Coexistence of phases in Ising ferromagnets

We derive a new inequality for ferromagnetic Ising spin systems and then use it to obtain information about the number of phases which can coexist in such systems. We show in particular that for even interactions only two phases (up and down magnetization) can coexist below the critical temperature at zero magnetic field (h=0) whenever the energy is a continuous function of the temperature. We also prove that the derivatives with respect toh ath=0 of the odd correlation functions (triplet,...) diverge like the susceptibility in the vicinity of the critical temperature (at least for pair interactions). Our results also apply to higher order Ising spins (not just spin 1/2).Research supported in part by NSF Grant #MPS 75-20638 and USAFOR Grant #73-2430D.John Simon Guggenheim Fellow.     

Two-dimensional periodic frustrated ising models in a transverse field

We investigate the interplay of classical degeneracy and quantum dynamics in a range of periodic frustrated transverse field Ising systems at zero temperature. We find that such dynamics can lead to unusual ordered phases and phase transitions or to a quantum spin liquid (cooperative paramagnetic) phase as in the triangular and kagome lattice antiferromagnets, respectively. For the latter, we further predict passage to a bond-ordered phase followed by a critical phase as the field is tilted. These systems also provide exact realizations of quantum dimer models introduced in studies of high temperature superconductivity.     

Notes on infinite layer quantum Hall systems

We study the fractional quantum Hall effect in three-dimensional systems consisting of infinitely many stacked two-dimensional electron gases placed in transverse magnetic fields. This limit introduces new features into the bulk physics such as quasiparticles with non-trivial internal structure, irrational braiding phases, and the necessity of a boundary hierarchy construction for interlayer correlated states. The bulk states host a family of surface phases obtained by hybridizing the edge states in each layer. We analyze the surface conduction in these phases by means of sum rule and renormalization group arguments and by explicit computations at weak tunneling in the presence of disorder. We find that in cases where the interlayer electron tunneling is not relevant in the clean limit, the surface phases are chiral semi-metals that conduct only in the presence of disorder or at finite temperature. We show that this class of problems which are naturally formulated as interacting bosonic theories can be fermionized by a general technique that could prove useful in the solution of such “one and a half” dimensional problems.     

Violation of the zeroth law of thermodynamics in systems with negative specific heat

We show that systems with negative specific heat can violate the zeroth law of thermodynamics. By both numerical simulations and by using exact expressions for free energy and microcanonical entropy, it is shown that if two systems with the same intensive parameters but with negative specific heat are thermally coupled, they undergo a process in which the total entropy increases irreversibly. The final equilibrium is such that two phases appear; that is, the subsystems have different magnetizations and internal energies at temperatures which are equal in both systems, but that can be different from the initial temperature.     

Perfluorinated surfactants as model charged systems for understanding the effect of confinement on proton transport and water mobility in fuel cell membranes. A study by QENS

We have investigated the dynamical properties of water confined in mesomorphous phases of perfluorinated sulfonic surfactants. These systems mimic the physico-chemical properties of the perfluorinated Nafion membranes which are used as electrolyte in fuel cells. As the surfactants offer the advantage to self-assemble in well defined organized phases (such as hexagonal and lamellar phases), they could be used as model charged systems to understand the structure-transport relationship in complex real materials. Indeed, the geometry as well as the typical confinement size can be easily controlled and tuned through water concentration and temperature. A QENS study of hexagonal and lamellar phases has been performed on both time-of-flight and backscattering spectrometers to cover a dynamic range from picoseconds to nanoseconds. Analysis of the data with localized translational diffusion models shows the existence of a strong confinement effect that depends on the geometry. Typical confinement sizes and diffusion coefficients can be extracted from the QENS analysis and compared to the Nafion membrane.     

