Directed transport of an asymmetric particle pair induced by non-equilibrium conditions

The hopping motion of a classical bounded pair of two particles along a chain is investigated. It is shown that in the asymmetric case of the system dynamics including excited states which differ from the respective ground states by the barrier to be overcome by one of the two particles, the over- and underpopulation of these excited states leads to a directed motion of the particle pair. Thereby, overpopulation results in one direction of motion, whereas underpopulation results in the opposite direction, and the mean velocity is determined by the amount of over-resp. underpopulation. For small deviations from equilibrium, the system exhibits linear response well known from other ratchet-type models. Possible generalizations and applications are discussed. Received 17 August 2001 and Received in final form 11 October 2001     

Phase transitions in a driven lattice gas in two planes

We report on a Monte Carlo study of ordering in a nonequilibrium system. The system is a lattice gas that comprises two equal, parallel square lattices with stochastic particle-conserving irreversible dynamics. The particles are driven along a principal direction under the competition of the heat bath and a large, constant external electric field. There is attraction only between particles on nearest-neighbor sites within the same lattice. Particles may jump from one plane to the other; therefore, density fluctuations have an extra mechanism to decay and build up. It helps to obtain the steady-state accurately. Spatial correlations decay with distance according to a power law at high enough temperature, as for the ordinary two-dimensional case. We find two kinds of nonequilibrium phase transitions. The first one has a critical point for half occupation of the lattice, and seems to be related to the anisotropic phase transition reported before for the plane. This transition becomes discontinuous for low enough density. The difference of density between the planes changes discontinuously for any density at a lower temperature. This seems to correspond to a phase transition that does not have a counterpart in equilibrium nor in the two-dimensional nonequilibrium case.     

Dynamic critical phenomena in two-dimensional fully frustrated Coulomb gas model with disorder

The dynamic critical phenomena near depinning transition in two-dimensional fully frustrated square lattice Coulomb gas model with disorders was studied using Monte Carlo technique. The ground state of the model system with disorder σ=0.3 is a disordered state. The dependence of charge current density J on electric field E was investigated at low temperatures. The nonlinear J-E behavior near critical depinning field can be described by a scaling function proposed for three-dimensional flux line system [M.B. Luo, X. Hu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 (2007) 267002]. We evaluated critical exponents and found an Arrhenius creep motion for field region Ec/2<E<Ec. The scaling law of the depinning transition is also obtained from the scaling function.     

Non-commutative geometry and irreversibility

A kinetics built upon q-calculus, the calculus of discrete dilatations, is shown to describe diffusion on a hierarchical lattice. The only observable on this ultrametric space is the “quasi-position” whose eigenvalues are the levels of the hierarchy, corresponding to the volume of phase space available to the system at any given time. Motion along the lattice of quasi-positions is irreversible. Received: 24 June 1997 / Revised: 15 September 1997 / Accepted: 6 October 1997     

Dynamic evolution of interacting carbon nanotubes suspended in a fluid using a dielectrophoretic framework

A theoretical investigation of the dynamic response of interacting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed in a liquid medium under alternating current electric fields is presented. The proposed modeling strategy is based on the dielectrophoretic theory and classical electrodynamics of rigid bodies, and considers the coupled rotation-translation motion of interacting CNTs represented as electrical dipoles. Based on experimental evidence, the parameters which are expected to cause a major contribution to the CNTs' motion are investigated for different initial configurations of CNTs. It is predicted that high electric field frequencies, long CNTs, high values of electrical permittivity and conductivity of the CNTs immersed in solvents of high polarity promote faster equilibrium conditions, achieved by CNT tip-to-tip contact and alignment along the electric field direction. For the majority of the scenarios, CNT alignment along the field direction is predicted as the first event, followed by the translation of aligned CNTs until the tip-to-tip contact condition is reached. For systems with interacting CNTs with different lengths, equilibrium of the shorter CNT is achieved faster. Predictions also show that the initial rotation angles and initial location of CNTs have a paramount influence on the evolution of the system towards the equilibrium configuration.     

