Quantum entanglement and pairing correlation in the reduced BCS pairing model

Using the particle-hole version of the density-matrix renormalization-group technique, the pairing correlation and the quantum entanglement of the reduced BCS pairing model are investigated. Both of them behave smoothly from the weak to the strong coupling regimes. A convergence radius (∼1/ln Ω) of condensation energy is detected by the first order derivative of the block-block entanglement. Furthermore, the block-block entanglement in the strong coupling regime shows distinct size dependence, and a logarithmic volume law is suggested numerically.     

Granular segregation as a critical phenomenon

We present the results of an experimental study of patterned segregation in a horizontally shaken shallow layer of a binary mixture of dry particles. An order parameter for the segregated domains is defined and the effect of the variation of the combined filling fraction, C, of the mixture on the observed pattern formation is systematically studied. We find that there is a critical event associated with the onset of segregation, at C(c)=0.647+/-0.049, which has the characteristics of a continuous phase transition, including critical slowing down.     

Ground state correlations in the BCS treatment of a monopole pairing Hamiltonian

The treatment of a monopole pairing Hamiltonian, in the quasiparticle basis and with the inclusion of ground state correlations, is discussed. The theoretical procedure is based on the BCS method supplemented by a variational treatment of ground state correlations. A significant improvement in the results is found, for ground state energies, when the comparison between correlated, BCS and exact values is performed. Results are discussed for one and two level model configurations.     

BCS and BEC p-wave pairing in Bose-Fermi gases

The pairing of fermionic atoms in a mixture of atomic fermion and boson gases at zero temperature is investigated. The attractive interaction between fermions, that can be induced by density fluctuations of the bosonic background, can give rise to a superfluid phase in the Fermi component of the mixture. The atoms of both species are assumed to be in only one internal state, so that the pairing of fermions is effective only in odd-l channels. No assumption about the value of the ratio between the Fermi velocity and the sound velocity in the Bose gas is made in the derivation of the energy gap equation. The gap equation is solved without any particular ansatz for the pairing field or the effective interaction. The p-wave superfluidity is studied in detail. By increasing the strength and/or decreasing the range of the effective interaction a transition of the fermion pairing regime, from the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer state to a system of tightly bound couples can be realized. These composite bosons behave as a weakly-interacting Bose-Einstein condensate.     

Collective Rabi oscillations and solitons in a time-dependent BCS pairing problem

Motivated by recent efforts to achieve cold fermions pairing, we study the nonadiabatic regime of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer state formation. After the interaction is turned on, at times shorter than the quasiparticle energy relaxation time, the system oscillates between the superfluid and normal state. The collective nonlinear evolution of the BCS-Bogoliubov amplitudes u(p), v(p), along with the pairing function Delta, is shown to be an integrable dynamical problem which admits single soliton and soliton train solitons. We interpret the collective oscillations as Bloch precession of Anderson pseudospins, where each soliton causes a pseudospin 2pi Rabi rotation.     

Compatibility of BCS pairing and the peierls distortion in two-band systems

The effect of the Peierls transition on superconductivity in a two-band system, where one of the bands is flat, is examined theoretically. We find that superconductivity appears at the background of the insulating phase (T_P >; T_c). At T_c > T_P only the superconducting transition is possible.     

Antiferromagnetic Ising spin glass competing with BCS pairing interaction in a transverse field

The competition among spin glass (SG), antiferromagnetism (AF) and local pairing superconductivity (PAIR) is studied in a two-sublattice fermionic Ising spin glass model with a local BCS pairing interaction in the presence of an applied magnetic transverse field Γ. In the present approach, spins in different sublattices interact with a Gaussian random coupling with an antiferromagnetic mean J₀ and standard deviation J. The problem is formulated in the path integral formalism in which spin operators are represented by bilinear combinations of Grassmann variables. The saddle-point Grand Canonical potential is obtained within the static approximation and the replica symmetric ansatz. The results are analysed in phase diagrams in which the AF and the SG phases can occur for small g (g is the strength of the local superconductor coupling written in units of J), while the PAIR phase appears as unique solution for large g. However, there is a complex line transition separating the PAIR phase from the others. It is second order at high temperature that ends in a tricritical point. The quantum fluctuations affect deeply the transition lines and the tricritical point due to the presence of Γ.     

Incompatibility of BCS pairing and the Peierls distortion in linear chain systems

We have solved the coupled gap equations for a one dimensional electron gas which can undergo both a Peierls insulating and a BCS superconducting transition. We find that, except for a very special case, (i) only one of the order parameters can be non-vanishing and (ii) there is only one critical temperature. We conclude that, independent of the pairing interaction strength, if the Peierls transition occurs, there can be no BCS superconductivity, and conversely.     

