Vortex-antivortex oscillation and tunneling in Bose-Einstein condensates

We study interacting condensates in anisotropic traps. Employing a two-level mean-field theory, which is valid provided the interaction energy is much smaller than ?ω_x and ?ω_y and the number of particles N is much larger than unity, we see that even a small interaction can drastically modify the dynamics of the system as predicted by García-Ripoll et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 140403 (2001)]. In the present work, we supplement the discussion of the previous work and point out the important role of coupling between population difference and phase difference between two p states in the x and y directions. We also explore the stability of the vortex state for small systems with N ～ O(1), for which the mean-field theory is inapplicable. We performed the full quantum mechanical calculations using up to six single-particle states and showed that, when N is comparable to unity, quantum tunneling between the vortex and antivortex states can occur even though the interaction coefficient is so large that the vortex-antivortex oscillation is prohibited within the mean-field theory.     

Scaling Transform and Stretched States in Quantum Mechanics

We consider the Husimi Q(q, p)-functions which are quantum quasiprobability distributions on the phase space. It is known that, under a scaling transform (q; p) → (?q; ?p), the Husimi function of any physical state is converted into a function which is also the Husimi function of some physical state. More precisely, it has been proved that, if Q(q, p) is the Husimi function, the function ?² Q(?q; ?p) is also the Husimi function. We call a state with the Husimi function ?² Q(?q; ?p) the stretched state and investigate the properties of the stretched Fock states. These states can be obtained as a result of applying the scaling transform to the Fock states of the harmonic oscillator. The harmonic-oscillator Fock states are pure states, but the stretched Fock states are mixed states. We find the density matrices of stretched Fock states in an explicit form. Their structure can be described with the help of negative binomial distributions. We present the graphs of distributions of negative binomial coefficients for different stretched Fock states and show the von Neumann entropy of the simplest stretched Fock state.     

Excitons in monoclinic zinc diphosphide: The <Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis>-exciton series and Fano effect

The A-exciton series in the absorption spectra of β-ZnP₂ monoclinic zinc diphosphide samples is investigated at different directions of the wave vector and different polarization states of radiation. It is shown that the oscillator strengths determined for the observed transitions are adequately described by the relationship F _n ∝n^?3 characteristic of S-type exciton states. The assumption is made that the A-exciton series is associated with the partially allowed dipole transitions to nS states of the orthoexciton with Γ ₂ ^? (x) symmetry at m _s =0. These states are mixed, to a first approximation, with nS states of the Γ ₂ ^? (z) singlet exciton due to the spin-orbit 2 interaction and are split off by the long-range (nonanalytical) part of the exchange interaction. The Fano antiresonances arise in the absorption spectra at resonances of the A-exciton series when the radiation vector E (or the induction vector D) has a component along the crystallographic axis c. These antiresonances are induced by the configurational interaction of discrete exciton states of the A series with the continuum of the exciton-phonon spectrum due to indirect transitions to the 1S band of the singlet exciton with phonon emission.     

Spectrum generating algebra and coherent states of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Subscript>λ</Subscript>-extended oscillator

C_λ-extended oscillator algebras, generalizing the Calogero-Vasiliev algebra, where C_λ is the cyclic group oforder λ, have recently proved very useful in the context of supersymmetric quantum mechanics and some of its variants. Here, we determine the spectrum generating algebra of the C_λ-extended oscillator. We then construct its coherent states, study their nonclassical properties, and compare the latter with those of standard λ-photon coherent states, which are obtained as a special case. Finally, we briefly review some other types of coherent states associated with the C_λ-extended oscillator.     

Elementary-oscillator model for color centers with degenerate levels

Quantum transitions between nondegenerate and degenerate (with respect to angular momentum projection) levels of color centers in crystals are described in terms of classical electric-dipole oscillators. It is shown that, upon absorption of elliptically polarized exciting radiation, the system under study transfers to a definite state and the transition is described in general by an elliptical oscillator. An electric-dipole transition accompanied by the creation of a photon is described by a random vector, i.e., by an arbitrary elliptical oscillator lying in the corresponding plane. For an ensemble of n identically oriented centers undergoing a given transition, the luminescence intensity is described by a set of n/2 right-handed rotators and n/2 left-handed rotators. The results obtained are important for solving problems related to quantum information.     

Spin dynamics and phase transitions in quasi-2D antiferromagnets <Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript>CuO<Subscript>4</Subscript> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>=Pr,Nd, Sm,Eu, Gd)

The spin and lattice dynamics of the R₂CuO₄ quasi-2D antiferromagnetic crystals (R=Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd) were studied in the millimeter-range electromagnetic wave band. Strong variations of the absorption coefficient were observed to occur at temperatures T≈T₀. Absorption lines of electrical nature due to lattice dynamics were also revealed near the T₀ temperatures. The observed anomalies are assumed to originate from phase transitions at T≈T₀, which entail changes in the structural and magnetic properties.     

