Dynamic self-assembly and patterns in electrostatically driven granular media

We show that granular media, consisting of metallic microparticles immersed in a poorly conducting liquid in a strong dc electric field, self-assemble into a rich variety of novel phases. These phases include static precipitates: honeycombs and Wigner crystals; and novel dynamic condensates: toroidal vortices and pulsating rings. The observed structures are explained by the interplay between charged granular gas and electrohydrodynamic convective flows in the liquid.     

Coarsening in a driven Ising chain with conserved dynamics

We study the low-temperature coarsening of an Ising chain subject to spin-exchange dynamics and a small driving force. This dynamical system reduces to a domain diffusion process, in which entire domains undergo nearest-neighbor hopping, except for the shortest domains-dimers-which undergo long-range hopping. This system exhibits anomalous ordering dynamics due to the existence of two characteristic length scales: the average domain length L(t) approximately t(1/2) and the average dimer hopping distance l(t) approximately square root[L(t)] approximately t(1/4). As a consequence of these two scales, the density of short domains decays as t(-5/4), instead of the t(-3/2) decay that would arise from pure domain diffusion.     

Nonequilibrium phase transition in a periodically driven XY spin chain

We present a general formulation of Floquet states of periodically time-dependent open Markovian quasifree fermionic many-body systems in terms of a discrete Lyapunov equation. Illustrating the technique, we analyze periodically kicked XY spin-? chain which is coupled to a pair of Lindblad reservoirs at its ends. A complex phase diagram is reported with reentrant phases of long range and exponentially decaying spin-spin correlations as some of the system's parameters are varied. The structure of phase diagram is reproduced in terms of counting nontrivial stationary points of Floquet quasiparticle dispersion relation.     

Exact nonequilibrium steady state of a strongly driven open XXZ chain

An exact and explicit ladder-tensor-network ansatz is presented for the nonequilibrium steady state of an anisotropic Heisenberg XXZ spin-1/2 chain which is driven far from equilibrium with a pair of Lindblad operators acting on the edges of the chain only. We show that the steady-state density operator of a finite system of size n is-apart from a normalization constant-a polynomial of degree 2n - 2 in the coupling constant. Efficient computation of physical observables is facilitated in terms of a transfer operator reminiscent of a classical Markov process. In the isotropic case we find cosine spin profiles, 1/n(2) scaling of the spin current, and long-range correlations in the steady state. This is a fully nonperturbative extension of a recent result [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 217206 (2011)].     

Periodic and solitary states of the driven sine-Gordon chain

We show that the propagation velocity of driven kinks in the damped and forced sine-Gordon chain is related to a universal function, which also determines the onset of running solutions in the single-particle case.     

Dynamic alignment in driven magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Motivated by recent analytic predictions, we report numerical evidence showing that in driven incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence the magnetic- and velocity-field fluctuations locally tend to align the directions of their polarizations. This dynamic alignment is stronger at smaller scales with the angular mismatch between the polarizations decreasing with the scale lambda approximately as theta(lambda) is proportional to lambda(1/4). This can naturally lead to a weakening of the nonlinear interactions and provide an explanation for the energy spectrum E(k) is proportional to k(-3/2) that is observed in numerical experiments of strongly magnetized turbulence.     

Coherence and chaos in the driven,damped sine-Gordon chain

Representative example of preliminary numerical results are presented for solutions of the deterministic sine-Gordon equation under the influence of damping and a sinusoidal uniform driving force. Depending on the choice of (inhomogeneous) initial conditions and values of the amplitude and frequency of the driving force, we find a great variety of possible responses, including: (i) permanent spatial structures riding on an overall background motion which can be temporally chaotic or not, (ii) intermittent transitions between at least two metastable spatial structures which are typically a localized breather-like structure and an extended wave train, in the presence of temporal chaos or not and with large- or small-amplitude background motion. For some parameter values, we find very similar power spectra for different initial conditions, while other cases show considerable dependence on initial conditions. Both the spatial and temporal behavior of the response can exhibit extreme sensitivity to small changes in the parameters.     

