Uniform Susceptibility Research Articles

Reduced exposure to malaria vectors following indoor residual spraying of pirimiphos-methyl in a high-burden district of rural Mozambique with high ownership of long-lasting insecticidal nets: entomological surveillance results from a cluster-randomized trial

BackgroundThe need to develop new products and novel approaches for malaria vector control is recognized as a global health priority. One approach to meeting this need has been the development of new products for indoor residual spraying (IRS) with novel active ingredients for public health. While initial results showing the impact of several of these next-generation IRS products have been encouraging, questions remain about how to best deploy them for maximum impact. To help address these questions, a 2-year cluster-randomized controlled trial to measure the impact of IRS with a microencapsulated formulation of pirimiphos-methyl (PM) in an area with high ownership of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) was conducted in a high-transmission district of central Mozambique with pyrethroid resistant vectors. Presented here are the results of the vector surveillance component of the trial.MethodsThe 2 year, two-armed trial was conducted in Mopeia District, Zambezia Province, Mozambique. In ten sentinel villages, five that received IRS with PM in October–November 2016 and again in October–November 2017 and five that received no IRS, indoor light trap collections and paired indoor-outdoor human landing collections catches (HLCs) were conducted monthly from September 2016 through October 2018. A universal coverage campaign in June 2017, just prior to the second spray round, distributed 131,540 standard alpha-cypermethrin LLINs across all study villages and increased overall net usage rates in children under 5 years old to over 90%.ResultsThe primary malaria vector during the trial was Anopheles funestus sensu lato (s.l.), and standard World Health Organization (WHO) tube tests with this population indicated variable but increasing resistance to pyrethroids (including alpha-cypermethrin, from > 85% mortality in 2017 to 7% mortality in 2018) and uniform susceptibility to PM (100% mortality in both years). Over the entire duration of the study, IRS reduced An. funestus s.l. densities by 48% (CI95 33–59%; p < 0.001) in indoor light traps and by 74% (CI95 38–90%; p = 0.010) during indoor and outdoor HLC, though in each study year reductions in vector density were consistently greatest in those months immediately following the IRS campaigns and waned over time. Overall there was no strong preference for An. funestus to feed indoors or outdoors, and these biting behaviours did not differ significantly across study arms: observed indoor-outdoor biting ratios were 1.10 (CI95 1.00–1.21) in no-IRS villages and 0.88 (CI95 0.67–1.15) in IRS villages. The impact of IRS was consistent in reducing HLC exposures both indoors (75% reduction: CI95 47–88%; p = 0. < 0.001) and outdoors (68% reduction: CI95 22–87%; p = 0.012). While substantially fewer Anopheles gambiae s.l. were collected during the study, trends show a similar impact of IRS on this key vector group as well, with a 33% (CI95 7–53%; p = 0.019) reduction in mosquitoes collected in light traps and a non-statistically significant 39% reduction (p = 0.249) in HLC landing rates.ConclusionIRS with PM used in addition to pyrethroid-only LLINs substantially reduced human exposures to malaria vectors during both years of the cluster-randomized controlled trial in Mopeia—a high-burden district where the primary vector, An. funestus s.l., was equally likely to feed indoors or outdoors and demonstrated increasing resistance to pyrethroids. Findings suggest that IRS with PM can provide effective vector control, including in some settings where pyrethroid-only ITNs are widely used.Trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov, NCT02910934. Registered 22 September 2016, https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02910934.

Attractive Effect of a Strong Electronic Repulsion: The Physics of Vertex Divergences.

While the breakdown of the perturbation expansion for the many-electron problem has several formal consequences, here we unveil its physical effect: flipping the sign of the effective electronic interaction in specific scattering channels. By decomposing local and uniform susceptibilities of the Hubbard model via their spectral representations, we prove how entering the nonperturbative regime causes an enhancement of the charge response, ultimately responsible for the phase-separation instabilities close to the Mott metal-insulator transition. Our analysis opens a new route for understanding phase transitions in the nonperturbative regime and clarifies why attractive effects emerging from a strong repulsion can induce phase separations but not s-wave pairing or charge-density wave instabilities.

Thermal properties of rung-disordered two-leg quantum spin ladders: Quantum Monte Carlo study.

A two-leg quenched random bond disordered antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladder system is investigated by means of stochastic series expansion quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method. Thermal properties of the uniform and staggered susceptibilities, the structure factor, the specific heat, and the spin gap are calculated over a large number of random realizations in a wide range of disorder strength. According to our QMC simulation results, the considered system has a special temperature point at which the specific heat takes the same value regardless of the strength of the disorder. Moreover, the uniform susceptibility is shown to display the same character except for a small difference in the location of the special point. Finally, the spin gap values are found to decrease with increasing disorder parameter and the smallest gap value found in this study is well above the weak coupling limit of the clean case.

