Renormalization group treatment of the scaling properties of finite systems with subleading long-range interaction

The finite size behavior of the susceptibility, Binder cumulant and some even moments of the magnetization of a fully finite O(n) cubic system of size L are analyzed and the corresponding scaling functions are derived within a field-theoretic ɛ-expansion scheme under periodic boundary conditions. We suppose a van der Waals type long-range interaction falling apart with the distance r as r ^{- (d + σ)}, where 2 < σ < 4, which does not change the short-range critical exponents of the system. Despite that the system belongs to the short-range universality class it is shown that above the bulk critical temperature T _c the finite-size corrections decay in a power-in-L, and not in an exponential-in-L law, which is normally believed to be a characteristic feature for such systems. Received 8 August 2001     

Two-point correlation function in systems with van der Waals type interaction

The behavior of the bulk two-point correlation function G(;T| d ) in d-dimensional system with van der Waals type interactions is investigated and its consequences on the finite-size scaling properties of the susceptibility in such finite systems with periodic boundary conditions is discussed within mean-spherical model which is an example of Ornstein and Zernike type theory. The interaction is supposed to decay at large distances r as r ^{- (d + σ)}, with 2 < d < 4, 2 < σ < 4 and d + σ≤6. It is shown that G(;T| d ) decays as r ^{- (d - 2)} for 1 ≪r≪ξ, exponentially for ξ≪r≪r ^*, where r ^* = (σ - 2)ξlnξ, and again in a power law as r ^{- (d + σ)} for r≫r ^*. The analytical form of the leading-order scaling function of G(;T| d ) in any of these regimes is derived. Received 28 May 2001     

Subleading long-range interactions and violations of finite size scaling

We study the behavior of systems in which the interaction contains a long-range component that does not dominate the critical behavior. Such a component is exemplified by the van der Waals force between molecules in a simple liquid-vapor system. In the context of the mean spherical model with periodic boundary conditions we are able to identify, for temperatures close above T _c, finite-size contributions due to the subleading term in the interaction that are dominant in this region decaying algebraically as a function of L. This mechanism goes beyond the standard formulation of the finite-size scaling but is to be expected in real physical systems. We also discuss other ways in which critical point behavior is modified that are of relevance for analysis of Monte Carlo simulations of such systems. Received 21 November 2000 and Received in final form 28 February 2001     

Zero bias anomaly in the density of states of low-dimensional metals

We consider the effect of Coulomb interactions on the average density of states (DOS) of disordered low-dimensional metals for temperatures T and frequencies ω smaller than the inverse elastic life-time 1/τ. Using the fact that long-range Coulomb interactions in two dimensions (2d) generate ln²-singularities in the DOS ν(ω) but only ln-singularities in the conductivity σ(ω), we can re-sum the most singular contributions to the average DOS via a simple gauge-transformation. If σ(ω) > 0, then a metallic Coulomb gapν(ω) ∝ |ω|/e ⁴ appears in the DOS at T = 0 for frequencies below a certain crossover frequency Ω ₂ which depends on the value of the DC conductivity σ(0). Here, - e is the charge of the electron. Naively adopting the same procedure to calculate the DOS in quasi 1d metals, we find ν(ω) ∝ (|ω|/Ω ₁)^1/2exp(- Ω ₁/|ω|) at T = 0, where Ω ₁ is some interaction-dependent frequency scale. However, we argue that in quasi 1d the above gauge-transformation method is on less firm grounds than in 2d. We also discuss the behavior of the DOS at finite temperatures and give numerical results for the expected tunneling conductance that can be compared with experiments. Received 28 August 2001 / Received in final form 28 January 2002 Published online 9 July 2002     

Bulk singularities at critical end points: a field-theory analysis

A class of continuum models with a critical end point is considered whose Hamiltonian [φ,ψ] involves two densities: a primary order-parameter field, φ, and a secondary (noncritical) one, ψ. Field-theoretic methods (renormalization group results in conjunction with functional methods) are used to give a systematic derivation of singularities occurring at critical end points. Specifically, the thermal singularity ∼ | t|^{2 - α} of the first-order line on which the disordered or ordered phase coexists with the noncritical spectator phase, and the coexistence singularity ∼ | t|^{1 - α} or ∼ | t|^β of the secondary density <ψ> are derived. It is clarified how the renormalization group (RG) scenario found in position-space RG calculations, in which the critical end point and the critical line are mapped onto two separate fixed points _CEP ^* and _λ ^*, translates into field theory. The critical RG eigenexponents of _CEP ^* and _λ ^* are shown to match. _CEP ^* is demonstrated to have a discontinuity eigenperturbation (with eigenvalue y = d), tangent to the unstable trajectory that emanates from _CEP ^* and leads to _λ ^*. The nature and origin of this eigenperturbation as well as the role redundant operators play are elucidated. The results validate that the critical behavior at the end point is the same as on the critical line. Received 18 January 2001     

