Quantum critical behavior of the cluster glass phase

In disordered itinerant magnets with arbitrary symmetry of the order parameter, the conventional quantum critical point between the ordered phase and the paramagnetic Fermi liquid (PMFL) is destroyed due to the formation of an intervening cluster glass (CG) phase. In this Letter, we discuss the quantum critical behavior at the CG-PMFL transition for systems with continuous symmetry. We show that fluctuations due to quantum Griffiths anomalies induce a first-order transition from the PMFL at T = 0, while at higher temperatures a conventional continuous transition is restored. This behavior is a generic consequence of enhanced non-Ohmic dissipation caused by a broad distribution of energy scales within any quantum Griffiths phase in itinerant systems.     

Spontaneous Magnetization in the Plane

The Arak process is a solvable stochastic process which generates coloured patterns in the plane. Patterns are made up of a variable number of random non-intersecting polygons. We show that the distribution of Arak process states is the Gibbs distribution of its states in thermodynamic equilibrium in the grand canonical ensemble. The sequence of Gibbs distributions forms a new model parameterised by temperature. We prove that there is a phase transition in this model, for some non-zero temperature. We illustrate this conclusion with simulation results. We measure the critical exponents of this off-lattice model and find they are consistent with those of the Ising model in two dimensions.     

On the statistics of a three-dimensional gas of long thin rods

A gas of long thin rods undergoes an order-disorder phase transition as a function of rod concentration. We have evaluated the critical concentration at which this first-order transition occurs using Onsager's hard-core interaction model. We obtain the nematic angular distribution function of rods in the ordered phase expanded in a series of Legendre polynomials.This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. GP-10536.     

Wang-Landau study of the critical behavior of the bimodal 3D random field Ising model

We apply the Wang-Landau method to the study of the critical behavior of the three-dimensional random field Ising model with a bimodal probability distribution. For high values of the random field intensity we find that the energy probability distribution at the transition temperature is double peaked, suggesting that the phase transition is of first order. On the other hand, the transition looks continuous for low values of the field intensity. In spite of the large sample to sample fluctuations observed, the double peak in the probability distribution is always present for high fields.     

Inhomogeneous Ising models with diagonal structure on a square lattice

We study inhomogeneous Ising models on a square lattice. The nearest neighbour couplings are allowed to be of arbitrary strength and sign such that the coupling distribution is translationally invariant in diagonal direction. We calculate the partition function and free energy for a random coupling distribution of finite period. The phase transition is universally of Ising type. The transition temperature is independent of specific details of the coupling distribution. In particular, unexpected results for the absence of a phase transition are derived. Special examples are considered in detail, phase diagrams and critical temperature are determined. We calculate ground state energy and ground state degeneracy or, equivalently, rest entropy for “pure” frustration models, i.e. models with couplings of fixed strength but arbitrary sign, which never show a phase transition at a finite temperature.     

Order parameter statistics in the critical quantum Ising chain

The probability distribution of the order parameter is expected to take a universal scaling form at a phase transition. In a spin system at a quantum critical point, this corresponds to universal statistics in the distribution of the total magnetization in the low-lying states. We obtain this scaling function exactly for the ground state and first excited state of the critical quantum Ising spin chain. This is achieved through a remarkable relation to the partition function of the anisotropic Kondo problem, which can be computed by exploiting the integrability of the system.     

Non-equilibrium Phase Diagram for a Model with Coalescence, Evaporation and Deposition

We study a d-dimensional lattice model of diffusing coalescing massive particles, with two parameters controlling deposition and evaporation of monomers. We prove that the unique stationary distribution for the system exhibits a non-equilibrium phase transition in all dimensions d≥1 between a growing phase, in which the expected mass is infinite at each site, and an exponential phase in which the expected mass is finite. We establish rigorous upper and lower bounds on the critical curve describing the phase transition for this system, and some asymptotics for large or small deposition rates.     

Qualitative change of fluctuation observed in real traffic flow

We studied the nature of fluctuations around the phase transition of vehicular traffic by analyzing a time series of successive variations of velocity, obtained from single-vehicle data measured by an onboard apparatus. We found that the probability density function calculated from the time series of variation of velocity is transformed irreversibly in the critical region, where a Gaussian distribution changes into a Lévy stable symmetrical distribution. The power-law tail in the Lévy distribution indicated that the time series of velocity variation exhibits the nature of the critical fluctuations generally observed in phase transitions driven far from equilibrium. Furthermore, single-vehicle data enabled us to calculate the time evolution of the local flux–density relation, which suggested that the vehicular traffic system spontaneously approaches a delicate balance between metastable states and congested-flow states. The nature of fluctuations enables us to understand mechanisms behind the spontaneous decay of the metastable branch at the phase transition. The power-law tail in the probability density function suggests that dynamical processes of vehicular traffic in the critical region are related to a time-discrete stochastic process driven by random amplification with additive external noise.     

Lynden-Bell and Tsallis distributions for the HMF model

Systems with long-range interactions can reach a Quasi Stationary State (QSS) as a result of a violent collisionless relaxation. If the system mixes well (ergodicity), the QSS can be predicted by the statistical theory of Lynden-Bell (1967) based on the Vlasov equation. When the initial condition takes only two values, the Lynden-Bell distribution is similar to the Fermi-Dirac statistics. Such distributions have recently been observed in direct numerical simulations of the HMF model (Antoniazzi et al. 2006). In this paper, we determine the caloric curve corresponding to the Lynden-Bell statistics in relation with the HMF model and analyze the dynamical and thermodynamical stability of spatially homogeneous solutions by using two general criteria previously introduced in the literature. We express the critical energy and the critical temperature as a function of a degeneracy parameter fixed by the initial condition. Below these critical values, the homogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution is not a maximum entropy state but an unstable saddle point. Known stability criteria corresponding to the Maxwellian distribution and the water-bag distribution are recovered as particular limits of our study. In addition, we find a critical point below which the homogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution is always stable. We apply these results to the situation considered in Antoniazzi et al. For a given energy, we find a critical initial magnetization above which the homogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution ceases to be a maximum entropy state. For an energy U=0.69, this transition occurs above an initial magnetization M_x=0.897. In that case, the system should reach an inhomogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution (most mixed) or an incompletely mixed state (possibly fitted by a Tsallis distribution). Thus, our theoretical study proves that the dynamics is different for small and large initial magnetizations, in agreement with numerical results of Pluchino et al. (2004). This new dynamical phase transition may reconcile the two communities by showing that they study different regimes.     

