Symmetry-Breaking Phase Transition without a Peierls Instability in Conducting Monoatomic Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blumenstein, C.; Schäfer, J.; Morresi, M.; Mietke, S.; Matzdorf, R.; Claessen, R.

2011-10-01

The one-dimensional (1D) model system Au/Ge(001), consisting of linear chains of single atoms on a surface, is scrutinized for lattice instabilities predicted in the Peierls paradigm. By scanning tunneling microscopy and electron diffraction we reveal a second-order phase transition at 585 K. It leads to charge ordering with transversal and vertical displacements and complex interchain correlations. However, the structural phase transition is not accompanied by the electronic signatures of a charge density wave, thus precluding a Peierls instability as origin. Instead, this symmetry-breaking transition exhibits three-dimensional critical behavior. This reflects a dichotomy between the decoupled 1D electron system and the structural elements that interact via the substrate. Such substrate-mediated coupling between the wires thus appears to have been underestimated also in related chain systems.

Topological phase transition and unexpected mass acquisition of Dirac fermion in TlBi(S1-xSex)2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Chengwang; Dai, Ying; Zhu, Yingtao; Lu, Jibao; Ma, Yandong; Huang, Baibiao

2012-10-01

Based on first-principles calculations and effective Hamiltonian analysis, we predict a topological phase transition from normal to topological insulators and the opening of a gap without breaking the time-reversal symmetry in TlBi(S1-xSex)2. The transition can be driven by modulating the Se concentration, and the rescaled spin-orbit coupling and lattice parameters are the key ingredients for the transition. For topological surface states, the Dirac cone evolves differently as the explicit breaking of inversion symmetry and the energy band can be opened under asymmetry surface. Our results present theoretical evidence for experimental observations [Xu et al., Science 332, 560 (2011); Sato et al., Nat. Phys. 7, 840 (2011)].

Low temperature electroweak phase transition in the Standard Model with hidden scale invariance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arunasalam, Suntharan; Kobakhidze, Archil; Lagger, Cyril; Liang, Shelley; Zhou, Albert

2018-01-01

We discuss a cosmological phase transition within the Standard Model which incorporates spontaneously broken scale invariance as a low-energy theory. In addition to the Standard Model fields, the minimal model involves a light dilaton, which acquires a large vacuum expectation value (VEV) through the mechanism of dimensional transmutation. Under the assumption of the cancellation of the vacuum energy, the dilaton develops a very small mass at 2-loop order. As a result, a flat direction is present in the classical dilaton-Higgs potential at zero temperature while the quantum potential admits two (almost) degenerate local minima with unbroken and broken electroweak symmetry. We found that the cosmological electroweak phase transition in this model can only be triggered by a QCD chiral symmetry breaking phase transition at low temperatures, T ≲ 132 MeV. Furthermore, unlike the standard case, the universe settles into the chiral symmetry breaking vacuum via a first-order phase transition which gives rise to a stochastic gravitational background with a peak frequency ∼10-8 Hz as well as triggers the production of approximately solar mass primordial black holes. The observation of these signatures of cosmological phase transitions together with the detection of a light dilaton would provide a strong hint of the fundamental role of scale invariance in particle physics.

Nontrivial Critical Fixed Point for Replica-Symmetry-Breaking Transitions.

PubMed

Charbonneau, Patrick; Yaida, Sho

2017-05-26

The transformation of the free-energy landscape from smooth to hierarchical is one of the richest features of mean-field disordered systems. A well-studied example is the de Almeida-Thouless transition for spin glasses in a magnetic field, and a similar phenomenon-the Gardner transition-has recently been predicted for structural glasses. The existence of these replica-symmetry-breaking phase transitions has, however, long been questioned below their upper critical dimension, d_{u}=6. Here, we obtain evidence for the existence of these transitions in d

Generic first-order phase transitions between isotropic and orientational phases with polyhedral symmetries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ke; Greitemann, Jonas; Pollet, Lode

2018-01-01

Polyhedral nematics are examples of exotic orientational phases that possess a complex internal symmetry, representing highly nontrivial ways of rotational symmetry breaking, and are subject to current experimental pursuits in colloidal and molecular systems. The classification of these phases has been known for a long time; however, their transitions to the disordered isotropic liquid phase remain largely unexplored, except for a few symmetries. In this work, we utilize a recently introduced non-Abelian gauge theory to explore the nature of the underlying nematic-isotropic transition for all three-dimensional polyhedral nematics. The gauge theory can readily be applied to nematic phases with an arbitrary point-group symmetry, including those where traditional Landau methods and the associated lattice models may become too involved to implement owing to a prohibitive order-parameter tensor of high rank or (the absence of) mirror symmetries. By means of exhaustive Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the nematic-isotropic transition is generically first-order for all polyhedral symmetries. Moreover, we show that this universal result is fully consistent with our expectation from a renormalization group approach, as well as with other lattice models for symmetries already studied in the literature. We argue that extreme fine tuning is required to promote those transitions to second-order ones. We also comment on the nature of phase transitions breaking the O(3 ) symmetry in general cases.

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking of Domain Walls in Phase-Competing Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishizuka, Hiroaki; Yamada, Yasusada; Nagaosa, Naoto

2018-05-01

In this study, we investigate the nature of domain walls in an ordered phase in the phase-competing region of two Ising-type order parameters. We consider a two-component ϕ4 theory and show that the domain wall of the ground-state (primary) order parameter shows a second-order phase transition associated with the secondary order parameter of the competing phase; the effective theory of the phase transition is given by the Landau theory of an Ising-type phase transition. We find that the phase boundary of this phase transition is different from the spinodal line of the competing order. The phase transition is detected experimentally by the divergence of the susceptibility corresponding to the secondary order when the temperature is quenched to introduce the domain walls.

Effects of Fluctuations on Inhomogeneous Chiral Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Tong-Gyu; Yoshiike, Ryo; Tatsumi, Toshitaka

We discuss the features of the order-parameter fluctuations in the normal phase near the phase boundary and their effects on the phase transition from the normal to the inhomogeneous phase with spatially modulated order parameter. Focusing on the chiral symmetry breaking, i.e., inhomogeneous chiral transition, we consider the fluctuation of the chiral pair consisting of quark-antiquark or quark-hole pair within the two-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in the chiral limit. We clarify the roles of quantum and thermal fluctuations and also argue that anomalies for thermodynamic quantities in the inhomogeneous chiral transition should lead to phenomenological implications.

Workshop Report: Fundamental Reactions in Solid Propellant Combustion

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-05-01

combustion conditions. 6. What effect might a pressure-induced phase transition to a polymorph other than 6- HMX have on the pressure slope break during...pure HMX as well. Nevertheless, it is recommended that the high pressure polymorphs of HMX and RDX be determined. It was also felt that there...plateau burning phenomena E. Solid phase, surface, gas phase reactions F. Phase transitions : melting, vaporization, polymorphs G. Flame

Phase transitions in a system of hard Y-shaped particles on the triangular lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, Dipanjan; Nath, Trisha; Rajesh, R.

2018-03-01

We study the different phases and the phase transitions in a system of Y-shaped particles, examples of which include immunoglobulin-G and trinaphthylene molecules, on a triangular lattice interacting exclusively through excluded volume interactions. Each particle consists of a central site and three of its six nearest neighbors chosen alternately, such that there are two types of particles which are mirror images of each other. We study the equilibrium properties of the system using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations that implement an algorithm with cluster moves that is able to equilibrate the system at densities close to full packing. We show that, with increasing density, the system undergoes two entropy-driven phase transitions with two broken-symmetry phases. At low densities, the system is in a disordered phase. As intermediate phases, there is a solidlike sublattice phase in which one type of particle is preferred over the other and the particles preferentially occupy one of four sublattices, thus breaking both particle symmetry as well as translational invariance. At even higher densities, the phase is a columnar phase, where the particle symmetry is restored, and the particles preferentially occupy even or odd rows along one of the three directions. This phase has translational order in only one direction, and breaks rotational invariance. From finite-size scaling, we demonstrate that both the transitions are first order in nature. We also show that the simpler system with only one type of particle undergoes a single discontinuous phase transition from a disordered phase to a solidlike sublattice phase with an increasing density of particles.

Breaking bad news about transitions to dying: a qualitative exploration of the role of the District Nurse.

PubMed

Griffiths, Jane; Ewing, Gail; Wilson, Charlotte; Connolly, Michael; Grande, Gunn

2015-02-01

UK District Nurses have an important role in enabling a good death. Patients and families need to know the patient is approaching the dying phase, yet evidence suggests breaking bad news about the patient's transition to dying rarely happens. District Nurses spend a lot of time with patients and families during the dying phase and are ideally placed to recognise and discuss the transition to dying. To explore the role of District Nurses in breaking bad news of transition to dying. Qualitative focus groups. Primary care (District Nurse service); Four National Health Service Trusts, North West England. A total of 40 District Nurses across the Trusts, all Registered General Nurse qualified. Median number of years as a District Nurse was 12.5. All had palliative cancer patients on their caseloads. District Nurses' role in breaking bad news of transition to dying was challenging, but the conversation was described as essential preparation for a good death. Four main challenges with the conversations were patients' responses to the prognosis (unawareness, denial and anger), timing the conversation, complexities of the home environment and limited preparation in this aspect of their work. District Nurses are with patients during their last weeks of life. While other colleagues can avoid breaking bad news of transition to dying, District Nurses have no choice if they are to provide optimal end of life care. While ideally placed to carry out this work, it is complex and they are unprepared for it. They urgently need carefully tailored training in this aspect of their work, to enable them to provide optimal end of life care. © The Author(s) 2014.

Symmetry breaking by heating in a continuous opinion model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anteneodo, Celia; Crokidakis, Nuno

2017-04-01

We study the critical behavior of a continuous opinion model, driven by kinetic exchanges in a fully connected population. Opinions range in the real interval [-1 ,1 ] , representing the different shades of opinions against and for an issue under debate. Individuals' opinions evolve through pairwise interactions, with couplings that are typically positive, but a fraction p of negative ones is allowed. Moreover, a social temperature parameter T controls the tendency of the individual responses toward neutrality. Depending on p and T , different collective states emerge: symmetry broken (one side wins), symmetric (tie of opposite sides), and absorbing neutral (indecision wins). We find the critical points and exponents that characterize the phase transitions between them. The symmetry breaking transition belongs to the usual Ising mean-field universality class, but the absorbing-phase transitions, with β =0.5 , are out of the paradigmatic directed percolation class. Moreover, ordered phases can emerge by increasing social temperature.

Thermodynamic evidence for a nematic phase transition at the onset of the pseudogap in YBa2Cu3Oy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Y.; Kasahara, S.; Murayama, H.; Kasahara, Y.; Moon, E.-G.; Nishizaki, T.; Loew, T.; Porras, J.; Keimer, B.; Shibauchi, T.; Matsuda, Y.

2017-11-01

A long-standing controversial issue in the quest to understand the superconductivity in cuprates is the nature of the enigmatic pseudogap region of the phase diagram. Especially important is whether the pseudogap state is a distinct thermodynamic phase characterized by broken symmetries below the onset temperature T*. Here we report torque-magnetometry measurements of anisotropic susceptibility within the ab planes in orthorhombic YBa2Cu3Oy with exceptionally high precision. The in-plane anisotropy displays a significant increase with a distinct kink at the pseudogap onset temperature T*, showing a remarkable scaling behaviour with respect to T/T* in a wide doping range. Our systematic analysis reveals that the rotational symmetry breaking sets in at T* in the limit where the effect of orthorhombicity is eliminated. These results provide thermodynamic evidence that the pseudogap onset is associated with a second-order nematic phase transition, which differs from the recently reported charge-density-wave transition that accompanies translational symmetry breaking.

Far-from-equilibrium bidirectional transport system with constrained entrances competing for pool of limited resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Atul Kumar; Sharma, Natasha; Gupta, Arvind Kumar

2018-02-01

Motivated by the wide occurrence of limited resources in many real-life systems, we investigate two-lane totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with constrained entrances under finite supply of particles. We analyze the system within the framework of mean-field theory and examine various complex phenomena, including phase separation, phase transition, and symmetry breaking. Based on the theoretical analysis, we analytically derive the phase boundaries for various symmetric as well as asymmetric phases. It has been observed that the symmetry-breaking phenomenon initiates even for very small number of particles in the system. The phases with broken symmetry originates as shock-low density phase under limited resources, which is in contrast to the scenario with infinite number of particles. As expected, the symmetry breaking continues to persist even for higher values of system particles. Seven stationary phases are observed, with three of them exhibiting symmetry-breaking phenomena. The critical values of a total number of system particles, beyond which various symmetrical and asymmetrical phases appear and disappear are identified. Theoretical outcomes are supported by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, the size-scaling effect and symmetry-breaking phenomenon on the simulation results have also been examined based on particle density histograms.

The multiuniverse transition in superfluid 3He

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunkov, Yury

2013-10-01

The symmetry-breaking phase transitions of the universe and of superfluid 3He may lead to the formation of different states with different order parameters. In both cases the energy potential below the transition temperature has a complicated multidimensional profile with many local minima and saddle points, which correspond to different states. Consequently, not only topological defects, but also islands of different metastable states can be created. Using 3He we can analyse the properties and experimental consequences of such transitions and, in particular, the first-order phase transition between the two low symmetry states.

The multiuniverse transition in superfluid 3He.

PubMed

Bunkov, Yury

2013-10-09

The symmetry-breaking phase transitions of the universe and of superfluid (3)He may lead to the formation of different states with different order parameters. In both cases the energy potential below the transition temperature has a complicated multidimensional profile with many local minima and saddle points, which correspond to different states. Consequently, not only topological defects, but also islands of different metastable states can be created. Using (3)He we can analyse the properties and experimental consequences of such transitions and, in particular, the first-order phase transition between the two low symmetry states.

Breaking down the Boundary between High School and University Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cunningham, Natashia; Knorr, Kris; Lock, Pippa E.; Vajoczki, Susan L.

2013-01-01

This study examined some of the factors that influence students' transition from Ontario high school chemistry to university introductory chemistry. The study was a mixed-methods, multi-phase research study carried out by an undergraduate honours thesis student who had experienced some of these transition issues. Students' transition into…

Short break and emergency respite care: what options for young people with life-limiting conditions?

PubMed

Mitchell, Tracy K; Knighting, Katherine; O'Brien, Mary R; Jack, Barbara A

2016-02-01

Service providers face difficult decisions about how best to develop services for the increasing numbers of young people with life-limiting conditions who require palliative care. To explore alternative short break and emergency respite care options to children's hospice care. A two-phase evaluation with young people, families and professionals. Phase 1: qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups (n=53). Phase 2: mixed-method survey (n=82), qualitative findings only. There were few, or no, appropriate short break and emergency respite care alternatives when children's hospice care was not available that can meet the need of young people with life-limiting conditions, creating anxiety for children's hospice users and those leaving the service as a result of reaching transition age or through no longer meeting the children's hospice eligibility criteria. Access to appropriate short break and emergency respite care is required to prevent lifelong negative consequences for young people with life-limiting conditions, their family and society. Research is undoubtedly required to explore the impact and outcomes of children's hospice discharge for young people and their family. Particular attention should be paid to the lack of services for an increasing population making the transition from children's hospices.

Engineering topological defect patterns of Bose condensates in shaken optical lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Lei; Clark, Logan W.; Gaj, Anita; Chin, Cheng

2017-04-01

Topological defects emerge and play an essential role in the dynamics of systems undergoing continuous, symmetry-breaking phase transitions. Here, we study the topological defects (domain walls) which form when a Bose condensate in a shaken optical lattice undergoes a quantum phase transition and separates into domains of superfluid with finite momentum. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the ability to control the pattern of domain walls using a digital micromirror device. We further explore implementations of this technique to study dynamics near the phase transition and the evolution of topological defects.

Special course for Masters and PhD students: phase transitions, Landau theory, 1D Ising model, the dimension of the space and Cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udodov, Vladimir; Katanov Khakas State Univ Team

2014-03-01

Symmetry breaking transitions. The phenomenological (L.D.Landau, USSR, 1937) way to describe phase transitions (PT's). Order parameter and loss of the symmetry. The second derivative of the free energy changes jump wise at the transition, i.e. we have a mathematical singularity and second order PT (TC>0). Extremes of free energy. A point of loss of stability of the symmetrical phase. The eigenfrequency of PT and soft mode behavior. The conditions of applicability of the Landau theory (A.Levanyuk, 1959, V.Ginzburg, 1960). 1D Ising model and exact solution by a transfer matrix method. Critical exponents in the L.Landau PT's theory and for 1D Ising model. Scaling hypothesis (1965) for 1D Ising model with zero critical temperature. The order of PT in 1D Ising model in the framework of the R.Baxter approach. The anthropic principle and the dimension of the space. Why do we have a three-dimensional space? Big bang, the cosmic vacuum, inflation and PT's. Higgs boson and symmetry breaking transitions. Author acknowledges the support of Katanov Khakas State University.

Stress-induced nematicity in EuFe 2 As 2 studied by Raman spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Zhang, W. -L.; Sefat, Athena S.; Ding, H.; ...

2016-07-18

Here, we use polarized Raman scattering to study the structural phase transition in EuFe 2 As 2 , the parent compound of the 122-ferropnictide superconductors. The in-plane lattice anisotropy is characterized by measurements of the side surface with different strains induced by different preparation methods. We also show that while a fine surface polishing leaves the samples free of residual internal strain, in which case the onset of the C 4 symmetry breaking is observed at the nominal structural phase transition temperature T S , cutting the side surface induces a permanent fourfold rotational symmetry breaking spanning tens ofmore » degrees above T S .« less

Phase segregation and spontaneous symmetry breaking in a bidirectional two-channel non-conserving model with narrow entrances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Natasha; Gupta, A. K.

2017-04-01

Motivated by connections between the inputs and outputs of several transport mechanisms and multi-species functionalities, we studied an open system of a two-species totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with narrow entrances, which assimilate the synergy of the particles with the surrounding environment through Langmuir kinetics (LK). We analyzed the model within the framework of mean-field theory, and examined complex phenomena such as boundary-induced phase transitions and spontaneous symmetry breaking for variant conditions of attachment and detachment rates. Based on the theoretical investigations we obtained the phase boundaries for various symmetric and asymmetric phases. Our finding displays a prolific behavior, highlighting the significant effect of LK rates on symmetry breaking. It is found that for lower orders of LK rates, the number of symmetrical and asymmetrical phases increases notably, while for their higher orders symmetry breaking disappears, revealing that the presence of bulk non-conserving processes can resume/break the uniformity between two species. The critical value of LK rates beyond which the asymmetrical phases disappears is identified. The theoretical findings are explored by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The effect of the system size and symmetry breaking incident on the Monte Carlo simulation results has also been examined based on particle density histograms.

Zeeman-Field-Tuned Topological Phase Transitions in a Two-Dimensional Class-DIII Superconductor

PubMed Central

Deng, W. Y.; Geng, H.; Luo, W.; Sheng, L.; Xing, D. Y.

2016-01-01

We investigate the topological phase transitions in a two-dimensional time-reversal invariant topological superconductor in the presence of a Zeeman field. Based on the spin Chern number theory, we find that the system exhibits a number of topologically distinct phases with changing the out-of-plane component of the Zeeman field, including a quantum spin Hall-like phase, quantum anomalous Hall-like phases with total Chern number C = −2, −1, 1 and 2, and a topologically trivial superconductor phase. The BdG band gap closes at each boundary of the phase transitions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the zero bias conductance provides clear transport signatures of the different topological phases, which are robust against symmetry-breaking perturbations. PMID:27148675

The ferromagnetic-spin glass transition in PdMn alloys: symmetry breaking of ferromagnetism and spin glass studied by a multicanonical method.

PubMed

Kato, Tomohiko; Saita, Takahiro

2011-03-16

The magnetism of Pd(1-x)Mn(x) is investigated theoretically. A localized spin model for Mn spins that interact with short-range antiferromagnetic interactions and long-range ferromagnetic interactions via itinerant d electrons is set up, with no adjustable parameters. A multicanonical Monte Carlo simulation, combined with a procedure of symmetry breaking, is employed to discriminate between the ferromagnetic and spin glass orders. The transition temperature and the low-temperature phase are determined from the temperature variation of the specific heat and the probability distributions of the ferromagnetic order parameter and the spin glass order parameter at different concentrations. The calculation results reveal that only the ferromagnetic phase exists at x < 0.02, that only the spin glass phase exists at x > 0.04, and that the two phases coexist at intermediate concentrations. This result agrees semi-quantitatively with experimental results.

Discrete Time Crystals: Rigidity, Criticality, and Realizations.

PubMed

Yao, N Y; Potter, A C; Potirniche, I-D; Vishwanath, A

2017-01-20

Despite being forbidden in equilibrium, spontaneous breaking of time translation symmetry can occur in periodically driven, Floquet systems with discrete time-translation symmetry. The period of the resulting discrete time crystal is quantized to an integer multiple of the drive period, arising from a combination of collective synchronization and many body localization. Here, we consider a simple model for a one-dimensional discrete time crystal which explicitly reveals the rigidity of the emergent oscillations as the drive is varied. We numerically map out its phase diagram and compute the properties of the dynamical phase transition where the time crystal melts into a trivial Floquet insulator. Moreover, we demonstrate that the model can be realized with current experimental technologies and propose a blueprint based upon a one dimensional chain of trapped ions. Using experimental parameters (featuring long-range interactions), we identify the phase boundaries of the ion-time-crystal and propose a measurable signature of the symmetry breaking phase transition.

Dissipation-Induced Anomalous Multicritical Phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soriente, M.; Donner, T.; Chitra, R.; Zilberberg, O.

2018-05-01

We explore the influence of dissipation on a paradigmatic driven-dissipative model where a collection of two level atoms interact with both quadratures of a quantum cavity mode. The closed system exhibits multiple phase transitions involving discrete and continuous symmetries breaking and all phases culminate in a multicritical point. In the open system, we show that infinitesimal dissipation erases the phase with broken continuous symmetry and radically alters the model's phase diagram. The multicritical point now becomes brittle and splits into two tricritical points where first- and second-order symmetry-breaking transitions meet. A quantum fluctuations analysis shows that, surprisingly, the tricritical points exhibit anomalous finite fluctuations, as opposed to standard tricritical points arising in He 3 -He 4 mixtures. Our work has direct implications for a variety of fields, including cold atoms and ions in optical cavities, circuit-quantum electrodynamics as well as optomechanical systems.

Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain with one pair of [Formula: see text]-symmetric defects.

PubMed

Jin, L; Wang, P; Song, Z

2017-07-19

The topologically nontrivial edge states induce [Formula: see text] transition in Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain with one pair of gain and loss at boundaries. In this study, we investigated a pair of [Formula: see text]-symmetric defects located inside the SSH chain, in particular, the defects locations are at the chain centre. The [Formula: see text] symmetry breaking of the bound states leads to the [Formula: see text] transition, the [Formula: see text]-symmetric phases and the localized states were studied. In the broken [Formula: see text]-symmetric phase, all energy levels break simultaneously in topologically trivial phase; however, two edge states in topologically nontrivial phase are free from the influence of the [Formula: see text]-symmetric defects. We discovered [Formula: see text]-symmetric bound states induced by the [Formula: see text]-symmetric local defects at the SSH chain centre. The [Formula: see text]-symmetric bound states significantly increase the [Formula: see text] transition threshold and coalesce to the topologically protected zero mode with vanishing probabilities on every other site of the left-half chain and the right-half chain, respectively.

Horava-Lifshitz cosmology, entropic interpretation and quark-hadron phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kheyri, F.; Khodadi, M.; Sepangi, Hamid Reza

2013-05-01

Based on the assumptions of the standard model of cosmology, a phase transition associated with chiral symmetry breaking after the electroweak transition has occurred at approximately 10 μs after the Big Bang to convert a plasma of free quarks and gluons into hadrons. We consider such a phase transition in the context of a deformed Horava-Lifshitz cosmology. The Friedmann equation for the deformed Horava-Lifshitz universe is obtained using the entropic interpretation of gravity, proposed by Verlinde. We investigate the effects of the parameter ω appearing in the theory on the evolution of the physical quantities relevant to a description of the early universe, namely, the energy density and temperature before, during and after the phase transition. Finally, we study the cross-over phase transition in both high and low temperature regions in view of the recent lattice QCD simulations data.

Tunable phase transition in single-layer TiSe2 via electric field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lei; Zhuang, Houlong L.

2018-06-01

Phase transition represents an intriguing physical phenomenon that exists in a number of single-layer transition-metal dichalcogenides. This phenomenon often occurs below a critical temperature and breaks the long-range crystalline order leading to a reconstructed superstructure called the charge-density wave (CDW) structure, which can therefore be recovered by external stimuli such as temperature. Alternatively, we show here that another external stimulation, electric field can also result in the phase transition between the regular and CDW structures of a single-layer transition-metal dichalcogenide. We used single-layer TiSe2 as an example to elucidate the mechanism of the CDW followed by calculations of the electronic structure using a hybrid density functional. We found that applying electric field can tune the phase transition between the 1T and CDW phases of single-layer TiSe2. Our work opens up a route of tuning the phase transition of single-layer materials via electric field.

Different phases of a system of hard rods on three dimensional cubic lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vigneshwar, N.; Dhar, Deepak; Rajesh, R.

2017-11-01

We study the different phases of a system of monodispersed hard rods of length k on a cubic lattice, using an efficient cluster algorithm able to simulate densities close to the fully-packed limit. For k≤slant 4 , the system is disordered at all densities. For k=5, 6 , we find a single density-driven transition, from a disordered phase to high density layered-disordered phase, in which the density of rods of one orientation is strongly suppressed, breaking the system into weakly coupled layers. Within a layer, the system is disordered. For k ≥slant 7 , three density-driven transitions are observed numerically: isotropic to nematic to layered-nematic to layered-disordered. In the layered-nematic phase, the system breaks up into layers, with nematic order in each layer, but very weak correlation between the ordering directions of different layers. We argue that the layered-nematic phase is a finite-size effect, and in the thermodynamic limit, the nematic phase will have higher entropy per site. We expect the systems of rods in four and higher dimensions will have a qualitatively similar phase diagram.

Fermion mass without symmetry breaking

DOE PAGES

Catterall, Simon

2016-01-20

We examine a model of reduced staggered fermions in three dimensions interacting through an SO (4) invariant four fermion interaction. The model is similar to that considered in a recent paper by Ayyer and Chandrasekharan. We present theoretical arguments and numerical evidence which support the idea that the system develops a mass gap for sufficiently strong four fermi coupling without producing a symmetry breaking fermion bilinear condensate. As a result, massless and massive phases appear to be separated by a continuous phase transition.

Realization of a topological phase transition in a gyroscopic lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Noah P.; Nash, Lisa M.; Irvine, William T. M.

2018-03-01

Topological metamaterials exhibit unusual behaviors at their boundaries, such as unidirectional chiral waves, that are protected by a topological feature of their band structures. The ability to tune such a material through a topological phase transition in real time could enable the use of protected waves for information storage and readout. Here we dynamically tune through a topological phase transition by breaking inversion symmetry in a metamaterial composed of interacting gyroscopes. Through the transition, we track the divergence of the edge modes' localization length and the change in Chern number characterizing the topology of the material's band structure. This Rapid Communication provides a new axis with which to tune the response of mechanical topological metamaterials.

Symmetry breaking in tensor models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, Dario; Gurau, Razvan

2015-11-01

In this paper we analyze a quartic tensor model with one interaction for a tensor of arbitrary rank. This model has a critical point where a continuous limit of infinitely refined random geometries is reached. We show that the critical point corresponds to a phase transition in the tensor model associated to a breaking of the unitary symmetry. We analyze the model in the two phases and prove that, in a double scaling limit, the symmetric phase corresponds to a theory of infinitely refined random surfaces, while the broken phase corresponds to a theory of infinitely refined random nodal surfaces. At leading order in the double scaling limit planar surfaces dominate in the symmetric phase, and planar nodal surfaces dominate in the broken phase.

Quenched bond randomness: Superfluidity in porous media and the strong violation of universality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falicov, Alexis; Berker, A. Nihat

1997-04-01

The effects of quenched bond randomness are most readily studied with superfluidity immersed in a porous medium. A lattice model for3He-4He mixtures and incomplete4He fillings in aerogel yields the signature effect of bond randomness, namely the conversion of symmetry-breaking first-order phase transitions into second-order phase transitions, the λ-line reaching zero temperature, and the elimination of non-symmetry-breaking first-order phase transitions. The model recognizes the importance of the connected nature of aerogel randomness and thereby yields superfluidity at very low4He concentrations, a phase separation entirely within the superfluid phase, and the order-parameter contrast between mixtures and incomplete fillings, all in agreement with experiments. The special properties of the helium mixture/aerogel system are distinctly linked to the aerogel properties of connectivity, randomness, and tenuousness, via the additional study of a regularized “jungle-gym” aerogel. Renormalization-group calculations indicate that a strong violation of the empirical universality principle of critical phenomena occurs under quenched bond randomness. It is argued that helium/aerogel critical properties reflect this violation and further experiments are suggested. Renormalization-group analysis also shows that, adjoiningly to the strong universality violation (which hinges on the occurrence or non-occurrence of asymptotic strong coupling—strong randomness under rescaling), there is a new “hyperuniversality” at phase transitions with asymptotic strong coupling—strong randomness behavior, for example assigning the same critical exponents to random- bond tricriticality and random- field criticality.

Mixed-order phase transition in a two-step contagion model with a single infectious seed.

PubMed

Choi, Wonjun; Lee, Deokjae; Kahng, B

2017-02-01

Percolation is known as one of the most robust continuous transitions, because its occupation rule is intrinsically local. As one of the ways to break the robustness, occupation is allowed to more than one species of particles and they occupy cooperatively. This generalized percolation model undergoes a discontinuous transition. Here we investigate an epidemic model with two contagion steps and characterize its phase transition analytically and numerically. We find that even though the order parameter jumps at a transition point r_{c}, then increases continuously, it does not exhibit any critical behavior: the fluctuations of the order parameter do not diverge at r_{c}. However, critical behavior appears in mean outbreak size, which diverges at the transition point in a manner that the ordinary percolation shows. Such a type of phase transition is regarded as a mixed-order phase transition. We also obtain scaling relations of cascade outbreak statistics when the order parameter jumps at r_{c}.

Momentum-resolved hidden-order gap reveals symmetry breaking and origin of entropy loss in URu2Si2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bareille, C.; Boariu, F. L.; Schwab, H.; Lejay, P.; Reinert, F.; Santander-Syro, A. F.

2014-07-01

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in physical systems leads to salient phenomena at all scales, from the Higgs mechanism and the emergence of the mass of the elementary particles, to superconductivity and magnetism in solids. The hidden-order state arising below 17.5 K in URu2Si2 is a puzzling example of one of such phase transitions: its associated broken symmetry and gap structure have remained longstanding riddles. Here we directly image how, across the hidden-order transition, the electronic structure of URu2Si2 abruptly reconstructs. We observe an energy gap of 7 meV opening over 70% of a large diamond-like heavy-fermion Fermi surface, resulting in the formation of four small Fermi petals, and a change in the electronic periodicity from body-centred tetragonal to simple tetragonal. Our results explain the large entropy loss in the hidden-order phase, and the similarity between this phase and the high-pressure antiferromagnetic phase found in quantum-oscillation experiments.

Goldstone mode and pair-breaking excitations in atomic Fermi superfluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoinka, Sascha; Dyke, Paul; Lingham, Marcus G.; Kinnunen, Jami J.; Bruun, Georg M.; Vale, Chris J.

2017-10-01

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a central paradigm of elementary particle physics, magnetism, superfluidity and superconductivity. According to Goldstone's theorem, phase transitions that break continuous symmetries lead to the existence of gapless excitations in the long-wavelength limit. These Goldstone modes can become the dominant low-energy excitation, showing that symmetry breaking has a profound impact on the physical properties of matter. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the elementary excitations in a homogeneous strongly interacting Fermi gas through the crossover from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid to a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of molecules using two-photon Bragg spectroscopy. The spectra exhibit a discrete Goldstone mode, associated with the broken-symmetry superfluid phase, as well as pair-breaking single-particle excitations. Our techniques yield a direct determination of the superfluid pairing gap and speed of sound in close agreement with strong-coupling theories.

Gravitational waves from the first order electroweak phase transition in the Z3 symmetric singlet scalar model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsui, Toshinori

2018-01-01

Among various scenarios of baryon asymmetry of the Universe, electroweak baryogenesis is directly connected with physics of the Higgs sector. We discuss spectra of gravitational waves which are originated by the strongly first order phase transition at the electroweak symmetry breaking, which is required for a successful scenario of electroweak baryogenesis. In the Z3 symmetric singlet scalar model, the significant gravitational waves are caused by the multi-step phase transition. We show that the model can be tested by measuring the characteristic spectra of the gravitational waves at future interferometers such as LISA and DECIGO.

Gravitational waves from dark first order phase transitions and dark photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Addazi, Andrea; Marcianò, Antonino

2018-01-01

Cold Dark Matter particles may interact with ordinary particles through a dark photon, which acquires a mass thanks to a spontaneous symmetry breaking mechanism. We discuss a dark photon model in which the scalar singlet associated to the spontaneous symmetry breaking has an effective potential that induces a first order phase transition in the early Universe. Such a scenario provides a rich phenomenology for electron-positron colliders and gravitational waves interferometers, and may be tested in several different channels. The hidden first order phase transition implies the emission of gravitational waves signals, which may constrain the dark photon’s space of parameters. Compared limits from electron-positron colliders, astrophysics, cosmology and future gravitational waves interferometers such as eLISA, U-DECIGO and BBO are discussed. This highly motivates a cross-checking strategy of data arising from experiments dedicated to gravitational waves, meson factories, the International Linear Collider (ILC), the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC) and other underground direct detection experiments of cold dark matter candidates. Supported by the Shanghai Municipality (KBH1512299) and Fudan University (JJH1512105)

Wave-Particle Dynamics of Wave Breaking in the Self-Excited Dust Acoustic Wave

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teng, L.-W.; Chang, M.-C.; Tseng, Y.-P.

2009-12-11

The wave-particle microdynamics in the breaking of the self-excited dust acoustic wave growing in a dusty plasma liquid is investigated through directly tracking dust micromotion. It is found that the nonlinear wave growth and steepening stop as the mean oscillating amplitude of dust displacement reaches about 1/k (k is the wave number), where the vertical neighboring dust trajectories start to crossover and the resonant wave heating with uncertain crest trapping onsets. The dephased dust oscillations cause the abrupt dropping and broadening of the wave crest after breaking, accompanied by the transition from the liquid phase with coherent dust oscillation tomore » the gas phase with chaotic dust oscillation. Corkscrew-shaped phase-space distributions measured at the fixed phases of the wave oscillation cycle clearly indicate how dusts move in and constitute the evolving waveform through dust-wave interaction.« less

Wave-Particle Dynamics of Wave Breaking in the Self-Excited Dust Acoustic Wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teng, Lee-Wen; Chang, Mei-Chu; Tseng, Yu-Ping; I, Lin

2009-12-01

The wave-particle microdynamics in the breaking of the self-excited dust acoustic wave growing in a dusty plasma liquid is investigated through directly tracking dust micromotion. It is found that the nonlinear wave growth and steepening stop as the mean oscillating amplitude of dust displacement reaches about 1/k (k is the wave number), where the vertical neighboring dust trajectories start to crossover and the resonant wave heating with uncertain crest trapping onsets. The dephased dust oscillations cause the abrupt dropping and broadening of the wave crest after breaking, accompanied by the transition from the liquid phase with coherent dust oscillation to the gas phase with chaotic dust oscillation. Corkscrew-shaped phase-space distributions measured at the fixed phases of the wave oscillation cycle clearly indicate how dusts move in and constitute the evolving waveform through dust-wave interaction.

Unexpected mass acquisition of Dirac fermions at the quantum phase transition of a topological insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, T.; Segawa, Kouji; Kosaka, K.; Souma, S.; Nakayama, K.; Eto, K.; Minami, T.; Ando, Yoichi; Takahashi, T.

2011-11-01

The three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator is a novel quantum state of matter where an insulating bulk hosts a linearly dispersing surface state, which can be viewed as a sea of massless Dirac fermions protected by the time-reversal symmetry (TRS). Breaking the TRS by a magnetic order leads to the opening of a gap in the surface state, and consequently the Dirac fermions become massive. It has been proposed theoretically that such a mass acquisition is necessary to realize novel topological phenomena, but achieving a sufficiently large mass is an experimental challenge. Here we report an unexpected discovery that the surface Dirac fermions in a solid-solution system TlBi(S1-xSex)2 acquire a mass without explicitly breaking the TRS. We found that this system goes through a quantum phase transition from the topological to the non-topological phase, and, by tracing the evolution of the electronic states using the angle-resolved photoemission, we observed that the massless Dirac state in TlBiSe2 switches to a massive state before it disappears in the non-topological phase. This result suggests the existence of a condensed-matter version of the `Higgs mechanism' where particles acquire a mass through spontaneous symmetry breaking.

Adiabatic quenches and characterization of amplitude excitations in a continuous quantum phase transition

PubMed Central

Hoang, Thai M.; Bharath, Hebbe M.; Boguslawski, Matthew J.; Anquez, Martin; Robbins, Bryce A.; Chapman, Michael S.

2016-01-01

Spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs in a physical system whenever the ground state does not share the symmetry of the underlying theory, e.g., the Hamiltonian. This mechanism gives rise to massless Nambu–Goldstone modes and massive Anderson–Higgs modes. These modes provide a fundamental understanding of matter in the Universe and appear as collective phase or amplitude excitations of an order parameter in a many-body system. The amplitude excitation plays a crucial role in determining the critical exponents governing universal nonequilibrium dynamics in the Kibble–Zurek mechanism (KZM). Here, we characterize the amplitude excitations in a spin-1 condensate and measure the energy gap for different phases of the quantum phase transition. At the quantum critical point of the transition, finite-size effects lead to a nonzero gap. Our measurements are consistent with this prediction, and furthermore, we demonstrate an adiabatic quench through the phase transition, which is forbidden at the mean field level. This work paves the way toward generating entanglement through an adiabatic phase transition. PMID:27503886

Critical flavor number of the Thirring model in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wellegehausen, Björn H.; Schmidt, Daniel; Wipf, Andreas

2017-11-01

The Thirring model is a four-fermion theory with a current-current interaction and U (2 N ) chiral symmetry. It is closely related to three-dimensional QED and other models used to describe properties of graphene. In addition, it serves as a toy model to study chiral symmetry breaking. In the limit of flavor number N →1 /2 it is equivalent to the Gross-Neveu model, which shows a parity-breaking discrete phase transition. The model was already studied with different methods, including Dyson-Schwinger equations, functional renormalization group methods, and lattice simulations. Most studies agree that there is a phase transition from a symmetric phase to a spontaneously broken phase for a small number of fermion flavors, but no symmetry breaking for large N . But there is no consensus on the critical flavor number Ncr above which there is no phase transition anymore and on further details of the critical behavior. Values of N found in the literature vary between 2 and 7. All earlier lattice studies were performed with staggered fermions. Thus it is questionable if in the continuum limit the lattice model recovers the internal symmetries of the continuum model. We present new results from lattice Monte Carlo simulations of the Thirring model with SLAC fermions which exactly implement all internal symmetries of the continuum model even at finite lattice spacing. If we reformulate the model in an irreducible representation of the Clifford algebra, we find, in contradiction to earlier results, that the behavior for even and odd flavor numbers is very different: for even flavor numbers, chiral and parity symmetry are always unbroken; for odd flavor numbers, parity symmetry is spontaneously broken below the critical flavor number Nircr=9 , while chiral symmetry is still unbroken.

Brittle-to-ductile transition in a fiber bundle with strong heterogeneity.

PubMed

Kovács, Kornél; Hidalgo, Raul Cruz; Pagonabarraga, Ignacio; Kun, Ferenc

2013-04-01

We analyze the failure process of a two-component system with widely different fracture strength in the framework of a fiber bundle model with localized load sharing. A fraction 0≤α≤1 of the bundle is strong and it is represented by unbreakable fibers, while fibers of the weak component have randomly distributed failure strength. Computer simulations revealed that there exists a critical composition α(c) which separates two qualitatively different behaviors: Below the critical point, the failure of the bundle is brittle, characterized by an abrupt damage growth within the breakable part of the system. Above α(c), however, the macroscopic response becomes ductile, providing stability during the entire breaking process. The transition occurs at an astonishingly low fraction of strong fibers which can have importance for applications. We show that in the ductile phase, the size distribution of breaking bursts has a power law functional form with an exponent μ=2 followed by an exponential cutoff. In the brittle phase, the power law also prevails but with a higher exponent μ=9/2. The transition between the two phases shows analogies to continuous phase transitions. Analyzing the microstructure of the damage, it was found that at the beginning of the fracture process cracks nucleate randomly, while later on growth and coalescence of cracks dominate, which give rise to power law distributed crack sizes.

Bimodality emerges from transport model calculations of heavy ion collisions at intermediate energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallik, S.; Das Gupta, S.; Chaudhuri, G.

