Phase transitions induced by curvature in the Gross-Neveu model

The Gross-Neveu model in an external gravitational field is investigated. The Green's function in a space of fixed curvature is found, and on that basis the one-loop effective potential is found. It is shown that the restoration of a spontaneously broken symmetry takes place in the form of a second-order phase transition induced by the curvature.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 44–49, June, 1989.     

Phase transitions induced by thermal fluctuations

The present study generalizes the model of extended stochastic systems with a field-dependent kinetic coefficient [M. Ibanes, J. Garcia-Ojalvo, R. Toral, J.M. Sancho, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 020601 (2001)] to systems with symmetric and asymmetric bistable potentials. It is found that in systems with a relaxational flow and a symmetric local potential, reentrant phase transitions can be observed. In the case of an asymmetric local potential, a hysteresis-like behaviour in the order parameter appears. It is shown that such phase transitions can be controlled by the constant that governs relaxation flow, noise intensity and spatial coupling intensity.     

Phase transitions detached from stationary points of the energy landscape

The stationary points of the potential energy function V are studied for the ?4 model on a two-dimensional square lattice with nearest-neighbor interactions. On the basis of analytical and numerical results, we explore the relation of stationary points to the occurrence of thermodynamic phase transitions. We find that the phase transition potential energy of the ?4 model does in general not coincide with the potential energy of any of the stationary points of V. This disproves earlier, allegedly rigorous, claims in the literature on necessary conditions for the existence of phase transitions. Moreover, we find evidence that the indices of stationary points scale extensively with the system size, and therefore the index density can be used to characterize features of the energy landscape in the infinite-system limit. We conclude that the finite-system stationary points provide one possible mechanism of how a phase transition can arise, but not the only one.     

Phase transitions induced by a strong magnetic field in electron-doped manganites

The magnetic and magnetoelastic properties of single crystals of electron-doped rare-earth manganites La_1?x Sr _x MnO₃ are studied. Phase transitions from the A-type antiferromagnetic phase to the C-type anti-ferromagnetic phase in a strong magnetic field are revealed in La_1?x Sr _x MnO₃ manganites with a strontium content x = 0.65. A similar phase transition is observed in manganites with a strontium content x = 0.8, at which the La_0.2Sr_0.8MnO₃ manganite is assumed to transform from the C-type antiferromagnetic phase to the G-type antiferromagnetic phase.     

Phase transitions in dense quark matter in a gravitational field of constant curvature

Abstact The impact of the gravitational field on the formation of quark and diquark condensate in the framework of the extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model is studied. In the mean field approximation, an expression for the effective potential with regard to a finite temperature and density of quark matter in the static gravitational field of constant curvature is obtained. Original Russian Text ? V.Ch. Zhukovsky, A.V. Tyukov, D. Ebert, 2007, published in Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Fizika, 2007, No. 3, pp. 68–70.     

Optical transitions in a vanishing conduction-band-offset superlattice

Optical transitions in the strained superlattice ZnSe/ZnS (001) have been calculated within an empirical tight-binding model followed by an appropriate evaluation of the momentum matrix elements. Vanishing conduction-band-offset has been previously established for this system, which can be considered as a realistic candidate for obtaining an “effective-mass” superlattice. Oscillator strengths, calculated for different superlattice periods, show that the usual δn=0 selection rule breaks down.     

Phase transitions driven by quasiparticle interactions

After a survey of the solid–liquid transition, driven by phonon–phonon interactions, attention is next focussed on two phase transitions caused by electron–phonon interactions. These are (i) the Barden–Cooper–Schrieffer pure metal superconducting transition and (ii) the original Peierls instability. These have closely similar forms for the respective transition temperatures, both being related to energy gaps. Spin–phonon interactions are then discussed in relation to spin-Peierls materials. Finally, magnon–magnon interactions are treated in the context of the ferromagnetic–paramagnetic transition in the itinerant electron systems Fe, Co and Ni. Heuristic and phenomenological arguments, plus of course experiment, provide the basis for the conclusions drawn here.     

Microdroplet targeting induced by substrate curvature

Fundamental understanding of the wettability of curved substrates is crucial for the applications of microdroplets in colloidal science, microfluidics, and heat exchanger technologies. Here we report via lattice Boltzmann simulations and energetic analysis that microdroplets show an ability of transporting selectively to appropriate substrates solely according to substrate shape(curvature), which is called the substrate-curvature-dependent droplet targeting because of its similarity to protein targeting by which proteins are transported to the appropriate destinations in the cell. Two dynamic pathways of droplet targeting are identified: one is the Ostwald ripening-like liquid transport between separated droplets via evaporating droplets on more curved convex(or less curved concave) surfaces and growing droplets on less curved convex(or more curved concave) surfaces, and the other is the directional motion of a droplet through contacting simultaneously substrates of different curvatures. Then we demonstrate analytically that droplet targeting is a thermodynamically driven process. The driving force for directional motion of droplets is the surface-curvature-induced modulation of the work of adhesion, while the Ostwald ripening-like transport is ascribed to the substrate-curvature-induced change of droplet curvature radius. Our findings of droplet targeting are potentially useful for a tremendous range of applications, such as microfluidics, thermal control, and microfabrication.     

