Vol 107, No 8 (2018)

The structural properties of Na₂RuO₃ under pressure are studied using density functional theory within the nonmagnetic generalized gradient approximation (GGA). We found that one may expect a structural transition at ∼3 GPa. This structure at the high-pressure phase is exactly the same as the low-temperature structure of Li₂RuO₃ (at ambient pressure) and is characterized by the P2₁/m space group. Ru ions form dimers in this phase and one may expect strong modification of the electronic and magnetic properties in Na₂RuO₃ at pressure higher than 3 GPa.

Superconductivity and ferromagnetism in a number of uranium-based materials come from the same f-electrons with a relatively large effective mass, suggesting the presence of a band of heavy quasiparticles, whose nature is still a mystery. Here, UGe₂ dynamics in both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases is studied employing high-field μ⁺SR spectroscopy. The spectra exhibit a doublet structure characteristic to formation of subnanometer-sized magnetic polarons. This model is thoroughly explored here and correlated with the unconventional physics of UGe₂. The heavy-fermion behavior is ascribed to magnetic polarons; when coherent they form a narrow band, thus reconciling heavy carriers with superconductivity and itinerant ferromagnetism.

The magnetoresistance of a TbTe₃ two-dimensional conductor with a charge-density wave (CDW) has been measured in a wide temperature range and in magnetic fields of up to 17 T. At temperatures well below the Peierls transition temperature and in high magnetic fields, the magnetoresistance exhibits a linear dependence on the magnetic field caused by the scattering of normal charge carriers by “hot” spots of the Fermi surface. In the sliding CDW regime in low magnetic fields, a qualitative change in the magnetoresistance has been observed associated with the strong scattering of carriers by the sliding CDW.

Using an exact expression for the average velocity of inertialess motion of pulsating ratchets, a simple proof is given for the recently discovered hidden space-time symmetry of Cubero–Renzoni (D. Cubero, F. Renzoni, 2016). The conditions are revealed for the absence of the ratchet effect in systems with potential energies described by products of periodic functions of coordinate and time possessing the symmetry of the main types. In particular, it is shown that the ratchet effect is absent for the time dependence of the universal symmetry type (which combines three standard symmetries), and this restriction is removed when inertia is taken into account, unless the coordinate dependence of the potential energy is related to symmetric or antisymmetric functions.

Superconductivity has been observed in bilayer graphene [1, 2]. The main factor that determines the mechanism of the formation of this superconductivity is the “magic angle” of twist of two graphene layers, at which the electronic band structure becomes nearly flat. The specific role played by twist and by the band flattening has been earlier suggested for explanations of the signatures of room-temperature superconductivity observed in the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), when the quasi two-dimensional interfaces between the twisted domains are present. The interface contains the periodic array of misfit dislocations (analogs of the boundaries of the unit cell of the Moiré superlattice in bilayer graphene), which provide the possible source of the flat band. This demonstrates that it is high time for combination of the theoretical and experimental efforts in order to reach the reproducible room-temperature superconductivity in graphite or in similar real or artificial materials.

A radiation source based on the emission of electrons and positrons moving in a short bent crystal has been recently discovered. The emission of particles is due to oscillations of their trajectories near the point of reflections, where trajectories approach a tangent to bent atomic planes. In the experiment performed with the secondary electron beam of the U70 accelerator, it has been shown that the emission intensity can be increased by using a sequence of oriented bent crystals. Passing through six 2.5-mm-long silicon crystals, 7-GeV electrons lose on average 2.0 GeV on emission. This value is several times larger than that in an amorphous medium. Thus, an intense source of radiation has been demonstrated with prospects of application at accelerators.

In contrast to the existing theories of the relativistic self-focusing of a light beam in a plasma, the problem of a steady self-focusing light beam with a given input Gaussian radial intensity distribution has been analytically solved approximately with the use of a renormalization group approach. Depending on the parameters of the plasma and laser beam, solutions describing its longitudinal–radial waveguide structure have been obtained. These solutions demonstrate three characteristic types of relativistic self-focusing: (i) self-focusing on an axis, (ii) self-focusing in the form of a tubular channel, and (iii) self-trapping distribution.

Page 5, Table 1, row 2 should read:

*2 − − − 3.60 ± 0.12 230 ± 10 175 ± 10 219 ± 5 69 ± 6 330 ± 12 31 ± 6

Page 5, left column, last paragraph should read:

The lifetime of positrons in silver sulfide samples with different average sizes of nanoparticles was measured at the Institute of Materials Physics, Graz University of Technology (Austria), on a γγ fast—fast coincidence spectrometer using ²²NaCl radioactive salt deposited on a 5-μm aluminum foil as a source of positrons. To record the positron annihilation spectra, we prepared a source with an activity of 1−2 MBq, which was placed between two silver sulfide tablets.