Surface adsorption and collapse transition of linear polymer chains

The critical behaviour of surface adsorption and collapse transition of a flexible self-attracting self-avoiding polymer chain is examined. Depending upon the underlying lattice and space dimensionality, phase diagrams that exhibit many different universality domains of critical behavior are found. We discuss these phase diagrams and the values of the critical exponents found from different theoretical methods.     

Numerical Calculations for the Surface on a Semi-Infinite Ising Model with a Random Surface Field

We study the critical behavior of the surface on a semi-infinite simple cubic lattice Ising model with a bimodal random surface field by large cell mean-field renormaliza tion group method and Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that the surface ferromagnetic phase exists in the weak random field range above the bulk critical temperature. The surface. specific heat is not divergence and the susceptibility show a cusp singularity at the surface ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition for a relatively large and om field.     

Majorana modes at the ends of superconductor vortices in doped topological insulators

Recent experiments have observed bulk superconductivity in doped topological insulators. Here we ask whether vortex Majorana zero modes, previously predicted to occur when s-wave superconductivity is induced on the surface of topological insulators, survive in these doped systems with metallic normal states. Assuming inversion symmetry, we find that they do but only below a critical doping. The critical doping is tied to a topological phase transition of the vortex line, at which it supports gapless excitations along its length. The critical point depends only on the vortex orientation and a suitably defined SU(2) Berry phase of the normal state Fermi surface. By calculating this phase for available band structures we determine that superconducting p-doped Bi(2)Te(3), among others, supports vortex end Majorana modes. Surprisingly, superconductors derived from topologically trivial band structures can support Majorana modes too.     

Antiferromagnetism in metals: from the cuprate superconductors to the heavy fermion materials

The critical theory of the onset of antiferromagnetism in metals, with concomitant Fermi surface reconstruction, has recently been shown to be strongly coupled in two spatial dimensions. The onset of unconventional superconductivity near this critical point is reviewed: it involves a subtle interplay between the breakdown of fermionic quasiparticle excitations on the Fermi surface and the strong pairing glue provided by the antiferromagnetic fluctuations. The net result is a logarithm-squared enhancement of the pairing vertex for generic Fermi surfaces, with a universal dimensionless coefficient independent of the strength of interactions, which is expected to lead to superconductivity at the scale of the Fermi energy. We also discuss the possibility that the antiferromagnetic critical point can be replaced by an intermediate 'fractionalized Fermi liquid' phase, in which there is Fermi surface reconstruction but no long-range antiferromagnetic order. We discuss the relevance of this phase to the underdoped cuprates and the heavy fermion materials.     

Critical-point symmetry in a finite system

At a critical point of a second-order phase transition the intrinsic energy surface is flat and there is no stable minimum value of the deformation. However, for a finite system, we show that there is an effective deformation which can describe the dynamics at the critical point. This effective deformation is determined by minimizing the energy surface after projection onto the appropriate symmetries. We derive analytic expressions for energies and quadrupole rates which provide good estimates for these observables at the critical point.     

Critical behavior of the surface of FeBO3 single crystals

The behavior of the surface and near-surface layers of macroscopic FeBO₃ single crystals is studied over the temperature range from 291 K to Neél temperature (T _N ) using depth-selective conversion-electron Mössbauer spectroscopy. Three different phases or states, namely, an antiferromagnetically ordered phase (similar to the crystal bulk state), a surface phase, and a transition layer between them coexist near the Neél point in a surface layer ～500 nm thick. The critical parameters found for the bulk phase agree well with the theoretical critical index ν_th?0.63 predicted by the 3D Ising model. As the crystal surface is approached, the critical parameter β increases to 0.51(2) but remains smaller than the value of β=0.8 for the surface of a semi-infinite Heisenberg model. Therefore, the effective dimensionality of the system, being equal to 3 in the bulk, decreases at the crystal surface.     

Study of a surface critical phenomenon associated with surface segregation in Cu---Ag alloys

This paper presents a modified regular solution formalism for surface segregation in substitutional alloys which distinguishes between bond energies at the surface and in the bulk of a solid solution. The differences between surface and bulk energies are ascribed to strain energy effects associated with misfitting solutes. Experimental measurements of surface composition on (111) surfaces of Cu---Ag alloys dilute in Ag are reported and show the existence of a surface phase transition, which manifests itself as an abrupt surface composition change at temperatures below 788 K. Similar measurements on (100) surfaces show no comparable critical phenomena down to temperatures as low as 523 K, indicating a strong anisotropic behavior of the surface phase transition. The data are compared with the model to obtain model-based estimates of the surface critical temperatures and the surface regular solution constants for both surface orientations.     

Hydrodynamical description of a hadron-quark first-order phase transition

Solutions of hydrodynamical equations are presented for the equation of state of the Van der Waals type allowing for a first-order phase transition. As an example we consider the hadron-quark phase transition in heavy-ion collisions. It is shown that fluctuations dissolve and grow as if the fluid is effectively very viscous. In the vicinity of the critical point even in spinodal region seeds are growing slowly due to viscosity, surface tension and critical slowing down. These non-equilibrium effects prevent enhancement of fluctuations in the near-critical region, which in thermodynamical approach is frequently considered as a signal of the critical endpoint in heavy-ion collisions.     

Computer simulation of phase transitions associated with surface miscibility gaps

The Embedded Atom Method has been used in conjunction with Monte Carlo modeling to simulate phase transitions associated with surface miscibility gaps in dilute Cu---Ag alloys. The simulations show that the (111) surface undergoes an abrupt transition from a Cu-rich to a Ag-rich surface phase at 750 K over a very small increase in bulk Ag concentration. No comparable transition is found on the (100) surface down to temperatures as low as 400 K. The Cu-rich phase on the (111) surface shows no significant imperfections. In contrast, the Ag-rich phase is quite disordered, and the high concentration of the larger silver atoms can only be accommodated if some of those atoms are squeezed out into previously unoccupied adatom sites. The results of the simulation are compared with predictions of a regular solution model of surface phase transitions. While the general trends predicted by the two approaches are similar, significant quantitative differences are apparent between both the predicted phase boundaries and the critical temperatures associated with the surface miscibility gap.     