Susceptibility anisotropy and its disorder evolution in models for Kitaev materials

Mott insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling display a strongly anisotropic response to applied magnetic fields. This applies in particular to Kitaev materials, with $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ and Na$_2$IrO$_3$ representing two important examples. Both show a magnetically ordered zigzag state at low temperatures, and considerable effort has been devoted to properly modeling these systems in order to identify routes towards realizing a quantum spin liquid. Here, we investigate the relevant Heisenberg-Kitaev-$\Gamma$ model primarily at elevated temperatures, focusing on the characteristic anisotropy between the in-plane and out-of-plane uniform susceptibility. For $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$, we find that the experimentally observed anisotropy, including its temperature dependence, can be reproduced by combining a large off-diagonal $\Gamma_1$ coupling with a moderate $g$-factor anisotropy. Moreover, we study in detail the effect of magnetic dilution and provide predictions for the doping evolution of the temperature-dependent susceptibilities.

The gradual release exit strategy after lockdown against COVID-19

The gradual release exit strategy after lockdown against COVID-19

Uniform perpendicular and parallel staggered susceptibility of antiferromagnetic films

We investigate the thermodynamic behavior of antiferromagnetic films in external magnetic fields oriented perpendicular to the staggered magnetization. Within the systematic effective Lagrangian framework we first calculate the two-point function and the dispersion relation for the two types of magnons up to one-loop order. This allows us to split the two-loop free energy density into a piece that originates from noninteracting dressed magnons, and a second piece that corresponds to the genuine magnon–magnon interaction. We then discuss the low-temperature series for various thermodynamic quantities, including the parallel staggered and uniform perpendicular susceptibilities, and analyze the role of the spin–wave interaction at finite temperature.

31P NMR studies of an iron-based superconductor Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe2(As1−x P x )2 with T c = 29 K

We report 31P NMR studies of an oriented polycrystalline superconductor of Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe2(As1−x P x )2 with x ∼ 0.4 (T c = 29 K) at T = 14−325 K and B 0 = 1 and 5 T. The 31P Knight shift Kab at B 0 ⊥ c shows a nearly T-independent uniform spin susceptibility above T c and a spin singlet decrease below T c. The 31P nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T 1 shows an asymptotic behavior of a + bT (a and b are constants) at T > 100 K and the minimum at 40 K with an upturn toward T c. The a term in 1/T 1 indicates the presence of two-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations. The negative θ = −15 K of the Curie-Weiss-type antiferromagnetic spin susceptibility in the analysis of 1/T 1 T suggests antiferromagnetic instability in the superconducting state. Discussions are made from the self-consistent renormalization (SCR) theory for the spin fluctuations with interlayer correlation.

Thermodynamic properties of an S=12 ring-exchange model on the triangular lattice

By using a numerically exact diagonalization technique and a block-extended version of the finite-temperature Lanczos method, we study thermodynamic properties of an $S=1/2$ Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice with an antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interaction $J$ and a four-spin ring-exchange interaction $J_{\rm c}$. Calculations are performed on small clusters under the periodic-boundary conditions. In contrast to the purely triangular case with $J_{\rm c}=0$, the specific heat exhibits a characteristic double-peak structure for $J_{\rm c}/J \gtrsim 0.04$. From the calculation of the entropy and the uniform magnetic susceptibility, it is shown that non-magnetic excitations exist below the magnetic excitation for $J_{\rm c}/J \gtrsim 0.04$.

Vanishing Wilson ratio as the hallmark of quantum spin-liquid models

We present numerical results for finite-temperature $T>0$ thermodynamic quantities, entropy $s(T)$, uniform susceptibility $\chi_0(T)$ and the Wilson ratio $R(T)$, for several isotropic $S=1/2$ extended Heisenberg models which are prototype models for planar quantum spin liquids. We consider in this context the frustrated $J_1$-$J_2$ model on kagome, triangular, and square lattice, as well as the Heisenberg model on triangular lattice with the ring exchange. Our analysis reveals that typically in the spin-liquid parameter regimes the low-temperature $s(T)$ remains considerable, while $\chi_0(T)$ is reduced consistent mostly with a triplet gap. This leads to vanishing $R(T \to 0)$, being the indication of macroscopic number of singlets lying below triplet excitations. This is in contrast to $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg chain, where $R(T \to 0)$ either remains finite in the gapless regime, or the singlet and triplet gap are equal in the dimerized regime.

