Anatomy of a confining string

We review recent papers on the anatomy of the confining string in the Abelian Higgs model with condensed Higgs field. The basic observation is that apart from the well known Abrikosov–Nielsen–Olesen strings of finite transverse size there exist infinitely thin topological strings. These mathematically thin strings are responsible, in particular, for a stringy correction to the potential between confined charges at short distances. Possible implications for QCD are briefly discussed.     

Vibration of strings with nonlinear supports

The dynamic string motion, which displacement is unilaterally constrained by the rigid termination condition of an arbitrary geometry has been simulated and analyzed. The treble strings of a grand piano usually terminate at a capo bar, which is situated above the strings. The apex of a V-shaped section of the capo bar defines the end of the speaking length of the strings. A numerical calculation based on the traveling wave solution is proposed for modeling the nonlinearity inducing interactions between the vibrating string and the contact condition at the point of string termination. It was shown that the lossless string vibrates in two distinct vibration regimes. In the beginning the string starts to interact in a nonlinear fashion with the rigid terminator, and the resulting string motion is aperiodic. Consequently, the spectrum of the string motion depends on the amplitude of string vibrations, and its spectral structure changes continuously with the passage of time. The duration of that vibration regime depends on the geometry of the terminator. After some time of aperiodic vibration, the string vibrations settle in a periodic regime where the resulting spectrum remains constant.     

Study of the 65Cu(n,ɣ)66Cu reaction: M. G. Delfini,J. Kopecky,J. B. M. De Haas,H. I. Liou,R.E. Chrien and P. M. Endt,Nuclear Physics A404 (1983) 250–268

The structure of the “condensed” phase of a finite nucleus is investigated by a HF calculation with a HO-type potential, one-pion-exchange potential and one-rho-meson-exchange potential. The pion field expectation value is also calculated from this nuclear source wave function and compared with the pion field of the normal phase. The time-dependent Schroedinger equation is solved for a certain approximated model of a heavy-ion reaction to see the dynamical growth of the pion field expectation value and its behaviour on such a time scale. The growth of the pion field itself is also investigated to see whether it is a normal growth or that of the condensed phase.     

Hierarchy of Times for Forming the System of Chiral Phases in Solutions of Trifluoroacetylated Amino Alcohols

It has been experimentally established that the chiroptical characteristics of freshly prepared solutions of trifluoroacetylated amino alcohols (TFAAAs) evolve before reaching equilibrium. The evolution can be monotone or quasi-oscillatory. The latter reflects the formation of successive levels of the hierarchy of chiral phases with an alternating sign of chirality in the solution. The fast (the characteristic time τ from ~30 s to ~30 min) and slow (τ ~ 1–3 h) stages of evolution have been experimentally revealed. It is shown via calculation that the fast stage corresponds to the early stages of the formation of the supramolecular structure of the solutions of TFAAAs, namely, the growth of strings with diameters from several nanometers to tenths of a micrometer, while the slow stage corresponds to the late stages in the formation of the structure of the solutions, namely, the growth of strings with diameters from tenths of a micrometer up to several micrometers.     

Structural dynamics of chiral strings

It is demonstrated that a microscopic model of an antiferroelectric elementary string makes it possible to explain the specifics of the structural macrokinetics and macroscopic dynamics of chiral strings. It is established that the formation of strings is controlled by diffusion, whereas the supercoiling of strings, by Van der Waals interactions between them. Three modes of strings formation were identified: the uniform growth of cylindrical strings, π-assembly of an inverted cone of thin strings, and π-decay. The π-assembly is accompanied by the rotation of the string about its axis, which can cause instability, leading first to a bending of the string and then to the formation of loops.     

Fluctuations and Phase Transition Dynamics

Kibble and Zurek have provided a unifying causal picture for the appearance ofclassical defects like cosmic strings or vortices at the onset of phase transitionsin relativistic QFT and condensed matter systems, respectively. In condensedmatter the predictions are partially supported by agreement with experiments insuperfluid helium. We provide an alternative picture for the initial appearanceof defects that supports the experimental evidence. When the original predictionsfail, this is understood, in part, as a consequence of thermal fluctuations (noise),which play a comparable role in both condensed matter and QFT.     