Electrostatically driven spatial patterns in lipid membrane composition

To explore the physical mechanisms that can guide spatial organization at biological membranes, we have constructed simple, cell-free intermembrane junctions. We find that the mechanically driven patterning of proteins uncovered in our earlier work can electrostatically generate spatial patterns in the distribution of charged membrane lipids. Tuning the magnitude of the interaction as a function of composition and ionic strength, and analyzing the interplay between thermodynamics and electrostatics via a Poisson-Boltzmann approach, we are able to determine the charge density and surface potential of the junction components. Surprisingly, the electrostatic potential of the proteins is a minor factor in the lipid reorganization; the protein size and its modulation of the junction topography play the dominant role in driving the electrostatic patterns.     

Dynamic and spatial behavior of a corrugated interface in the driven lattice gas model

The spatiotemporal behavior of an initially corrugated interface in the two-dimensional driven lattice gas (DLG) model with attractive nearest-neighbors interactions is investigated via Monte Carlo simulations. By setting the system in the ordered phase, with periodic boundary conditions along the external field axis. i.e. horizontal, and open along the vertical directions respectively, an initial interface was imposed, that consists in a series of sinusoidal profiles with amplitude A₀ and wavelength λ set parallel to the applied driving field axis. We studied the dynamic behavior of its statistical width or roughness W(t), defined as the root mean square of the interface position. We found that W(t) decays exponentially for all λ and lattice longitudinal sizes L_x, i.e., the lattice side that runs along the axis of the external field. We determined its relaxation time τ, and found that depends on λ as a power law τ∝λ^p, where p depends on the temperature and L_x. At low T’s (T?T_c(E)) and large L_x, p approaches to p=3/2. At intermediate T’s (T<T_c(E)), p decreases up to p≈1, and is free of finite effects. This indicates that the interface stabilizes faster than in the equilibrium model, i. e. the Ising lattice gas (E=0) where p=3. At higher T’s p increases for T?T_c(E), and the finite size dependence is recovered. Also, if T is fixed, p increases with L_x until it saturates at large values of it, while this regime is vanishing at T?T_c(E). In this way, the dynamic relaxation process of a sinusoidal interface is improved by the external driving field with respect to its equilibrium counterpart, if the system is set in an intermediate temperature stage far from T_c(E) and in a lattice with a sufficiently large longitudinal side. The behavior of τ was also investigated as a function of E and in the intermediate stage T<T_c(E). It was found that τ decreases exponentially with E in the interval 0<E?1, while for higher fields it remains constant. The exponential decay depends on the wavelength of the initial profile.In order to study the spatial evolution of the profiles, we evaluated the structure factor of the interface, and the Fourier coefficients corresponding to the same wave vector of the initial profile. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that the spatial evolution of the profile maintains its initial wavelength, does not travel along the external field axis, and its shape is preserved over all the relaxation process.     

Dynamic Hall effect driven by circularly polarized light in a graphene layer

We report the observation of the circular ac Hall effect where the current is solely driven by the crossed ac electric and magnetic fields of circularly polarized radiation. Illuminating an unbiased monolayer sheet of graphene with circularly polarized terahertz radiation at room temperature generates--under oblique incidence--an electric current perpendicular to the plane of incidence, whose sign is reversed by switching the radiation helicity. Alike the classical dc Hall effect, the voltage is caused by crossed E and B fields which are, however rotating with the light's frequency.     

