磁阱中超冷玻色气体临界行为的观测

超冷玻色气体为研究量子临界现象提供了一个非常干净的实验系统. 弱相互作用下的三维玻色气体的临界行为与⁴He发生超流相变时的临界行为类似, 都属于三维XY型普适类. 从正常流体到超流的量子相变过程中, 系统会经历一个从无序相到长程有序相的转变; 而在相变点附近, 系统参量会表现出一些奇点的特征. 本文从实验上观测到了静磁阱中超冷⁸⁷Rb玻色气体在凝聚体相变温度T_c附近的临界行为. 原子气体从静磁阱中释放, 经过30 ms的自由飞行后, 通过吸收成像得到原子气体的动量分布; 然后从中扣除热原子气体的动量分布, 提取出空间上处于临界区域内的原子气体动量分布, 并对不同温度下的动量分布半高宽进行统计. 统计结果显示: 在非常接近相变温度T_c时, 动量分布的半高宽突然减小, 表现出十分明显的奇点行为.     

Dislocation-disclination models of grain boundary migration in ultrathin nanocrystalline films

The dislocation-disclination models describing the athermal migration of grain boundaries in stretched ultrathin nanocrystalline films have been proposed. The cases where the grain boundary emerges on a free surface of the film or is located in its central region have been considered. The changes in the total energy of the system due to the migration of the grain boundary have been calculated, the critical stresses of the onset of migration and the transition from a stable migration to an unstable migration have been determined, and the equilibrium positions of the grain boundary have been found. The dependences of the calculated parameters on the length, the misorientation angle, the position, and the orientation of the grain boundary in the film, as well as on the film thickness, have been investigated. It has been shown that the critical stresses responsible for the onset of migration of the grain boundary and its transition to an unstable regime decrease with a decrease in the thickness of the film. The critical stresses determining the transition from the stable migration to the unstable migration decrease with an increase in the grain size. The closer is the grain boundary to the surface of the film, the more pronounced is the tendency of the grain boundary toward migration.     

Two-dimensional atom-phonon coupling model for spin conversion: role of metastable states

Spin conversion, (SC), compounds are composed of molecules organized around a transition metal ion. The ion spin value is smaller for the ion fundamental level than for its first excited one. So, increasing the temperature changes the spin mean value. This spin conversion can be continuous or can display a first order phase transition called spin transition. The atom phonon coupling model, introduced recently, allows to describe at least qualitatively different experimental results. Up to now, this model has been applied on a linear chain of atoms. In this paper we apply it on a square lattice. We study the thermal variations of different thermodynamic parameters and the metastable states which are present around the transition. In this study, it is expected that the critical point of some (SC) compounds can be reached by applying on them a small hydrostatic pressure; it is also expected that ultrasound pulses can induce, at a very low temperature, a conversion between the stable low spin state and the metastable high spin state and it is also predicted that the crystal sound velocity can display a discontinuity at the first order phase transition.     

Migration of adatom adsorption on graphene using DFT calculation

DFT calculations of various atomic species on graphene sheet are investigated as prototypes for the formation of nano-structures on graphene. We investigate computationally the adsorption energies and migration energies in adsorption sites on graphene sheet for many atomic species, including transition metals, noble metals, nitrogen and oxygen, from atomic number 1 to 83, using the DFT calculation. The calculations are done for adatoms at three sites having symmetry, H6, B and T on a 3×3 super cell. For adsorption energy and migration energy, we performed a study that covered almost all the periodic table. The calculated results show that adsorption for metal and transition metal elements is mainly on the H6-site, whereas nonmetallic elements showed a tendency to adsorb on the B-site. When we consider a metal-graphene junction, not only the adsorption energy but also the migration energy is important. We estimate the minimum limit of the migration energy of the adatom. We found that 3d transition metals and some nonmetallic elements had very high migration energy. Our calculation will be very helpful for experimental groups that are considering the choice of electrode materials for metal-graphene junctions, and in designing nano devices, nano wires and nano switches.     

