On the uniqueness of the equilibrium state for Ising spin systems

We show that for an Ising spin system of arbitrary spin with a ferromagnetic pair interaction and a periodic external magnetic field there is a unique equilibrium state if and only if the magnetization is continuous with respect to a uniform change in the external field. Hence, if the critical temperatureT _c is defined as the temperature where the spontaneous magnetization (which is a non-increasing function of the temperature) becomes positive, then the equilibrium state is unique forT>T _c and is non-unique forT<T _c (when the external field is zero). This implies that the correlation functions have a cluster property forT>T _c .We also show that for an anti-ferromagnet consisting of two sublattices there is a unique equilibrium state if and only if the staggered magnetization is continuous with respect to a change in the staggered field.Supported in part by U.S.A.F.O.S.R. under contract F 44620-71-C-0013, P001.     

Exact quantum partition function of the BCS model

The exact calculation of the reduced BCS model quantum partition function (QPF) in the thermodynamic limit is carried out by the path integration method. The expression for the QPF and the phase transition temperatureT _c in the regular phase coincide with the results of Bogolyubov. In the nonregular phase a temperature singularity appears in the expression for the QPF: the QPF diverges in the region of temperaturesT _c which are smaller than some critical temperatureT _c ^* , and it turns out that in all casesT _c ^* > T _c and the differenceT _c ^* –T _c is not small. The interpretation of the temperatureT _c ^* is given.     

Nonlinear and nonlocal transport effects in simple fluids

Correlation function formulae for transport coefficients of 2nd order in arbitrarily dense fluids are derived, using a modified Chapman-Enskog solution of the Liouville equation. Some static correlations are neglected. Approximate evaluation for dilute gases gives essentially the same results as the solution of Boltzmann's equation. As an application higher order transport effects in the critical region are estimated. It is conjectured that they are apparent in sound absorption and the line width of Rayleigh scattering if (T?T_c)/T _c?10^?3.     

On the gas-liquid phase transition

A new approach to the problem of the gas-liquid phase transition, based on the Mayer cluster expansion of the partition function, is proposed. It is shown that the necessary and sufficient condition for phase transition to occur is that there exist a temperatureT= T_c > 0 such that forT T _c, all theb _l (except perhaps a finite number of them) are positive, where theb _l, are the cluster integrals (as defined by Mayer) in the thermodynamic limit. Explicit expressions for the isotherms for gas-saturated vapor and liquid phases are given.     

First order phase transitions in the canonical and the microcanonical ensemble

In the canonical ensemble any singularity of a thermodynamic function at a temperatureT _c is smeared over a temperature range of orderT _T /N. Therefore it is rather difficult to distinguish between a discontinuous and a continuous phase transition on the basis of numerical data obtained for finite systems in the canonical ensemble. It is demonstrated for four model systems that this problem cannot be circumvented by considering higher cumulants of the energy distribution or cumulant ratios. On the other hand, the distinction between first and a second order phase transition is rather direct if based on the microcanonical density of states which is readily obtainable in the dynamical ensemble.     

The vortex-like excitations detected by Nernst signals in high-Tc superconductors

The nature of the pseudogap state and its relation to the d-wave superconductivity in high-T _c superconductors is still an open issue. The vortex-like excitations detected by the Nernst effect measurements exist in a certain temperature range above superconducting transition temperature T _c, which strongly support that the pseudogap phase is characterized by finite pairing amplitude with strong phase fluctuations and imply that the phase transition at T _c is driven by the loss of long-range phase coherence. We first briefly introduce the electronic phase diagram and pseudogap state of high-T _c superconductors, and then review the results of Nernst effect for different high-T _c superconductors. Related theoretical models are also discussed.     

Temporal correlations and persistence in the kinetic Ising model: the role of temperature

We study the statistical properties of the sum S _t = dt'σ _t', that is the difference of time spent positive or negative by the spin σ _t, located at a given site of a D-dimensional Ising model evolving under Glauber dynamics from a random initial configuration. We investigate the distribution of S_t and the first-passage statistics (persistence) of this quantity. We discuss successively the three regimes of high temperature ( T > T _c), criticality ( T = T _c), and low temperature ( T < T _c). We discuss in particular the question of the temperature dependence of the persistence exponent , as well as that of the spectrum of exponents (x), in the low temperature phase. The probability that the temporal mean S _t/t was always larger than the equilibrium magnetization is found to decay as t ^{- - ?}. This yields a numerical determination of the persistence exponent in the whole low temperature phase, in two dimensions, and above the roughening transition, in the low-temperature phase of the three-dimensional Ising model. Received 4 December 2000     

On the isotope effect of Tc in squaric acid (H2C4O4)

The phase transition mechanism in squaric acid is reviewed from the viewpoint of the pressure dependence of the O—H—O bond length (2R). The two-dimensional pressure effect on T_c is extracted from the hydrostatic pressure behaviour by taking account of the uniaxial stress applied perpendicular to the layer planes. The result shows that if 2R(H₂SQ) is stretched to 2R(D₂SQ) the phase transition temperature 7^H _c of H₂SQ coincides with T^D _c of D₂SQ. This result supports the suggestion that the phase transition mechanism is of the order-disorder type.     

