The deconfining phase transition in lattice quantum chromodynamics

We present a large-scale Monte Carlo calculation of the deconfining phase transition temperature in lattice quantum chromodynamics without fermions. Using the Wilson action, the transition temperature as a function of the lattice couplingg is consistent with scaling behavior dictated by the perturbativeα function for 6/g²>6.15. Speaker at the conference; on leave from CRIP, Budapest.     

Fidelity spectrum: A tool to probe the property of a quantum phase

Fidelity measures the similarity between two states and is widely adapted by the condensed matter community as a probe of quantum phase transitions in many-body systems. Despite its success in witnessing quantum critical points,information about the fine structure of a quantum phase one can get from this approach is still limited. Here, we proposed a scheme called fidelity spectrum. By studying the fidelity spectrum, one can obtain information about the characteristics of a phase. In particular, we investigated the spectra in the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model and the twodimensional Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice. It was found that the spectra have qualitative differences in the critical and non-critical regions of the two models. From the distributions of them, the dominating k modes in a particular phase could also be captured.     

Driven spin wave modes in XY ferromagnet: non-equilibrium phase transition

The dynamical responses of XY ferromagnet driven by linearly polarised propagating and standing magnetic field wave have been studied by Monte Carlo simulation in three dimensions. In the case of propagating magnetic field wave (with specified amplitude, frequency and the wavelength), the low temperature dynamical mode is a propagating spin wave and the system becomes structureless (or random) in the high temperature. A dynamical symmetry breaking phase transition is observed at a finite (non-zero) temperature. This symmetry breaking is confirmed by studying the statistical distribution of the angle of the spin vector. The dynamic non-equilibrium transition temperature was found to decrease as the amplitude of the propagating magnetic field wave increased. A comprehensive phase boundary is drawn in the plane formed by temperature and amplitude of propagating field wave. The phase boundary was observed to shrink (in the low temperature side) for longer wavelength of the propagating magnetic wave. In the case of standing magnetic field wave, the low temperature excitation is a standing spin wave which becomes structureless (or random) in the high temperature. Here also, like the case of propagating magnetic wave, a dynamical symmetry breaking non-equilibrium phase transition was observed. A comprehensive phase boundary was drawn. Unlike the case of propagating magnetic wave, the phase boundary does not show any systematic variation with the wavelength of the standing magnetic field wave. In the limit of vanishingly small amplitude of the field, the phase boundaries approach the recent Monte Carlo estimate of equilibrium transition temperature.     

Entanglement and quantum phase transition in the Heisenberg-Ising model

We use the quantum renormalization-group(QRG) method to study the entanglement and quantum phase transition(QPT) in the one-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg-Ising model [Lieb E,Schultz T and Mattis D 1961 Ann.Phys.(N.Y.) 16 407].We find the quantum phase boundary of this model by investigating the evolution of concurrence in terms of QRG iterations.We also investigate the scaling behavior of the system close to the quantum critical point,which shows that the minimum value of the first derivative of concurrence and the position of the minimum scale with an exponent of the system size.Also,the first derivative of concurrence between two blocks diverges at the quantum critical point,which is directly associated with the divergence of the correlation length.     

应用多尺度纠缠重整化算法研究量子自旋系统的量子相变和基态纠缠

应用多尺度纠缠重整化算法模拟自旋为1/2的一维量子XYX模型,通过计算局域序参量和度量纠缠的单缠节(one-tangle)、并发纠缠(concurrence)和纠缠比率R,确定系统的基态相图和纠缠相图.发现系统的纠缠相图比基态相图包含更多的物理信息.另外,从局域序参量和能隙与外磁场的标度关系,萃取出与磁化率和关联长度有关的临界指数β和v.     

Quantum phase transition in the generalized single-mode superradiant model

In this paper we reveal a zero-temperature quantum phase transition for the single-mode superradiant model with the form A² from the normal to superradiant phase by mean of the Holstein-Primakoff transformation. In the thermodynamic limit, in which the numbers of atoms becomes infinite, the ground state energy and corresponding wavefunctions of both the normal and superradiant phases are obtained and therefore the scaling behavior near the critical transition point is derived.     

