On domain switching in deformable ferroelectrics, seen as continua with microstructure

We obtain a three-dimensional continuum model for deformable ferroelectric bodies in their polar phase characterized by a spontaneous polarization. This is accomplished by assuming the body as comprised of a continuum with vectorial microstructure: in each point of the body therefore a gross and a fine structure are superposed, the gross structure representing a non linear polarizable elastic body and the vectorial fine structure describing the spontaneous polarization.¶Among the distinctive features of ferroelectric materials, the most interesting is represented by the organization of spontaneous polarization into a domain structure, which minimizes electrostatic energy and which can be modified by the application of electric and deformation fields. This process, called "polarization reversal" or "domain switching", is associated with various hysteresis loops, the most typical being those between spontaneous polarization and electric field (dielectric hysteresis), and between strain and electric field ("butterfly" loop).¶From the balance laws of continua with vectorial microstructure and dissipation inequality we arrive at the evolution equation for the spontaneous polarization which allows for both inertial and dissipative terms and describes domain switching. We postulate a simple interaction mechanism between the spontaneous polarization and the pair electric field, deformation and arrive at, in the quasi-static case, to a minimization problem for a functional which reminds the micromagnetic energy of deformable ferromagnetics.¶For linearized kinematics we study, in the one-dimensional case, stable relative minimizers and give a simple justification for dielectric hysteresis and butterfly loops: under the hypothesis that the domain walls are sharp interfaces, the solutions we find explain the banded twin domains morphology which is typical of many ferroelectrics.     

Design of a wien filter and measurement of longitudinal polarization of beta particles

Measurement of longitudinal polarization of beta particles is carried out for a pure beta source Th²⁰⁴ →β → Pb²⁰⁴ ( \(\bar 2 \to 0\) uníque first forbidden) forv/c = 0.6 using a Wien-filter for transformation of polarization and Mott-scattering for the analysis of transverse polarization. The Wien-filter is most versatile for measurements to study the dependance of polarization with (1) the atomic No. Z, and (2) E the incident energy. The resolution of the Wien-filter arrangement reported here is about 10% with sufficient transmission. The value of polarization is P₁ (1.09 ±0.083)v/c which is in agreement with the theoretical value predicted for this transition.     

Disambiguation of social polarization concepts and measures

This article distinguishes nine senses of polarization and provides formal measures for each one to refine the methodology used to describe polarization in distributions of attitudes. Each distinct concept is explained through a definition, formal measures, examples, and references. We then apply these measures to GSS data regarding political views, opinions on abortion, and religiosity—topics described as revealing social polarization. Previous breakdowns of polarization include domain-specific assumptions and focus on a subset of the distribution’s features. This has conflated multiple, independent features of attitude distributions. The current work aims to extract the distinct senses of polarization and demonstrate that by becoming clearer on these distinctions we can better focus our efforts on substantive issues in social phenomena.     

Ulrich line bundles on Enriques surfaces with a polarization of degree four

In this paper, we prove the existence of an Enriques surface with a polarization of degree four with an Ulrich bundle of rank one. As a consequence, we prove that general polarized Enriques surfaces of degree four, with the same numerical polarization class, carry Ulrich line bundles.     

Phenomenological theory of surface effects in ferroelectrics and its relationship with transverse Ising model

The relationship between the transverse field Ising model and the Landau phenomenological theory for ferroelectrics is analyzed, and the Landau free energy expression for ferroelectrics having surfaces is derived. It is pointed out that the traditional expression in which the surface integral has only a term of the square polarization is valid only for special cases, in general a term of the polarization to the four should be included as well. By use of the newly derived free energy expression, the thickness-dependence of the spontaneous polarization and Curie temperature of ferroelectric films is calculated; thereby some experimental results incompatible with the traditional phenomenological theory are successfully explained.     

Measuring polarization in preferences

In this paper, we study the measurement of polarization in collective decision making problems with ordinal preferences over alternatives. We argue that polarization can be measured as an aggregation of antagonisms over pairs of alternatives in the society. We propose a measure of this sort and show that it is the only measure satisfying some normatively appealing conditions.     