2016-04-01

This work is a continuation of our effort [S. Mallik, S. Das Gupta, and G. Chaudhuri, Phys. Rev. C 91, 034616 (2015)], 10.1103/PhysRevC.91.034616 to examine if signatures of a phase transition can be extracted from transport model calculations of heavy ion collisions at intermediate energy. A signature of first-order phase transition is the appearance of a bimodal distribution in Pm(k ) in finite systems. Here Pm(k ) is the probability that the maximum of the multiplicity distribution occurs at mass number k . Using a well-known model for event generation [Botzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) plus fluctuation], we study two cases of central collision: mass 40 on mass 40 and mass 120 on mass 120. Bimodality is seen in both the cases. The results are quite similar to those obtained in statistical model calculations. An intriguing feature is seen. We observe that at the energy where bimodality occurs, other phase-transition-like signatures appear. There are breaks in certain first-order derivatives. We then examine if such breaks appear in standard BUU calculations without fluctuations. They do. The implication is interesting. If first-order phase transition occurs, it may be possible to recognize that from ordinary BUU calculations. Probably the reason this has not been seen already is because this aspect was not investigated before.

First-order inflation. [in cosmology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Michael S.

1992-01-01

I discuss the most recent model of inflation. In first-order inflation the inflationary epoch is associated with a first-order phase transition, with the most likely candidate being GUT symmetry breaking. The transition from the false-vacuum inflationary phase to the true-vacuum radiation-dominated phase proceeds through the nucleation and percolation of true-vacuum bubbles. The first successful and simplest model of first-order inflation, extended inflation, is discussed in some detail: evolution of the cosmic-scale factor, reheating, density perturbations, and the production of gravitational waves both from quantum fluctuations and bubble collisions. Particular attention is paid to the most critical issue in any model of first-order inflation: the requirements on the nucleation rate to ensure a graceful transition from the inflationary phase to the radiation-dominated phase.

Legitimating Leadership: The Rhetoric of Succession as a Genre of Presidential Discourse.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stuckey, Mary

1992-01-01

Examines the "rhetoric of succession" as employed by four recent American presidents: Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George Bush. Breaks down their rhetorical strategies while in office into three phases: (1) the early transition (when continuity with previous president is important); (2) middle transition (when new…

Driven Phases of Quantum Matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khemani, Vedika; von Keyserlingk, Curt; Lazarides, Achilleas; Moessner, Roderich; Sondhi, Shivaji

Clean and interacting periodically driven quantum systems are believed to exhibit a single, trivial ``infinite-temperature'' Floquet-ergodic phase. By contrast, I will show that their disordered Floquet many-body localized counterparts can exhibit distinct ordered phases with spontaneously broken symmetries delineated by sharp transitions. Some of these are analogs of equilibrium states, while others are genuinely new to the Floquet setting. I will show that a subset of these novel phases are absolutely stableto all weak local deformations of the underlying Floquet drives, and spontaneously break Hamiltonian dependent emergent symmetries. Strikingly, they simultaneously also break the underlying time-translation symmetry of the Floquet drive and the order parameter exhibits oscillations at multiples of the fundamental period. This ``time-crystallinity'' goes hand in hand with spatial symmetry breaking and, altogether, these phases exhibit a novel form of simultaneous long-range order in space and time. I will describe how this spatiotemporal order can be detected in experiments involving quenches from a broad class of initial states.

Localization and Symmetry Breaking in the Quantum Quasiperiodic Ising Glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandran, A.; Laumann, C. R.

2017-07-01

Quasiperiodic modulation can prevent isolated quantum systems from equilibrating by localizing their degrees of freedom. In this article, we show that such systems can exhibit dynamically stable long-range orders forbidden in equilibrium. Specifically, we show that the interplay of symmetry breaking and localization in the quasiperiodic quantum Ising chain produces a quasiperiodic Ising glass stable at all energy densities. The glass order parameter vanishes with an essential singularity at the melting transition with no signatures in the equilibrium properties. The zero-temperature phase diagram is also surprisingly rich, consisting of paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, and quasiperiodically alternating ground-state phases with extended, localized, and critically delocalized low-energy excitations. The system exhibits an unusual quantum Ising transition whose properties are intermediate between those of the clean and infinite randomness Ising transitions. Many of these results follow from a geometric generalization of the Aubry-André duality that we develop. The quasiperiodic Ising glass may be realized in near-term quantum optical experiments.

Eigenstate Phase Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Bo

Phase transitions are one of the most exciting physical phenomena ever discovered. The understanding of phase transitions has long been of interest. Recently eigenstate phase transitions have been discovered and studied; they are drastically different from traditional thermal phase transitions. In eigenstate phase transitions, a sharp change is exhibited in properties of the many-body eigenstates of the Hamiltonian of a quantum system, but not the thermal equilibrium properties of the same system. In this thesis, we study two different types of eigenstate phase transitions. The first is the eigenstate phase transition within the ferromagnetic phase of an infinite-range spin model. By studying the interplay of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis and Ising symmetry breaking, we find two eigenstate phase transitions within the ferromagnetic phase: In the lowest-temperature phase the magnetization can macroscopically oscillate by quantum tunneling between up and down. The relaxation of the magnetization is always overdamped in the remainder of the ferromagnetic phase, which is further divided into phases where the system thermally activates itself over the barrier between the up and down states, and where it quantum tunnels. The second is the many-body localization phase transition. The eigenstates on one side of the transition obey the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis; the eigenstates on the other side are many-body localized, and thus thermal equilibrium need not be achieved for an initial state even after evolving for an arbitrary long time. We study this many-body localization phase transition in the strong disorder renormalization group framework. After setting up a set of coarse-graining rules for a general one dimensional chain, we get a simple "toy model'' and obtain an almost purely analytical solution to the infinite-randomness critical fixed point renormalization group equation. We also get an estimate of the correlation length critical exponent nu ≈ 2.5.

Phase transitions and baryogenesis from decays

DOE PAGES

Shuve, Brian; Tamarit, Carlos

2017-10-18

Here, we study scenarios in which the baryon asymmetry is generated from the decay of a particle whose mass originates from the spontaneous breakdown of a symmetry. This is realized in many models, including low-scale leptogenesis and theories with classical scale invariance. Symmetry breaking in the early universe proceeds through a phase transition that gives the parent particle a time-dependent mass, which provides an additional departure from thermal equilibrium that could modify the efficiency of baryogenesis from out-of-equilibrium decays. We characterize the effects of various types of phase transitions and show that an enhancement in the baryon asymmetry from decaysmore » is possible if the phase transition is of the second order, although such models are typically fine-tuned. We also stress the role of new annihilation modes that deplete the parent particle abundance in models realizing such a phase transition, reducing the efficacy of baryogenesis. A proper treatment of baryogenesis in such models therefore requires the inclusion of the effects we study in this paper.« less

Phase transitions and baryogenesis from decays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shuve, Brian; Tamarit, Carlos

2017-10-01

We study scenarios in which the baryon asymmetry is generated from the decay of a particle whose mass originates from the spontaneous breakdown of a symmetry. This is realized in many models, including low-scale leptogenesis and theories with classical scale invariance. Symmetry breaking in the early universe proceeds through a phase transition that gives the parent particle a time-dependent mass, which provides an additional departure from thermal equilibrium that could modify the efficiency of baryogenesis from out-of-equilibrium decays. We characterize the effects of various types of phase transitions and show that an enhancement in the baryon asymmetry from decays is possible if the phase transition is of the second order, although such models are typically fine-tuned. We also stress the role of new annihilation modes that deplete the parent particle abundance in models realizing such a phase transition, reducing the efficacy of baryogenesis. A proper treatment of baryogenesis in such models therefore requires the inclusion of the effects we study in this paper.

Reversible Phase Transition with Ultralarge Dielectric Relaxation Behaviors in Succinimide Lithium(I) Hybrids.

PubMed

Tang, Yun-Zhi; Wang, Bin; Zhou, Hai-Tao; Chen, Shao-Peng; Tan, Yu-Hui; Wang, Chang-Feng; Yang, Chang-Shan; Wen, He-Rui

2018-02-05

Dielectric relaxations have widely applied on high permittivity capacitors, dielectric switches, ferroelectrics, pyroelectrics, and electrical insulating materials. However, few investigations of large dielectric relaxation behaviors on organic-inorganic hybrid materials have been documented before. Here we present a novel two-dimensional succinimide lithium(I) hybrid compound, [Li(PDD) 2 ClO 4 ] n , 1, (PDD = 2,5-pyrrolidinedione = succinimide) which shows reversible phase transition behavior in the vicinity of 228 K accompanied by an unusual symmetry breaking from I4 1 /amd to C2/c. X-ray single crystal diffractions analysis indicates the twist motion of pyrrolidine heterocycles, and order-disorder motion of ClO 4 - anions triggered the reversible phase transition. By means of an intuitive crystallographic model (rattling ion model), we further illustrated the mechanism of the interesting reversible phase transition. Particularly, 1 shows ultralarge dielectric relaxation behavior in the vicinity of the phase transition by its dielectric constant dependence on temperatures and frequencies as well as its Cole-Cole relation.

The Kibble-Zurek mechanism in phase transitions of non-equilibrium systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheung, Hil F. H.; Patil, Yogesh S.; Date, Aditya G.; Vengalattore, Mukund

2017-04-01

We experimentally realize a driven-dissipative phase transition using a mechanical parametric amplifier to demonstrate key signatures of a second order phase transition, including a point where the susceptibilities and relaxation time scales diverge, and where the system exhibits a spontaneous breaking of symmetry. Though reminiscent of conventional equilibrium phase transitions, it is unclear if such driven-dissipative phase transitions are amenable to the conventional Landau-Ginsburg-Wilson paradigm, which relies on concepts of scale invariance and universality, and recent work has shown that such phase transitions can indeed lie beyond such conventional universality classes. By quenching the system past the critical point, we investigate the dynamics of the emergent ordered phase and find that our measurements are in excellent agreement with the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. In addition to verifying the Kibble-Zurek hypothesis in driven-dissipative phase transitions for the first time, we also demonstrate that the measured critical exponents accurately reflect the interplay between intrinsic coherent dynamics and environmental correlations, showing a clear departure from mean field exponents in the case of non-Markovian system-bath interactions. We further discuss how reservoir engineering and the imposition of artificial environmental correlations can result in the stabilization of novel many-body quantum phases and aid in the creation of exotic non-equilibrium states of matter.

CP Symmetry, Lee-Yang zeros and Phase Transitions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aguado, M.; Asorey, M.

2011-05-23

We analyze the analytic properties of {theta}-vacuum in QCD and its connection with spontaneous symmetry breaking of CP symmetry. A loss of analyticity in the {theta}-vacuum energy density can only be due to the accumulation of Lee-Yang zeros at some real values of {theta}. In the case of first order transitions these singularities are always associated to and cusp singularities and never to or cusps, which in the case {theta} = 0 are incompatible with the Vafa-Witten diamagnetic inequality This fact provides a key missing link in the Vafa-Witten proof of parity symmetry conservation in vector-like gauge theories like QCD.more » The argument is very similar to that used in the derivation of Bank-Casher formula for chiral symmetry breaking. However, the and behavior does not exclude the existence of a first phase transition at {theta} = {pi}, where a and cusp singularity is not forbidden by any inequality; in this case the topological charge condensate is proportional to the density of Lee-Yang zeros at {theta} = {pi}. Moreover, Lee-Yang zeros could give rise to a second order phase transition at {theta} = 0, which might be very relevant for the interpretation of the anomalous behavior of the topological susceptibility in the CP{sup 1} sigma model.« less

Quenched bond randomness: Superfluidity in porous media and the strong violation of universality

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Falicov, A.; Berker, A.N.

1997-04-01

The effects of quenched bond randomness are most readily studied with superfluidity immersed in a porous medium. A lattice model for {sup 3}He-{sup 4}He mixtures and incomplete {sup 4}He fillings in aerogel yields the signature effect of bond randomness, namely the conversion of symmetry-breaking first-order phase transitions into second-order phase transitions, the A-line reaching zero temperature, and the elimination of non-symmetry-breaking first-order phase transitions. The model recognizes the importance of the connected nature of aerogel randomness and thereby yields superfluidity at very low {sup 4}He concentrations, a phase separation entirely within the superfluid phase, and the order-parameter contrast between mixturesmore » and incomplete fillings, all in agreement with experiments. The special properties of the helium mixture/aerogel system are distinctly linked to the aerogel properties of connectivity, randomness, and tenuousness, via the additional study of a regularized {open_quote}jungle-gym{close_quotes} aerogel. Renormalization-group calculations indicate that a strong violation of the empirical universality principle of critical phenomena occurs under quenched bond randomness. It is argued that helium/aerogel critical properties reflect this violation and further experiments are suggested. Renormalization-group analysis also shows that, adjoiningly to the strong universality violation (which hinges on the occurrence or non-occurrence of asymptotic strong coupling-strong randomness under resealing), there is a new {open_quotes}hyperuniversality{close_quotes} at phase transitions with asymptotic strong coupling-strong randomness behavior, for example assigning the same critical exponents to random-bond tricriticality and random-field criticality.« less

Invasion-wave-induced first-order phase transition in systems of active particles.

PubMed

Ihle, Thomas

2013-10-01

An instability near the transition to collective motion of self-propelled particles is studied numerically by Enskog-like kinetic theory. While hydrodynamics breaks down, the kinetic approach leads to steep solitonlike waves. These supersonic waves show hysteresis and lead to an abrupt jump of the global order parameter if the noise level is changed. Thus they provide a mean-field mechanism to change the second-order character of the phase transition to first order. The shape of the wave is shown to follow a scaling law and to quantitatively agree with agent-based simulations.

Topology-driven phase transitions in the classical monomer-dimer-loop model.

PubMed

Li, Sazi; Li, Wei; Chen, Ziyu

2015-06-01

In this work, we investigate the classical loop models doped with monomers and dimers on a square lattice, whose partition function can be expressed as a tensor network (TN). In the thermodynamic limit, we use the boundary matrix product state technique to contract the partition function TN, and determine the thermodynamic properties with high accuracy. In this monomer-dimer-loop model, we find a second-order phase transition between a trivial monomer-condensation and a loop-condensation (LC) phase, which cannot be distinguished by any local order parameter, while nevertheless the two phases have distinct topological properties. In the LC phase, we find two degenerate dominating eigenvalues in the transfer-matrix spectrum, as well as a nonvanishing (nonlocal) string order parameter, both of which identify the topological ergodicity breaking in the LC phase and can serve as the order parameter for detecting the phase transitions.

Angle-resolved photoemission with circularly polarized light in the nodal mirror plane of underdoped Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8+ δ superconductor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

He, Junfeng; Mion, Thomas R.; Gao, Shang

2016-10-31

Unraveling the nature of pseudogap phase in high-temperature superconductors holds the key to understanding their superconducting mechanisms and potentially broadening their applications via enhancement of their superconducting transition temperatures. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) experiments using circularly polarized light have been proposed to detect possible symmetry breaking state in the pseudogap phase of cuprates. Here, the presence (absence) of an electronic order which breaks mirror symmetry of the crystal would in principle induce a finite (zero) circular dichroism in photoemission. Different orders breaking reflection symmetries about different mirror planes can also be distinguished by the momentum dependence of the measured circularmore » dichroism.« less

Dynamics of the universe and spontaneous symmetry breaking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kazanas, D.

1980-01-01

It is shown that the presence of a phase transition early in the history of the universe, associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking (believed to take place at very high temperatures at which the various fundamental interactions unify), significantly modifies its dynamics and evolution. This is due to the energy 'pumping' during the phase transition from the vacuum to the substance, rather than the gravitating effects of the vacuum. The expansion law of the universe then differs substantially from the relation considered so far for the very early time expansion. In particular it is shown that under certain conditions this expansion law is exponential. It is further argued that under reasonable assumptions for the mass of the associated Higgs boson this expansion stage could last long enough to potentially account for the observed isotropy of the universe.

Parity-time symmetry-breaking mechanism of dynamic Mott transitions in dissipative systems

DOE PAGES

Tripathi, Vikram; Galda, Alexey; Barman, Himadri; ...

2016-07-05

Here, we describe the critical behavior of the electric field-driven (dynamic) Mott insulator-to-metal transitions in dissipative Fermi and Bose systems in terms of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians invariant under simultaneous parity (P) and time-reversal (T) operations. The dynamic Mott transition is identified as a PT symmetry-breaking phase transition, with the Mott insulating state corresponding to the regime of unbroken PT symmetry with a real energy spectrum. We also established that the imaginary part of the Hamiltonian arises from the combined effects of the driving field and inherent dissipation. We derive the renormalization and collapse of the Mott gap at the dielectric breakdownmore » and describe the resulting critical behavior of transport characteristics. The critical exponent we obtained is in an excellent agreement with experimental findings.« less

Rotational symmetry breaking and topological phase transition in the exciton-polariton condensate of gapped 2D Dirac material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Jeong, Jae-Seung; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon coupling can lead to the emergence of bosonic quasiparticles consisting of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polariton, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) MoS2 or WTe2. Specifically, in forming excitons, the electron-photon coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase competes against, rather than cooperates with, the Coulomb interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to the spontaneous breaking of the rotational symmetry in the polariton condensate and also drives topological phase transition, both novel features in polariton condensation. We also investigate the possible detection of this competition through photoluminescence. This work was supported in part by the Institute for Basic Science of Korea (IBS) under Grant IBS-R009-Y1 and by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under the Basic Science Research Program Grant No. 2015R1D1A1A01058071.

Dielectric Study of the Phase Transitions in [P(CH3)4]2CuY4 (Y = Cl, Br)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesi, Kazuo

2002-05-01

Phase transitions in [P(CH3)4]2CuY4 (Y = Cl, Br) have been studied by dielectric measurements. In [P(CH3)4]2CuCl4, a slight break and a discontinuous jump on the dielectric constant vs. temperature curve are seen at the normal-incommensurate and the incommensurate-commensurate phase transitions, respectively. A small peak of dielectric constant along the b-direction exists just above the incommensurate-to-commensurate transition temperature. The anisotropic dielectric anomalies of [P(CH3)4]2CuBr4 at phase transitions were measured along the three crystallographic axes. The pressure-temperature phase diagram of [P(CH3)4]2CuCl4 was determined. The initial pressure coefficients of the normal-to-incommensurate and the incommensurate-to-commensurate transition temperatures are 0.19 K/MPa and 0.27 K/MPa, respectively. The incommensurate phase in [P(CH3)4]2CuCl4 disappears at a triple point which exists at 335 MPa and 443 K. The stability and the pressure effects of the incommensurate phases are much different among the four [Z(CH3)4]2CuY4 crystals (Z = N, P; Y = Cl, Br).

Time-Reversal Symmetry-Breaking Nematic Insulators near Quantum Spin Hall Phase Transitions.

PubMed

Xue, Fei; MacDonald, A H

2018-05-04

We study the phase diagram of a model quantum spin Hall system as a function of band inversion and band-coupling strength, demonstrating that when band hybridization is weak, an interaction-induced nematic insulator state emerges over a wide range of band inversion. This property is a consequence of the long-range Coulomb interaction, which favors interband phase coherence that is weakly dependent on momentum and therefore frustrated by the single-particle Hamiltonian at the band inversion point. For weak band hybridization, interactions convert the continuous gap closing topological phase transition at inversion into a pair of continuous phase transitions bounding a state with broken time-reversal and rotational symmetries. At intermediate band hybridization, the topological phase transition proceeds instead via a quantum anomalous Hall insulator state, whereas at strong hybridization interactions play no role. We comment on the implications of our findings for InAs/GaSb and HgTe/CdTe quantum spin Hall systems.

Time-Reversal Symmetry-Breaking Nematic Insulators near Quantum Spin Hall Phase Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Fei; MacDonald, A. H.

2018-05-01

We study the phase diagram of a model quantum spin Hall system as a function of band inversion and band-coupling strength, demonstrating that when band hybridization is weak, an interaction-induced nematic insulator state emerges over a wide range of band inversion. This property is a consequence of the long-range Coulomb interaction, which favors interband phase coherence that is weakly dependent on momentum and therefore frustrated by the single-particle Hamiltonian at the band inversion point. For weak band hybridization, interactions convert the continuous gap closing topological phase transition at inversion into a pair of continuous phase transitions bounding a state with broken time-reversal and rotational symmetries. At intermediate band hybridization, the topological phase transition proceeds instead via a quantum anomalous Hall insulator state, whereas at strong hybridization interactions play no role. We comment on the implications of our findings for InAs/GaSb and HgTe/CdTe quantum spin Hall systems.

Symmetry-protected topological insulator and its symmetry-enriched topologically ordered boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Juven; Wen, Xiao-Gang; Witten, Edward

We propose a mechanism for achieving symmetry-enriched topologically ordered boundaries for symmetry-protected topological states, including those of topological insulators. Several different boundary phases and their phase transitions are considered, including confined phases, deconfined phases, symmetry-breaking, gapped and gapless phases. National Science Foundation PHY-1606531, Corning Glass Works Foundation Fellowship, NSF Grant DMR- 1506475 and NSFC 11274192, the BMO Financial Group and the John Templeton Foundation No. 39901.

Bosonic Confinement and Coherence in Disordered Nanodiamond Arrays.

PubMed

Zhang, Gufei; Samuely, Tomas; Du, Hongchu; Xu, Zheng; Liu, Liwang; Onufriienko, Oleksandr; May, Paul W; Vanacken, Johan; Szabó, Pavol; Kačmarčík, Jozef; Yuan, Haifeng; Samuely, Peter; Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E; Hofkens, Johan; Moshchalkov, Victor V

2017-11-28

In the presence of disorder, superconductivity exhibits short-range characteristics linked to localized Cooper pairs which are responsible for anomalous phase transitions and the emergence of quantum states such as the bosonic insulating state. Complementary to well-studied homogeneously disordered superconductors, superconductor-normal hybrid arrays provide tunable realizations of the degree of granular disorder for studying anomalous quantum phase transitions. Here, we investigate the superconductor-bosonic dirty metal transition in disordered nanodiamond arrays as a function of the dispersion of intergrain spacing, which ranges from angstroms to micrometers. By monitoring the evolved superconducting gaps and diminished coherence peaks in the single-quasiparticle density of states, we link the destruction of the superconducting state and the emergence of bosonic dirty metallic state to breaking of the global phase coherence and persistence of the localized Cooper pairs. The observed resistive bosonic phase transitions are well modeled using a series-parallel circuit in the framework of bosonic confinement and coherence.

About the Shape of the Melting Line as a Possible Precursor of a Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imre, Attila R.; Rzoska, Sylwester J.

Several simple, non-mesogenic liquids can exists in two or more different liquid forms. When the liquid-liquid line, separating two liquid forms, meets the melting line, one can expect some kind of break on the melting line, caused by the different freezing/melting behaviour of the two liquid forms. Unfortunately recently several researchers are using this vein of thinking in reverse; seeing some irregularity on the melting line, they will expect a break and the appearance of a liquid-liquid line. In this short paper, we are going to show, that in the case of the high-pressure nitrogen studied recently by Mukherjee and Boehler, the high-pressure data can be easily described by a smooth, break-free function, the modified Simon-Glatzel equation. In this way, the break, suggested by them and consequently the suggested appearance of a new liquid phase of the nitrogen might be artefacts.

Metal-insulator-superconductor transition of spin-3/2 atoms on optical lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Silva, Theja N.

2018-01-01

We use a slave-rotor approach within a mean-field theory to study the competition of metallic, Mott-insulating, and superconducting phases of spin-3/2 fermions subjected to a periodic optical lattice potential. In addition to the metallic, the Mott-insulating, and the superconducting phases that are associated with the gauge symmetry breaking of the spinon field, we identify an emerging superconducting phase that breaks both roton and spinon field gauge symmetries. This superconducting phase emerges as a result of the competition between spin-0 singlet and spin-2 quintet interaction channels naturally available for spin-3/2 systems. The two superconducting phases can be distinguished from each other by quasiparticle weight. We further discuss the properties of these phases for both two-dimensional square and three-dimensional cubic lattices at zero and finite temperatures.

Mott transition in the π -flux S U (4 ) Hubbard model on a square lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhichao; Wu, Congjun; Wang, Yu

2018-05-01

With increasing repulsive interaction, we show that a Mott transition occurs from the semimetal to the valence bond solid, accompanied by the Z4 discrete symmetry breaking. Our simulations demonstrate the existence of a second-order phase transition, which confirms the Ginzburg-Landau analysis. The phase transition point and the critical exponent η are also estimated. To account for the effect of a π flux on the ordering in the strong-coupling regime, we analytically derive by the perturbation theory the ring-exchange term, which is the leading-order term that can reflect the difference between the π -flux and zero-flux S U (4 ) Hubbard models.

Phase Transitions of the Polariton Condensate in 2D Dirac Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

2018-04-01

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon (e -ph) coupling can lead to the hybridizations of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polaritons, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped two-dimensional Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide MoS2 or WSe2 . Specifically, in forming the polariton, the e -ph coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase can compete against the Coulomb electron-electron (e -e ) interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to a rich phase diagram for the polariton condensate involving both topological and symmetry breaking phase transitions, with the former giving rise to the quantum anomalous Hall and the quantum spin Hall phases.

Phase Transitions of the Polariton Condensate in 2D Dirac Materials.

PubMed

Lee, Ki Hoon; Lee, Changhee; Min, Hongki; Chung, Suk Bum

2018-04-13

For the quantum well in an optical microcavity, the interplay of the Coulomb interaction and the electron-photon (e-ph) coupling can lead to the hybridizations of the exciton and the cavity photon known as polaritons, which can form the Bose-Einstein condensate above a threshold density. Additional physics due to the nontrivial Berry phase comes into play when the quantum well consists of the gapped two-dimensional Dirac material such as the transition metal dichalcogenide MoS_{2} or WSe_{2}. Specifically, in forming the polariton, the e-ph coupling from the optical selection rule due to the Berry phase can compete against the Coulomb electron-electron (e-e) interaction. We find that this competition gives rise to a rich phase diagram for the polariton condensate involving both topological and symmetry breaking phase transitions, with the former giving rise to the quantum anomalous Hall and the quantum spin Hall phases.

Revisiting pressure-induced phase transition in silicon clathrates using Ge substitution

DOE PAGES

Blancon, Jean-Christophe Robert; Machon, Denis; Pischedda, Vittoria; ...

2016-04-11

Ba 8Si 39Ge 7 and Ba 8Si 29Ge 17 have been studied at high pressure using x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Ge K edge. In Ba 8Si 39Ge 7, a transition is observed similar to the one in Ba 8Si 46, apparently isostructural. However, the XAS data analysis shows that the transformation is related to the off-centering of the Ba atoms. A theoretical model based on a Landau potential suggests that this transition is second order, with a symmetry-breaking mechanism related to the Ba displacement probably initiated by the vacancy creation or local distortion predicted theoretically.more » Lastly, this analysis gives a coherent picture of the phase transition mechanism. In the case of Ba 8Si 29Ge 17, such phase transition is not observed as the Ba atoms appear already off-center at ambient pressure.« less

Revisiting pressure-induced phase transition in silicon clathrates using Ge substitution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blancon, Jean-Christophe Robert; Machon, Denis; Pischedda, Vittoria

Ba 8Si 39Ge 7 and Ba 8Si 29Ge 17 have been studied at high pressure using x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Ge K edge. In Ba 8Si 39Ge 7, a transition is observed similar to the one in Ba 8Si 46, apparently isostructural. However, the XAS data analysis shows that the transformation is related to the off-centering of the Ba atoms. A theoretical model based on a Landau potential suggests that this transition is second order, with a symmetry-breaking mechanism related to the Ba displacement probably initiated by the vacancy creation or local distortion predicted theoretically.more » Lastly, this analysis gives a coherent picture of the phase transition mechanism. In the case of Ba 8Si 29Ge 17, such phase transition is not observed as the Ba atoms appear already off-center at ambient pressure.« less

Linear dynamics of classical spin as Mobius transformation

DOE PAGES

Galda, Alexey; Vinokur, Valerii М.

2017-04-26

Though the overwhelming majority of natural processes occur far from the equilibrium, general theoretical approaches to non-equilibrium phase transitions remain scarce. Recent breakthroughs introduced a description of open dissipative systems in terms of non-Hermitian quantum mechanics enabling the identification of a class of non-equilibrium phase transitions associated with the loss of combined parity (reflection) and time-reversal symmetries. Here we report that the time evolution of a single classical spin (e.g. monodomain ferromagnet) governed by the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert-Slonczewski equation in the absence of magnetic anisotropy terms is described by a Mobius transformation in complex stereographic coordinates. We identify the parity-time symmetry-breaking phasemore » transition occurring in spin-transfer torque-driven linear spin systems as a transition between hyperbolic and loxodromic classes of Mobius transformations, with the critical point of the transition corresponding to the parabolic transformation. However, this establishes the understanding of non-equilibrium phase transitions as topological transitions in configuration space.« less

Biaxial stress driven tetragonal symmetry breaking and high-temperature ferromagnetic semiconductor from half-metallic CrO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Xiang-Bo; Liu, Bang-Gui

2018-03-01

It is highly desirable to combine the full spin polarization of carriers with modern semiconductor technology for spintronic applications. For this purpose, one needs good crystalline ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) semiconductors with high Curie temperatures. Rutile CrO2 is a half-metallic spintronic material with Curie temperature 394 K and can have nearly full spin polarization at room temperature. Here, we find through first-principles investigation that when a biaxial compressive stress is applied on rutile CrO2, the density of states at the Fermi level decreases with the in-plane compressive strain, there is a structural phase transition to an orthorhombic phase at the strain of -5.6 % , and then appears an electronic phase transition to a semiconductor phase at -6.1 % . Further analysis shows that this structural transition, accompanying the tetragonal symmetry breaking, is induced by the stress-driven distortion and rotation of the oxygen octahedron of Cr, and the half-metal-semiconductor transition originates from the enhancement of the crystal field splitting due to the structural change. Importantly, our systematic total-energy comparison indicates the ferromagnetic Curie temperature remains almost independent of the strain, near 400 K. This biaxial stress can be realized by applying biaxial pressure or growing the CrO2 epitaxially on appropriate substrates. These results should be useful for realizing full (100%) spin polarization of controllable carriers as one uses in modern semiconductor technology.

Baryogenesis at a lepton-number-breaking phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Andrew J.; Tesi, Andrea; Wang, Lian-Tao

2017-10-01

We study a scenario in which the baryon asymmetry of the universe arises from a cosmological phase transition where lepton-number is spontaneously broken. If the phase transition is first order, a lepton-number asymmetry can arise at the bubble wall, through dynamics similar to electroweak baryogenesis, but involving right-handed neutrinos. In addition to the usual neutrinoless double beta decay in nuclear experiments, the model may be probed through a variety of "baryogenesis by-products", which include a stochastic background of gravitational waves created by the colliding bubbles. Depending on the model, other aspects may include a network of topological defects that produce their own gravitational waves, additional contribution to dark radiation, and a light pseudo-Goldstone boson (majoron) as dark matter candidate.

Droplet Breakup in Expansion-contraction Microchannels

PubMed Central

Zhu, Pingan; Kong, Tiantian; Lei, Leyan; Tian, Xiaowei; Kang, Zhanxiao; Wang, Liqiu

2016-01-01

We investigate the influences of expansion-contraction microchannels on droplet breakup in capillary microfluidic devices. With variations in channel dimension, local shear stresses at the injection nozzle and focusing orifice vary, significantly impacting flow behavior including droplet breakup locations and breakup modes. We observe transition of droplet breakup location from focusing orifice to injection nozzle, and three distinct types of recently-reported tip-multi-breaking modes. By balancing local shear stresses and interfacial tension effects, we determine the critical condition for breakup location transition, and characterize the tip-multi-breaking mode quantitatively. In addition, we identify the mechanism responsible for the periodic oscillation of inner fluid tip in tip-multi-breaking mode. Our results offer fundamental understanding of two-phase flow behaviors in expansion-contraction microstructures, and would benefit droplet generation, manipulation and design of microfluidic devices. PMID:26899018

Probing the electroweak phase transition via enhanced di-Higgs boson production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carena, Marcela; Liu, Zhen; Riembau, Marc

2018-05-01

We consider a singlet extension of the standard model (SM) with a spontaneous Z2 breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly Z2 breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first-order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.

Probing Electroweak Phase Transition via Enhanced Di-Higgs Production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carena, Marcela; Liu, Zhen; Riembau, Marc

2018-01-02

We consider a singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a spontaneousmore » $$Z_2$$ breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40\\%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly $$Z_2$$ breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.« less

Probing Electroweak Phase Transition via Enhanced Di-Higgs Production

DOE PAGES

Carena, Marcela; Liu, Zhen; Riembau, Marc

2018-05-24

We consider a singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a spontaneousmore » $$Z_2$$ breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40\\%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly $$Z_2$$ breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.« less

Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions and phase diagrams of the interacting monomer-dimer model on a checkerboard lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Sazi; Li, Wei; Chen, Ziyu

2014-11-01

Using the tensor network approach, we investigate the monomer-dimer models on a checkerboard lattice, in which there are interactions (with strength v ) between the parallel dimers on half of the plaquettes. For the fully packed interacting dimer model, we observe a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition between the low-temperature symmetry breaking and the high-temperature critical phases; for the doped monomer-dimer case with finite chemical potential μ , we also find an order-disorder phase transition which is of second order instead. We use the boundary matrix product state approach to detect the KT and second-order phase transitions and obtain the phase diagrams v -T and μ -T . Moreover, for the noninteracting monomer-dimer model (setting μ =ν =0 ), we get an extraordinarily accurate determination of the free energy per site (negative of the monomer-dimer constant h2) as f =-0.662 798 972 833 746 with the dimer density n =0.638 123 109 228 547 , both of 15 correct digits.

Exploring the quantum critical behaviour in a driven Tavis–Cummings circuit

PubMed Central

Feng, M.; Zhong, Y.P.; Liu, T.; Yan, L.L.; Yang, W.L.; Twamley, J.; Wang, H.

2015-01-01

Quantum phase transitions play an important role in many-body systems and have been a research focus in conventional condensed-matter physics over the past few decades. Artificial atoms, such as superconducting qubits that can be individually manipulated, provide a new paradigm of realising and exploring quantum phase transitions by engineering an on-chip quantum simulator. Here we demonstrate experimentally the quantum critical behaviour in a highly controllable superconducting circuit, consisting of four qubits coupled to a common resonator mode. By off-resonantly driving the system to renormalize the critical spin-field coupling strength, we have observed a four-qubit nonequilibrium quantum phase transition in a dynamical manner; that is, we sweep the critical coupling strength over time and monitor the four-qubit scaled moments for a signature of a structural change of the system's eigenstates. Our observation of the nonequilibrium quantum phase transition, which is in good agreement with the driven Tavis–Cummings theory under decoherence, offers new experimental approaches towards exploring quantum phase transition-related science, such as scaling behaviours, parity breaking and long-range quantum correlations. PMID:25971985

First- and second-order metal-insulator phase transitions and topological aspects of a Hubbard-Rashba system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcelino, Edgar

2017-05-01

This paper considers a model consisting of a kinetic term, Rashba spin-orbit coupling and short-range Coulomb interaction at zero temperature. The Coulomb interaction is decoupled by a mean-field approximation in the spin channel using field theory methods. The results feature a first-order phase transition for any finite value of the chemical potential and quantum criticality for vanishing chemical potential. The Hall conductivity is also computed using the Kubo formula in a mean-field effective Hamiltonian. In the limit of infinite mass the kinetic term vanishes and all the phase transitions are of second order; in this case the spontaneous symmetry-breaking mechanism adds a ferromagnetic metallic phase to the system and features a zero-temperature quantization of the Hall conductivity in the insulating one.

Twisted complex superfluids in optical lattices

PubMed Central

Jürgensen, Ole; Sengstock, Klaus; Lühmann, Dirk-Sören

2015-01-01

We show that correlated pair tunneling drives a phase transition to a twisted superfluid with a complex order parameter. This unconventional superfluid phase spontaneously breaks the time-reversal symmetry and is characterized by a twisting of the complex phase angle between adjacent lattice sites. We discuss the entire phase diagram of the extended Bose—Hubbard model for a honeycomb optical lattice showing a multitude of quantum phases including twisted superfluids, pair superfluids, supersolids and twisted supersolids. Furthermore, we show that the nearest-neighbor interactions lead to a spontaneous breaking of the inversion symmetry of the lattice and give rise to dimerized density-wave insulators, where particles are delocalized on dimers. For two components, we find twisted superfluid phases with strong correlations between the species already for surprisingly small pair-tunneling amplitudes. Interestingly, this ground state shows an infinite degeneracy ranging continuously from a supersolid to a twisted superfluid. PMID:26345721

Rectification of Spatial Disorder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Um, Jaegon; Hong, Hyunsuk; Marchesoni, Fabio; Park, Hyunggyu

2012-02-01

We demonstrate that a large ensemble of noiseless globally coupled-pinned oscillators is capable of rectifying spatial disorder with spontaneous current activated through a dynamical phase transition mechanism, either of first or second order, depending on the profile of the pinning potential. In the presence of an external weak drive, the same collective mechanism can result in an absolute negative mobility, which, though not immediately related to symmetry breaking, is most prominent at the phase transition. Our results apply to a tug-of-war by competing molecular motors for bidirectional cargo transport.

Identification of Langmuir wave turbulence-supercontinuum transition by application of von Neumann entropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawamori, Eiichirou

2017-09-01

A transition from Langmuir wave turbulence (LWT) to coherent Langmuir wave supercontinuum (LWSC) is identified in one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations as the emergence of a broad frequency band showing significant temporal coherence of a wave field accompanied by a decrease in the von Neumann entropy of classical wave fields. The concept of the von Neumann entropy is utilized for evaluation of the phase-randomizing degree of the classical wave fields, together with introduction of the density matrix of the wave fields. The transition from LWT to LWSC takes place when the energy per one plasmon (one wave quantum) exceeds a certain threshold. The coherent nature, which Langmuir wave systems acquire through the transition, is created by four wave mixings of the plasmons. The emergence of temporal coherence and the decrease in the phase randomization are considered as the development of long-range order and spontaneous symmetry breaking, respectively, indicating that the LWT-LWSC transition is a second order phase transition phenomenon.

Alveolar gas composition during maximal and interrupted apnoeas in ambient air and pure oxygen.

PubMed

Fagoni, Nazzareno; Taboni, Anna; Vinetti, Giovanni; Bottarelli, Sara; Moia, Christian; Bringard, Aurélién; Ferretti, Guido

2017-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that the alveolar gas composition at the transition between the steady phase II (φ2) and the dynamic phase III (φ3) of the cardiovascular response to apnoea may lay on the physiological breaking point curve (Lin et al., 1974). Twelve elite divers performed maximal and φ2-interrupted apnoeas, in air and pure oxygen. We recorded beat-by-beat arterial blood pressure and heart rate; we measured alveolar oxygen and carbon dioxide pressures (P A O 2 and P A CO 2 , respectively) before and after apnoeas; we calculated the P A CO 2 difference between the end and the beginning of apnoeas (ΔP A CO 2 ). Cardiovascular responses to apnoea were similar compared to previous studies. P A O 2 and P A CO 2 at the end of φ2-interrupted apnoeas, corresponded to those reported at the physiological breaking point. For maximal apnoeas, P A CO 2 was less than reported by Lin et al. (1974). ΔP A CO 2 was higher in oxygen than in air. The transition between φ2 and φ3 corresponds indeed to the physiological breaking point. We attribute this transition to ΔP A CO 2 , rather than the absolute P A CO 2 values, both in air and oxygen apnoeas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Majorana-Hubbard model on the square lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Affleck, Ian; Rahmani, Armin; Pikulin, Dmitry

2017-09-01

We study a tight-binding model of interacting Majorana (Hermitian) modes on a square lattice. The model may have an experimental realization in a superconducting-film-topological-insulator heterostructure in a magnetic field. We find a rich phase diagram, as a function of interaction strength, including an emergent superfluid phase with spontaneous breaking of an emergent U (1 ) symmetry, separated by a supersymmetric transition from a gapless normal phase.

Kibble-Zurek scaling and string-net coarsening in topologically ordered systems.

PubMed

Chandran, Anushya; Burnell, F J; Khemani, Vedika; Sondhi, S L

2013-10-09

We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of topologically ordered systems driven across a continuous phase transition into proximate phases with no, or reduced, topological order. This dynamics exhibits scaling in the spirit of Kibble and Zurek but now without the presence of symmetry breaking and a local order parameter. The late stages of the process are seen to exhibit a slow, coarsening dynamics for the string-net that underlies the physics of the topological phase, a potentially interesting signature of topological order. We illustrate these phenomena in the context of particular phase transitions out of the Abelian Z2 topologically ordered phase of the toric code/Z2 gauge theory, and the non-Abelian SU(2)k ordered phases of the relevant Levin-Wen models.

Dynamic Transition and Resonance in Coupled Oscillators Under Symmetry-Breaking Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, J.; Choi, M. Y.; Chung, M. S.; Yoon, B.-G.

2013-06-01

We investigate numerically the dynamic properties of a system of globally coupled oscillators driven by periodic symmetry-breaking fields in the presence of noise. The phase distribution of the oscillators is computed and a dynamic transition is disclosed. It is further found that the stochastic resonance is closely related to the behavior of the dynamic order parameter, which is in turn explained by the formation of a bi-cluster in the system. Here noise tends to symmetrize the motion of the oscillators, facilitating the bi-cluster formation. The observed resonance appears to be of the same class as the resonance present in the two-dimensional Ising model under oscillating fields.

