Overdamped motion of interacting particles in general confining potentials: time-dependent and stationary-state analyses

By comparing numerical and analytical results, it is shown that a system of interacting particles under overdamped motion is very well described by a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation, which can be associated with nonextensive statistical mechanics. The particle-particle interactions considered are repulsive, motivated by three different physical situations: (i) modified Bessel function, commonly used in vortex-vortex interactions, relevant for the flux-front penetration in disordered type-II superconductors; (ii) Yukawa-like forces, useful for charged particles in plasma, or colloidal suspensions; (iii) derived from a Gaussian potential, common in complex fluids, like polymer chains dispersed in a solvent. Moreover, the system is subjected to a general confining potential, ??(x)?=?(??|x| ^z )/z (???>?0, z?>?1), so that a stationary state is reached after a sufficiently long time. Recent numerical and analytical investigations, considering interactions of type (i) and a harmonic confining potential (z?=?2), have shown strong evidence that a q-Gaussian distribution, P(x,t), with q?=?0, describes appropriately the particle positions during their time evolution, as well as in their stationary state. Herein we reinforce further the connection with nonextensive statistical mechanics, by presenting numerical evidence showing that: (a) in the case z?=?2, different particle-particle interactions only modify the diffusion parameter D of the nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation; (b) for z????2, all cases investigated fit well the analytical stationary solution P _st(x), given in terms of a q-exponential (with the same index q?=?0) of the general external potential ??(x). In this later case, we propose an approximate time-dependent P(x,t) (not known analytically for z????2), which is in very good agreement with the simulations for a large range of times, including the approach to the stationary state. The present work suggests that a wide variety of physical phenomena, characterized by repulsive interacting particles under overdamped motion, present a universal behavior, in the sense that all of them are associated with the same entropic form and nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation.     

Spatial-temporal dispersion of the kinetic coefficients near the Anderson transition

A generalization of the Vollhardt-Wölfle localization theory is proposed to make it possible to study the spatial-temporal dispersion of the kinetic coefficients of a d-dimensional disordered system in the low-frequency, long-wavelength range (ω?_F and q?k _F ). It is shown that the critical behavior of the generalized diffusion coefficient D(q,ω) near the Anderson transition agrees with the general Berezinskii-Gor’kov localization criterion. More precisely, on the metallic side of the transition the static diffusion coefficient D(q,0) vanishes at a mobility threshold λ _c common for all q: D(q, 0)∝t=(λ _c ?λ)/λ _c →0, where λ=1/(2π?_F τ) is a dimensionless coupling constant. On the insulator side, q≠0 D(q,ω)∝?iω as ω→0 for all finite q. Within these limits, the scale of the spatial dispersion of D(q,ω) decreases in proportion to t in the metallic phase and in proportion to ωξ ², where ξ is the localization length, in the insulator phase until it reaches its lower limit ～λ _F. The suppression of the spatial dispersion of D(q,ω) near the Anderson transition up to the atomic scale confirms the asymptotic validity of the Vollhardt-Wölfle approximation: D(q,ω)?D(ω) as |t|→0 and ω→0. By contrast, the scale of the spatial dispersion of the electrical conductivity in the insulator phase is of order of the localization length and diverges in proportion to |t|^?v as |t|→0.     

A multi-channel scattering theory for some time dependent Hamiltonians,charge transfer problem

Scattering theory for time dependent HamiltonianH(t)=?(1/2) Δ+ΣV _j (x?q _j (t)) is discussed. The existence, asymptotic orthogonality and the asymptotic completeness of the multi-channel wave operators are obtained under the conditions that the potentials are short range: |V _j (x)|≦C _j (1+|x|)^?2?ε, roughly spoken; and the trajectoriesq _j (t) are straight lines at remote past and far future, and |q _j (t)?q _k (t)| → ∞ ast → ± ∞ (j≠k).     

The infinite number of generalized dimensions of fractals and strange attractors

We show that fractals in general and strange attractors in particular are characterized by an infinite number of generalized dimensions D_q, q > 0. To this aim we develop a rescaling transformation group which yields analytic expressions for all the quantities D_q. We prove that lim _q→0D_q = fractal dimension (D), lim_q→1D_q = information dimension (σ) and D_q=2 = correlation exponent (v). D_q with other integer q's correspond to exponents associated with ternary, quaternary and higher correlation functions. We prove that generally Dq > D_q for any q′ > q. For homogeneous fractals D_q = D_q. A particularly interesting dimension is D_q=∞. For two examples (Feigenbaum attractor, generalized baker's transformation) we calculate the generalized dimensions and find that D_∞ is a non-trivial number. All the other generalized dimensions are bounded between the fractal dimension and D_∞.     