Flocculation and percolation in reversible cluster-cluster aggregation

Off-lattice dynamic Monte-Carlo simulations were done of reversible cluster-cluster aggregation for spheres that form rigid bonds at contact. The equilibrium properties were found to be determined by the life time of encounters between two particles (t_e). t_e is a function not only of the probability to form or break a bond, but also of the elementary step size of the Brownian motion of the particles. In the flocculation regime the fractal dimension of the clusters is d_f=2.0 and the size distribution has a power law decay with exponent τ=1.5. At larger values of t_e transient gels are formed. Close to the percolation threshold the clusters have a fractal dimension d_f=2.7 and the power law exponent of the size distribution is τ=2.1. The transition between flocculation and percolation occurs at a characteristic weight average aggregation number that decreases with increasing volume fraction.     

Toward a nonlinear theory of acceleration of charged particles in a linearly polarized EH-ubitron field

The motion of charged particles in a linearly polarized EH-ubitron field with sinusoidal time dependence of the variable component of the magnetic field is investigated. It is shown that, depending on the parameters of the system and the initial conditions of entry of the particle into the EH-field region, three different types of motion are possible: ballistic motion, capture in the vicinity of one of the maxima of the magnetic field, and escape of particles from the EH-field region. An analytical expression is found for the criterion determining the type of motion of the particles, along with analytical solutions for the energy of the particles in the approximation of slow variation of the magnetic field amplitude in time. Peculiarities of the motion of the particles in EH fields with arbitrary rate of change of the magnetic field amplitude in time are investigated numerically. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 87–93 (January 1999)     

Statistical physics and fluctuations in ballistic non-equilibrium systems

In nonequilibrium systems in the ballistic transport regime, every point of the system contains particles arriving from different regions-each of them at different temperatures-and there are only few collisions, in such a way that equilibrium between the different populations will be reached very slowly. Here, we tentatively approach the local distribution function by a superposition of local-equilibrium distribution functions with different temperatures, corresponding to the different starting positions of the particles. In a second-order expansion, we find a distribution function which depends not only on the Hamiltonian H but also on H², and we study the additional contribution to energy fluctuations.     

Controlling the motion of interacting particles: homogeneous systems and binary mixtures

We elaborate on recent results on the transport of interacting particles for both single-species and binary mixtures subject to an external driving on a ratchetlike asymmetric substrate. Moreover, we also briefly review motion control without any spatial asymmetric potential (i.e., no ratchet). Our results are obtained using an analytical approach based on a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation as well as via numerical simulations. By increasing the particle density, the net dc ratchet current in our alternating (ac)-driven systems can either increase or decrease depending on the temperature, the drive amplitude, and the nature of the inter-particle interactions. This provides an effective control of particle motion by just changing the particle density. At low temperatures, attracting particles can condense at some potential minima, thus breaking the discrete translational symmetry of the substrate. Depending on the drive amplitude, an agglomeration or condensation results either in a drop to zero or in a saturation of the net particle velocity at densities above the condensation density-the latter case producing a very efficient rectification mechanism. For binary mixtures we find three ways of controlling the particle motion of one (passive) B species by means of another (active) A species: (i) Dragging the target particles B by driving the auxiliary particles A, (ii) rectifying the motion of the B particles on the asymmetric potential created by the A-B interactions, and (iii) dynamically modifying (pulsating) this potential by controlling the motion of the A particles. This allows to easily control the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the target particles by changing either the frequency, phase and/or amplitude of the applied ac drive(s).     

