Interplay of Quantum and Classical Fluctuations Near Quantum Critical Points

For a system near a quantum critical point (QCP), above its lower critical dimension d _L , there is in general a critical line of second-order phase transitions that separates the broken symmetry phase at finite temperatures from the disordered phase. The phase transitions along this line are governed by thermal critical exponents that are different from those associated with the quantum critical point. We point out that, if the effective dimension of the QCP, d _eff?=?d?+?z (d is the Euclidean dimension of the system and z the dynamic quantum critical exponent) is above its upper critical dimension $d_{_{C}}$ there is an intermingle of classical (thermal) and quantum critical fluctuations near the QCP. This is due to the breakdown of the generalized scaling relation ψ?=?νz between the shift exponent ψ of the critical line and the crossover exponent νz, for $d+z>d_{_{C}}$ by a dangerous irrelevant interaction. This phenomenon has clear experimental consequences, like the suppression of the amplitude of classical critical fluctuations near the line of finite temperature phase transitions as the critical temperature is reduced approaching the QCP.     

Fluctuations in nonequilibrium fluids

The extension of fluctuating hydrodynamics to nonequilibrium steady states is discussed. Fluctuations on the walls sorrounding the system are systematically taken into account. Formal results for the correlation matrix and the spectral density matrix are derived. These results involve so-called mode-coupling terms, which yield important corrections to the local equilibrium expressions describing spatially long-range static correlations. As an application the dynamic structure factor of a simple fluid exposed to a temperature gradient is discussed.     

Fluctuations in network dynamics

Most complex networks serve as conduits for various dynamical processes, ranging from mass transfer by chemical reactions in the cell to packet transfer on the Internet. We collected data on the time dependent activity of five natural and technological networks, finding that for each the coupling of the flux fluctuations with the total flux on individual nodes obeys a unique scaling law. We show that the observed scaling can explain the competition between the system's internal collective dynamics and changes in the external environment, allowing us to predict the relevant scaling exponents.     

Fluctuations in superfluorescent beating

The statistical properties of the onset of superfluorescent beating are investigated by means of quasi-probability distribution functions and quantum Langevin equations of motion for collective atomic operators. The time variation of the distribution of the phase of the beats is derived in a simple model, and the role played on the phase statistics by the stochastic forces associated to the e.m. vacuum fluctuations is discussed.     

Fluctuations in relativistic hydrodynamics

Czechoslovak Journal of Physics -     

Fluctuations in coagulating systems

Time-dependent fluctuations in a system of coagulating particles are studied, using the master equation for the probability distributionsP(m,t) for the occupation numbersm={m _k} (k=1,2,...) of thek-cluster states. Van Kampen's-expansion is used to determine the deterministic (order ⁰) and fluctuating part (order ^–1/2) of the solution. We calculate the time-dependent behavior of the fluctuations in the cluster size distribution. The model under consideration is of special interest since it exhibits a phase transition (gelation). For monodisperse initial states we give explicit expressions for the probability distribution of the fluctuations and for the equal-time and two-time correlation functions also near the phase transition. For general initial conditions we study the fluctuations (1) for large cluster sizes, (2) in the scaling limit (near the critical point), and (3) for large times. Our results show that the deterministic approach to coagulation processes (Smoluchowski theory) is invalid very close to the gelpointt _c and at large times (tt _M), where the distance from the gelpoint and the timet _M depend upon the size of the system.     