Wetting and Dewetting Transitions on Submerged Superhydrophobic Surfaces with Hierarchical Structures.

PubMed

Wu, Huaping; Yang, Zhe; Cao, Binbin; Zhang, Zheng; Zhu, Kai; Wu, Bingbing; Jiang, Shaofei; Chai, Guozhong

2017-01-10

The wetting transition on submersed superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures and the influence of trapped air on superhydrophobic stability are predicted based on the thermodynamics and mechanical analyses. The dewetting transition on the hierarchically structured surfaces is investigated, and two necessary thermodynamic conditions and a mechanical balance condition for dewetting transition are proposed. The corresponding thermodynamic phase diagram of reversible transition and the critical reversed pressure well explain the experimental results reported previously. Our theory provides a useful guideline for precise controlling of breaking down and recovering of superhydrophobicity by designing superhydrophobic surfaces with hierarchical structures under water.

Recent theoretical advances on superradiant phase transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baksic, Alexandre; Nataf, Pierre; Ciuti, Cristiano

2013-03-01

The Dicke model describing a single-mode boson field coupled to two-level systems is an important paradigm in quantum optics. In particular, the physics of ``superradiant phase transitions'' in the ultrastrong coupling regime is the subject of a vigorous research activity in both cavity and circuit QED. Recently, we explored the rich physics of two interesting generalizations of the Dicke model: (i) A model describing the coupling of a boson mode to two independent chains A and B of two-level systems, where chain A is coupled to one quadrature of the boson field and chain B to the orthogonal quadrature. This original model leads to a quantum phase transition with a double symmetry breaking and a fourfold ground state degeneracy. (ii) A generalized Dicke model with three-level systems including the diamagnetic term. In contrast to the case of two-level atoms for which no-go theorems exist, in the case of three-level system we prove that the Thomas-Reich-Kuhn sum rule does not always prevent a superradiant phase transition.

A new insight into the phase transition in the early Universe with two Higgs doublets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernon, Jérémy; Bian, Ligong; Jiang, Yun

2018-05-01

We study the electroweak phase transition in the alignment limit of the CP-conserving two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM) of Type I and Type II. The effective potential is evaluated at one-loop, where the thermal potential includes Daisy corrections and is reliably approximated by means of a sum of Bessel functions. Both 1-stage and 2-stage electroweak phase transitions are shown to be possible, depending on the pattern of the vacuum development as the Universe cools down. For the 1-stage case focused on in this paper, we analyze the properties of phase transition and discover that the field value of the electroweak symmetry breaking vacuum at the critical temperature at which the first order phase transition occurs is largely correlated with the vacuum depth of the 1-loop potential at zero temperature. We demonstrate that a strong first order electroweak phase transition (SFOEWPT) in the 2HDM is achievable and establish benchmark scenarios leading to different testable signatures at colliders. In addition, we verify that an enhanced triple Higgs coupling (including loop corrections) is a typical feature of the SFOPT driven by the additional doublet. As a result, SFOEWPT might be able to be probed at the LHC and future lepton colliders through Higgs pair production.

A first-principles study on second-order ferroelectric phase transition in two-dimensional puckered group V materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sang-Hoon; Jhi, Seung-Hoon

We study two-dimensional group V materials (P, As, Sb, and Bi) in puckered honeycomb structure using first-principles calculations. Two factors, the degree of puckering and buckling characterize not only the atomic structure but also the electronic structure and its topological phase. By analyzing the lone-pair character of constituent elements and the softening of the phonon mode, we clarify the origin of the buckling. We show that the phonon softening leads the second-order type structural phase transition from a flat to a buckled configuration. The inversion symmetry breaking associated with the structural transition induces the spontaneous polarization in these homogenous materials. Our calculations suggest that external strains or n-type doping are effective methods to control the degree of buckling. We find that the ferroelectric and non-trivial topological phase can coexist in puckered Bi when tensile strains are applied.

Instanton-dyon ensembles reproduce deconfinement and chiral restoration phase transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shuryak, Edward

2018-03-01

Paradigm shift in gauge topology at finite temperatures, from the instantons to their constituents - instanton-dyons - has recently lead to studies of their ensembles and very significant advances. Like instantons, they have fermionic zero modes, and their collectivization at suffciently high density explains the chiral symmetry breaking transition. Unlike instantons, these objects have electric and magnetic charges. Simulations of the instanton-dyon ensembles have demonstrated that their back reaction on the Polyakov line modifies its potential and generates the deconfinement phase transition. For the Nc = 2 gauge theory the transition is second order, for QCD-like theory with Nc = 2 and two light quark flavors Nf = 2 both transitions are weak crossovers at happening at about the same condition. Introduction of quark-flavor-dependent periodicity phases (imaginary chemical potentials) leads to drastic changes in both transitions. In particulaly, in the so called Z(Nc) - QCD model the deconfinement transforms to strong first order transition, while the chiral condensate does not disappear at all. The talk will also cover more detailed studies of correlations between the dyons, effective eta' mass and other screening masses.

Mesoscopic Metal-Insulator Transition at Ferroelastic Domain Walls in VO2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jones, Keith M; Kalinin, Sergei V; Kolmakov, Andrei

2010-01-01

The novel phenomena induced by symmetry breaking at homointerfaces between ferroic variants in ferroelectric and ferroelastic materials have attracted recently much attention. Using variable temperature scanning microwave microscopy, we demonstrate the mesoscopic strain-induced metal-insulator phase transitions in the vicinity of ferroelastic domain walls in the semiconductive VO2 that nucleated at temperatures as much as 10-12 C below bulk transition, resulting in the formation of conductive channels in the material. Density functional theory is used to rationalize the process low activation energy. This behavior, linked to the strain inhomogeneity inherent in ferroelastic materials, can strongly affect interpretation of phase-transition studies inmore » VO2 and similar materials with symmetry-lowering transitions, and can also be used to enable new generations of electronic devices though strain engineering of conductive and semiconductive regions.« less

Ribbon phase in a phase-separated lyotropic lamellar-sponge mixture under shear flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristobal, G.; Rouch, J.; Panizza, P.; Narayanan, T.

2001-07-01

We report the effect of shear flow on a phase-separated system composed of lyotropic lamellar (Lα) and sponge (L3) phases in a mixture of brine, surfactant, and cosurfactant. Optical microscopy, small-angle light, and x-ray scattering measurements are consistent with the existence of a steady state made of multilamellar ribbonlike structures aligned in the flow direction. At high shear rates, these ribbonlike structures become unstable and break up into monodisperse droplets resulting in a shear-thickening transition.

Dynamical arrest with zero complexity: The unusual behavior of the spherical Blume-Emery-Griffiths disordered model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rainone, Corrado; Ferrari, Ulisse; Paoluzzi, Matteo; Leuzzi, Luca

2015-12-01

The short- and long-time dynamics of model systems undergoing a glass transition with apparent inversion of Kauzmann and dynamical arrest glass transition lines is investigated. These models belong to the class of the spherical mean-field approximation of a spin-1 model with p -body quenched disordered interaction, with p >2 , termed spherical Blume-Emery-Griffiths models. Depending on temperature and chemical potential the system is found in a paramagnetic or in a glassy phase and the transition between these phases can be of a different nature. In specific regions of the phase diagram coexistence of low-density and high-density paramagnets can occur, as well as the coexistence of spin-glass and paramagnetic phases. The exact static solution for the glassy phase is known to be obtained by the one-step replica symmetry breaking ansatz. Different scenarios arise for both the dynamic and the thermodynamic transitions. These include: (i) the usual random first-order transition (Kauzmann-like) for mean-field glasses preceded by a dynamic transition, (ii) a thermodynamic first-order transition with phase coexistence and latent heat, and (iii) a regime of apparent inversion of static transition line and dynamic transition lines, the latter defined as a nonzero complexity line. The latter inversion, though, turns out to be preceded by a dynamical arrest line at higher temperature. Crossover between different regimes is analyzed by solving mode-coupling-theory equations near the boundaries of paramagnetic solutions and the relationship with the underlying statics is discussed.

Fermion masses through four-fermion condensates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ayyar, Venkitesh; Chandrasekharan, Shailesh

Fermion masses can be generated through four-fermion condensates when symmetries prevent fermion bilinear condensates from forming. This less explored mechanism of fermion mass generation is responsible for making four reduced staggered lattice fermions massive at strong couplings in a lattice model with a local four-fermion coupling. The model has a massless fermion phase at weak couplings and a massive fermion phase at strong couplings. In particular there is no spontaneous symmetry breaking of any lattice symmetries in both these phases. Recently it was discovered that in three space-time dimensions there is a direct second order phase transition between the twomore » phases. Here we study the same model in four space-time dimensions and find results consistent with the existence of a narrow intermediate phase with fermion bilinear condensates, that separates the two asymptotic phases by continuous phase transitions.« less

Effects of temperature and electric field on order parameters in ferroelectric hexagonal manganites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, C. X.; Yang, K. L.; Jia, P.; Lin, H. L.; Li, C. F.; Lin, L.; Yan, Z. B.; Liu, J.-M.

2018-03-01

In Landau-Devonshire phase transition theory, the order parameter represents a unique property for a disorder-order transition at the critical temperature. Nevertheless, for a phase transition with more than one order parameter, such behaviors can be quite different and system-dependent in many cases. In this work, we investigate the temperature (T) and electric field (E) dependence of the two order parameters in improper ferroelectric hexagonal manganites, addressing the phase transition from the high-symmetry P63/mmc structure to the polar P63cm structure. It is revealed that the trimerization as the primary order parameter with two components: the trimerization amplitude Q and phase Φ, and the spontaneous polarization P emerging as the secondary order parameter exhibit quite different stability behaviors against various T and E. The critical exponents for the two parameters Q and P are 1/2 and 3/2, respectively. As temperature increases, the window for the electric field E enduring the trimerization state will shrink. An electric field will break the Z2 part of the Z2×Z3 symmetry. The present work may shed light on the complexity of the vortex-antivortex domain structure evolution near the phase transition temperature.

Topology and strong four fermion interactions in four dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catterall, Simon; Butt, Nouman

2018-05-01

We study massless fermions interacting through a particular four-fermion term in four dimensions. Exact symmetries prevent the generation of bilinear fermion mass terms. We determine the structure of the low-energy effective action for the auxiliary field needed to generate the four-fermion term and find it has an novel structure that admits topologically nontrivial defects with nonzero Hopf invariant. We show that fermions propagating in such a background pick up a mass without breaking symmetries. Furthermore, pairs of such defects experience a logarithmic interaction. We argue that a phase transition separates a phase where these defects proliferate from a broken phase where they are bound tightly. We conjecture that, by tuning one additional operator, the broken phase can be eliminated with a single BKT-like phase transition separating the massless from massive phases.

Layer Anti-Ferromagnetism on Bilayer Honeycomb Lattice

PubMed Central

Tao, Hong-Shuai; Chen, Yao-Hua; Lin, Heng-Fu; Liu, Hai-Di; Liu, Wu-Ming

2014-01-01

Bilayer honeycomb lattice, with inter-layer tunneling energy, has a parabolic dispersion relation, and the inter-layer hopping can cause the charge imbalance between two sublattices. Here, we investigate the metal-insulator and magnetic phase transitions on the strongly correlated bilayer honeycomb lattice by cellular dynamical mean-field theory combined with continuous time quantum Monte Carlo method. The procedures of magnetic spontaneous symmetry breaking on dimer and non-dimer sites are different, causing a novel phase transition between normal anti-ferromagnet and layer anti-ferromagnet. The whole phase diagrams about the magnetism, temperature, interaction and inter-layer hopping are obtained. Finally, we propose an experimental protocol to observe these phenomena in future optical lattice experiments. PMID:24947369

QCD-Electroweak First-Order Phase Transition in a Supercooled Universe.

PubMed

Iso, Satoshi; Serpico, Pasquale D; Shimada, Kengo

2017-10-06

If the electroweak sector of the standard model is described by classically conformal dynamics, the early Universe evolution can be substantially altered. It is already known that-contrarily to the standard model case-a first-order electroweak phase transition may occur. Here we show that, depending on the model parameters, a dramatically different scenario may happen: A first-order, six massless quark QCD phase transition occurs first, which then triggers the electroweak symmetry breaking. We derive the necessary conditions for this dynamics to occur, using the specific example of the classically conformal B-L model. In particular, relatively light weakly coupled particles are predicted, with implications for collider searches. This scenario is also potentially rich in cosmological consequences, such as renewed possibilities for electroweak baryogenesis, altered dark matter production, and gravitational wave production, as we briefly comment upon.

QCD-Electroweak First-Order Phase Transition in a Supercooled Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iso, Satoshi; Serpico, Pasquale D.; Shimada, Kengo

2017-10-01

If the electroweak sector of the standard model is described by classically conformal dynamics, the early Universe evolution can be substantially altered. It is already known that—contrarily to the standard model case—a first-order electroweak phase transition may occur. Here we show that, depending on the model parameters, a dramatically different scenario may happen: A first-order, six massless quark QCD phase transition occurs first, which then triggers the electroweak symmetry breaking. We derive the necessary conditions for this dynamics to occur, using the specific example of the classically conformal B -L model. In particular, relatively light weakly coupled particles are predicted, with implications for collider searches. This scenario is also potentially rich in cosmological consequences, such as renewed possibilities for electroweak baryogenesis, altered dark matter production, and gravitational wave production, as we briefly comment upon.

Emergence and Phase Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sikkema, Arnold

2006-05-01

Phase transitions are well defined in physics through concepts such as spontaneous symmetry breaking, order parameter, entropy, and critical exponents. But emergence --- also exhibiting whole-part relations (such as top-down influence), unpredictability, and insensitivity to microscopic detail --- is a loosely-defined concept being used in many disciplines, particularly in psychology, biology, philosophy, as well as in physics[1,2]. I will review the concepts of emergence as used in the various fields and consider the extent to which the methods of phase transitions can clarify the usefulness of the concept of emergence both within the discipline of physics and beyond.1. Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down (New York: Basic Books, 2005). 2. George F.R. Ellis, ``Physics and the Real World'', Physics Today, vol. 58, no. 7 (July 2005) pp. 49-54.

Probing the electroweak phase transition via enhanced di-Higgs boson production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carena, Marcela; Liu, Zhen; Riembau, Marc

Here, we consider a singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a spontaneousmore » $$Z_2$$ breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40\\%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly $$Z_2$$ breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.« less

Probing the electroweak phase transition via enhanced di-Higgs boson production

DOE PAGES

Carena, Marcela; Liu, Zhen; Riembau, Marc

2018-05-24

Here, we consider a singlet extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a spontaneousmore » $$Z_2$$ breaking and study the gluon-gluon fusion production of the heavy scalar, with subsequent decay into a pair of SM-like Higgs bosons. We find that an on-shell interference effect can notably enhance the resonant di-Higgs production rate up to 40\\%. In addition, consistently taking into account both the on-shell and off-shell interference effects between the heavy scalar and the SM di-Higgs diagrams significantly improves the HL-LHC and HE-LHC reach in this channel. As an example, within an effective field theory analysis in an explicitly $$Z_2$$ breaking scenario, we further discuss the potential to probe the parameter region compatible with a first order electroweak phase transition. Our analysis is applicable for general potentials of the singlet extension of the SM as well as for more general resonance searches.« less

Topological defect formation and spontaneous symmetry breaking in ion Coulomb crystals.

PubMed

Pyka, K; Keller, J; Partner, H L; Nigmatullin, R; Burgermeister, T; Meier, D M; Kuhlmann, K; Retzker, A; Plenio, M B; Zurek, W H; del Campo, A; Mehlstäubler, T E

2013-01-01

Symmetry breaking phase transitions play an important role in nature. When a system traverses such a transition at a finite rate, its causally disconnected regions choose the new broken symmetry state independently. Where such local choices are incompatible, topological defects can form. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicts the defect densities to follow a power law that scales with the rate of the transition. Owing to its ubiquitous nature, this theory finds application in a wide field of systems ranging from cosmology to condensed matter. Here we present the successful creation of defects in ion Coulomb crystals by a controlled quench of the confining potential, and observe an enhanced power law scaling in accordance with numerical simulations and recent predictions. This simple system with well-defined critical exponents opens up ways to investigate the physics of non-equilibrium dynamics from the classical to the quantum regime.

Tensor-entanglement-filtering renormalization approach and symmetry-protected topological order

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu Zhengcheng; Wen Xiaogang

2009-10-15

We study the renormalization group flow of the Lagrangian for statistical and quantum systems by representing their path integral in terms of a tensor network. Using a tensor-entanglement-filtering renormalization approach that removes local entanglement and produces a coarse-grained lattice, we show that the resulting renormalization flow of the tensors in the tensor network has a nice fixed-point structure. The isolated fixed-point tensors T{sub inv} plus the symmetry group G{sub sym} of the tensors (i.e., the symmetry group of the Lagrangian) characterize various phases of the system. Such a characterization can describe both the symmetry breaking phases and topological phases, asmore » illustrated by two-dimensional (2D) statistical Ising model, 2D statistical loop-gas model, and 1+1D quantum spin-1/2 and spin-1 models. In particular, using such a (G{sub sym},T{sub inv}) characterization, we show that the Haldane phase for a spin-1 chain is a phase protected by the time-reversal, parity, and translation symmetries. Thus the Haldane phase is a symmetry-protected topological phase. The (G{sub sym},T{sub inv}) characterization is more general than the characterizations based on the boundary spins and string order parameters. The tensor renormalization approach also allows us to study continuous phase transitions between symmetry breaking phases and/or topological phases. The scaling dimensions and the central charges for the critical points that describe those continuous phase transitions can be calculated from the fixed-point tensors at those critical points.« less

Discovering phases, phase transitions, and crossovers through unsupervised machine learning: A critical examination

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hu, Wenjian; Singh, Rajiv R. P.; Scalettar, Richard T.

Here, we apply unsupervised machine learning techniques, mainly principal component analysis (PCA), to compare and contrast the phase behavior and phase transitions in several classical spin models - the square and triangular-lattice Ising models, the Blume-Capel model, a highly degenerate biquadratic-exchange spin-one Ising (BSI) model, and the 2D XY model, and examine critically what machine learning is teaching us. We find that quantified principal components from PCA not only allow exploration of different phases and symmetry-breaking, but can distinguish phase transition types and locate critical points. We show that the corresponding weight vectors have a clear physical interpretation, which ismore » particularly interesting in the frustrated models such as the triangular antiferromagnet, where they can point to incipient orders. Unlike the other well-studied models, the properties of the BSI model are less well known. Using both PCA and conventional Monte Carlo analysis, we demonstrate that the BSI model shows an absence of phase transition and macroscopic ground-state degeneracy. The failure to capture the 'charge' correlations (vorticity) in the BSI model (XY model) from raw spin configurations points to some of the limitations of PCA. Finally, we employ a nonlinear unsupervised machine learning procedure, the 'antoencoder method', and demonstrate that it too can be trained to capture phase transitions and critical points.« less

Discovering phases, phase transitions, and crossovers through unsupervised machine learning: A critical examination

DOE PAGES

Hu, Wenjian; Singh, Rajiv R. P.; Scalettar, Richard T.

2017-06-19

Here, we apply unsupervised machine learning techniques, mainly principal component analysis (PCA), to compare and contrast the phase behavior and phase transitions in several classical spin models - the square and triangular-lattice Ising models, the Blume-Capel model, a highly degenerate biquadratic-exchange spin-one Ising (BSI) model, and the 2D XY model, and examine critically what machine learning is teaching us. We find that quantified principal components from PCA not only allow exploration of different phases and symmetry-breaking, but can distinguish phase transition types and locate critical points. We show that the corresponding weight vectors have a clear physical interpretation, which ismore » particularly interesting in the frustrated models such as the triangular antiferromagnet, where they can point to incipient orders. Unlike the other well-studied models, the properties of the BSI model are less well known. Using both PCA and conventional Monte Carlo analysis, we demonstrate that the BSI model shows an absence of phase transition and macroscopic ground-state degeneracy. The failure to capture the 'charge' correlations (vorticity) in the BSI model (XY model) from raw spin configurations points to some of the limitations of PCA. Finally, we employ a nonlinear unsupervised machine learning procedure, the 'antoencoder method', and demonstrate that it too can be trained to capture phase transitions and critical points.« less

Discovering phases, phase transitions, and crossovers through unsupervised machine learning: A critical examination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Wenjian; Singh, Rajiv R. P.; Scalettar, Richard T.

2017-06-01

We apply unsupervised machine learning techniques, mainly principal component analysis (PCA), to compare and contrast the phase behavior and phase transitions in several classical spin models—the square- and triangular-lattice Ising models, the Blume-Capel model, a highly degenerate biquadratic-exchange spin-1 Ising (BSI) model, and the two-dimensional X Y model—and we examine critically what machine learning is teaching us. We find that quantified principal components from PCA not only allow the exploration of different phases and symmetry-breaking, but they can distinguish phase-transition types and locate critical points. We show that the corresponding weight vectors have a clear physical interpretation, which is particularly interesting in the frustrated models such as the triangular antiferromagnet, where they can point to incipient orders. Unlike the other well-studied models, the properties of the BSI model are less well known. Using both PCA and conventional Monte Carlo analysis, we demonstrate that the BSI model shows an absence of phase transition and macroscopic ground-state degeneracy. The failure to capture the "charge" correlations (vorticity) in the BSI model (X Y model) from raw spin configurations points to some of the limitations of PCA. Finally, we employ a nonlinear unsupervised machine learning procedure, the "autoencoder method," and we demonstrate that it too can be trained to capture phase transitions and critical points.

Transition Theory and Experimental Comparisons on (I) Amplification into Streets and (II) a Strongly Nonlinear Break-up Criterion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, F. T.; Bowles, R. I.

1992-10-01

The two stages I, II are studied by using recent nonlinear theory and then compared with the experiments of Nishioka et al. (1979) on the transition of plane Poiseuille flow. The first stage I starts at low amplitude from warped input, which is deformed through weakly nonlinear interaction into a blow-up in amplitude and phase accompanied by spanwise focusing into streets. This leads into the strongly nonlinear stage II. It holds for a broad range of interactive boundary layers and related flows, to all of which the nonlinear break-up criterion applies. The experimental comparisons on I, II for channel flow overall show encouraging quantitative agreement, supporting recent comparisons (in the boundary-layer setting) of the description of stage I in Stewart & Smith (1992) with the experiments of Klebanoff & Tidstrom (1959) and of the break-up criterion of Smith (1988a) with the computations of Peridier et al. (1991 a, b).

Universality of phase transition dynamics: topological defects from symmetry breaking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zurek, Wojciech H.; Del Campo, Adolfo

In the course of a non-equilibrium continuous phase transition, the dynamics ceases to be adiabatic in the vicinity of the critical point as a result of the critical slowing down (the divergence of the relaxation time in the neighborhood of the critical point). This enforces a local choice of the broken symmetry and can lead to the formation of topological defects. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) was developed to describe the associated nonequilibrium dynamics and to estimate the density of defects as a function of the quench rate through the transition. During recent years, several new experiments investigating formation of defectsmore » in phase transitions induced by a quench both in classical and quantum mechanical systems were carried out. At the same time, some established results were called into question. We review and analyze the Kibble-Zurek mechanism focusing in particular on this surge of activity, and suggest possible directions for further progress.« less

Spin Triplet Nematic Pairing Symmetry and Superconducting Double Transition in U1-xThxBe13

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Machida, Kazushige

2018-03-01

Motivated by a recent experiment on U1-xThxBe13 with x = 3%, we develop a theory to narrow down the possible pair symmetry to consistently describe the double transition utilizing various theoretical tools, including group theory and Ginzburg-Landau theory. It is explained in terms of the two-dimensional representation Eu with spin triplet. Symmetry breaking causes the degenerate Tc to split into two. The low-temperature phase is identified as the cyclic p wave: d(k) = \\hat{x}kx + ɛ \\hat{y}ky + ɛ 2\\hat{z}kz with ɛ3 = 1, whereas the biaxial nematic phase: d(k) = √{3} (\\hat{x}kx - \\hat{y}ky) is the high-temperature one. This allows us to simultaneously identify the uniaxial nematic phase: d(k) = 2\\hat{z}kz - \\hat{x}kx - \\hat{y}ky for UBe13, which spontaneously breaks the cubic symmetry of the system. Those pair functions are fully consistent with this description and existing data. We comment on the accidental scenario in addition to this degeneracy scenario and the intriguing topological nature hidden in this long-known material.

75 FR 36698 - Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-28

... information based on the likelihood of pipe breaks of different sizes. The rule would divide all coolant... to and including a ``transition break size,'' and breaks larger than the transition size up to the largest pipe in the reactor coolant system. Selection of the transition size was based upon pipe break...

Spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in metamaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Mingkai; Powell, David A.; Shadrivov, Ilya V.; Lapine, Mikhail; Kivshar, Yuri S.

2014-07-01

Spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking underpins a variety of areas such as subatomic physics and biochemistry, and leads to an impressive range of fundamental phenomena. Here we show that this prominent effect is now available in artificial electromagnetic systems, enabled by the advent of magnetoelastic metamaterials where a mechanical degree of freedom leads to a rich variety of strong nonlinear effects such as bistability and self-oscillations. We report spontaneous symmetry breaking in torsional chiral magnetoelastic structures where two or more meta-molecules with opposite handedness are electromagnetically coupled, modifying the system stability. Importantly, we show that chiral symmetry breaking can be found in the stationary response of the system, and the effect is successfully demonstrated in a microwave pump-probe experiment. Such symmetry breaking can lead to a giant nonlinear polarization change, energy localization and mode splitting, which provides a new possibility for creating an artificial phase transition in metamaterials, analogous to that in ferrimagnetic domains.

Spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in metamaterials.

PubMed

Liu, Mingkai; Powell, David A; Shadrivov, Ilya V; Lapine, Mikhail; Kivshar, Yuri S

2014-07-18

Spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking underpins a variety of areas such as subatomic physics and biochemistry, and leads to an impressive range of fundamental phenomena. Here we show that this prominent effect is now available in artificial electromagnetic systems, enabled by the advent of magnetoelastic metamaterials where a mechanical degree of freedom leads to a rich variety of strong nonlinear effects such as bistability and self-oscillations. We report spontaneous symmetry breaking in torsional chiral magnetoelastic structures where two or more meta-molecules with opposite handedness are electromagnetically coupled, modifying the system stability. Importantly, we show that chiral symmetry breaking can be found in the stationary response of the system, and the effect is successfully demonstrated in a microwave pump-probe experiment. Such symmetry breaking can lead to a giant nonlinear polarization change, energy localization and mode splitting, which provides a new possibility for creating an artificial phase transition in metamaterials, analogous to that in ferrimagnetic domains.

Accidental degeneracy in photonic bands and topological phase transitions in two-dimensional core-shell dielectric photonic crystals.

PubMed

Xu, Lin; Wang, Hai-Xiao; Xu, Ya-Dong; Chen, Huan-Yang; Jiang, Jian-Hua

2016-08-08

A simple core-shell two-dimensional photonic crystal is studied where the triangular lattice symmetry and the C₆ point group symmetry give rich physics in accidental touching points of photonic bands. We systematically evaluate different types of accidental nodal points at the Brillouin zone center for transverse-magnetic harmonic modes when the geometry and permittivity of the core-shell material are continuously tuned. The accidental nodal points can have different dispersions and topological properties (i.e., Berry phases). These accidental nodal points can be the critical states lying between a topological phase and a normal phase of the photonic crystal. They are thus very important for the study of topological photonic states. We show that, without breaking time-reversal symmetry, by tuning the geometry of the core-shell material, a phase transition into the photonic quantum spin Hall insulator can be achieved. Here the "spin" is defined as the orbital angular momentum of a photon. We study the topological phase transition as well as the properties of the edge and bulk states and their application potentials in optics.

Symmetry remnants in the face of competing interactions in nuclei

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leviatan, A., E-mail: ami@phys.huji.ac.il; Macek, M., E-mail: michal.macek@yale.edu

2015-10-15

Detailed description of nuclei necessitates model Hamiltonians which break most dynamical symmetries. Nevertheless, generalized notions of partial and quasi dynamical symmetries may still be applicable to selected subsets of states, amidst a complicated environment of other states. We examine such scenarios in the context of nuclear shape-phase transitions.

Observation of a discrete time crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, J.; Hess, P. W.; Kyprianidis, A.; Becker, P.; Lee, A.; Smith, J.; Pagano, G.; Potirniche, I.-D.; Potter, A. C.; Vishwanath, A.; Yao, N. Y.; Monroe, C.

2017-03-01

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a fundamental concept in many areas of physics, including cosmology, particle physics and condensed matter. An example is the breaking of spatial translational symmetry, which underlies the formation of crystals and the phase transition from liquid to solid. Using the analogy of crystals in space, the breaking of translational symmetry in time and the emergence of a ‘time crystal’ was recently proposed, but was later shown to be forbidden in thermal equilibrium. However, non-equilibrium Floquet systems, which are subject to a periodic drive, can exhibit persistent time correlations at an emergent subharmonic frequency. This new phase of matter has been dubbed a ‘discrete time crystal’. Here we present the experimental observation of a discrete time crystal, in an interacting spin chain of trapped atomic ions. We apply a periodic Hamiltonian to the system under many-body localization conditions, and observe a subharmonic temporal response that is robust to external perturbations. The observation of such a time crystal opens the door to the study of systems with long-range spatio-temporal correlations and novel phases of matter that emerge under intrinsically non-equilibrium conditions.

Observation of a discrete time crystal.

PubMed

Zhang, J; Hess, P W; Kyprianidis, A; Becker, P; Lee, A; Smith, J; Pagano, G; Potirniche, I-D; Potter, A C; Vishwanath, A; Yao, N Y; Monroe, C

2017-03-08

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a fundamental concept in many areas of physics, including cosmology, particle physics and condensed matter. An example is the breaking of spatial translational symmetry, which underlies the formation of crystals and the phase transition from liquid to solid. Using the analogy of crystals in space, the breaking of translational symmetry in time and the emergence of a 'time crystal' was recently proposed, but was later shown to be forbidden in thermal equilibrium. However, non-equilibrium Floquet systems, which are subject to a periodic drive, can exhibit persistent time correlations at an emergent subharmonic frequency. This new phase of matter has been dubbed a 'discrete time crystal'. Here we present the experimental observation of a discrete time crystal, in an interacting spin chain of trapped atomic ions. We apply a periodic Hamiltonian to the system under many-body localization conditions, and observe a subharmonic temporal response that is robust to external perturbations. The observation of such a time crystal opens the door to the study of systems with long-range spatio-temporal correlations and novel phases of matter that emerge under intrinsically non-equilibrium conditions.

Coherent generation of symmetry-forbidden phonons by light-induced electron-phonon interactions in magnetite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borroni, S.; Baldini, E.; Katukuri, V. M.; Mann, A.; Parlinski, K.; Legut, D.; Arrell, C.; van Mourik, F.; Teyssier, J.; Kozlowski, A.; Piekarz, P.; Yazyev, O. V.; Oleś, A. M.; Lorenzana, J.; Carbone, F.

2017-09-01

Symmetry breaking across phase transitions often causes changes in selection rules and emergence of optical modes which can be detected via spectroscopic techniques or generated coherently in pump-probe experiments. In second-order or weakly first-order transitions, fluctuations of the ordering field are present above the ordering temperature, giving rise to intriguing precursor phenomena, such as critical opalescence. Here, we demonstrate that in magnetite (Fe3O4 ) light excitation couples to the critical fluctuations of the charge order and coherently generates structural modes of the ordered phase above the critical temperature of the Verwey transition. Our findings are obtained by detecting coherent oscillations of the optical constants through ultrafast broadband spectroscopy and analyzing their dependence on temperature. To unveil the coupling between the structural modes and the electronic excitations, at the origin of the Verwey transition, we combine our results from pump-probe experiments with spontaneous Raman scattering data and theoretical calculations of both the phonon dispersion curves and the optical constants. Our methodology represents an effective tool to study the real-time dynamics of critical fluctuations across phase transitions.

Unusual strain glassy phase in Fe doped Ni2Mn1.5In0.5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nevgi, R.; Priolkar, K. R.

2018-01-01

Fe doped Ni2Mn1.5In0.5, particularly, Ni2Mn1.4Fe0.1In0.5, despite having an incommensurate, modulated 7M martensitic structure at room temperature exhibits frequency dependent behavior of storage modulus and loss which obeys the Vogel-Fulcher law as well as shows ergodicity breaking between zero field cooled and field cooled strain measurements just above the transition temperature. Both frequency dependence and ergodicity breaking are characteristics of a strain glassy phase and occur due to the presence of strain domains which are large enough to present signatures of long range martensitic order in diffraction but are non-interacting with other strain domains due to the presence of Fe impurities.

Disorder-driven topological phase transition in B i 2 S e 3 films

DOE PAGES

Brahlek, Matthew; Koirala, Nikesh; Salehi, Maryam; ...

2016-10-03

Topological insulators (TI) are a phase of matter that host unusual metallic states on their surfaces. Unlike the states that exist on the surface of conventional materials, these so-called topological surfaces states (TSS) are protected against disorder-related localization effects by time reversal symmetry through strong spin-orbit coupling. By combining transport measurements, angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that there exists a critical level of disorder beyond which the TI Bi 2Se 3 loses its ability to protect the metallic TSS and transitions to a fully insulating state. The absence of the metallic surface channels dictates that theremore » is a change in material’s topological character, implying that disorder can lead to a topological phase transition even without breaking the time reversal symmetry. This observation challenges the conventional notion of topologically-protected surface states, and will provoke new studies as to the fundamental nature of topological phase of matter in the presence of disorder.« less

Energy barriers between metastable states in first-order quantum phase transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wald, Sascha; Timpanaro, André M.; Cormick, Cecilia; Landi, Gabriel T.

2018-02-01

A system of neutral atoms trapped in an optical lattice and dispersively coupled to the field of an optical cavity can realize a variation of the Bose-Hubbard model with infinite-range interactions. This model exhibits a first-order quantum phase transition between a Mott insulator and a charge density wave, with spontaneous symmetry breaking between even and odd sites, as was recently observed experimentally [Landig et al., Nature (London) 532, 476 (2016), 10.1038/nature17409]. In the present paper, we approach the analysis of this transition using a variational model which allows us to establish the notion of an energy barrier separating the two phases. Using a discrete WKB method, we then show that the local tunneling of atoms between adjacent sites lowers this energy barrier and hence facilitates the transition. Within our simplified description, we are thus able to augment the phase diagram of the model with information concerning the height of the barrier separating the metastable minima from the global minimum in each phase, which is an essential aspect for the understanding of the reconfiguration dynamics induced by a quench across a quantum critical point.

Localization Protection and Symmetry Breaking in One-dimensional Potts Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedman, Aaron; Vasseur, Romain; Potter, Andrew; Parameswaran, Siddharth

Recent work on the 3-state Potts and Z3 clock models has demonstrated that their ordered phases are connected by duality to a phase that hosts topologically protected parafermionic zero modes at the system's boundary. The analogy with Kitaev's example of the one-dimensional Majorana chain (similarly related by duality to the Ising model) suggests that such zero modes may also be stabilized in highly excited states by many-body localization (MBL). However, the Potts model has a non-Abelian S3 symmetry believed to be incompatible with MBL; hence any MBL state must spontaneously break this symmetry, either completely or into one of its abelian subgroups (Z2 or Z3), with the topological phase corresponding to broken Z3 symmetry. We therefore study the excited state phase structure of random three-state Potts and clock models in one dimension using exact diagonalization and real-space renormalization group techniques. We also investigate the interesting possibility of a direct excited-state transition between MBL phases that break either Z3 or Z2 symmetry, forbidden within Landau theory. NSF DGE-1321846 (AJF), NSF DMR-1455366 and President's Research Catalyst Award No. CA-15-327861 from the University of California Office of the President (SAP), LDRD Program of LBNL (RV), NSF PHY11-25915 at the KITP (AJF, RV, SAP).

Thermodynamic model of social influence on two-dimensional square lattice: Case for two features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Genzor, Jozef; Bužek, Vladimír; Gendiar, Andrej

2015-02-01

We propose a thermodynamic multi-state spin model in order to describe equilibrial behavior of a society. Our model is inspired by the Axelrod model used in social network studies. In the framework of the statistical mechanics language, we analyze phase transitions of our model, in which the spin interaction J is interpreted as a mutual communication among individuals forming a society. The thermal fluctuations introduce a noise T into the communication, which suppresses long-range correlations. Below a certain phase transition point Tt, large-scale clusters of the individuals, who share a specific dominant property, are formed. The measure of the cluster sizes is an order parameter after spontaneous symmetry breaking. By means of the Corner transfer matrix renormalization group algorithm, we treat our model in the thermodynamic limit and classify the phase transitions with respect to inherent degrees of freedom. Each individual is chosen to possess two independent features f = 2 and each feature can assume one of q traits (e.g. interests). Hence, each individual is described by q2 degrees of freedom. A single first-order phase transition is detected in our model if q > 2, whereas two distinct continuous phase transitions are found if q = 2 only. Evaluating the free energy, order parameters, specific heat, and the entanglement von Neumann entropy, we classify the phase transitions Tt(q) in detail. The permanent existence of the ordered phase (the large-scale cluster formation with a non-zero order parameter) is conjectured below a non-zero transition point Tt(q) ≈ 0.5 in the asymptotic regime q → ∞.

In-plane electronic anisotropy of underdoped '122' Fe-arsenide superconductors revealed by measurements of detwinned single crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, I. R.; Degiorgi, L.; Shen, Z. X.

2011-12-01

The parent phases of the Fe-arsenide superconductors harbor an antiferromagnetic ground state. Significantly, the Néel transition is either preceded or accompanied by a structural transition that breaks the four-fold symmetry of the high-temperature lattice. Borrowing language from the field of soft condensed matter physics, this broken discrete rotational symmetry is widely referred to as an Ising nematic phase transition. Understanding the origin of this effect is a key component of a complete theoretical description of the occurrence of superconductivity in this family of compounds, motivating both theoretical and experimental investigation of the nematic transition and the associated in-plane anisotropy. Here we review recent experimental progress in determining the intrinsic in-plane electronic anisotropy as revealed by resistivity, reflectivity and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of detwinned single crystals of underdoped Fe-arsenide superconductors in the '122' family of compounds.

Topological superconductivity in the extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, Johann; Scherer, Daniel D.; Black-Schaffer, Annica M.

2018-01-01

We study superconducting pairing in the doped Kitaev-Heisenberg model by taking into account the recently proposed symmetric off-diagonal exchange Γ . By performing a mean-field analysis, we classify all possible superconducting phases in terms of symmetry, explicitly taking into account effects of spin-orbit coupling. Solving the resulting gap equations self-consistently, we map out a phase diagram that involves several topologically nontrivial states. For Γ <0 , we find a competition between a time-reversal symmetry-breaking chiral phase with Chern number ±1 and a time-reversal symmetric nematic phase that breaks the rotational symmetry of the lattice. On the other hand, for Γ ≥0 we find a time-reversal symmetric phase that preserves all the lattice symmetries, thus yielding clearly distinguishable experimental signatures for all superconducting phases. Both of the time-reversal symmetric phases display a transition to a Z2 nontrivial phase at high doping levels. Finally, we also include a symmetry-allowed spin-orbit coupling kinetic energy and show that it destroys a tentative symmetry-protected topological order at lower doping levels. However, it can be used to tune the time-reversal symmetric phases into a Z2 nontrivial phase even at lower doping.

Spontaneous CP breaking in QCD and the axion potential: an effective Lagrangian approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Vecchia, Paolo; Rossi, Giancarlo; Veneziano, Gabriele; Yankielowicz, Shimon

2017-12-01

Using the well-known low-energy effective Lagrangian of QCD — valid for small (non-vanishing) quark masses and a large number of colors — we study in detail the regions of parameter space where CP is spontaneously broken/unbroken for a vacuum angle θ = π. In the CP broken region there are first order phase transitions as one crosses θ = π, while on the (hyper)surface separating the two regions, there are second order phase transitions signalled by the vanishing of the mass of a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson and by a divergent QCD topological susceptibility. The second order point sits at the end of a first order line associated with the CP spontaneous breaking, in the appropriate complex parameter plane. When the effective Lagrangian is extended by the inclusion of an axion these features of QCD imply that standard calculations of the axion potential have to be revised if the QCD parameters fall in the above mentioned CP broken region, in spite of the fact that the axion solves the strong- CP problem. These last results could be of interest for axionic dark matter calculations if the topological susceptibility of pure Yang-Mills theory falls off sufficiently fast when temperature is increased towards the QCD deconfining transition.

26 CFR 1.410(a)-6 - Amendment of break in service rules; Transition period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Amendment of break in service rules; Transition.... § 1.410(a)-6 Amendment of break in service rules; Transition period. (a) In general. Under section... breaks in service are amended, and— (1) Such amendment is effective after January 1, 1974, and before the...

Few-layer and symmetry-breaking effects on the electrical properties of ordered CF3Cl phases on graphene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales-Cifuentes, Josue; Wang, Yilin; Reutt-Robey, Janice; Einstein, T. L.