Effect of irradiation at low doses and incubation of voids within the rate theory approach

The evolution of defects in a material under irradiation is studied at low doses (∼5 dpa or less) using rate equations. It is shown that as a function of temperature at a critical valueT _c a transition occurs in the behaviour of the solutions of the rate equations. BelowT _c the voids show incubation effects. An expression is derived for the critical dislocation density at which the void growth starts. This is related to the trapped vacancy fraction ε in vacancy dislocation loops. AboveT _c the incubation effects are shown to be related to the gas production rate which becomes the rate controlling parameter in determining the evolution of the defects. A gas-bubble to void transition occurs at a critical void radius and expressions are derived for the critical void size and dose at which the transition appears. It is shown that closely related to this is the incubation dose for interstitial loops. Finally, these features are corroborated by actual numerical integration of the rate equations.     

Thermomechanical response of an Ni–Ti–Cr shape-memory alloy at low and high strain rates

The thermomechanical response of an Ni–Ti–Cr shape-memory alloy is investigated at various initial temperatures, over a wide range of strain rates, using an Instron hydraulic testing machine and one of the modified split-Hopkinson-bar systems at the Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials, University of California, San Diego. The transition stress for the stress-induced martensite formation is observed to be quite sensitive to the initial deformation temperature, but the yield stress of the resulting martensite is not. The linear transition stress–temperature relation with a slope of 8.5?MPa?K^?1, obtained in a quasistatic loading regime, seems to remain valid for strain rates up to 500–700?s^?1. The transition stress and the yield stress of the stress-induced martensite show strain-rate sensitivity, increasing monotonically with increasing strain rate. There exists a certain critical strain rate at which the transition stress equals the yield stress of the material. This critical strain rate determines the material's deformation behaviour; the material deforms by the formation of stress-induced martensites and their subsequent yielding, when the strain rate is less than this critical value, and through dislocation-induced plastic slip of the parent austenite, when the strain rate exceeds the critical value. It appears that the critical strain rate increases slightly with decreasing initial temperature.     

Strong electroweak phase transitions in the Standard Model with a singlet

It is well known that the electroweak phase transition (EWPhT) in extensions of the Standard Model with one real scalar singlet can be first-order for realistic values of the Higgs mass. We revisit this scenario with the most general renormalizable scalar potential systematically identifying all regions in parameter space that develop, due to tree-level dynamics, a potential barrier at the critical temperature that is strong enough to avoid sphaleron wash-out of the baryon asymmetry. Such strong EWPhTs allow for a simple mean-field approximation and an analytic treatment of the free-energy that leads to very good theoretical control and understanding of the different mechanisms that can make the transition strong. We identify a new realization of such mechanism, based on a flat direction developing at the critical temperature, which could operate in other models. Finally, we discuss in detail some special cases of the model performing a numerical calculation of the one-loop free-energy that improves over the mean-field approximation and confirms the analytical expectations.     

Electric field induced phase transition in first order ferroelectrics with large zero point energy

An electric field induced phase transition in first order ferroelectrics with very large zero point energy is studied on the framework of the effective field approach. It is well known that when the zero point energy of a system is relatively large, the ferroelectric behaviour is depressed and no phase transition can be observed. The critical value Ω_cf of zero point energy for whom the phase transition disappears turns out to be dependant on the order of transition. For zero point energies larger than this critical value, a phase transition may be induced applying an external electric field. This temperature dependence of the induced polarization shows a discontinuous step when the applied electric field is weak, but becoming a continuous one at a strong applied electric field. Another critical value of zero point energy Ω_cp>Ω_cf is deduced for which no phase transition at all can be attained.     

Bootstrap Percolation and Kinetically Constrained Models on Hyperbolic Lattices

We study bootstrap percolation (BP) on hyperbolic lattices obtained by regular tilings of the hyperbolic plane. Our work is motivated by the connection between the BP transition and the dynamical transition of kinetically constrained models, which are in turn relevant for the study of glass and jamming transitions. We show that for generic tilings there exists a BP transition at a nontrivial critical density, 0<ρ _c <1. Thus, despite the presence of loops on all length scales in hyperbolic lattices, the behavior is very different from that on Euclidean lattices where the critical density is either zero or one. Furthermore, we show that the transition has a mixed character since it is discontinuous but characterized by a diverging correlation length, similarly to what happens on Bethe lattices and random graphs of constant connectivity.     

