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By monitoring the quality factor of a quartz tuning fork oscillator we have observed a fluctuationd-driven reduction in the viscosity of bulk 3He in the normal state near the superfluid transition temperature, Tc. These fluctuations, which are only found within 100 μK of Tc, play a vital role in the theoretical modeling of ordering; they encode details about the Fermi liquid parameters, pairing symmetry, and scattering phase shifts. They will be of crucial importance for transport probes of the topologically nontrivial features of superfluid 3He under strong confinement. We characterize the temperature and pressure dependence of the fluctuation signature, finding a remarkable collapse.

Because of the extreme purity, lack of disorder, and complex order parameter, the first-order superfluid $^3$He A-B transition is the leading model system for first order transitions in the early universe. Here we report on the path dependence of the supercooling of the A phase over a wide range of pressures below 29.3 bar at nearly zero magnetic field. The A phase can be cooled significantly below the thermodynamic A-B transition temperature. While the extent of supercooling is highly reproducible, it depends strongly upon the cooling trajectory: The metastability of the A phase is enhanced by transiting through regions where the A phase is more stable. We provide evidence that some of the additional supercooling is due to the elimination of B phase seeds formed upon passage through the superfluid transition. A greater understanding of the physics is essential before the $^3$He can be exploited to model transitions in the early universe., Comment: 6 Figures

Precise measurements of the dissipation and resonant frequency of a torsion pendulum reveal an anomaly in the inferred viscosity and normal density of liquid $$^3$$ He near the superfluid transition. We present an argument that the anomaly originates in the large viscosity and large viscosity change of the normal component in the torsion tube in the vicinity of the superfluid transition.

Machine learning was utilized to efficiently boost the development of soft magnetic materials. The design process includes building a database composed of published experimental results, applying machine learning methods on the database, identifying the trends of magnetic properties in soft magnetic materials, and accelerating the design of next-generation soft magnetic nanocrystalline materials through the use of numerical optimization. Machine learning regression models were trained to predict magnetic saturation ($B_S$), coercivity ($H_C$) and magnetostriction ($\lambda$), with a stochastic optimization framework being used to further optimize the corresponding magnetic properties. To verify the feasibility of the machine learning model, several optimized soft magnetic materials -- specified in terms of compositions and thermomechanical treatments -- have been predicted and then prepared and tested, showing good agreement between predictions and experiments, proving the reliability of the designed model. Two rounds of optimization-testing iterations were conducted to search for better properties.

$^{63}$Cu NMR measurements are reported for the Cu-rich phase of \ch{Cu_{12+x}Sb4S13} ($x \lesssim 2$) and compared to \ch{Cu12Sb4S13}. We identify the NMR signatures of the phase segregation into Cu-poor ($x \approx 0$) and Cu-rich ($x \lesssim 2$) phases, with the metal-insulator transition observed in \ch{Cu12Sb4S13} suppressed in the Cu-rich phase. Based on NMR $T_1$ and $T_2$ measurements, the results demonstrate Cu-ion hopping below room temperature with an activation energy of $\sim$150 meV for the Cu-rich phase, consistent with superionic behavior. The NMR results also demonstrate the effects of Cu-ion mobility in the \ch{Cu12Sb4S13} phase, but with a larger activation barrier. We identify a small difference in NMR Knight shift for the metallic phase of \ch{Cu12Sb4S13}, compared to the Cu-rich phase, and when compared to DFT calculations the results indicate a mix of hyperfine contributions to the metallic shift.

We apply $^{125}\mathrm{Te}$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to investigate the Dirac semimetal ${\mathrm{ZrTe}}_{5}$. With the NMR magnetic field parallel to the $b$ axis, we observe significant quantum magnetic effects. These include an abrupt drop at 150 K in spin-lattice relaxation rate. This corresponds to a gap-opening transition in the Dirac carriers, likely indicating the onset of excitonic pairing. Below 50 K, we see a more negative shift for the ${\mathrm{Te}}_{z}$ bridging site, indicating the repopulation of Dirac levels with spin polarized carriers at these temperatures. This is the previously reported 3D quantum Hall regime; however, we see no sign of a charge density wave as has been proposed.

We examine the discontinuous first-order superfluid ^{3}He A to B transition in the vicinity of the polycritical point (2.232 mK and 21.22 bar). We find path-dependent transitions: cooling at fixed pressure yields a well-defined transition line in the temperature-pressure plane, but this line can be reliably crossed by depressurizing at nearly constant temperature after transiting T_{c} at a higher pressure. This path dependence is not consistent with any of the standard B-phase nucleation mechanisms in the literature. This symmetry breaking transition is a potential simulator for first order transitions in the early Universe.

