Novel domain growth law in random magnets

We investigate the kinetics of domain growth in Ising magnets where a fraction 1 - p of the magnetic atoms or ions (spins) are randomly substituted by non-magnetic impurities. We argue that close to the percolation threshold p_c, the statistical self-similarity of the underlying structure gives rise to a novel crossover in the growth law. We propose a method to detect any evidence of this new prediction from the kinetics of domain growth in the dilute Ising model (DIM) during intermediate time scales by carrying out Monte Carlo simulations not at p = p_c but at slightly higher spin concentrations. We analyze the results of our extensive Monte Carlo simulation of the strongly diluted two-dimensional Ising model and find the growth to be consistent with the proposed scenario. We also compare our observations with those in the recent experiments on the kinetics of ordering in Rb₂Co_pMg_1−pF₄.     

Correlated correlation functions in random-bond ferromagnets

The two-dimensional random-bond Q-state Potts model is studied for Q near 2 via the perturbative renormalisation group to one loop. It is shown that weak disorder induces cross-correlations between the quenched-averages of moments of the two-point spin/spin and energy/energy correlation functions, which should be observable numerically in specific linear combinations of various quenched correlation functions. The random-bond Ising model in (2+ε) dimensions is similarly treated. As a byproduct, a simple method for deriving the scaling dimensions of all moments of the local energy operator is presented.     

Group-theoretical description of domain and phase boundaries in crystalline solids

The theory is reviewed of domains and domain boundaries arising in phase transitions accompanied by symmetry breaking. Conclusions concerning the number, the crystallographic type and the spatial orientation of coherent interfaces between crystals of the same structure (domain boundaries) and between different structures of the same material (interphase boundaries) are presented in terms of the space group theory and of the Landau theory of phase transitions. The application of the two-dimensional space groups and the diperiodic groups in three dimensions to the discussed objects is described. The conditions for the coexistence of domains and phases without macroscopic stress are given. An example of the group-theoretical analysis of domain structure is given for a real material: NaO₂.     

Magnetostatic energy and stripe domain structure in a ferromagnetic plate of finite width with in-plane anisotropy

The magnetostatic energy and domain structure (DS) in a long ferromagnetic plate of a finite width with in-plane anisotropy are calculated for the case of the domain magnetization vectors lying in the plane of the plate. The situation where the DS period is much shorter than the width but is considerably larger than the thickness of the plate is analyzed in detail. The equilibrium DS period and the width ratio of two adjacent domains are determined as functions of an external magnetic field parallel to the plane of the plate by minimizing the energy. The DS period is found to be proportional to the plate width and the domain wall energy and inversely proportional to the squared saturation magnetization. While the width of the favorable domains (with the magnetization parallel to the field) grows with increasing field, the unfavorable domains, rather than disappearing completely, form relatively narrow transition regions between the favorable domains, i.e., 360° domain walls.     

Structures of the O/Cu top layer in O-mediated film growth of Cu on Ru(0001)

In order to characterize the disordered O/Cu surfactant layer causing layer-by-layer growth of Cu on O-precovered Ru(0001), an ordered O/Cu structure is used as substrate to study further Cu growth. The O/Cu structure develops during Cu deposition on O-saturated Ru(0001) at growth temperatures of ca 520 K. It was recently interpreted as being composed of separated wave-like O–Cu–O chains forming a disrupted ‘Cu₂O’ surface layer. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to characterize domains and defects of the O/Cu structure and the morphology of the Cu film growing on-top. For temperatures ca 400 K, again an O-mediated layer-by-layer growth of Cu is observed. The post-deposited Cu films display a similar island shape and island density as found for the Cu film growth on O-saturated Ru(0001) where a disordered O/Cu surfactant layer is present. Initially, domains of the ordered O/Cu structure are revealed on-top of the growing Cu film which are rotated by 120° to each other and separated by boundaries where the ordering is disturbed. The domain size drastically decreases with film thickness. As a result, the ordering of the O/Cu top-layer is extinguished already after the deposition of a few Cu monolayers. Finally, the surface displays the same disordered corrugation pattern as the O/Cu surfactant layer. The STM investigations indicate a strong correlation between the O/Cu structure and the disordered O/Cu surfactant layer. This leads to the conclusion that the O/Cu surfactant layer is composed of a random-like arrangement of O–Cu–O strings which locally form disrupted ‘Cu₂O’ fragments.     