Cluster dynamical mean field theory of the Mott transition

We address the nature of the Mott transition in the Hubbard model at half-filling using cluster dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). We compare cluster-DMFT results with those of single-site DMFT. We show that inclusion of the short-range correlations on top of the on-site correlations does not change the order of the transition between the paramagnetic metal and the paramagnetic Mott insulator, which remains first order. However, the short range correlations reduce substantially the critical U and modify the shape of the transition lines. Moreover, they lead to very different physical properties of the metallic and insulating phases near the transition point. Approaching the transition from the metallic side, we find an anomalous metallic state with very low coherence scale. The insulating state is characterized by the narrow Mott gap with pronounced peaks at the gap edge.     

Incompressible paired hall state, stripe order, and the composite fermion liquid phase in half-filled landau levels

We consider the two lowest Landau levels at half filling. In the higher Landau level (nu = 5/2), we find a first-order phase transition separating a compressible striped phase from a paired quantum Hall state, which is identified as the Moore-Read state. The critical point is very near the Coulomb potential and the transition can be driven by increasing the width of the electron layer. We find a much weaker transition (either second-order or a crossover) from pairing to the composite fermion Fermi-liquid behavior. A very similar picture is obtained for the lowest Landau level, but the transition point is not near the Coulomb potential.     

Monte Carlo simulation of the three-dimensional Potts model

The phase transition of the three-dimensional 3-state Potts model at zero field is investigated by a careful Monte Carlo analysis. The transition is found to be of first order. Fluctuations appear to be very strong and critical exponents can be defined with reasonable accuracy. The results are compared with those of the 4-state Potts model.     

Anomalous behaviour of the proton spin-lattice relaxation time near the phase transition of the layered antiferroelectric squaric acid

The temperature dependence of the proton spin-lattice relaxation time has been measured at 51, 70 and 300 MHz by different pulse sequences. Besides a strongly frequency dependent background relaxation rate, a frequency independent critical relaxation rate could be resolved particularly in a broad temperature interval above T_c. The temperature dependence of the critical relaxation rate could not be represented by a power law with a single exponent. Rather it most favourably could be fitted by a logarithmic law. The results are discussed with respect to the phase transition mechanism of squaric acid.     

Scaling of geometric phases close to the quantum phase transition in the XY spin chain

We show that the geometric phase of the ground state in the XY model obeys scaling behavior in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition. In particular we find that the geometric phase is nonanalytical and its derivative with respect to the field strength diverges at the critical magnetic field. Furthermore, the universality in the critical properties of the geometric phase in a family of models is verified. In addition, since the quantum phase transition occurs at a level crossing or avoided level crossing and these level structures can be captured by the Berry curvature, the established relation between the geometric phase and quantum phase transitions is not a specific property of the XY model, but a very general result of many-body systems.     

L-mode to H-mode transition triggered by sawtooth-induced heat flux in EAST

H-modes induced by sawtooth events can be often observed in discharges with marginal auxiliary power injection in EAST. Poloidal flow shear at the very plasma edge, increasing ∼25% up to the threshold value, is observed just before the L-H transition by means of a fast reciprocating probe array in EAST. This suddenly risen poloidal flow shear, caused by the increased turbulent driven Reynolds force, is motived by the heat pulse originally released by a sawtooth crash at the plasma core. Associated with the critical poloidal flow shear, the local turbulent decorrelation rate increases significantly. The increased turbulent decorrelation rate compensated by nonlinear energy transfer rate from the turbulence to the low-frequency shear flows, exceeding the turbulence energy input rate, is sustained for several hundred microseconds till the turbulence quench happening.     