Critical points in less than two dimensions

From a study of the liquid-vapour equilibrium at low temperatures in the lattice-gas and penetrable-sphere models it is concluded that the phase transformation can occur as soon as the dimensionality of the fluid exceeds one, even if, formally, by a small, non-integral amount. A hypothetical fluid of dimensionality s only slightly greater than 1 is defined through its cluster integrals, and its thermodynamic properties are deduced. It is found that its behaviour is identical to that of a one-dimensional system for temperatures above some critical temperature T _c (with T _c →0 as s →1), while for temperatures below T _c its behaviour is that of a two-phase system of dimensionality s greater than 1.     

Effective interactions and superconductivity in the t-J model in the large-N limit

The feasibility of a perturbation expansion for Green's functions of the t-J model directly in terms of X-operators is demonstrated using the Baym-Kadanoff functional method. As an application we derive explicit expressions for the kernel of the linearized equation for the superconducting order parameter in leading order of a 1/N expansion. The linearized equation is solved numerically on a square lattice taking instantaneous and retarded contributions into account. Classifying the order parameter according to irreducible representations of the point group C_4v of the square lattice and according to even or odd parity in frequency we find that a reasonably strong instability occurs only for even frequency pairing with d-wavelike symmetry. The corresponding transition temperature T_c is where t is the nearest-neighbor hopping integral. The underlying effective interaction consists of an attractive, instantaneous term and a retarded term due to charge and spin fluctuations. The latter is weakly attractive at low frequencies below ,strongly repulsive up to and attractive towards even higher energies. T_c increases with decreasing doping until a d-wavelike bond-order wave instability is encountered near optimal doping at for J=0.3. T_c is essentially linear in J and rather insensitive to an additional second-nearest neighbor hopping integral t'. A rather striking property of T_c is that it is hardly affected by the soft mode associated with the bond-order wave instability or by the Van Hove singularity in the case with second-nearest neighbor hopping. This unique feature reflects the fact that the solution of the gap equation involves momenta far away from the Fermi surface (due to the instantaneous term) and many frequencies (due to the retarded term) so that singular properties in momentum or frequency are averaged out very effectively. Received: 16 June 1998 / Accepted: 14 July 1998     

超导临界温度理论(Ⅱ)

在文献[1]中,我们导出了超导临界温度T_c的一个严格级数表式。本文讨论这个级数的收敛范围,以及通过解析延拓来扩展收敛范围的可能性。结论是:我们的T_c级数(指文献[1]原来的级数,或者经过延拓后的级数)在∞>λ>λ₀的整个范围内,都是收敛的。这里λ₀是Matsubara表象中使决定T_c的方程具有正实数解的最小的λ值。实际上,就是库仑赝势。因此,这就是说,也许除了少数非常弱耦合的超导体以外,我们的T<     

On the enhancement of superconductivity due to Van Hove singularity

We have rigorously solved the standard BCS gap equation with the density of states of Van Hove type. The result shows that the enhancement ofT _c is not as effective as previously estimated. It seems unlikely that Van Hove singularity inN(E) can be theT _c -enhancement mechanism for the high-T _c Cu oxides.     

Phase transition of directed polymer in random potentials on 4+1 dimensions

Finite-temperature-directed polymer in random potentials is described by a transfer matrix method. On 4+1 dimensions, the evidence for a finite-temperature phase transition is found at T_c≈0.18, where the free energy fluctuation grows logarithmically as a function of time t. When TT_c, the fluctuation of the free energy grows as t^ω with ω≈0.156. The phase transition of the restricted solid-on-solid model, which is closely related to the directed polymer problem through the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation, is also discussed.     