Untersuchungen zur Temperaturabhängigkeit der Bereichstrukturen stabförmiger Nickel-Einkristalle

The domain structure of nickel single crystals of prismatic form and with a simple “two phase” basic structure has been investigated by using the magnetooptical Kerr technique. Observations of the periodical basic structure and of the closure domains on the side faces and their dependence on temperature are reported for the idealized and hysteresis curve. The results are compared with those of domain theory. Some discrepancies in the temperature dependence in weak fields and the interpretation of the Kerr pattern we believe to decrease if the model for the closure domains will be modified, especially by using an echelon structure and by modifying the stray fields.     

Angular dependence of domain wall resistivity in artificial magnetic domain structures

We exploit the ability to precisely control the magnetic domain structure of perpendicularly magnetized Pt/Co/Pt trilayers to fabricate artificial domain wall arrays and study their transport properties. The scaling behavior of this model system confirms the intrinsic domain wall origin of the magnetoresistance, and systematic studies using domains patterned at various angles to the current flow are excellently described by an angular-dependent resistivity tensor containing perpendicular and parallel domain wall resistivities. We find that the latter are fully consistent with Levy-Zhang theory, which allows us to estimate the ratio of minority to majority spin carrier resistivities, rho downward arrow/rho upward arrow approximately 5.5, in good agreement with thin film band structure calculations.     

Uniaxial incommensurate phases at the Au(111) electrode

The structure of the Au(111) electrode has been investigated using surface X-ray scattering (SXS) in a variety of electrolytes. Although the underlying gold layers have hexagonal symmetry, the top most gold layer forms a rectangular, uniaxial incommensurate (p x √3) structure in the absence of specific adsorption. The (p x √3) structure is also observed for bismuth and iodine adlayers, where p continuously changes with potential (electrocompressibility).     

Global aspects of p-branes

We generalize to dimension p> 1 the notion of string structure and discuss the related obstruction. We apply our results to a model of bosonic p-branes propagating on a principal G-bundle, coupled to a Yang-Mills field and an antisymmetric tensor field and in the presence of a Wess-Zumino term in the Lagrangian. We construct the quantization line bundle and discuss the action of background gauge transformations on wave functions.     

Spectral dependence of the creation and erasure of electrical structure in ruby during nonlaser irradiation. Domain conductivity of ruby

The dependence of the rate of formation and erasure of photoinduced electrical domain structure in ruby on the spectral composition of nonlaser illumination is studied. Near-ultraviolet irradiation is found to cause rapid erasure of the domain structure. The photocurrent density and photoconductivity are determined as functions of the electric field strength of the domains during irradiation with different spectral compositions at 77 K and 300 K assuming a “capacitor” model for the domains. The dark conductivity of ruby is estimated. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 295–301 (February 1997)     

Generating functions and stability study of multivariate self-excited epidemic processes

We present a stability study of the class of multivariate self-excited Hawkes point processes, that can model natural and social systems, including earthquakes, epileptic seizures and the dynamics of neuron assemblies, bursts of exchanges in social communities, interactions between Internet bloggers, bank network fragility and cascading of failures, national sovereign default contagion, and so on. We present the general theory of multivariate generating functions to derive the number of events over all generations of various types that are triggered by a mother event of a given type. We obtain the stability domains of various systems, as a function of the topological structure of the mutual excitations across different event types. We find that mutual triggering tends to provide a significant extension of the stability (or subcritical) domain compared with the case where event types are decoupled, that is, when an event of a given type can only trigger events of the same type.     

Cosmological baryon-number domain structure and the first order phase transition of a vacuum

If CP-nonconservation arises from spontaneous symmetry breaking in the very early universe, the universe will have a domain structure of baryon number. We propose a model of the early universe in which domains are stretched exponentially and the radius of the domains is much greater than that of the horizon of the standard big bang model, provided that the grand unified theory undergoes a first order phase transition. If the size of the stretched domains is sufficiently big to avoid pair annihilations of baryon and antibaryon domains, the difficulties of the baryon symmetric universe may be removed.     

Deroughening of domain wall pairs by dipolar repulsion

As a magnetic domain wall propagates under small fields through a random potential, it roughens as a result of weak collective pinning, known as creep. Using Kerr microscopy, we report experimental evidence of a surprising deroughening of wall pairs in the creep regime, in a 0.5 nm thick Co layer with perpendicular anisotropy. A bound state is found in cases where two rough domains nucleated far away from one another and first growing under the action of a magnetic field eventually do not merge. The two domains remain separated by a strip of unreversed magnetization, characterized by flat edges and stabilized by dipolar fields. A creep theory that includes dipolar interactions between domains successfully accounts for (i) the domain wall deroughening as the width of the strip decreases and (ii) the quasistatic and dynamic field dependence of the strip width s.     