Optical Bragg,atomic Bragg and cavity QED detections of quantum phases and excitation spectra of ultracold atoms in bipartite and frustrated optical lattices

Ultracold atoms loaded on optical lattices can provide unprecedented experimental systems for the quantum simulations and manipulations of many quantum phases and quantum phase transitions between these phases. However, so far, how to detect these quantum phases and phase transitions effectively remains an outstanding challenge. In this paper, we will develop a systematic and unified theory of using the optical Bragg scattering, atomic Bragg scattering or cavity QED to detect the ground state and the excitation spectrum of many quantum phases of interacting bosons loaded in bipartite and frustrated optical lattices. The physically measurable quantities of the three experiments are the light scattering cross sections, the atom scattered clouds and the cavity leaking photons respectively. We show that the two photon Raman transition processes in the three detection methods not only couple to the density order parameter, but also the valence bond order parameter due to the hopping of the bosons on the lattice. This valence bond order coupling is very sensitive to any superfluid order or any valence bond (VB) order in the quantum phases to be probed. These quantum phases include not only the well-known superfluid and Mott insulating phases, but also other important phases such as various kinds of charge density waves (CDW), valence bond solids (VBS), and CDW-VBS phases with both CDW and VBS orders unique to frustrated lattices, and also various kinds of supersolids. We analyze respectively the experimental conditions of the three detection methods to probe these various quantum phases and their corresponding excitation spectra. We also address the effects of a finite temperature and a harmonic trap. We contrast the three scattering methods with recent in situ measurements inside a harmonic trap and argue that the two kinds of measurements are complementary to each other. The combination of both kinds of detection methods could be used to match the combination of Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), the Angle Resolved Photo Emission spectroscopy (ARPES) and neutron scattering in condensed matter systems, therefore achieve the putative goals of quantum simulations     

Structure-Induced Phase Transitions in Classic Systems of Dipoles: Unequal Kagome,Truncated Square,and Prismatic Pentagonal Lattices

Several magnetic compounds owe their properties to the particular nature of the dipole–dipole interaction. Changes induced in their structure will vary the total interaction energy in nontrivial fashions. In the present work, systems of identical particles possessing dipole moments arranged on various types of 2D structures are studied. By continuously varying a structural parameter, the state of minimum energy will favor distinct dipole configurations, giving rise to different phases. The ultimate goal is to quantitatively address the relation existing between the minimum possible energy for different systems of classic dipoles and the concomitant dipole phases that appear. The systems of dipoles considered here are studied in detail for the first time. With the exploration, new light will be shed on the existence of structural phase transitions in classical systems even at zero temperature, changes induced by the variation of a continuous parameter, and not the temperature, that resemble the ones occurring in quantum phase transitions.     

Quantum phase transitions in antiferromagnets and superfluids

We present a general introduction to the non-zero temperature dynamic and transport properties of low-dimensional systems near a quantum phase transition. Basic results are reviewed in the context of experiments on the spin-ladder compounds, insulating two-dimensional antiferromagnets, and double-layer quantum Hall systems. Recent large N computations on an extended t–J model (Phys. Rev. Lett. 83 (1999) 3916) motivate a global scenario of the quantum phases and transitions in the high-temperature superconductors, and connections are made to numerous experiments.     

Large exchange bias after zero-field cooling from an unmagnetized state

Exchange bias (EB) is usually observed in systems with an interface between different magnetic phases after field cooling. Here we report an unusual phenomenon in which a large EB can be observed in Ni-Mn-In bulk alloys after zero-field cooling from an unmagnetized state. We propose that this is related to the newly formed interface between different magnetic phases during the initial magnetization process. The magnetic unidirectional anisotropy, which is the origin of the EB effect, can be created isothermally below the blocking temperature.     

