We reveal the role of the spin variables' zero-point fluctuations (ZPFs) on the stability of Bloch point (BP) singularities. As topological solitons, BPs are important in topological transitions in nanomagnets. BPs present a singularity at their core, where the long-length-scale approximation fails. We found that ZPFs bloom nearby this core, reducing the effective magnetic moment and increasing the BP's stability. As suggested by classical models, the magnonic eigenmodes found by our methods fit with the bound state of an electron surrounding a dyon, with a magnetic and an electric charge.

Alonso Tapia Carlos Saji Alejandro Roldan Alvaro S. Nunez

The collective excitations of a multiferroic material are analyzed. We show that these excitations also exhibit magnetoelectric behavior, leading to the hybridization of magnons ,oscillations of the magnetization field, and ferrons, which are oscillations of the electric dipolar density field. We term these emergent entities 'magnetoferrons', study their main properties, and discuss their potential applications. Additionally, we provide a phenomenological framework for these systems, which will be invaluable for describing the dynamics of the multiferromagnetic state.

Mario Castro Carlos Saji Guidobeth Saez Patricio Vergara Sebastian Allende Alvaro S. Nunez

We introduce the concept of antiferron modes in ferroelectric materials as dynamically stabilized collective excitations over inverted polarization states that decrease the system energy. While ferrons represent quantized oscillations around the stable polarization minimum, antiferrons require dynamic stabilization via high-frequency driving. Using a generalized Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire framework, we derive the effective curvature corrections from external driving, demonstrate the conditions for stabilizing metastable wells, and present the quantized Hamiltonian. Antiferrons could be a promising candidate for developing electrical sensing devices, offering tunable, dynamically controllable excitations with high sensitivity to external electric fields.

David Galvez-Poblete Mario A. Castro Roberto E. Troncoso Guillermo Romero Alvaro S. Nunez Sebastian Allende

The Auger Muons and Infill for the Ground Array (AMIGA) aims to both extend the detection range of the Pierre Auger Observatory down to energies $\sim 10^{16.5}~\mathrm{eV}$ and to measure the muon content of extensive air showers. To accomplish these goals, its detection system is composed of an array of coupled water-Cherenkov and scintillation detectors deployed in a graded triangular grid of 433 and 750\,m spacings. At each position, the scintillation detector is buried $2.3~\mathrm{m}$ deep so as to shield it from the air shower electromagnetic component and thus only measure the muon component. These muon detectors have $30~\mathrm{m^2}$ area split into modules, each of them highly segmented in 64 plastic-scintillator strips with an embedded wavelength-shifter optical fiber to transport light to an optical sensor located at the center of the module. During the engineering array phase (finished in November 2017) two module areas ($5~\mathrm{m^2}$ and $10~\mathrm{m^2}$) and two optical sensors (photo-multiplier tubes and silicon-photomultipliers) were tested. In this work, we present the final performance of the muon detectors equipped with silicon-photomultipliers which were thereafter selected as the baseline design for the AMIGA production phase. Analyses and results are based both on laboratory and field measurements.

Alvaro Taboada

We present a simple tight-binding model for the two-dimensional energy bands of polyacene field-effect transistors and for the coupling of these bands to lattice vibrations of their host molecular crystal. We argue that the strongest electron-phonon interactions in these systems originate from the dependence of inter-molecule hopping amplitudes on collective molecular motion, and introduce a generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model that accounts for all vibrations and is parameter-free once the band mass has been specified. We compute the electron-phonon spectral function $\alpha^2F(\omega)$ as a function of two-dimensional hole density, and are able to explain the onset of superconductivity near 2D carrier density $n_{2D} \sim 10^{14} cm^{-2}$, discovered in recent experiments by Sch\"on {\it et al.} \onlinecite{Batlogg}.

Jairo Sinova John Schliemann Alvaro S. Núñez A. H. MacDonald

We present a simple model for the electron-phonon interactions between the energy subbands in polyacene field-effect transistors and the vibrations of the crystal. We introduce a generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, arguing that the strongest electron-phonon interactions in these systems originate from the dependence of inter-molecule hopping amplitudes on collective molecular motion. We compute the electron-phonon spectral function $\alpha^2F(\omega)$ as a function of two-dimensional hole density and the coupling strength constant. Our results are in agreement with the sharp onset of superconductivity near half-filling discovered in recent experiments by Sch\"on {\it et al.} [Batlogg] and predict an increase of $T_c$ with pressure. We further speculate on the implications that the observation of the quantum Hall effect in these systems has on the effective band mass in the low carrier density regime.

Jairo Sinova Alvaro Núñez John Schliemann A. H. MacDonald

We use the Lorentzian AdS/CFT prescription to find the poles of the retarded thermal Green's functions of ${\cal N=4}$ SU(N) SYM theory in the limit of large N and large 't Hooft coupling. In the process, we propose a natural definition for quasinormal modes in an asymptotically AdS spacetime, with boundary conditions dictated by the AdS/CFT correspondence. The corresponding frequencies determine the dispersion laws for the quasiparticle excitations in the dual finite-temperature gauge theory. Correlation functions of operators dual to massive scalar, vector and gravitational perturbations in a five-dimensional AdS-Schwarzschild background are considered. We find asymptotic formulas for quasinormal frequencies in the massive scalar and tensor cases, and an exact expression for vector perturbations. In the long-distance, low-frequency limit we recover results of the hydrodynamic approximation to thermal Yang-Mills theory.

Alvaro Nunez Andrei O. Starinets

We study the gravitational collapse in modified gravitational theories. In particular, we analyze a general $f(R)$ model with uniformly collapsing cloud of self-gravitating dust particles. This analysis shares analogies with the formation of large-scale structures in the early Universe and with the formation of stars in a molecular cloud experiencing gravitational collapse. In the same way, this investigation can be used as a first approximation to the modification that stellar objects can suffer in these modified theories of gravity. We study concrete examples, and find that the analysis of gravitational collapse is an important tool to constrain models that present late-time cosmological acceleration.

J. A. R. Cembranos A. de la Cruz-Dombriz B. Montes Nuñez

We report on the thermal effects on the motion of current-driven massive magnetic skyrmions. The reduced equation for the motion of skyrmion has the form of a stochastic generalized Thiele's equation. We propose an ansatz for the magnetization texture of a non-rigid single skyrmion that depends linearly with the velocity. By utilizing this ansatz it is is found that the mass of skyrmion is closely related to intrinsic skyrmion parameters, such as Gilbert damping, skyrmion-charge and dissipative force. We have found an exact expression for the average drift velocity as well as the mean-square velocity of the skyrmion. The longitudinal and transverse mobility of skyrmions for small spin-velocity of electrons is also determined and found to be independent of the skyrmion mass.

Roberto E. Troncoso Alvaro S. Núñez

Weyl semimetals are a new paradigmatic topological phase of matter featuring a gapless spectrum. One of its most distinctive features is the presence of Fermi arc surface states. Here, we report on atomistic simulations of the dc conductance and quantum Hall response of a minimal Weyl semimetal. By using scattering theory we show that a quantized Hall conductance with a non-vanishing longitudinal conductance emerges associated to the Fermi arc surface states with a remarkable robustness to high concentrations of defects in the system. Additionally, we predict that a slab of a Weyl semimetal with broken time-reversal symmetry bears persistent currents fully determined by the system size and the lattice parameters.

Jose Chesta Lopez Luis E. F. Foa Torres Alvaro S. Nunez