Stability of the Haldane state against the antiferromagnetic-bond randomness

Ground-state phase diagram of the one-dimensional bond-random S=1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet is investigated by means of the loop-cluster-update quantum Monte-Carlo method. The random couplings are drawn from a rectangular uniform distribution. We found that even in the case of extremely broad bond distribution, the magnetic correlation decays exponentially, and the correlation length is hardly changed; namely, the Haldane phase continues to be realized. This result is accordant with that of the exact-diagonalization study, whereas it might contradict the conclusion of an analytic theory founded in a power-law bond distribution instead. The latter theory predicts that a second-order phase transition occurs at a certain critical randomness, and the correlation length diverges for sufficiently strong randomness. Received: 31 March 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 7 July 1998     

Phase transitions in the frustration network

The distribution of the frustrated plaquettes is calculated as a function of disorder for two and three dimensional random Ising- andXY-models. It is shown that in all cases the frustrated plaquettes are highly correlated and that at a critical value of disorder a phase transition occurs in the frustration network which can be viewed as a dissociation of plaquettes. The critical disorder is calculated using duality transformations. We show that in the two and three dimensional random Ising systems two types of nonmagnetic phases exist which differ qualitatively by their distribution of frustrated plaquettes and consequently by their domain wall structure.     

Asymptotic dynamics,non-critical and critical fluctuations for a geometric long-range interacting model

We study the dynamics of geometric spin system on the torus with long-range interaction. As the number of particles goes to infinity, the process converges to a deterministic, dynamical magnetization field that satisfies an Euler equation (law of large numbers). Its stable steady states are related to the limits of the equilibrium measures (Gibbs states) of the finite particle system. A related equation holds for the magnetization densities, for which the property of propagation of chaos also is established. We prove a dynamical central limit theorem with an infinite-dimensional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process as a limiting fluctuation process. At the critical temperature of a ferromagnetic phase transition, both a tighter quantity scaling and a time scaling is required to obtain convergence to a one-dimensional critical fluctuation process with constant magnetization fields, which has a non-Gaussian invariant distribution. Similarly, at the phase transition to an antiferromagnetic state with frequencyp ₀, the fluctuation process with critical scaling converges to a two-dimensional critical fluctuation process, which consists of fields with frequencyp ₀ and has a non-Gaussian invariant distribution on these fields. Finally, we compute the critical fluctuation process in the infinite particle limit at a triple point, where a ferromagnetic and an antiferromagnetic phase transition coincide.Work supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft     

High-frequency driven capillary flows speed up the gas-liquid phase transition in zero-gravity conditions

Under weightlessness conditions, the phase transition of fluids is driven only by slow capillary flows. We investigate the effect of high-frequency vibrations to reproduce some features of gravity effects and show that such vibrations can greatly modify the phase transition kinetics. The investigation is performed in H2 near its critical point (critical temperature 33 K) where critical slowing down enables the phase transition process to be carefully studied. Gravity effects are compensated in a strong magnetic field gradient.     

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.     

Freezing of random RNA

We study secondary structures of random RNA molecules by means of a renormalized field theory based on an expansion in the sequence disorder. We show that there is a continuous phase transition from a molten phase at higher temperatures to a low-temperature glass phase. The primary freezing occurs above the critical temperature, with local islands of stable folds forming within the molten phase. The size of these islands defines the correlation length of the transition. Our results include critical exponents at the transition and in the glass phase.     

A novel mathematical mechanism of the critical endpoint generation

We develop a novel model of the QCD matter critical endpoint by matching the deconfinement phase transition curve with the nil line of the bag surface tension coefficient. As a result, this leads to a new structure of the leading singularities of isobaric partition, and in contrast to all previous studies of such models, the deconfined phase in our approach is defined not by an essential singularity of the isobaric partition function but its simple pole. As an unexpected result, we find out that the first order phase transition in this model is the surface tension induced transition. The sufficient conditions of its existence are analyzed and the possible physical consequences are discussed.     

Universal scaling behavior at the upper critical dimension of nonequilibrium continuous phase transitions

In this work we analyze the universal scaling functions and the critical exponents at the upper critical dimension of a continuous phase transition. The consideration of the universal scaling behavior yields a decisive check of the value of the upper critical dimension. We apply our method to a nonequilibrium continuous phase transition. By focusing on the equation of state of the phase transition it is easy to extend our analysis to all equilibrium and nonequilibrium phase transitions observed numerically or experimentally.     

Asymptotics of the Mean-Field Heisenberg Model

We consider the mean-field classical Heisenberg model and obtain detailed information about the total spin of the system by studying the model on a complete graph and sending the number of vertices to infinity. In particular, we obtain Cramér- and Sanov-type large deviations principles for the total spin and the empirical spin distribution and demonstrate a second-order phase transition in the Gibbs measures. We also study the asymptotics of the total spin throughout the phase transition using Stein’s method, proving central limit theorems in the sub- and supercritical phases and a nonnormal limit theorem at the critical temperature.