Contribution of Disclination Lines to Free Energy of Liquid Crystals in Single-Elastic Constant Approximation

In the light of C-mapping method and topological current theory, the contribution of disclination lines to free energy density of liquid crystals is studied in the single-elastic constant approximation. It is pointed out that the total free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the usual distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the free energy density of disclination lines themselves, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to be topologically quantized in the unit of kn/2. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director l~eld at the disclination lines, i.e. the disclination strengths. From the Lagrange‘s method of multipliers, the equilibrium equation and the molecular field ofliquid crystals are also obtained. The physical meaning of the Lagrangian multiplier is just the distorted energy density.     

Effect of Disclination Lines on Free Energy of Nematic Liquid Crystals

In the light of φ-mapping method and topological current theory, the effect of disclination lines on the free energy density of nematic liquid crystals is studied. It is pointed out that the total Frank free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the saddle-splay energy density, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to be topologically quantized in the unit of kπ /2 when the Jacobian determinant of the director field does not vanish at the singularities of the director field. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director field at the disclination lines, i.e., the disclination strengthes. When the Jacobian determinant vanishes, the generation, annihilation, intersection, splitting and merging processes of the saddle-splay energy density are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points, respectively. It is shown that the disclination line with high topological quantum number is unstable and will evolve to the low topological quantum number states through the splitting process.     

Effect of Disclination Lines on Free Energy of Nematic Liquid Crystals

In the light of φ-mapping method-and topological current theory, the effect of disclination lines on the free energy density of nematic liquid crystals is studied. It is pointed out that the total Frank free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the saddle-splay energy density, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to he topologically quantized in the unit of kπ/2 when the Jacobian determinant of the director field does not vanish at the singularities of the director field. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director field at the disclination lines, i.e., the disclination strengthes. When the Jacobian determinant vanishes, the generation, annihilation, intersection, splitting and merging processes of the saddle-splay energy density are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points, respectively. It is shown that the disclination line with high topological quantum number is unstable and will evolve to the low topological quantum number states through the splitting process.     

Topological Aspect and Bifurcation of Disclination Lines in Two—Dimensional Liquid Crystals

Using φ-mapping method and topological current theory,the topological structure and bifurcation of disclination lines in two-dimensional liquid crystals are studied.By introducing the strength density and the topological current of many disclination lines,the total disclination strength is topologically quantized by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees at the singularities of the director field when the Jacobian determinant of director field does not vanish.When the Jacobian determinant vanishes,the origin,annihilation and bifurcation processes of disclination lines are studied in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points,respectively.The branch solutions at the limit point and the different directions of all branch curves at the bifurcation point are calculated with the conservation law of the topological quantum numbers.It is pointed out that a disclination line with a higher strength is unstable and it will evolve to the lower strength state through the bifurcation process.     

Effect of Saddle-Splay Elasticity on Stability of Disclination Rings in Nematic Liquid Crystals

In this paper, the stability of disclination ring in nematie liquid crystals is studied. In the presence of saddle-splay elasticity （characterized by k24） the disclination ring has a universal equilibrium radius. Depending on the values of the saddle-splay constant k24, the universal equilibrium radius is altered. When k24 〉 0.92k （m = 1/2） and k24 〉 0.88k （m =-1/2）, the disclination will be a point rather than a ring, where k is the Frank elastic constant in the one-constant approximation.     

Effect of Saddle-Splay Elasticity on Stability of Disclination Rings in Nematic Liquid Crystals

In this paper, the stability of disclination ring in nematic liquid crystals is studied. In the presence of saddle-splay elasticity (characterized by k₂₄) the disclination ring has a universal equilibrium radius. Depending on the values of the saddle-splay constant k₂₄, the universal equilibrium radius is altered. When k₂₄>0.92k (m=1/2) and k₂₄>0.88k (m=-1/2), the disclination will be a point rather than a ring, where $k$ is the Frank elastic constant in the one-constant approximation.     

Stability of Disclinations in Nematic Liquid Crystals

In the light of φ-mapping method and topological current theory, the stability of disclinations around a spherical particle in nematic liquid crystals is studied. We consider two different defect structures around a spherical particle: disclination ring and point defect at the north or south pole of the particle. We calculate the free energy of these different defects in the elastic theory. It is pointed out that the total Frank free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the distorted energy density of director field around the disclinations. The other is the free energy density of disclinations themselves, which is shown to be concentrated at the defect and to be topologically quantized in the unit of (k-k₂₄)π/2. It is shown that in the presence of saddle-splay elasticity a dipole (radial and hyperbolic hedgehog) configuration that accompanies a particle with strong homeotropic anchoring takes the structure of a small disclination ring, not a point defect.     

