The physics of 2D microfluidic droplet ensembles

We review non-equilibrium many-body phenomena in ensembles of 2D microfluidic droplets. The system comprises of continuous two-phase flow with disc-shaped droplets driven in a channel, at low Reynolds number of 10⁻⁴–10⁻³$10^{-4}–10^{-3}$. The basic physics is that of an effective potential flow, governed by the 2D Laplace equation, with multiple, static and dynamic, boundaries of the droplets and the walls. The motion of the droplets induces dipolar flow fields, which mediate 1/r²$1/r^2$ hydrodynamic interaction between the droplets. Summation of these long-range 2D forces over droplet ensembles converges, in contrast to the divergence of the hydrodynamic forces in 3D. In analogy to electrostatics, the strong effect of boundaries on the equations of motion is calculated by means of image dipoles. We first consider the dynamics of droplets flowing in a 1D crystal, which exhibits unique phonon-like excitations, and a variety of nonlinear instabilities—all stemming from the hydrodynamic interactions. Narrowing the channel results in hydrodynamic screening of the dipolar interactions, which changes salient features of the phonon spectra. Shifting from a 1D ordered crystal to 2D disordered ensemble, the hydrodynamic interactions induce collective density waves and shocks, which are superposed on single-droplet randomized motion and dynamic clustering. These collective modes originate from density–velocity coupling, whose outcome is a 1D Burgers equation. The rich observational phenomenology and the tractable theory render 2D droplet ensembles a suitable table-top system for studying non-equilibrium many-body physics with long-range interactions.     

Rotating Einstein–Maxwell–dilaton black holes in D dimensions

We construct exact charged rotating black holes in Einstein–Maxwell–dilaton theory in D   spacetime dimensions, D?5$D?5$, by embedding the D  -dimensional Myers–Perry solutions in D+1$D+1$ dimensions, and performing a boost with a subsequent Kaluza–Klein reduction. Like the Myers–Perry solutions, these black holes generically possess N=[(D−1)/2]$N=[(D-1)/2]$ independent angular momenta. We present the global and horizon properties of these black holes, and discuss their domains of existence.     

Exploring the 2D to 3D dimensionality crossover in thin iron films

The temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization of epitaxial iron films with a thickness ranging from d=20$d=20$ to 200 nm has been measured. The films are grown on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates which are covered by a 150 nm thick silver (1 0 0) buffer layer. For three-dimensional BCC iron it was observed already in 1929 that saturation of the spontaneous magnetization for T→0$T\to 0$ is perfectly described by a T² power law. On the other hand, for thin two-dimensional (2D) iron films a T^3/2 law has been established in many recent experimental investigations. In our iron films grown on diamagnetic silver, this dimensionality change occurs at a thickness between d=100$d=100$ and 200 nm. Comparison of the here-observed T^3/2 coefficients with those on iron films grown on paramagnetic tungsten (1 1 0) shows that the 2D interactions are ∼20 times larger in the films on tungsten. Recent results on Fe films which are grown directly on GaAs (1 0 0) confirm that the substrate has a very strong effect on the coefficient of the T^3/2 function, i.e. on the strength of the magnetic interactions in the films.     

Eternal inflation with Liouville cosmology

We present a concrete holographic realization of the eternal inflation in (1+1)$(1+1)$-dimensional Liouville gravity by applying the philosophy of the FRW/CFT correspondence proposed by Freivogel, Sekino, Susskind and Yeh (FSSY). The dual boundary theory is nothing but the old matrix model describing the two-dimensional Liouville gravity coupled with minimal model matter fields. In Liouville gravity, the flat Minkowski space or even the AdS space will decay into the dS space, which is in stark contrast with higher-dimensional theories, but the spirit of the FSSY conjecture applies with only minimal modification. We investigate the classical geometry as well as some correlation functions to support our claim. We also study an analytic continuation to the time-like Liouville theory to discuss possible applications in (1+3)$(1+3)$-dimensional cosmology along with the original FSSY conjecture, where the boundary theory involves the time-like Liouville theory. We show that the decay rate in the (1+3)$(1+3)$ dimension is more suppressed due to the quantum gravity correction of the boundary theory.     

One-loop Kähler potential in 5D gauged supergravity with generic prepotential

We calculate one-loop contributions to the Kähler potential in 4D effective theory of 5D gauged supergravity (SUGRA) on S¹/_Z2$S^1/Z_2$ with a generic form of the prepotential   and arbitrary boundary terms. Our result is applicable to a wide class of 5D SUGRA models. The derivation is systematically performed by means of an N=1$N=1$ superfield formalism based on the superconformal formulation of 5D SUGRA. As an illustrative example, we provide an explicit expression of the Kähler potential in the case of 5D flat spacetime.     