Resonance Raman scattering at the saddle points of semiconductors

An approximate theory is formulated to describe resonance Raman scattering near the critical points of semiconductors using a model density of states. Large resonance enhancements and absolute scattering cross sections are predicted near the saddle points.     

Phase transitions driven by state-dependent poisson noise

Nonlinear systems driven by state-dependent Poisson noise are introduced to model the persistence of climatic anomalies in land-atmosphere interaction caused by the soil-moisture dependence of the frequency of rainfall events. It is found that these systems may give rise to bimodal probability distributions, while the state variable randomly persists around the preferential states because of transient dynamics that are opposite to the long-term behavior. Mean-field analysis and numerical simulations of the spatially distributed systems reveal a symmetry-breaking bifurcation for sufficiently strong spatial diffusive couplings and intermediate noise intensities. In such conditions, the initial development of spatial patterns is followed by a stable configuration, selected on the bases of the initial conditions in correspondence of the remnants of the modes of the uncoupled system.     

Phase transitions induced by shock compression on a gypsum mineral: X-ray and micro-Raman analysis

As a part of systematic researches of phase transitions induced by shock compression in phosphates, silicates, germanates and sulfates, in this article we report preliminary results obtained from shock recovery experiments on powders of a gypsum mineral. The shock experiment was performed in a light gas gun until a pressure close to 14?GPa reached. The experimental techniques employed to analyze the shock effects on recovered samples were: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman Spectroscopy (MRS). The SEM observations show a high plasticity in the impacted sample composed mainly by gypsum and bassanite quantified by Rietveld analysis of the XRD. The results indicate the partial dehydration of gypsum as a result of impact. The MRS analysis suggests the presence of micro-mixtures of gypsum, bassanite and anhydrite heterogeneously distributed throughout the recovered sample.     

Phase transitions induced by microscopic disorder: A study based on the order parameter expansion

Based on the order parameter expansion, we present an approximate method which allows us to reduce large systems of coupled differential equations with diverse parameters to three equations: one for the global, mean field, variable and two which describe the fluctuations around this mean value. The method is based on a systematic perturbation expansion and can be applied around the vicinity of the homogeneous state. With this tool we analyze phase transitions induced by microscopic disorder in three prototypical models of phase transitions which have been studied previously in the presence of thermal noise. We study how macroscopic order is induced or destroyed by time-independent local disorder and analyze the limits of the approximation by comparing the results with the numerical solutions of the self-consistency equation which arises from the property of self-averaging. Finally, we carry on a finite-size analysis of the numerical results and calculate the corresponding critical exponents.     

Phase transitions induced in NaNbO3 crystals by varying the direction of an external electric field

The anisotropic behavior of the electrostatic field characterizing the phase transition from an antiferroelectric state to a ferroelectric state is studied for the first time with NaNbO₃ as an example. Structural changes taking place in the crystal as the direction of the electrostatic field is varied are studied and electrostatic field magnitude-direction phase diagrams are determined. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1084–1087 (June 1997)     

Phase transitions of perfluorocarbon nanoemulsion induced with ultrasound: A mathematical model

While ultrasound has been used in many medical and industrial applications, only recently has research been done on phase transformations induced by ultrasound. This paper presents a numerical model and the predicted results of the phase transformation of a spherical nanosized droplet of perfluorocarbon in water. Such a model has applications in acoustic droplet vaporization, the generation of gas bubbles for medical imaging, therapeutic delivery and other biomedical applications.The formation of a gas phase and the subsequent bubble dynamics were studied as a function of acoustic parameters, such as frequency and amplitude, and of the physical aspects of the perfluorocarbon nanodroplets, such as chemical species, temperature, droplet size and interfacial energy. The model involves simultaneous applications of mass, energy and momentum balances to describe bubble formation and collapse, and was developed and solved numerically. It was found that, all other parameters being constant, the maximum bubble size and collapse velocity increases with increasing ultrasound amplitude, droplet size, vapor pressure and temperature. The bubble size and collapse velocity decreased with increasing surface tension and frequency. These results correlate with experimental observations of acoustic droplet vaporization.     

Shift photocurrent induced by two-quantum transitions

A theory of the shift current induced by direct two-photon and indirect one-photon absorption is developed for noncentrosymmetric crystals. A formula is derived for the microscopic shifts of Bloch electrons induced by two-quantum processes. It is shown that the ratio of the two-photon photocurrent at the photon frequency ω to the photocurrent induced by direct one-photon transitions at the photon frequency 2ω, as compared to the corresponding absorption-rate ratio, contains a large factor {ie152-1}ω/(2{ie152-2}ω − E _g), where E _g is the bandgap; i.e., these photocurrent can be comparable in order of magnitude. For crystals of T _d symmetry, the photocurrents induced by one- and two-photon absorption are compared in terms of polarization dependence.     

Camera calibration from vanishing points in a vision system

Camera calibration has been studied for many years and there are many methods available to find the parameters precisely. However, most existing methods require information of the known scene points in general three-dimensional positions for the calibration. A simple, geometrically intuitive method is proposed. The intrinsic parameters of the camera are determined by using the vanishing points in each image. The rotation matrix of the projection matrix is computed from the vanishing and image edges and the translation matrix are obtained with additional translation motion between the viewpoints. Our approach does not need any a priori information about the cameras being used. Computer simulations and real data experiments are carried out to validate our method.