermal Hall effect and theoretical investigations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Ultralow-temperature heat transport in the quantum spin liquid candidate Ca10Cr7O28 with bilayer kagome lattice

Recently, a novel material with bilayer kagome lattice Ca$_{10}$Cr$_7$O$_{28}$ was proposed to be a gapless quantum spin liquid, due to the lack of long-range magnetic order and the observation of broad diffuse excitations. Here, we present the ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity measurements on single crystals of Ca$_{10}$Cr$_7$O$_{28}$ to detect its low-lying magnetic excitations. At finite temperatures, with increasing the magnetic fields, the thermal conductivity exhibits a clear dip around 6 T, which may correspond to a crossover in the magnetic ground state. At the zero-temperature limit, no residual linear term is found at any fields, indicating the absence of gapless itinerant fermionic excitations. Therefore, if the spinons do exist, they are either localized or gapped. In the gapped case, the fitting of our data gives a small gap $Δ\sim$ 0.27(2) K. These results put strong constraints on the theoretical description of the ground state in this quantum spin liquid candidate.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

On the nulling, drifting, and their interactions in PSRs J1741-0840 and J1840-0840

We report detailed investigation of nulling and drifting behavior of two pulsars PSRs J1741-0840 and J1840-0840 observed from the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope at 625 MHz. PSR J1741-840 was found to show nulling fraction (NF) of around 30(5)% while PSR J1840-0840 was shown to have NF of around 50(6)%. We measured drifting behavior from different profile components in PSR J1840-0840 for the first time with the leading component showing drifting with 13.5(0.7) periods while the weak trailing component showed drifting of around 18(1) periods. Large nulling do hamper accuracy of these quantities derived using standard Fourier techniques. A more accurate comparison was drawn from driftband slopes, measured after sub-pulse modeling. These measurements revealed interesting sporadic and irregular drifting behavior in both pulsars. We conclude that the previously reported different drifting periodicities in the trailing component of PSR J1741-0840 is likely due to the spread in these driftband slopes. We also find that both components of PSR J1840-0840 show similar driftband slopes within the uncertainties. Unique nulling-drifting interaction is identified in PSR J1840-0840 where, in most occasions, the pulsar tends to start nulling after what appears to be an end of a driftband. Similarly, when the pulsar switches back to an emission phase, in most occasions it starts at the beginning of a new driftband in both components. Such behaviors have not been detected in any other pulsars to our knowledge. We also found that PSR J1741-0840 seems to have no memory of its previous burst phase while PSR J1840-0840 clearly exhibits memory of its previous state even after longer nulls for both components. We discuss possible explanations for these intriguing nulling-drifting interactions seen in both pulsars based on various pulsar nulling models.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Optimized contraction scheme for tensor-network states

In the tensor-network framework, the expectation values of two-dimensional quantum states are evaluated by contracting a double-layer tensor network constructed from initial and final tensor-network states. The computational cost of carrying out this contraction is generally very high, which limits the largest bond dimension of tensor-network states that can be accurately studied to a relatively small value. We propose an optimized contraction scheme to solve this problem by mapping the double-layer tensor network onto an intersected single-layer tensor network. This reduces greatly the bond dimensions of local tensors to be contracted and improves dramatically the efficiency and accuracy of the evaluation of expectation values of tensor-network states. It almost doubles the largest bond dimension of tensor-network states whose physical properties can be efficiently and reliably calculated, and it extends significantly the application scope of tensor-network methods.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Gapless spin-liquid ground state in the $S = 1/2$ kagome antiferromagnet

Frustrated quantum magnetism has moved to the forefront of physics research, posing fundamental questions concerning quantum disordered states, entanglement, topology and the nature of the quantum wavefunction. The defining problem in the field is one of the simplest, the ground state of the nearest-neighbour $S = 1/2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice, but has defied all theoretical and numerical methods employed to date. We apply the formalism of tensor-network states (TNS), specifically the method of projected entangled simplex states (PESS), whose combination of a correct accounting for multipartite entanglement and infinite system size provides qualitatively new insight. By studying the ground-state energy, the staggered magnetization we find at all finite tensor bond dimensions and the effects of a second-neighbour coupling, we demonstrate that the ground state is a gapless spin liquid. We discuss the comparison with other numerical studies and the physical interpretation of the gapless ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Charge dynamics of the antiferromagnetically ordered Mott insulator

