Subharmonic gap structure in superconducting scanning tunneling microscope junctions

We observe a subharmonic gap structure (SGS) and the Josephson effect in superconducting scanning tunneling microscope junctions with resistances below 100 kΩ. The magnitude of the n=2 SGS is shown to scale with the square of the junction normal state conductance, in agreement with theory. We show by analyzing the Josephson effect in these junctions that the superconducting phase dynamics are strongly affected by thermal fluctuations. We estimate the linewidth of the Josephson oscillations due to phase fluctuations, a quantity that may be important in modern theories of the subgap structure. While phase fluctuations may smear the SGS current onsets, we conclude that the sharpness of these onsets in our data is not limited by fluctuations.     

Fluctuations and the QCD phase diagram

In this contribution the role of quantum fluctuations for the QCD phase diagram is discussed. This concerns in particular the importance of the matter back-reaction to the gluonic sector. The impact of these fluctuations on the location of the confinement/deconfinement and the chiral transition lines as well as their interrelation are investigated. Consequences of our findings for the size of a possible quarkyonic phase and location of a critical endpoint in the phase diagram are drawn.     

Diverse solid and supersolid phases of bosons in a triangular lattice

We investigate the ground state of bosons with long-range interactions in the large U limit on a triangular lattice. By mapping this system to the spin-1/2 XXZ model in a magnetic field, we can apply the spin wave theory to this study. We demonstrate how to construct the phase diagrams within the spin wave theory. The phase diagrams are given in an extensive parameter region, where, besides the superfluid phase, diverse solid and supersolid phases are shown to exist in this model. Especially, we find that the phase diagram obtained in this method is consistent with the one obtained previously using numerical techniques in the Ising limit. This confirms the effectiveness of our method. We analyze the stability of all the obtained supersolids and show that they will not be ruined by the quantum fluctuations. We observe that the quantum fluctuations in the stripe supersolid phase could be enhanced by the external field. We also discuss the relevance of our result with the experiment that may be realized with ultracold bosonic polar molecules in a triangular optical lattice.     

Phase fluctuations in strongly coupled d-wave superconductors

We present a numerically exact solution for the BCS Hamiltonian at any temperature, including the degrees of freedom associated with classical phase, as well as amplitude fluctuations via a Monte Carlo integration. This allows for an investigation over the whole range of couplings: from weak attraction, as in the well-known BCS limit, to the mainly unexplored strong-coupling regime of pronounced phase fluctuations. In the latter, two characteristic temperatures T(*) and T(c), associated with short- and long-range ordering, respectively, can be identified in a mean-field-motivated Hamiltonian. T(*) at the same time corresponds to the opening of a gap in the excitation spectrum. In addition to introducing a novel procedure to study strongly coupled d-wave superconductors, our results indicate that classical phase fluctuations are not sufficient to explain the pseudogap features of high-temperature superconductors.     

Event-by-event fluctuations of average transverse momentum in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 GeV per nucleon

We present first data on event-by-event fluctuations in the average transverse momentum of charged particles produced in Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. This measurement provides previously unavailable information allowing sensitive tests of microscopic and thermodynamic collision models and to search for fluctuations expected to occur in the vicinity of the predicted QCD phase transition. We find that the observed variance of the event-by-event average transverse momentum is consistent with independent particle production modified by the known two-particle correlations due to quantum statistics and final state interactions and folded with the resolution of the NA49 apparatus. For two specific models of non-statistical fluctuations in transverse momentum limits are derived in terms of fluctuation amplitude. We show that a significant part of the parameter space for a model of isospin fluctuations predicted as a consequence of chiral symmetry restoration in a non-equilibrium scenario is excluded by our measurement.     

Macroscopic quantum tunneling of a bose condensate

We study, by means of a variational method, the stability of a condensate in a magnetically trapped atomic Bose gas with a negative scattering length and find that the condensate is unstable in general. However, for temperatures sufficiently close to the critical temperature the condensate turns out to be metastable. For that case we determine in the usual WKB approximation the decay rate of the condensate due to macroscopic quantum fluctuations. When appropriate, we also calculate the decay rate due to thermal fluctuations. An important feature of our approach is that (nonsingular) phase fluctuations of the condensate are taken into account exactly.     