Phase transitions and metastable states in stressed SrTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> films

The sequence of the ground states in SrTiO₃ films subjected to epitaxial strain and fixed mechanical stress in the [001] and [110] directions is calculated from first principles within the density functional theory. Under the fixed-strain conditions, an increase in the substrate lattice parameter results in the following sequence of the ground states: I4cm → I4/mcm → Ima2 → Cm → Fmm2 → Ima2(II). When moving to the fixed-stress conditions, the phase sequence changes significantly and depends on how the stress is applied. It is revealed that the simultaneous presence of two types of the lattice instability (the ferroelectric and structural ones) in strontium titanate leads to the formation of a whole system of metastable phases whose number increases abruptly under the fixed-stress conditions. The stability of these phases changes with pressure and phase transitions occur between them. The appearance of broad bistability regions in certain parts of the phase diagram enables the use of this phenomenon for developing nonvolatile phase-change memory.     

Classical and quantum regimes of superfluid turbulence

We argue that turbulence in superfluids is governed by two dimensionless parameters. One of them is the intrinsic parameter q which characterizes the friction forces acting on a vortex moving with respect to the heat bath, with q^?1 playing the same role as the Reynolds number Re=UR/ν in classical hydrodynamics. It marks the transition between the “laminar” and turbulent regimes of vortex dynamics. The developed turbulence described by Kolmogorov cascade occurs when Re?1 in classical hydrodynamics, and q?1 in superfluid hydrodynamics. Another parameter of superfluid turbulence is the superfluid Reynolds number Re_s=UR/κ, which contains the circulation quantum κ characterizing quantized vorticity in superfluids. This parameter may regulate the crossover or transition between two classes of superfluid turbulence: (i) the classical regime of Kolmogorov cascade where vortices are locally polarized and the quantization of vorticity is not important; (ii) the quantum Vinen turbulence whose properties are determined by the quantization of vorticity. A phase diagram of the dynamical vortex states is suggested.     

Intermediate phases in [111]- and [001]-oriented PbMg<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>2/3</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–29PbTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> single crystals

Phase transformations in [111]- and [001]-oriented PbMg_1/3Nb_2/3O₃–29PbTiO₃ single crystals have been studied using dielectric and optical measurements before and after applying an electric field. It is shown that the subsequence of phase transitions rhombohedral (R)—tetragonal (T)—cubic (C) phases is observed in nonpolarized samples of both orientations as temperature increases. In the [111]-oriented crystal, an additional intermediate monoclinic phase (it is possible, M _a ) is induced after preliminary polarization at room temperature and the R–M _a –T–C phase transitions are observed on heating. In the [001]-oriented crystal, after its polarization, the monoclinic phase forms instead of the rhombohedral phase even at room temperature and the M _a –T–C transitions occur on heating. The results are discussed from the point of view of the existence polar nanoregions with different local symmetries in a glasslike matrix.     

Electromagnetic processes in light nuclei: Results within a microscopic approach

Results obtained by investigating the electrodisintegration of A = 3 and 4 nuclei and the photodisintegration of A = 3, 4, 6, and 7 nuclei on the basis of precise solutions to dynamical problems involving NN and NNN forces are presented. The role of NNN forces, final-state relativistic effects, the contribution of meson-exchange currents, an anomaly in electrodisintegration at high momentum transfers and low energy transfers, sensitivity to nuclear dynamics in the exclusive electrodisintegration of ⁴He nuclei, and the soft-mode resonance in the photodisintegration of ⁶He nuclei are considered.     

High-frequency nonlinear response of thin superconducting films with a mixed <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis> symmetry of the order parameter

Third-harmonic generation during reflection of electromagnetic radiation from a thin superconducting film with a mixed d-and s-order parameter is studied theoretically. The dependence of the third harmonic intensity on the temperature and amplitude of an incident wave is calculated in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory for superconductors with a two-component order parameter, and its behavior in the vicinity of transitions between phases with different symmetries is analyzed. It is shown, in particular, that the third harmonic intensity in the vicinity of the temperature corresponding to the d ? d + s phase transition substantially increases and is a nonanalytic function of the amplitude of the incident wave, while no singularity in the nonlinear response is observed for the d ? d + is transition. The linear reflection coefficient is found to be virtually insensitive to these phase transitions.     

Noisy Hegselmann-Krause Systems: Phase Transition and the 2<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>-Conjecture

The classic Hegselmann-Krause (HK) model for opinion dynamics consists of a set of agents on the real line, each one instructed to move, at every time step, to the mass center of the agents within a fixed distance R. In this work, we investigate the effects of noise in the continuous-time version of the model as described by its mean-field Fokker-Planck equation. In the presence of a finite number of agents, the system exhibits a phase transition from order to disorder as the noise increases. We introduce an order parameter to track the phase transition and resolve the corresponding phase diagram. The system undergoes a phase transition for small R but none for larger R. Based on the stability analysis of the mean-field equation, we derive the existence of a forbidden zone for the disordered phase to emerge. We also provide a theoretical explanation for the well-known 2R conjecture, which states that, for a random initial distribution in a fixed interval, the final configuration consists of clusters separated by a distance of roughly 2R. Our theoretical analysis confirms previous simulations and predicts properties of the noisy HK model in higher dimension.     