Self-interaction in the von Kármán cosmic string street configuration

We study the problem of electromagnetic self-interaction of line sources in the presence of an array of parallel cosmic strings akin to the von Kármán vortex street configuration. Keeping in mind possible applications in condensed matter physics we consider also a mixed array where both deficit angle and excess angle cosmic strings appear. We obtain explicit expressions for both the electric and magnetic self-energies for the cases studied and demonstrate that these results reproduce the known self-energies in the single-string limit.     

Order out of disorder in a gas of elastic quantum strings in 2+1 dimensions

A limiting case of a dynamical stripe state which is of potential significance to cuprate superconductors is considered: a gas of elastic quantum strings in 2+1 dimensions, interacting merely via a hard-core condition. It is demonstrated that this gas always solidifies, by a mechanism which is the quantum analog of the entropic interactions known from soft condensed matter physics.     

Kantowski-Sacks Bulk Viscous String Cosmological Models in the Presence of Zero-Mass Scalar Fields

The Kantowski-Sachs cosmological solutions of massive strings have been studied in the presence of zero-mass scalar field coupled with bulk viscosity. It is assumed that the coefficient of bulk viscosity is a power function of energy density of massive strings. Further we have considered the cosmological parameter as a function of cosmic time. We obtained the general solution of the field equations in polynomial and exponential forms respectively. The behaviors of these models are also discussed in the presence as well as in the absence of bulk.     

Nucleation of vortices in superfluid helium-4

Summary Nucleation of vortices and strings is studied in superfluid helium in the context of phase transitions in this system. It is shown that the formation of these structures depends on the homotopy groups of the manifold of degenerate condensed states. The subsequent evolution of these structures is investigated and then impact on the superfluid nature of this system is analysed. The cross-section for the scattering of quasi-particles is estimated. This is exploited to find the effect of scatterings on the dynamics of shrinking vortex. During the editorial procedure we came to know that this author deceased.     

Collisions of strings with Y junctions

We study the dynamics of Nambu-Goto strings with junctions at which three strings meet. In particular, we exhibit one simple exact solution and examine the process of intercommuting of two straight strings in which they exchange partners but become joined by a third string. We show that there are important kinematical constraints on this process. The exchange cannot occur if the strings meet with very large relative velocity. This may have important implications for the evolution of cosmic superstring networks and non-Abelian string networks.     

Solving the initial condition of the string relaxation equation of the string model for glass transition: part-I

The string model for the glass transition can quantitatively describe the universal α-relaxation in glassformers,including the average relaxation time,the distribution function of the relaxation time,and the relaxation strength as functions of temperature.The string relaxation equation(SRE) of the model,at high enough temperatures,simplifies to the well-known single particle mean-field Debye relaxation equation,and at low enough temperatures to the well-known Rouse-Zimm relaxation equation that describes the relaxation dynamics of linear macromolecules.However,its initial condition,necessary to the further model predictions of glassy dynamics,has not been solved.In this paper,the special initial condition(SIC) of the SRE,i.e.for straight strings and the dielectric spectrum technique that is one of the most common methods to measure the glassy dynamics,was solved exactly.It should be expected that the obtained SIC would benefit the solution of the general initial condition of the SRE of the string model,i.e.for stochastically spatially configurating strings,as will be described in separate publications.     

Analysis of ozone concentration for superconductor thin film

Ozone is usually generated from oxygen gas using a silent discharge apparatus and its concentration is less then 10 mol%. Ozone is condensed by the adsorption method, which is widely used for the growth of oxidation thin films such as superconductor. Highly condensed ozone is analyzed by three methods; ultraviolet absorption, thermal decomposition and Q-mass analyzing methods. Thermal decomposition method is most effective in the highly condensed ozone region and its method is superior to Q-mass analyzer for determining ozone concentration because of the simplicity of the method. The decomposition of condensed ozone takes place mainly on the inner surface of the vessel. Ozone concentration decreased to less then 50 mol% over a 8 h period.     

Magnetic component of Yang-Mills plasma

Confinement in non-Abelian gauge theories is commonly ascribed to percolation of magnetic monopoles, or strings in the vacuum. At the deconfinement phase transition the condensed magnetic degrees of freedom are released into gluon plasma as thermal magnetic monopoles. We point out that within the percolation picture, lattice simulations can be used to estimate the monopole content of the gluon plasma. We show that right above the critical temperature the monopole density remains a constant function of temperature, as in a liquid, and then grows, as in a gas.     