Non-equilibrium structure factor for the disordering of adsorbed monolayers

We consider the non-equilibrium, time-dependent elastic-scattering structure factor S(q,t), for the disordering of an ordered overlayer, initially in equilibrium at temperature T_I and characterized by the structure factor S(q,0)=x(q,T_I, upon a sudden increase in temperature T_I→T_F at constant coverage, such that the adsorbates equilibrate at T_F in a disordered phase. The initial decay of a peak in x(q,T_I) proceeds exponentially in time, $\text{exp}\text{(−}\text{t}\text{τ}{}_{\mathrm{q}}\text{)}$, where τ_q is a wavevector-dependent lifetime, before it crosses over to a power-law, t⁻¹ decay. When x(q,T_I) is peaked at the boundaries of the Brillouin zone (BZ), the peak approximately maintains its shape in q-space as it decays exponentially. Except near the center of the BZ, after the peak has decayed sufficiently, the dependence of S(q,t) on q is as though the spins quasi-equilibrate to the equilibrium structure factor associated with T_F, x(q,T_F), in that the ratio $\text{S(q,t)}\text{x(q,T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>F</mtext>}}\text{)}$ is independent of q, is dependent on time, approaching unity as t⁻¹ for large t. For systems exhibiting an initial peak for q ≈ 0, the peak decays exponentially but does not preserve its shape, since τ_q strongly depends on q, diverging as q⁻² for q→0. For these systems too, away from the center of the BZ, $\text{S}\text{(q,t)}\text{x(q,T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>F</mtext>}}\text{)}$ rapidly evolves to a slowly decaying function of $\text{t}\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{w}}$, independent of q. In this case, however, the characteristic time scale, t_w, is anomalously long, proportional to ξ², where ξ is the correlation length associated with the initial state. This behavior of t_w can be related to the random walk of domain boundaries.     

Classical Motion in Force Fields with Short Range Correlations

We study the long time motion of fast particles moving through time-dependent random force fields with correlations that decay rapidly in space, but not necessarily in time. The time dependence of the averaged kinetic energy 〈p ²(t)〉/2 and mean-squared displacement 〈q ²(t)〉 is shown to exhibit a large degree of universality; it depends only on whether the force is, or is not, a gradient vector field. When it is, 〈p ²(t)〉～t ^2/5 independently of the details of the potential and of the space dimension. The stochastically accelerated particle motion is then superballistic in one dimension, with 〈q ²(t)〉～t ^12/5, and ballistic in higher dimensions, with 〈q ²(t)〉～t ². These predictions are supported by numerical results in one and two dimensions. For force fields not obtained from a potential field, the power laws are different: 〈p ²(t)〉～t ^2/3 and 〈q ²(t)〉～t ^8/3 in all dimensions d≥1.     

Fractal analysis of molecular motion in liquids

The fractal analysis of atomic trajectories in a simulated liquid gives Richardson coefficients, α, which depend on the duration, t, of the trajectory i.e., α(t). It is shown that α(t) can be expressed in terms of the usual self-diffusion coefficient and a parameter which is related to the details of the motion for times of order of the velocity autocorrelation time. It is shown that even when conventional diffusional behaviour is very amply obeyed it is probably impractical to show by computer simulation that the corresponding fractal result, α → 1, (D → 2), is valid without the aid of a theory such as the one presented here.     

On the basic states of one-dimensional disordered structures

The purpose of this paper is to study a limit probability distribution of the set of the first κ eigenvalues λ₁(?)<λ₂(?)<...<λ_κ(?) (with a fixed κ and ?→∞) of the boundary problem on the interval [0, ?] wherea(t, ω),q(t, ω) are the random stationary processes. Particularly the question of the repulsion between the first eigenvalues (small energetic levels) is studied. It has been proved that in the “divergent” case (q(t, ω)=0,a(t, ω)≠0) levels repulsion exists. As for the “potential” case (a(t, ω)≡1,q(t, ω)≠0) there is not any repulsion at all. This is one of the main differences between these two cases.     

