Ultralow-Temperature Thermal Conductivity of the Kitaev Honeycomb Magnet α-RuCl_{3} across the Field-Induced Phase Transition

Recently, there have been increasingly hot debates on whether there exists a quantum spin liquid in the Kitaev honeycomb magnet α-RuCl_{3} in a high magnetic field. To investigate this issue, we perform ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity measurements on single crystals of α-RuCl_{3} down to 80 mK and up to 9 T. Our experiments clearly show a field-induced phase transition occurring at μ_{0}H_{c}≈7.5  T, above which the magnetic order is completely suppressed. The minimum of thermal conductivity at 7.5 T is attributed to the strong scattering of phonons by magnetic fluctuations. Most importantly, above 7.5 T, we do not observe any significant contribution of thermal conductivity from gapless magnetic excitations, which puts a strong constraint on the nature of the high-field phase of α-RuCl_{3}.

Nephrology nursing practice: more than technical expertise

This paper argues that the role of the nephrology nurse goes far beyond the generally accepted parameters of technical expert to include the roles of care giver, advocate, educator, facilitator, mentor and referral agent. Patients with End Stage Renal Disease, who require long term dialysis, experience many stressors which they must cope with in order to achieve an acceptable quality of life. Nephrology nurses who understand the stress of living with dialysis, and who are familiar with the coping strategies a patient may use, are ideally placed to facilitate the process of adaptation from the patient and their families perspective.