Photoemission and dynamical mean field theory study of electronic correlations in a t2g5 metal SrRhO3 thin film

Perovskite rhodates are characterized by intermediate strengths of both electronic correlation as well as spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and usually behave as moderately correlated metals. A recent publication (Phys. Rev. B 95, 245121(2017)) on epitaxial SrRhO$_3$ thin films unexpectedly reported a bad-metallic behavior and suggested the occurrence of antiferromagnetism below 100 K. We studied this SrRhO$_3$ thin film by hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and found a very small density of states (DOS) at Fermi level, which is consistent with the reported bad-metallic behavior. However, this negligible DOS persists up to room temperature, which contradicts with the explanation of antiferromagnetic transition at around 100 K. We also employed electronic structure calculations within the framework of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory. In contrast to the experimental results, our calculations indicate metallic behavior of both bulk SrRhO$_3$ and the SrRhO$_3$ thin film. The thin film exhibits stronger correlation effects than the bulk, but the correlation effects are not sufficient to drive a transition to an insulating state. The calculated uniform magnetic susceptibility is substantially larger in the thin film than that in the bulk. The role of SOC was also investigated and only a moderate modulation of the electronic structure was observed. Hence SOC is not expected to play an important role for electronic correlation in SrRhO$_3$.

In Vitro Activity of Ibrexafungerp (SCY-078) against Candida auris Isolates as Determined by EUCAST Methodology and Comparison with Activity against C. albicans and C. glabrata and with the Activities of Six Comparator Agents.

Ibrexafungerp (SCY-078) is a novel first-in-class antifungal agent targeting glucan synthase. Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant species that has caused outbreaks on five continents. We investigated the in vitro activity of ibrexafungerp against C. auris by applying EUCAST E.Def 7.3.1 methodology. C. albicans and C. glabrata, as well as anidulafungin, micafungin, amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, and isavuconazole, were included as comparators. Three C. auris reference strains (CBS12372, CBS12373, and CBS10913) and 122 C. auris, 16 C. albicans, and 16 C. glabrata isolates were evaluated. C. albicans ATCC 64548, C. parapsilosis ATCC 22019, and C. krusei ATCC 6258 served as quality control strains. Echinocandin-resistant isolates were fks sequenced. MIC ranges and modal MIC and MIC50 values were determined. Wild-type upper limits (the upper MIC value where the wild-type distribution ends) were determined according to EUCAST principles for setting ECOFFs. Nine repetitions of three QC strains and MICs for C. albicans and C. glabrata yielded narrow MIC ranges with modal MICs in agreement with established EUCAST modal MICs, confirming a robust test performance. The ibrexafungerp MICs against C. auris isolates displayed a Gaussian distribution with a modal MIC (range) of 0.5 mg/liter (0.06 to 2 mg/liter), suggesting uniform susceptibility. Of 122 isolates, 8 were echinocandin resistant and harbored the S639F Fks1 alteration. All but one were fluconazole resistant, and the MIC distributions for voriconazole and isavuconazole were multimodal confirming variable susceptibility. Ibrexafungerp demonstrated promising activity against C. auris, including isolates resistant to echinocandins and/or other agents. The MICs were similar to those reported for the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute method, suggesting that a common clinical breakpoint may be appropriate.

Similarity of thermodynamic properties of the Heisenberg model on triangular and kagome lattices

Derivation of a reduced effective model allows for a unified treatment and discussion of the $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model on a triangular and kagome lattice. Calculating thermodynamic quantities, i.e. the entropy $s(T)$ and uniform susceptibility $\chi_0(T)$, numerically on systems up to effectively $N=48$ sites we show by comparing to full-model results that low-$T$ properties are well represented within the reduced model. Moreover, we find in the spin-liquid regime similar variation of $s(T)$ as well as $\chi_0(T)$ in both models down to $T \ll J_1$. In particular, the spin liquid appears to be characterized by Wilson ratio vanishing at low $T$, indicating on the low-lying singlet dominating over the triplet excitations.

Strain-Induced Spin-Nematic State and Nematic Susceptibility Arising from 2×2 Fe Clusters in KFe_{0.8}Ag_{1.2}Te_{2}.