Characterization and control of phase fluctuations in elongated Bose–Einstein condensates

Quasi-one-dimensional Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) in elongated traps exhibit significant phase fluctuations even at very low temperatures. We present recent experimental results on the dynamic transformation of phase fluctuations into density modulations during time of flight and show the excellent quantitative agreement with the theoretical prediction. In addition we confirm that, under our experimental conditions, in the magnetic trap density modulations are strongly suppressed even when the phase fluctuates. We also discuss our theoretical results on control of the condensate phase by employing a time-dependent perturbation. Our results set important limitations on future applications of BECs in precision atom interferometry and atom optics, but at the same time suggest pathways to overcome these limitations. Received: 17 August 2002 / Published online: 15 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-511/762-3023, E-mail: Helge.Kreutzmann@ITP.uni-hannover.de     

Density fluctuations in the presence of spinodal instabilities

Density fluctuations resulting from spinodal decomposition in a nonequilibrium first-order chiral phase transition are explored. We show that such instabilities generate divergent fluctuations of conserved charges along the isothermal spinodal lines appearing in the coexistence region. Thus, divergent density fluctuations could be a signal not only for the critical end point but also for the first-order phase transition expected in strongly interacting matter. We also compute the mean-field critical exponent at the spinodal lines. Our analysis is performed in the mean-field approximation to the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model formulated at finite temperature and density. However, our main conclusions are expected to be generic and model independent.     

Quantum fluctuations in a scale-free network-connected Ising system

We study the effect of quantum fluctuations in an Ising spin system on a scale-free network of degree exponent γ>5 using a quantum Monte Carlo simulation technique. In our model, one can adjust the magnitude of the magnetic field perpendicular to the Ising spin direction and can therefore control the strength of quantum fluctuations for each spin. Our numerical analysis shows that quantum fluctuations reduce the transition temperature T_c of the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition. However, the phase transition belongs to the same mean-field type universality class both with and without the quantum fluctuations. We also study the role of hubs by turning on the quantum fluctuations exclusively at the nodes with the most links. When only a small number of hub spins fluctuate quantum mechanically, T_c decreases with increasing magnetic field until it saturates at high fields. This effect becomes stronger as the number of hub spins increases. In contrast, quantum fluctuations at the same number of “non-hub” spins do not affect T_c. This implies that the hubs play an important role in maintaining order in the whole network.     

Active nematics are intrinsically phase separated

Two-dimensional nonequilibrium nematic steady states, as found in agitated granular-rod monolayers or films of orientable amoeboid cells, were predicted [Europhys. Lett. 62, 196 (2003)10.1209/epl/i2003-00346-7] to have giant number fluctuations, with the standard deviation proportional to the mean. We show numerically that the steady state of such systems is macroscopically phase separated, yet dominated by fluctuations, as in the Das-Barma model [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1602 (2000)10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.1602]. We suggest experimental tests of our findings in granular and living-cell systems.     

Millimeter-wave atmospheric turbulence measurements: Instrumentation, selected results, and system effects

Increasing interest in and greater usage of the millimeter-wave frequency bands has resulted in a need for better characterization of atmospheric effects at these frequencies. While attenuation is recognized as the most significant effect, recent measurements of fluctuations in intensity and phase caused by atmospheric turbulence have shown that these phenomena will also degrade system performance at both millimeter-wave and microwave frequencies. This paper describes the millimeter-wave and meteorological instrumentation used to make these measurements and gives selected results. It is determined that phase fluctuations as great as 1.5 radians and intensity fluctuations as large as 2.8 dB are observed over a 1370 m path in hot, humid weather. The effects of these fluctuations on the performance of practical, existing microwave phased array and monopulse systems are assessed. It is determined that phase fluctuations in particular will degrade the performance of microwave adaptive nulling arrays and monopulse trackers. Intergovernmental Personnel Act appointee from the Georgia Institute of Technology supported by the University Resident Research Program of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.     

Attenuation of combustion instability in a fuel-staged dual-nozzle gas turbine combustor with asymmetric hydrogen composition

The instability attenuation mechanism of fuel staging was investigated in a CH₄/H₂ fueled dual-nozzle gas turbine combustor. Fuel staging was implemented using an asymmetry in fuel composition between the two nozzles. The fuel composition of the upper nozzle was varied while keeping that of the lower nozzle constant. Under these conditions, the self-excited and forced responses of fuel-staged flames were analyzed using OH* chemiluminescence imaging, OH planar laser-induced fluorescence, and particle image velocimetry. In the self-excited measurements, although strong combustion instability was exhibited in the symmetric condition, it weakened gradually with increasing asymmetry in fuel composition. The symmetric flame exhibited significant fluctuations in the heat release rate around the flame tip, which acted as the primary cause of driving combustion instability. However, in asymmetric flames, the H₂ addition induced phase leads in heat release rate fluctuations at the upper region, which damped combustion instability. Thus, our observations revealed a high correlation between the phase leads and the attenuation of combustion instability. Analyses of the forced responses showed that the heat release rate fluctuations were induced by interactions between the flame and the shedding vortex released from the nozzle tip into the downstream. Although these characteristics of shedding vortices did not depend on the H₂ addition, the change in the axial position of the flame caused by the H₂ addition induced the relocation of the site, at which the flame interacted with the vortex. Subsequently, it induced phase leads in the heat release rate fluctuations. The phase difference of heat release rate fluctuations between the two flames due to this phase leads enlarged progressively with increasing asymmetry in fuel composition, leading to the attenuation of combustion instability in asymmetric conditions.     