Fermionic Ising glasses in magnetic transverse field with BCS pairing interaction

We study a fermionic infinited-ranged Ising spin glass with a real space BCS interaction in the presence of an applied transverse field. The problem is formulated in the integral functional formalism where the SU(2) spins are given in terms of bilinear combinations of Grassmann fields. The problem is solved within static approximation and the replica symmetry ansatz combined with previous approaches used to study the critical behavior of the quantum Ising spin glass in a transverse field and the spin glass Heisenberg model with BCS pairing. Our results show that the transverse field has strong effect in the phase boundary of the spin glass phase and the PAIR phase in which there is a long range order corresponding to formations of pairs. The location of the tricritical point in the PAIR phase transition line is also affected.     

Exact solution for a trapped Fermi gas with population imbalance and BCS pairing

The problem of a two-component Fermi gas in a harmonic trap, with an imbalanced population and a pairing interaction of zero total momentum, is mapped onto the exactly solvable reduced BCS model. For a one-dimensional trap, the complete ground state diagram is determined with various topological features in ground state energy spectra. In addition to the conventional two-shell density profile of a paired core and polarized outer wings, a three-shell structure as well as a double-peak superfluid distribution are unveiled.     

Behaviour of projected BCS solutions at the critical point

A BCS-type solution for charge-independent (J = 0, T = 1) pairing interaction, combined with projection to states with fixed particle number and isospin is discussed for a symmetric 2-level model. The superconducting solution exists at any interaction strength; for particle numbers corresponding to filled Fermi levels, however, it does not show the correct asymptotic behaviour at G → 0.     

Jamming as a critical phenomenon: a field theory of zero-temperature grain packings

A field theory of frictionless grain packings in two dimensions is shown to exhibit a zero-temperature critical point at a nonzero value of the packing fraction. The zero-temperature constraint of force balance plays a crucial role in determining the nature of the transition. Two order parameters, , the deviation of the average number of contacts from the isostatic value, and , the average magnitude of the force per contact, characterize the transition from the jammed (high packing fraction) to the unjammed (low packing fraction state). The critical point has a mixed character with the order parameters showing a jump discontinuity but with fluctuations of the contact force diverging. At the critical point, the distribution of phi shows the characteristic plateau observed in static granular piles. The theory makes falsifiable predictions about the spatial fluctuations of the contact forces.     

Detection of BCS pairing in neutral fermi fluids via stokes scattering: the Hebel-Slichter effect

We consider the effects of superfluidity on the light scattering properties of a two component gas of fermionic atoms, demonstrating that the scattered intensities of the Stokes and anti-Stokes lines exhibit a large maximum below the critical temperature when the gas is superfluid. This effect, the light scattering analog of the Hebel-Slichter effect in conventional superconductors, can be used to detect unambiguously the onset of pairing in an atomic gas in the BCS regime.     

Black-hole singularities: a new critical phenomenon

The singularity inside a spherical charged black hole, coupled to a spherical, massless scalar field is studied numerically. The profile of the characteristic scalar field was taken to be a power of advanced time with an exponent alpha>0. A critical exponent alpha(crit) exists. For exponents below the critical one (alphaalpha(crit)) an all-encompassing, spacelike singularity evolves, which completely blocks the "tunnel" inside the black hole, preventing the use of the black hole as a portal for hyperspace travel.     

Condensation in a capped capillary is a continuous critical phenomenon

We show that condensation in a capped capillary slit is a continuous interfacial critical phenomenon, related intimately to several other surface phase transitions. In three dimensions, the adsorption and desorption branches correspond to the unbinding of the meniscus from the cap and opening, respectively, and are equivalent to 2D-like complete-wetting transitions. For dispersion forces, the singularities on the two branches are distinct, owing to the different interplay of geometry and intermolecular forces. In two dimensions we establish precise connection, or covariance, with 2D critical-wetting and wedge-filling transitions: i.e., we establish that certain interfacial properties in very different geometries are identical. Our predictions of universal scaling and covariance in finite capillaries are supported by extensive Ising model simulation studies in two and three dimensions.     

The critical temperature and pairing in parton models

The P_L/P_K method of determining the ?-capture decay energy fails badly in the case of ¹¹³Sn. We suggest that the discrepancies in the measured values may be due to variable amounts of 250 d ¹¹⁹Sn^m present in the 115 d ¹¹³Sn samples.     

Self-trapping phenomenon in exciton-polariton dynamics

The polariton dynamics in a microcavity in the parametric oscillator mode, when two pump polaritons are transformed into signal and idler polaritons and vice versa, has been studied. A nonlinear differential equation is obtained, which describes the temporal evolution of pump-polariton density, the solution of which is expressed in terms of the Jacobi elliptical functions. The amplitude and period of polaritondensity oscillations are determined by the initial polariton densities and the resonance detuning. The possibility of self-trapping in exciton-polariton dynamics is predicted.