Inelastic neutron scattering

About: Inelastic neutron scattering is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10987 publications have been published within this topic receiving 203338 citations.

Quantum Phase Transitions

Abstract: We give a general introduction to quantum phase transitions in strongly-correlated electron systems. These transitions which occur at zero temperature when a non-thermal parameter $g$ like pressure, chemical composition or magnetic field is tuned to a critical value are characterized by a dynamic exponent $z$ related to the energy and length scales $\Delta$ and $\xi$. Simple arguments based on an expansion to first order in the effective interaction allow to define an upper-critical dimension $D_{C}=4$ (where $D=d+z$ and $d$ is the spatial dimension) below which mean-field description is no longer valid. We emphasize the role of pertubative renormalization group (RG) approaches and self-consistent renormalized spin fluctuation (SCR-SF) theories to understand the quantum-classical crossover in the vicinity of the quantum critical point with generalization to the Kondo effect in heavy-fermion systems. Finally we quote some recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments performed on heavy-fermions which lead to unusual scaling law in $\omega /T$ for the dynamical spin susceptibility revealing critical local modes beyond the itinerant magnetism scheme and mention new attempts to describe this local quantum critical point.

Folding model potentials from realistic interactions for heavy-ion scattering

Abstract: The double-folding model, with “realistic” nucleon-nucleon interactions based upon a G-matrix constructed from the Reid potential, is used to calculate the real part of the optical potential for heavy-ion scattering. The resulting potentials are shown to reproduce the observed elastic scattering for a large number of systems with bombarding energies from 5 to 20 MeV per nucleon. Some representative inelastic transitions are also reproduced. Exceptions are the elastic scattering of 6Li and 9Be for which the folded potentials must be reduced in strength by a factor of about two. The same effective interactions are shown to give a good account of two particular cases of alpha scattering as well as some cases of nucleon-nucleus scattering. Some typical examples of inelastic heavy-ion scattering are also predicted successfully. Some general properties of the folding model are reviewed and its theoretical basis is discussed. An explicit density-dependence is examined for one particular realistic interaction and found not to change the results. Single nucleon exchange is included in an approximate way and its importance is studied. In addition to being a study of the folding model, this work also provides a systematic and comprehensive optical model analysis of heavy-ion elastic scattering in this energy range.

Dynamical transition of myoglobin revealed by inelastic neutron scattering.

Abstract: Structural fluctuations in proteins on the picosecond timescale have been studied in considerable detail by theoretical methods such as molecular dynamics simulation1,2, but there exist very few experimental data with which to test the conclusions. We have used the technique of inelastic neutron scattering to investigate atomic motion in hydrated myoglobin over the temperature range 4–350 K and on the molecular dynamics timescale 0.1–100 ps. At temperatures below 180 K myglobin behaves as a harmonic solid, with essentially only vibrational motion. Above 180 K there is a striking dynamic transition arising from the excitation of non-vibrational motion, which we interpret as corresponding to tor-sional jumps between states of different energy, with a mean energy asymmetry of KJ mol −1. This extra mobility is reflected in a strong temperature dependence of the mean-square atomic displacements, a phenomenon previously observed specifically for the heme iron by Mossbauer spectroscopy3–5, but on a much slower timescale (10−7 s). It also correlates with a glass-like transition in the hydration shell of myoglobin6 and with the temperature-dependence of ligand-binding rates at the heme iron, as monitored by flash photolysis7. In contrast, the crystal structure of myoglobin determined down to 80 K shows no significant structural transition8–10. The dynamical behaviour we find for myoglobin (and other globular proteins) suggests a coupling of fast local motions to slower collective motions, which is a characteristic feature of other dense glass-forming systems.

Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering Studies of Elementary Excitations

Abstract: Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) is an X-ray in, X-ray out technique that enables one to study the dispersion of excitations in solids. In this thesis, we investigated how various elementary excitations of transition metal oxides show up in RIXS spectra.

MAGPACK1 A package to calculate the energy levels, bulk magnetic properties, and inelastic neutron scattering spectra of high nuclearity spin clusters

Abstract: M agnetic molecular clusters, i.e., molecular assemblies formed by a finite number of exchange-coupled magnetic moments, are currently receiving much attention in several active areas of research as molecular chemistry, magnetism, and biochemistry. A reason for this interest lies in the possibility to use simple molecular clusters as magnets of nanometer size exhibiting unusual magnetic properties as superparamagnetic like behavior or quantum tunneling of magnetization.2 – 4 Organic molecules of increasing sizes and large number of unpaired electrons are being explored as a means of obtaining building blocks for molecule-based magnets.5 Magnetic clusters of metal ions are also relevant in biochemistry.6 This area between molecule and bulk will require new theoretical concepts and techniques for investigation of their peculiar properties. Still, the theoretical treatment required to understand the magnetic and spectroscopic properties of this wide variety of compounds is a challenging problem in molecular magnetism.7 For a long time, this problem has been mostly restricted to treat comparatively simple clusters comprising a reduced number of exchange-coupled centers and special spin topologies, for which solutions can be obtained either analytically or numerically. However, on increasing the spin nuclearity of the cluster, the problem rapidly becomes unapproachable because the lack of translational symmetry in the clusters. An additional complication is the spin anisotropy of the cluster. Until now only the isotropic-exchange case has been treated, so as to take full advantage of the spin symmetry of the cluster.8 In this article we present a very powerful and efficient computational approach to solve the exchange problem in high nuclearity spin clusters with all kind of exchange interactions (isotropic and anisotropic), including the single-ion anisotropic effects. The clusters are formed by an arbitrary number of exchangecoupled centers that combine different spin values and arbitrary topology. This approach is based on the use of the irreducible tensor operators (ITO) technique.7, 9 – 12 It allows evaluation of both eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the system, and then, calculation of the magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, or heat capacity, and also the inelastic neutron scattering spectra. In the following sections we will present both the theory and the four different implemented FORTRAN programs that integrate a package called MAGPACK . In the last section some examples are presented in order to show the possibilities of the programs.