Optical forces on neutral atoms in the presence of fluctuating laser fields: numerical analysis

Doppler cooling of ⁸⁸Sr atoms is studied in the presence of off-resonant red-detuned fluctuating laser fields.Using a semi-classical approach,we show that the relevant physical quantities in the cooling process,such as optical forces,the damping coefficient,Doppler temperature,and atom number in the trap,are strongly affected by the laser amplitude and phase fluctuations.We find that the Doppler cooling limit is higher than the predicted Doppler theory for non-fluctuating lasers.This ...     

Exactly solvable toy model for the pseudogap state

We present an exactly solvable toy model which describes the emergence of a pseudogap in an electronic system due to a fluctuating off-diagonal order parameter. In one dimension our model reduces to the fluctuating gap model (FGM) with a gap that is constrained to be of the form , where A and Q are random variables. The FGM was introduced by Lee, Rice and Anderson [Phys. Rev. Lett. 31, 462 (1973)] to study fluctuation effects in Peierls chains. We show that their perturbative results for the average density of states are exact for our toy model if we assume a Lorentzian probability distribution for Q and ignore amplitude fluctuations. More generally, choosing the probability distributions of A and Q such that the average of vanishes and its covariance is , we study the combined effect of phase and amplitude fluctuations on the low-energy properties of Peierls chains. We explicitly calculate the average density of states, the localization length, the average single-particle Green's function, and the real part of the average conductivity. In our model phase fluctuations generate delocalized states at the Fermi energy, which give rise to a finite Drude peak in the conductivity. We also find that the interplay between phase and amplitude fluctuations leads to a weak logarithmic singularity in the single-particle spectral function at the bare quasi-particle energies. In higher dimensions our model might be relevant to describe the pseudogap state in the underdoped cuprate superconductors. Received 15 March 2000     

Light-beat method to process phase fluctuations of a laser light beam

A method for real-time processing of phase fluctuations of a laser beam is described. A beat photocurrent whose phase undergoes random fluctuations is generated by two laser beams at different frequencies, propagating through a turbulent atmosphere. The phase fluctuation component of the beat can be recovered in real-time over a wide range of phase angle, not restricted within 2π, by a specially designed circuit. Probability density functions, autocorrelation functions, and variances of the phase fluctuations are displayed in real-time as most basic quantities of the fluctuations. Visiting Fellow at Department of Electronics, The University of Southampton, England, October 1974–September 1975.     

First-order transition in the ginzburg-landau model

The d-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau (GL) model is solved according to a variational method by separating phase and amplitude. The GL transition becomes first order for high superfluid density because of phase fluctuations. We discuss its origin with various arguments showing that, in particular for d = 3, the validity of our approach lies precisely in the first-order domain.     

Dynamical fluctuations in classical adiabatic processes: General description and their implications

Dynamical fluctuations in classical adiabatic processes are not considered by the conventional classical adiabatic theorem. In this work a general result is derived to describe the intrinsic dynamical fluctuations in classical adiabatic processes. Interesting implications of our general result are discussed via two subtopics, namely, an intriguing adiabatic geometric phase in a dynamical model with an adiabatically moving fixed-point solution, and the possible “pollution” to Hannay’s angle or to other adiabatic phase objects for adiabatic processes involving non-fixed-point solutions.     

Fluctuation-exchange study of antiferromagnetism in disordered electron-doped cuprate superconductors

On the basis of the Hubbard model, we extend the fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) approach to investigating the properties of the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase in electron-doped cuprate superconductors. Furthermore, by incorporating the effect of scatterings due to the disordered dopant atoms into the FLEX formalism, our numerical results show that the antiferromagnetic transition temperature, the onset temperature of pseudogap due to spin fluctuations, the spectral density of the single particle near the Fermi surface, and the staggered magnetization in the AF phase as a function of electron doping can consistently account for the experimental measurements.