Weak violation of universality for polyelectrolyte chains: Variational theory and simulations

A variational approach is considered to calculate the free energy and the conformational properties of a polyelectrolyte chain in d dimensions. We consider in detail the case of pure Coulombic interactions between the monomers, when screening is not present, in order to compute the end-to-end distance and the asymptotic properties of the chain as a function of the polymer chain length N. We find R≃N ^ν(log N)^γ, where ν = and λ is the exponent which characterizes the long-range interaction U∝ 1/r ^λ. The exponent γ is shown to be non-universal, depending on the strength of the Coulomb interaction. We check our findings by a direct numerical minimization of the variational energy for chains of increasing size 2⁴ < N < 2¹⁵. The electrostatic blob picture, expected for small enough values of the interaction strength, is quantitatively described by the variational approach. We perform a Monte Carlo simulation for chains of length 2⁴ < N < 2¹⁰. The non-universal behavior of the exponent γ previously derived within the variational method is also confirmed by the simulation results. Non-universal behavior is found for a polyelectrolyte chain in d = 3 dimension. Particular attention is devoted to the homopolymer chain problem, when short-range contact interactions are present. Received 8 August 2000 and Received in final form 19 December 2000     

Coherent and incoherent π0 photoproduction from the deuteron

Differential cross-sections for the reactions d (γ,π⁰)d and d (γ,π⁰)pn have been measured at MAMI with the TAPS detector setup in the energy range 140 MeV < E _γ < 306 MeV. By use of the Glasgow tagging spectrometer an 0.8 MeV energy resolution for photons incident on the target was achieved. The π⁰ missing energy resolution was sufficient for a reliable separation of coherent and incoherent channels. The data for the break-up channel exhibit very strong final state interaction effects, whereas the observed angular dependence of the inclusive process d (γ,π⁰)X is in quantitative agreement with predictions for a quasi-free process. The observed absolute d (γ,π⁰)X cross-sections, on the other hand, are significantly smaller than predicted by the quasi-free process for E _γ >∼ 250 MeV. Associating this failure with the π⁰ photoproduction on the neutron would suggest that its cross-section is up to 25% below the presently believed value. Received: 13 February 2001 / Accepted: 13 April 2001     

Classical spin liquid properties of the infinite-component spin vector model on a fully frustrated two dimensional lattice

Thermodynamic quantities and correlation functions (CFs) of the classical antiferromagnet on the checkerboard lattice are studied for the exactly solvable infinite-component spin-vector model, D↦∞. In contrast to conventional two-dimensional magnets with continuous symmetry showing extended short-range order at distances smaller than the correlation length, r ξ _c∝ exp(T ^*/T), correlations in the checkerboard-lattice model decay already at the scale of the lattice spacing due to the strong degeneracy of the ground state characterized by a macroscopic number of strongly fluctuating local degrees of freedom. At low temperatures, spin CFs decay as < >∝ 1/r ² in the range a ₀≪r≪ξ _c∝T ^-1/2, where a₀ is the lattice spacing. Analytical results for the principal thermodynamic quantities in our model are very similar with MC simulations, exact and analytical results for the classical Heisenberg model (D = 3) on the pyrochlore lattice. This shows that the ground state of the infinite-component spin vector model on the checkerboard lattice is a classical spin liquid. Received 16 November 2001 and Received in final form 12 February 2002     

Nuclear matter properties in relativistic mean-field model with σ- ω coupling

The σ-ω coupling is introduced phenomenologically in the linear σ-ω model to study the nuclear matter properties. It is shown that not only the effective nucleon mass M^* but also the effective σ meson mass m _σ ^* and the effective ω meson mass m _ω ^* are nucleon-density-dependent. When the model parameters are fitted to the nuclear saturation point, with the nuclear radius constant r ₀ = 1.14 fm and volume energy a ₁ = 16.0 MeV, as well as to the effective nucleon mass M ^* = 0.85M, the model yields m _σ ^* = 1.09m _σ and m _ω ^* = 0.90m _ω at the saturation point, and the nuclear incompressibility K ₀ = 501 MeV. The lowest value of K₀ given by this model by adjusting the model parameters is around 227 MeV. Received: 23 March 2001 / Accepted: 8 June 2001     