Topological quantization of disclination points in three—dimensional liquid crystals

Using the φ-mapping method and topological current theory, we study the inner structure of disclination points in three-dimensional liquid crystals. By introducing the strength density and the topological current of many disclination points, it is pointed out that the disclination points are determined by the singularities of the general director field and they are topologically quantized by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees.     

Multiscale Free Energy Analysis of Human Ecosystem Engineering

Unlike ecosystem engineering by other living things, which brings a relatively limited range of sensations that are connected to a few enduring survival preferences, human ecosystem engineering brings an increasing variety and frequency of novel sensations. Many of these novel sensations can quickly become preferences as they indicate that human life will be less strenuous and more stimulating. Furthermore, they can soon become addictive. By contrast, unwanted surprise from these novel sensations may become apparent decades later. This recognition can come after the survival of millions of humans and other species has been undermined. In this paper, it is explained that, while multiscale free energy provides a useful hypothesis for framing human ecosystem engineering, disconnects between preferences and survival from human ecosystem engineering limit the application of current assumptions that underlie continuous state-space and discrete state-space modelling of active inference.     

On Epistemics in Expected Free Energy for Linear Gaussian State Space Models

Active Inference (AIF) is a framework that can be used both to describe information processing in naturally intelligent systems, such as the human brain, and to design synthetic intelligent systems (agents). In this paper we show that Expected Free Energy (EFE) minimisation, a core feature of the framework, does not lead to purposeful explorative behaviour in linear Gaussian dynamical systems. We provide a simple proof that, due to the specific construction used for the EFE, the terms responsible for the exploratory (epistemic) drive become constant in the case of linear Gaussian systems. This renders AIF equivalent to KL control. From a theoretical point of view this is an interesting result since it is generally assumed that EFE minimisation will always introduce an exploratory drive in AIF agents. While the full EFE objective does not lead to exploration in linear Gaussian dynamical systems, the principles of its construction can still be used to design objectives that include an epistemic drive. We provide an in-depth analysis of the mechanics behind the epistemic drive of AIF agents and show how to design objectives for linear Gaussian dynamical systems that do include an epistemic drive. Concretely, we show that focusing solely on epistemics and dispensing with goal-directed terms leads to a form of maximum entropy exploration that is heavily dependent on the type of control signals driving the system. Additive controls do not permit such exploration. From a practical point of view this is an important result since linear Gaussian dynamical systems with additive controls are an extensively used model class, encompassing for instance Linear Quadratic Gaussian controllers. On the other hand, linear Gaussian dynamical systems driven by multiplicative controls such as switching transition matrices do permit an exploratory drive.     

Functional Integrals and Free Energy in sine-Gordon-Thirring Model with Impurity Coupling

The free energy at low temperature in 1D sine-Gordon-Thirring model with impurity coupling is studied by means of functional integrals method. For massive free sine-Gordon-Thirring model, free energy is obtained from perturbation expansion of functional determinant. Moreover, the free energy of massive model is calculated by use of an auxiliary Bose field method.     

The Anisotropic Free Energy of the Solid-Liquid Phase Boundary in Al

We have performed large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of solid-liquid interfaces in aluminum, in order to calculate their interfacial stiffness and free energy. The anisotropy of these properties, though small, is key for determining the steady-state solutions for solidification in three dimensions. We find that the interfacial free energy, (), can be well represented by the form () = ₀(1 + cos 4, where measures the angle relative to the [100] interface, rotating about a [001] direction. We find values of ₀ = 120 ± 6 mJ/m² and = 1.3 ± 0.4%, in agreement with previous estimates and current experimental results.     

Topological Structure of Knotted Vortex Lines in Liquid Crystals

In this paper, a novel decomposition expression for the U（1） gauge field in liquid crystals （LCs） is derived. Using this decomposition expression and the b-mapping topological current theory, we investigate the topological structure of the vortex lines in LCs in detail. A topological invariant, i.e., the Chern-Simons （CS） action for the knotted vortex lines is presented, and the CS action is shown to be the total sum of all the self-linking and linking numbers of the knot family. Moreover, it is pointed out that the CS action is preserved in the branch processes of the knotted vortex lines.     

C36团簇生长动力学及自由能

在2300 K的气相条件下,采用经典分子动力学方法对C₃₆团簇的生长过程进行模拟,并计算生长过程中出现的势能最低的20个异构体的相对概率.计算结果表明:团簇系统在100 ns左右达到动态平衡,出现概率最大的异构体是_2d而不是势能最低的D_6h.对于某些势能和自由能均较高的碗状异构体,在生长过程中以一定概率出现,其出现概率甚至高于某些经典构型.     