Phase states and dielectric properties of sodium-potassium niobate solid solutions

The temperature dependence of dielectric constant ? for single crystals of Na_1?xK_xNbO₃ (0.04?x?0.15) is studied for the first time. From the shape of the ?(T) anomalies corresponding to rotational phase transitions, the type of interaction between the order parameters and the polarization is determined. A phenomenological model is developed which adequately describes the experimentally observed sequence of high-temperature (T>300°C) phase transitions, the dielectric anomalies associated with these transitions, and the changes in the phase states under the action of external factors (pressure, electric field).     

The Condensation Phase Transition in Random Graph Coloring

Based on a non-rigorous formalism called the “cavity method”, physicists have put forward intriguing predictions on phase transitions in diluted mean-field models, in which the geometry of interactions is induced by a sparse random graph or hypergraph. One example of such a model is the graph coloring problem on the Erd?s–Renyi random graph G(n, d/n), which can be viewed as the zero temperature case of the Potts antiferromagnet. The cavity method predicts that in addition to the k-colorability phase transition studied intensively in combinatorics, there exists a second phase transition called the condensation phase transition (Krzakala et al. in Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:10318–10323, 2007). In fact, there is a conjecture as to the precise location of this phase transition in terms of a certain distributional fixed point problem. In this paper we prove this conjecture for k exceeding a certain constant k₀.     

The Vacuum Electromagnetic Fields and the Schrödinger Equation

We consider the simple case of a nonrelativistic charged harmonic oscillator in one dimension, to investigate how to take into account the radiation reaction and vacuum fluctuation forces within the Schrödinger equation. The effects of both zero-point and thermal classical electromagnetic vacuum fields, characteristic of stochastic electrodynamics, are separately considered. Our study confirms that the zero-point electromagnetic fluctuations are dynamically related to the momentum operator p=?i ? ?/? x used in the Schrödinger equation.     

Measurement of the Lamb shift 42S1/2-42P1/2 of the helium ion

Helium ions were produced in then=4 states by electron collisions with ground state atoms, resulting in simultaneous ionization and excitation. Dipole transitions between the Zeeman levels of the states 4² S _1/2 and 4² P _1/2 were induced by a microwave electric field. The intensity of the emitted Fowlerα line 4686 Å, corresponding to transitions from then=4 to then=3 states was then reduced by about 3%. From the measurements, a value of the Lamb shiftδ=1751±25 MHz was obtained, compared with the theoretical valueδ=1768.23±0.55 MHz, and the results ofLea, Leventhal andLamb ofδ=1765±20 MHz.     

Probabilities of radiative dipole transitions of parahelium in an electric field

Quadratic Stark corrections to the wave functions, matrix elements, and probabilities of transitions between the singlet states ¹ S ₀ and ¹ P ₁ of helium atoms are calculated. The coefficients of the polynomials that depend on the effective principal quantum number of the upper level v _f and that approximate the numerical values of the polarizabilities, the quadratic corrections to the wave functions, and the probabilities of transitions to highly excited Rydberg states with large v _f are determined. The results of calculations testify that the probabilities of all σ transitions n _i ¹ S ₀ → n _f ¹ P ₁ and π transitions to the states with n _f > n _i /2 are decreased with increasing electric field strength, except for the transition 2¹ S ₀ → 2¹ P ₁, whose probability increases both for σ and for π transitions.     

Non-Fermi liquid theory of quantum Hall effects

Within the Grassmannian U(2N)/U(N) × U(N) nonlinear σ-model representation of localization, one can study the low-energy dynamics of both a free and interacting electron gas. We study the crossover between these two fundamentally different physical problems. We show how the topological arguments for the exact quantization of the Hall conductance are extended to include the Coulomb interaction problem. We discuss dynamical scaling and make contact with the theory of variable range hopping.     

The influence of phase transitions in the Rb<Subscript>2</Subscript>CdI<Subscript>4</Subscript> ferroelastic on the exciton absorption spectrum

The parameters of the long-wavelength exciton band for Rb₂CdI₄ films are investigated in the temperature range 90–410 K. It is found that the Rb₂CdI₄ films undergo a sequence of phase transitions at temperatures T_c1=380 K (paraphase → incommensurate phase), T_c2=290 K (incommensurate phase → ferroelastic phase I), and T_c3 = 210 K (ferroelastic phase I → ferroelastic phase II). The parameters of the exciton band (such as the spectral position and the half-width) measured during heating and cooling of the Rb₂CdI₄ film differ significantly. This is especially true for the incommensurate phase. Upon heating of the incommensurate phase, the domain boundaries become frozen, whereas the cooling of this phase is accompanied by the generation of solitons and their pinning, which, in turn, results in a first-order phase transition at the temperature T_c2. It is revealed that the oscillator strength of the exciton band anomalously increases in the range of existence of commensurate phase I (T_c3<-T<-T_c2) due to ordering of the Rb₂CdI₄ crystal lattice.