We have applied nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the distinctive network of nodal lines in the Dirac semimetal ZrSiTe. The low-$T$ behavior is dominated by a symmetry-protected nodal line, with NMR providing a sensitive probe of the diamagnetic response of the associated carriers. A sharp low-$T$ minimum in NMR shift and $(T_1T)^{-1}$ provides a quantitative measure of the dispersionless, quasi-2D behavior of this nodal line. We also identify a van Hove singularity closely connected to this nodal line, and an associated $T$-induced Lifshitz transition. A disconnect in the NMR shift and line width at this temperature indicates the change in electronic behavior associated with this topological change. These features have an orientation-dependent behavior indicating a field-dependent scaling of the associated band energies., 7 pages, 4 figures

We examine the discontinuous first-order superfluid ^{3}He A to B transition in the vicinity of the polycritical point (2.232 mK and 21.22 bar). We find path-dependent transitions: cooling at fixed pressure yields a well-defined transition line in the temperature-pressure plane, but this line can be reliably crossed by depressurizing at nearly constant temperature after transiting T_{c} at a higher pressure. This path dependence is not consistent with any of the standard B-phase nucleation mechanisms in the literature. This symmetry breaking transition is a potential simulator for first order transitions in the early Universe.

In this paper, the hyperkagome lattice of Gd spins in a garnet compound, Gd3CrGa4O12, is studied using bulk measurements and density functional computations, and the observation of large magnetocaloric effect corresponding to an entropy change, ΔSm = 45 J kg-1K-1 (≈ 45 J mol-1K-1) at 2 K, 8 T is reported. Though the compound defies long-range magnetic order down to 0.4 K, a broad feature below 10 K is observed in the specific heat with two low temperature anomalies at T* ≈ 0.7 K and TS ≈ 2.45 K. The anomaly at T* is reminiscent of one in Gd3Ga5O12, where it is related to the development of a complex magnetic phase, whereas the TS-peak is accounted for by a multilevel Schottky-like model. The spin-lattice relaxation times studied by nuclear magnetic resonance experiments show that the relaxation is dominated by the magnetic fluctuations in Cr which has a longer relaxation time compared to that of the garnet, Lu3CrGa4O12 containing a nonmagnetic rare earth. Our first-principles density functional theory calculations agree well with the experimental results and support short-range magnetic order in the Gd-sublattice and antiferromagnetism in the Cr-sublattice. The importance of spin fluctuations and short-range order in the rare earth and transition metal lattices in garnets resulting in large magnetocaloric effect is brought out through this work.

We report $^{59}$Co, $^{93}$Nb, and $^{121}$Sb nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations on a series of half-Heusler semiconductors, including NbCoSn, ZrCoSb, TaFeSb and NbFeSb, to better understand their electronic properties and general composition-dependent trends. These materials are of interest as potentially high efficiency thermoelectric materials. Compared to the other materials, we find that ZrCoSb tends to have a relatively large amount of local disorder, apparently antisite defects. This contributes to a small excitation gap corresponding to an impurity band near the band edge. In NbCoSn and TaFeSb, Curie-Weiss-type behavior is revealed, which indicates a small density of interacting paramagnetic defects. Very large paramagnetic chemical shifts are observed associated with a Van Vleck mechanism due to closely spaced $d$ bands splitting between the conduction and valence bands. Meanwhile, DFT methods were generally successful in reproducing the chemical shift trend for these half-Heusler materials, and we identify an enhancement of the larger-magnitude shifts, which we connect to electron interaction effects. The general trend is connected to changes in $d$-electron hybridization across the series., Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures

In this work, we report nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) combined with density functional theory (DFT) studies of the transition metal dichalcogenide ZrTe$_2$. The measured NMR shift anisotropy reveals a quasi-2D behavior connected to a topological nodal line close to the Fermi level. With the magnetic field perpendicular to the ZrTe$_2$ layers, the measured shift can be well-fitted by a combination of enhanced diamagnetism and spin shift due to high mobility Dirac electrons. The spin-lattice relaxation rates with external field both parallel and perpendicular to the layers at low temperatures match the expected behavior associated with extended orbital hyperfine interaction due to quasi-2D Dirac carriers. In addition, calculated band structures also show clear evidence for the existence of nodal line in ZrTe$_2$ between $\Gamma$ and A. For intermediate temperatures, there is a sharp reduction in spin-lattice relaxation rate which can be explained as due to a reduced lifetime for these carriers, which matches the reported large change in mobility in the same temperature range. Above 200 K, the local orbital contribution starts to dominate in an orbital relaxation mechanism revealing the mixture of atomic functions., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

We present a 63Cu and 65Cu NMR study of Cu12Sb4S13, the basis for tetrahedrite thermoelectric materials. In addition to electronic changes observed at the Tc = 88 K metal–insulator transition, we find that locally there are significant structural changes occurring as the temperature extends above Tc, which we associate with Cu atom displacements away from symmetry positions. Spin-lattice relaxation rates (1/T1) are dominated by a quadrupolar process indicating anharmonic vibrational dynamics both above and below Tc. We used a quasiharmonic approximation for localized anharmonic oscillators to analyze the impact of Cu rattling. The results demonstrate that Cu-atom rattling dynamics extends unimpeded in the distorted structural configuration below Tc and provide a direct measure of the anharmonic potential well.

