Thermodynamic Casimir effect in 4He films near Tlambda: Monte Carlo results

The universal finite-size scaling function of the critical Casimir force for the three dimensional XY universality class with Dirichlet boundary conditions is determined using Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in excellent agreement with recent experiments on 4He Films at the superfluid transition and with available theoretical predictions.     

Finite-size scaling of critical cumulants near the ferromagnetic phase boundary

We employ the recently proposed scaling theory for first-order transitions to derive a detailed prediction for the large-argument behaviour of the critical-point scaling function of the reduced fourth order cumulant $\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{L}}\text{≡}\text{<s}{}^4\text{>}\text{<s}{}^2\text{>}{}^2\text{?3}$ correct up to a term exponentially small in L/ξ(T).     

Finite-size scaling and the renormalization group

Renormalization group calculations ind = 4 andd = 4 – are performed for a system of finite size. A form of mean-field theory is used which yields a rounded transition for a finite system, and this allows a sensible expansion in fluctuations. A combination of Ewald and Poisson sum techniques is used to produce explicit numerical results for the specific heat ind = 4 which, with the setting of two nonuniversal metrical factors and the fourth-order coupling constant may be compared with simulations. The numerical visibility of logarithmic corrections is investigated. The universal scaling function for the specific heat to relativeO() is also evaluated numerically.     

Convective roll dynamics in liquid 4He near the onset of convection

We present results of experiments on Rayleigh-Bénard convection in liquid 4He at several temperatures. We show visually that with carefully defined boundary conditions the basic convection state consists of parallel rolls which are aligned in one of two directions, the angle thus defined as being temperature dependent and we attempt to explain this behavior. We also show directly the skew-varicose instability acting on the basic state and correlate it with fluctuations in the temperature difference across the fluid layer.     

Finite-size scaling in the multiparticle production

The finite-size scalling analysis of the scaled factorial moment data is proposed. This analysis allows to extract the scaling indices of the underlying higher-dimensional scale-invariant multiparticle distributions. Moreover, it exhibits the change of the effective scale involved in the dimensional projection with transverse momentum cuts applied to the data.     

Finite-size scaling analysis of the glass transition

We show that finite-size scaling techniques can be employed to study the glass transition. Our results follow from the postulate of a diverging dynamical correlation length at the glass transition whose physical manifestation is the presence of dynamical heterogeneities. We introduce a parameter B(T,L) whose temperature, T, and system size, L, dependences permit a precise location of the glass transition. We discuss the finite-size scaling behavior of a diverging susceptibility chi(L,T). These new techniques are successfully used to study two lattice models. The analysis straightforwardly applies to any glass-forming system.     

Finite-size scaling exponents of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model

We study the ground state properties of the critical Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model. Using the Holstein-Primakoff boson representation, and the continuous unitary transformation technique, we compute explicitly the finite-size scaling exponents for the energy gap, the ground state energy, the magnetization, and the spin-spin correlation functions. Finally, we discuss the behavior of the two-spin entanglement in the vicinity of the phase transition.     

Finite-size Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition at grain boundaries in solid 4He and the role of 3He impurities

We analyze the complex phenomenology of the nonclassical rotational inertia (NCRI) observed at low temperature in solid 4He within the context of a two-dimensional Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in a premelted 4He film at the grain boundaries. We show that both the temperature and 3He doping dependence of the NCRI fraction (NCRIF) can be ascribed to finite size effects induced by the finite grain size. We give an estimate of the average size of the grains which we argue to be limited by the isotopic 3He impurities and we provide a simple power-law relation between the NCRIF and the 3He concentration.     

Finite-size effects and scaling for the thermal QCD deconfinementphase transition within the exact color-singlet partition function

We study the finite-size effects for the thermal quantum chromodynamics (QCD) deconfinement phase transition, and use a numerical finite-size scaling analysis to extract the scaling exponents characterizing its scaling behavior when approaching the thermodynamic limit . For this, we use a simple model of coexistence of hadronic gas and color-singlet quark gluon plasma (QGP) phases in a finite volume. The color-singlet partition function of the QGP cannot be exactly calculated and is usually derived within the saddle-point approximation. When we try to do calculations with such an approximate color-singlet partition function, a problem arises in the limit of small temperatures and/or volumes , requiring additional approximations if we want to carry out calculations. We propose in this work a method for an accurate calculation of any quantity of the finite system, without any approximation. By probing the behavior of some useful thermodynamic response functions on the whole range of temperature, it turns out that, in a finite-size system, all singularities in the thermodynamic limit are smeared out and the transition point is shifted away. A numerical finite-size scaling (FSS) analysis of the obtained data allows us to determine the scaling exponents of the QCD deconfinement phase transition. Our results expressing the equality between their values and the space dimensionality is a consequence of the singularity characterizing a first-order phase transition and agree very well with the predictions of other FSS theoretical approaches to a first-order phase transition and with the results of calculations using Monte Carlo methods in both lattice QCD and statistical physics models. Received: 11 January 2005, Revised: 7 July 2005, Published online: 30 August 2005     

Finite-size scaling corrections for the eight-vertex model

Finite-size scaling corrections are calculated analytically for two of the maximal eigenvalues of the transfer matrix in the isotropic eight-vertex model. The valuec=1 for the conformal anomaly of the Virasoro algebra is confirmed.     

Finite-size scaling for the interfacial adsorption phenomena

We study the interfacial adsorption phenomena of the ferromagnetic three-state Potts model on the square lattice. Finite-size scaling of the net-adsorption is discussed through the interfacial free energy in the external field and the scaling relation, =v- is derived. Monte Carlo data are analysed by the finite-size scaling theory and it is shown that the contribution from the non-singular background should not be neglected.     

Finite-size scaling from the self-consistent theory of localization

Accepting the validity of Vollhardt and Wölfle’s self-consistent theory of localization, we derive the finite-size scaling procedure used for studying the critical behavior in the d-dimensional case and based on the consideration of auxiliary quasi-1D systems. The obtained scaling functions for d = 2 and d = 3 are in good agreement with numerical results: it signifies the absence of substantial contradictions with the Vollhardt and Wölfle theory on the level of raw data. The results ν = 1.3–1.6, usually obtained at d = 3 for the critical exponentν of the correlation length, are explained by the fact that dependence L + L ₀ with L ₀ > 0 (L is the transversal size of the system) is interpreted as L ^1/ν with ν > 1. The modified scaling relations are derived for dimensions d ≥ 4; this demonstrates the incorrectness of the conventional treatment of data for d = 4 and d = 5, but establishes the constructive procedure for such a treatment. The consequences for other finite-size scaling variants are discussed.     

Finite-size scaling study of the Laplacian roughening model

We perform further Monte Carlo simulations of the Laplacian roughening model on a triangular lattice to decide whether two-dimensional defect melting proceeds in a single first-order or two successive continuous transitions, as predicted by two conflicting theories. Of the two alternatives, the new high-statistics Monte Carlo data favor the single first-order transition.