Mixed symmetry states and electromagnetic transition in the N=Z nucleus ~(28)Si

The interacting boson model with isospin (IBM-3) has been used to study mixed symmetry states and electromagnetic transitions at low-lying states for a ²⁸Si nucleus. The theoretical calculations show that the 2₄⁺ state is the lowest mixed symmetry state in ²⁸Si and the 4₃⁺ state is also a mixed symmetry state.     

Modeling of exchange bias in the antiferromagnetic (core)/ferromagnetic (shell) nanoparticles with specialized shapes

Zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) hysteresis loops of egg- and ellipsoid-shaped nanoparticles with inverted ferromagnetic (FM)-antiferromagnetic (AFM) core-shell morphologies are simulated using a modified Monte Carlo method, which takes into account both the thermal fluctuations and energy barriers during the rotation of spin. Pronounced exchange bias (EB) fields and reduced coercivities are obtained in the FC hysteresis loops. The analysis of the microscopic spin configurations allows us to conclude that the magnetization reversal occurs by means of the nucleation process during both the ZFC and FC hysteresis branches. The nucleation takes place in the form of “sparks” resulting from the energy competition and the morphology of the nanoparticle. The appearance of EB in the FC hysteresis loops is only dependent on that the movements of “sparks” driven by magnetic field at both branches of hysteresis loops are not along the same axis, which is independent of the strength of AFM anisotropy. The tilt of “spark” movement with respect to the symmetric axis implies the existence of additional unidirectional anisotropy at the AFM/FM interfaces as a consequence of the surplus magnetization in the AFM core, which is the commonly accepted origin of EB. Our simulations allow us to clarify the microscopic mechanisms of the observed EB behavior, not accessible in experiments.     

Finite-size effects and phase transition in the three-dimensional three-state Potts model

The three-state Potts model in three dimensions is studied by Monte Carlo and finite-size scaling techniques. Using a histogram method recently proposed by Ferrenberg and Swendsen, the finite-size dependence for the maximum of the specific heat is found to scale with the volume of the system, indicating that the phase transition is of first order. The value of the latent heat per spin and the correlation length at the transition are estimated.     

Second- to first-order transition in two coupled antiferromagnetic rings

We numerically investigate an S=1/2 spin model, in which two dimerized antiferromagnetic rings interact with each other ferromagnetically. It is shown that the order of the magnetoelastic transition is strongly affected by the interring coupling J_⊥ and there may exist a critical J_⊥^* dividing the first-order transition and the continuous transition.     

Phase transitions in a driven lattice gas at two temperatures

By suitably combining the uniformly driven lattice gas and the two-temperature kinetic Ising model, we obtain a generalized model that allows us to probe a variety of nonequilibrium phase transitions, including a type not previously observed. This new type of transition involves longitudinally ordered steady states, which are phase-segragated states with interface normalsparallel to the drive. Using computer simulations on a two-dimensional lattice gas, we map out the structure of the phase diagram, and the nature of the transitions, in the three-dimensional space of the drive and the two temperatures. While recovering anticipated results in most cases, we find one surprise, namely, that the transition from disorder to longitudinal order is continuous. Unless it turns out to be very weakly first order, this result is inconsistent with the expectation of field-theoretic renormalization group calculations.     

Finite-size effects at critical points with anisotropic correlations: Phenomenological scaling theory and Monte Carlo simulations

Various thermal equilibrium and nonequilibrium phase transitions exist where the correlation lengths in different lattice directions diverge with different exponentsv ,v : uniaxial Lifshitz points, the Kawasaki spin exchange model driven by an electric field, etc. An extension of finite-size scaling concepts to such anisotropic situations is proposed, including a discussion of (generalized) rectangular geometries, with linear dimensionL in the special direction and linear dimensionsL in all other directions. The related shape effects forL L but isotropic critical points are also discussed. Particular attention is paid to the case where the generalized hyperscaling relationv +(d–1)v =+2 does not hold. As a test of these ideas, a Monte Carlo simulation study for shape effects at isotropic critical point in the two-dimensional Ising model is presented, considering subsystems of a 1024x1024 square lattice at criticality.Visiting Supercomputer Senior Scientist at Rutgers University.     