ANISOTROPIC POLARIZATION TENSORS FOR ELLIPSES AND ELLIPSOIDS

In this paper we present a systematic way of computing the polarization tensors, anisotropic as well as isotropic, based on the boundary integral method. We then use this method to compute the anisotropic polarization tensor for ellipses and ellipsoids. The computation reveals the pair of anisotropy and ellipses which produce the same polarization tensors.     

Analysis of stability and dispersion in a finite element method for Debye and Lorentz dispersive media

We study the stability properties of, and the phase error present in, a finite element scheme for Maxwell's equations coupled with a Debye or Lorentz polarization model. In one dimension we consider a second order formulation for the electric field with an ordinary differential equation for the electric polarization added as an auxiliary constraint. The finite element method uses linear finite elements in space for the electric field as well as the electric polarization, and a theta scheme for the time discretization. Numerical experiments suggest the method is unconditionally stable for both Debye and Lorentz models. We compare the stability and phase error properties of the method presented here with those of finite difference methods that have been analyzed in the literature. We also conduct numerical simulations that verify the stability and dispersion properties of the scheme. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009     

Simulation of polycrystalline ferroelectrics based on discrete orientation distribution functions

Ferroelectric materials exhibit a spontaneous polarization, which can be reversed by an applied electric field of sufficient magnitude. The resulting nonlinearities are expressed by characteristic dielectric and butterfly hysteresis loops. These effects are correlated to the structure of the crystal and especially to the axis of spontaneous polarization in case of single crystals. We start with a representative meso scale, where the domains consist of unit cells with equal spontaneous polarization. Each domain is modeled within a coordinate invariant formulation for an assumed transversely isotropic material as presented in [10], in this context see also [8]. In this investigation we obtain the macroscopic polycrystalline quantities via a simple homogenization procedure, where discrete orientation distribution functions are used to approximate the different domains. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Polarization tensors of planar domains as functions of the admittivity contrast

(Electric) polarization tensors describe part of the leading order term of asymptotic voltage perturbations caused by low volume fraction inhomogeneities of the electrical properties of a medium. They depend on the geometry of the support of the inhomogeneities and on their admittivity contrast. Corresponding asymptotic formulas are of particular interest in the design of reconstruction algorithms for determining the locations and the material properties of inhomogeneities inside a body from measurements of current flows and associated voltage potentials on the body’s surface. In this work, we consider the two-dimensional case only and provide an analytic representation of the polarization tensor in terms of spectral properties of the double layer integral operator associated with the support of simply connected conductivity inhomogeneities. Furthermore, we establish that an (infinitesimal) simply connected inhomogeneity has the shape of an ellipse, if and only if the polarization tensor is a rational function of the admittivity contrast with at most two poles whose residues satisfy a certain algebraic constraint. We also use the analytic representation to provide a proof of the so-called Hashin–Shtrikman bounds for polarization tensors; a similar approach has been taken previously by Golden and Papanicolaou and Kohn and Milton in the context of anisotropic composite materials.     

Peculiarities of the Electret State of Melt-Spun and Melt-Blown Fibrous Polypropylene Materials

The charge state of melt-spun and melt-blown polypropylene fibers is investigated. It is shown that the production of fibers by melt-spinning and melt-blowing technologies promotes the formation of a spontaneous polarization charge. Possible mechanisms of fiber polarization are analyzed. The influence of parameters of the melt-spinning technological process and forced electrization of fibers during their formation in stationary and alternating electric fields on the magnitude and stability of the electret charge is examined. It is established that the application of a corona discharge to fiber polarization is more efficient for the electret state formation.     

Nonlinear Electromagnetic Delay of Electromagnetic Signals Propagating in the Magnetic Meridian Plane of Pulsars and Magnetars

We analyze the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the magnetic meridian planes of neutron stars with a strong magnetic field in the framework of the parameterized post-Maxwellian electrodynamics of the vacuum. The origin of these electromagnetic waves is the curvature emission of X-rays and gamma rays from high-energy electrons in the vicinity of the magnetic poles of neutron stars. We show that in the case of a slowly varying intensity of X-ray and gamma-ray emission, the delay of the slow normal mode of electromagnetic waves relative to the fast mode results in a shift of the time dependence of the intensity of the detected radiation with one polarization relative to that of the radiation with the orthogonal polarization. In the case of single X-ray or gamma-ray pulses, the delay effect results in the polarization of the detected pulse varying during the pulse length, the leading edge of all pulses being polarized normally to the magnetic equator plane of the neutron star. We note that the modern level of the experimental technique, in principle, allows observing the manifestations of the delay effect for signals of different polarizations.     