Percolation renormalisation group method and its application to the Potts model

A percolation renormalisation group method is proposed to calculate the free energy and other physical quantities for the q-state Potts model (QPM). The method gives the exact free energy and the critical exponent for the one-dimensional QPM and may be extended to other interacting systems.     

Ferroelectric domain breakdown

We observe a stringlike domain penetration from a ferroelectric surface deep into the crystal bulk induced by a high voltage atomic force microscope tip. The domains, which resemble channels of an electrical breakdown, nucleate under an electric field of around 10(7) V/cm at the ferroelectric surface, and grow throughout the crystal bulk where the external electric field is practically zero. A theory explaining the shape of the formed domains is presented. It shows that the driving force for the domain breakdown is the decrease of the total free energy of the system with increasing domain length.     

Effect of nonuniform mechanical stresses on the domain structure of iron borate

A magnetooptic method is used to study the effect of nonuniform radial mechanical stresses on the domain structure, magnetic susceptibility, and magnetic hysteresis loops of a FeBO₃ single crystal. When a magnetic field is applied in the basal plane of FeBO₃ along the stress vector, a system of tapered domains appears in the crystal during magnetization. These domains exist in a certain temperature-dependent field range H₀ ≤ H ≤ H _c . The appearance of a system of tapered domains is found to substantially affect the technical magnetization of a stressed crystal. The results obtained are discussed within the thermodynamic theory of a domain structure. A theoretical model used is shown to adequately describe the experimental temperature and field dependences of the ratio \({D \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {D {\sqrt L }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\sqrt L }}\) (where D and L are the average width and length of a tapered domain, respectively). The calculated value of D is approximately 1.3 times smaller than the experimentally observed domain width.     

Motion of domain walls under the action of spin-polarized current in a magnetic junction

The effect of spin-polarized current on a domain structure in a magnetic junction consisting of two ferromagnetic metallic layers separated by an ultrathin nonmagnetic layer is studied within a phenomenological theory. The magnetization of one ferromagnetic layer (layer 1) is assumed to be fixed, while that of the other ferromagnetic layer (layer 2) can be freely oriented both parallel and antiparallel to the magnetization of layer 1. Layer 2 can be split into domains. Charge transfer from layer 1 to layer 2 is not attended with spin scattering by the interface but results in spin injection. Due to s-d exchange interaction, injected spins tend to orient the magnetization in the domains parallel to layer 1. This causes the domain walls to move and “favorable” domains to grow. The average magnetization current injected into layer 2 and its contribution to the s-d exchange energy are found by solving the continuity equation for carriers with spins pointing up and down. From the minimum condition for the total magnetic energy of the junction, the parameters of the periodic domain structure in layer 2 are determined as functions of current through the junction and magnetic field. It is shown that the spin-polarized current can magnetize layer 2 up to saturation even in the absence of an external magnetic field. The associated current densities are on the order of 10⁵ A/cm². In the presence of the field, its effect can be compensated by such a high current. Current-induced magnetization reversal in the layer is also possible.     

组蛋白H1序列固有无序特性分析

组蛋白H1对于高阶染色质结构的形成和基因表达调控具有重要作用.为了揭示组蛋白H1在染色质结构形成中的生物学机制,本文对组蛋白H1三个结构域C-terminal domain(CTD)、N-terminal domain(NTD)和Globular domain(GD)及各区域连接位点对应序列氨基酸偏好、复杂度等序列特征进行了系统对比研究,并对各区域进行了固有无序蛋白有序区/无序区预测分析.结果表明,组蛋白H1三个结构中,中间的球状结构域(GD)中的氨基酸序列是非常保守的,NTD富含疏水氨基酸,CTD末端富含碱性氨基酸.进一步的研究表明,CTD和NTD两个结构域普遍具有固有无序特性,因此这些区域具有较大的柔性结构,对其在染色质形成中行使的重要生物学功能具有重要意义.     

组蛋白H1序列固有无序特性分析

组蛋白H1对于高阶染色质结构的形成和基因表达调控具有重要作用。为了揭示组蛋白H1在染色质结构形成中的生物学机制,本文对组蛋白H1三个结构域C-terminal domain (CTD)、N-terminal domain(NTD)和Globular domain (GD) 及各区域连接位点对应序列氨基酸偏好、复杂度等序列特征进行了系统对比研究,并对各区域进行了固有无序蛋白有序区/无序区预测分析。结果表明,组蛋白H1三个结构中,中间的球状结构域（GD）中的氨基酸序列是非常保守的,NTD富含疏水氨基酸,CTD末端富含碱性氨基酸。进一步的研究表明, CTD和NTD两个结构域普遍具有固有无序特性,因此这些区域具有较大的柔性结构,对其在染色质形成中行使的重要生物学功能具有重要意义。