一个镶嵌稀释双键Potts模型的严格解

本文研究在一个镶嵌正方形格子上的一个稀释双键Potts模型,模型中既包含铁磁作用,也包含反铁磁作用。得到了非常一般的和某些特殊情况下的临界行为的严格解及相图。特别是,我们的结果中展示出在二维情况下,当q≤3时,稀释反铁磁Potts模型也如同正规(非稀释)模型一样,存在着特殊的低温相。 关键词：     

Why pinning by surface irregularities can explain the peak effect in transport properties and neutron diffraction results in NbSe2 and Bi- 2212 crystals?

The existence of a peak effect in transport properties (a maximum of the critical current as function of magnetic field) is a well-known but still intriguing feature of Type II superconductors such as NbSe₂ and Bi-2212. Using a model of pinning by surface irregularities in anisotropic superconductors, we have developed a calculation of the critical current which allows estimating quantitatively the critical current in both the high critical current phase and the low critical current phase. The only adjustable parameter of this model is the angle of the vortices at the surface. The agreement between the measurements and the model is really very impressive. In this framework, the anomalous dynamical properties close to the peak effect is due to coexistence of two different vortex states with different critical currents. Recent neutron diffraction data in NbSe₂ crystals in the presence of transport current support this point of view.     

Nucleation on a sphere: the roles of curvature,confinement and ensemble

ABSTRACT

By combining Monte Carlo simulations and analytical models, we demonstrate and explain how the gas-to-liquid phase transition of colloidal systems confined to a spherical surface depends on the curvature and size of the surface, and on the choice of thermodynamic ensemble. We find that the geometry of the surface affects the shape of the free energy profile and the size of the critical nucleus by altering the perimeter–area ratio of isotropic clusters. Confinement to a smaller spherical surface results in both a lower nucleation barrier and a smaller critical nucleus size. Furthermore, the liquid domain does not grow indefinitely on a sphere. Saturation of the liquid density in the grand canonical ensemble and the depletion of the gas phase in the canonical ensemble lead to a minimum in the free energy profile, with a sharp increase in free energy for additional growth beyond this minimum.     

Emergent fluctuation hot spots on the fermi surface of CeIn(3) in strong magnetic fields

de Haas-van Alphen measurements on CeIn3 in pulsed magnetic fields of up to 65 T reveal an increase in the quasiparticle effective mass with the field concentrated at "hot spots" on the Fermi surface as the Néel phase is suppressed. As well as revealing the existence of fluctuations deep within the antiferromagnetic phase, these data suggest that a possible new type of quantum critical point may exist in strong magnetic fields that involves only parts of the Fermi surface.     

Three-dimensional phase diagram of a ferroelectric

On the basis of the molecular-dynamic theory, by phenomenologically generalizing the expression for the energy of a ferroelectric, an equation of state is derived here for a ferroelectric in electric field intensity as well as temperature and mechanical stress. The σ(mechanical stress) — T(temperature) phase diagram is analyzed, whereupon ths spinodal, the critical point, and the supercritical line extending into the low-temperature range are plotted. A superposition of this diagram with the E (electric field intensity) — T(temperature) diagram yields a three-dimensional phase diagram in all three state variables. Its elements are the spinodal surface, the critical line, and the supercritical surface bordering on the critical line.     

伊辛模型的四分支临界面及其临界行为

本文通过等标度同普适类变换理论,使严格的重正化群递推方程得以直接应用。对伊辛模型的计算产生了四个不动点、四支临界面。对应于铁磁及反铁磁相变,其结果与已知的严格解及最好近似解一致。对于超反铁磁相变,本文提出临界曲面方程为—ch(h)=sh(2K_x)sh(2K_y)。 关键词：     

Universal order-parameter and quantum phase transition for two-dimensional q-state quantum Potts model

We investigate quantum phase transitions for q-state quantum Potts models (q=2,3,4) on a square lattice and for the Ising model on a honeycomb lattice by using the infinite projected entangled-pair state algorithm with a simplified updating scheme. We extend the universal order parameter to a two-dimensional lattice system, which allows us to explore quantum phase transitions with symmetry-broken order for any translation-invariant quantum lattice system of the symmetry group G. The universal order parameter is zero in the symmetric phase, and it ranges from zero to unity in the symmetry-broken phase. The ground-state fidelity per lattice site is computed, and a pinch point is identified on the fidelity surface near the critical point. The results offer another example highlighting the connection between (i) critical points for a quantum many-body system undergoing a quantum phase-transition and (ii) pinch points on a fidelity surface. In addition, we discuss three quantum coherence measures: the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence, the relative entropy of coherence, and the l₁ norm of coherence, which are singular at the critical point, thereby identifying quantum phase transitions.     

Position space renormalization group study of the spin-1 random semi-infinite Blume–Capel model

We study the spin-1 Blume–Capel model under a random crystal field in the tridimensional semi-infinite case. This has been done by using the real-space renormalization group approximation and specifically the Migdal–Kadanoff technique. Interesting results are obtained, which tell us that the randomness destroys the first order phase transitions and only those of the second order occur. We give the list of nine fixed points and their topology describing the surface critical behavior. Five new types of phase diagram are found with a rich variety of phase transitions, in accordance with the values of the bulk and surface probabilities and the ratios linking bulk and surface interactions.