Sergio Di Matteo

Resonant x-ray diffraction: multipole interpretation

The aim of this work is to provide a critical review of the multipole interpretation of resonant x-ray diffraction. After a brief historical introduction, we focus on the general formalism of electromagnetic multipole expansion in condensed matter. We then introduce the anomalous scattering amplitude from perturbation theory in the low-energy limit of the Dirac Hamiltonian. Finally, we merge the two previous sections by showing how the anomalous scattering amplitude can be interpreted in terms of electric and magnetic multipoles.Some examples are then discussed, concerning the electric quadrupole in manganites, ?exotic? polar and axial toroidal multipoles in transition-metal oxides and polarization analysis allowing the disentanglement of nearby-lying multipoles in the energy spectrum.

Test of the Pauli Exclusion Principle in the VIP-2 underground experiment

The validity of the Pauli exclusion principle—a building block of Quantum Mechanics—is tested for electrons. The VIP (violation of Pauli exclusion principle) and its follow-up VIP-2 experiments at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso search for X-rays from copper atomic transitions that are prohibited by the Pauli exclusion principle. The candidate events—if they exist—originate from the transition of a 2 p orbit electron to the ground state which is already occupied by two electrons. The present limit on the probability for Pauli exclusion principle violation for electrons set by the VIP experiment is 4.7 × 10 − 29 . We report a first result from the VIP-2 experiment improving on the VIP limit, which solidifies the final goal of achieving a two orders of magnitude gain in the long run.

Dipole-quadrupole spherical tensors in resonant x-ray diffraction

Parity-breaking phenomena in condensed-matter physics, either associated or not to time-reversal-breaking effects, are nowadays considered as an important part of fundamental and applied research, especially in connection to multiferroic materials. Resonant x-ray diffraction is probably the most suited experimental technique to study multiferroic order parameters. In the present note, after some introduction on multipolar order parameters, I provide the polarization and wave-vector dependence of the spherical tensors involved in parity-breaking effects in resonant x-ray diffraction.

Which orbital and charge ordering in transition metal oxides can resonant X-ray diffraction detect?

The present article is a brief critical review about the possibility of detecting charge and/or orbital order in transition-metal oxides by means of resonant x-ray diffraction. Many recent models of transition-metal oxides are based on charge and/or orbitally ordered ground-states and it has been claimed in the past that resonant x-ray diffraction is able to confirm or reject them. However, in spite of the many merits of this technique, such claims are ambiguous, because the interpretative frameworks used to analyze such results in transition-metal oxides, where structural distortions are always associated to the claimed charged/orbitally ordered transition, strongly influence (not to say suggest) the answer. In order to clarify this point, I discuss the two different definitions of orbital and charge orderings which are often used in the literature without a clear distinction. My conclusion is that the answer to the question of the title depends on which definition is adopted.

Electron transport in ultra-thin films and ballistic electron emission microscopy

We have developed a calculation scheme for the elastic electron current in ultra-thin epitaxial heterostructures. Our model uses a Keldyshs non-equilibrium Greens function formalism and a layer-by-layer construction of the epitaxial film. Such an approach is appropriate to describe the current in a ballistic electron emission microscope (BEEM) where the metal base layer is ultra-thin and generalizes a previous one based on a decimation technique appropriated for thick slabs. This formalism allows a full quantum mechanical description of the transmission across the epitaxial heterostructure interface, including multiple scattering via the Dyson equation, which is deemed a crucial ingredient to describe interfaces of ultra-thin layers properly in the future. We introduce a theoretical formulation needed for ultra-thin layers and we compare with results obtained for thick Au(1 1 1) metal layers. An interesting effect takes place for a width of about ten layers: a BEEM current can propagate via the center of the reciprocal space ([Formula: see text]) along the Au(1 1 1) direction. We associate this current to a coherent interference finite-width effect that cannot be found using a decimation technique. Finally, we have tested the validity of the handy semiclassical formalism to describe the BEEM current.

Quantum mechanics under X-rays in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory

By performing X-ray measurements in the “cosmic silence” of the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso, LNGS-INFN, we test a basic principle of quantum mechanics: the Pauli Exclusion Principle (PEP) for electrons. We present the achieved results of the VIP experiment and the ongoing VIP2 measurement aiming to gain two orders of magnitude improvement in testing PEP. X-ray emission can also be used to put strong constraints on the parameters of the Continuous Spontaneous Localization Model, which was introduced as a possible solution to the measurement problem in Quantum Mechanics. A Bayesian analysis of the data collected by IGEX will be presented, which allows to exclude a broad region of the parameter space which characterizes this model.

The X-ray machine for the examination of quantum mechanics

By performing X-rays measurements in the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso, LNGS-INFN, we test a basic principle of quantum mechanics: the Pauli exclusion principle (PEP). In the future, we aim to use a similar experimental technique to search for X-rays as a signature of the spontaneous collapse of the wave function predicted by continuous spontaneous localization theories. We present the achieved results of the VIP experiment and the future plans to gain two orders of magnitude in testing PEP with the recently VIP2 setup installed at Gran Sasso.

Hunting the "impossible atoms" Pauli exclusion principle violation and spontaneous collapse of the wave function at test

The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) and, more generally, the spin-statistics connection, are at the very basis of our understanding of matter, life and Universe. The PEP spurs, presently, a lively debate on its possible limits, deeply rooted in the very foundations of Quantum Mechanics. It is, therefore, extremely important to test the limits of its validity. The Violation of the PEP (VIP) experiment established the best limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, using the method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper. We describe the experimental method, the obtained results, and plans to go beyond the actual limit by upgrading the experimental apparatus. We discuss the possibility of using a similar experimental technique to search for X-rays as a signature of the spontaneous collapse of the wave function predicted by continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) theories.

Study of the Electronic Structure in Oxides Using Absorption and Resonant X-Ray Scattering

Resonant X‐ray scattering (RXS) is a spectroscopy where both the power of site selective diffraction and the power of local absorption spectroscopy regarding atomic species are combined. By virtue of the dependence on the core level state energy and the three dimensional electronic structure of the intermediate state, this technique is specially suited to study charge, orbital or spin orderings and associated crystal distortions. In the case of charge ordering, we exploit the fact that atoms with closely related site symmetries but with small charge differences exhibit resonances at slightly different energies. The sensitivity of this effect allows for quantitative estimations of the charge disproportion. Opposite to fluorescence or absorption measurements, the power of diffraction relies on the capability of detecting differences that are smaller than the inverse lifetime of the core hole level. To account for the uncertainty of the crystallographic structure and the fact that the charge ordering must be...