Reservoir Of Angular Momentum Research Articles

Single- and Multimagnon Dynamics in Antiferromagnetic α−Fe2O3 Thin Films

Understanding the spin dynamics in antiferromagnetic (AFM) thin films is fundamental for designing novel devices based on AFM magnon transport. Here, we study the magnon dynamics in thin films of AFM $S=5/2$ $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ by combining resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, Anderson impurity model plus dynamical mean-field theory, and Heisenberg spin model. Below 100 meV, we observe the thickness-independent (down to 15 nm) acoustic single-magnon mode. At higher energies (100-500 meV), an unexpected sequence of equally spaced, optical modes is resolved and ascribed to $\Delta S_z = 1$, 2, 3, 4, and 5 magnetic excitations corresponding to multiple, noninteracting magnons. Our study unveils the energy, character, and momentum-dependence of single and multimagnons in $\alpha$-Fe$_2$O$_3$ thin films, with impact on AFM magnon transport and its related phenomena. From a broader perspective, we generalize the use of L-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering as a multispin-excitation probe up to $\Delta S_z = 2S$. Our analysis identifies the spin-orbital mixing in the valence shell as the key element for accessing excitations beyond $\Delta S_z = 1$, and up to, e.g., $\Delta S_z = 5$. At the same time, we elucidate the novel origin of the spin excitations beyond the $\Delta S_z = 2$, emphasizing the key role played by the crystal lattice as a reservoir of angular momentum that complements the quanta carried by the absorbed and emitted photons.

Statistical Estimates of the Pulsar Glitch Activity

A common way to calculate the glitch activity of a pulsar is an ordinary linear regression of the observed cumulative glitch history. This method however is likely to underestimate the errors on the activity, as it implicitly assumes a (long-term) linear dependence between glitch sizes and waiting times, as well as equal variance, i.e., homoscedasticity, in the fit residuals, both assumptions that are not well justified from pulsar data. In this paper, we review the extrapolation of the glitch activity parameter and explore two alternatives: the relaxation of the homoscedasticity hypothesis in the linear fit and the use of the bootstrap technique. We find a larger uncertainty in the activity with respect to that obtained by ordinary linear regression, especially for those objects in which it can be significantly affected by a single glitch. We discuss how this affects the theoretical upper bound on the moment of inertia associated with the region of a neutron star containing the superfluid reservoir of angular momentum released in a stationary sequence of glitches. We find that this upper bound is less tight if one considers the uncertainty on the activity estimated with the bootstrap method and allows for models in which the superfluid reservoir is entirely in the crust.

Core and crust contributions in overshooting glitches: the Vela pulsar 2016 glitch

During the spin-up phase of a large pulsar glitch – a sudden decrease of the rotational period of a neutron star – the angular velocity of the star may overshoot, namely reach values greater than that observed for the new post-glitch equilibrium. These transient phenomena are expected on the basis of theoretical models for pulsar internal dynamics, and their observation has the potential to provide an important diagnostic for glitch modelling. In this article, we present a simple criterion to assess the presence of an overshoot, based on the minimal analytical model that is able to reproduce an overshooting spin-up. We employed it to fit the data of the 2016 glitch of the Vela pulsar, obtaining estimates of the fractional moments of inertia of the internal superfluid components involved in the glitch, of the rise and decay timescales of the overshoot, and of the mutual friction parameters between the superfluid components and the normal one. We studied the cases with and without strong entrainment in the crust: in the former, we found an indication of a large inner core strongly coupled to the observable component, and of a reservoir of angular momentum extending into the core to densities below nuclear saturation; while in the latter, a large reservoir extending above nuclear saturation and a standard normal component without inner core were found.

Quantum heat engine operating between thermal and spin reservoirs

Landauer's erasure principle is a cornerstone of thermodynamics and information theory. According to this principle, erasing information incurs a minimum energy cost. Recently, Vaccaro and Barnett [Proc. R. Soc {\bf 467}, 1770 (2011)] explored information erasure in the context of multiple conserved quantities and showed that the erasure cost can be solely in terms of spin angular momentum. As Landauer's erasure principle plays a fundamental role in heat engines, their result considerably widens the possible configurations that heat engines can have. Motivated by this, we propose here a novel optical heat engine that operates under a single thermal reservoir and a spin angular momentum reservoir coupled to a three level system with an energy-degenerate ground state. The proposed heat engine operates without producing waste heat and goes beyond the traditional Carnot engine where the working fluid is subjected to two thermal baths at different temperatures.