Change in the resonance frequency of surface plasmons in copper nanoparticles excited by femtosecond laser pulses

Changes in the optical density ΔD(t), halfwidth ΔH/2(t), and spectral position of the maximum Δλ_SP(t) of the surface plasmon band in Cu nanoparticles after their excitation by femtosecond laser pulses have been investigated. The Δλ_SP(t) dependence appears to be alternating and is accompanied by a nonmonotonic variation in ΔH/2(t) in the time interval 0–5 ps. The results are explained in a model based on the evolution of the dielectric response of such a composite medium excited by intense laser pulses.     

The far-infrared spectrum of tetrahydrothiophene: The bend/twist vibrations and associated barriers

The far-infrared spectrum of tetrahydrothiophene is reinvestigated with a resolution of 0.12 cm^?1 in the region of 50–350 cm^?1. In addition to the bend transitions (ν_b) below 120 cm^?1 reported previously, a number of sequences revealed by the improved resolution are observed for the first time and assigned to transitions of 2ν_b, of the twist (ν_t), and of difference combinations (ν_t - ν_b). Simple one-dimensional modeling of the twist sequence, which is derived from a self-consistent bend-twist energy level diagram, with a quadratic-quartic Hamiltonian suggests a barrier to planarity on the order of 4250 cm^?1. A two-dimensional potential function in the dimensionless coordinates is found to be V(q_b, q_t) = ?249.6q_b² + 4.48q_b⁴ ? 215.5q_t² + 2.73q_t⁴ + 7.00q_b²q_t².     

Theory of light scattering from a system of interacting Brownian particles

Starting from a N-particle diffusion equation for a system of N interacting spherical Brownian particles, a non-linear transport equation for concentration fluctuations δc(r, t) of the particles is derived. This dynamic equation is transformed into a hierarchy of equations for retarded propagators of increasing numbers of concentration fluctuations. A cluster expansion to lowest order in the average concentration results in a set of two coupled equations. The spectrum of light scattered by the interacting particles is in general not a Lorentzian, due to the non-linear term in the transport equation. For small scattering wave vectors k the width is D(ω)k², where ω is the transferred frequency. It is shown that D(0) = D_e, the effective diffusion coefficient. For a hardcore interaction potential the spectrum is Lorentzian and it is found that D_e = D₀(1 + φ), where D₀ is the diffusion constant for independent particles and φ the volume concentration of Brownian particles.     

The derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the half-line

We analyze the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the half-line using the Fokas method. Assuming that the solution q(x,t) exists, we show that it can be represented in terms of the solution of a matrix Riemann-Hilbert problem formulated in the plane of the complex spectral parameter ζ. The jump matrix has explicit x,t dependence and is given in terms of the spectral functions a(ζ), b(ζ) (obtained from the initial data q₀(x)=q(x,0)) as well as A(ζ), B(ζ) (obtained from the boundary values g₀(t)=q(0,t) and g₁(t)=q_x(0,t)). The spectral functions are not independent, but related by a compatibility condition, the so-called global relation. Given initial and boundary values {q₀(x),g₀(t),g₁(t)} such that there exist spectral functions satisfying the global relation, we show that the function q(x,t) defined by the above Riemann-Hilbert problem exists globally and solves the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation with the prescribed initial and boundary values.     

Quantum gravity at very high energies

The problem of time and the quantization of three-dimensional gravity in the strong coupling regime is studied following path integral methods. The time is identified with the volume of spacetime. We show that the effective action describes an infinite set of massless relativistic particles moving in a curved three-dimensional target space, i.e., a tensionless 3-brane on a curved background. If the cosmological constant is zero the target space is flat and there is no ‘‘ graviton" propagation (i.e., G[g_ij(2),g_ij(1)]=0). If the cosmological constant is different from zero, 3D gravity is both classical and quantum mechanically soluble. Indeed, we find the following results: (i) the general exact solutions of the Einstein equations are singular at t=0 showing the existence of a big-bang in this regime and (ii) the propagation amplitude between two geometries 〈g_ij(2),t₂|g_ij(1),t₁〉 vanishes as t→0, suggesting that big-bang is suppressed quantum mechanically. This result is also valid for D>3.     