2014-03-01

An effective pseudopotential mechanism for breaking the inherent sub-lattice symmetry of graphene has been studied using DFT calculations on hexagonal boron nitride. Electrical detection of CF3Cl phase transitions on graphene shows the existence of a commensurate ordered phase in which this can be tested. We study the electronic properties of this phase using VASP ver 5.3.3, with ab initio van der Waals density functionals (vdW-DF1 and vdW-DF2). Consistent with a physisorbed phase, binding energies and charge transfer per CF3Cl molecule are calculated to be on the order of 280meV and 0.01e, respectively. By exploring different coverages and orientations of this ordered phase we are able to open a band gap in some configurations; said gap is in the range of 8 to 80meV depending on the strength of the effective pseudopotential. Furthermore, we calculate the screening of these effects in bi-layer and tri-layer graphene. Work supported by NSF-MRSEC at UMD, grant DMR 05-20471 and NSF-CHE 13-05892.

Dynamical time-reversal symmetry breaking and photo-induced chiral spin liquids in frustrated Mott insulators

DOE PAGES

Claassen, Martin; Jiang, Hong -Chen; Moritz, Brian; ...

2017-10-30

The search for quantum spin liquids in frustrated quantum magnets recently has enjoyed a surge of interest, with various candidate materials under intense scrutiny. However, an experimental confirmation of a gapped topological spin liquid remains an open question. Here, we show that circularly polarized light can provide a knob to drive frustrated Mott insulators into a chiral spin liquid, realizing an elusive quantum spin liquid with topological order. We find that the dynamics of a driven Kagome Mott insulator is well-captured by an effective Floquet spin model, with heating strongly suppressed, inducing a scalar spin chirality S i · (Smore » j × S k) term which dynamically breaks time-reversal while preserving SU(2) spin symmetry. We fingerprint the transient phase diagram and find a stable photo-induced chiral spin liquid near the equilibrium state. Furthermore, the results presented suggest employing dynamical symmetry breaking to engineer quantum spin liquids and access elusive phase transitions that are not readily accessible in equilibrium.« less

Importance of counter-rotating coupling in the superfluid-to-Mott-insulator quantum phase transition of light in the Jaynes-Cummings lattice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng Hang; Takada, Yasutami

2011-10-15

The quantum phase transition between Mott insulator and superfluid is studied in the two-dimensional Jaynes-Cummings square lattice in which the counter-rotating coupling (CRC) is included. Both the ground state and the spectra of low-lying excitations are obtained with use of a sophisticated unitary transformation. This CRC is shown not only to induce a long-range interaction between cavities, favoring the long-range superfluid order, but also to break the conservation of local polariton number at each site, leading to the absence of the Mott lobes in the phase diagram, in sharp contrast with the case without the CRC as well as thatmore » of the Bose-Hubbard model.« less

Simultaneous Chiral Symmetry Restoration and Deconfinement Consequences for the QCD Phase Diagram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klähn, Thomas; Fischer, Tobias; Hempel, Matthias

2017-02-01

For studies of quark matter in astrophysical scenarios, the thermodynamic bag model is commonly employed. Although successful, it does not account for dynamical chiral symmetry breaking and repulsions due to the vector interaction which is crucial to explain recent observations of massive, two solar mass neutron stars. In Klähn & Fischer we developed the novel vBag quark matter model which takes these effects into account. This article extends vBag to finite temperatures and isospin asymmetry. Another particular feature of vBag is the determination of the deconfinement bag constant {B}{dc} from a given hadronic equation of state in order to ensure that chiral and deconfinement transitions coincide. We discuss consequences of this novel approach for the phase transition construction, the phase diagram, and implications for protoneutron stars.

Extended Bose-Hubbard model with dipolar and contact interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biedroń, Krzysztof; Łącki, Mateusz; Zakrzewski, Jakub

2018-06-01

We study the phase diagram of the one-dimensional boson gas trapped inside an optical lattice with contact and dipolar interaction, taking into account next-nearest terms for both tunneling and interaction. Using the density-matrix renormalization group, we calculate how the locations of phase transitions change with increasing dipolar interaction strength for average density ρ =1 . Furthermore, we show the emergence of pair-correlated phases for a large dipolar interaction strength and ρ ≥2 , including a supersolid phase with an incommensurate density wave ordering manifesting the corresponding spontaneous breaking of the translational symmetry.

Glass-Glass Transitions by Means of an Acceptor-Donor Percolating Electric-Dipole Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Le; Lou, Xiaojie; Wang, Dong; Zhou, Yan; Yang, Yang; Kuball, Martin; Carpenter, Michael A.; Ren, Xiaobing

2017-11-01

We report the ferroelectric glass-glass transitions in KN (K+/Nb5 +) -doped BaTiO3 ferroelectric ceramics, which have been proved by x-ray diffraction profile and Raman spectra data. The formation of glass-glass transitions can be attributed to the existence of cubic (C )-tetragonal (T )-orthorhombic (O )-rhombohedral (R ) ferroelectric transitions in short-range order. These abnormal glass-glass transitions can perform very small thermal hysteresis (approximately 1.0 K ) with a large dielectric constant (approximately 3000), small remanent polarization Pr , and relative high maximum polarization Pm remaining over a wide temperature range (220-350 K) under an electrical stimulus, indicating the potential applications in dielectric recoverable energy-storage devices with high thermal reliability. Further phase field simulations suggest that these glass-glass transitions are induced by the formation of a percolating electric defect-dipole network (PEDN). This proper PEDN breaks the long-range ordered ferroelectric domain pattern and results in the local phase transitions at the nanoscale. Our work may further stimulate the fundamental physical theory and accelerate the development of dielectric energy-storing devices.

Nonadiabatic Josephson current pumping by chiral microwave irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venitucci, B.; Feinberg, D.; Mélin, R.; Douçot, B.

2018-05-01

Irradiating a Josephson junction with microwaves can operate not only on the amplitude but also on the phase of the Josephson current. This requires breaking time-inversion symmetry, which is achieved by introducing a phase lapse between the microwave components acting on the two sides of the junction. General symmetry arguments and the solution of a specific single-level quantum dot model show that this induces chirality in the Cooper pair dynamics due to the topology of the Andreev bound-state wave function. Another essential condition is to break electron-hole symmetry within the junction. A shift of the current-phase relation is obtained, which is controllable in sign and amplitude with the microwave phase and an electrostatic gate, thus producing a "chiral" Josephson transistor. The dot model is solved in the infinite-gap limit by Floquet theory and in the general case with Keldysh nonequilibrium Green's functions. The chiral current is nonadiabatic: it is extremal and changes sign close to resonant chiral transitions between the Andreev bound states.

Sphericity and symmetry breaking in the formation of Frank–Kasper phases from one component materials

DOE PAGES

Lee, Sangwoo; Leighton, Chris; Bates, Frank S.

2014-11-05

Frank–Kasper phases are tetrahedrally packed structures occurring in numerous materials, from elements to intermetallics to self-assembled soft materials. They exhibit complex manifolds of Wigner–Seitz cells with many-faceted polyhedra, forming an important bridge between the simple close-packed periodic and quasiperiodic crystals. The recent discovery of the Frank–Kasper σ-phase in diblock and tetrablock polymers stimulated the experiments reported here on a poly(isoprene- b-lactide) diblock copolymer melt. Thus, analysis of small-angle X-ray scattering and mechanical spectroscopy exposes an undiscovered competition between the tendency to form self-assembled particles with spherical symmetry, and the necessity to fill space at uniform density within the framework imposedmore » by the lattice. We thus deduce surprising analogies between the symmetry breaking at the body-centered cubic phase to σ-phase transition in diblock copolymers, mediated by exchange of mass, and the symmetry breaking in certain metals and alloys (such as the elements Mn and U), mediated by exchange of charge. Similar connections are made between the role of sphericity in real space for polymer systems, and the role of sphericity in reciprocal space for metallic systems such as intermetallic compounds and alloys. These findings establish new links between disparate materials classes, provide opportunities to improve the understanding of complex crystallization by building on synergies between hard and soft matter, and, perhaps most significantly, challenge the view that the symmetry breaking required to form reduced symmetry structures (possibly even quasiperiodic crystals) requires particles with multiple predetermined shapes and/or sizes.« less

Sphericity and symmetry breaking in the formation of Frank–Kasper phases from one component materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lee, Sangwoo; Leighton, Chris; Bates, Frank S.

Frank–Kasper phases are tetrahedrally packed structures occurring in numerous materials, from elements to intermetallics to self-assembled soft materials. They exhibit complex manifolds of Wigner–Seitz cells with many-faceted polyhedra, forming an important bridge between the simple close-packed periodic and quasiperiodic crystals. The recent discovery of the Frank–Kasper σ-phase in diblock and tetrablock polymers stimulated the experiments reported here on a poly(isoprene- b-lactide) diblock copolymer melt. Thus, analysis of small-angle X-ray scattering and mechanical spectroscopy exposes an undiscovered competition between the tendency to form self-assembled particles with spherical symmetry, and the necessity to fill space at uniform density within the framework imposedmore » by the lattice. We thus deduce surprising analogies between the symmetry breaking at the body-centered cubic phase to σ-phase transition in diblock copolymers, mediated by exchange of mass, and the symmetry breaking in certain metals and alloys (such as the elements Mn and U), mediated by exchange of charge. Similar connections are made between the role of sphericity in real space for polymer systems, and the role of sphericity in reciprocal space for metallic systems such as intermetallic compounds and alloys. These findings establish new links between disparate materials classes, provide opportunities to improve the understanding of complex crystallization by building on synergies between hard and soft matter, and, perhaps most significantly, challenge the view that the symmetry breaking required to form reduced symmetry structures (possibly even quasiperiodic crystals) requires particles with multiple predetermined shapes and/or sizes.« less

On Mechanical Transitions in Biologically Motivated Soft Matter Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogle, Craig

The notion of phase transitions as a characterization of a change in physical properties pervades modern physics. Such abrupt and fundamental changes in the behavior of physical systems are evident in condensed matter system and also occur in nuclear and subatomic settings. While this concept is less prevalent in the field of biology, recent advances have pointed to its relevance in a number of settings. Recent studies have modeled both the cell cycle and cancer as phase transition in physical systems. In this dissertation we construct simplified models for two biological systems. As described by those models, both systems exhibit phase transitions. The first model is inspired by the shape transition in the nuclei of neutrophils during differentiation. During differentiation the nucleus transitions from spherical to a shape often described as "beads on a string." As a simplified model of this system, we investigate the spherical-to-wrinkled transition in an elastic core bounded to a fluid shell system. We find that this model exhibits a first-order phase transition, and the shape that minimizes the energy of the system scales as (micror3/kappa). . The second system studied is motivated by the dynamics of globular proteins. These proteins may undergoes conformational changes with large displacements relative to their size. Transitions between conformational states are not possible if the dynamics are governed strictly by linear elasticity. We construct a model consisting of an predominantly elastic region near the energetic minimum of the system and a non-linear softening of the system at a critical displacement. We find that this simple model displays very rich dynamics include a sharp dynamical phase transition and driving-force-dependent symmetry breaking.

Structural phase transitions in monolayer molybdenum dichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choe, Duk-Hyun; Sung, Ha June; Chang, Kee Joo

2015-03-01

The recent discovery of two-dimensional materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has provided opportunities to develop ultimate thin channel devices. In contrast to graphene, the existence of moderate band gap and strong spin-orbit coupling gives rise to exotic electronic properties which vary with layer thickness, lattice structure, and symmetry. TMDs commonly appear in two structures with distinct symmetries, trigonal prismatic 2H and octahedral 1T phases which are semiconducting and metallic, respectively. In this work, we investigate the structural and electronic properties of monolayer molybdenum dichalcogenides (MoX2, where X = S, Se, Te) through first-principles density functional calculations. We find a tendency that the semiconducting 2H phase is more stable than the metallic 1T phase. We show that a spontaneous symmetry breaking of 1T phase leads to various distorted octahedral (1T') phases, thus inducing a metal-to-semiconductor transition. We discuss the effects of carrier doping on the structural stability and the modification of the electronic structure. This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) under Grant No. NRF-2005-0093845 and Samsung Science and Technology Foundation under Grant No. SSTFBA1401-08.

Frustrated magnetism and caloric effects in Mn-based antiperovskite nitrides: Ab initio theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zemen, J.; Mendive-Tapia, E.; Gercsi, Z.; Banerjee, R.; Staunton, J. B.; Sandeman, K. G.

2017-05-01

We model changes of magnetic ordering in Mn-based antiperovskite nitrides driven by biaxial lattice strain at zero and at finite temperature. We employ a noncollinear spin-polarized density functional theory to compare the response of the geometrically frustrated exchange interactions to a tetragonal symmetry breaking (the so called piezomagnetic effect) across a range of Mn3AN (A = Rh, Pd, Ag, Co, Ni, Zn, Ga, In, Sn) at zero temperature. Building on the robustness of the effect we focus on Mn3GaN and extend our study to finite temperature using the disordered local moment (DLM) first-principles electronic structure theory to model the interplay between the ordering of Mn magnetic moments and itinerant electron states. We discover a rich temperature-strain magnetic phase diagram with two previously unreported phases stabilized by strains larger than 0.75% and with transition temperatures strongly dependent on strain. We propose an elastocaloric cooling cycle crossing two of the available phase transitions to achieve simultaneously a large isothermal entropy change (due to the first-order transition) and a large adiabatic temperature change (due to the second-order transition).

A unified spectral parameterization for wave breaking: From the deep ocean to the surf zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filipot, J.-F.; Ardhuin, F.

2012-11-01

A new wave-breaking dissipation parameterization designed for phase-averaged spectral wave models is presented. It combines wave breaking basic physical quantities, namely, the breaking probability and the dissipation rate per unit area. The energy lost by waves is first explicitly calculated in physical space before being distributed over the relevant spectral components. The transition from deep to shallow water is made possible by using a dissipation rate per unit area of breaking waves that varies with the wave height, wavelength and water depth. This parameterization is implemented in the WAVEWATCH III modeling framework, which is applied to a wide range of conditions and scales, from the global ocean to the beach scale. Wave height, peak and mean periods, and spectral data are validated using in situ and remote sensing data. Model errors are comparable to those of other specialized deep or shallow water parameterizations. This work shows that it is possible to have a seamless parameterization from the deep ocean to the surf zone.

Transverse fields to tune an Ising-nematic quantum phase transition [Transverse fields to tune an Ising-nematic quantum critical transition

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maharaj, Akash V.; Rosenberg, Elliott W.; Hristov, Alexander T.

Here, the paradigmatic example of a continuous quantum phase transition is the transverse field Ising ferromagnet. In contrast to classical critical systems, whose properties depend only on symmetry and the dimension of space, the nature of a quantum phase transition also depends on the dynamics. In the transverse field Ising model, the order parameter is not conserved, and increasing the transverse field enhances quantum fluctuations until they become strong enough to restore the symmetry of the ground state. Ising pseudospins can represent the order parameter of any system with a twofold degenerate broken-symmetry phase, including electronic nematic order associated withmore » spontaneous point-group symmetry breaking. Here, we show for the representative example of orbital-nematic ordering of a non-Kramers doublet that an orthogonal strain or a perpendicular magnetic field plays the role of the transverse field, thereby providing a practical route for tuning appropriate materials to a quantum critical point. While the transverse fields are conjugate to seemingly unrelated order parameters, their nontrivial commutation relations with the nematic order parameter, which can be represented by a Berry-phase term in an effective field theory, intrinsically intertwine the different order parameters.« less

Transverse fields to tune an Ising-nematic quantum phase transition [Transverse fields to tune an Ising-nematic quantum critical transition

DOE PAGES

Maharaj, Akash V.; Rosenberg, Elliott W.; Hristov, Alexander T.; ...

2017-12-05

Here, the paradigmatic example of a continuous quantum phase transition is the transverse field Ising ferromagnet. In contrast to classical critical systems, whose properties depend only on symmetry and the dimension of space, the nature of a quantum phase transition also depends on the dynamics. In the transverse field Ising model, the order parameter is not conserved, and increasing the transverse field enhances quantum fluctuations until they become strong enough to restore the symmetry of the ground state. Ising pseudospins can represent the order parameter of any system with a twofold degenerate broken-symmetry phase, including electronic nematic order associated withmore » spontaneous point-group symmetry breaking. Here, we show for the representative example of orbital-nematic ordering of a non-Kramers doublet that an orthogonal strain or a perpendicular magnetic field plays the role of the transverse field, thereby providing a practical route for tuning appropriate materials to a quantum critical point. While the transverse fields are conjugate to seemingly unrelated order parameters, their nontrivial commutation relations with the nematic order parameter, which can be represented by a Berry-phase term in an effective field theory, intrinsically intertwine the different order parameters.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hong, Seung Sae; Yu, Jung Ho; Lu, Di

Long-range order and phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) systems—such as magnetism, superconductivity, and crystallinity—have been important research topics for decades. The issue of 2D crystalline order has reemerged recently, with the development of exfoliated atomic crystals. Understanding the dimensional limit of crystalline phases, with different types of bonding and synthetic techniques, is at the foundation of low-dimensional materials design. We study ultrathin membranes of SrTiO 3, an archetypal perovskite oxide with isotropic (3D) bonding. Atomically controlled membranes are released after synthesis by dissolving an underlying epitaxial layer. Although all unreleased films are initially single-crystalline, the SrTiO 3 membrane lattice collapsesmore » below a critical thickness (5 unit cells). This crossover from algebraic to exponential decay of the crystalline coherence length is analogous to the 2D topological Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition. Finally, the transition is likely driven by chemical bond breaking at the 2D layer-3D bulk interface, defining an effective dimensional phase boundary for coherent crystalline lattices.« less

Tachyon condensation due to domain-wall annihilation in Bose-Einstein condensates.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hiromitsu; Kasamatsu, Kenichi; Tsubota, Makoto; Nitta, Muneto

2012-12-14

We show theoretically that a domain-wall annihilation in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates causes tachyon condensation accompanied by spontaneous symmetry breaking in a two-dimensional subspace. Three-dimensional vortex formation from domain-wall annihilations is considered a kink formation in subspace. Numerical experiments reveal that the subspatial dynamics obey the dynamic scaling law of phase-ordering kinetics. This model is experimentally feasible and provides insights into how the extra dimensions influence subspatial phase transition in higher-dimensional space.

Finite-connectivity spin-glass phase diagrams and low-density parity check codes.

PubMed

Migliorini, Gabriele; Saad, David

2006-02-01

We obtain phase diagrams of regular and irregular finite-connectivity spin glasses. Contact is first established between properties of the phase diagram and the performance of low-density parity check (LDPC) codes within the replica symmetric (RS) ansatz. We then study the location of the dynamical and critical transition points of these systems within the one step replica symmetry breaking theory (RSB), extending similar calculations that have been performed in the past for the Bethe spin-glass problem. We observe that the location of the dynamical transition line does change within the RSB theory, in comparison with the results obtained in the RS case. For LDPC decoding of messages transmitted over the binary erasure channel we find, at zero temperature and rate , an RS critical transition point at while the critical RSB transition point is located at , to be compared with the corresponding Shannon bound . For the binary symmetric channel we show that the low temperature reentrant behavior of the dynamical transition line, observed within the RS ansatz, changes its location when the RSB ansatz is employed; the dynamical transition point occurs at higher values of the channel noise. Possible practical implications to improve the performance of the state-of-the-art error correcting codes are discussed.

Direct detection of metal-insulator phase transitions using the modified Backus-Gilbert method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulybyshev, Maksim; Winterowd, Christopher; Zafeiropoulos, Savvas

2018-03-01

The detection of the (semi)metal-insulator phase transition can be extremely difficult if the local order parameter which characterizes the ordered phase is unknown. In some cases, it is even impossible to define a local order parameter: the most prominent example of such system is the spin liquid state. This state was proposed to exist in the Hubbard model on the hexagonal lattice in a region between the semimetal phase and the antiferromagnetic insulator phase. The existence of this phase has been the subject of a long debate. In order to detect these exotic phases we must use alternative methods to those used for more familiar examples of spontaneous symmetry breaking. We have modified the Backus-Gilbert method of analytic continuation which was previously used in the calculation of the pion quasiparticle mass in lattice QCD. The modification of the method consists of the introduction of the Tikhonov regularization scheme which was used to treat the ill-conditioned kernel. This modified Backus-Gilbert method is applied to the Euclidean propagators in momentum space calculated using the hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm. In this way, it is possible to reconstruct the full dispersion relation and to estimate the mass gap, which is a direct signal of the transition to the insulating state. We demonstrate the utility of this method in our calculations for the Hubbard model on the hexagonal lattice. We also apply the method to the metal-insulator phase transition in the Hubbard-Coulomb model on the square lattice.

Chiral liquid phase of simple quantum magnets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Zhentao; Feiguin, Adrian E.; Zhu, Wei

2017-11-07

We study a T=0 quantum phase transition between a quantum paramagnetic state and a magnetically ordered state for a spin S=1 XXZ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a two-dimensional triangular lattice. The transition is induced by an easy-plane single-ion anisotropy D. At the mean-field level, the system undergoes a direct transition at a critical D=D c between a paramagnetic state at D>D c and an ordered state with broken U(1) symmetry at Dc. We show that beyond mean field the phase diagram is very different and includes an intermediate, partially ordered chiral liquid phase. Specifically, we find that inside the paramagnetic phasemore » the Ising (J z) component of the Heisenberg exchange binds magnons into a two-particle bound state with zero total momentum and spin. This bound state condenses at D>D c, before single-particle excitations become unstable, and gives rise to a chiral liquid phase, which spontaneously breaks spatial inversion symmetry, but leaves the spin-rotational U(1) and time-reversal symmetries intact. This chiral liquid phase is characterized by a finite vector chirality without long-range dipolar magnetic order. In our analytical treatment, the chiral phase appears for arbitrarily small J z because the magnon-magnon attraction becomes singular near the single-magnon condensation transition. This phase exists in a finite range of D and transforms into the magnetically ordered state at some Dc. In conclusion, we corroborate our analytic treatment with numerical density matrix renormalization group calculations.« less

Spin and topological order in a periodically driven spin chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russomanno, Angelo; Friedman, Bat-el; Dalla Torre, Emanuele G.

2017-07-01

The periodically driven quantum Ising chain has recently attracted a large attention in the context of Floquet engineering. In addition to the common paramagnet and ferromagnet, this driven model can give rise to new topological phases. In this work, we systematically explore its quantum phase diagram by examining the properties of its Floquet ground state. We specifically focus on driving protocols with time-reversal invariant points, and demonstrate the existence of an infinite number of distinct phases. These phases are separated by second-order quantum phase transitions, accompanied by continuous changes of local and string order parameters, as well as sudden changes of a topological winding number and of the number of protected edge states. When one of these phase transitions is adiabatically crossed, the correlator associated to the order parameter is nonvanishing over a length scale which shows a Kibble-Zurek scaling. In some phases, the Floquet ground state spontaneously breaks the discrete time-translation symmetry of the Hamiltonian. Our findings provide a better understanding of topological phases in periodically driven clean integrable models.

PT-symmetric mode-locking.

PubMed

Longhi, S

2016-10-01

Parity-time (PT) symmetry is one of the most important accomplishments in optics over the past decade. Here the concept of PT mode-locking (ML) of a laser is introduced, in which active phase-locking of cavity axial modes is realized by asymmetric mode coupling in a complex time crystal. PT ML shows a transition from single- to double-pulse emission as the PT symmetry breaking point is crossed. The transition can show a turbulent behavior, depending on a dimensionless modulation parameter that plays the same role as the Reynolds number in hydrodynamic flows.

Transverse fields to tune an Ising-nematic quantum phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maharaj, Akash V.; Rosenberg, Elliott W.; Hristov, Alexander T.; Berg, Erez; Fernandes, Rafael M.; Fisher, Ian R.; Kivelson, Steven A.

2017-12-01

The paradigmatic example of a continuous quantum phase transition is the transverse field Ising ferromagnet. In contrast to classical critical systems, whose properties depend only on symmetry and the dimension of space, the nature of a quantum phase transition also depends on the dynamics. In the transverse field Ising model, the order parameter is not conserved, and increasing the transverse field enhances quantum fluctuations until they become strong enough to restore the symmetry of the ground state. Ising pseudospins can represent the order parameter of any system with a twofold degenerate broken-symmetry phase, including electronic nematic order associated with spontaneous point-group symmetry breaking. Here, we show for the representative example of orbital-nematic ordering of a non-Kramers doublet that an orthogonal strain or a perpendicular magnetic field plays the role of the transverse field, thereby providing a practical route for tuning appropriate materials to a quantum critical point. While the transverse fields are conjugate to seemingly unrelated order parameters, their nontrivial commutation relations with the nematic order parameter, which can be represented by a Berry-phase term in an effective field theory, intrinsically intertwine the different order parameters.

Symmetry-breaking phase transitions in highly concentrated semen

PubMed Central

Creppy, Adama; Plouraboué, Franck; Praud, Olivier; Druart, Xavier; Cazin, Sébastien; Yu, Hui

2016-01-01

New experimental evidence of self-motion of a confined active suspension is presented. Depositing fresh semen sample in an annular shaped microfluidic chip leads to a spontaneous vortex state of the fluid at sufficiently large sperm concentration. The rotation occurs unpredictably clockwise or counterclockwise and is robust and stable. Furthermore, for highly active and concentrated semen, richer dynamics can occur such as self-sustained or damped rotation oscillations. Experimental results obtained with systematic dilution provide a clear evidence of a phase transition towards collective motion associated with local alignment of spermatozoa akin to the Vicsek model. A macroscopic theory based on previously derived self-organized hydrodynamics models is adapted to this context and provides predictions consistent with the observed stationary motion. PMID:27733694

Quark-antiquark potential in defect conformal field theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preti, Michelangelo; Trancanelli, Diego; Vescovi, Edoardo

2017-10-01

We consider antiparallel Wilson lines in N = 4 super Yang-Mills in the presence of a codimension-1 defect. We compute the Wilson lines' expectation value both at weak coupling, in the gauge theory, and at strong coupling, by finding the string configurations which are dual to this operator. These configurations display a Gross-Ooguri transition between a connected, U-shaped string phase and a phase in which the string breaks into two disconnected surfaces. We analyze in detail the critical configurations separating the two phases and compare the string result with the gauge theory one in a certain double scaling limit.

Incommensurate Chirality Density Wave Transition in a Hybrid Molecular Framework.

PubMed

Hill, Joshua A; Christensen, Kirsten E; Goodwin, Andrew L

2017-09-15

Using single-crystal x-ray diffraction we characterize the 235 K incommensurate phase transition in the hybrid molecular framework tetraethylammonium silver(I) dicyanoargentate, [NEt_{4}]Ag_{3}(CN)_{4}. We demonstrate the transition to involve spontaneous resolution of chiral [NEt_{4}]^{+} conformations, giving rise to a state in which molecular chirality is incommensurately modulated throughout the crystal lattice. We refer to this state as an incommensurate chirality density wave (XDW) phase, which represents a fundamentally new type of chiral symmetry breaking in the solid state. Drawing on parallels to the incommensurate ferroelectric transition of NaNO_{2}, we suggest the XDW state arises through coupling between acoustic (shear) and molecular rotoinversion modes. Such coupling is symmetry forbidden at the Brillouin zone center but symmetry allowed for small but finite modulation vectors q=[0,0,q_{z}]^{*}. The importance of long-wavelength chirality modulations in the physics of this hybrid framework may have implications for the generation of mesoscale chiral textures, as required for advanced photonic materials.

Incommensurate Chirality Density Wave Transition in a Hybrid Molecular Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, Joshua A.; Christensen, Kirsten E.; Goodwin, Andrew L.

2017-09-01

Using single-crystal x-ray diffraction we characterize the 235 K incommensurate phase transition in the hybrid molecular framework tetraethylammonium silver(I) dicyanoargentate, [NEt4]Ag3(CN )4 . We demonstrate the transition to involve spontaneous resolution of chiral [NEt4]+ conformations, giving rise to a state in which molecular chirality is incommensurately modulated throughout the crystal lattice. We refer to this state as an incommensurate chirality density wave (XDW) phase, which represents a fundamentally new type of chiral symmetry breaking in the solid state. Drawing on parallels to the incommensurate ferroelectric transition of NaNO2 , we suggest the XDW state arises through coupling between acoustic (shear) and molecular rotoinversion modes. Such coupling is symmetry forbidden at the Brillouin zone center but symmetry allowed for small but finite modulation vectors q =[0 ,0 ,qz]* . The importance of long-wavelength chirality modulations in the physics of this hybrid framework may have implications for the generation of mesoscale chiral textures, as required for advanced photonic materials.

North Atlantic weather regimes: A synoptic study of phase space. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orrhede, Anna Karin

1990-01-01

In the phase space of weather, low frequency variability (LFV) of the atmosphere can be captured in a large scale subspace, where a trajectory connects consecutive large scale weather maps, thus revealing flow changes and recurrences. Using this approach, Vautard applied the trajectory speed minimization method (Vautard and Legras) to atmospheric data. From 37 winters of 700 mb geopotential height anomalies over the North Atlantic and the adjacent land masses, four persistent and recurrent weather patterns, interpreted as weather regimes, were discernable: a blocking regime, a zonal regime, a Greenland anticyclone regime, and an Atlantic regime. These regimes are studied further in terms of maintenance and transitions. A regime survey unveils preferences regarding event durations and precursors for the onset or break of an event. The transition frequencies between regimes vary, and together with the transition times, suggest the existence of easier transition routes. These matters are more systematically studied using complete synoptic map sequences from a number of events.

Phase transition in a spatial Lotka-Volterra model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szabó, György; Czárán, Tamás

2001-06-01

Spatial evolution is investigated in a simulated system of nine competing and mutating bacterium strains, which mimics the biochemical war among bacteria capable of producing two different bacteriocins (toxins) at most. Random sequential dynamics on a square lattice is governed by very symmetrical transition rules for neighborhood invasions of sensitive strains by killers, killers by resistants, and resistants by sensitives. The community of the nine possible toxicity/resistance types undergoes a critical phase transition as the uniform transmutation rates between the types decreases below a critical value Pc above that all the nine types of strains coexist with equal frequencies. Passing the critical mutation rate from above, the system collapses into one of three topologically identical (degenerated) states, each consisting of three strain types. Of the three possible final states each accrues with equal probability and all three maintain themselves in a self-organizing polydomain structure via cyclic invasions. Our Monte Carlo simulations support that this symmetry-breaking transition belongs to the universality class of the three-state Potts model.

Fermion-induced quantum criticality with two length scales in Dirac systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Emilio; Classen, Laura; Herbut, Igor F.; Scherer, Michael M.

2018-03-01

The quantum phase transition to a Z3-ordered Kekulé valence bond solid in two-dimensional Dirac semimetals is governed by a fermion-induced quantum critical point, which renders the putatively discontinuous transition continuous. We study the resulting universal critical behavior in terms of a functional RG approach, which gives access to the scaling behavior on the symmetry-broken side of the phase transition, for general dimensions and number of Dirac fermions. In particular, we investigate the emergence of the fermion-induced quantum critical point for spacetime dimensions 2

Transition from Poissonian to Gaussian-orthogonal-ensemble level statistics in a modified Artin's billiard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csordás, A.; Graham, R.; Szépfalusy, P.; Vattay, G.

1994-01-01

One wall of an Artin's billiard on the Poincaré half-plane is replaced by a one-parameter (cp) family of nongeodetic walls. A brief description of the classical phase space of this system is given. In the quantum domain, the continuous and gradual transition from the Poisson-like to Gaussian-orthogonal-ensemble (GOE) level statistics due to the small perturbations breaking the symmetry responsible for the ``arithmetic chaos'' at cp=1 is studied. Another GOE-->Poisson transition due to the mixed phase space for large perturbations is also investigated. A satisfactory description of the intermediate level statistics by the Brody distribution was found in both cases. The study supports the existence of a scaling region around cp=1. A finite-size scaling relation for the Brody parameter as a function of 1-cp and the number of levels considered can be established.

Coupled Brownian motors: Anomalous hysteresis and zero-bias negative conductance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reimann, P.; Kawai, R.; Van den Broeck, C.; Hänggi, P.

1999-03-01

We introduce a model of interacting Brownian particles in a symmetric, periodic potential that undergoes a noise-induced non-equilibrium phase transition. The associated spontaneous symmetry breaking entails a ratchet-like transport mechanism. In response to an external force we identify several novel features; among the most prominent being a zero-bias negative conductance and a prima facie counterintuitive, anomalous hysteresis.

ITS, The End of the World as We Know It: Transitioning AIED into a Service-Oriented Ecosystem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nye, Benjamin D.

2016-01-01

Advanced learning technologies are reaching a new phase of their evolution where they are finally entering mainstream educational contexts, with persistent user bases. However, as AIED scales, it will need to follow recent trends in service-oriented and ubiquitous computing: breaking AIED platforms into distinct services that can be composed for…

Translational Symmetry Breaking and Gapping of Heavy-Quasiparticle Pocket in URu2Si2

PubMed Central

Yoshida, Rikiya; Tsubota, Koji; Ishiga, Toshihiko; Sunagawa, Masanori; Sonoyama, Jyunki; Aoki, Dai; Flouquet, Jacques; Wakita, Takanori; Muraoka, Yuji; Yokoya, Takayoshi

2013-01-01

URu2Si2 is a uranium compound that exhibits a so-called ‘hidden-order’ transition at ~17.5 K. However, the order parameter of this second-order transition as well as many of its microscopic properties remain unclarified despite considerable research. One of the key questions in this regard concerns the type of spontaneous symmetry breaking occurring at the transition; although rotational symmetry breaking has been detected, it is not clear whether another type of symmetry breaking also occurs. Another key question concerns the property of Fermi-surface gapping in the momentum space. Here we address these key questions by a momentum-dependent observation of electronic states at the transition employing ultrahigh-resolution three-dimensional angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our results provide compelling evidence of the spontaneous breaking of the lattice's translational symmetry and particle-hole asymmetric gapping of a heavy quasiparticle pocket at the transition. PMID:24084937

Elliptical vortex and oblique vortex lattice in the FeSe superconductor based on the nematicity and mixed superconducting orders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Da-Chuan; Lv, Yang-Yang; Li, Jun; Zhu, Bei-Yi; Wang, Qiang-Hua; Wang, Hua-Bing; Wu, Pei-Heng

2018-03-01

The electronic nematic phase is characterized as an ordered state of matter with rotational symmetry breaking, and has been well studied in the quantum Hall system and the high-Tc superconductors, regardless of cuprate or pnictide family. The nematic state in high-Tc systems often relates to the structural transition or electronic instability in the normal phase. Nevertheless, the electronic states below the superconducting transition temperature is still an open question. With high-resolution scanning tunneling microscope measurements, direct observation of vortex core in FeSe thin films revealed the nematic superconducting state by Song et al. Here, motivated by the experiment, we construct the extended Ginzburg-Landau free energy to describe the elliptical vortex, where a mixed s-wave and d-wave superconducting order is coupled to the nematic order. The nematic order induces the mixture of two superconducting orders and enhances the anisotropic interaction between the two superconducting orders, resulting in a symmetry breaking from C4 to C2. Consequently, the vortex cores are stretched into an elliptical shape. In the equilibrium state, the elliptical vortices assemble a lozenge-like vortex lattice, being well consistent with experimental results.

Charting the Replica Symmetric Phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coja-Oghlan, Amin; Efthymiou, Charilaos; Jaafari, Nor; Kang, Mihyun; Kapetanopoulos, Tobias

2018-02-01

Diluted mean-field models are spin systems whose geometry of interactions is induced by a sparse random graph or hypergraph. Such models play an eminent role in the statistical mechanics of disordered systems as well as in combinatorics and computer science. In a path-breaking paper based on the non-rigorous `cavity method', physicists predicted not only the existence of a replica symmetry breaking phase transition in such models but also sketched a detailed picture of the evolution of the Gibbs measure within the replica symmetric phase and its impact on important problems in combinatorics, computer science and physics (Krzakala et al. in Proc Natl Acad Sci 104:10318-10323, 2007). In this paper we rigorise this picture completely for a broad class of models, encompassing the Potts antiferromagnet on the random graph, the k-XORSAT model and the diluted k-spin model for even k. We also prove a conjecture about the detection problem in the stochastic block model that has received considerable attention (Decelle et al. in Phys Rev E 84:066106, 2011).

Cosmological QCD phase transition in steady non-equilibrium dissipative Hořava–Lifshitz early universe

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Khodadi, M., E-mail: M.Khodadi@sbu.ac.ir; Sepangi, H.R., E-mail: hr-sepangi@sbu.ac.ir

We study the phase transition from quark–gluon plasma to hadrons in the early universe in the context of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. According to the standard model of cosmology, a phase transition associated with chiral symmetry breaking after the electro-weak transition has occurred when the universe was about 1–10 μs old. We focus attention on such a phase transition in the presence of a viscous relativistic cosmological background fluid in the framework of non-detailed balance Hořava–Lifshitz cosmology within an effective model of QCD. We consider a flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker universe filled with a non-causal and a causal bulk viscous cosmological fluid respectively and investigatemore » the effects of the running coupling constants of Hořava–Lifshitz gravity, λ, on the evolution of the physical quantities relevant to a description of the early universe, namely, the temperature T, scale factor a, deceleration parameter q and dimensionless ratio of the bulk viscosity coefficient to entropy density (ξ)/s . We assume that the bulk viscosity cosmological background fluid obeys the evolution equation of the steady truncated (Eckart) and full version of the Israel–Stewart fluid, respectively. -- Highlights: •In this paper we have studied quark–hadron phase transition in the early universe in the context of the Hořava–Lifshitz model. •We use a flat FRW universe with the bulk viscosity cosmological background fluid obeying the evolution equation of the steady truncated (Eckart) and full version of the Israel–Stewart fluid, respectively.« less

Three-dimensional finite element study on stress generation in synchrotron X-ray tomography reconstructed nickel-manganese-cobalt based half cell

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Linmin; Xiao, Xianghui; Wen, Youhai

In this study, the stress generation caused by phase transitions and lithium intercalation of nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) based half cell with realistic 3D microstructures has been studied using finite element method. The electrochemical properties and discharged curves under various C rates are studied. The potential drops significantly with the increase of C rates. During the discharge process, for particles isolated from the conductive channels, several particles with no lithium ion intercalation are observed. For particles in the electrochemical network, the lithium ion concentration increases during the discharge process. The stress generation inside NMC particles is calculated coupled with lithium diffusion andmore » phase transitions. The results show the stresses near the concave and convex regions are the highest. The neck regions of the connected particles 2 can break and form several isolated particles. If the isolated particles are not connected with the electrically conductive materials such as carbon and binder, the capacity loses in battery. For isolated particles in the conductive channel, cracks are more likely to form on the surface. Moreover, stresses inside the particles increase dramatically when considering phase transitions. The phase transitions introduce an abrupt volume change and generate the strain mismatch, causing the stress increase.« less

Mean-field study of correlation-induced antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling in a two-orbital honeycomb model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayami, Satoru; Kusunose, Hiroaki; Motome, Yukitoshi

2018-05-01

We investigate a two-orbital Hubbard model on a honeycomb structure, with a special focus on the antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling (ASOC) induced by symmetry breaking in the electronic degrees of freedom. By investigating the ground-state phase diagram by the mean-field approximation in addition to the analysis in the strong correlation limit, we obtain a variety of symmetry-broken phases that induce different types of effective ASOCs by breaking of spatial inversion symmetry. We find several unusual properties emergent from the ASOCs, such as a linear magnetoelectric effect in a spin-orbital ordered phase at 1/4 filling and a spin splitting in the band structure in charge ordered phases at 1/4 and 1/2 fillings. We also show that a staggered potential on the honeycomb structure leads to another type of ASOC, which gives rise to a valley splitting in the band structure at 1/2 filling. We discuss the experimental relevance of our results to candidate materials including transition metal dichalcogenides and trichalcogenides.

26 CFR 1.411(a)-9 - Amendment of break in service rules; transitional period.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Amendment of break in service rules.... § 1.411(a)-9 Amendment of break in service rules; transitional period. (a) In general. Under section... breaks in service are amended, and— (1) Such amendment is effective after January 1, 1974, and before the...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brahlek, Matthew; Koirala, Nikesh; Salehi, Maryam

Topological insulators (TI) are a phase of matter that host unusual metallic states on their surfaces. Unlike the states that exist on the surface of conventional materials, these so-called topological surfaces states (TSS) are protected against disorder-related localization effects by time reversal symmetry through strong spin-orbit coupling. By combining transport measurements, angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that there exists a critical level of disorder beyond which the TI Bi 2Se 3 loses its ability to protect the metallic TSS and transitions to a fully insulating state. The absence of the metallic surface channels dictates that theremore » is a change in material’s topological character, implying that disorder can lead to a topological phase transition even without breaking the time reversal symmetry. This observation challenges the conventional notion of topologically-protected surface states, and will provoke new studies as to the fundamental nature of topological phase of matter in the presence of disorder.« less

Magnetic Field-Dependent Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect in [(GeTe)2(Sb2Te3)1]8 Topological Superlattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bang, Do; Awano, Hiroyuki; Saito, Yuta; Tominaga, Junji

2016-05-01

We studied the magnetic field dependence of magneto-optical Kerr rotation of the [(GeTe)2/(Sb2Te3)1]8 topological superlattice at different temperatures (from 300 K to 440 K). At low temperatures (less than 360 K), the Kerr signal was within noise level. However, large Kerr rotation peaks with a mirror symmetric loop were at high temperatures (higher than 360 K). The temperature dependence of the observed Kerr signal can be attributed to the breaking of spatial inversion symmetry, which induces a narrow gap in surface state bands due to the Ge atomic layer movement-induced phase transition in the superlattice. We found that the resonant field of each Kerr peak gradually decreases with increasing temperature. On the other hand, the phase transition from a high temperature phase to a low temperature one could be controlled by external magnetic fields.