Nonlinear excitations and electric transport in dissipative Morse-Toda lattices

We investigate the onset and maintenance of nonlinear soliton-like excitations in chains of atoms with Morse interactions at rather high densities, where the exponential repulsion dominates. First we discuss the atomic interactions and approximate the Morse potential by an effective Toda potential with adapted density-dependent parameters. Then we study several mechanisms to generate and stabilize the soliton-like excitations: (i) External forcing: we shake the masses periodically, mimicking a piezoelectric-like excitation, and delay subsequent damping by thermal excitation; (ii) heating, quenching and active friction: we heat up the system to a relatively high temperature Gaussian distribution, then quench to a low temperature, and subsequently stabilize by active friction. Finally, we assume that the atoms in the chain are ionized with free electrons able to move along the lattice. We show that the nonlinear soliton-like excitations running on the chain interact with the electrons. They influence their motion in the presence of an external field creating dynamic bound states (“solectrons”, etc.). We show that these bound states can move very fast and create extra current. The soliton-induced contribution to the current is constant, field-independent for a significant range of values when approaching the zero-field value.     

Rosette motion and string scattering of 20 MeV electrons in MgO single crystals

Analytical estimates and computer simulations were undertaken to perceive the motion of negative particles through a lattice structure, the interaction being classical binary scattering. Three distinct modes of particle motion along atomic strings were found depending on the magnitude of the transverse energy and the angular momentum L of the particle with regard to the string axis. At small and large L increased scattering on the strings as compared with random penetration dominates. At medium L and negative transverse energy (bound state particles in the attractive potential) a rosette motion along the string occurs. In this case small impact parameters to the string atoms are avoided and thus an increased penetrability of the negative particles results. The influence of thermal lattice vibrations on these motions was studied.

Experimentally, the negative particle motion modes manifested themselves in the penetration profiles of 20 MeV electrons through an 8 μm MgO single crystal.     

Laser cooling of atoms in optical lattices including quantum statistics and dipole–dipole interactions

We develop a mean-field approach to include dipole-dipole interactions and quantum statistics in the atomic dynamics in bright and dark optical lattices including the proper spatial potentials instead of a simple δ-approximation. For classical distinguishable particles the results are even quantitatively similar to the properly scaled δ-function model. As the dominant effect bright and dark lattices exhibit opposite shifts in the lattice band energies and differ in their localisation properties as a function of density. The spatial-dependent potential allows strong modifications also in dark lattices, but the main conclusions obtained in the δ-approximation turn out to be still valid. Interestingly, important quantitative differences from the δ-model can occur as far as the effect of statistics in concerned, especially for fermions. We study the quantum statistical effects as a function of detuning and lattice well depths and identify the case of lattices with deep wells and large detunings as the preferred parameter region to observe them. Received 24 November 1999 / revised version: 24 June 1999 / Published online: 8 September 1999     

Layer reduction in driven 2D-colloidal systems through microchannels

The transport behavior of a system of gravitationally driven superparamagnetic colloidal particles is investigated. The motion of the particles through a narrow channel is governed by magnetic dipole interactions, and a layered structure forms parallel to the walls. The arrangement of the particles is perturbed by diffusion and the motion induced by gravity leading to a density gradient along the channel. Our main result is the reduction of the number of layers. Experiments and Brownian dynamics simulations show that this occurs due to the density gradient along the channel.     

Colloidal crystal growth at externally imposed nucleation clusters

We study the conditions under which and how an imposed cluster of fixed colloidal particles at prescribed positions triggers crystal nucleation from a metastable colloidal fluid. Dynamical density functional theory of freezing and Brownian dynamics simulations are applied to a two-dimensional colloidal system with dipolar interactions. The externally imposed nucleation clusters involve colloidal particles either on a rhombic lattice or along two linear arrays separated by a gap. Crystal growth occurs after the peaks of the nucleation cluster have first relaxed to a cutout of the stable bulk crystal.     

