Metastability in spin-polarized Fermi gases

We study the role of particle transport and evaporation on the phase separation of an ultracold, spin-polarized atomic Fermi gas. We show that the previously observed deformation of the superfluid paired core is a result of evaporative depolarization of the superfluid due to a combination of enhanced evaporation at the center of the trap and the inhibition of spin transport at the normal-superfluid phase boundary. These factors contribute to a nonequilibrium jump in the chemical potentials at the phase boundary. Once formed, the deformed state is highly metastable, persisting for times of up to 2?s.     

Convective instabilities in spin-polarized gases

We study some peculiarities of spin polarized quantum gases hydrodynamics and proposed experiments in which, in a sense, the Pauli principle can be macroscopically observed. For example, we discuss in this context the original features of the Rayleigh-Bénard situation. A new magnetic convective instability (due to Stern-Gerlach force) is presented. A (very) brief survey of the interest of these quantum systems with regard to specific problems of non-linear hydrodynamics (pattern selection, bifurcations) is given.     

Spin waves in paramagnetic Boltzmann gases

As the temperature is lowered we get an interesting temperature region? _d?T?? ²/mr ₀ ² (where? _d is the quantum degeneracy temperature,m the mass of a gas molecule,r ₀ the radius of interparticle interaction) in which the thermal de Broglie wavelength Λ of a particle is considerably greater than its sizer ₀ though Λ turns out to be less than the mean interparticle distanceN ^?1/3?Λ?r ₀. Although the gas molecules obey the classical Boltzmann-Maxwell statistics the system as a whole begins to exhibit a larger number of essentially quantum macroscopic collective features. One of the most interesting and dramatic features is the possibility of propagation of weakly damped spin oscillations in spin-polarized gases (external magnetic field, optical pumping). Such oscillations can propagate both in the low-frequencyθτ?1 regime and the high frequencyθτ?1. The last case is highly non-trivial for a Boltzmann gas with a short range interaction between particles. The weakness of relaxation damping of spin modes implies that the degree of polarization is high enough 1>/|α|?|a|/Λ, whereα=(N ₊?N _?)N,a is the two-particles-wave scattering length. Under these conditions the spectrum of magnons has the form (Bashkin 1981, 1984; Lhuillier and Laloe 1982) 1 $$\omega = \Omega _H + \left( {{{K^2 \nu _{\rm T}^2 } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{K^2 \nu _{\rm T}^2 } {\Omega _{int} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\Omega _{int} }}} \right)\left( {{{1 - i} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{1 - i} {\Omega _{int} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\Omega _{int} }}\tau } \right), \Omega _{int} = {{ - 4\pi ahN\alpha } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{ - 4\pi ahN\alpha } m}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} m}, \nu _{\rm T}^2 = {T \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {T m}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} m}$$ where Ω _H is the Larmor precession frequency for spins in the magnetic fieldH. Collisionless Landau damping restricts the region of applicability of (1) with not too large wave vectorsKv _T?|Ω_int|. The existence of collective spin waves has been experimentally confirmed in NMR-experiments with gaseous atomic hydrogen H↑ (Johnsonet al 1984). The presence of undamped spin oscillations means automatically the existence of long range correlations for transverse magnetization. Such correlations decrease with the distance according to the power law 2 $$\delta _{ik} \left( r \right) = 2\left| a \right|\frac{{\left( {\beta N\alpha } \right)^2 }}{\gamma }\delta _{ik} $$ . Hereβ is the molecule magnetic moment. Spin waves being even damped can nevertheless reveal themselves atT?? ²/mr ₀ ² or when |α|?r ₀/Λ. The first experimental discovery or damped spin waves in gaseous³He↑ has been done in Nacheret al 1984. Oscillations of magnetization can also propagate in some condensed media such as liquid³He-⁴He solutions, semimagnetic semiconductors etc.     

Thermal equation of state for lattice Boltzmann gases

The Galilean invariance and the induced thermo-hydrodynamics of the lattice Boltzmann Bhatnagar--Gross--Krook model are proposed together with their rigorous theoretical background. From the viewpoint of group invariance, recovering the Galilean invariance for the isothermal lattice Boltzmann Bhatnagar--Gross--Krook equation (LBGKE) induces a new natural thermal-dynamical system, which is compatible with the elementary statistical thermodynamics.     

Many-body effects in spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gas

Many-body effects on the spin polarization are studied in an n channel inversion layer on Si (1 0 0) surface in a magnetic field parallel to the surface in random phase approximation. The spin polarization exhibits a discrete jump to a full polarization at the critical magnetic field in the low-density regime and the critical field is reduced considerably from that estimated by an extrapolation based on the zero-field susceptibility.     

Collective excitations of harmonically trapped ideal gases

We theoretically study the collective excitations of an ideal gas confined in an isotropic harmonic trap. We give an exact solution to the Boltzmann-Vlasov equation; as expected for a single-component system, the associated mode frequencies are integer multiples of the trapping frequency. We show that the expressions found by the scaling ansatz method are a special case of our solution. Our findings are most useful in case the trap contains more than one phase: we demonstrate how to obtain the oscillation frequencies in case an interface is present between the ideal gas and a different phase.     