纳米尺度下Sm-Co合金体系中相组成与相稳定性的研究

建立了纳米晶合金相的热力学模型,可定量描述纳米尺度下合金体系中化合物相的热力学性质,并预测合金相的稳定性及其转变规律.利用该模型全面计算了纳米晶Sm-Co合金体系中各化合物相在不同晶粒尺寸下的摩尔吉布斯自由能随温度的变化关系,预测了纳米尺度下Sm-Co合金体系中各物相的相对稳定性及转变规律.模型预测结果示出,在室温附近,随着纳米晶粒尺寸的减小,某些纳米晶合金相的摩尔吉布斯自由能将由负值变为正值,预示着将向其他更稳定的纳米晶合金相转变,这是与传统粗晶材料中合金相的稳定性仅依赖于温度条件而完全不同的纳米晶合金 关键词： 纳米晶材料热力学 Sm-Co合金 相稳定性 相变     

Evidence for a finite-temperature phase transition in a bilayer quantum Hall system

We study the Josephson-like interlayer tunneling signature of the strongly correlated nuT=1 quantum Hall phase in bilayer two-dimensional electron systems as a function of the layer separation, temperature, and interlayer charge imbalance. Our results offer strong evidence that a finite temperature phase transition separates the interlayer coherent phase from incoherent phases which lack strong interlayer correlations. The transition temperature is dependent on both the layer spacing and charge imbalance between the layers.     

Domain growth in ternary fluids: A level set approach

We analyze phase separation in ternary systems in the asymptotic hydrodynamic regime when the volume fractions and concentrations are constant. The multiphase Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a level set method. A new projection method was developed to treat multiple junctions for systems with more than two phases. It is found that surface tension ratios can alter the growth mechanism of a minority phase in the presence of two majority phases. When the minority phase wets the interface of the majority phases the domain growth rate of all three phases is initially similar to that of a symmetric binary fluid but slows down at later times.     

Herringbone and triangular patterns of dislocations in Ag, Au, and AgAu alloy films on Ru(0 0 0 1)

We have studied the dislocation structures that occur in films of Ag, Au, and Ag_0.5Au_0.5 alloy on a Ru(0 0 0 1) substrate. Monolayer (ML) films form herringbone phases while films two or more layers thick contain triangular patterns of dislocations. We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) to determine how the film composition affects the structure and periodicity of these ordered structures. One layer of Ag forms two different herringbone phases depending on the exact Ag coverage and temperature. Low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM) establishes that a reversible, first-order phase transition occurs between these two phases at a certain temperature. We critically compare our 1 ML Ag structures to conflicting results from an X-ray scattering study [H. Zajonz et al., Phys. Rev. B 67 (2003) 155417]. Unlike Ag, the herringbone phases of Au and AgAu alloy are independent of the exact film coverage. For two layer films in all three systems, none of the dislocations in the triangular networks thread into the second film layer. In all three systems, the in-plane atomic spacing of the second film layer is nearly the same as in the bulk. Film composition does, however, affect the details of the two layer structures. Ag and Au films form interconnected networks of dislocations, which we refer to as “trigons.” In 2 ML AgAu alloy, the dislocations form a different triangular network that shares features of both trigon and moiré structures. Yet another well-ordered structure, with square symmetry, forms at the boundaries of translational trigon domains in 2 ML Ag films but not in Au films.     

Late stage, non-equilibrium dynamics in the dipolar Ising model

Magnetic domain structures are a fascinating area of study with interest deriving both from technological applications and fundamental scientific questions. The nature of the striped magnetic phases observed in ultra-thin films is one such intriguing system. The non-equilibrium dynamics of such systems as they evolve toward equilibrium has only recently become an area of interest and previous work on model systems showed evidence of complex, slow dynamics with glass-like properties as the stripes order mesoscopically. To aid in the characterization of the observed phases and the nature of the transitions observed in model systems we have developed an efficient method for identifying clusters or domains in the spin system, where the clusters are based on the stripe orientation. Thus we are able to track the growth and decay of such clusters of stripes in a Monte Carlo simulation and observe directly the nature of the slow dynamics. We have applied this method to consider the growth and decay of ordered domains after a quench from a saturated magnetic state to temperatures near and well below the critical temperature in the 2D dipolar Ising model. We discuss our method of identifying stripe domains or clusters of stripes within this model and present the results of our investigations.     