We report $^{125}$Te NMR measurements of the topological quantum material ZrTe$_5$. Spin-lattice relaxation results, well-explained by a theoretical model of Dirac electron systems, reveal that the topological characteristic of ZrTe$_5$ is $T$-dependent, changing from weak topological insulator to strong topological insulator as temperature increases. Electronic structure calculations confirm this ordering, the reverse of what has been proposed. NMR results demonstrate a gapless Dirac semimetal state occurring at a Lifshitz transition temperature, $T_c=85$ K in our crystals. We demonstrate that the changes in NMR shift at $T_c$ also provide direct evidence of band inversion when the topological phase transition occurs., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We report $^{59}$Co NMR and transport measurements on $n$-type filled skutterudites Ba$_x$Yb$_y$Co$_4$Sb$_{12}$ and $A$$_x$Co$_4$Sb$_{12}$ ($A$= Ba, Sr), promising thermoelectric materials. The results demonstrate consistently that a shallow defect level near the conduction band minimum dominates the electronic behavior, in contrast to the behavior of unfilled CoSb$_3$. To analyze the results, we modeled the defect as having a single peak in the density of states, occupied at low temperatures due to donated charges from filler atoms. We fitted the NMR shifts and spin-lattice relaxation rates allowing for arbitrary carrier densities and degeneracies. The results provide a consistent picture for the Hall data, explaining the temperature dependence of the carrier concentration. Furthermore, without adjusting model parameters, we calculated Seebeck coefficient curves, which also provide good consistency. In agreement with recently reported computational results, it appears that composite native defects induced by the presence of filler atoms can explain this behavior. These results provide a better understanding of the balance of charge carriers, of crucial importance for designing improved thermoelectric materials., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures

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To investigate the electronic behavior and magnetic properties of NbFeSb, we have performed 93Nb NMR, specific heat and magnetic measurements on NbFeSb samples heat treated at high temperatures. Magnetic measurements combined with an observed Schottky anomaly and changes in the NMR line width indicate the presence of a 0.2% concentrated native magnetic defect in stoichiometric NbFeSb samples. The origin of these native defects is believed to be due to Fe antisites on Nb sites. In addition, NMR shift and spin-lattice relaxation results below 200 K reveal a Korringa-like response indicating heavily-doped p-type behavior due to native defects. Above 280 K, this converts to an activated behavior, indicating the presence of an impurity band, empty at low temperatures, which is located around 0.03 eV above the valence band maximum.

Three-dimensional (3D) nanoarchitectures can improve the performance of electrical energy storage systems. In this paper, combining an improved solvothermal method with calcination treatment, thin layer carbon-coated MoO 2 nanoparticles with the size of 20-50 nm were uniformly dispersed in 3D graphene aerogel (abbreviated as MoO 2 @C-Gas). The hybrid materials were subsequently used as a new-structured anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), yielding high reversible capacity with excellent stable cyclability. We found that the battery with MoO 2 @C-Gas electrode could deliver a discharge capacity of 1515 mAh g −1 at a current density of 80 mA g −1 in the first cycle, and remain at 1113 mAh g −1 over 60 cycles. Furthermore, with the increase of current density, it also exhibited a high rate of capability and good cycling performance. The outstanding performance of the hybrid electrode were attributed to the unique 3D aerogel morphology and the close combination between C@MoO 2 and graphene layers, which could significantly improve the anode's electronic conductivity.

In this article, we tentatively assign the $Y(4140)$, $Y(4274)$ and $X(4350)$ to be the scalar and tensor $cs\bar{c}\bar{s}$ tetraquark states, respectively, and study them with the QCD sum rules. In the operator product expansion, we take into account the vacuum condensates up to dimension-10. In calculations, we use the formula $\mu=\sqrt{M^2_{X/Y/Z}-(2{\mathbb{M}}_c)^2}$ to determine the energy scales of the QCD spectral densities. The numerical results favor assigning the $Y(4140)$ to be the $J^{PC}=2^{++}$ diquark-antidiquark type tetraquark state, and disfavor assigning the $Y(4274)$ and $X(4350)$ to be the $0^{++}$ or $2^{++}$ tetraquark states., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1312.1537, arXiv:1403.0810; text overlap with arXiv:1502.00279