Finite-size scaling of the level compressibility at the Anderson transition

We compute the number level variance Σ ₂ and the level compressibility χ from high precision data for the Anderson model of localization and show that they can be used in order to estimate the critical properties at the metal-insulator transition by means of finite-size scaling. With N, W, and L denoting, respectively, linear system size, disorder strength, and the average number of levels in units of the mean level spacing, we find that both χ(N, W) and the integrated Σ ₂ obey finite-size scaling. The high precision data was obtained for an anisotropic three-dimensional Anderson model with disorder given by a box distribution of width W/2. We compute the critical exponent as ν≈ 1.45±0.12 and the critical disorder as W _c≈ 8.59±0.05 in agreement with previous transfer-matrix studies in the anisotropic model. Furthermore, we find χ≈ 0.28±0.06 at the metal-insulator transition in very close agreement with previous results. Received 1st November 2001 and Received in final form 8 March 2002 Published online 6 June 2002     

Probing meson spectral functions with double differential dilepton spectra in heavy-ion collisions

The double differential dilepton spectrum d/(d ² d _⊥ ²) at fixed transverse mass M _⊥ allows a direct access to the vector meson spectral functions. Within a fireball model the sensitivity of d/(d ² d _⊥ ²) against variations of both the in-medium properties of mesons and the dynamics of the fireball is investigated. In contrast to the integrated invariant-mass spectrum d/d ², in the spectrum d/(d ² d _⊥ ²) with fixed M _⊥ the ω signal is clearly seen as bump riding on the ρ background even in case of strong in-medium modifications.[3mm] Received: 16 November 2000 / Accepted: 16 January 2001     

Hadron diffractive processes: the structure of soft pomeron and colour screening

On the basis of the experimental data on diffractive processes in πp, pp and pˉp collisions at intermediate, moderately high and high energies, we restore the scattering amplitude related to the t-channel exchange by vacuum quantum numbers by taking account of the diffractive s-channel rescatterings. At intermediate and moderately high energies, the t-channel exchange amplitude turns, with a good accuracy, into an effective pomeron which renders the results of the additive quark model. At superhigh energies the scattering amplitude provides a Froissart-type behaviour, with an asymptotic universality of cross sections such as σ^tot _πp/σ^tot _pp→ 1 at s→∞. The quark structure of hadrons being taken into account at the level of constituent quarks, the cross sections of pion and proton (antiproton) in the impact parameter space of quarks, σ_π(r _1⊥, r _2⊥; s) and σ_p(r _1⊥, r _2⊥, r _3⊥; s), are found as functions of s. These cross sections implicate the phenomenon of colour screening: they tend to zero at |r _i⊥−r _k⊥|→ 0. The effective colour screening radius for pion (proton) is found for different s. The predictions for the diffractive cross sections at superhigh energies are presented. Received: 15 December 1998     

Two-particle dispersion in model two-dimensional velocity fields

We consider two-particle dispersion in a velocity field, where the relative two-point velocity scales according to v ²(r) ∝r ^α and the corresponding correlation time scales as τ(r) ∝r ^β, and fix α = 2/3, as typical for turbulent flows. We show that two generic types of dispersion behavior arize: For α/2 + β < 1 the correlations in relative velocities decouple and the diffusion approximation holds. In the opposite case, α/2 + β > 1, the relative motion is strongly correlated. The case of Kolmogorov flows corresponds to a marginal, nongeneric situation. In this case, depending on the particular parameters of the flow, the dispersion behavior can be rather diffusive or rather ballistic. Received 13 March 2001     

Charmonium suppression by gluon bremsstrahlung in p-A and A-B collisions

Prompt gluons are an additional source for charmonium suppression in nuclear collisions, in particular for nucleus-nucleus collisions. These gluons are radiated as bremsstrahlung in N-N collisions and interact inelastically with the charmonium states while the nuclei still overlap. The spectra and mean number <n _g> of the prompt gluons are calculated perturbatively and the inelastic cross section σ_abs ^Ψg is estimated. The integrated cross sections σ(A B →J/ψX) for p-A and A-B collisions and the dependence on transverse energy for S-U and Pb-Pb can be described quantitatively with some adjustment of one parameter <n _g>σ_abs ^Ψg. Received: 20 August 1999     