Metric-Space Approach for Distinguishing Quantum Phase Transitions in Spin-Imbalanced Systems

Metric spaces are characterized by distances between pairs of elements. Systems that are physically similar are expected to present smaller distances (between their densities, wave functions, and potentials) than systems that present different physical behaviors. For this reason, metric spaces are good candidates for probing quantum phase transitions, since they could identify regimes of distinct phases. Here, we apply metric space analysis to explore the transitions between the several phases in spin-imbalanced systems. In particular, we investigate the so-called FFLO (Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov) phase, which is an intriguing phenomenon in which superconductivity and magnetism coexist in the same material. This is expected to appear for example in attractive fermionic systems with spin-imbalanced populations, due to the internal polarization produced by the imbalance. The transition between FFLO phase (superconducting phase) and the normal phase (non-superconducting) and their boundaries have been subject of discussion in recent years. We consider the Hubbard model in the attractive regime for which density matrix renormalization group calculations allow us to obtain the exact density function of the system. We then analyze the exact density distances as a function of the polarization. We find that our distances display signatures of the distinct quantum phases in spin-imbalanced fermionic systems: with respect to a central reference polarization, systems without FFLO present a very symmetric behavior, while systems with phase transitions are asymmetric.     

Spin liquid phases for spin-1 systems on the triangular lattice

Motivated by recent experiments on material Ba3NiSb2O9, we propose two novel spin liquid phases (A and B) for spin-1 systems on a triangular lattice. At the mean field level, both spin liquid phases have gapless fermionic spinon excitations with quadratic band touching; thus, in both phases the spin susceptibility and γ=C(v)/T saturate to a constant at zero temperature, which are consistent with the experimental results on Ba3NiSb2O9. On the lattice scale, these spin liquid phases have Sp(4)~SO(5) gauge fluctuation, while in the long wavelength limit this Sp(4) gauge symmetry is broken down to U(1)×Z(2) in the type A spin liquid phase, and broken down to Z(4) in the type B phase. We also demonstrate that the A phase is the parent state of the ferroquadrupole state, nematic state, and the noncollinear spin density wave state.     

Wetting in Multiphase Systems with Complex Geometries

We address the shape and distribution of two-phase systems embedded within a third phase. To motivate this work, we begin by describing transmission electron microscopy observations of the configurations adopted by the solid and vapor phases of lead when these are confined together within a silicon cavity. We then perform analytical calculations of the stability of various possible configurations of two-phase systems confined in a cubic-shaped cavity. The most stable configurations are a function of the volume ratio of the two phases in the cavity, and of a parameter describing the wetting behavior in the three-phase system. The wealth of configurations obtained for embedded solid/fluid or condensed/fluid phases within a solid cavity is presented. Wetting anisotropy on the walls of the cavity, and the faceted or isotropic character of the interface between the two embedded phases, are shown to be physical parameters that determine the number of possible stable configurations.     

A chaotic masking scheme by using synchronized chaotic systems

We present a new chaotic masking scheme by using synchronized chaotic systems. In this method, synchronization and message transmission phases are separated, and while synchronization is achieved in the synchronization phases, the message is only sent in message transmission phases. We show that if synchronization is achieved exponentially fast, then under certain conditions any message of any length could be transmitted and successfully recovered provided that the synchronization length is sufficiently long. We also show that the proposed scheme is robust with respect to noise and parameter mismatch under some mild conditions.     

Weakly interacting Bose mixtures at finite temperature

Motivated by the recent experiments on Bose–Einstein mixtures with tunable interactions we study repulsive weakly interacting Bose mixtures at finite temperature. We obtain phase diagrams using Hartree–Fock theory which are directly applicable to experimentally trapped systems. Almost all features of the diagrams can be characterized using simple physical insights. Our work reveals two surprising effects which are dissimilar to a system at zero temperature. First of all, no pure phases exist, that is, at each point in the trap, particles of both species are always present. Second, even for very weak interspecies repulsion when full mixing is expected, condensate particles of both species may be present in a trap without them being mixed.