A simple and direct periodic solution of the Korteweg-de vries equations

The solutionq(x, t) of one of the KdV hierarchy is assumed to be a potential in the Schrödinger equation as usual. We differentiate this equation with respect to the time variable and solve it with the aid of the Green function. The obtained equation relatesw _t (x, t, λ)=φ _t (x + c, x, t, λ) withq _t (x, t). The functionφ(x, x ₀,t, λ) obeys the Schrödinger equation and the boundary conditionsφ(x ₀,x ₀,t, λ)=0,φ _x (x ₀,x ₀;t, λ)=1. The shiftingc is equal to the period. We differentiatew _t (x, t, λ) three times with respect to thex coordinate and obtain the time derivative of the Milne equation. The integration of this equation with respect tox allows to solve simply the inverse problem. The reconstructed periodic potential is given by means of the well known formula for the root functions ofw(x, t, λ). The time behaviour of this function, i.e. the solution of the KdV equation, is obtained when one replacesq _t (x, t) by an expression of the KdV hiearchy in the relation betweenq _t (x, t) andw _t (x, t, λ) and transforms it. We estimated also the limit, whenc → ∞, i.e. the possible relation of the periodic solutions with the soliton ones.     

Space use by foragers consuming renewable resources

Through the analysis of unbiased random walks on fractal trees and continuous time random walks, we show that even if a process is characterized by a mean square displacement (MSD) growing linearly with time (standard behaviour) its diffusion properties can be not trivial. In particular, we show that the following scenarios are consistent with a linear increase of MSD with time: (i) the high-order moments, ?x(t) ^q ? for q > 2 and the probability density of the process exhibit multiscaling; (ii) the random walk on certain fractal graphs, with non integer spectral dimension, can display a fully standard diffusion; (iii) positive order moments satisfying standard scaling does not imply an exact scaling property of the probability density.     

Spin frustration,charge ordering,and enhanced antiferromagnetism in TMTTF2SbF6

We theoretically investigate the effects of charge order and spin frustration on the spin ordering in TMTTF salts. Using first-principles band calculations, we find that a diagonal inter-chain transfer integral t_q1, which causes spin frustration between the inter-chain dimers in the dimer-Mott insulating state, strongly depends on the choice of anion. Within the numerical Lanczos exact diagonalization method, we show that the ferroelectric charge order changes the role of t_q1 from the spin frustration to the enhancement of the two-dimensionality in spin sector. The results indicate that t_q1 assists the cooperative behavior between charge order and antiferromagnetic state observed in TMTTF₂SbF₆.     

Experimental investigation of muon-catalyzed dt fusion at cryogenic temperatures

An experimental investigation of muon-catalyzed fusion (μCF) in gaseous, liquid and solid mixtures of deuterium and tritium was performed. The target conditions included the range of densities of 0.03 ≲ φ ≲ 1.5, tritium concentrations of 2% ≲ c_t ≲ 90% and temperatures of 13 ≲ T ≲ 40K. The study was based on the analysis of observed cycling rates extracted from the measured time distributions of the fusion neutrons. For the first time, the density dependence of the rates λ_(dtμ)d⁰ for the dtμ molecule formation in collisions of tμ atoms in the lower (F=0) hyperfine state with D₂ molecules was determined experimentally. Evidence for the proposed effects of below-threshold resonances on molecular formation was found. Measurements at low temperatures in mixtures of different molecular compositions revealed a clear predominance of the λ_(dtμ)d⁰ formation rate. The probability q_1s for dμ atoms to reach the ground state was determined as a function of density and tritium concentration.     

Infrared-microwave double resonance of 12CH3OH with a CO2 laser

The Stark effect of the 2₂ ← 2₁(E₁), 2₁ ← 3₀(E₁) microwave transitions in the ground state and the 2₂ ← 2₁(E₁) microwave transition in the first excited CO stretching vibrational state are measured by means of infrared-microwave double resonance with the ^qQ₁(2)E₁ infrared transition as the pump transition in the range of 1000 to 2300 V/cm. The dipole moments μ_a and μ_b as well as the off-diagonal rotational constant D_ab are determined for both the ground and the excited states. The frequency of the ^qQ₁(2)E₁ infrared transition is found to be lower by 128 ± 2 MHz than that of the P(34) CO₂ laser.