Study of the correlation between the structure and critical temperatureT c of sputtered Nb-Ge films

Nb-Ge layers with continuous change of chemical and phase composition were prepared by the d.c. sputtering method. The dependence of critical temperatureT _c on phase composition, Ge-content, lattice imperfections and composition irregularities were studied. Films with highT _c contain beside the A-15 Nb₃Ge phase also the hexagonal and tetragonal modification of the Nb₅Ge₃ phase. Correlation betweenT _c and Nb₃Ge phase composition determined from the lattice parameter was found. In samples with highestT _c the lattice parametera ₀=0·5135 nm corresponding to 22–23 at.% of germanium was determined.     

A remark on the large difference between the glueball mass and T<Subscript>c</Subscript> in quenched QCD

The lattice QCD studies indicate that the critical temperature T _c ≃ 260-280 MeV of the deconfinement phase transition in quenched QCD is considerably smaller than the lowest-lying glueball mass m _G ≃ 1500-1700 MeV, i.e., T _c ≪ m _G. As a consequence of this large difference, the thermal excitation of the glueball in the confinement phase is strongly suppressed by the statistical factor e ^-mG/Tc ≃ 0.00207 even near T ≃ T _c. We consider its physical implication, and argue the abnormal feature of the deconfinement phase transition in quenched QCD from the statistical viewpoint. To appreciate this, we demonstrate a statistical argument of the QCD phase transition using the recent lattice QCD data. From the phenomenological relation between T _c and the glueball mass, the deconfinement transition is found to take place in quenched QCD before a reasonable amount of glueballs is thermally excited. In this way, quenched QCD reveals a question “what is the trigger of the deconfinement phase transition ?” Received: 18 November 2002 / Accepted: 4 February 2003 / Published online: 29 April 2003     

Liquids in equilibrium: Beyond the hypernetted chain

Density functional techniques are used to derive a charging expression for the non-uniform density of a molecular liquid. In the atomic limit the equation reduces to an exact form due to Fixman. The theory is simplified greatly via a physical approximation that accounts for three-body correlations beyond those included in the hypernetted chain (HNC) closure of the Ornstein-Zernike (OZ) equation. The radial distribution function is obtained as a special case. The theory is tested by examining the phase behavior of two fundamental complex fluids: the homopolymer blend and diblock copolymer melts. For the former it is found, contrary to HNC theory and its molecular generalizations, that a critical temperature T_c is predicted from the structure route. This T_c scales linearly with degree of polymerization N in agreement with Flory theory. The simplest form of the theory can be considered as a way to incorporate attractive interactions within a formalism that is very similar to that of the OZ or reference interaction site model (RISM). The relevance of the theory to charged liquids is also discussed.     

A maxwellian lower bound for solutions to the Boltzmann equation

We prove that the solution of the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation is bounded pointwise from below by a Maxwellian, i.e. a function of the formc ₁ exp(-c ₂ v ²). This holds for any initial data with bounded mass, energy and entropy, and for any positive timet≧t ₀. The constantsc ₁, andc ₂, depend on the mass, energy and entropy of the initial data, and ont ₀>0 only. A similar result is obtained for the Kac caricature of the Boltzmann equation, where the proof is easier.     

Effect of pressure on transition temperature of Rb3C60 fullerides

Electronic structure parameters play a significant role in fullerides leading to a superconducting state. Relevant electronic parameter as renormalized Coulomb repulsive parameter μ* and the attractive electron-phonon coupling strength λ are obtained within the dielectric function formalism for random phase approximation. As a first step, the superconducting transition temperature is deduced within the framework of McMillan approximation and strong coupling results using the widely spread phonon spectrum. In view of the importance of Coulomb screening for doped fullerides, the influence of pressure and volume on T _c are estimated to be within the range of experimental values. The isotope and dopant effects are also discussed. It is noticed that the high-T _c , the huge pressure effect, negative pressure derivative of T _c and positive volume derivative of T _c in alkali intercalated fullerides are dictated by the properties of Coulomb and on-ball-C₆₀ high energy intramolecular modes.     

Critical disorder effects in Josephson-coupled quasi-one-dimensional superconductors

Effects of non-magnetic randomness on the critical temperature T _c and diamagnetism are studied in a class of quasi-one dimensional superconductors. The energy of Josephson-coupling between wires is considered to be random, which is typical for dirty organic superconductors. We show that this randomness destroys phase coherence between the wires and T _c vanishes discontinuously when the randomness reaches a critical value. The parallel and transverse components of the penetration depth are found to diverge at different critical temperatures T _c ⁽¹⁾ and T _c , which correspond to pair-breaking and phase-coherence breaking. The interplay between disorder and quantum phase fluctuations results in quantum critical behavior at T = 0, manifesting itself as a superconducting-normal metal phase transition of first-order at a critical disorder strength.