We study the charge dynamics of the half-filled Hubbard model on the square lattice at zero temperature. We employ a slave-fermion formulation in which the charge degrees of freedom are represented by fermionic holons and doublons and the bosonic spin degrees of freedom are assumed to be described by the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model. The ground state has long-ranged magnetic (Néel) order and its Mott-insulating characteristics are the consequence of holon-doublon bound-state formation. Within this framework, we calculate the average double occupancy, the electron density of states, and the spectral function in the self-consistent Born approximation. The lower and upper Hubbard bands are reproduced, there is spectral-weight transfer into a coherent quasiparticle band at their lower edges, and the Mott gap, associated with holon-doublon binding, is renormalized due to the interactions of the holons and doublons with the magnons. We compute the zeros of the Green function at the chemical potential to discuss the Luttinger volume and show that the poles of the self-energy reflect the underlying quasiparticle dispersion with a spin-renormalized hopping parameter. Optical conductivity results relate the optical gap to the Mott gap of the insulating system. We conclude that a self-consistent treatment of the spin fluctuation effects on the charge degrees of freedom captures all the essential physics of the antiferromagnetic Mott-Hubbard insulator.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Pulse profiles and timing of PSR J1757$-$2421

Pulse arrival time measurements over fourteen years with the Nanshan 25-m and Parkes 64-m radio telescopes have been used to determine the average profile and timing properties for PSR J1757$-$2421 (B1754$-$24). Analysis of the radio profile data shows a large variation of spectral index across the profile and an unusual increase in component separation with increasing frequency. The timing observations show that PSR B1754$-$24 underwent a large glitch with a fractional increase in spin frequency of $Δν_{\rm g}/ν\sim 7.8\times10^{-6}$ in May 2011. At the time of the glitch there was a large permanent jump in the rotational frequency accompanied by two exponential recovery terms with timescales of 15(6) and 97(15) days, respectively.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

The mode switching of PSR B2020+28

This paper reports on polarimetric radiation properties based on the switching modes of normal PSR B2020+28 by analysing the data acquired from the Nanshan 25-m radio telescope at 1556 MHz. With nearly 8 hours quasi-continuous observation, the data presented some striking and updated phenomena. The change of relative intensity between the leading and trailing components is the predominant feature of mode switching. The intensity ratio between the leading and trailing components are measured for the individual profiles averaged over 30 seconds. It is found that there is an excess of high ratios over the normal distribution, which indicates that two modes exist in the pulsar. The distribution of abnormal mode has a narrower width indicating that the abnormal mode is more stable than the normal mode. A total of 76 mode switching events are detected in our data. It spends 89\% in the normal mode and 11\% in the abnormal mode. The intrinsic distributions of mode timescales are constrained with power-law distributions. The significant difference in the index of the duration distribution between normal and abnormal modes possibly indicates that the timescale for the abnormal mode to get stable is shorter than that for the normal mode. The frequent switching between both modes may indicate that the oscillations between different magnetospheric states are rapid.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

A new class of topological insulators from I-III-IV half-Heusler compounds with strong band inversion strength

In this paper, by first principle calculations, we investigate systematically the band topology of a new half-Heusler family with composition of I(A)-III(A)-IV(A). The results clearly show that many of the I-III-IV half-Heusler compounds are in fact promising to be topological insulator candidates. The characteristic feature of these new topological insulators is the naturally strong band inversion strength (up to -2eV) without containing heavy elements. Moreover, we found that both the band inversion strength and the topological insulating gap can be tailored through strain engineering, and therefore would be grown epitaxially in the form of films, and useful in spintronics and other applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Crossover of magnetoresistance in the zerogap half-metallic Heusler alloy Fe2CoSi

This work reports on the band structure and magneto-transport investigations of the inverse Heusler compound Fe2CoSi. The first-principles calculations reveal that Fe2CoSi has a very peculiar band structure with a conducting property in the majority spin channel and a nearly zero bandgap in the minority spin channel. The synthesized Fe2CoSi sample shows a high-ordered inverse Heusler structure with a magnetic moment of 4.88 μB at 5 K and a high Curie temperature of 1038 K. With increasing temperature, a crossover from positive to negative magnetoresistance (MR) is observed. Complemented with the Hall effect measurements, we suggest the intriguing crossover of MR can be ascribed to the dominant spin carriers changing from the gapless minority spin channel to the majority spin channel at Fermi level.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Spectral characterization of third-order harmonic generation assisted by two-dimensional plasma grating in air

A dramatic spectral modulation of third-order harmonic (TH) emission generated in a near in- frared femtosecond (fs) pulse filamentation, assisted by a two-dimensional plasma grating formed by two pump femtosecond pulses, is experimentally demonstrated when their spatiotemporal overlap is achieved. It is mainly attributed to strong cross-phase modulation induced by the fundamental wave of the probe pulse and two pump ones. The delay dynamic of TH spectra indicates the influence of two retarded nonlinear responses on the TH generation. The dependences of TH generation on the energies of probe and pump pulses, relative field polarization angle are also studied.

physics.optics↗