Discretized Boltzmann equation: Lattice limit and non-Maxwellian gases

We continue the study of a discrete model of the Boltzmann equation, in which the spatial variable is replaced by a finite periodic lattice. Using a weak compactness criterion forL ₁, the existence of a lattice limit as the lattice spacing tends to zero is proved. The case of unbounded collision kernels (non-Maxwellian gases) is also treated.This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant no. ENG-75 15882.On leave from Mathematisches Institut der Universität München, Federal Republic of Germany     

Interface effects in spin-polarized metal/insulator layered structures

Recent advances in thin-film deposition techniques, such as molecular beam epitaxy and pulsed laser deposition, have allowed for the manufacture of heterostructures with nearly atomically abrupt interfaces. Although the bulk properties of the individual heterostructure components may be well-known, often the heterostructures exhibit novel and sometimes unexpected properties due to interface effects. At heterostructure interfaces, lattice structure, stoichiometry, interface electronic structure (bonding, interface states, etc.), and symmetry all conspire to produce behavior different from the bulk constituents. This review discusses why knowledge of the electronic structure and composition at the interfaces is pivotal to the understanding of the properties of heterostructures, particularly the (spin polarized) electronic transport in (magnetic) tunnel junctions.     

Collective modes of trapped gases at the BEC-BCS crossover

The collective mode frequencies in isotropic and deformed traps are calculated for general polytropic equation of states, P proportional n(gamma+1), and expressed in terms of gamma and the trap geometry. For molecular and standard Bose-Einstein condensates and Fermi gases near Feshbach resonances, the effective power gamma approximately 0.5-1.3 is calculated from Jastrow type wave-function ansatz, and from the crossover model of Leggett. The resulting mode frequencies are calculated for these phases around the BEC-BCS crossover.     

Interaction effects at crossings of spin-polarized one-dimensional subbands

We report conductance measurements of ballistic one-dimensional (1D) wires defined in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures in an in-plane magnetic field, B. When the Zeeman energy is equal to the 1D subband energy spacing, the spin-split subband N upward arrow intersects (N+1) downward arrow, where N is the index of the spin-degenerate 1D subband. At the crossing of N=1 upward arrow and N=2 downward arrow subbands, there is a spontaneous splitting giving rise to an additional conductance structure evolving from the 1.5(2e(2)/h) plateau. With further increase in B, the structure develops into a plateau and lowers to 2e(2)/h. With increasing temperature and magnetic field the structure shows characteristics of the 0.7 structure. Our results suggest that at low densities a spontaneous spin splitting occurs whenever two 1D subbands of opposite spins cross.     

Collective effects in atomic collisions

As a first step towards a collective treatment of charge flow in atomic collisions, we constructab initio potential energy surfaces as a function of the internuclear distance and the charge asymmetry between the two atomic species. To this end, the charge asymmetry off its stability value for a given nuclear separation is imposed upon the system by a suitable constraint within a two-centre Hartree-Fock calculation. Energy surfaces are presented for the systems LiH, HF, LiF, and CO. This representation offers a conceptual framework for visualising ionic or covalent molecular states and trajectories describing charge-changing collisions.     

Vertex corrections to the anomalous Hall effect in spin-polarized two-dimensional electron gases with a Rashba spin-orbit interaction

We study the effect of disorder on the intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity in a magnetic two-dimensional electron gas with a Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction. We find that anomalous Hall conductivity vanishes unless the lifetime is spin-dependent, similar to the spin Hall conductivity in the nonmagnetic system. In addition, we find that the spin Hall conductivity does not vanish in the presence of magnetic scatterers.     

Collective effects in grain boundary migration

In situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy is used to study grain boundary structure and kinetics in bicrystalline Au films at elevated temperature. We report the first direct evidence for the existence of cooperative atomic motion in grain boundary migration. Certain nanoregions at grain boundaries, typically involving up to several hundred atoms, are found to switch back and forth between neighboring grains. Reversible structural fluctuations at temperatures near 0.5T(m) and above have been discovered in [110] and [001] tilt, as well as in general grain boundaries.     

Collective effects from induced behaviour

We present a solvable model for describing quantitatively situations where the individual behaviour of agents in a group “percolates" to collective behaviour of the group as a whole as a result of mutual influence between the agents. Stability of collectives, reliability of complex devices, etc., can be approached in this way. Received 24 August 1999 and Received in final form 10 April 2000     

On the solution to the Boltzmann kinetic equation in calculating the heat flux in polyatomic gases

The solution of the linearized Wang Chang-Uhlenbeck equation using the Hanson-Morse model for calculating the heat flux in a plane molecular gas layer has been considered. General expressions (independent of the form and method for solving the kinetic equation) of the dependence of heat flux on the energy accommodation coefficients have been derived. The values of the temperature jump coefficient for specific gases have been obtained.