Effects of general relativity on glitch amplitudes and pulsar mass upper bounds

Pinning of vortex lines in the inner crust of a spinning neutron star may be the mechanism that enhances the differential rotation of the internal neutron superfluid, making it possible to freeze some amount of angular momentum which eventually can be released, thus causing a pulsar glitch. We investigate the general relativistic corrections to pulsar glitch amplitudes in the slow-rotation approximation, consistently with the stratified structure of the star. We thus provide a relativistic generalization of a previous Newtonian model that was recently used to estimate upper bounds on the masses of glitching pulsars. We find that the effect of general relativity on the glitch amplitudes obtained by emptying the whole angular momentum reservoir is less than 30\%. Moreover we show that the Newtonian upper bounds on the masses of large glitchers obtained from observations of their largest recorded event differ by less than a few percent from those calculated within the relativistic framework. This work can also serve as a basis to construct more sophisticated models of angular momentum reservoir in a relativistic context. In particular, we present two alternative scenarios for "rigid" and "slack" vortex lines, and we generalize the Feynman-Onsager relation to the case when both entrainment coupling between the fluids and a strong gravitational field are present.

Pulsar rotation with superfluid entrainment

Large pulsar glitches (like the ones detected in the Vela) are though to be a consequence of the superfluid component present in the interior of mature neutron stars: this component can rotate differentially with respect to the normal part of the star, storing the angular momentum needed to produce the observed sudden decrease of the pulsar rotational period. However strong entrainment (a non-dissipative effect that couples the superfluid component with the non-superfluid component inside the star) challenges this picture. Here we study the impact of entrainment on the angular momentum that can be exchanged between the normal component and the superfluid during a glitch by means of a consistent global model. This allows to estimate the maximum angular momentum reservoir stored into the superfluid component of the star: the essential ingredient are newly calculated mesoscopic pinning forces that block the superfluid vorticity in the crust of the neutron star. This method can also provide a quantitative test for global models of rotating neutron stars, as well as for microphysical inputs present in literature (like entrainment parameters and pinning forces).

Axially symmetric equations for differential pulsar rotation with superfluid entrainment

In this article we present an analytical two-component model for pulsar rotational dynamics. Under the assumption of axial symmetry, implemented by a paraxial array of straight vortices that thread the entire neutron superfluid, we are able to project exactly the 3D hydrodynamical problem to a 1D cylindrical one. In the presence of density dependent entrainment the superfluid rotation is non-columnar: we circumvent this by using an auxiliary dynamical variable directly related to the areal density of vortices. The main result is a system of differential equations that take consistently into account the stratified spherical structure of the star, the dynamical effects of non-uniform entrainment, the differential rotation of the superfluid component and its coupling to the normal crust. These equations represent a mathematical framework in which to test quantitatively the macroscopic consequences of the presence of a stable vortex array, a working hypothesis widely used in glitch models. Even without solving the equations explicitly, we are able to draw some general quantitative conclusions; in particular, we show that the reservoir of angular momentum (corresponding to recent values of the pinning forces) is enough to reproduce the largest glitch observed in the Vela pulsar, provided its mass is not too large.

Pinned vortex hopping in a neutron star crust

The motion of superfluid vortices in a neutron star crust is at the heart of most theories of pulsar glitches. Pinning of vortices to ions can decouple the superfluid from the crust and create a reservoir of angular momentum. Sudden large scale unpinning can lead to an observable glitch. In this paper we investigate the scattering of a free vortex off a pinning potential and calculate its mean free path, in order to assess whether unpinned vortices can skip multiple pinning sites and come close enough to their neighbours to trigger avalanches, or whether they simply hop from one pinning site to another giving rise to a more gradual creep. We find that there is a significant range of parameter space in which avalanches can be triggered, thus supporting the hypothesis that they may lie at the origin of pulsar glitches. For realistic values of the pinning force and superfluid drag parameters we find that avalanches are more likely in the higher density regions of the crust where pinning is stronger. Physical differences in stellar parameters, such as mass and temperature, may lead to a switch between creep-like motion and avalanches, explaining the different characteristics of glitching pulsars.

Vibron-assisted spin relaxation at a metal/organic interface

Inspired by recent experiments for hybrid organic-ferromagnet interfaces, we propose a spin-relaxation mechanism which does not depend on either the spin-orbit or the hyperfine interaction. This takes place when a molecule with initial spin imbalance is weakly coupled to a metal surface and can be excited in various vibrational states. In such a situation the electron-vibron interaction promotes the exchange of spin-polarized electrons between the molecule and the surface, serving as an energy and angular momentum reservoir. This process leads to an effective spin relaxation of the electron population in the molecule. We suggest that this nonequilibrium mechanism can be investigated through time-resolved spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.