A 1D constitutive law for hysteresis effects in piezoceramics

This paper is concerned with a macroscopic constitutive law for domain switching effects, which occur in piezoelectric ceramics. The thermodynamical framework of the law is based on two scalar valued functions: the Helmholtz free energy and a switching surface. In common usage, the remanent polarization and the remanent strain are employed as internal variables. The novel aspect of the present work is to introduce an irreversible electric field, which serves besides the irreversible strain as internal variable. The irreversible electric field has only theoretical meaning, but leads to advantages within the finite element implementation, where displacement and the electric potential are the nodal degrees of freedoms. A common assumption is a one-to-one relation between the irreversible strain and the polarization. This simplification is not employed in the present paper. To accomplish enough space for the polarization, resulting from an applied electric field, the irreversible strains are additively split and a special hardening function is introduced. This balances the amount of space and the domain switching due to polarization. The constitutive model reproduces the ferroelastic and the ferroelectric hysteresis as well as the butterfly hysteresis for piezoelectric ceramics and it accounts for the mechanical depolarization effect. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dielectrical behavior of nanostructured α-Fe2O3 with different annealed temperatures

The spectra of the dielectrical constant and dielectrical loss in three nanostructured α-Fin2₃ samples at different annealed temperatures are measured by using ac LRC method. The relaxation times of polarization and the conductance are calculated by means of the Debye mechanism and the interface effects in two kinds of polarization processes with two different relaxation times are proposed. Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of zhejiang Province and the Chinese Postdoctoral Foundation.     

Electroelastic waves in polarizing media : Report to the fifth all-union congress on theoretical and applied mechanics. Alma-Ata, 27 May 1981

A system of equations is considered that describes a certain class of polarizing media in an electromagnetic field with both the spatial inhomogeneities and the relaxation processes of electrical polarization of the media taken into account. The nonlinear and the linearized theories are elucidated within the framework of the electrostatic approximation. Solutions are given for the equations considered in an electrostatic approximation, in the form of electroelastic waves. Without taking the relaxation of the electrical polarization into account, electorelastic waves were considered in piezoceramic media in /1/ and in ferroelectrics in /2/.     

Polarization tensors and effective properties of anisotropic composite materials

In this paper, we present a systematic scheme for derivations of asymptotic expansions including higher-order terms, with estimates, of the effective electrical conductivity of periodic dilute composites in terms of the volume fraction occupied by the inclusions. The conductivities of the inclusion and the matrix may be anisotropic. Our derivations are based on layer potential techniques, and valid for high contrast mixtures and inclusions with Lipschitz boundaries. The asymptotic expansion is given in terms of the polarization tensor and the volume fraction of the inclusions. Important properties, such as symmetry and positivity, of the anisotropic polarization tensors are derived.     

Opinion polarization by learning from social feedback

We explore a new mechanism to explain polarization phenomena in opinion dynamics in which agents evaluate alternative views on the basis of the social feedback obtained on expressing them. High support of the favored opinion in the social environment is treated as a positive feedback which reinforces the value associated to this opinion. In connected networks of sufficiently high modularity, different groups of agents can form strong convictions of competing opinions. Linking the social feedback process to standard equilibrium concepts we analytically characterize sufficient conditions for the stability of bi-polarization. While previous models have emphasized the polarization effects of deliberative argument-based communication, our model highlights an affective experience-based route to polarization, without assumptions about negative influence or bounded confidence.     

Energy decay of solutions to Maxwell's equations with conductivity and polarization

In this paper, Maxwell's equations involving generally nonlinear polarization and field-dependent currents are studied. The main objective is the asymptotic behavior of the solution for t→∞ if no damping term occurs in the equation governing the polarization field.     

On the propagation of polarization sets for systems of real principal type

We define and study the polarization sets for vector-valued distributions. Systems of real principal type are defined, and we prove that for such systems of pseudodifferential operators we have a unique propagation of the polarization sets for the solutions.