The order of the quantum chromodynamics transition predicted by the standard model of particle physics.

PubMed

Aoki, Y; Endrodi, G; Fodor, Z; Katz, S D; Szabó, K K

2006-10-12

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of the strong interaction, explaining (for example) the binding of three almost massless quarks into a much heavier proton or neutron--and thus most of the mass of the visible Universe. The standard model of particle physics predicts a QCD-related transition that is relevant for the evolution of the early Universe. At low temperatures, the dominant degrees of freedom are colourless bound states of hadrons (such as protons and pions). However, QCD is asymptotically free, meaning that at high energies or temperatures the interaction gets weaker and weaker, causing hadrons to break up. This behaviour underlies the predicted cosmological transition between the low-temperature hadronic phase and a high-temperature quark-gluon plasma phase (for simplicity, we use the word 'phase' to characterize regions with different dominant degrees of freedom). Despite enormous theoretical effort, the nature of this finite-temperature QCD transition (that is, first-order, second-order or analytic crossover) remains ambiguous. Here we determine the nature of the QCD transition using computationally demanding lattice calculations for physical quark masses. Susceptibilities are extrapolated to vanishing lattice spacing for three physical volumes, the smallest and largest of which differ by a factor of five. This ensures that a true transition should result in a dramatic increase of the susceptibilities. No such behaviour is observed: our finite-size scaling analysis shows that the finite-temperature QCD transition in the hot early Universe was not a real phase transition, but an analytic crossover (involving a rapid change, as opposed to a jump, as the temperature varied). As such, it will be difficult to find experimental evidence of this transition from astronomical observations.

Phase transitions in community detection: A solvable toy model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ver Steeg, Greg; Moore, Cristopher; Galstyan, Aram; Allahverdyan, Armen

2014-05-01

Recently, it was shown that there is a phase transition in the community detection problem. This transition was first computed using the cavity method, and has been proved rigorously in the case of q = 2 groups. However, analytic calculations using the cavity method are challenging since they require us to understand probability distributions of messages. We study analogous transitions in the so-called “zero-temperature inference” model, where this distribution is supported only on the most likely messages. Furthermore, whenever several messages are equally likely, we break the tie by choosing among them with equal probability, corresponding to an infinitesimal random external field. While the resulting analysis overestimates the thresholds, it reproduces some of the qualitative features of the system. It predicts a first-order detectability transition whenever q > 2 (as opposed to q > 4 according to the finite-temperature cavity method). It also has a regime analogous to the “hard but detectable” phase, where the community structure can be recovered, but only when the initial messages are sufficiently accurate. Finally, we study a semisupervised setting where we are given the correct labels for a fraction ρ of the nodes. For q > 2, we find a regime where the accuracy jumps discontinuously at a critical value of ρ.

Out-of-equilibrium dynamics of photoexcited spin-state concentration waves

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marino, Andrea; Buron-Le Cointe, M.; Lorenc, M.

2015-01-28

The spin crossover compound [Fe IIH 2L 2-Me][PF 6]2 presents a two-step phase transition. In the intermediate phase, a spin state concentration wave (SSCW) appears resulting from a symmetry breaking (cell doubling) associated with a long-range order of alternating high and low spin molecular states. Lastly, by combining time-resolved optical and X-ray diffraction measurements on a single crystal, we study how such a system responds to femtosecond laser excitation and we follow in real time the erasing and rewriting of the SSCW

THE BREAKDOWN OF THE PROTECTIVE OXIDE FILM ON TRANSITION METAL ALLOYS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smeltzer, W.W.

1960-04-01

Initial breaks in oxidation curves of iron-chromium alloys were found to be associated with the ferriteaustenitic phase transformation. This transformation was caused by preferential oxidation of chromium at a rate much larger than its replenishment by diffusion the metal-oxide interface. The stress resulting from this transformation caused breakdown of the protective oxide film. Results indicated that continuous oxidation curves for iron-chromium alloys could be obtained under conditions where preferential oxidation of in alloy constituent did not cause the ferritic-austentic phase transformation. (M.C.G.)

Electronic polymers and soft-matter-like broken symmetries in underdoped cuprates.

PubMed

Capati, M; Caprara, S; Di Castro, C; Grilli, M; Seibold, G; Lorenzana, J

2015-07-06

Empirical evidence in heavy fermion, pnictide and other systems suggests that unconventional superconductivity appears associated to some form of real-space electronic order. For the cuprates, despite several proposals, the emergence of order in the phase diagram between the commensurate antiferromagnetic state and the superconducting state is not well understood. Here we show that in this regime doped holes assemble in 'electronic polymers'. Within a Monte Carlo study, we find that in clean systems by lowering the temperature the polymer melt condenses first in a smectic state and then in a Wigner crystal both with the addition of inversion symmetry breaking. Disorder blurs the positional order leaving a robust inversion symmetry breaking and a nematic order, accompanied by vector chiral spin order and with the persistence of a thermodynamic transition. Such electronic phases, whose properties are reminiscent of soft-matter physics, produce charge and spin responses in good accord with experiments.

Columnar shifts as symmetry-breaking degrees of freedom in molecular perovskites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boström, Hanna L. B.; Hill, Joshua A.; Goodwin, Andrew L.

We introduce columnar shifts---collective rigid-body translations---as a structural degree of freedom relevant to the phase behaviour of molecular perovskites ABX$_{\\textrm3}$ (X = molecular anion). Like the well-known octahedral tilts of conventional perovskites, shifts also preserve the octahedral coordination geometry of the B-site cation in molecular perovskites, and so are predisposed to influencing the low-energy dynamics and displacive phase transitions of these topical systems. We present a qualitative overview of the interplay between shift activation and crystal symmetry breaking, and introduce a generalised terminology to allow characterisation of simple shift distortions, drawing analogy to the "Glazer notation" for octahedral tilts. We apply our approach to the interpretation of a representative selection of azide and formate perovskite structures, and discuss the implications for functional exploitation of shift degrees of freedom in negative thermal expansion materials and hybrid ferroelectrics.

Cavity-induced artificial gauge field in a Bose-Hubbard ladder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halati, Catalin-Mihai; Sheikhan, Ameneh; Kollath, Corinna

2017-12-01

We consider theoretically ultracold interacting bosonic atoms confined to quasi-one-dimensional ladder structures formed by optical lattices and coupled to the field of an optical cavity. The atoms can collect a spatial phase imprint during a cavity-assisted tunneling along a rung via Raman transitions employing a cavity mode and a transverse running wave pump beam. By adiabatic elimination of the cavity field we obtain an effective Hamiltonian for the bosonic atoms, with a self-consistency condition. Using the numerical density-matrix renormalization-group method, we obtain a rich steady-state diagram of self-organized steady states. Transitions between superfluid to Mott-insulating states occur, on top of which we can have Meissner, vortex liquid, and vortex lattice phases. Also a state that explicitly breaks the symmetry between the two legs of the ladder, namely, the biased-ladder phase, is dynamically stabilized. We investigate the influence that a trapping potential has on the stability of the self-organized phases.

Time-reversal symmetry-breaking superconductivity in epitaxial bismuth/nickel bilayers.

PubMed

Gong, Xinxin; Kargarian, Mehdi; Stern, Alex; Yue, Di; Zhou, Hexin; Jin, Xiaofeng; Galitski, Victor M; Yakovenko, Victor M; Xia, Jing

2017-03-01

Superconductivity that spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS) has been found, so far, only in a handful of three-dimensional (3D) crystals with bulk inversion symmetry. We report an observation of spontaneous TRS breaking in a 2D superconducting system without inversion symmetry: the epitaxial bilayer films of bismuth and nickel. The evidence comes from the onset of the polar Kerr effect at the superconducting transition in the absence of an external magnetic field, detected by the ultrasensitive loop-less fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer. Because of strong spin-orbit interaction and lack of inversion symmetry in a Bi/Ni bilayer, superconducting pairing cannot be classified as singlet or triplet. We propose a theoretical model where magnetic fluctuations in Ni induce the superconducting pairing of the [Formula: see text] orbital symmetry between the electrons in Bi. In this model, the order parameter spontaneously breaks the TRS and has a nonzero phase winding number around the Fermi surface, thus making it a rare example of a 2D topological superconductor.

Optical probes of symmetry breaking in magnetic and superconducting BaFe2(As1-xPx)2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orenstein, Joseph

The discovery of iron pnictide superconductors has opened promising new directions in the effort to fully understand the phenomenon of high-Tc, with a focus on the connections between superconductivity, magnetism, and electronic nematicity. The BaFe2(As1-xPx)2 (P:Ba122) system in particular has received attention because isovalent substitution of As for P generates less disorder than doping on the Fe site. The phase diagram of P:Ba122 is characterized by a line of simultaneous antiferromagnetic (AF) and tetragonal-to-orthorhombic transitions, Ts (x) , that penetrates the superconducting dome at x =0.28, just below optimal doping (xopt = 0.30). In this work, we use spatially-resolved optical polarimetry and photomodulated reflectance to detect linear birefringence and therefore breaking of 4-fold rotational (C4) symmetry. In underdoped (x<0.28) samples, birefringence appears at T>Tsand grows continuously with decreasing T . The birefringence is unidirectional in a large (300 μm x300 μm) field of view, suggesting that C4 breaking in this range of T is caused by residual strain that couples to a diverging nematic susceptibility. Birefringence maps just below Ts (x) show the appearance of domains, indicating the onset of spontaneous symmetry breaking to an AF ground state. Surprisingly, in samples with x>0.28, in which the low T phase is superconducting/ tetragonal rather than AF/orthorhombic, C4 breaking is observed as well, with an abrupt onset and domain formation at 55 K. We tentatively associate these features with a transition to an AF phase induced by residual strain, as previously proposed [H.-H. Kuo et al. Phys. Rev. B86, 134507 (2012)] to account for structure in resistivity vs. T. Time-resolved photomodulation allow us to follow the amplitude of the AF order with time following pulsed photoexcitation. Below Tc the AF order at first weakens , but then strengthens in response to the photoinduced weakening of superconductivity. This complex time evolution is accounted for quantitatively by a model based on the coexistence and competition of AF and superconducting order. We gratefully acknowledge support by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative through Grant GBMF4537.

Lattice dynamics and the nature of structural transitions in organolead halide perovskites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Comin, Riccardo; Crawford, Michael K.; Said, Ayman H.

Organolead halide perovskites are a family of hybrid organic-inorganic compounds whose remarkable optoelectronic properties have been under intensive scrutiny in recent years. Here we use inelastic x-ray scattering to study low-energy lattice excitations in single crystals of methylammonium lead iodide and bromide perovskites. Our findings confirm the displacive nature of the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition, which is further shown, using neutron and x-ray diffraction, to be close to a tricritical point. Lastly, we detect quasistatic symmetry-breaking nanodomains persisting well into the high-temperature cubic phase, possibly stabilized by local defects. These findings reveal key structural properties of these materials, and also bearmore » important implications for carrier dynamics across an extended temperature range relevant for photovoltaic applications.« less

Localized AdS_{5}×S^{5} Black Holes.

PubMed

Dias, Óscar J C; Santos, Jorge E; Way, Benson

2016-10-07

According to heuristic arguments, global AdS_{5}×S^{5} black holes are expected to undergo a phase transition in the microcanonical ensemble. At high energies, one expects black holes that respect the symmetries of the S^{5}; at low energies, one expects "localized" black holes that appear pointlike on the S^{5}. According to anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence, N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills (SYM) theory on a 3-sphere should therefore exhibit spontaneous R-symmetry breaking at strong coupling. In this Letter, we numerically construct these localized black holes. We extrapolate the location of this phase transition, and compute the expectation value of the broken scalar operator with lowest conformal dimension. Via the correspondence, these results offer quantitative predictions for N=4 SYM theory.

Evidence of an Improper Displacive Phase Transition in Cd2 Re2 O7 via Time-Resolved Coherent Phonon Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harter, J. W.; Kennes, D. M.; Chu, H.; de la Torre, A.; Zhao, Z. Y.; Yan, J.-Q.; Mandrus, D. G.; Millis, A. J.; Hsieh, D.

2018-01-01

We have used a combination of ultrafast coherent phonon spectroscopy, ultrafast thermometry, and time-dependent Landau theory to study the inversion symmetry breaking phase transition at Tc=200 K in the strongly spin-orbit coupled correlated metal Cd2 Re2 O7 . We establish that the structural distortion at Tc is a secondary effect through the absence of any softening of its associated phonon mode, which supports a purely electronically driven mechanism. However, the phonon lifetime exhibits an anomalously strong temperature dependence that decreases linearly to zero near Tc. We show that this behavior naturally explains the spurious appearance of phonon softening in previous Raman spectroscopy experiments and should be a prevalent feature of correlated electron systems with linearly coupled order parameters.

Two-dimensional limit of crystalline order in perovskite membrane films

PubMed Central

Hong, Seung Sae; Yu, Jung Ho; Lu, Di; Marshall, Ann F.; Hikita, Yasuyuki; Cui, Yi; Hwang, Harold Y.

2017-01-01

Long-range order and phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) systems—such as magnetism, superconductivity, and crystallinity—have been important research topics for decades. The issue of 2D crystalline order has reemerged recently, with the development of exfoliated atomic crystals. Understanding the dimensional limit of crystalline phases, with different types of bonding and synthetic techniques, is at the foundation of low-dimensional materials design. We study ultrathin membranes of SrTiO3, an archetypal perovskite oxide with isotropic (3D) bonding. Atomically controlled membranes are released after synthesis by dissolving an underlying epitaxial layer. Although all unreleased films are initially single-crystalline, the SrTiO3 membrane lattice collapses below a critical thickness (5 unit cells). This crossover from algebraic to exponential decay of the crystalline coherence length is analogous to the 2D topological Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition. The transition is likely driven by chemical bond breaking at the 2D layer-3D bulk interface, defining an effective dimensional phase boundary for coherent crystalline lattices. PMID:29167822

Nematic order on the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundgren, Rex; Yerzhakov, Hennadii; Maciejko, Joseph

2017-12-01

We study the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry in the helical surface state of three-dimensional topological insulators due to strong electron-electron interactions, focusing on time-reversal invariant nematic order. Owing to the strongly spin-orbit coupled nature of the surface state, the nematic order parameter is linear in the electron momentum and necessarily involves the electron spin, in contrast with spin-degenerate nematic Fermi liquids. For a chemical potential at the Dirac point (zero doping), we find a first-order phase transition at zero temperature between isotropic and nematic Dirac semimetals. This extends to a thermal phase transition that changes from first to second order at a finite-temperature tricritical point. At finite doping, we find a transition between isotropic and nematic helical Fermi liquids that is second order even at zero temperature. Focusing on finite doping, we discuss various observable consequences of nematic order, such as anisotropies in transport and the spin susceptibility, the partial breakdown of spin-momentum locking, collective modes and induced spin fluctuations, and non-Fermi-liquid behavior at the quantum critical point and in the nematic phase.

Limiting majoron self-interactions from gravitational wave experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Addazi, Andrea; Marcianò, Antonino

2018-01-01

We show how majoron models may be tested/limited in gravitational wave experiments. In particular, the majoron self-interaction potential may induce a first order phase transition, producing gravitational waves from bubble collisions. We dub such a new scenario the violent majoron model, because it would be associated with a violent phase transition in the early Universe. Sphaleron constraints can be avoided if the global U{(1)}B-L is broken at scales lower than the electroweak scale, provided that the B-L spontaneously breaking scale is lower than 10 TeV in order to satisfy the cosmological mass density bound. The possibility of a sub-electroweak phase transition is practically unconstrained by cosmological bounds and it may be detected within the sensitivity of the next generation of gravitational wave experiments: eLISA, DECIGO and BBO. We also comment on its possible detection in the next generation of electron-positron colliders, where majoron production can be observed from the Higgs portals in missing transverse energy channels. Supported by the Shanghai Municipality, through the grant No. KBH1512299, and by Fudan University, through the grant No. JJH1512105

Two-dimensional limit of crystalline order in perovskite membrane films

DOE PAGES

Hong, Seung Sae; Yu, Jung Ho; Lu, Di; ...

2017-11-17

Long-range order and phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) systems—such as magnetism, superconductivity, and crystallinity—have been important research topics for decades. The issue of 2D crystalline order has reemerged recently, with the development of exfoliated atomic crystals. Understanding the dimensional limit of crystalline phases, with different types of bonding and synthetic techniques, is at the foundation of low-dimensional materials design. We study ultrathin membranes of SrTiO 3, an archetypal perovskite oxide with isotropic (3D) bonding. Atomically controlled membranes are released after synthesis by dissolving an underlying epitaxial layer. Although all unreleased films are initially single-crystalline, the SrTiO 3 membrane lattice collapsesmore » below a critical thickness (5 unit cells). This crossover from algebraic to exponential decay of the crystalline coherence length is analogous to the 2D topological Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition. Finally, the transition is likely driven by chemical bond breaking at the 2D layer-3D bulk interface, defining an effective dimensional phase boundary for coherent crystalline lattices.« less

Symmetry Breaking in the Correlated Electronic and Lattice Degrees of Freedom in the CuxTiSe2 T-x Phase Diagram

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lioi, David B.

In this thesis I investigate the relationship between the charge density wave (CDW) phase and superconductivity in the T-x phase diagram of Cu xTiSe2. I find that the incommensurate (IC)-CDW is related to the superconducting phase due to the fact that the former effectively isolates the CDW subsystem degrees of freedom. This increases the symmetry of the electronic populations within the IC-CDW band structure and leave them susceptible to internal instabilities, which in turn give rise to the superconducting phase. Because the correlated properties of these solid-state phases of matter are highly dependent on the crystalline quality of our samples, I also detail the growth of pristine single crystals and utilize several characterization techniques to aid in this purpose. In this portion of the thesis the single crystals are deliberately injected with heat and monitored to deduce the formation of defects through selenium migration. I also confirm the existence of chiral symmetry breaking in the bulk commensurate (C)-CDW phase in TiSe2 brought about by the cooperation of phonon and exciton degrees of freedom, and also observe chiral character in fluctuations above TCDW. These thermal fluctuations were observed up to 80 K above TCDW via optical signatures of the folded Se-4p band and Raman signatures of the soft L1- phonon mode. The suppression of the excitonic degree of freedom with Cu intercalation brings about a quantum phase transition into the IC-CDW at x=0.04. Large quantum fluctuations of the folded Se-4p electronic band were observed at the quantum phase transition where measurements of the phonon system show the onset of incommensuration in the CDW super-lattice. Optical measurements demonstrate a large decoupling of the electron-phonon degrees of freedom within the electronic band structure of the IC-CDW subsystem.

Color breaking baryogenesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramsey-Musolf, Michael J.; White, Graham; Winslow, Peter

2018-06-01

We propose a scenario that generates the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe through a multistep phase transition in which SU(3) color symmetry is first broken and then restored. A spontaneous violation of B -L conservation leads to a contribution to the baryon asymmetry that becomes negligible in the final phase. The baryon asymmetry is therefore produced exclusively through the electroweak mechanism in the intermediate phase. We illustrate this scenario with a simple model that reproduces the observed baryon asymmetry. We discuss how future electric dipole moment and collider searches may probe this scenario, though future electric dipole moment searches would require an improved sensitivity of several orders of magnitude.

Mechanical and electronic properties of Janus monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Wenwu; Wang, Zhiguo

2018-05-01

The mechanical and electronic properties of Janus monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides MXY (M  =  Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W; X/Y  =  S, Se, Te) were investigated using density functional theory. Results show that breaking the out-of-plane structural symmetry can be used to tune the electronic and mechanical behavior of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. The band gaps of monolayer WXY and MoXY are in the ranges of 0.16–1.91 and 0.94–1.69 eV, respectively. A semiconductor to metallic phase transition occurred in Janus monolayer MXY (M  =  Ti, Zr and Hf). The monolayers MXY (M  =  V, Nb, Ta and Cr) show metallic characteristics, which show no dependence on the structural symmetry breaking. The mechanical properties of MXY depended on the composition. Monolayer MXY (M  =  Mo, Ti, Zr, Hf and W) showed brittle characteristic, whereas monolayer CrXY and VXY are with ductile characteristic. The in-plane stiffness of pristine and Janus monolayer MXY are in the range between 22 and 158 N m‑1. The tunable electronic and mechanical properties of these 2D materials would advance the development of ultra-sensitive detectors, nanogenerators, low-power electronics, and energy harvesting and electromechanical systems.

Chiral phases of superfluid 3He in an anisotropic medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sauls, J. A.

2013-12-01

Recent advances in the fabrication and characterization of anisotropic silica aerogels with exceptional homogeneity provide new insight into the nature of unconventional pairing in disordered anisotropic media. I report theoretical analysis and predictions for the equilibrium phases of superfluid 3He infused into a low-density, homogeneous uniaxial aerogel. Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory for a class of equal-spin-pairing (ESP) states in a medium with uniaxial anisotropy is developed and used to analyze recent experiments on uniaxially strained aerogels. For 3He in an axially “stretched” aerogel, GL theory predicts a transition from normal liquid into a chiral Anderson-Morel phase at Tc1 in which the chirality axis l̂ is aligned along the strain axis. This orbitally aligned state is protected from random fluctuations in the anisotropy direction, has a positive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) frequency shift, a sharp NMR resonance line, and is identified with the high-temperature ESP-1 phase of superfluid 3He in axially stretched aerogel. A second transition into a biaxial phase is predicted to onset at a slightly lower temperature Tc2

Phase-breaking effect on polaron transport in organic conjugated polymers

DOE PAGES

Meng, Ruixuan; Yin, Sun; Zheng, Yujun; ...

2017-06-15

Despite intense investigations and many accepted viewpoints on theory and experiment, the coherent and incoherent carrier transport in organic semiconductors remains an unsettled topic due to the strong electron-phonon coupling. Based on the tight-binding Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model combined with a non-adiabatic dynamics method, we study the effect of phase-breaking on polaron transport by introducing a group of phase-breaking factors into π-electron wave-functions in organic conjugated polymers. Two approaches are applied: the modification of the transfer integral and the phase-breaking addition to the wave-function. Within the former, it is found that a single site phase-breaking can trap a polaron. However, withmore » a larger regular phase-breaking a polaron becomes more delocalized and lighter. Additionally, a group of disordered phase-breaking factors can make the polaron disperse in transport process. Within the latter approach, we show that the phase-breaking can render the delocalized state in valence band discrete and the state in the gap more localized. Consequently, the phase-breaking frequency and intensity can reduce the stability of a polaron. Furthermore, the phase-breaking in organic systems is the main factor that degrades the coherent transport and destroys the carrier stability.« less

Phase-breaking effect on polaron transport in organic conjugated polymers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meng, Ruixuan; Yin, Sun; Zheng, Yujun

Despite intense investigations and many accepted viewpoints on theory and experiment, the coherent and incoherent carrier transport in organic semiconductors remains an unsettled topic due to the strong electron-phonon coupling. Based on the tight-binding Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model combined with a non-adiabatic dynamics method, we study the effect of phase-breaking on polaron transport by introducing a group of phase-breaking factors into π-electron wave-functions in organic conjugated polymers. Two approaches are applied: the modification of the transfer integral and the phase-breaking addition to the wave-function. Within the former, it is found that a single site phase-breaking can trap a polaron. However, withmore » a larger regular phase-breaking a polaron becomes more delocalized and lighter. Additionally, a group of disordered phase-breaking factors can make the polaron disperse in transport process. Within the latter approach, we show that the phase-breaking can render the delocalized state in valence band discrete and the state in the gap more localized. Consequently, the phase-breaking frequency and intensity can reduce the stability of a polaron. Furthermore, the phase-breaking in organic systems is the main factor that degrades the coherent transport and destroys the carrier stability.« less

Cosmological signatures of a UV-conformal standard model.

PubMed

Dorsch, Glauber C; Huber, Stephan J; No, Jose Miguel

2014-09-19

Quantum scale invariance in the UV has been recently advocated as an attractive way of solving the gauge hierarchy problem arising in the standard model. We explore the cosmological signatures at the electroweak scale when the breaking of scale invariance originates from a hidden sector and is mediated to the standard model by gauge interactions (gauge mediation). These scenarios, while being hard to distinguish from the standard model at LHC, can give rise to a strong electroweak phase transition leading to the generation of a large stochastic gravitational wave signal in possible reach of future space-based detectors such as eLISA and BBO. This relic would be the cosmological imprint of the breaking of scale invariance in nature.

Acoustic Emission from Breaking a Bamboo Chopstick

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Sun-Ting; Wang, Li-Min; Huang, Panpan; Yang, Zhengning; Chang, Chin-De; Hong, Tzay-Ming

2016-01-01

The acoustic emission from breaking a bamboo chopstick or a bundle of spaghetti is found to exhibit similar behavior as the famous seismic laws of Gutenberg and Richter, Omori, and Båth. By the use of a force-sensing detector, we establish a positive correlation between the statistics of sound intensity and the magnitude of a tremor. We also manage to derive these laws analytically without invoking the concept of a phase transition, self-organized criticality, or fractal. Our model is deterministic and relies on the existence of a structured cross section, either fibrous or layered. This success at explaining the power-law behavior supports the proposal that geometry is sometimes more important than mechanics.

Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize: Quantum-topological phases of matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Xiao-Gang

For a long time, we thought that symmetry breaking patterns describe all phases and phase transitions. The featureless disordered liquids correspond to trivial phase. But in fact disordered liquids have very rich features, with amazing emergent phenomena, such as fractional quantum numbers, fractional and non-abelian statistics, perfect conducting boundary even in presence of magnetic impurities, etc. All those are due to many-body entanglement. In this talk, I will first discuss topological phases that have topological order (ie with long range entanglement). Then I will cover topological phases that have no topological order (ie with only short-range entanglement). I will stress on how to understand and describe many-body entanglement, which is a very new phenomenon. This research is supported by NSF Grant No. DMR-1506475.

Field-induced cluster spin glass and inverse symmetry breaking enhanced by frustration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, M.; Zimmer, F. M.; Magalhaes, S. G.

2018-03-01

We consider a cluster disordered model to study the interplay between short- and long-range interactions in geometrically frustrated spin systems under an external magnetic field (h). In our approach, the intercluster long-range disorder (J) is analytically treated to get an effective cluster model that is computed exactly. The clusters follow a checkerboard lattice with first-neighbor (J1) and second-neighbor (J2) interactions. We find a reentrant transition from the cluster spin-glass (CSG) state to a paramagnetic (PM) phase as the temperature decreases for a certain range of h. This inverse symmetry breaking (ISB) appears as a consequence of both quenched disorder with frustration and h, that introduce a CSG state with higher entropy than the polarized PM phase. The competitive scenario introduced by antiferromagnetic (AF) short-range interactions increases the CSG state entropy, leading to continuous ISB transitions and enhancing the ISB regions, mainly in the geometrically frustrated case (J1 =J2). Remarkably, when strong AF intracluster couplings are present, field-induced CSG phases can be found. These CSG regions are strongly related to the magnetization plateaus observed in this cluster disordered system. In fact, it is found that each field-induced magnetization jump brings a CSG region. We notice that geometrical frustration, as well as cluster size, play an important role in the magnetization plateaus and, therefore, are also relevant in the field-induced glassy states. Our findings suggest that competing interactions support ISB and field-induced CSG phases in disordered cluster systems under an external magnetic field.

Laser-irradiated Kondo insulators: Controlling the Kondo effect and topological phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takasan, Kazuaki; Nakagawa, Masaya; Kawakami, Norio

2017-09-01

We investigate theoretically the nature of laser-irradiated Kondo insulators. Using Floquet theory and the slave-boson approach, we study a periodic Anderson model and derive an effective model that describes laser-irradiated Kondo insulators. In this model, we find two generic effects induced by laser light. One is dynamical localization, which suppresses hopping and hybridization. The other is laser-induced hopping and hybridization, which can be interpreted as synthetic spin-orbit coupling or a magnetic field. The first effect drastically changes the behavior of the Kondo effect. In particular, the Kondo effect under laser light qualitatively changes its character depending on whether the hybridization is on-site or off-site. The second effect triggers topological phase transitions. In topological Kondo insulators, linearly polarized laser light realizes phase transitions between trivial, weak topological, and strong topological Kondo insulators. Moreover, circularly polarized laser light breaks time-reversal symmetry and induces Weyl semimetallic phases. Our results make it possible to dynamically control the Kondo effect and topological phases in heavy-fermion systems. We also discuss experimental setups to detect the signatures.

Unusual Mott transition in multiferroic PbCrO 3

DOE PAGES

Wang, Shanmin; Zhu, Jinlong; Zhang, Yi; ...

2015-11-24

The Mott insulator in correlated electron systems arises from classical Coulomb repulsion between carriers to provide a powerful force for electron localization. When turning such an insulator into a metal, the so-called Mott transition, is commonly achieved by "bandwidth" control or "band filling." However, both mechanisms deviate from the original concept of Mott, which attributes such a transition to the screening of Coulomb potential and associated lattice contraction. We report a pressure-induced isostructural Mott transition in cubic perovskite PbCrO3. At the transition pressure of similar to 3 GPa, PbCrO3 exhibits significant collapse in both lattice volume and Coulomb potential. Concurrentmore » with the collapse, it transforms from a hybrid multiferroic insulator to a metal. For the first time to our knowledge, these findings validate the scenario conceived by Mott. Close to the Mott criticality at similar to 300 K, fluctuations of the lattice and charge give rise to elastic anomalies and Laudau critical behaviors resembling the classic liquid-gas transition. Moreover, the anomalously large lattice volume and Coulomb potential in the low-pressure insulating phase are largely associated with the ferroelectric distortion, which is substantially suppressed at high pressures, leading to the first-order phase transition without symmetry breaking.« less

Unusual Mott transition in multiferroic PbCrO3

PubMed Central

Wang, Shanmin; Zhu, Jinlong; Zhang, Yi; Yu, Xiaohui; Zhang, Jianzhong; Wang, Wendan; Bai, Ligang; Qian, Jiang; Yin, Liang; Sullivan, Neil S.; Jin, Changqing; He, Duanwei; Xu, Jian; Zhao, Yusheng

2015-01-01

The Mott insulator in correlated electron systems arises from classical Coulomb repulsion between carriers to provide a powerful force for electron localization. Turning such an insulator into a metal, the so-called Mott transition, is commonly achieved by “bandwidth” control or “band filling.” However, both mechanisms deviate from the original concept of Mott, which attributes such a transition to the screening of Coulomb potential and associated lattice contraction. Here, we report a pressure-induced isostructural Mott transition in cubic perovskite PbCrO3. At the transition pressure of ∼3 GPa, PbCrO3 exhibits significant collapse in both lattice volume and Coulomb potential. Concurrent with the collapse, it transforms from a hybrid multiferroic insulator to a metal. For the first time to our knowledge, these findings validate the scenario conceived by Mott. Close to the Mott criticality at ∼300 K, fluctuations of the lattice and charge give rise to elastic anomalies and Laudau critical behaviors resembling the classic liquid–gas transition. The anomalously large lattice volume and Coulomb potential in the low-pressure insulating phase are largely associated with the ferroelectric distortion, which is substantially suppressed at high pressures, leading to the first-order phase transition without symmetry breaking. PMID:26604314

Anomalous critical behavior in the polymer collapse transition of three-dimensional lattice trails.

PubMed

Bedini, Andrea; Owczarek, Aleksander L; Prellberg, Thomas

2012-07-01

Trails (bond-avoiding walks) provide an alternative lattice model of polymers to self-avoiding walks, and adding self-interaction at multiply visited sites gives a model of polymer collapse. Recently a two-dimensional model (triangular lattice) where doubly and triply visited sites are given different weights was shown to display a rich phase diagram with first- and second-order collapse separated by a multicritical point. A kinetic growth process of trails (KGTs) was conjectured to map precisely to this multicritical point. Two types of low-temperature phases, a globule phase and a maximally dense phase, were encountered. Here we investigate the collapse properties of a similar extended model of interacting lattice trails on the simple cubic lattice with separate weights for doubly and triply visited sites. Again we find first- and second-order collapse transitions dependent on the relative sizes of the doubly and triply visited energies. However, we find no evidence of a low-temperature maximally dense phase with only the globular phase in existence. Intriguingly, when the ratio of the energies is precisely that which separates the first-order from the second-order regions anomalous finite-size scaling appears. At the finite-size location of the rounded transition clear evidence exists for a first-order transition that persists in the thermodynamic limit. This location moves as the length increases, with its limit apparently at the point that maps to a KGT. However, if one fixes the temperature to sit at exactly this KGT point, then only a critical point can be deduced from the data. The resolution of this apparent contradiction lies in the breaking of crossover scaling and the difference in the shift and transition width (crossover) exponents.

Noncritical generation of nonclassical frequency combs via spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarrete-Benlloch, Carlos; Patera, Giuseppe; de Valcárcel, Germán J.

2017-10-01

Synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators (SPOPOs) are optical cavities driven by mode-locked lasers, and containing a nonlinear crystal capable of down-converting a frequency comb to lower frequencies. SPOPOs have received a lot of attention lately because their intrinsic multimode nature makes them compact sources of quantum correlated light with promising applications in modern quantum information technologies. In this work we show that SPOPOs are also capable of accessing the challenging and interesting regime where spontaneous symmetry breaking confers strong nonclassical properties to the emitted light, which has eluded experimental observation so far. Apart from opening the possibility of studying experimentally this elusive regime of dissipative phase transitions, our predictions will have a practical impact, since we show that spontaneous symmetry breaking provides a specific spatiotemporal mode with large quadrature squeezing for any value of the system parameters, turning SPOPOs into robust sources of highly nonclassical light above threshold.

Dark matter reflection of particle symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khlopov, Maxim Yu.

2017-05-01

In the context of the relationship between physics of cosmological dark matter and symmetry of elementary particles, a wide list of dark matter candidates is possible. New symmetries provide stability of different new particles and their combination can lead to a multicomponent dark matter. The pattern of symmetry breaking involves phase transitions in the very early Universe, extending the list of candidates by topological defects and even primordial nonlinear structures.

How the Mott and pseudogap states coalesce beneath the superconductor Dome

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cabo Montes de Oca, Alejandro; Cabo-Bizet, Alejandro; Martinez, Victor; Vielza, Yoandri; Collaboration Team Team

Former results of a Tight-Binding (TB) model of CuO planes in La2CuO4 are reviewed to underline their wider implications. It is noted that physical systems being appropriately described by the TB model can exhibit the main strongly correlated electron system (SCES) properties, when they are solved in the HF approximation, by also allowing crystal symmetry breaking effects and non-collinear spin orientations of the HF orbitals. In particular, it is argued how a simple 2D square lattice system of Coulomb interacting electrons can exhibit insulator gaps and pseudogap states, and quantum phase transitions as illustrated by the mentioned former works. These results allow to understand the nature of the observed quantum phase transition laying ``beneath'' the superconducting Dome. It corresponds to coalescence under hole doping increase, of an insulator ground state (with a highly degenerated spin order) with an excited pseudogap state, showing a lattice order symmetry breaking. The evolution of the band structure and Fermi surface with doping are determined. This abstract is associated to an invited talk of the March Meeting after being accepted. If it is not accepted as talk, we request to be considered as an oral presentation. The argue for it is in the invited talk application (Session Ctrl #:97854).

Magnetic order induces symmetry breaking in the single-crystalline orthorhombic CuMnAs semimetal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Emmanouilidou, Eve; Cao, Huibo; Tang, Peizhe

2017-12-04

Recently, orthorhombic CuMnAs has been proposed to be a magnetic material where topological fermions exist around the Fermi level. Here we report the magnetic structure of the orthorhombic Cu 0.95MnAs and Cu 0.98Mn 0.96As single crystals. While Cu 0.95MnAs is a commensurate antiferromagnet below 360 K with a propagation vector of k = 0,Cu 0.98Mn 0.96As undergoes a second-order paramagnetic to incommensurate antiferromagnetic phase transition at 320 K with k = (0.1,0,0), followed by a second-order incommensurate to commensurate antiferromagnetic phase transition at 230 K. In the commensurate antiferromagnetic state, the Mn spins order parallel to the crystallographic b axismore » but antiparallel to their nearest neighbors, with the spin orientation along the b axis. This magnetic order breaks S 2z, the two-fold rotational symmetry around the c axis, resulting in finite band gaps at the crossing point and the disappearance of the massless topological fermions. Furthermore, our first-principles calculations suggest that orthorhombic CuMnAs can still host spin-polarized surface states and signature induced by nontrivial topology, which makes it a promising candidate for antiferromagnetic spintronics.« less

Symmetry breaking in nematic liquid crystals: analogy with cosmology and magnetism.

PubMed

Repnik, R; Ranjkesh, A; Simonka, V; Ambrozic, M; Bradac, Z; Kralj, S

2013-10-09

Universal behavior related to continuous symmetry breaking in nematic liquid crystals is studied using Brownian molecular dynamics. A three-dimensional lattice system of rod-like objects interacting via the Lebwohl-Lasher interaction is considered. We test the applicability of predictions originally derived in cosmology and magnetism. In the first part we focus on coarsening dynamics following the temperature driven isotropic-nematic phase transition for different quench rates. The behavior in the early coarsening regime supports predictions made originally by Kibble in cosmology. For fast enough quenches, symmetry breaking and causality give rise to a dense tangle of defects. When the degree of orientational ordering is large enough, well defined protodomains characterized by a single average domain length are formed. With time subcritical domains gradually vanish and supercritical domains grow with time, exhibiting a universal scaling law. In the second part of the paper we study the impact of random-field-type disorder on a range of ordering in the (symmetry broken) nematic phase. We demonstrate that short-range order is observed even for a minute concentration of impurities, giving rise to disorder in line with the Imry-Ma theorem prediction only for the appropriate history of systems.

Baryogenesis in the Zee-Babu model with arbitrary ξ gauge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phong, Vo Quoc; Thao, Nguyen Chi; Long, Hoang Ngoc

2018-06-01

We consider the baryogenesis picture in the Zee-Babu model. Our analysis shows that electroweak phase transition (EWPT) in the model is a first-order phase transition at the 100 GeV scale, its strength ranges from 1 to 4.15 and the masses of charged Higgs boson are smaller than 300 GeV. The EWPT is strengthened by only the new bosons and this strength is enhanced by arbitrary ξ gauge. However, the ξ gauge does not break the first-order EWPT or, in other words, the ξ gauge is not the cause of the EWPT. This leads to the fact that the calculation of EWPT in Landau gauge is enough; and the latter may provide baryon-number violation (B-violation) necessary for baryogenesis in the relationship with nonequilibrium physics in the early universe.

Electroweak baryogenesis and the standard model effective field theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Vries, Jordy; Postma, Marieke; van de Vis, Jorinde; White, Graham

2018-01-01

We investigate electroweak baryogenesis within the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory. The Standard Model Lagrangian is supplemented by dimension-six operators that facilitate a strong first-order electroweak phase transition and provide sufficient CP violation. Two explicit scenarios are studied that are related via the classical equations of motion and are therefore identical at leading order in the effective field theory expansion. We demonstrate that formally higher-order dimension-eight corrections lead to large modifications of the matter-antimatter asymmetry. The effective field theory expansion breaks down in the modified Higgs sector due to the requirement of a first-order phase transition. We investigate the source of the breakdown in detail and show how it is transferred to the CP-violating sector. We briefly discuss possible modifications of the effective field theory framework.

Modulation of magnetic interaction in Bismuth ferrite through strain and spin cycloid engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadav, Rama Shanker; Reshi, Hilal Ahmad; Pillai, Shreeja; Rana, D. S.; Shelke, Vilas

2016-12-01

Bismuth ferrite, a widely studied room temperature multiferroic, provides new horizons of multifunctional behavior in phase transited bulk and thin film forms. Bismuth ferrite thin films were deposited on lattice mismatched LaAlO3 substrate using pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray diffraction confirmed nearly tetragonal (T-type) phase of thin film involving role of substrate induced strain. The film thickness of 56 nm was determined by X-ray reflectivity measurement. The perfect coherence and epitaxial nature of T- type film was observed through reciprocal space mapping. The room temperature Raman measurement of T-type bismuth ferrite thin film also verified phase transition with appearance of only few modes. In parallel, concomitant La and Al substituted Bi1-xLaxFe0.95Al0.05O3 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) bulk samples were synthesized using solid state reaction method. A structural phase transition into orthorhombic (Pnma) phase at x = 0.3 was observed. The structural distortion at x = 0.1, 0.2 and phase transition at x = 0.3 substituted samples were also confirmed by changes in Raman active modes. The remnant magnetization moment of 0.199 emu/gm and 0.28 emu/gm were observed for x = 0.2 and 0.3 bulk sample respectively. The T-type bismuth ferrite thin film also showed high remnant magnetization of around 20emu/cc. The parallelism in magnetic behavior between T-type thin film and concomitant La and Al substituted bulk samples is indication of modulation, frustration and break in continuity of spiral spin cycloid.