Brownian dynamics of colloidal hard spheres. 3. Extended investigations at the phase transition regime

The phase behavior of hard-sphere colloidal systems in the volume fraction regime 0.46<<0.64 has been studied in detail using a new and efficient algorithm to treat the nonanalytic interaction pair potential. In particular the influence of various initial configurations such as purely random and facecentered cubic (FCC) has been investigated, and former simulations have been extended toward much longer time scales. Thus, in the case of randomly initiated systems, crystallization could be suppressed for a comparably long time (500 _R , where _R is the structural relaxation time) where the system remained in a metastable glassy state. The concentration dependence of the long-time self-diffusion coefficients of these systems has been analyzed according to free volume theory (Doolittle equation). Numerical data fit excellently to the theoretical predictions, and the volume fraction of zero particle mobility was found close to the expected value of random close packing. In case of the FCC initiated systems, samples remained crystalline within the simulated evolution time of 500 _R if their volume fraction was above the predicted freezing transition _F = 0.494, whereas at lower concentrations rapid melting into a fluidlike disordered state is observed. It should be noted that this algorithm, which neglects higher-order correlations, considering only direct pair interactions, nevertheless yields the correct hard-sphere crystallization phase behavior as predicted in the literature.     

Nucleus size and Zeldovich factor in two-dimensional nucleation at the Kossel crystal (0 0 1) surface

A Monte Carlo simulation method to determine the growth probability of two-dimensional clusters on the Kossel (0 0 1) surface is described. From this growth probability the nucleus size and the Zeldovich factor for two-dimensional nucleation were obtained. For low supersaturations the Gibbs-Thomson equation describes the supersaturation dependency of the nucleus size very well. At higher supersaturations a deviation from the predicted nucleus sizes is observed. This is mainly due to the size dependence of the apparent specific step free energy and/or the shape factor of the nucleus. A small systematic deviation between the theoretical and actual growth probability is observed and explained.     

A dynamical test of phase transition order: New things in old places or old wine in new bottles

We first discuss nonlinear aspects of phase transition theory applied to a particular liquid crystal phase transition. A simple derivation is given to show how two coupled Goldstone modes (one appearing as gauge fluctuations of the ordered phase) can force a phase transition, against all expectations, to take place discontinuously (theory of Halperin, Lubensky, and Ma)-but the discontinuity may be immeasurably small. Then, we describe a new dynamical test of phase transition order, developed by Cladiset al., that turns out to be more sensitive than x-ray diffraction and adiabatic calorimetry. Quantitative data found by this new method are in excellent agreement with the measurements of adiabatic calorimetry and x-ray diffraction as well as expectations implicit in the predictions of HLM.This is the text of an after-banquet talk given at the CNLS Workshop on the Dynamics of Concentrated Systems.     

Dynamical quantum phase transition in XY chains with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and XZY-YZX three-site interactions

We study the dynamical quantum phase transitions (DQPTs) in the $XY$ chains with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and the $XZY$-$YZX$ type of three-site interaction after a sudden quench. Both the models can be mapped to the spinless free fermion models by the Jordan-Wigner and Bogoliubov transformations with the form $H=\sum_{k}ǎrepsilon_{k}(\eta^{†}_{k}\eta_{k}-\frac{1}{2})$, where the quasiparticle excitation spectra $ǎrepsilon_{k}$ may be smaller than 0 for some $k$ and are asymmetrical ($ǎrepsilon_{k}\neqǎrepsilon_{-k}$). It is found that the factors of Loschmidt echo equal 1 for some $k$ corresponding to the quasiparticle excitation spectra of the pre-quench Hamiltonian satisfying $ǎrepsilon_{k}\cdotǎrepsilon_{-k}<0$, when the quench is from the gapless phase. By considering the quench from different ground states, we obtain the conditions for the occurrence of DQPTs for the general $XY$ chains with gapless phase, and find that the DQPTs may not occur in the quench across the quantum phase transitions regardless of whether the quench is from the gapless phase to gapped phase or from the gapped phase to gapless phase. This is different from the DQPTs in the case of quench from the gapped phase to gapped phase, in which the DQPTs will always appear. Moreover, we analyze the different reasons for the absence of DQPTs in the quench from the gapless phase and the gapped phase. The conclusion can also be extended to the general quantum spin chains.     

“Damage” in the low-temperature phase of the ±J spin glass in two to six dimensions

Indentical clones are made of configurations of the ±J spin glass at temperatures near and below the phase transition, and their damage is monitored as a function of temperature and time. Focal points with multiple bifurcations are found occurring near the onset of the phase transition temperature.