Fluctuations in granular media

Dense slowly evolving or static granular materials exhibit strong force fluctuations even though the spatial disorder of the grains is relatively weak. Typically, forces are carried preferentially along a network of "force chains." These consist of linearly aligned grains with larger-than-average force. A growing body of work has explored the nature of these fluctuations. We first briefly review recent work concerning stress fluctuations. We then focus on a series of experiments in both two- and three-dimension [(2D) and (3D)] to characterize force fluctuations in slowly sheared systems. Both sets of experiments show strong temporal fluctuations in the local stress/force; the length scales of these fluctuations extend up to 10(2) grains. In 2D, we use photoelastic disks that permit visualization of the internal force structure. From this we can make comparisons to recent models and calculations that predict the distributions of forces. Typically, these models indicate that the distributions should fall off exponentially at large force. We find in the experiments that the force distributions change systematically as we change the mean packing fraction, gamma. For gamma's typical of dense packings of nondeformable grains, we see distributions that are consistent with an exponential decrease at large forces. For both lower and higher gamma, the observed force distributions appear to differ from this prediction, with a more Gaussian distribution at larger gamma and perhaps a power law at lower gamma. For high gamma, the distributions differ from this prediction because the grains begin to deform, allowing more grains to carry the applied force, and causing the distributions to have a local maximum at nonzero force. It is less clear why the distributions differ from the models at lower gamma. An exploration in gamma has led to the discovery of an interesting continuous or "critical" transition (the strengthening/softening transition) in which the mean stress is the order parameter, and the mean packing fraction, gamma, must be adjusted to a value gamma(c) to reach the "critical point." We also follow the motion of individual disks and obtain detailed statistical information on the kinematics, including velocities and particle rotations or spin. Distributions for the azimuthal velocity, V(theta), and spin, S, of the particles are nearly rate invariant, which is consistent with conventional wisdom. Near gamma(c), the grain motion becomes intermittent causing the mean velocity of grains to slow down. Also, the length of stress chains grows as gamma-->gamma(c). The 3D experiments show statistical rate invariance for the stress in the sense that when the power spectra and spectral frequencies of the stress time series are appropriately scaled by the shear rate, Omega, all spectra collapse onto a single curve for given particle and sample sizes. The frequency dependence of the spectra can be characterized by two different power laws, P proportional, variant omega(-alpha), in the high and low frequency regimes: alpha approximately 2 at high omega; alpha<2 at low omega. The force distributions computed from the 3D stress time series are at least qualitatively consistent with exponential fall-off at large stresses. (c) 1999 American Institute of Physics.     

Development of Experimental Research of Turbulent Surface Pressure Fluctuations: Critical Analysis and Generalization of Accumulated Experimental Data

Acoustical Physics - The article reviews the current state of experimental research into near-wall turbulent pressures. In recent decades, a large number of applied, theoretical, and experimental...     

Fluctuations in optical bistable systems

The bistable behaviour of an ensemble of two level atoms driven by a coherent external light field is discussed in the adiabatic limit when the relaxation of the atoms is fast compared to the relaxation of the field. The influence of the different noise sources is discussed separately in a one-dimensional approximation by neglecting the phase fluctuations. In the case where the fluctuations of the driving field play the dominant role, an exact solution of the two-dimensional stationary Fokker-Planck equation is derived describing amplitude as well as phase fluctuations.     

Fluctuations in high field superconductors

We present calculations for the influence of fluctuations in high field superconductors where the critical field is limited by Pauli paramagnetism. Due to the fact that the critical field at the second order phase transition point as function of temperature may have a maximum atT≠0 the additional conductivity due to fluctuations may have a nonmonotonic temperature dependence. This way we can account for recent experimental findings by Tedrow, Meservey and Schwartz. We also calculate the additional tunneling density of states due to fluctuations. Under proper conditions it exhibits a maximum at zero frequency like in the gapless regime. Finally we show that our findings of a nonmonotonic resistivity should also apply to superconductors containing magnetic impurities such as La_3-x Gd _x In in an external field.     

Sampling Fluctuations in Electromagnetic Calorimeters

Physics of Atomic Nuclei - The paper presents the results of calculations of the sampling fluctuations in Pb–LAr electromagnetic sandwich calorimeters. The GEANT4 package was used to generate...     

Fluctuations in mean-field self-organized criticality

We present two models that exhibit self-organized criticality at the mean-field level. These can be variously interpreted in epidemiological or chemical reaction terms. By studying the master equation for these models we find, however, that only in one of them does the self-organized critical behavior survive in the face of fluctuations. For this model we show the spectrum of the evolution operator to have spectral collapse, i.e., instead of a gap, as would occur in noncritical behavior, there are eigenvalues that approach zero as an inverse power of system size.