The two-dimensional liquid-vapor coexistence line of methane adsorbed on graphite

We measured the specific heat of two-dimensional films of CH₄ adsorbed on graphite for several coverages and we observed broad peaks at the liquid-vapor transition. The critical temperature is estimated to be 70 ± 1 K, somewhat lower than reported in previous measurements. At intermediate coverages the liquid-vapor boundary is very flat indicating that it could be described by a 2D Ising model. We measured also for some coverages the triple temperature at 56.2 K and the commensurate-incommensurate transition at about 50 K, both in reasonable agreement with previous measurements.     

Shear thickening and migration in granular suspensions

We study the emergence of shear thickening in dense suspensions of non-Brownian particles. We combine local velocity and concentration measurements using magnetic resonance imaging with macroscopic rheometry experiments. In steady state, we observe that the material is heterogeneous, and we find that the local rheology presents a continuous transition at low shear rate from a viscous to a shear thickening, Bagnoldian, behavior with shear stresses proportional to the shear rate squared, as predicted by a scaling analysis. We show that the heterogeneity results from an unexpectedly fast migration of grains, which we attribute to the emergence of the Bagnoldian rheology. The migration process is observed to be accompanied by macroscopic transient discontinuous shear thickening, which is consequently not an intrinsic property of granular suspensions.     

环氧树脂高温分子链松弛与玻璃化转变特性

环氧树脂是电力设备中广泛应用的一种绝缘材料, 其介电性能受到分子链运动特性的影响. 本文制备了直径为50 mm、厚度为1 mm的环氧树脂试样, 采用差示扫描量热仪和宽频介电谱仪测试了环氧树脂的玻璃化转变温度和介电特性. 实验结果表明, 环氧树脂的玻璃化转变温度为105 ℃, 在玻璃化转变温度以上, 高频段出现了由分子链段运动造成的松弛过程, 低频段出现了由载流子在材料中迁移造成的直流电导过程. 发现环氧树脂不同尺寸分子链段的松弛时间不同, 其松弛时间分布较宽, 计算得到了分子链段在不同温度下的松弛时间分布特性. 分子链松弛峰频率和直流电导随温度的变化关系服从Vogel-Tammann-Fulcher公式. 拟合实验结果得到分子链松弛峰频率和直流电导的Vogel温度和强度系数. 由Vogel温度计算得到了与差示扫描量热测试结果一致的玻璃化转变温度, 约为102 ℃. 结果表明玻璃化转变温度以上环氧树脂的自由体积增大, 分子链段有足够的空间来响应外电场从而产生分子链松弛极化, 载流子有足够的能量在材料中迁移形成电导.     

EuMo_6S_8的超导性、电荷密度波和磁性间的相互影响

我们已观察到在120K时Eu_(1.2)Mo_6S_8的热容量、电阻及霍尔系数的反常规象,并确定为一种马氏体结构的相变特征;这种马氏体结构相变产生于一种模糊的电荷密度波的转变,后者在部分费米面上造成能隙。 费米面出现部分能隙说明了在常压下直10mK不出现超导的原因。高压抑制了电荷密度波的转变。从费米面上状态的超导性和这种转变相互竞争出发,计算得到的超导转变温度对压力的依赖性,与实验结果非常一致。在低温时,临界场随温度的变化非常强烈,这种变化已用Jaccarino-Peter补偿效应进行了解释。在高压时与理论的预言比较,EuMo_6S_8的临界场非常高,至少与现有任何的超导体一样高。压力为14Kbar、温度低于2K时在10T到15T范围内已观察到低场下电阻态到超导态的转变,这就是称之为场诱导超导性的一种新效应。     

Tunable striped-patterns by lattice anisotropy and magnetic impurities in d-wave superconductors

The pattern transition induced by lattice anisotropy (LA) and magnetic impurities is computationally observed in near-optimally doped d-wave superconductors (DSCs). For the single impurity case, a transition from the checkerboard to stripe pattern can be induced by a very weak LA. For the two-impurity case, an orientation transition from the longitudinal stripe into transverse pattern is observed when the LA ratio reaches some critical value. At the critical point, the structures around impurities can restore checkerboard patterns. These results indicate that the formation of stripes in DSCs might induced by various effects, and could be tunable experimentally.