Mechanical characteristics of strained vibrating strings and a vibration-induced electric field

The mechanical characteristics of vibrating strings strained between rigid supports and a vibration-induced electric field are studied. Experiments are conducted with nylon, rubber, and metallic strings. Vibrations are excited by a pinch at different sites along the string. The motion of the string is filmed, and the attendant electric field is detected. Experimental data are analyzed under the assumption that the field is induced by unlike charges generated by the moving string. It is found that the field allows one to determine the time characteristics of the motion of the string and discriminate the types of its deformations. Young moduli observed under the static extension of thin nylon strings are compared with those calculated from the natural frequencies of vibration measured for differently strained strings. The mathematical pattern of the motion of the string is compared with the real situation.     

The Properties of Strings Formed in the Homochiral Solutions of Trifluoroacetylated Amino Alcohols in Cyclohexane

The strings formed in the solutions of trifluoroacetylated amino alcohols in cyclohexane were studied. It was found that microscopic strings with the diameter d ～ 1 μm were woven from tightly coupled rigid submicroscopic strings with the diameter d ～ 0.1 μm in increments of >100 μm. Therefore, the compound strings are transparent, and they usually look like an unstructured cylinder. Microscopic strings can be tightly combined in strings to 60 μm in diameter. Submicroscopic strings are arranged almost parallel to the axis of a microscopic string. The microscopic string acts as a polarizer: it transmits light polarized across its axis and absorbs light polarized along the axis. The majority of these properties can be explained based on the assumption that a connection between the strings of all hierarchical levels in cyclohexane is stronger than that in solvents with different string morphology.     

Stochastic Model of Microtubule Dynamics

We introduce a continuous time stochastic process on strings made of two types of particle, whose dynamics mimics that of microtubules in a living cell. The long term behaviour of the system is described in terms of the velocity v of the string end. We show that v is an analytic function of its parameters and study its monotonicity properties. We give a complete characterisation of the phase diagram of the model and derive several criteria of the growth (\(v>0\)) and the shrinking (\(v<0\)) regimes of the dynamics.     

Cloud of strings in f(R) gravity

We derive the solution for a spherically symmetric string cloud configuration in a d-dimensional spacetime in the framework of f(R) theories of gravity. We also analyze some thermodynamic properties of the joint black hole-cloud of strings solution. For its Hawking temperature, we found that the dependence of the mass with the horizon is significantly different in both theories. For the interaction of a black hole with thermal radiation, we found that the shapes of the curves are similar, but shifted. Our analysis generalizes some known results in the literature.     

Fundamental cosmic strings

Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that may be formed at phase transitions in the very early universe. At one time they were thought to provide a possible origin for the density inhomogeneities from which galaxies eventually develop, though this idea has been ruled out, primarily by observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Fundamental strings are the supposed building blocks of all matter in superstring theory or its modern version, M-theory. These two concepts were originally very far apart, but recent developments have brought them closer. The ‘brane-world’ scenario in particular suggests the existence of macroscopic fundamental strings that could well play a role very similar to that of cosmic strings.

In this paper, we outline these new developments, and also analyse recent observational evidence, and prospects for the future.     

In situ Video-STM study of the potential-induced (1 × 1) → “hex” transition on Au(1 0 0) electrode surfaces in Cl containing solution

The potential-induced (1 × 1) → “hex” transition on Au(1 0 0) electrodes in 0.01 M Na₂SO₄ + 1 mM HCl was studied by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy at high time resolution (Video-STM). According to these observations the elementary units of the “hex” surface reconstruction, hexagonally-ordered strings in the Au surface layer, are highly dynamic nanoscale objects. Isolated “hex” strings exhibit dynamic fluctuations in structure and position on the millisecond timescale. These fluctuations exceed the mobility of multistring “hex” domains by several orders of magnitude and can be explained by collective dynamic processes within the strings. Furthermore, the observations reveal a novel 1D mass transport mechanism along the strings, details on the nucleation and growth of “hex” strings and complex string restructuring processes, facilitating “hex” domain ripening.