Spin nematics break spin-rotational symmetry while maintaining time-reversal symmetry, analogous to liquid crystal nematics that break spatial rotational symmetry while maintaining translational symmetry. Although several candidate spin nematics have been proposed, the identification and characterization of such a state remain challenging because the spin-nematic order parameter does not couple directly to experimental probes. KFe_{0.8}Ag_{1.2}Te_{2} (K_{5}Fe_{4}Ag_{6}Te_{10}, KFAT) is a local-moment magnet consisting of well-separated 2×2 Fe clusters, and in its ground state the clusters order magnetically, breaking both spin-rotational and time-reversal symmetries. Using uniform magnetic susceptibility and neutron scattering measurements, we find a small strain induces sizable spin anisotropy in the paramagnetic state of KFAT, manifestly breaking spin-rotational symmetry while retaining time-reversal symmetry, resulting in a strain-induced spin-nematic state in which the 2×2 clusters act as the spin analog of molecules in a liquid crystal nematic. The strain-induced spin anisotropy in KFAT allows us to probe its nematic susceptibility, revealing a divergentlike increase upon cooling, indicating the ordered ground state is driven by a spin-orbital entangled nematic order parameter.

Competing Electronic Phases near the Onset of Superconductivity in Hole-doped SrFe2As2

An intriguingly complex phase diagram of Na-doped SrFe2As2 is uncovered using high-resolution thermal-expansion, magnetization and heat-capacity measurements. The detailed temperature dependence of the orthorhombic distortion and the anisotropy of the uniform magnetic susceptibility provide evidence for nine distinct electronic phases near the transition region between stripe antiferromagnetism and unconventional superconductivity. In particular, we report the finding of a new magnetic phase which competes surprisingly strongly with superconductivity. From theoretical studies we propose that this phase is a double-Q phase consisting of a mixture of symmetry-distinct commensurate magnetic orders with a peculiar temperature-dependent magnetic moment reorientation.

Self-consistent mean-field theory to anisotropic ferrimagnetic chain with bond alternation

We investigate the finite temperature properties of anisotropic ferrimagnetic chain with bond alternation. The spin excitation spectrum as well as the thermodynamic quantities are calculated by means of the extended self-consistent mean-field theory. Two branches of energy spectrum are obtained and the energy gap between them is 1.7641 at zero temperature which agrees quite well with other numerical results. The contribution of bonding alternation δ, anisotropy λ and magnetic field H to the energy gap are present in this research. The other thermodynamic quantities varying with δ and λ, such as ground state energy e, free energy f, specific heat cm, magnetization m and uniform magnetic susceptibility Tχuni/Ng2 are explicitly discussed, respectively. At Heisenberg point, the e0 is -0.7326 and f0 is -1.4659 at zero temperature in this work are reasonable compared with the results calculated by other methods. The effect of λ and δ on the thermodynamic quantities at finite temperature are also well consistent with other established methods.

Magnetic correlations in the pressure-induced superconductor CrAs investigated by As75 nuclear magnetic resonance

We report $^{75}$As-NMR results for CrAs under pressure, which shows superconductivity adjoining a helimagnetically ordered state. We successfully evaluated the Knight shift from the spectrum, which is strongly affected by the quadrupole interaction. The Knight shift shows the remarkable feature that the uniform spin susceptibility increases toward low temperatures in the paramagnetic state. This is in sharp contrast to CrAs at ambient pressure, and also to cuprates and Fe pnictides, where antiferromagnetic correlations are dominant. Superconductivity emerges in CrAs under unique magnetic correlations, which probably originate in the three-dimensional zigzag structure of its nonsymmorphic symmetry.

Competing magnetic phases and itinerant magnetic frustration in SrCo2As2

Whereas magnetic frustration is typically associated with local-moment magnets in special geometric arrangements, here we show that SrCo$_{2}$As$_{2}$ is a candidate for frustrated itinerant magnetism. Using inelastic neutron scattering (INS), we find that antiferromagnetic (AF) spin fluctuations develop in the square Co layers of SrCo$_{2}$As$_{2}$ below $T\approx100$ K centered at the stripe-type AF propagation vector of $(\frac{1}{2},~\frac{1}{2})$, and that their development is concomitant with a suppression of the uniform magnetic susceptibility determined via magnetization measurements. We interpret this switch in spectral weight as signaling a temperature-induced crossover from an instability towards FM ordering to an instability towards stripe-type AF ordering on cooling, and show results from Monte-Carlo simulations for a $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$ Heisenberg model that illustrate how the crossover develops as a function of the frustration ratio $-J_1/(2J_2)$. By putting our INS data on an absolute scale, we quantitatively compare them and our magnetization data to exact-diagonalization calculations for the $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$ model [N. Shannon et al., Eur. Phys. J. B 38, 599 (2004)], and show that the calculations predict a lower level of magnetic frustration than indicated by experiment. We trace this discrepancy to the large energy scale of the fluctuations ($J_{\text{avg}}\gtrsim75$ meV), which, in addition to the steep dispersion, is more characteristic of itinerant magnetism.