模拟退火算法在化学自由能模型中的应用

对化学自由能模型进行系统性的研究，着重分析化学反应动态平衡条件下粒子组分的求解方案，提出应用模拟退火算法寻找自由能密度函数极小值点的求解方案.该方案同时解决了两个难题：1）在一级相变区化学势平衡方程组可能遇到多个解而无法甄别其物理意义.通过模拟退火算法定位到自由能密度函数曲面的最低点，因而可从多个解中甄别出稳定的热力学平衡态.2）模拟退火算法用随机的"热涨落"消除初值敏感性，因而可采用同一套初值计算不同的温度密度点，为实现宽区域上大量温度密度点的连续快速计算奠定基础.作为该平衡态求解方案的应用，计算氦流体在"等离子相变"区的物态方程，揭示了丰富的"等离子相变"现象，并与第一性原理计算揭示的氢流体"液液相变"现象进行类比.     

A Technical Critique of Some Parts of the Free Energy Principle

We summarize the original formulation of the free energy principle and highlight some technical issues. We discuss how these issues affect related results involving generalised coordinates and, where appropriate, mention consequences for and reveal, up to now unacknowledged, differences from newer formulations of the free energy principle. In particular, we reveal that various definitions of the “Markov blanket” proposed in different works are not equivalent. We show that crucial steps in the free energy argument, which involve rewriting the equations of motion of systems with Markov blankets, are not generally correct without additional (previously unstated) assumptions. We prove by counterexamples that the original free energy lemma, when taken at face value, is wrong. We show further that this free energy lemma, when it does hold, implies the equality of variational density and ergodic conditional density. The interpretation in terms of Bayesian inference hinges on this point, and we hence conclude that it is not sufficiently justified. Additionally, we highlight that the variational densities presented in newer formulations of the free energy principle and lemma are parametrised by different variables than in older works, leading to a substantially different interpretation of the theory. Note that we only highlight some specific problems in the discussed publications. These problems do not rule out conclusively that the general ideas behind the free energy principle are worth pursuing.     

Ising Field Theory in a Magnetic Field: Analytic Properties of the Free Energy

We study the analytic properties of the scaling function associated with the 2D Ising model free energy in the critical domain TT _c , H0. The analysis is based on numerical data obtained through the Truncated Free Fermion Space Approach. We determine the discontinuities across the Yang–Lee and Langer branch cuts. We confirm the standard analyticity assumptions and propose extended analyticity; roughly speaking, the latter states that the Yang–Lee branching point is the nearest singularity under Langer's branch cut. We support the extended analyticity by evaluating numerically the associated extended dispersion relation.     

The Riemann Surface of the Chiral Potts Model Free Energy Function

In a recent paper we derived the free energy or partition function of the N-state chiral Potts model by using the infinite lattice inversion relation method, together with a non-obvious extra symmetry. This gave us three recursion relations for the partition function per site T _pq of the infinite lattice. Here we use these recursion relations to obtain the full Riemann surface of T _pq . In terms of the t _p ,t _q variables, it consists of an infinite number of Riemann sheets, each sheet corresponding to a point on a (2N–1)-dimensional lattice (for N>2). The function T _pq is meromorphic on this surface: we obtain the orders of all the zeros and poles. For N odd, we show that these orders are determined by the usual inversion and rotation relations (without the extra symmetry), together with a simple linearity ansatz. For N even, this method does not give the orders uniquely, but leaves only [(N+4)/4] parameters to be determined.     

An Isoratio Method to Study Free Energy and Temperature Effects in Intermediate Mass Fragments Produced in Heavy-Ion Collisions

An isoratio method, i.e., the isotopic (isotonic) ratio among three isotopes (isotones), is proposed to study the free energy and temperature effects in the intermediate mass fragments produced in heavy-ion collisions. The parameterizations for the free energy of nucleus at low temperature, which have been proposed in the framework of the density functional theory using the SKM skymre interaction, are adopted to calculate the temperature-dependent free energy of fragment. By analyzing the measured yields of fragments in the 140A MeV ^58,64Ni + ⁹Be reactions, it is verified that the free energy in the isoratio is almost the same for different reactions. A temperature-dependent pairing-energy is introduced into the parameterizations for free energy, which reveals that the weakened pairing energy at the low temperature accounts for the weakened or disappearing odd-even staggering in isoratio.