Bifurcation phenomena in a periodically driven current filament and a conjecture on the turbulent patterns by computer simulations

Bifurcation routes to chaos in a periodically driven current filament have been studied by computer simulations. By an impact ionization model, theS-shaped currentvoltage curve is perturbed by the dc+ac bias ofE ₀+E _acsin(27f ₀t). The bifurcation maps are described as a function ofE ₀. In the prebreakdown region, the fractal basin boundary, the crisis and the intermittency are discussed, based on the general considerations of the carrier dynamics on the catastrophe manifold. The intermittent burst of the current filament is explained by the destabilization of the weak turbulence generated in the lower branch. In the diffusion-reaction model, the spatio-temporal mode patterns of the transverse carrier profile have revealed the competitive evolution of the hyper-freezing and the firing.     

Dynamics in quantum Ising chain driven by inhomogeneous transverse magnetization

We study the dynamics caused by transport of transverse magnetization in one dimensional transverse Ising chain at zero temperature. We observe that a class of initial states having product structure in fermionic momentum-space and satisfying certain criteria, produce spatial variation in transverse magnetization. Starting from such a state, we obtain the transverse magnetization analytically and then observe its dynamics in presence of a homogeneous constant field Γ. In contradiction with general expectation, whatever be the strength of the field, the magnetization of the system does not become homogeneous even after infinite time. At each site, the dynamics is associated with oscillations having two different timescales. The envelope of the larger timescale oscillation decays algebraically with an exponent which is invariant for all such special initial states. The frequency of this oscillation varies differently with external field in ordered and disordered phases. The local magnetization after infinite time also characterizes the quantum phase transition.     

Dynamic and static excitations of a classical discrete anisotropic Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin chain

Using Jacobi elliptic function addition formulas and summation identities we obtain several static and moving periodic soliton solutions of a classical anisotropic, discrete Heisenberg spin chain with and without an external magnetic field. We predict the dispersion relations of these nonlinear excitations and contrast them with that of magnons and relate these findings to the materials realized by a discrete spin chain. As limiting cases, we discuss different forms of domain wall structures and their properties.     

Light-induced instabilities driven by competing helical patterns in long-pitch cholesterics

We study theoretically the dynamical reorientation phenomena when a long-pitch cholesteric liquid-crystal film with homeotropic alignment is illuminated by a circularly polarized lightwave. In the present case, the natural cholesteric pitch is of the order of (or larger than) the film thickness. The helical cholesteric structure is thus frustrated by the boundary conditions without illumination. However, above a light intensity threshold reorientation occurs and the bifurcation scenario depends strongly on the natural cholesteric pitch. Recalling that a long-pitch cholesteric is achieved in practice by adding a small amount of chiral agents in a nematic liquid crystal, the observed dynamics can be viewed as the result of the competition between intrinsic and extrinsic unidimensional helical patterns. The intrinsic part consists of the helical deformations induced by the chirality of the dopant, whereas the extrinsic part is related to the chirality induced by the optical field through the non-uniform angular momentum transfer of light to a nematic. The all-optical analog in the case of a pure nematic (without chiral dopant), is also discussed.     

Dynamic transition from modelike patterns to turbulentlike patterns in a broad-area Nd:YAG laser

We report the first experimental observation to our knowledge of a dynamic transition from modelike patterns to completely disordered patterns in a large-aspect-ratio Nd:YAG laser. Recordings of near-field patterns with an integration time as small as 1 ns allow us to follow the evolution of the transverse intensity profile along the output pulse of the laser.     

Dynamic invariants and the berry phase for generalized driven harmonic oscillators

We present quadratic dynamic invariants and evaluate the Berry phase for the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with the most general variable quadratic Hamiltonian.     

Dynamic response of a disordered ferromagnetic chain: Alloy transfer matrix approximation

The alloy transfer matrix approximation is used to study the uniform dynamic susceptibility of a disordered ferromagnetic chain. This approximation allows for a consistent treatment of diagonal and off-diagonal disorder. The results, in the limit of low concentrations, are in agreement with the exact single impurity ones. Intensities and lineshapes for infrared absorption are calculated for finite impurity concentrations and different values of the relative anisotropy parameter of a model alloy.