Lattice Supersymmetry and Order-Disorder Coexistence in the Tricritical Ising Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Brien, Edward; Fendley, Paul

2018-05-01

We introduce and analyze a quantum spin or Majorana chain with a tricritical Ising point separating a critical phase from a gapped phase with order-disorder coexistence. We show that supersymmetry is not only an emergent property of the scaling limit but also manifests itself on the lattice. Namely, we find explicit lattice expressions for the supersymmetry generators and currents. Writing the Hamiltonian in terms of these generators allows us to find the ground states exactly at a frustration-free coupling. These confirm the coexistence between two (topologically) ordered ground states and a disordered one in the gapped phase. Deforming the model by including explicit chiral symmetry breaking, we find the phases persist up to an unusual chiral phase transition where the supersymmetry becomes exact even on the lattice.

Quasiperiodic Quantum Ising Transitions in 1D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crowley, P. J. D.; Chandran, A.; Laumann, C. R.

2018-04-01

Unlike random potentials, quasiperiodic modulation can induce localization-delocalization transitions in one dimension. In this Letter, we analyze the implications of this for symmetry breaking in the quasiperiodically modulated quantum Ising chain. Although weak modulation is irrelevant, strong modulation induces new ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases which are fully localized and gapless. The quasiperiodic potential and localized excitations lead to quantum criticality that is intermediate to that of the clean and randomly disordered models with exponents of ν =1+ (exact) and z ≈1.9 , Δσ≈0.16 , and Δγ≈0.63 (up to logarithmic corrections). Technically, the clean Ising transition is destabilized by logarithmic wandering of the local reduced couplings. We conjecture that the wandering coefficient w controls the universality class of the quasiperiodic transition and show its stability to smooth perturbations that preserve the quasiperiodic structure of the model.

Phase Transition Effects on the Dynamical Stability of Hybrid Neutron Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, Jonas P.; Flores, César V.; Lugones, Germán

2018-06-01

We study radial oscillations of hybrid nonrotating neutron stars composed by a quark matter core and hadronic external layers. At first, we physically deduce the junction conditions that should be imposed between the two phases in these systems when perturbations take place. Then we compute the oscillation spectrum focusing on the effects of slow and rapid phase transitions at the quark-hadron interface. We use a generic MIT-bag model for quark matter and a relativistic mean field theory for hadronic matter. In the case of rapid transitions at the interface, we find a general relativistic version of the reaction mode that has similar properties as its classical counterpart. We also show that the usual static stability condition ∂M/∂ρ c ≥ 0, where ρ c is the central density of a star whose total mass is M, always remains true for rapid transitions but breaks down in general for slow transitions. In fact, for slow transitions, we find that the frequency of the fundamental mode can be a real number (indicating stability) even for some branches of stellar models that verify ∂M/∂ρ c ≤ 0. Thus, when secular instabilities are suppressed, as expected below some critical stellar rotation rate, the existance of twin or even triplet stars with the same gravitational mass but different radii, with one of the counterparts having ∂M/∂ρ c ≤ 0, would be possible. We explore some astrophysical consequences of these results.

Numerical simulation of phase transition problems with explicit interface tracking

DOE PAGES

Hu, Yijing; Shi, Qiangqiang; de Almeida, Valmor F.; ...

2015-12-19

Phase change is ubiquitous in nature and industrial processes. Started from the Stefan problem, it is a topic with a long history in applied mathematics and sciences and continues to generate outstanding mathematical problems. For instance, the explicit tracking of the Gibbs dividing surface between phases is still a grand challenge. Our work has been motivated by such challenge and here we report on progress made in solving the governing equations of continuum transport in the presence of a moving interface by the front tracking method. The most pressing issue is the accounting of topological changes suffered by the interfacemore » between phases wherein break up and/or merge takes place. The underlying physics of topological changes require the incorporation of space-time subscales not at reach at the moment. Therefore we use heuristic geometrical arguments to reconnect phases in space. This heuristic approach provides new insight in various applications and it is extensible to include subscale physics and chemistry in the future. We demonstrate the method on applications such as simulating freezing, melting, dissolution, and precipitation. The later examples also include the coupling of the phase transition solution with the Navier-Stokes equations for the effect of flow convection.« less

Kibble-Zurek Scaling and String-Net Coarsening in Topologically Ordered Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khemani, Vedika; Chandran, Anushya; Burnell, F. J.; Sondhi, S. L.

2013-03-01

We consider the non-equilibrium dynamics of topologically ordered systems, such as spin liquids, driven across a continuous phase transition into proximate phases with no, or reduced, topological order. This dynamics exhibits scaling in the spirit of Kibble and Zurek but now without the presence of symmetry breaking and a local order parameter. The non-equilibrium dynamics near the critical point is universal in a particular scaling limit. The late stages of the process are seen to exhibit slow, quantum coarsening dynamics for the extended string-nets characterizing the topological phase, a potentially interesting signature of topological order. Certain gapped degrees of freedom that could potentially destroy coarsening are, at worst, dangerously irrelevant in the scaling limit. We also note a time dependent amplification of the energy splitting between topologically degenerate states on closed manifolds. We illustrate these phenomena in the context of particular phase transitions out of the abelian Z2 topologically ordered phase of the toric code, and the non-abelian SU(2)k ordered phases of the relevant Levin-Wen models. This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSF PHY11-25915 and DMR 10-06608.

Dissipative phases across the superconductor-to-insulator transition

PubMed Central

Couëdo, F.; Crauste, O.; Drillien, A. A.; Humbert, V.; Bergé, L.; Marrache-Kikuchi, C. A.; Dumoulin, L.

2016-01-01

Competing phenomena in low dimensional systems can generate exotic electronic phases, either through symmetry breaking or a non-trivial topology. In two-dimensional (2D) systems, the interplay between superfluidity, disorder and repulsive interactions is especially fruitful in this respect although both the exact nature of the phases and the microscopic processes at play are still open questions. In particular, in 2D, once superconductivity is destroyed by disorder, an insulating ground state is expected to emerge, as a result of a direct superconductor-to-insulator quantum phase transition. In such systems, no metallic state is theoretically expected to survive to the slightest disorder. Here we map out the phase diagram of amorphous NbSi thin films as functions of disorder and film thickness, with two metallic phases in between the superconducting and insulating ones. These two dissipative states, defined by a resistance which extrapolates to a finite value in the zero temperature limit, each bear a specific dependence on disorder. We argue that they originate from an inhomogeneous destruction of superconductivity, even if the system is morphologically homogeneous. Our results suggest that superconducting fluctuations can favor metallic states that would not otherwise exist. PMID:27786260

Mixtures of bosonic and fermionic atoms in optical lattices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Albus, Alexander; Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Salerno, Via S. Allende, I-84081 Baronissi; Illuminati, Fabrizio

2003-08-01

We discuss the theory of mixtures of bosonic and fermionic atoms in periodic potentials at zero temperature. We derive a general Bose-Fermi Hubbard Hamiltonian in a one-dimensional optical lattice with a superimposed harmonic trapping potential. We study the conditions for linear stability of the mixture and derive a mean-field criterion for the onset of a bosonic superfluid transition. We investigate the ground-state properties of the mixture in the Gutzwiller formulation of mean-field theory, and present numerical studies of finite systems. The bosonic and fermionic density distributions and the onset of quantum phase transitions to demixing and to a bosonic Mott-insulatormore » are studied as a function of the lattice potential strength. The existence is predicted of a disordered phase for mixtures loaded in very deep lattices. Such a disordered phase possessing many degenerate or quasidegenerate ground states is related to a breaking of the mirror symmetry in the lattice.« less

Symmetry Guide to Ferroaxial Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hlinka, J.; Privratska, J.; Ondrejkovic, P.; Janovec, V.

2016-04-01

The 212 species of the structural phase transitions with a macroscopic symmetry breaking are inspected with respect to the occurrence of the ferroaxial order parameter, the electric toroidal moment. In total, 124 ferroaxial species are found, some of them being also fully ferroelectric (62) or fully ferroelastic ones (61). This ensures a possibility of electrical or mechanical switching of ferroaxial domains. Moreover, there are 12 ferroaxial species that are neither ferroelectric nor ferroelastic. For each species, we have also explicitly worked out a canonical form for a set of representative equilibrium property tensors of polar and axial nature in both high-symmetry and low-symmetry phases. This information was gathered into the set of 212 mutually different symbolic matrices, expressing graphically the presence of nonzero independent tensorial components and the symmetry-imposed links between them, for both phases simultaneously. Symmetry analysis reveals the ferroaxiality in several currently debated materials, such as VO2 , LuFe2 O4 , and URu2 Si2 .

Unconventional quantum criticality emerging as a new common language of transition-metal compounds, heavy-fermion systems, and organic conductors.

PubMed

Imada, Masatoshi; Misawa, Takahiro; Yamaji, Youhei

2010-04-28

We analyze and overview some of the different types of unconventional quantum criticalities by focusing on two origins. One origin of the unconventionality is the proximity to first-order transitions. The border between the first-order and continuous transitions is described by a quantum tricritical point (QTCP) for symmetry breaking transitions. One of the characteristic features of the quantum tricriticality is the concomitant divergence of an order parameter and uniform fluctuations, in contrast to the conventional quantum critical point (QCP). The interplay of these two fluctuations generates unconventionality. Several puzzling non-Fermi-liquid properties in experiments are taken to be accounted for by the resultant universality, as in the cases of Y bRh(2)Si(2), CeRu(2)Si(2) and β-Y bAlB(4). Another more dramatic unconventionality appears again at the border of the first-order and continuous transitions, but in this case for topological transitions such as metal-insulator and Lifshitz transitions. This border, the marginal quantum critical point (MQCP), belongs to an unprecedented universality class with diverging uniform fluctuations at zero temperature. The Ising universality at the critical end point of the first-order transition at nonzero temperatures transforms to the marginal quantum criticality when the critical temperature is suppressed to zero. The MQCP has a unique feature with a combined character of symmetry breaking and topological transitions. In the metal-insulator transitions, the theoretical results are supported by experimental indications for V(2 - x)Cr(x)O(3) and an organic conductor κ-(ET)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Cl. Identifying topological transitions also reveals how non-Fermi liquid appears as a phase in metals. The theory also accounts for the criticality of a metamagnetic transition in ZrZn(2), by interpreting it as an interplay of Lifshitz transition and correlation effects. We discuss the common underlying physics in these examples.

Topological order, entanglement, and quantum memory at finite temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mazáč, Dalimil; Hamma, Alioscia

2012-09-01

We compute the topological entropy of the toric code models in arbitrary dimension at finite temperature. We find that the critical temperatures for the existence of full quantum (classical) topological entropy correspond to the confinement-deconfinement transitions in the corresponding Z2 gauge theories. This implies that the thermal stability of topological entropy corresponds to the stability of quantum (classical) memory. The implications for the understanding of ergodicity breaking in topological phases are discussed.

Local load-sharing fiber bundle model in higher dimensions.

PubMed

Sinha, Santanu; Kjellstadli, Jonas T; Hansen, Alex

2015-08-01

We consider the local load-sharing fiber bundle model in one to five dimensions. Depending on the breaking threshold distribution of the fibers, there is a transition where the fracture process becomes localized. In the localized phase, the model behaves as the invasion percolation model. The difference between the local load-sharing fiber bundle model and the equal load-sharing fiber bundle model vanishes with increasing dimensionality with the characteristics of a power law.

Strongly first-order electroweak phase transition and classical scale invariance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farzinnia, Arsham; Ren, Jing

2014-10-01

In this work, we examine the possibility of realizing a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition within the minimal classically scale-invariant extension of the standard model (SM), previously proposed and analyzed as a potential solution to the hierarchy problem. By introducing one complex gauge-singlet scalar and three (weak scale) right-handed Majorana neutrinos, the scenario was successfully rendered capable of achieving a radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry (by means of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism), inducing nonzero masses for the SM neutrinos (via the seesaw mechanism), presenting a pseudoscalar dark matter candidate (protected by the CP symmetry of the potential), and predicting the existence of a second CP-even boson (with suppressed couplings to the SM content) in addition to the 125 GeV scalar. In the present treatment, we construct the full finite-temperature one-loop effective potential of the model, including the resummed thermal daisy loops, and demonstrate that finite-temperature effects induce a first-order electroweak phase transition. Requiring the thermally driven first-order phase transition to be sufficiently strong at the onset of the bubble nucleation (corresponding to nucleation temperatures TN˜100-200 GeV) further constrains the model's parameter space; in particular, an O(0.01) fraction of the dark matter in the Universe may be simultaneously accommodated with a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition. Moreover, such a phase transition disfavors right-handed Majorana neutrino masses above several hundreds of GeV, confines the pseudoscalar dark matter masses to ˜1-2 TeV, predicts the mass of the second CP-even scalar to be ˜100-300 GeV, and requires the mixing angle between the CP-even components of the SM doublet and the complex singlet to lie within the range 0.2≲sinω ≲0.4. The obtained results are displayed in comprehensive exclusion plots, identifying the viable regions of the parameter space. Many of these predictions lie within the reach of the next LHC run.

Time-reversal symmetry-breaking superconductivity in epitaxial bismuth/nickel bilayers

DOE PAGES

Gong, Xinxin; Kargarian, Mehdi; Stern, Alex; ...

2017-03-31

Superconductivity that spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS) has been found, so far, only in a handful of three-dimensional (3D) crystals with bulk inversion symmetry. We report an observation of spontaneous TRS breaking in a 2D superconducting system without inversion symmetry: the epitaxial bilayer films of bismuth and nickel. The evidence comes from the onset of the polar Kerr effect at the superconducting transition in the absence of an external magnetic field, detected by the ultrasensitive loop-less fiber-optic Sagnac interferometer. Because of strong spin-orbit interaction and lack of inversion symmetry in a Bi/Ni bilayer, superconducting pairing cannot be classified as singletmore » or triplet.We propose a theoretical model where magnetic fluctuations in Ni induce the superconducting pairing of the d xy ± id x2-y2 orbital symmetry between the electrons in Bi. In this model, the order parameter spontaneously breaks the TRS and has a nonzero phase winding number around the Fermi surface, thus making it a rare example of a 2D topological superconductor.« less

Multiple Phase Transitions in the model multiferroic BiFeO3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kreisel, Jens

2012-02-01

Bismuth ferrite BiFeO3 (BFO) is commonly considered a model system for multiferroics, and is perhaps the only material that is both magnetic and a ferroelectric with a strong electric polarization at 300K [1]. Despite numerous investigations, the crystal structures of BFO as a function of temperature and pressure are still not established and lead to ongoing controversial reports in the literature [1,3]. Besides being a model multiferroic, BFO is also one of the very few materials that present both octahedra tilts and strong cation displacements at room temperature. Here we report the high-pressure phase transitions in BFO by both synchrotron x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, namely a surprising richness of six phase transitions in the 0--60 GPa range [2-3]. At low pressures, 4 transitions are evidenced at 4, 6, 7 and 11 GPa. In this range, the crystals display in that range unusual large unit cells and complex domain structures, which suggests a competition between complex tilt systems and possibly off-center cation displacements. The non polar Pnma phase remains stable over a large pressure range between 11 and 38 GPa. The two high pressure phase transitions at 38 and 48 GPa are marked by the occurrence of larger unit cells and an increase of the distortion away from the cubic parent perovskite cell. The previously reported insulator-to-metal transition appears to be symmetry breaking. Finally, we will present a new schematic P-T phase diagram for BFO and discuss the recently reported phase transition in highly strained BFO films [4,5] in the light of our high-pressure findings. [4pt] [1] G. Catalan, J. F. Scott, Advanced Materials 21, 1 (2009).[0pt] [2] R. Haumont et al., Phys. Rev. B 79, 184110 (2009).[0pt] [3] M. Guennou et al., Phys. Rev. B 2011, accepted http://arxiv.org/abs/1108.0704.2011[0pt] [4] J. Kreisel et al. J. Phys.: Cond. Matt. 23, 342202 (2011).[0pt] [5] W. Siemons et al. Appl. Phys. Express 4 (2011).

Demonstration of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a non-equilibrium phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patil, Yogesh S.; Cheung, Hil F. H.; Date, Aditya G.; Vengalattore, Mukund

2017-04-01

We describe the experimental realization of a driven-dissipative phase transition (DPT) in a mechanical parametric amplifier and demonstrate key signatures of a critical point in the system, where the susceptibilities and relaxation time scales diverge and coincide with the spontaneous breaking of symmetry and the emergence of macroscopic order. While these observations are reminiscent of equilibrium phase transitions, it is presently an open question whether such DPTs are amenable to the conventional Landau-Ginsburg-Wilson paradigm that relies on concepts of scale invariance and universality - Indeed, recent theoretical work has predicted that DPTs can exhibit phenomenology that departs from these conventional paradigms. By quenching the system past the critical point, we measure the dynamics of the emergent ordered phase and its departure from adiabaticity, and find that our measurements are in excellent agreement with the Kibble-Zurek hypothesis. In addition to validating the KZ mechanism in a DPT for the first time, we also uniquely show that the measured critical exponents accurately reflect the interplay between the intrinsic coherent dynamics and the environmental correlations, with a clear departure from mean field exponents in the case of non-Markovian system-bath interactions. We also discuss how the techniques of reservoir engineering and the imposition of artificial environmental correlations can result in the stabilization of novel many-body quantum phases and exotic non-equilibrium states of matter.

The effect of neutrally buoyant finite-size particles on channel flows in the laminar-turbulent transition regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loisel, Vincent; Abbas, Micheline; Masbernat, Olivier; Climent, Eric

2013-12-01

The presence of finite-size particles in a channel flow close to the laminar-turbulent transition is simulated with the Force Coupling Method which allows two-way coupling with the flow dynamics. Spherical particles with channel height-to-particle diameter ratio of 16 are initially randomly seeded in a fluctuating flow above the critical Reynolds number corresponding to single phase flow relaminarization. When steady-state is reached, the particle volume fraction is homogeneously distributed in the channel cross-section (ϕ ≅ 5%) except in the near-wall region where it is larger due to inertia-driven migration. Turbulence statistics (intensity of velocity fluctuations, small-scale vortical structures, wall shear stress) calculated in the fully coupled two-phase flow simulations are compared to single-phase flow data in the transition regime. It is observed that particles increase the transverse r.m.s. flow velocity fluctuations and they break down the flow coherent structures into smaller, more numerous and sustained eddies, preventing the flow to relaminarize at the single-phase critical Reynolds number. When the Reynolds number is further decreased and the suspension flow becomes laminar, the wall friction coefficient recovers the evolution of the laminar single-phase law provided that the suspension viscosity is used in the Reynolds number definition. The residual velocity fluctuations in the suspension correspond to a regime of particulate shear-induced agitation.

Is "Summer" Reading Loss Universal? Using Ongoing Literacy Assessment in Malawi to Estimate the Loss from Grade-Transition Breaks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slade, Timothy S.; Piper, Benjamin; Kaunda, Zikani; King, Simon; Ibrahim, Hibatalla

2017-01-01

Summer learning loss--decreased academic performance following an extended school break, typically during the period after one grade ends and before another grade starts--is a well-documented phenomenon in North America, but poorly described in sub-Saharan African contexts. In this article, we use the term "grade-transition break" loss…

The effects of the one-step replica symmetry breaking on the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick spin glass model in the presence of random field with a joint Gaussian probability density function for the exchange interactions and random fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hadjiagapiou, Ioannis A.; Velonakis, Ioannis N.

2018-07-01

The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Ising spin glass model, in the presence of a random magnetic field, is investigated within the framework of the one-step replica symmetry breaking. The two random variables (exchange integral interaction Jij and random magnetic field hi) are drawn from a joint Gaussian probability density function characterized by a correlation coefficient ρ, assuming positive and negative values. The thermodynamic properties, the three different phase diagrams and system's parameters are computed with respect to the natural parameters of the joint Gaussian probability density function at non-zero and zero temperatures. The low temperature negative entropy controversy, a result of the replica symmetry approach, has been partly remedied in the current study, leading to a less negative result. In addition, the present system possesses two successive spin glass phase transitions with characteristic temperatures.

Characterizing the ``Higgs'' amplitude mode in a Spin-1 Bose Einstein Condensate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hebbe Madhusudhana, Bharath; Boguslawski, Matthew; Anquez, Martin; Robbins, Bryce; Barrios, Maryrose; Hoang, Thai; Chapman, Michael

2016-05-01

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in a physical system is often characterized by massless Nambu-Goldstone modes and massive Anderson-Higgs modes. It occurs when a system crosses a quantum critical point (QCP) reaching a state does not share the symmetry of the underlying Hamiltonian. In a spin-1 Bose Einstein condensate, the transverse spin component can be considered as an order parameter. A quantum phase transition (QPT) of this system results in breaking of the symmetry group U(1) × SO(2) shared by the Hamiltonian. As a result, two massless coupled phonon-magnon modes are produced along with a single massive mode or a Higgs-like mode, in the form of amplitude excitations of the order parameter. Here we characterize the amplitude excitations experimentally by inducing coherent oscillation in the spin population. We further use the amplitude oscillations to measure the energy gap for different phases of the QPT. At the QCP, finite size effects lead to a non-zero gap, and our measurements are consistent with this prediction.

Quantum phase transitions driven by rhombic-type single-ion anisotropy in the S =1 Haldane chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tzeng, Yu-Chin; Onishi, Hiroaki; Okubo, Tsuyoshi; Kao, Ying-Jer

2017-08-01

The spin-1 Haldane chain is an example of the symmetry-protected-topological (SPT) phase in one dimension. Experimental realization of the spin chain materials usually involves both the uniaxial-type, D (Sz)2 , and the rhombic-type, E [(Sx)2-(Sy)2] , single-ion anisotropies. Here, we provide a precise ground-state phase diagram for a spin-1 Haldane chain with these single-ion anisotropies. Using quantum numbers, we find that the Z2 symmetry breaking phase can be characterized by double degeneracy in the entanglement spectrum. Topological quantum phase transitions take place on particular paths in the phase diagram, from the Haldane phase to the large-Ex, large-Ey, or large-D phases. The topological critical points are determined by the level spectroscopy method with a newly developed parity technique in the density matrix renormalization group [Phys. Rev. B 86, 024403 (2012), 10.1103/PhysRevB.86.024403], and the Haldane-large-D critical point is obtained with an unprecedented precision, (D/J ) c=0.9684713 (1 ) . Close to this critical point, a small rhombic single-ion anisotropy |E |/J ≪1 can destroy the Haldane phase and bring the system into a y -Néel phase. We propose that the compound [Ni (HF2) (3-Clpy ) 4] BF4 is a candidate system to search for the y -Néel phase.

Pairing Symmetry Transitions in the Even-Denominator FQHE System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nomura, Kentaro; Yoshioka, Daijiro

2001-12-01

Transitions from a paired quantum Hall state to another quantum Hall state in bilayer systems are discussed in the framework of the edge theory. Starting from the edge theory for the Haldane Rezayi state, it is shown that the charging effect of a bilayer system which breaks the SU(2) symmetry of the pseudospin shifts the central charge and the conformal dimensions of the fermionic fields which describe the pseudospin sector in the edge theory. This corresponds to the transition from the Haldane Rezayi state to Halperin's 331 state, or from a singlet d-wave to a triplet p-wave ABM type paired state in the composite fermion picture. Considering interlayer tunneling, the tunneling rate-capacitance phase diagram for the ν=5/2 paired bilayer system is discussed.

Short-ranged interaction effects on Z2 topological phase transitions: The perturbative mean-field method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Hsin-Hua; Hung, Hsiang-Hsuan

2015-02-01

Time-reversal symmetric topological insulator (TI) is a novel state of matter that a bulk-insulating state carries dissipationless spin transport along the surfaces, embedded by the Z2 topological invariant. In the noninteracting limit, this exotic state has been intensively studied and explored with realistic systems, such as HgTe/(Hg, Cd)Te quantum wells. On the other hand, electronic correlation plays a significant role in many solid-state systems, which further influences topological properties and triggers topological phase transitions. Yet an interacting TI is still an elusive subject and most related analyses rely on the mean-field approximation and numerical simulations. Among the approaches, the mean-field approximation fails to predict the topological phase transition, in particular at intermediate interaction strength without spontaneously breaking symmetry. In this paper, we develop an analytical approach based on a combined perturbative and self-consistent mean-field treatment of interactions that is capable of capturing topological phase transitions beyond either method when used independently. As an illustration of the method, we study the effects of short-ranged interactions on the Z2 TI phase, also known as the quantum spin Hall (QSH) phase, in three generalized versions of the Kane-Mele (KM) model at half-filling on the honeycomb lattice. The results are in excellent agreement with quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations on the same model and cannot be reproduced by either a perturbative treatment or a self-consistent mean-field treatment of the interactions. Our analytical approach helps to clarify how the symmetries of the one-body terms of the Hamiltonian determine whether interactions tend to stabilize or destabilize a topological phase. Moreover, our method should be applicable to a wide class of models where topological transitions due to interactions are in principle possible, but are not correctly predicted by either perturbative or self-consistent treatments.

Fractional Stability of Trunk Acceleration Dynamics of Daily-Life Walking: Toward a Unified Concept of Gait Stability

PubMed Central

Ihlen, Espen A. F.; van Schooten, Kimberley S.; Bruijn, Sjoerd M.; Pijnappels, Mirjam; van Dieën, Jaap H.

2017-01-01

Over the last decades, various measures have been introduced to assess stability during walking. All of these measures assume that gait stability may be equated with exponential stability, where dynamic stability is quantified by a Floquet multiplier or Lyapunov exponent. These specific constructs of dynamic stability assume that the gait dynamics are time independent and without phase transitions. In this case the temporal change in distance, d(t), between neighboring trajectories in state space is assumed to be an exponential function of time. However, results from walking models and empirical studies show that the assumptions of exponential stability break down in the vicinity of phase transitions that are present in each step cycle. Here we apply a general non-exponential construct of gait stability, called fractional stability, which can define dynamic stability in the presence of phase transitions. Fractional stability employs the fractional indices, α and β, of differential operator which allow modeling of singularities in d(t) that cannot be captured by exponential stability. The fractional stability provided an improved fit of d(t) compared to exponential stability when applied to trunk accelerations during daily-life walking in community-dwelling older adults. Moreover, using multivariate empirical mode decomposition surrogates, we found that the singularities in d(t), which were well modeled by fractional stability, are created by phase-dependent modulation of gait. The new construct of fractional stability may represent a physiologically more valid concept of stability in vicinity of phase transitions and may thus pave the way for a more unified concept of gait stability. PMID:28900400

Nematic fluctuations in iron arsenides NaFeAs and LiFeAs probed by 75As NMR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toyoda, Masayuki; Kobayashi, Yoshiaki; Itoh, Masayuki

2018-03-01

75As NMR measurements have been made on single crystals to study the nematic state in the iron arsenides NaFeAs, which undergoes a structural transition from a high-temperature (high-T ) tetragonal phase to a low-T orthorhombic phase at Ts=57 K and an antiferromagnetic transition at TN=42 K, and LiFeAs having a superconducting transition at Tc=18 K. We observe the in-plane anisotropy of the electric field gradient η even in the tetragonal phase of NaFeAs and LiFeAs, showing the local breaking of tetragonal C4 symmetry. Then, η is found to obey the Curie-Weiss (CW) law as well as in Ba (Fe1-xCox) 2As2 . The good agreement between η and the nematic susceptibility obtained by electronic Raman spectroscopy indicates that η is governed by the nematic susceptibility. From comparing η in NaFeAs and LiFeAs with η in Ba (Fe1-xCox) 2As2 , we discuss the carrier-doping dependence of the nematic susceptibility. The spin contribution to nematic susceptibility is also discussed from comparing the CW terms in η with the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate divided by temperature 1 /T1T . Finally, we discuss the nematic transition in the paramagnetic orthorhombic phase of NaFeAs from the in-plane anisotropy of 1 /T1T .

Entanglement entropy and entanglement spectrum of Bi_1-xSb_x (111) bilayers.

PubMed

Brzezińska, Marta; Bieniek, Maciej; Woźniak, Tomasz; Potasz, Paweł; Wójs, Arkadiusz

2018-02-14

We study topological properties of Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_{x}$ bilayers in the (111) plane using entanglement measures. Electronic structures are investigated within multi-orbital tight-binding model and structural stability is confirmed through first-principles calculations. Topologically non-trivial nature of bismuth bilayer is proved by the presence of spectral flow in the entanglement spectrum. We consider topological phase transitions driven by a composition change x, an applied external electric field in Bi bilayer and strain in Sb bilayer. Composition- and strain-induced phase transitions reveal a finite discontinuity in the entanglement entropy. This quantity remains a continuous function of the electric field strength, but shows a finite discontinuity in the first derivative. We relate the difference in behavior of the entanglement entropy to the breaking of inversion symmetry in the last case. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Entanglement entropy and entanglement spectrum of Bi1-x Sb x (1 1 1) bilayers.

PubMed

Brzezińska, Marta; Bieniek, Maciej; Woźniak, Tomasz; Potasz, Paweł; Wójs, Arkadiusz

2018-02-28

We study topological properties of Bi 1-x Sb x bilayers in the (1 1 1) plane using entanglement measures. Electronic structures are investigated within multi-orbital tight-binding model and structural stability is confirmed through first-principles calculations. The topologically non-trivial nature of the bismuth bilayer is proved by the presence of spectral flow in the entanglement spectrum. We consider topological phase transitions driven by a composition change x, an applied external electric field in Bi bilayers and strain in Sb bilayers. Composition- and strain-induced phase transitions reveal a finite discontinuity in the entanglement entropy. This quantity remains a continuous function of the electric field strength, but shows a finite discontinuity in the first derivative. We relate the difference in behavior of the entanglement entropy to the breaking of inversion symmetry in the last case.

Entanglement entropy and entanglement spectrum of Bi1-x Sb x (1 1 1) bilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brzezińska, Marta; Bieniek, Maciej; Woźniak, Tomasz; Potasz, Paweł; Wójs, Arkadiusz

2018-03-01

We study topological properties of Bi1-x Sb x bilayers in the (1 1 1) plane using entanglement measures. Electronic structures are investigated within multi-orbital tight-binding model and structural stability is confirmed through first-principles calculations. The topologically non-trivial nature of the bismuth bilayer is proved by the presence of spectral flow in the entanglement spectrum. We consider topological phase transitions driven by a composition change x, an applied external electric field in Bi bilayers and strain in Sb bilayers. Composition- and strain-induced phase transitions reveal a finite discontinuity in the entanglement entropy. This quantity remains a continuous function of the electric field strength, but shows a finite discontinuity in the first derivative. We relate the difference in behavior of the entanglement entropy to the breaking of inversion symmetry in the last case.

Gluon dynamics, center symmetry, and the deconfinement phase transition in SU(3) pure Yang-Mills theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, P. J.; Oliveira, O.

2016-06-01

The correlations between the modulus of the Polyakov loop, its phase θ , and the Landau gauge gluon propagator at finite temperature are investigated in connection with the center symmetry for pure Yang-Mills SU(3) theory. In the deconfined phase, where the center symmetry is spontaneously broken, the phase of the Polyakov loop per configuration is close to θ =0 , ±2 π /3 . We find that the gluon propagator form factors associated with θ ≈0 differ quantitatively and qualitatively from those associated to θ ≈±2 π /3 . This difference between the form factors is a property of the deconfined phase and a sign of the spontaneous breaking of the center symmetry. Furthermore, given that this difference vanishes in the confined phase, it can be used as an order parameter associated to the deconfinement transition. For simulations near the critical temperature Tc, the difference between the propagators associated to θ ≈0 and θ ≈±2 π /3 allows one to classify the configurations as belonging to the confined or deconfined phase. This establishes a selection procedure which has a measurable impact on the gluon form factors. Our results also show that the absence of the selection procedure can be erroneously interpreted as lattice artifacts.

Higgs mechanism in higher-rank symmetric U(1) gauge theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulmash, Daniel; Barkeshli, Maissam

2018-06-01

We use the Higgs mechanism to investigate connections between higher-rank symmetric U(1 ) gauge theories and gapped fracton phases. We define two classes of rank-2 symmetric U(1 ) gauge theories: the (m ,n ) scalar and vector charge theories, for integer m and n , which respect the symmetry of the square (cubic) lattice in two (three) spatial dimensions. We further provide local lattice rotor models whose low-energy dynamics are described by these theories. We then describe in detail the Higgs phases obtained when the U(1 ) gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken to a discrete subgroup. A subset of the scalar charge theories indeed have X-cube fracton order as their Higgs phase, although we find that this can only occur if the continuum higher-rank gauge theory breaks continuous spatial rotational symmetry. However, not all higher-rank gauge theories have fractonic Higgs phases; other Higgs phases possess conventional topological order. Nevertheless, they yield interesting novel exactly solvable models of conventional topological order, somewhat reminiscent of the color code models in both two and three spatial dimensions. We also investigate phase transitions in these models and find a possible direct phase transition between four copies of Z2 gauge theory in three spatial dimensions and X-cube fracton order.

NCI calculations for understanding a physical phase transition in (C6H14N2)[Mn(H2O)6](SeO4)2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naïli, Houcine; François, Michel; Norquist, Alexander J.; Rekik, Walid

2017-12-01

An organically templated manganese selenate, (C6H14N2)[Mn(H2O)6](SeO4)2, has been synthesized by slow evaporation and crystallographically characterized. The title compound crystallizes at room temperature in the monoclinic centrosymmetric space group P21/n, with the following unit cell parameters: a = 7.2373(4) Å; b = 12.5600(7) Å; c = 10.1945(7) Å; β = 91.155(4)°, V = 926.50(10) Å3and Z = 2. Its crystal structure is built of manganese(II) cations coordinated by six water molecules in octahedral geometry, disordered dabcodiium cations and selenate anions, resulting in an extensive hydrogen-bonding network. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement indicated that the precursor undergoes a reversible phase transition at about 216 and 218 K during the cooling and heating processes respectively. Below this temperature the title compound is noncentrosymmetric with space group P21 and lattice parameters a = 7.2033(8) Å; b = 12.4981(13) Å; c = 10.0888(11) Å; β = 91.281(2)°, V = 908.04(17) Å3 and Z = 2. The disorder-order transformation of the C atoms of (C6H14N2)2+ cation may drive the structural phase transition. The low temperature phase obtained by breaking symmetry presents a fully ordered structure. The noncovalent interaction (NCI) method was used not only to locate, quantify, and visualize intermolecular interactions in the high and low temperature phases but also to confirm the phase transition detected by DSC measurement. The thermal decomposition of this new compound proceeds through four stages giving rise to the manganese oxide as final product at 850 °C.

76 FR 12075 - Meeting of a Federal Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-04

... Marine Corps Services for TBI and PTSD 2:15 Break 2:30 Marine Corps Programs for Transition Assistance 3... Program 11:45 Break Working Lunch 12 Navy Medical Services for TBI and PTSD 1 Navy Programs for Transition...

Probing the scale of new physics by Advanced LIGO/VIRGO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dev, P. S. Bhupal; Mazumdar, A.

2016-05-01

We show that if the new physics beyond the standard model is associated with a first-order phase transition around 107- 108 GeV , the energy density stored in the resulting stochastic gravitational waves and the corresponding peak frequency are within the projected final sensitivity of the advanced LIGO/VIRGO detectors. We discuss some possible new physics scenarios that could arise at such energies, and in particular, the consequences for Peccei-Quinn and supersymmetry breaking scales.

Complex hybrid inflation and baryogenesis.

PubMed

Delepine, David; Martínez, Carlos; Ureña-López, L Arturo

2007-04-20

We propose a hybrid inflation model with a complex waterfall field which contains an interaction term that breaks the U(1) global symmetry associated with the waterfall field charge. We show that the asymmetric evolution of the real and imaginary parts of the complex field during the phase transition at the end of inflation translates into a charge asymmetry. The latter strongly depends on the vacuum expectation value of the waterfall field, which is well constrained by diverse cosmological observations.

Chiral phases of fundamental and adjoint quarks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Natale, A. A.; Instituto de Física Teórica - UNESP Rua Dr. Bento T. Ferraz, 271, Bl.II - 01140-070, São Paulo, SP

2016-01-22

We consider a QCD chiral symmetry breaking model where the gap equation contains an effective confining propagator and a dressed gluon propagator with a dynamically generated mass. This model is able to explain the ratios between the chiral transition and deconfinement temperatures in the case of fundamental and adjoint quarks. It also predicts the recovery of the chiral symmetry for a large number of quarks (n{sub f} ≈ 11 – 13) in agreement with lattice data.

Half-magnetization plateau in a Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Mengxing; Chubukov, Andrey V.

2017-10-01

We present the phase diagram of a 2D isotropic triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a magnetic field. We consider spin-S model with nearest-neighbor (J1) and next-nearest-neighbor (J2) interactions. We focus on the range of 1 /8

Concurrence of dynamical phase transitions at finite temperature in the fully connected transverse-field Ising model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lang, Johannes; Frank, Bernhard; Halimeh, Jad C.

2018-05-01

We construct the finite-temperature dynamical phase diagram of the fully connected transverse-field Ising model from the vantage point of two disparate concepts of dynamical criticality. An analytical derivation of the classical dynamics and exact diagonalization simulations are used to study the dynamics after a quantum quench in the system prepared in a thermal equilibrium state. The different dynamical phases characterized by the type of nonanalyticities that emerge in an appropriately defined Loschmidt-echo return rate directly correspond to the dynamical phases determined by the spontaneous breaking of Z2 symmetry in the long-time steady state. The dynamical phase diagram is qualitatively different depending on whether the initial thermal state is ferromagnetic or paramagnetic. Whereas the former leads to a dynamical phase diagram that can be directly related to its equilibrium counterpart, the latter gives rise to a divergent dynamical critical temperature at vanishing final transverse-field strength.

Nonequilibrium quantum dynamics and transport: from integrability to many-body localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasseur, Romain; Moore, Joel E.

2016-06-01

We review the non-equilibrium dynamics of many-body quantum systems after a quantum quench with spatial inhomogeneities, either in the Hamiltonian or in the initial state. We focus on integrable and many-body localized systems that fail to self-thermalize in isolation and for which the standard hydrodynamical picture breaks down. The emphasis is on universal dynamics, non-equilibrium steady states and new dynamical phases of matter, and on phase transitions far from thermal equilibrium. We describe how the infinite number of conservation laws of integrable and many-body localized systems lead to complex non-equilibrium states beyond the traditional dogma of statistical mechanics.

Ideal walking dynamics via a gauged NJL model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rantaharju, Jarno; Pica, Claudio; Sannino, Francesco

According to the ideal walking technicolor paradigm, large mass anomalous dimensions arise in gauged Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) models when the four-fermion coupling is sufficiently strong to induce spontaneous symmetry breaking in an otherwise conformal gauge theory. Therefore, we study the SU(2) gauged NJL model with two adjoint fermions using lattice simulations. The model is in an infrared conformal phase at small NJL coupling while it displays a chirally broken phase at large NJL couplings. In the infrared conformal phase, we find that the mass anomalous dimension varies with the NJL coupling, reaching γm ~ 1 close to the chiral symmetry breakingmore » transition, de facto making the present model the first explicit realization of the ideal walking scenario.« less

Ideal walking dynamics via a gauged NJL model

DOE PAGES

Rantaharju, Jarno; Pica, Claudio; Sannino, Francesco

2017-07-25

According to the ideal walking technicolor paradigm, large mass anomalous dimensions arise in gauged Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) models when the four-fermion coupling is sufficiently strong to induce spontaneous symmetry breaking in an otherwise conformal gauge theory. Therefore, we study the SU(2) gauged NJL model with two adjoint fermions using lattice simulations. The model is in an infrared conformal phase at small NJL coupling while it displays a chirally broken phase at large NJL couplings. In the infrared conformal phase, we find that the mass anomalous dimension varies with the NJL coupling, reaching γm ~ 1 close to the chiral symmetry breakingmore » transition, de facto making the present model the first explicit realization of the ideal walking scenario.« less

Time-reversal breaking in QCD4, walls, and dualities in 2 + 1 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaiotto, Davide; Komargodski, Zohar; Seiberg, Nathan

2018-01-01

We study SU( N ) Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) in 3+1 dimensions with N f degenerate fundamental quarks with mass m and a θ-parameter. For generic m and θ the theory has a single gapped vacuum. However, as θ is varied through θ = π for large m there is a first order transition. For N f = 1 the first order transition line ends at a point with a massless η' particle (for all N ) and for N f > 1 the first order transition ends at m = 0, where, depending on the value of N f , the IR theory has free Nambu-Goldstone bosons, an interacting conformal field theory, or a free gauge theory. Even when the 4 d bulk is smooth, domain walls and interfaces can have interesting phase transitions separating different 3 d phases. These turn out to be the phases of the recently studied 3 d Chern-Simons matter theories, thus relating the dynamics of QCD4 and QCD3, and, in particular, making contact with the recently discussed dualities in 2+1 dimensions. For example, when the massless 4 d theory has an SU( N f ) sigma model, the domain wall theory at low (nonzero) mass supports a 3 d massless CP^{N_f-1} nonlinear σ-model with a Wess-Zumino term, in agreement with the conjectured dynamics in 2+1 dimensions.

Signatures of primordial black hole dark matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belotsky, K. M.; Dmitriev, A. E.; Esipova, E. A.; Gani, V. A.; Grobov, A. V.; Khlopov, M. Yu.; Kirillov, A. A.; Rubin, S. G.; Svadkovsky, I. V.