Kinematics of the forced and overdamped sine-Gordon soliton gas

Motion of a driven and heavily damped sine-Gordon chain with a low density of kinks and tight coupling between particles is controlled by the nucleation and subsequent annihilation of pairs of kinks and antikinks. We show that in the steady state there are no spatial correlations between kinks or between kinks and antikinks. For a given number of kinks and antikinks all geometrical distributions are equally alike, as in equilibrium. A master equation for the probability distribution for the number of kinks on a finite chain is solved, and substantiates the physical reasoning in previous work. The probability distribution characterizing the spread along the direction of particle motion of a finite chain in equilibrium as well as in the driven overdamped case is derived by simple combinatorial considerations. The spatial spread of a driven chain in the thermodynamic limit does not approach a steady state; a given particle followed in time deviates as t^1/2 from its average forced motion. This result follows from the hydrodynamic equations for the dilute kink gas. Comparison is made with other recent results.     

微尺度稀薄效应下颗粒沉降的格子Boltzmann方法模拟

基于多松弛格子Boltzmann模型,对竖直细长微通道内颗粒自由沉降过程进行模拟,分析气体稀薄效应、初始位置以及颗粒间相互作用对微颗粒沉降特性的影响.研究表明：随Knudsen数增大,微通道内气体稀薄效应增强,颗粒表面气体滑移速度增大,气相流体有效粘度减小,颗粒相同运动状态下受到气体阻力相应减小,颗粒沉降平衡速度明显增大;不同初始位置颗粒沉降过程存在明显差异,初始位置偏离中心线颗粒将发生水平方向位移且呈振荡趋势,最终稳定于中心线平衡位置;在微尺度双颗粒沉降DKT现象过程中,气体稀薄效应影响颗粒运动特性,后颗粒跟随过程明显增长.     

Thermophoresis of touching solid spheres in the direction along the line joining their centers

A theory of the steady motion of an aggregate of two touching solid, nonvolatile, low-thermalconductivity, spherical particles in the direction along the line joining their centers in a nonuniformly heated viscous gas is constructed in a hydrodynamic regime with slipping at low Reynolds and Peclet numbers. The thermophoretic transport velocity of an aggregate is determined in an approximation linear in the small parameters. The small parameters are the relative deviations of the thermal conductivity of the constituent particles of an aggregate from the thermal conductivity of the external medium. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 25–31 (June 1998)     

Ab initio theory of complex electronic ground state of superconductors: II.: Antiadiabatic state—Ground state of superconductors

Based on Q, P-dependent modification of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation (BOA), the ab initio theory of complex electronic ground state of superconductors is presented. As an illustrative example, application of the theory to superconductors of a different character and to the corresponding nonsuperconducting analogues is presented. It is shown that due to electron-phonon (EP) interactions, which drive system from adiabatic into antiadiabatic state, adiabatic translation symmetry is broken and system is stabilized in antiadiabatic state at distorted geometry with respect to adiabatic equilibrium high-symmetry structure. Stabilization effect in the antiadiabatic state is due to strong dependence of the electronic motion on the instantaneous nuclear kinetic energy, i.e. on the effect that is neglected on the adiabatic level within the BOA. At distorted geometry, antiadiabatic ground state is geometrically degenerated with fluxional nuclear configurations in the phonon modes that drive system into this state. It has been shown that until the system remains in antiadiabatic state, nonadiabatic polaron-renormalized phonon interactions are zero in the well-defined k-region of reciprocal lattice. This, along with geometric degeneracy of the antiadiabatic state, enables formation of mobile bipolarons that can move over lattice as supercarriers without dissipation. Moreover, it has been shown that due to EP interactions at transition into antiadiabatic state, k-dependent gap in one-electron spectrum has been opened. Gap opening is associated with shift of the original adiabatic Hartree-Fock orbital energies and with the k-dependent change in density of states of particular band(s) at Fermi level. Corrected one-particle spectrum enables to derive thermodynamic properties in full agreement with corresponding thermodynamic properties of superconductors.Based on the complex ab initio theory, it has been shown that Fröhlich's effective attractive electron-electron interaction term represents correction to electron correlation energy at transition from adiabatic into antiadiabatic state due to EP interactions. It has been shown that increased electron correlation is a consequence of stabilization of the system in superconducting electronic ground state, but not the reason for its formation.