Thermodynamics of the pyrochlore-lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet

We use the rotation-invariant Green's function method (RGM) and the high-temperature expansion to study the thermodynamic properties of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the pyrochlore lattice. We discuss the excitation spectra as well as various thermodynamic quantities, such as spin correlations, uniform susceptibility, specific heat, and static and dynamical structure factors. For the ground state we present RGM data for arbitrary spin quantum numbers $S$. At finite temperatures we focus on the extreme quantum cases $S=\frac{1}{2}$ and 1. We do not find indications for magnetic long-range order for any value of $S$. We discuss the width of the pinch point in the static structure factor in dependence on temperature and spin quantum number. We compare our data with experimental results for the pyrochlore compound ${\mathrm{NaCaNi}}_{2}{\mathrm{F}}_{7}$ ($S=1$). Thus, our results for the dynamical structure factor agree well with the experimentally observed features at 3 ...8 meV for ${\mathrm{NaCaNi}}_{2}{\mathrm{F}}_{7}$. We analyze the static structure factor ${S}_{\mathbf{q}}$ to find regions of maximal ${S}_{\mathbf{q}}$. The high-temperature series of the ${S}_{\mathbf{q}}$ provide a fingerprint of weak order by disorder selection of a collinear spin structure, where (classically) the total spin vanishes on each tetrahedron and neighboring tetrahedra are dephased by $\ensuremath{\pi}$.

Spin-wave thermodynamics of square-lattice antiferromagnets revisited

Modifying the conventional spin-wave theory in a novel manner based on the Wick decomposition, we present an elaborate thermodynamics of square-lattice quantum antiferromagnets. Our scheme is no longer accompanied by the notorious problem of an artificial transition to the paramagnetic state inherent in modified spin waves in the Hartree-Fock approximation. In the cases of spin $\frac{1}{2}$ and spin $1$, various modified-spin-wave findings for the internal energy, specific heat, static uniform susceptibility, and dynamic structure factor are not only numerically compared with quantum Monte Carlo calculations and Lanczos exact diagonalizations but also analytically expanded into low-temperature series. Modified spin waves interacting via the Wick decomposition provide reliable thermodynamics over the whole temperature range of absolute zero to infinity. Adding higher-order spin couplings such as ring exchange interaction to the naivest Heisenberg Hamiltonian, we precisely reproduce inelastic-neutron-scattering measurements of the high-temperature-superconductor-parent antiferromagnet $\mathrm{La}_2\mathrm{CuO}_4$. Modifying Dyson-Maleev bosons combined with auxiliary pseudofermions also yields thermodynamics of square-lattice antiferromagnets free from thermal breakdown, but it is less precise unless temperature is sufficiently low. Applying all the schemes to layered antiferromagnets as well, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of modified spin-wave and combined boson-pseudofermion representations.

Magnetic properties and temperature variation of spectra in the Hubbard model

Using the strong coupling diagram technique, magnetic and spectral properties of the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model are investigated in the ranges of repulsions $t\leq U\leq 10t$, temperatures $0.1t\lesssim T\lesssim 4t$ and electron concentrations $0.6\lesssim\bar{n}\leq 1$ with $t$ the hopping constant. The approach takes into account interactions of electrons with spin and charge fluctuations of all ranges and fulfils the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Temperature and concentration dependencies of the uniform magnetic susceptibility, the variation of the double occupancy with the repulsion and the temperature dependence of the square of the site spin are in satisfactory agreement with Monte Carlo results. Three types of the temperature variation of the electron energy spectrum can be distinguished at half-filling. For $U\lesssim 3t$, at low temperatures, there are two nonintersecting bands, which approach each other on the boundary of the magnetic Brillouin zone. With increasing $T$ these bands merge into one band crossing the Fermi level. For $4t\lesssim U \lesssim 6t$, the low-temperature picture described above is supplemented with a low-intensity spin-polaron band located near the Fermi level. As its counterpart in the strong-correlation case, the band is formed by bound states of electrons and spin excitations. However, in contrast to the former case, the band exists even at half-filling and occupies the entire Brillouin zone. As for lower $U$, with increasing temperature, all bands coalesce into a single band. For $U\gtrsim 7t$ and low temperatures the spectrum has a pronounced four-band structure, which with increasing $T$ transforms into two Hubbard subbands.