Duality,magnetic space group and their applications to quantum phases and phase transitions on bipartite lattices in several experimental systems

By using a dual vortex method, we study phases such as superfluid, solids, supersolids and quantum phase transitions in a unified scheme in extended boson Hubbard models at and slightly away from half filling on bipartite optical lattices such as honeycomb and square lattice. We also map out its global phase diagram at T=0$T=0$ of chemical potential versus the ratio of kinetic energy over the interaction. We stress the importance of the self-consistence condition on the saddle point structure of the dual gauge fields in the translational symmetry breaking insulating sides, especially in the charge density wave side. We find that in the translational symmetry breaking side, different kinds of supersolids are generic possible states slightly away from half filling. We propose a new kind of supersolid: valence bond supersolid (VB-SS). In this VB-SS, the density fluctuation at any site is very large indicating its superfluid nature, but the boson kinetic energies on bonds between two sites are given and break the lattice translational symmetries indicating its valence bound nature. We show that the quantum phase transitions from solids to supersolids driven by a chemical potential are in the same universality class as that from a Mott insulator to a superfluid, therefore have exact exponents z=2$z=2$, ν=1/2$\nu =1/2$, η=0$\eta =0$ with a logarithmic correction. Comparisons with previous quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations on a square lattice are made. Implications on possible future QMC simulations in both bipartite lattices are given. All these phases and phase transitions can be potentially realized in ultra-cold atoms loaded on optical bipartite lattices. Then we apply our results to investigate the reentrant “superfluid” in a narrow region of coverages in the second layer of ⁴He adsorbed on graphite and the low temperature phase diagram of hydrogen physisorbed on krypton-preplated graphite (H₂/Kr/graphite) near half filling. We suggest that ⁴He and H₂ lattice supersolids maybe responsible for the experimental signals in the two systems. Finally, we suggest Cooper supersolid is repressible for the phase diagram of La_2−x Ba_xCuO₄ near x=1/8$x=1/8$.     

Wigner transformation,momentum space topology,and anomalous transport

Using derivative expansion applied to the Wigner transform of the two- point Green function we analyse the anomalous quantum Hall effect (AQHE), and the chiral magnetic effect (CME). The corresponding currents are proportional to the momentum space topological invariants. We reproduce the conventional expression for the Hall conductivity in 2+1$2+1$ D. In 3+1$3+1$ D our analysis allows to explain systematically the AQHE in topological insulators and Weyl semimetals. At the same time using this method it may be proved, that the equilibrium CME is absent in the wide class of solids, as well as in the properly regularized relativistic quantum field theory.     

Zero finite-temperature charge stiffness within the half-filled 1D Hubbard model

Even though the one-dimensional (1D) Hubbard model is solvable by the Bethe ansatz, at half-filling its finite-temperature T>0$T>0$ transport properties remain poorly understood. In this paper we combine that solution with symmetry to show that within that prominent T=0$T=0$ 1D insulator the charge stiffness D(T)$D\left(T\right)$ vanishes for T>0$T>0$ and finite values of the on-site repulsion U$U$ in the thermodynamic limit. This result is exact and clarifies a long-standing open problem. It rules out that at half-filling the model is an ideal conductor in the thermodynamic limit. Whether at finite T$T$ and U>0$U>0$ it is an ideal insulator or a normal resistor remains an open question. That at half-filling the charge stiffness is finite at U=0$U=0$ and vanishes for U>0$U>0$ is found to result from a general transition from a conductor to an insulator or resistor occurring at U=U_c=0$U=U_c=0$ for all finite temperatures T>0$T>0$. (At T=0$T=0$ such a transition is the quantum metal to Mott-Hubbard-insulator transition.) The interplay of the η$\eta$-spin SU(2)$SU\left(2\right)$ symmetry with the hidden U(1)$U\left(1\right)$ symmetry beyond SO(4)$SO\left(4\right)$ is found to play a central role in the unusual finite-temperature charge transport properties of the 1D half-filled Hubbard model.     

Study of the 1D anisotropic Kondo necklace model at criticality via an entanglement entropy estimator

We use an estimator of quantum criticality based on the entanglement entropy to discuss the ground state properties of the 1D anisotropic Kondo necklace model. We found that the T=0$T=0$ phase diagram of the model is described by a critical line separating an antiferromagnetic phase from a Kondo singlet state. Moreover we calculate the conformal anomaly on the critical line and obtain that c tends to 0.5 as the thermodynamic limit is reached. Hence we conclude that these transitions belong to Ising universality class being, therefore, second order transitions instead of infinite order as claimed before.     

Generalised space–time and duality

In this Letter we consider the previously proposed generalised space–time and investigate the structure of the field theory upon which it is based. In particular, we derive a SO(D,D)$\mathit{SO}(D,D)$ formulation of the bosonic string as a non-linear realisation at lowest levels of E₁₁s_⊗l₁$E_{11}{\otimes }_s{l}_1$ where l₁$l_1$ is the first fundamental representation. We give a Hamiltonian formulation of this theory and carry out its quantisation. We argue that the choice of representation of the quantum theory breaks the manifest SO(D,D)$\mathit{SO}(D,D)$ symmetry but that the symmetry is manifest in a non-commutative field theory. We discuss the implications for the conjectured E₁₁$E_{11}$ symmetry and the role of the l₁$l_1$ representation.     

Pseudo-topological transitions in 2D gravity models coupled to massless scalar fields

We study the geometries generated by two-dimensional causal dynamical triangulations (CDT) coupled to d   massless scalar fields. Using methods similar to those used to study four-dimensional CDT we show that there exists a c=1$c=1$ “barrier”, analogous to the c=1$c=1$ barrier encountered in non-critical string theory, only the CDT transition is easier to be detected numerically. For d?1$d?1$ we observe time-translation invariance and geometries entirely governed by quantum fluctuations around the uniform toroidal topology put in by hand. For d>1$d>1$ the effective average geometry is no longer toroidal but “semiclassical” and spherical with Hausdorff dimension _dH=3$d_H=3$. In the d>1$d>1$ sector we study the time dependence of the semiclassical spatial volume distribution and show that the observed behavior is described by an effective mini-superspace action analogous to the actions found in the de Sitter phase of three- and four-dimensional pure CDT simulations and in the three-dimensional CDT-like Ho?ava–Lifshitz models.