2014-11-01

The nonbaryonic dark matter of the Universe is assumed to consist of new stable forms of matter. Their stability reflects symmetry of micro-world and mechanisms of its symmetry breaking. In the early Universe heavy metastable particles can dominate, leaving primordial black holes (PBHs) after their decay, as well as the structure of particle symmetry breaking gives rise to cosmological phase transitions, from which massive black holes (BHs) and/or their clusters can originate. PBHs can be formed in such transitions within a narrow interval of masses about 1017g and, avoiding severe observational constraints on PBHs, can be a candidate for the dominant form of dark matter. PBHs in this range of mass can give solution of the problem of reionization in the Universe at the redshift z 5-10. Clusters of massive PBHs can serve as a nonlinear seeds for galaxy formation, while PBHs evaporating in such clusters can provide an interesting interpretation for the observations of point-like gamma-ray sources. Analysis of possible PBH signatures represents a universal probe for super-high energy physics in the early Universe in studies of indirect effects of the dark matter.

Stock market speculation: Spontaneous symmetry breaking of economic valuation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sornette, Didier

2000-09-01

Firm foundation theory estimates a security's firm fundamental value based on four determinants: expected growth rate, expected dividend payout, the market interest rate and the degree of risk. In contrast, other views of decision-making in the stock market, using alternatives such as human psychology and behavior, bounded rationality, agent-based modeling and evolutionary game theory, expound that speculative and crowd behavior of investors may play a major role in shaping market prices. Here, we propose that the two views refer to two classes of companies connected through a "phase transition". Our theory is based on (1) the identification of the fundamental parity symmetry of prices (p→-p), which results from the relative direction of payment flux compared to commodity flux and (2) the observation that a company's risk-adjusted growth rate discounted by the market interest rate behaves as a control parameter for the observable price. We find a critical value of this control parameter at which a spontaneous symmetry-breaking of prices occurs, leading to a spontaneous valuation in absence of earnings, similarly to the emergence of a spontaneous magnetization in Ising models in absence of a magnetic field. The low growth rate phase is described by the firm foundation theory while the large growth rate phase is the regime of speculation and crowd behavior. In practice, while large "finite-time horizon" effects round off the predicted singularities, our symmetry-breaking speculation theory accounts for the apparent over-pricing and the high volatility of fast growing companies on the stock markets.

Picosecond view of a martensitic transition and nucleation in the shape memory alloy M n50N i40S n10 by four-dimensional transmission electron microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Ming; Cao, Gaolong; Tian, Huanfang; Sun, Shuaishuai; Li, Zhongwen; Li, Xingyuan; Guo, Cong; Li, Zian; Yang, Huaixin; Li, Jianqi

2017-11-01

The photoinduced martensitic (MT) transition and reverse transition in a shape memory alloy M n50N i40S n10 have been examined by using high spatiotemporal resolution four-dimensional transmission electron microscopy (4D-TEM), and the experimental results clearly demonstrate that the MT transition and reverse transition in this Heusler alloy contain a variety of structural dynamic features at picosecond time scales. The 4D-TEM imaging and diffraction observations clearly show that MT transition and MT domain nucleation, which are related to cooperative atomic motions, occur at between 10 and 20 ps, depending on the thickness of the sample. Moreover, a strong coupling between the MT transition and lattice breathing mode is discovered in this system, which can result in a periodic structural oscillation between the MT phase and austenitic (AUS) phase. This allows us to directly observe the MT nucleation and domain wall motions in transient states using high spatiotemporal imaging. A careful analysis of the ultrafast images demonstrates the presence of remarkable transient states, which exhibit the essential features of MT nucleation, lattice symmetry breaking, and a rapid growth of MT plates. These results not only provide insights into the time-resolved structural dynamics and elementary mechanisms that govern the MT transition but also contribute to the development of a novel technique for future 4D-TEM investigations.

Observation of a Discrete Time Crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kyprianidis, A.; Zhang, J.; Hess, P.; Becker, P.; Lee, A.; Smith, J.; Pagano, G.; Potter, A.; Vishwanath, A.; Potirniche, I.-D.; Yao, N.; Monroe, C.

2017-04-01

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a key concept in the understanding of many physical phenomena, such as the formation of spatial crystals and the phase transition from paramagnetism to magnetic order. While the breaking of time translation symmetry is forbidden in equilibrium systems, it is possible for non-equilibrium Floquet driven systems to break a discrete time translation symmetry, and we present clear signatures of the formation of such a discrete time crystal. We apply a time periodic Hamiltonian to a chain of interacting spins under many-body localization conditions and observe the system's sub-harmonic response at twice that period. This spontaneous doubling of the periodicity is robust to external perturbations. We represent the spins with a linear chain of trapped 171Yb+ ions in an rf Paul trap, generate spin-spin interactions through spin-dependent optical dipole forces, and measure each spin using state-dependent fluorescence. This work is supported by the ARO Atomic Physics Program, the AFOSR MURI on Quantum Measurement and Verification, and the NSF Physics Frontier Center at JQI.

Interlayer Communication in Aurivillius Vanadate to Enable Defect Structures and Charge Ordering.

PubMed

Zhang, Yaoqing; Yamamoto, Takafumi; Green, Mark A; Kageyama, Hiroshi; Ueda, Yutaka

2015-11-16

The fluorite-like [Bi2O2](2+) layer is a fundamental building unit in a great variety of layered compounds. Here in this contribution, we presented a comprehensive study on an unusual Aurivillius phase Bi3.6V2O10 with respect to its defect chemistry and polymorphism control as well as implications for fast oxide ion transport at lower temperatures. The bismuth oxide layer in Bi4V2O11 is found to tolerate a large number of Bi vacancies without breaking the high temperature prototype I4/mmm structure (γ-phase). On cooling, an orthorhombic distortion occurs to the γ-phase, giving rise to a different type of phase (B-phase) in the intermediate temperature region. Cooling to room temperature causes a further transition to an oxygen-vacancy ordered A-phase, which is accompanied by the charge ordering of V(4+) and V(5+) cations, providing magnetic (d(1)) and nonmagnetic (d(0)) chains along the a axis. This is a novel charge ordering transition in terms of the concomitant change of oxygen coordination. Interestingly, upon quenching, both the γ- and B-phase can be kinetically trapped, enabling the structural probing of the two phases at ambient temperature. Driven by the thermodynamic forces, the oxide anion in the γ-phase undergoes an interlayer diffusion process to reshuffle the compositions of both Bi-O and V-O layers.

Giant magnetostriction effect near onset of spin reorientation in MnBi

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choi, Y.; Ryan, P. J.; McGuire, Michael A.

In materials undergoing spontaneous symmetry breaking transitions, the emergence of multiple competing order parameters is pervasive. Employing in-field x-ray diffraction, we investigate the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the crystallographic structure of MnBi, elucidating the microscopic interplay between lattices and spin. The hexagonal phase of MnBi undergoes a spin reorientation transition (TSR), whereby the easy axis direction changes from the c axis to the basal plane. Across TSR, an abrupt symmetry change is accompanied by a clear sign change in the magnetostrictive coefficient, revealing that this transition corresponds to the onset of the spin reorientation. In the vicinity ofmore » TSR, a significantly larger in-plane magnetostrictive effect is observed, presenting the emergence of an intermediate phase that is highly susceptible to an applied magnetic field. X-ray linear dichroism shows that asymmetric Bi and Mn p orbitals do not play a role in the spin reorientation. Furthermore, this work suggests that the spin reorientation is caused by structural modification rather than changes in the local electronic configuration, providing a strategy for manipulating the magnetic anisotropy by external strain.« less

Giant magnetostriction effect near onset of spin reorientation in MnBi

DOE PAGES

Choi, Y.; Ryan, P. J.; McGuire, Michael A.; ...

2018-05-11

In materials undergoing spontaneous symmetry breaking transitions, the emergence of multiple competing order parameters is pervasive. Employing in-field x-ray diffraction, we investigate the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the crystallographic structure of MnBi, elucidating the microscopic interplay between lattices and spin. The hexagonal phase of MnBi undergoes a spin reorientation transition (TSR), whereby the easy axis direction changes from the c axis to the basal plane. Across TSR, an abrupt symmetry change is accompanied by a clear sign change in the magnetostrictive coefficient, revealing that this transition corresponds to the onset of the spin reorientation. In the vicinity ofmore » TSR, a significantly larger in-plane magnetostrictive effect is observed, presenting the emergence of an intermediate phase that is highly susceptible to an applied magnetic field. X-ray linear dichroism shows that asymmetric Bi and Mn p orbitals do not play a role in the spin reorientation. Furthermore, this work suggests that the spin reorientation is caused by structural modification rather than changes in the local electronic configuration, providing a strategy for manipulating the magnetic anisotropy by external strain.« less

Statistical mechanics of the vertex-cover problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartmann, Alexander K.; Weigt, Martin

2003-10-01

We review recent progress in the study of the vertex-cover problem (VC). The VC belongs to the class of NP-complete graph theoretical problems, which plays a central role in theoretical computer science. On ensembles of random graphs, VC exhibits a coverable-uncoverable phase transition. Very close to this transition, depending on the solution algorithm, easy-hard transitions in the typical running time of the algorithms occur. We explain a statistical mechanics approach, which works by mapping the VC to a hard-core lattice gas, and then applying techniques such as the replica trick or the cavity approach. Using these methods, the phase diagram of the VC could be obtained exactly for connectivities c < e, where the VC is replica symmetric. Recently, this result could be confirmed using traditional mathematical techniques. For c > e, the solution of the VC exhibits full replica symmetry breaking. The statistical mechanics approach can also be used to study analytically the typical running time of simple complete and incomplete algorithms for the VC. Finally, we describe recent results for the VC when studied on other ensembles of finite- and infinite-dimensional graphs.

Giant magnetostriction effect near onset of spin reorientation in MnBi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Y.; Ryan, P. J.; McGuire, M. A.; Sales, B. C.; Kim, J.-W.

2018-05-01

In materials undergoing spontaneous symmetry breaking transitions, the emergence of multiple competing order parameters is pervasive. Employing in-field x-ray diffraction, we investigate the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the crystallographic structure of MnBi, elucidating the microscopic interplay between lattices and spin. The hexagonal phase of MnBi undergoes a spin reorientation transition (TSR), whereby the easy axis direction changes from the c axis to the basal plane. Across TSR, an abrupt symmetry change is accompanied by a clear sign change in the magnetostrictive coefficient, revealing that this transition corresponds to the onset of the spin reorientation. In the vicinity of TSR, a significantly larger in-plane magnetostrictive effect is observed, presenting the emergence of an intermediate phase that is highly susceptible to an applied magnetic field. X-ray linear dichroism shows that asymmetric Bi and Mn p orbitals do not play a role in the spin reorientation. This work suggests that the spin reorientation is caused by structural modification rather than changes in the local electronic configuration, providing a strategy for manipulating the magnetic anisotropy by external strain.

Hybridization with a twist: Hidden (hastatic) order in URu2Si2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flint, Rebecca

The hidden order developing below 17.5K in the heavy fermion material URu2Si2 has eluded identification for over thirty years. A number of recent experiments have shed new light on the nature of this phase. In particular, de Haas-van Alphen measurements indicate nearly perfectly Ising quasiparticles deep in the hidden order phase, and recent nonlinear susceptibility measurements show that this strong Ising anisotropy persists up to and above the hidden order transition itself. Along with other features, this Ising anisotropy implies that the conduction electrons hybridize with a local Ising moment - a 5f2 state of the uranium atom with integer spin. As the hybridization mixes states of integer and half-integer spin, it is itself a spinor and this ``hastatic'' (hasta: [Latin] spear) order parameter therefore breaks both time-reversal and double time-reversal symmetries. A microscopic theory of hastatic order naturally unites a number of disparate experimental results from the large entropy of condensation to the spin rotational symmetry breaking seen in torque magnetometry, and provides a number of experimental predictions. Moreover, this new spinorial order parameter provides a window into a number of new heavy fermion phases.

Anharmonic phonons and second-order phase-transitions by the stochastic self-consistent harmonic approximation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mauri, Francesco

Anharmonic effects can generally be treated within perturbation theory. Such an approach breaks down when the harmonic solution is dynamically unstable or when the anharmonic corrections of the phonon energies are larger than the harmonic frequencies themselves. This situation occurs near lattice-related second-order phase-transitions such as charge-density-wave (CDW) or ferroelectric instabilities or in H-containing materials, where the large zero-point motion of the protons results in a violation of the harmonic approximation. Interestingly, even in these cases, phonons can be observed, measured, and used to model transport properties. In order to treat such cases, we developed a stochastic implementation of the self-consistent harmonic approximation valid to treat anharmonicity in the nonperturbative regime and to obtain, from first-principles, the structural, thermodynamic and vibrational properties of strongly anharmonic systems. I will present applications to the ferroelectric transitions in SnTe, to the CWD transitions in NbS2 and NbSe2 (in bulk and monolayer) and to the hydrogen-bond symmetrization transition in the superconducting hydrogen sulfide system, that exhibits the highest Tc reported for any superconductor so far. In all cases we are able to predict the transition temperature (pressure) and the evolution of phonons with temperature (pressure). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant agreement No. 696656 GrapheneCore1.

Theory of the vortex-clustering transition in a confined two-dimensional quantum fluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Xiaoquan; Billam, Thomas P.; Nian, Jun; Reeves, Matthew T.; Bradley, Ashton S.

2016-08-01

Clustering of like-sign vortices in a planar bounded domain is known to occur at negative temperature, a phenomenon that Onsager demonstrated to be a consequence of bounded phase space. In a confined superfluid, quantized vortices can support such an ordered phase, provided they evolve as an almost isolated subsystem containing sufficient energy. A detailed theoretical understanding of the statistical mechanics of such states thus requires a microcanonical approach. Here we develop an analytical theory of the vortex clustering transition in a neutral system of quantum vortices confined to a two-dimensional disk geometry, within the microcanonical ensemble. The choice of ensemble is essential for identifying the correct thermodynamic limit of the system, enabling a rigorous description of clustering in the language of critical phenomena. As the system energy increases above a critical value, the system develops global order via the emergence of a macroscopic dipole structure from the homogeneous phase of vortices, spontaneously breaking the Z2 symmetry associated with invariance under vortex circulation exchange, and the rotational SO (2 ) symmetry due to the disk geometry. The dipole structure emerges characterized by the continuous growth of the macroscopic dipole moment which serves as a global order parameter, resembling a continuous phase transition. The critical temperature of the transition, and the critical exponent associated with the dipole moment, are obtained exactly within mean-field theory. The clustering transition is shown to be distinct from the final state reached at high energy, known as supercondensation. The dipole moment develops via two macroscopic vortex clusters and the cluster locations are found analytically, both near the clustering transition and in the supercondensation limit. The microcanonical theory shows excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, and signatures of the transition are apparent even for a modest system of 100 vortices, accessible in current Bose-Einstein condensate experiments.

Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs4Sb12

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levenson-Falk, E. M.; Schemm, E. R.; Aoki, Y.; Maple, M. B.; Kapitulnik, A.

2018-05-01

We present polar Kerr effect measurements of the filled skutterudite superconductor PrOs4 Sb12 . Simultaneous ac susceptibility measurements allow us to observe the superconducting transition under the influence of heating from the optical beam. A nonzero Kerr angle θK develops below the superconducting transition, saturating at ˜300 nrad at low temperatures. This result is repeated across several measurements of multiple samples. By extrapolating the measured θK(T ) to zero optical power, we are able to show that the Kerr angle onset temperature in one set of measurements is consistent with the transition to the B phase at TC 2. We discuss the possible explanations for this result and its impact on the understanding of multiphase and inhomogeneous superconductivity in PrOs4 Sb12 .

Parasitic momentum flux in the tokamak core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoltzfus-Dueck, T.

2017-10-01

Tokamak plasmas rotate spontaneously without applied torque. This intrinsic rotation is important for future low-torque devices such as ITER, since rotation stabilizes certain instabilities. In the mid-radius `gradient region,' which reaches from the sawtooth inversion radius out to the pedestal top, intrinsic rotation profiles may be either flat or hollow, and can transition suddenly between these two states, an unexplained phenomenon referred to as rotation reversal. Theoretical efforts to explain the mid-radius rotation shear have largely focused on quasilinear models, in which the phase relationships of some selected instability result in a nondiffusive momentum flux (``residual stress''). In contrast, the present work demonstrates the existence of a robust, fully nonlinear symmetry-breaking momentum flux that follows from the free-energy flow in phase space and does not depend on any assumed linear eigenmode structure. The physical origin is an often-neglected portion of the radial ExB drift, which is shown to drive a symmetry-breaking outward flux of co-current momentum whenever free energy is transferred from the electrostatic potential to ion parallel flows. The fully nonlinear derivation relies only on conservation properties and symmetry, thus retaining the important contribution of damped modes. The resulting rotation peaking is counter-current and scales as temperature over plasma current. As first demonstrated by Landau, this free-energy transfer (thus also the corresponding residual stress) becomes inactive when frequencies are much higher than the ion transit frequency, which allows sudden transitions between hollow and flat profiles. Simple estimates suggest that this mechanism may be consistent with experimental observations. This work was funded in part by the Max-Planck/Princeton Center for Plasma Physics and in part by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Science, Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Dynamics of interacting neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinzel, W.; Metzler, R.; Kanter, I.

2000-04-01

The dynamics of interacting perceptrons is solved analytically. For a directed flow of information the system runs into a state which has a higher symmetry than the topology of the model. A symmetry-breaking phase transition is found with increasing learning rate. In addition, it is shown that a system of interacting perceptrons which is trained on the history of its minority decisions develops a good strategy for the problem of adaptive competition known as the bar problem or minority game.

Connecting the Kuramoto Model and the Chimera State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotwal, Tejas; Jiang, Xin; Abrams, Daniel M.

2017-12-01

Since its discovery in 2002, the chimera state has frequently been described as a counterintuitive, puzzling phenomenon. The Kuramoto model, in contrast, has become a celebrated paradigm useful for understanding a range of phenomena related to phase transitions, synchronization, and network effects. Here we show that the chimera state can be understood as emerging naturally through a symmetry-breaking bifurcation from the Kuramoto model's partially synchronized state. Our analysis sheds light on recent observations of chimera states in laser arrays, chemical oscillators, and mechanical pendula.

Numerical investigation of electron localization in polymer chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulsson, Magnus; Stafström, Sven

1998-01-01

Using finite-size scaling, we have calculated the localization-delocalization phase diagrams for electronic wave functions in different disordered polymeric systems. The disorder considered here simulates finite polymer chain lengths, breaks in the conjugation, and disorder in an external potential. It is shown that a system of interacting chains, even at rather weak interchain interactions, allows for enough flexibility for the scattered waves to avoid dephasing and localization. Localization and the metal-insulator transition in highly conducting polymers are discussed in view of these results.

Probabilistically Perfect Cloning of Two Pure States: Geometric Approach.

PubMed

Yerokhin, V; Shehu, A; Feldman, E; Bagan, E; Bergou, J A

2016-05-20

We solve the long-standing problem of making n perfect clones from m copies of one of two known pure states with minimum failure probability in the general case where the known states have arbitrary a priori probabilities. The solution emerges from a geometric formulation of the problem. This formulation reveals that cloning converges to state discrimination followed by state preparation as the number of clones goes to infinity. The convergence exhibits a phenomenon analogous to a second-order symmetry-breaking phase transition.

Two distinct superconducting phases in LiFeAs

PubMed Central

Nag, P. K.; Schlegel, R.; Baumann, D.; Grafe, H.-J.; Beck, R.; Wurmehl, S.; Büchner, B.; Hess, C.

2016-01-01

A non-trivial temperature evolution of superconductivity including a temperature-induced phase transition between two superconducting phases or even a time-reversal symmetry breaking order parameter is in principle expected in multiband superconductors such as iron-pnictides. Here we present scanning tunnelling spectroscopy data of LiFeAs which reveal two distinct superconducting phases: at = 18 K a partial superconducting gap opens, evidenced by subtle, yet clear features in the tunnelling spectra, i.e. particle-hole symmetric coherence peak and dip-hump structures. At Tc = 16 K, these features substantiate dramatically and become characteristic of full superconductivity. Remarkably, the distance between the dip-hump structures and the coherence peaks remains practically constant in the whole temperature regimeT ≤ . This rules out the connection of the dip-hump structures to an antiferromagnetic spin resonance. PMID:27297474

QCD phase transition with chiral quarks and physical quark masses.

PubMed

Bhattacharya, Tanmoy; Buchoff, Michael I; Christ, Norman H; Ding, H-T; Gupta, Rajan; Jung, Chulwoo; Karsch, F; Lin, Zhongjie; Mawhinney, R D; McGlynn, Greg; Mukherjee, Swagato; Murphy, David; Petreczky, P; Renfrew, Dwight; Schroeder, Chris; Soltz, R A; Vranas, P M; Yin, Hantao

2014-08-22

We report on the first lattice calculation of the QCD phase transition using chiral fermions with physical quark masses. This calculation uses 2+1 quark flavors, spatial volumes between (4 fm)(3) and (11 fm)(3) and temperatures between 139 and 196 MeV. Each temperature is calculated at a single lattice spacing corresponding to a temporal Euclidean extent of N(t) = 8. The disconnected chiral susceptibility, χ(disc) shows a pronounced peak whose position and height depend sensitively on the quark mass. We find no metastability near the peak and a peak height which does not change when a 5 fm spatial extent is increased to 10 fm. Each result is strong evidence that the QCD "phase transition" is not first order but a continuous crossover for m(π) = 135 MeV. The peak location determines a pseudocritical temperature T(c) = 155(1)(8) MeV, in agreement with earlier staggered fermion results. However, the peak height is 50% greater than that suggested by previous staggered results. Chiral SU(2)(L) × SU(2)(R) symmetry is fully restored above 164 MeV, but anomalous U(1)(A) symmetry breaking is nonzero above T(c) and vanishes as T is increased to 196 MeV.

Ultrafast dynamics of vibrational symmetry breaking in a charge-ordered nickelate

PubMed Central

Coslovich, Giacomo; Kemper, Alexander F.; Behl, Sascha; Huber, Bernhard; Bechtel, Hans A.; Sasagawa, Takao; Martin, Michael C.; Lanzara, Alessandra; Kaindl, Robert A.

2017-01-01

The ability to probe symmetry-breaking transitions on their natural time scales is one of the key challenges in nonequilibrium physics. Stripe ordering represents an intriguing type of broken symmetry, where complex interactions result in atomic-scale lines of charge and spin density. Although phonon anomalies and periodic distortions attest the importance of electron-phonon coupling in the formation of stripe phases, a direct time-domain view of vibrational symmetry breaking is lacking. We report experiments that track the transient multi-terahertz response of the model stripe compound La1.75Sr0.25NiO4, yielding novel insight into its electronic and structural dynamics following an ultrafast optical quench. We find that although electronic carriers are immediately delocalized, the crystal symmetry remains initially frozen—as witnessed by time-delayed suppression of zone-folded Ni–O bending modes acting as a fingerprint of lattice symmetry. Longitudinal and transverse vibrations react with different speeds, indicating a strong directionality and an important role of polar interactions. The hidden complexity of electronic and structural coupling during stripe melting and formation, captured here within a single terahertz spectrum, opens new paths to understanding symmetry-breaking dynamics in solids. PMID:29202025

Higgs-like boson at 750 GeV and genesis of baryons

DOE PAGES

Davoudiasl, Hooman; Giardino, Pier Paolo; Zhang, Cen

2016-07-06

Here, we propose that the diphoton excess at 750 GeV reported by ATLAS and CMS is due to the decay of an exo-Higgs scalar η associated with the breaking of a new SU(2) e symmetry, dubbed exo-spin. New fermions, exo-quarks and exo-leptons, get TeV-scale masses through Yukawa couplings with η and generate its couplings to gluons and photons at one loop. Furthermore, the matter content of our model yields a B-L anomaly under SU(2) e, whose breaking we assume entails a first-order phase transition. A nontrivial B-L asymmetry may therefore be generated in the early Universe, potentially providing a baryogenesismore » mechanism through the Standard Model (SM) sphaleron processes. The spontaneous breaking of SU(2) e can, in principle, directly lead to electroweak symmetry breaking, thereby accounting for the proximity of the mass scales of the SM Higgs and the exo-Higgs. This model can be distinguished from those comprising a singlet scalar and vector fermions by the discovery of TeV scale exo-vector bosons, corresponding to the broken SU(2) e generators, at the LHC.« less

Higgs-like boson at 750 GeV and genesis of baryons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davoudiasl, Hooman; Giardino, Pier Paolo; Zhang, Cen

Here, we propose that the diphoton excess at 750 GeV reported by ATLAS and CMS is due to the decay of an exo-Higgs scalar η associated with the breaking of a new SU(2) e symmetry, dubbed exo-spin. New fermions, exo-quarks and exo-leptons, get TeV-scale masses through Yukawa couplings with η and generate its couplings to gluons and photons at one loop. Furthermore, the matter content of our model yields a B-L anomaly under SU(2) e, whose breaking we assume entails a first-order phase transition. A nontrivial B-L asymmetry may therefore be generated in the early Universe, potentially providing a baryogenesismore » mechanism through the Standard Model (SM) sphaleron processes. The spontaneous breaking of SU(2) e can, in principle, directly lead to electroweak symmetry breaking, thereby accounting for the proximity of the mass scales of the SM Higgs and the exo-Higgs. This model can be distinguished from those comprising a singlet scalar and vector fermions by the discovery of TeV scale exo-vector bosons, corresponding to the broken SU(2) e generators, at the LHC.« less

Ultrafast dynamics of vibrational symmetry breaking in a charge-ordered nickelate

DOE PAGES

Coslovich, Giacomo; Kemper, Alexander F.; Behl, Sascha; ...

2017-11-24

The ability to probe symmetry-breaking transitions on their natural time scales is one of the key challenges in nonequilibrium physics. Stripe ordering represents an intriguing type of broken symmetry, where complex interactions result in atomic-scale lines of charge and spin density. Although phonon anomalies and periodic distortions attest the importance of electron-phonon coupling in the formation of stripe phases, a direct time-domain view of vibrational symmetry breaking is lacking. We report experiments that track the transient multi-terahertz response of the model stripe compound La 1.75Sr 0.25NiO 4, yielding novel insight into its electronic and structural dynamics following an ultrafast opticalmore » quench. We find that although electronic carriers are immediately delocalized, the crystal symmetry remains initially frozen—as witnessed by time-delayed suppression of zone-folded Ni–O bending modes acting as a fingerprint of lattice symmetry. Longitudinal and transverse vibrations react with different speeds, indicating a strong directionality and an important role of polar interactions. As a result, the hidden complexity of electronic and structural coupling during stripe melting and formation, captured here within a single terahertz spectrum, opens new paths to understanding symmetry-breaking dynamics in solids.« less

Ultrafast dynamics of vibrational symmetry breaking in a charge-ordered nickelate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coslovich, Giacomo; Kemper, Alexander F.; Behl, Sascha

The ability to probe symmetry-breaking transitions on their natural time scales is one of the key challenges in nonequilibrium physics. Stripe ordering represents an intriguing type of broken symmetry, where complex interactions result in atomic-scale lines of charge and spin density. Although phonon anomalies and periodic distortions attest the importance of electron-phonon coupling in the formation of stripe phases, a direct time-domain view of vibrational symmetry breaking is lacking. We report experiments that track the transient multi-terahertz response of the model stripe compound La 1.75Sr 0.25NiO 4, yielding novel insight into its electronic and structural dynamics following an ultrafast opticalmore » quench. We find that although electronic carriers are immediately delocalized, the crystal symmetry remains initially frozen—as witnessed by time-delayed suppression of zone-folded Ni–O bending modes acting as a fingerprint of lattice symmetry. Longitudinal and transverse vibrations react with different speeds, indicating a strong directionality and an important role of polar interactions. As a result, the hidden complexity of electronic and structural coupling during stripe melting and formation, captured here within a single terahertz spectrum, opens new paths to understanding symmetry-breaking dynamics in solids.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Yufeng; Zhou, Yonghui; Guo, Zhaopeng

Weyl semimetal defines a material with three-dimensional Dirac cones, which appear in pair due to the breaking of spatial inversion or time reversal symmetry. Superconductivity is the state of quantum condensation of paired electrons. Turning a Weyl semimetal into superconducting state is very important in having some unprecedented discoveries. In this work, by doing resistive measurements on a recently recognized Weyl semimetal TaP under pressures up to about 100 GPa, we show the concurrence of superconductivity and a structure transition at about 70 GPa. It is found that the superconductivity becomes more pronounced when decreasing pressure and retains when themore » pressure is completely released. High-pressure x-ray diffraction measurements also confirm the structure phase transition from I41md to P-6m2 at about 70 GPa. More importantly, ab-initial calculations reveal that the P-6m2 phase is a new Weyl semimetal phase and has only one set of Weyl points at the same energy level. Our discovery of superconductivity in TaP by high pressure will stimulate investigations on superconductivity and Majorana fermions in Weyl semimetals.« less

Minority games, evolving capitals and replicator dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galla, Tobias; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2009-11-01

We discuss a simple version of the minority game (MG) in which agents hold only one strategy each, but in which their capitals evolve dynamically according to their success and in which the total trading volume varies in time accordingly. This feature is known to be crucial for MGs to reproduce stylized facts of real market data. The stationary states and phase diagram of the model can be computed, and we show that the ergodicity breaking phase transition common for MGs, and marked by a divergence of the integrated response, is present also in this simplified model. An analogous majority game turns out to be relatively void of interesting features, and the total capital is found to diverge in time. Introducing a restraining force leads to a model akin to the replicator dynamics of evolutionary game theory, and we demonstrate that here a different type of phase transition is observed. Finally we briefly discuss the relation of this model with one strategy per player to more sophisticated minority games with dynamical capitals and several trading strategies per agent.

Phase transition of light in cavity QED lattices.

PubMed

Schiró, M; Bordyuh, M; Oztop, B; Türeci, H E

2012-08-03

Systems of strongly interacting atoms and photons, which can be realized wiring up individual cavity QED systems into lattices, are perceived as a new platform for quantum simulation. While sharing important properties with other systems of interacting quantum particles, here we argue that the nature of light-matter interaction gives rise to unique features with no analogs in condensed matter or atomic physics setups. By discussing the physics of a lattice model of delocalized photons coupled locally with two-level systems through the elementary light-matter interaction described by the Rabi model, we argue that the inclusion of counterrotating terms, so far neglected, is crucial to stabilize finite-density quantum phases of correlated photons out of the vacuum, with no need for an artificially engineered chemical potential. We show that the competition between photon delocalization and Rabi nonlinearity drives the system across a novel Z(2) parity symmetry-breaking quantum criticality between two gapped phases that share similarities with the Dicke transition of quantum optics and the Ising critical point of quantum magnetism. We discuss the phase diagram as well as the low-energy excitation spectrum and present analytic estimates for critical quantities.

Rejoining of isochromatid breaks induced by heavy ions in G2-phase normal human fibroblasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kawata, T.; Durante, M.; Furusawa, Y.; George, K.; Ito, H.; Wu, H.; Cucinotta, F. A.

2001-01-01

We reported previously that exposure of normal human fibroblasts in G2 phase of the cell cycle to high-LET radiation produces a much higher frequency of isochromatid breaks than exposure to gamma rays. We concluded that an increase in the production of isochromatid breaks is a signature of initial high-LET radiation-induced G2-phase damage. In this paper, we report the repair kinetics of isochromatid breaks induced by high-LET radiation in normal G2-phase human fibroblasts. Exponentially growing human fibroblasts (AG1522) were irradiated with gamma rays or energetic carbon (290 MeV/nucleon), silicon (490 MeV/nucleon), or iron (200 MeV/nucleon) ions. Prematurely condensed chromosomes were induced by calyculin A after different postirradiation incubation times ranging from 0 to 600 min. Chromosomes were stained with Giemsa, and aberrations were scored in cells at G2 phase. G2-phase fragments, the result of the induction of isochromatid breaks, decreased quickly with incubation time. The curve for the kinetics of the rejoining of chromatid-type breaks showed a slight upward curvature with time after exposure to 440 keV/microm iron particles, probably due to isochromatid-isochromatid break rejoining. The formation of chromatid exchanges after exposure to high-LET radiation therefore appears to be underestimated, because isochromatid-isochromatid exchanges cannot be detected. Increased induction of isochromatid breaks and rejoining of isochromatid breaks affect the overall kinetics of chromatid-type break rejoining after exposure to high-LET radiation.

Quantum Discord in a Spin System with Symmetry Breaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomasello, Bruno; Rossini, Davide; Hamma, Alioscia; Amico, Luigi

2013-06-01

We analyze the quantum discord Q throughout the low temperature phase diagram of the quantum XY model in transverse field. We first focus on the T = 0 order-disorder quantum phase transition QPT both in the symmetric ground state and in the symmetry broken one. Beside it, we highlight how Q displays clear anomalies also at a noncritical value of the control parameter inside the ordered phase, where the ground state is completely factorized. We evidence how the phenomenon is in fact of collective nature and displays universal features. We also study Q at finite temperature. We show that, close to the QPT, Q exhibits quantum-classical crossover of the system with universal scaling behavior. We evidence a nontrivial pattern of thermal correlations resulting from the factorization phenomenon.

Quantum Discord in a Spin System with Symmetry Breaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomasello, Bruno; Rossini, Davide; Hamma, Alioscia; Amico, Luigi

2012-11-01

We analyze the quantum discordQ throughout the low temperature phase diagram of the quantum XY model in transverse field. We first focus on the T = 0 order-disorder quantum phase transition QPT both in the symmetric ground state and in the symmetry broken one. Beside it, we highlight how Q displays clear anomalies also at a noncritical value of the control parameter inside the ordered phase, where the ground state is completely factorized. We evidence how the phenomenon is in fact of collective nature and displays universal features. We also study Q at finite temperature. We show that, close to the QPT, Q exhibits quantum-classical crossover of the system with universal scaling behavior. We evidence a nontrivial pattern of thermal correlations resulting from the factorization phenomenon.

Broken symmetry in a two-qubit quantum control landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bukov, Marin; Day, Alexandre G. R.; Weinberg, Phillip; Polkovnikov, Anatoli; Mehta, Pankaj; Sels, Dries

2018-05-01

We analyze the physics of optimal protocols to prepare a target state with high fidelity in a symmetrically coupled two-qubit system. By varying the protocol duration, we find a discontinuous phase transition, which is characterized by a spontaneous breaking of a Z2 symmetry in the functional form of the optimal protocol, and occurs below the quantum speed limit. We study in detail this phase and demonstrate that even though high-fidelity protocols come degenerate with respect to their fidelity, they lead to final states of different entanglement entropy shared between the qubits. Consequently, while globally both optimal protocols are equally far away from the target state, one is locally closer than the other. An approximate variational mean-field theory which captures the physics of the different phases is developed.

Novel Phases from the Interplay of Topology and Strong Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hickey, Ciaran

In recent years, topology has become increasingly prevalent in condensed matter physics. It has allowed us to understand, and even predict, a variety of striking and remarkable physical phenomena. The study of strongly interacting systems has similarly lavished us with a diverse range of exotic phases and unconventional transitions, many of which are still poorly understood. In this thesis we will explore the interplay between topology and interactions in an effort to uncover new and novel phases. First we study how interactions impact the quantum phase transition between a topologically non-trivial phase and a trivial phase. The combination of interactions and the low-energy degrees of freedom associated with the transition leads to the emergence of a dome of lattice-symmetry breaking nematic order. Such behaviour is reminiscent of a number of strongly correlated electronic systems. We move on to study the strongly interacting limit of one of the earliest and best-known non-interacting topological phases, Haldane's model of a Chern insulator. Recently realized with ultracold atoms in a shaken optical lattice, the model has a non-trivial topological invariant associated with its band structure. In the strongly interacting limit the spin degrees of freedom are all that survive and we find a rich phase diagram of magnetically ordered phases, using a combination of both classical and quantum techniques. Supplementing the model with an additional term we can 'quantum-melt' one of these ordered states to produce a disordered, liquid state that we positively identify as a chiral spin liquid, a highly entangled state of matter with fractionalised excitations. We generalise this mechanism to other two dimensional lattices, uncovering a possible unifying framework with which to understand the emergence of chiral spin liquids in lattice spin models. Finally, motivated by groundbreaking experiments in the ultracold atoms community, we investigate a model of two-component bosons with an artificial spin-orbit coupling. The interplay between the lattice, interactions and spin-orbit coupling produces a variety of unusual superfluid phases. Using a novel Monte Carlo technique we reveal the finite temperature phase diagram that appears close to the Mott transition.

Hydrogen and related materials at high density: Physics, chemistry and planetary implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hemley, R. J.; Mao, H. K.; Duffy, T. S.; Goncharov, A.; Vos, W.; Zha, C. S.; Eggert, J. H.; Li, M.; Hanfland, M.

1994-01-01

Recent studies of low-Z molecular materials including hydrogen to multimegabar pressures (less than 300 GPa) have uncovered a range of phenomena relevant to understanding the nature of the interiors of the outer planets and their satellites. Synchrotron x ray diffraction measurements (to 42 GPa) have been used to determine the crystal structure of the solid (hexagonal-close packed) and equation of state. Sound velocities in fluid and solid hydrogen (to 24 GPa) have been inverted to obtain elastic constants and aggregate bulk and shear moduli. In addition, an improved intermolecular potential has been determined which fits both static and shock-wave data. Use of the new potential for the molecular envelope of Jupiter suggests the need for major revisions of existing Jovian models or a reanalysis of reported free oscillations for the planet. Studies at higher pressures (greater than 100 GPa) reveal a sequence of pressure-induced symmetry-breaking transitions in molecular hydrogen, giving rise to three high-pressure phases (1, 2, and 3). Phase 1 is the rotationally disordered hcp phase which persists from low pressure to well above 100 GPa at high temperature (e.g., 300 K). Phase 2 is a low-temperature, high-pressure phase (transition at 100 GPa and 77 K in H2) with spectral features indicative of partial rotational ordering and crystallographic distortion. The transition to Phase 3 at 150 GPa is accompanied by a weakening of the molecular bond, gradual changes in orientational ordering, strong enhancement of the infrared intramolecular vibrational absorption, and strong intermolecular interactions similar to those of ambient-pressure network solids. Studies of the phase diagram reveal a triple point near 130 K and 160 GPa. Higher pressure measurements of vibrational spectra place a lower bound of approximately 250 GPa on the predicted transition pressure for dissociation of molecular hydrogen to form a monatomic metal.

Quantum and superconducting fluctuations effects in disordered Nb 1- xTa x thin films above Tc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giannouri, M.; Papastaikoudis, C.

1999-05-01

Disordered Nb 1- xTa x thin films are prepared with e-gun coevaporation. The influence of the β-phase of tantalum in the critical temperature Tc is observed as a function of the substrate temperature. The measurements of transverse magnetoresistance at various isothermals are interpreted in terms of weak-localization and superconducting fluctuations. From the fitting procedure, the phase breaking rate τφ-1 and the Larkin parameter βL are estimated as a function of temperature. Conclusions about the dominant inelastic scattering mechanisms at various temperature regions as well as for the dominant mechanism of superconducting fluctuations near the transition temperature are extracted.

A dynamical mean-field study of orbital-selective Mott phase enhanced by next-nearest neighbor hopping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Yuekun; Sun, Jian; Ni, Yu; Song, Yun

2018-06-01

The dynamical mean-field theory is employed to study the orbital-selective Mott transition (OSMT) of the two-orbital Hubbard model with nearest neighbor hopping and next-nearest neighbor (NNN) hopping. The NNN hopping breaks the particle-hole symmetry at half filling and gives rise to an asymmetric density of states (DOS). Our calculations show that the broken symmetry of DOS benefits the OSMT, where the region of the orbital-selective Mott phase significantly extends with the increasing NNN hopping integral. We also find that Hund's rule coupling promotes OSMT by blocking the orbital fluctuations, but the influence of NNN hopping is more remarkable.

Elastic and anelastic relaxations accompanying magnetic ordering and spin-flop transitions in hematite, Fe2O3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oravova, Lucie; Zhang, Zhiying; Church, Nathan; Harrison, Richard J.; Howard, Christopher J.; Carpenter, Michael A.