Non-equilibrium behavior at a liquid-gas critical point

Second-order phase transitions in a non-equilibrium liquid-gas model with reversible mode couplings, i.e., model H for binary-fluid critical dynamics, are studied using dynamic field theory and the renormalization group. The system is driven out of equilibrium either by considering different values for the noise strengths in the Langevin equations describing the evolution of the dynamic variables (effectively placing these at different temperatures), or more generally by allowing for anisotropic noise strengths, i.e., by constraining the dynamics to be at different temperatures in d _|| - and d _⊥-dimensional subspaces, respectively. In the first, isotropic case, we find one infrared-stable and one unstable renormalization group fixed point. At the stable fixed point, detailed balance is dynamically restored, with the two noise strengths becoming asymptotically equal. The ensuing critical behavior is that of the standard equilibrium model H. At the novel unstable fixed point, the temperature ratio for the dynamic variables is renormalized to infinity, resulting in an effective decoupling between the two modes. We compute the critical exponents at this new fixed point to one-loop order. For model H with spatially anisotropic noise, we observe a critical softening only in the d _⊥-dimensional sector in wave vector space with lower noise temperature. The ensuing effective two-temperature model H does not have any stable fixed point in any physical dimension, at least to one-loop order. We obtain formal expressions for the novel critical exponents in a double expansion about the upper critical dimension d _c = 4 - d _|| and with respect to d _|| , i.e., about the equilibrium theory. Received 4 April 2002 Published online 13 August 2002     

Random quantum magnets with broad disorder distribution

We study the critical behavior of Ising quantum magnets with broadly distributed random couplings (J), such that P(ln J) ∼ | ln J|^{-1 - α}, α > 1, for large | ln J| (Lévy flight statistics). For sufficiently broad distributions, α < , the critical behavior is controlled by a line of fixed points, where the critical exponents vary with the Lévy index, α. In one dimension, with = 2, we obtained several exact results through a mapping to surviving Riemann walks. In two dimensions the varying critical exponents have been calculated by a numerical implementation of the Ma-Dasgupta-Hu renormalization group method leading to ≈ 4.5. Thus in the region 2 < α < , where the central limit theorem holds for | ln J| the broadness of the distribution is relevant for the 2d quantum Ising model. Received 6 December 2000 and Received in final form 22 January 2001     

Molecular-orbital structure in neutron-rich Be and C isotopes

The structure of Be and C isotopes are investigated based on the molecular-orbit (MO) model. The low-lying states are characterized by several configurations of valence neutrons, which are constructed as combinations of basic orbits. In ¹⁰Be, all of the observed positive-parity bands and the negative-parity bands are described within the model. The second 0⁺ state of ¹⁰Be has a large α-α cluster structure, and this is characterized by a (1/2⁺ _σ)² configuration. An enlargement of the α-α distance due to two-valence neutrons along the α-α axis makes their wave function smooth and reduces the kinetic energy drastically. Furthermore, the contribution of the spin-orbit interaction due to coupling between the S _z = 0 and the S _z = 1 configurations, is important. In the ground state of ¹²Be, the calculated energy exhibits similar characteristics, that the remarkable α clustering and the contribution of the spin-orbit interaction make the binding of the state with (3/2^- _π)²(1/2⁺ _σ)² configuration properly stronger in comparison with the closed p-shell (3/2^- _π)²(1/2^- _π)² configuration. This is related to the breaking of the N = 8 (closed p-shell) neutron magic number. Also, the molecule-like structure of the C isotopes is investigated using a microscopic α+α+α+n+n+ ^{. . .} model. The combination of the valence neutrons in the π- and the σ-orbit is promising to stabilize the linear-chain state against the breathing and bending modes, and it is found that the excited states of ¹⁶C are the most promising candidates for such structure. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Stretched exponential relaxation in the Coulomb glass

The relaxation of the specific heat and the entropy to their equilibrium values is investigated numerically for the three-dimensional Coulomb glass at very low temperatures. The long time relaxation follows a stretched exponential function, f (t) = f ₀exp - (t/τ)^β , with the exponent β increasing with the temperature. The relaxation time diverges as an Arrhenius law when T→ 0. Received 24 May 2001 and Received in final form 12 September 2001     

Measurement of the interaction cross-section and related topics

Recent experimental results concerning interaction cross-sections ( σ_I) are reviewed. The σ_I values were measured by a transmission method using the fragment separator at GSI. The σ_I values for B, C, N, O and F isotopes and the recently measured σ_I for Ar are presented. As related topics, an analysis by the recently developed Glauber model for a few-body system is introduced. By using this analysis, the effective density distributions for light neutron-rich nuclei can be deduced. The recently shown magic number N = 16 near to the neutron drip line is also discussed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001