Pulsar glitches: The crust may be enough

Pulsar glitches-the sudden spin-up in the rotational frequency of a neutron star-suggest the existence of an angular-momentum reservoir confined to the inner crust of the neutron star. Large and regular glitches observed in the Vela pulsar have originally constrained the fraction of the stellar moment of inertia that must reside in the solid crust to about 1.4%. However, crustal entrainment-which until very recently has been ignored-suggests that in order to account for the Vela glitches, the fraction of the moment of inertia residing in the crust must increase to about 7%. This indicates that the required angular momentum reservoir may exceed that which is available in the crust. We explore the possibility that uncertainties in the equation of state provide enough flexibility for the construction of models that predict a large crustal thickness and consequently a large crustal moment of inertia. Given that analytic results suggest that the crustal moment of inertia is sensitive to the transition pressure at the crust-core interface, we tune the parameters of the model to maximize the transition pressure, while still providing an excellent description of nuclear observables. In this manner we are able to obtain fractional moments of inertia as large as 7% for neutron stars with masses below 1.6 solar masses. In particular, we find that if the neutron-skin thickness of 208Pb falls within the (0.20-0.26) fm range, large enough transition pressures can be generated to explain the large Vela glitches without invoking an additional angular-momentum reservoir beyond that confined to the solid crust. Our results suggest that the crust may be enough.

Spin-dependent thermoelectric effects in transport through a nanoscopic junction involving a spin impurity

Conventional and spin-related thermoelectric effects in transport through a magnetic tunnel junction with a large-spin impurity, such as a magnetic molecule or atom, embedded into the corresponding barrier are studied theoretically in the linear-response regime. The impurity is described by the giant spin Hamiltonian, with both uniaxial and transverse magnetic anisotropy taken into account. Owing to the presence of transverse component of magnetic anisotropy, spin of a tunneling electron can be reversed during scattering on the impurity, even in the low temperature regime. This reversal appears due to exchange interaction of tunneling electrons with the magnetic impurity. We calculate Seebeck and spin Seebeck coefficients, and analyze their dependence on various parameters of the spin impurity and tunnel junction. In addition, conventional and spin figures of merit, as well as the electronic contribution to heat conductance are considered. We also show that pure spin current can be driven by a spin bias applied to the junction with spin impurity, even if no electron transfer between the electrodes can take place. The underlying mechanism employs single-electrode tunneling processes (electrode-spin exchange interaction) and the impurity as an intermediate reservoir of angular momentum.

Crustal Entrainment and Pulsar Glitches

Large pulsar frequency glitches are generally interpreted as sudden transfers of angular momentum between the neutron superfluid permeating the inner crust and the rest of the star. Despite the absence of viscous drag, the neutron superfluid is strongly coupled to the crust due to nondissipative entrainment effects. These effects are shown to severely limit the maximum amount of angular momentum that can possibly be transferred during glitches. In particular, it is found that the glitches observed in the Vela pulsar require an additional reservoir of angular momentum.

Pulsar Glitches: The Crust is not Enough

Pulsar glitches are traditionally viewed as a manifestation of vortex dynamics associated with a neutron superfluid reservoir confined to the inner crust of the star. In this Letter we show that the nondissipative entrainment coupling between the neutron superfluid and the nuclear lattice leads to a less mobile crust superfluid, effectively reducing the moment of inertia associated with the angular momentum reservoir. Combining the latest observational data for prolific glitching pulsars with theoretical results for the crust entrainment, we find that the required superfluid reservoir exceeds that available in the crust. This challenges our understanding of the glitch phenomenon, and we discuss possible resolutions to the problem.

Glitches induced by the core superfluid in a neutron star

The long-term evolution of the relative rotation of the core superfluid in a neutron star with respect to the rest of the star, at different radial distances from the rotation axis, is determined through model calculations. The core superfluid rotates at a different rate (faster, in young pulsars), while spinning down at the same steady-state rate as the rest of the star, because of the assumed pinning between the superfluid vortices and the superconductor fluxoids. We find that the magnitude of this rotational lag changes with time and also depends on the distance from the rotation axis; the core superfluid supports an evolving pattern of differential rotation. We argue that the predicted change of the lag might occur as discrete events which could result in a sudden rise of the spin frequency of the crust of a neutron star, as is observed at glitches in radio pulsars. This new possibility for the triggering cause of glitches in radio pulsars is further supported by an estimate of the total predicted excess angular momentum reservoir of the core superfluid. The model seems to offer also resolutions for some other aspects of the observational data on glitches.