2013-03-01

Hematite, Fe2O3, provides in principle a model system for multiferroic (ferromagnetic/ferroelastic) behavior at low levels of strain coupling. The elastic and anelastic behavior associated with magnetic phase transitions in a natural polycrystalline sample have therefore been studied by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) in the temperature range from 11 to 1072 K. Small changes in softening and attenuation are interpreted in terms of weak but significant coupling of symmetry-breaking and non-symmetry-breaking strains with magnetic order parameters in the structural sequence R\\overline{3}c{1}^{\\prime}\\rightarrow C 2/c\\rightarrow R\\overline{3}c. The R\\overline{3}c{1}^{\\prime}\\rightarrow C 2/c transition at TN = 946 ± 1 K is an example of a multiferroic transition which has both ferromagnetic (from canting of antiferromagnetically ordered spin moments) and ferroelastic (rhombohedral → monoclinic) character. By analogy with the improper ferroelastic transition in Pb3(PO4)2, W and W‧ ferroelastic twin walls which are also 60° and 120° magnetic domain walls should develop. These have been tentatively identified from microstructures reported in the literature. The very low attenuation in the stability field of the C2/c structure in the polycrystalline sample used in the present study, in comparison with the strong acoustic dissipation reported for single crystal samples, implies, however, that the individual grains each consist of a single ferroelastic domain or that the twin walls are strongly pinned by grain boundaries. This absence of attenuation allows an intrinsic loss mechanism associated with the transition point to be seen and interpreted in terms of local coupling of shear strains with fluctuations which have relaxation times in the vicinity of ˜10-8 s. The first order C 2/c\\rightarrow R\\overline{3}c (Morin) transition occurs through a temperature interval of coexisting phases but the absence of an acoustic loss peak suggests that the relaxation time for interface motion is short in comparison with the time scale of the applied stress (at ˜0.1-1 MHz). Below the Morin transition a pattern of attenuation which resembles that seen below ferroelastic transitions has been found, even though the ideal low temperature structure cannot contain ferroelastic twins. This loss behavior is tentatively ascribed to the presence of local ferromagnetically ordered defect regions which are coupled locally to shear strains.

Latent heat effects of the major mantle phase transitions on low-angle subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Hunen, Jeroen; van den Berg, Arie P.; Vlaar, Nico J.

2001-08-01

Very low to zero shallow dip angles are observed at several moderately young subduction zones with an active trenchward moving overriding plate. We have investigated the effects of latent heat for this situation, where mantle material is pushed through the major mantle phase transitions during shallow low-angle subduction below the overriding plate. The significance of the buoyancy forces, arising from the latent heat effects, on the dynamics of the shallowly subducting slab is examined by numerical modeling. When a 32-Ma-old slab is overridden with 2.5 cm/yr by a continent, flat subduction occurs with a 4-5 cm/yr convergence rate. When latent heat is included in the model, forced downwellings cause a thermal anomaly and consequently thermal and phase buoyancy forces. Under these circumstances, the flat slab segment subducts horizontally about 350 km further and for about 11 Ma longer than in the case without latent heat, before it breaks through the 400-km phase transition. The style of subduction strongly depends on the mantle rheology: increasing the mantle viscosity by one order of magnitude can change the style of subduction from steep to shallow. Similarly, an overriding velocity of less than 1 cm/yr leads to steep subduction, which gradually changes to flat subduction when increasing the overriding velocity. However, these model parameters do not change the aforementioned effect of the latent heat, provided that low-angle subduction occurs. In all models latent heat resulted in a substantial increase of the flat slab length by 300-400 km. Varying the olivine-spinel transition Clapeyron slope γ from 1 to 6 MPa/K reveals a roughly linear relation between γ and the horizontal length of the slab. Based on these results, we conclude that buoyancy forces due to latent heat of phase transitions play an important role in low-angle subduction below an overriding plate.

High-pressure Raman study on the superconducting pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsubayashi, Yasuhito; Hasegawa, Takumi; Ogita, Norio; Yamaura, Jun-ichi; Hiroi, Zenji

2018-05-01

The superconducting pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7 (Tc = 1 K), which is now considered as a candidate of the spin-orbit-coupled metal, shows an inversion-symmetry-breaking structural transition at Ts1 = 200 K . Ts1 decreases with increasing pressure and disappears at around Pc = 4.2 GPa , where at least four high-pressure phases with tiny structural distortions are suggested by means of powder X-ray diffraction [Yamaura PRB 2017]. We have carried out Raman scattering experiments to investigate changes in the crystal symmetry under high pressures up to 4.8 GPa. A structural transition at 1.9-3.0 GPa and the recovery of inversion symmetry above Pc are observed at 12 K.

Localized and delocalized motion of colloidal particles on a magnetic bubble lattice.

PubMed

Tierno, Pietro; Johansen, Tom H; Fischer, Thomas M

2007-07-20

We study the motion of paramagnetic colloidal particles placed above magnetic bubble domains of a uniaxial garnet film and driven through the lattice by external magnetic field modulation. An external tunable precessing field propels the particles either in localized orbits around the bubbles or in superdiffusive or ballistic motion through the bubble array. This motion results from the interplay between the driving rotating signal, the viscous drag force and the periodic magnetic energy landscape. We explain the transition in terms of the incommensurability between the transit frequency of the particle through a unit cell and the modulation frequency. Ballistic motion dynamically breaks the symmetry of the array and the phase locked particles follow one of the six crystal directions.

Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs 4 Sb 12

DOE PAGES

Levenson-Falk, Eli M.; Schemm, E. R.; Aoki, Y.; ...

2018-05-04

Here, we present polar Kerr effect measurements of the filled skutterudite superconductor PrOs 4Sb 12. Simultaneous ac susceptibility measurements allow us to observe the superconducting transition under the influence of heating from the optical beam. A nonzero Kerr angle θ K develops below the superconducting transition, saturating at ~300 nrad at low temperatures. This result is repeated across several measurements of multiple samples. By extrapolating the measured θ K(T) to zero optical power, we are able to show that the Kerr angle onset temperature in one set of measurements is consistent with the transition to the B phase at Tmore » C2. We discuss the possible explanations for this result and its impact on the understanding of multiphase and inhomogeneous superconductivity in PrOs 4Sb 12.« less

Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs 4 Sb 12

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Levenson-Falk, Eli M.; Schemm, E. R.; Aoki, Y.

Here, we present polar Kerr effect measurements of the filled skutterudite superconductor PrOs 4Sb 12. Simultaneous ac susceptibility measurements allow us to observe the superconducting transition under the influence of heating from the optical beam. A nonzero Kerr angle θ K develops below the superconducting transition, saturating at ~300 nrad at low temperatures. This result is repeated across several measurements of multiple samples. By extrapolating the measured θ K(T) to zero optical power, we are able to show that the Kerr angle onset temperature in one set of measurements is consistent with the transition to the B phase at Tmore » C2. We discuss the possible explanations for this result and its impact on the understanding of multiphase and inhomogeneous superconductivity in PrOs 4Sb 12.« less

Simultaneous breaking of lattice symmetry and spin frustration in triangular lattice antiferromagnet CuFeO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Y.; Ye, F.; Huang, Q.; Fernandez-Baca, J. A.; Dai, Pengcheng; Lynn, J. W.; Kimura, T.

2006-03-01

We use high resolution synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction to study the geometrically frustrated triangular lattice antiferromagnet (TLA) CuFeO2. We show that the occurrence of the two magnetic transitions, at 14 K and 11 K, respectively is accompanied simultaneously by a second-and first- order structural phase transitions from a hexagonal structure to a monoclinic form. This is the first observation of two successive spin-driven structural transitions directly coupled with incommensurate and commensurate magnetic orderings in frustrated TLA systems. This work is supported by the U. S. NSF DMR-0453804 and DOE Nos. DE-FG02-05ER46202 and DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT/Battelle LLC. Use of the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. W-31-109-Eng-38.

Financial Symmetry and Moods in the Market

PubMed Central

Savona, Roberto; Soumare, Maxence; Andersen, Jørgen Vitting

2015-01-01

This paper studies how certain speculative transitions in financial markets can be ascribed to a symmetry break that happens in the collective decision making. Investors are assumed to be bounded rational, using a limited set of information including past price history and expectation on future dividends. Investment strategies are dynamically changed based on realized returns within a game theoretical scheme with Nash equilibria. In such a setting, markets behave as complex systems whose payoff reflect an intrinsic financial symmetry that guarantees equilibrium in price dynamics (fundamentalist state) until the symmetry is broken leading to bubble or anti-bubble scenarios (speculative state). We model such two-phase transition in a micro-to-macro scheme through a Ginzburg-Landau-based power expansion leading to a market temperature parameter which modulates the state transitions in the market. Via simulations we prove that transitions in the market price dynamics can be phenomenologically explained by the number of traders, the number of strategies and amount of information used by agents, all included in our market temperature parameter. PMID:25856392

Financial symmetry and moods in the market.

PubMed

Savona, Roberto; Soumare, Maxence; Andersen, Jørgen Vitting

2015-01-01

This paper studies how certain speculative transitions in financial markets can be ascribed to a symmetry break that happens in the collective decision making. Investors are assumed to be bounded rational, using a limited set of information including past price history and expectation on future dividends. Investment strategies are dynamically changed based on realized returns within a game theoretical scheme with Nash equilibria. In such a setting, markets behave as complex systems whose payoff reflect an intrinsic financial symmetry that guarantees equilibrium in price dynamics (fundamentalist state) until the symmetry is broken leading to bubble or anti-bubble scenarios (speculative state). We model such two-phase transition in a micro-to-macro scheme through a Ginzburg-Landau-based power expansion leading to a market temperature parameter which modulates the state transitions in the market. Via simulations we prove that transitions in the market price dynamics can be phenomenologically explained by the number of traders, the number of strategies and amount of information used by agents, all included in our market temperature parameter.

Interplay between topology and disorder in a two-dimensional semi-Dirac material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sriluckshmy, P. V.; Saha, Kush; Moessner, Roderich

2018-01-01

We investigate the role of disorder in a two-dimensional semi-Dirac material characterized by a linear dispersion in one direction and a parabolic dispersion in the orthogonal direction. Using the self-consistent Born approximation, we show that disorder can drive a topological Lifshitz transition from an insulator to a semimetal, as it generates a momentum-independent off-diagonal contribution to the self-energy. Breaking time-reversal symmetry enriches the topological phase diagram with three distinct regimes—single-node trivial, two-node trivial, and two-node Chern. We find that disorder can drive topological transitions from both the single- and two-node trivial to the two-node Chern regime. We further analyze these transitions in an appropriate tight-binding Hamiltonian of an anisotropic hexagonal lattice by calculating the real-space Chern number. Additionally, we compute the disorder-averaged entanglement entropy which signals both the topological Lifshitz and Chern transition as a function of the anisotropy of the hexagonal lattice. Finally, we discuss experimental aspects of our results.

Enhanced Spin Conductance of a Thin-Film Insulating Antiferromagnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bender, Scott A.; Skarsvâg, Hans; Brataas, Arne; Duine, Rembert A.

2017-08-01

We investigate spin transport by thermally excited spin waves in an antiferromagnetic insulator. Starting from a stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert phenomenology, we obtain the out-of-equilibrium spin-wave properties. In linear response to spin biasing and a temperature gradient, we compute the spin transport through a normal-metal-antiferromagnet-normal-metal heterostructure. We show that the spin conductance diverges as one approaches the spin-flop transition; this enhancement of the conductance should be readily observable by sweeping the magnetic field across the spin-flop transition. The results from such experiments may, on the one hand, enhance our understanding of spin transport near a phase transition, and on the other be useful for applications that require a large degree of tunability of spin currents. In contrast, the spin Seebeck coefficient does not diverge at the spin-flop transition. Furthermore, the spin Seebeck coefficient is finite even at zero magnetic field, provided that the normal metal contacts break the symmetry between the antiferromagnetic sublattices.

Spin-valley locking in the normal state of a transition-metal dichalcogenide superconductor.

PubMed

Bawden, L; Cooil, S P; Mazzola, F; Riley, J M; Collins-McIntyre, L J; Sunko, V; Hunvik, K W B; Leandersson, M; Polley, C M; Balasubramanian, T; Kim, T K; Hoesch, M; Wells, J W; Balakrishnan, G; Bahramy, M S; King, P D C

2016-05-23

Metallic transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are benchmark systems for studying and controlling intertwined electronic orders in solids, with superconductivity developing from a charge-density wave state. The interplay between such phases is thought to play a critical role in the unconventional superconductivity of cuprates, Fe-based and heavy-fermion systems, yet even for the more moderately-correlated TMDCs, their nature and origins have proved controversial. Here, we study a prototypical example, 2H-NbSe2, by spin- and angle-resolved photoemission and first-principles theory. We find that the normal state, from which its hallmark collective phases emerge, is characterized by quasiparticles whose spin is locked to their valley pseudospin. This results from a combination of strong spin-orbit interactions and local inversion symmetry breaking, while interlayer coupling further drives a rich three-dimensional momentum dependence of the underlying Fermi-surface spin texture. These findings necessitate a re-investigation of the nature of charge order and superconducting pairing in NbSe2 and related TMDCs.

Stability of cosmological detonation fronts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mégevand, Ariel; Membiela, Federico Agustín

2014-05-01

The steady-state propagation of a phase-transition front is classified, according to hydrodynamics, as a deflagration or a detonation, depending on its velocity with respect to the fluid. These propagation modes are further divided into three types, namely, weak, Jouguet, and strong solutions, according to their disturbance of the fluid. However, some of these hydrodynamic modes will not be realized in a phase transition. One particular cause is the presence of instabilities. In this work we study the linear stability of weak detonations, which are generally believed to be stable. After discussing in detail the weak detonation solution, we consider small perturbations of the interface and the fluid configuration. When the balance between the driving and friction forces is taken into account, it turns out that there are actually two different kinds of weak detonations, which behave very differently as functions of the parameters. We show that the branch of stronger weak detonations are unstable, except very close to the Jouguet point, where our approach breaks down.

Structural transition and amorphization in compressed α - Sb 2 O 3

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Zhao; Zeng, Qiaoshi; Zhang, Haijun; ...

2015-05-27

Sb₂O₃-based materials are of broad interest in materials science and industry. High-pressure study using diamond anvil cells shows promise in obtaining new crystal and electronic structures different from their pristine states. Here, we conducted in situ angle dispersive synchrotron x-ray-diffraction and Raman spectroscopy experiments on α-Sb₂O₃ up to 50 GPa with neon as the pressure transmitting medium. A first-order structural transition was observed in between 15 and 20 GPa, where the cubic phase I gradually transformed into a layered tetragonal phase II through structural distortion and symmetry breaking. To explain the dramatic changes in sample color and transparency, we performedmore » first-principles calculations to track the evolution of its density of states and electronic structure under pressure. At higher pressure, a sluggish amorphization was observed. Our results highlight the structural connections among the sesquioxides, where the lone electron pair plays an important role in determining the local structures.« less

Observation and analysis of in vivo vocal fold tissue instabilities produced by nonlinear source-filter coupling: A case studya

PubMed Central

Zañartu, Matías; Mehta, Daryush D.; Ho, Julio C.; Wodicka, George R.; Hillman, Robert E.

2011-01-01

Different source-related factors can lead to vocal fold instabilities and bifurcations referred to as voice breaks. Nonlinear coupling in phonation suggests that changes in acoustic loading can also be responsible for this unstable behavior. However, no in vivo visualization of tissue motion during these acoustically induced instabilities has been reported. Simultaneous recordings of laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy, acoustics, aerodynamics, electroglottography, and neck skin acceleration are obtained from a participant consistently exhibiting voice breaks during pitch glide maneuvers. Results suggest that acoustically induced and source-induced instabilities can be distinguished at the tissue level. Differences in vibratory patterns are described through kymography and phonovibrography; measures of glottal area, open∕speed quotient, and amplitude∕phase asymmetry; and empirical orthogonal function decomposition. Acoustically induced tissue instabilities appear abruptly and exhibit irregular vocal fold motion after the bifurcation point, whereas source-induced ones show a smoother transition. These observations are also reflected in the acoustic and acceleration signals. Added aperiodicity is observed after the acoustically induced break, and harmonic changes appear prior to the bifurcation for the source-induced break. Both types of breaks appear to be subcritical bifurcations due to the presence of hysteresis and amplitude changes after the frequency jumps. These results are consistent with previous studies and the nonlinear source-filter coupling theory. PMID:21303014

Quantum phases of two-component bosons with spin-orbit coupling in optical lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Daisuke; Spielman, I. B.; Sá de Melo, C. A. R.

2017-12-01

Ultracold bosons in optical lattices are one of the few systems where bosonic matter is known to exhibit strong correlations. Here we push the frontier of our understanding of interacting bosons in optical lattices by adding synthetic spin-orbit coupling, and show that new kinds of density and chiral orders develop. The competition between the optical lattice period and the spin-orbit coupling length—which can be made comparable in experiments—along with the spin hybridization induced by a transverse field (i.e., Rabi coupling) and interparticle interactions create a rich variety of quantum phases including uniform, nonuniform, and phase-separated superfluids, as well as Mott insulators. The spontaneous symmetry-breaking phenomena at the transitions between them are explained by a two-order-parameter Ginzburg-Landau model with multiparticle umklapp processes. Finally, in order to characterize each phase, we calculated their experimentally measurable crystal momentum distributions.

On the transition between two-phase and single-phase interface dynamics in multicomponent fluids at supercritical pressures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahms, Rainer N.; Oefelein, Joseph C.

2013-09-01

A theory that explains the operating pressures where liquid injection processes transition from exhibiting classical two-phase spray atomization phenomena to single-phase diffusion-dominated mixing is presented. Imaging from a variety of experiments have long shown that under certain conditions, typically when the pressure of the working fluid exceeds the thermodynamic critical pressure of the liquid phase, the presence of discrete two-phase flow processes become diminished. Instead, the classical gas-liquid interface is replaced by diffusion-dominated mixing. When and how this transition occurs, however, is not well understood. Modern theory still lacks a physically based model to quantify this transition and the precise mechanisms that lead to it. In this paper, we derive a new model that explains how the transition occurs in multicomponent fluids and present a detailed analysis to quantify it. The model applies a detailed property evaluation scheme based on a modified 32-term Benedict-Webb-Rubin equation of state that accounts for the relevant real-fluid thermodynamic and transport properties of the multicomponent system. This framework is combined with Linear Gradient Theory, which describes the detailed molecular structure of the vapor-liquid interface region. Our analysis reveals that the two-phase interface breaks down not necessarily due to vanishing surface tension forces, but due to thickened interfaces at high subcritical temperatures coupled with an inherent reduction of the mean free molecular path. At a certain point, the combination of reduced surface tension, the thicker interface, and reduced mean free molecular path enter the continuum length scale regime. When this occurs, inter-molecular forces approach that of the multicomponent continuum where transport processes dominate across the interfacial region. This leads to a continuous phase transition from compressed liquid to supercritical mixture states. Based on this theory, a regime diagram for liquid injection is developed that quantifies the conditions under which classical sprays transition to dense-fluid jets. It is shown that the chamber pressure required to support diffusion-dominated mixing dynamics depends on the composition and temperature of the injected liquid and ambient gas. To illustrate the method and analysis, we use conditions typical of diesel engine injection. We also present a companion set of high-speed images to provide experimental validation of the presented theory. The basic theory is quite general and applies to a wide range of modern propulsion and power systems such as liquid rockets, gas turbines, and reciprocating engines. Interestingly, the regime diagram associated with diesel engine injection suggests that classical spray phenomena at typical injection conditions do not occur.

Magnetocaloric effect, thermal conductivity, and magnetostriction of epoxy-bonded La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 hydrides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, K.; Murayama, D.; Takeshita, M.; Ura, Y.; Abe, S.; Numazawa, T.; Takata, H.; Matsumoto, Y.; Kuriiwa, T.

2017-09-01

Magnetic materials with large magnetocaloric effect are significantly important for magnetic refrigeration. La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 compounds are one of the promising magnetocaloric materials that have a first order magnetic phase transition. Transition temperature of hydrogenated La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 increased up to room temperature region while keeping metamagnetic transition properties. From view point of practical usage, bonded composite are very attractive and their properties are important. We made epoxy bonded La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 hydrides. Magnetocaloric effect was studied by measuring specific heat, magnetization, and temperature change in adiabatic demagnetization. The composite had about 20% smaller entropy change from the hydrogenated La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13 powder in 2 T. Thermal conductivity of the composite was several times smaller than La(Fe,Si)13. The small thermal conductivity was explained due to the small thermal conductivity of epoxy. Thermal conductivity was observed to be insensitive to magnetic field in 2 T. Thermal expansion and magnetostriction of the composite material were measured. The composite expanded about 0.25% when it entered into ferromagnetic phase. Magnetostriction of the composite in ferromagnetic phase was about 0.2% in 5 T and much larger than that in paramagnetic phase. The composite didn’t break after about 100 times magnetic field changes in adiabatic demagnetization experiment even though it has magnetostriction.

Three-dimensional characterization and control of Tollmien-Schlichting waves on a flat plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuna, Burak; Amitay, Michael

2014-11-01

Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) waves are instability waves inside the boundary layer which are the prime mechanism for the transition from laminar to turbulent flows. The T-S waves grow in amplitude and develop three-dimensionality as they advect downstream. At sufficiently large amplitude they break up into turbulent spots, followed by a turbulent flow, which yields a drag increase. The present work aims to identify the T-S waves and reduce their amplitude to delay transition to turbulence. For that propose, Piezoelectric-Driven Oscillating Surface (PDOS) actuator was developed; Two PDOS actuators were used are two stream wise locations. The upstream PDOS was used to excite and phase-lock the T-S waves, and the downstream PDOS was used to cancel the T-S waves by applying an anti phase disturbance at the proper amplitude. Stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) was used to identify the three-dimensional development of the T-S waves along the flat plate. Moreover, the SPIV results showed that reduction of peak values of velocity fluctuations due to the T-S waves could be achieved, and this reduction corresponds to a delay of laminar to turbulent transition.

Polyad breaking phenomenon associated with a local-to-normal mode transition and suitability to estimate force constants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bermúdez-Montaña, M.; Lemus, R.; Castaños, O.

2017-12-01

In a system of two interacting harmonic oscillators a local-to-normal mode transition is manifested as a polyad breaking phenomenon. This phenomenon is associated with the suitability to estimate zeroth-order force constants in the framework of a local mode description. This transition is also exhibited in two interacting Morse oscillators. To study this case, an appropriate parameterisation going from a molecule with local mode behaviour (H2O) to a molecule presenting a normal mode behaviour (CO2) is introduced. Concepts from quantum mechanics like fidelity, entropy and probability density, as well from nonlinear classical mechanics like Poincaré sections are used to detect the transition region. It is found that fidelity and entropy are sensitive complementary properties to detect the local-to-normal transition. Poincaré sections allow the local-to-normal transition to be detected through the appearance of chaos as a consequence of the polyad breaking phenomenon. In addition, two kinds of avoided energy crossings are identified in accordance with the different regions of the spectrum.

Ab initio and shell model studies of structural, thermoelastic and vibrational properties of SnO2 under pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casali, R. A.; Lasave, J.; Caravaca, M. A.; Koval, S.; Ponce, C. A.; Migoni, R. L.

2013-04-01

The pressure dependences of the structural, thermoelastic and vibrational properties of SnO2 in its rutile phase are studied, as well as the pressure-induced transition to a CaCl2-type phase. These studies have been performed by means of ab initio (AI) density functional theory calculations using the localized basis code SIESTA. The results are employed to develop a shell model (SM) for application in future studies of nanostructured SnO2. A good agreement of the SM results for the pressure dependences of the above properties with the ones obtained from present and previous AI calculations as well as from experiments is achieved. The transition is characterized by a rotation of the Sn-centered oxygen octahedra around the tetragonal axis through the Sn. This rotation breaks the tetragonal symmetry of the lattice and an orthorhombic distortion appears above the critical pressure Pc. A zone-center phonon of B1g symmetry in the rutile phase involves such rotation and softens on approaching Pc. It becomes an Ag mode which stabilizes with increasing pressure in the CaCl2 phase. This behavior, together with the softening of the shear modulus (C11-C12)/2 related to the orthorhombic distortion, allows a precise determination of a value for Pc. An additional determination is provided by the splitting of the basal plane lattice parameters. Both the AI and the experimentally observed softening of the B1g mode are incomplete, indicating a small discontinuity at the transition. However, all results show continuous changes in volume and lattice parameters, indicating a second-order transition. All these results indicate that there should be sufficient confidence for the future employment of the shell model.

[Breaking bad news in oncology: the Belgian experience].

PubMed

Delevallez, F; Lienard, A; Gibon, A-S; Razavi, D

2014-10-01

Breaking bad news is a complex and frequent clinical task for physicians working in oncology. It can have a negative impact on patients and their relatives who are often present during breaking bad news consultations. Many factors influence how the delivery of bad news will be experienced especially the communication skills used by physicians. A three-phase process (post-delivery phase, delivery phase, pre-delivery phase) has been developed to help physician to handle this task more effectively. Communication skills and specific breaking bad news training programs are both necessary and effective. A recent study conducted in Belgium has shown their impact on the time allocated to each of the three phases of this process, on the communication skills used, on the inclusion of the relative in the consultation and on physicians' physiological arousal. These results underscore the importance of promoting intensive communication skills and breaking bad news training programs for health care professionals.

Superconductivity. Observation of broken time-reversal symmetry in the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt₃.

PubMed

Schemm, E R; Gannon, W J; Wishne, C M; Halperin, W P; Kapitulnik, A

2014-07-11

Models of superconductivity in unconventional materials can be experimentally differentiated by the predictions they make for the symmetries of the superconducting order parameter. In the case of the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt3, a key question is whether its multiple superconducting phases preserve or break time-reversal symmetry (TRS). We tested for asymmetry in the phase shift between left and right circularly polarized light reflected from a single crystal of UPt3 at normal incidence and found that this so-called polar Kerr effect appears only below the lower of the two zero-field superconducting transition temperatures. Our results provide evidence for broken TRS in the low-temperature superconducting phase of UPt3, implying a complex two-component order parameter for superconductivity in this system. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Filling-enforced nonsymmorphic Kondo semimetals in two dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pixley, J. H.; Lee, SungBin; Brandom, B.; Parameswaran, S. A.

2017-08-01

We study the competition between Kondo screening and frustrated magnetism on the nonsymmorphic Shastry-Sutherland Kondo lattice at a filling of two conduction electrons per unit cell. This model is known to host a set of gapless partially Kondo screened phases intermediate between the Kondo-destroyed paramagnet and the heavy Fermi liquid. Based on crystal symmetries, we argue that (i) both the paramagnet and the heavy Fermi liquid are semimetals protected by a glide symmetry; and (ii) partial Kondo screening breaks the symmetry, removing this protection and allowing the partially Kondo screened phase to be deformed into a Kondo insulator via a Lifshitz transition. We confirm these results using large-N mean-field theory and then use nonperturbative arguments to derive a generalized Luttinger sum rule constraining the phase structure of two-dimensional nonsymmorphic Kondo lattices beyond the mean-field limit.

Topological transitions induced by antiferromagnetism in a thin-film topological insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Gen; He, Qinglin; Yu, Luyan; Pan, Lei; Wang, Kang

Ferromagnetism introduced in topological insulators (TIs) opens a non-trivial exchange band gap, providing an exciting platform to control the topological order through an external magnetic field. The magnetization induces a topological transition that breaks time-reversal symmetry, resulting in anomalous Hall effects. Recently, it was experimentally shown that the surface of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) thin film can magnetize the surface Dirac fermions in a TI thin film similar to the case induced by ferromagnetism. Here, we show that when a TI thin film is sandwiched between two antiferromagnetic layers, an unsynchronized magnetic reversal introduces two intermediate spin configurations during the scan of the external field, resulting in a new topological phase with second Chern numbers. This topological phase introduces two counter-propagating chiral edge modes inside the exchange gap, changing the total number of transport channels drastically when the fermi level is close to the Dirac point. Induced by this change, the magnetoresistance of the channel presents an antisymmetric feature during the field scan. With the the help of the high ordering temperature of AFM layers, this transport signature of the phase transition persists up to 90K experimentally. This work is supported by (i) SHINES, an EFRC by US-DOE, Office of Science, BES, #SC0012670. (ii) US-NSF (DMR-1411085), (iii) ARO program W911NF-15-1-10561, and (iv) FAME Center in STARnet, an SRC program by MARCO and DARPA.

Emergent Phenomena at Oxide Interfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hwang, H.Y.

2012-02-16

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are an ideal arena for the study of electronic correlations because the s-electrons of the transition metal ions are removed and transferred to oxygen ions, and hence the strongly correlated d-electrons determine their physical properties such as electrical transport, magnetism, optical response, thermal conductivity, and superconductivity. These electron correlations prohibit the double occupancy of metal sites and induce a local entanglement of charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom. This gives rise to a variety of phenomena, e.g., Mott insulators, various charge/spin/orbital orderings, metal-insulator transitions, multiferroics, and superconductivity. In recent years, there has been a burstmore » of activity to manipulate these phenomena, as well as create new ones, using oxide heterostructures. Most fundamental to understanding the physical properties of TMOs is the concept of symmetry of the order parameter. As Landau recognized, the essence of phase transitions is the change of the symmetry. For example, ferromagnetic ordering breaks the rotational symmetry in spin space, i.e., the ordered phase has lower symmetry than the Hamiltonian of the system. There are three most important symmetries to be considered here. (i) Spatial inversion (I), defined as r {yields} -r. In the case of an insulator, breaking this symmetry can lead to spontaneous electric polarization, i.e. ferroelectricity, or pyroelectricity once the point group belongs to polar group symmetry. (ii) Time-reversal symmetry (T) defined as t {yields} -t. In quantum mechanics, the time-evolution of the wave-function {Psi} is given by the phase factor e{sup -iEt/{h_bar}} with E being the energy, and hence time-reversal basically corresponds to taking the complex conjugate of the wave-function. Also the spin, which is induced by the 'spinning' of the particle, is reversed by time-reversal. Broken T-symmetry is most naturally associated with magnetism, since the spin operator changes sign with T-operation. (iii) Gauge symmetry (G), which is associated with a change in the phase of the wave-function as {Psi} {yields} e{sup i{theta}}{Psi}. Gauge symmetry is connected to the law of charge conservation, and broken G-symmetry corresponds to superconductivity/superfluidity. To summarize, the interplay among these electronic degrees of freedom produces various forms of symmetry breaking patterns of I, T, and G, leading to novel emergent phenomena, which can appear only by the collective behavior of electrons and cannot be expected from individual electrons. Figure 1 shows this schematically by means of several representative phenomena. From this viewpoint, the interfaces of TMOs offer a unique and important laboratory because I is already broken by the structure itself, and the detailed form of broken I-symmetry can often be designed. Also, two-dimensionality usually enhances the effects of electron correlations by reducing their kinetic energy. These two features of oxide interfaces produce many novel effects and functions that cannot be attained in bulk form. Given that the electromagnetic responses are a major source of the physical properties of solids, and new gauge structures often appear in correlated electronic systems, we put 'emergent electromagnetism' at the center of Fig. 1.« less

How Does Definition of Minimum Break Length Affect Objective Measures of Sitting Outcomes Among Office Workers?

PubMed

Kloster, Stine; Danquah, Ida Høgstedt; Holtermann, Andreas; Aadahl, Mette; Tolstrup, Janne Schurmann

2017-01-01

Harmful health effects associated with sedentary behavior may be attenuated by breaking up long periods of sitting by standing or walking. However, studies assess interruptions in sitting time differently, making comparisons between studies difficult. It has not previously been described how the definition of minimum break duration affects sitting outcomes. Therefore, the aim was to address how definitions of break length affect total sitting time, number of sit-to-stand transitions, prolonged sitting periods and time accumulated in prolonged sitting periods among office workers. Data were collected from 317 office workers. Thigh position was assessed with an ActiGraph GT3X+ fixed on the right thigh. Data were exported with varying bout length of breaks. Afterward, sitting outcomes were calculated for the respective break lengths. Absolute numbers of sit-to-stand transitions decreased, and number of prolonged sitting periods and total time accumulated in prolonged sitting periods increased, with increasing minimum break length. Total sitting time was not influenced by varying break length. The definition of minimum break length influenced the sitting outcomes with the exception of total sitting time. A standard definition of break length is needed for comparison and interpretation of studies in the evolving research field of sedentary behavior.

Viable twin cosmology from neutrino mixing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Csáki, Csaba; Kuflik, Eric; Lombardo, Salvator

2017-09-01

Twin Higgs models solve the little hierarchy problem without introducing new colored particles; however, they are often in tension with measurements of the radiation density at late times. Here we explore viable cosmological histories for twin Higgs models. In particular, we show that mixing between the Standard Model (SM) and twin neutrinos can thermalize the two sectors below the twin QCD phase transition, significantly reducing the twin sector's contribution to the radiation density. The requisite twin neutrino masses of O (1 - 20 ) GeV and mixing angle with SM neutrinos of 10-3-10-5 can be probed in a variety of current and planned experiments. We further find that these parameters can be naturally accessed in a warped UV completion, where the neutrino sector can also generate the Z2-breaking Higgs mass term needed to produce the hierarchy between the symmetry breaking scales f and v .

Broken rotational symmetry on the Fermi surface of a high-Tc superconductor

DOE PAGES

Ramshaw, B. J.; Harrison, N.; Sebastian, S. E.; ...

2017-02-13

Broken fourfold rotational (C 4) symmetry is observed in the experimental properties of several classes of unconventional superconductors. It has been proposed that this symmetry breaking is important for superconducting pairing in these materials, but in the high-T c cuprates this broken symmetry has never been observed on the Fermi surface. Here we report a pronounced anisotropy in the angle dependence of the interlayer magnetoresistance of the underdoped high transition temperature (high-T c) superconductor YBa 2Cu 3O 6.58, directly revealing broken C 4 symmetry on the Fermi surface. Moreover, we demonstrate that this Fermi surface has C 2 symmetry ofmore » the type produced by a uniaxial or anisotropic density-wave phase. This establishes the central role of C 4 symmetry breaking in the Fermi surface reconstruction of YBa 2Cu 3O 6+δ , and suggests a striking degree of universality among unconventional superconductors.« less

Phonon properties of iron-based superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Yuhit; Goyal, Megha; Sinha, M. M.

2018-05-01

Earlier, it was thought there is antagonist relationship between superconductivity and ferromagnetic materials, But, a discovery of iron-based superconductors have removed this misconception. It gives an idea to make a review on the superconductivity properties of different materials. The new iron-based superconductors' present symmetry breaking competing phases in the form of tetragonal to orthorhombic transition. It consists of mainly four families [1111], [111], [122], and [11] type. Superconductivity of iron-based superconductors mainly related with the phonons and there is an excellent relation between phonons and superconductivity. Phonons properties are helpful in predicting the superconducting properties of materials. Phonon properties of iron-based superconductors in various phases are summarized in this study. We are presenting the review of phonon properties of iron-based superconductors.

Topological nodal superconducting phases and topological phase transition in the hyperhoneycomb lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouhon, Adrien; Schmidt, Johann; Black-Schaffer, Annica M.

2018-03-01

We establish the topology of the spin-singlet superconducting states in the bare hyperhoneycomb lattice, and we derive analytically the full phase diagram using only symmetry and topology in combination with simple energy arguments. The phase diagram is dominated by two states preserving time-reversal symmetry. We find a line-nodal state dominating at low doping levels that is topologically nontrivial and exhibits surface Majorana flatbands, which we show perfectly match the bulk-boundary correspondence using the Berry phase approach. At higher doping levels, we find a fully gapped state with trivial topology. By analytically calculating the topological invariant of the nodal lines, we derive the critical point between the line-nodal and fully gapped states as a function of both pairing parameters and doping. We find that the line-nodal state is favored not only at lower doping levels but also if symmetry-allowed deformations of the lattice are present. Adding simple energy arguments, we establish that a fully gapped state with broken time-reversal symmetry likely appears covering the actual phase transition. We find this fully gapped state to be topologically trivial, while we find an additional point-nodal state at very low doing levels that also break time-reversal symmetry and has nontrivial topology with associated Fermi surface arcs. We eventually address the robustness of the phase diagram to generalized models also including adiabatic spin-orbit coupling, and we show how all but the point-nodal state are reasonably stable.

Complete analysis of ensemble inequivalence in the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hovhannisyan, V. V.; Ananikian, N. S.; Campa, A.; Ruffo, S.

2017-12-01

We study inequivalence of canonical and microcanonical ensembles in the mean-field Blume-Emery-Griffiths model. This generalizes previous results obtained for the Blume-Capel model. The phase diagram strongly depends on the value of the biquadratic exchange interaction K , the additional feature present in the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model. At small values of K , as for the Blume-Capel model, lines of first- and second-order phase transitions between a ferromagnetic and a paramagnetic phase are present, separated by a tricritical point whose location is different in the two ensembles. At higher values of K the phase diagram changes substantially, with the appearance of a triple point in the canonical ensemble, which does not find any correspondence in the microcanonical ensemble. Moreover, one of the first-order lines that starts from the triple point ends in a critical point, whose position in the phase diagram is different in the two ensembles. This line separates two paramagnetic phases characterized by a different value of the quadrupole moment. These features were not previously studied for other models and substantially enrich the landscape of ensemble inequivalence, identifying new aspects that had been discussed in a classification of phase transitions based on singularity theory. Finally, we discuss ergodicity breaking, which is highlighted by the presence of gaps in the accessible values of magnetization at low energies: it also displays new interesting patterns that are not present in the Blume-Capel model.

Dynamics of scroll waves with time-delay propagation in excitable media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jiang-Xing; Xiao, Jie; Qiao, Li-Yan; Xu, Jiang-Rong

2018-06-01

Information transmission delay can be widely observed in various systems. Here, we study the dynamics of scroll waves with time-delay propagation among slices in excitable media. Weak time delay induces scroll waves to meander. Through increasing the time delay, we find a series of dynamical transitions. Firstly, the straight filament of a scroll wave becomes twisted. Then, the scroll wave breaks and forms interesting patterns. With long time delay, loosed scroll waves are maintained while their period are greatly decreased. Also, cylinder waves appears. The influences of diffusively coupling strength on the time-delay-induced scroll waves are studied. It is found that the critical time delay characterizing those transitions decreases as the coupling strength is increased. A phase diagram in the diffusive coupling-time delay plane is presented.

Breaking Quantum and Thermal Limits on Precision Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, James K.

2016-05-01

I will give an overview of our efforts to use correlations and entanglement between many atoms to overcome quantum and thermal limits on precision measurements. In the first portion of my talk, I will present a path toward a 10000 times reduced sensitivity to the thermal mirror motion that limits the linewidth of today's best lasers. By utilizing narrow atomic transitions, the laser's phase information is primarily stored in the atomic gain medium rather than in the vibration-sensitive cavity field. To this end, I will present the first observation of lasing based on the mHz linewidth optical-clock transition in a laser-cooled ensemble of strontium atoms. In the second portion of my talk, I will describe how we use collective measurements to surpass the standard quantum limit on phase estimation 1 /√{ N} for N unentangled atoms. We achieve a directly observed reduction in phase variance relative to the standard quantum limit of as much as 17.7(6) dB. Supported by DARPA QuASAR, NIST, ARO, and NSF PFC. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1125844 Physics Frontier Center.

Experimental evidences of the Gardner phase in a granular glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dauchot, Olivier; Seguin, Antoine

The constituent particles of a glass are caged by their neighbors and thus cannot relax density fluctuations. This is also true for hard particles under compression. The associated slowing down of the dynamics is related to a complex free energy landscape. It was recently shown theoretically that the hard sphere glass in infinite dimension undergoes a Gardner transition, at which the glass basin breaks into a hierarchy of marginally stable sub-basins. This was very recently confirmed in simulations of 2d and 3d hard sphere (HS) glasses. We present the first direct experimental evidences of the Gardner phase, taking advantage of a well controlled granular experiment, which has already proven to successfully probe the vicinity of the jamming transition in a bi-dimensional granular glass former. More precisely, we perform independent compressions of a carefully prepared granular glass and show that for large enough compression, the final state differs from one compression to another. To do so we compare the average cage size within one state, and the average distance separating the cages of the same particles across successive compression cycles. The latter plateaus to a constant value, when entering the Gardner phase.

Effect of Phase-Breaking Events on Electron Transport in Mesoscopic and Nanodevices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meunier, Vincent; Mintmire, John W; Thushari, Jayasekera

2008-01-01

Existing ballistic models for electron transport in mesoscopic and nanoscale systems break down as the size of the device becomes longer than the phase coherence length of electrons in the system. Krstic et al. experimentally observed that the current in single-wall carbon nanotube systems can be regarded as a combination of a coherent part and a noncoherent part. In this article, we discuss the use of Buettiker phase-breaking technique to address partially coherent electron transport, generalize that to a multichannel problem, and then study the effect of phase-breaking events on the electron transport in two-terminal graphene nanoribbon devices. We alsomore » investigate the difference between the pure-phase randomization and phase/momentum randomization boundary conditions. While momentum randomization adds an extra resistance caused by backward scattering, pure-phase randomization smooths the conductance oscillations because of interference.« less

Double-stage nematic bond ordering above double stripe magnetism: Application to BaTi 2 Sb 2 O

DOE PAGES

Zhang, G.; Glasbrenner, J. K.; Flint, R.; ...

2017-05-01

Spin-driven nemore » maticity, or the breaking of the point-group symmetry of the lattice without long-range magnetic order, is clearly quite important in iron-based superconductors. From a symmetry point of view, nematic order can be described as a coherent locking of spin fluctuations in two interpenetrating Néel sublattices with ensuing nearest-neighbor bond order and an absence of static magnetism. In this paper, we argue that the low-temperature state of the recently discovered superconductor BaTi 2 Sb 2 O is a strong candidate for a more exotic form of spin-driven nematic order, in which fluctuations occurring in four Néel sublattices promote both nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor bond order. We develop a low-energy field theory of this state and show that it can have, as a function of temperature, up to two separate bond-order phase transitions, namely, one that breaks rotation symmetry and one that breaks reflection and translation symmetries of the lattice. The resulting state has an orthorhombic lattice distortion, an intra-unit-cell charge density wave, and no long-range magnetic order, all consistent with reported measurements of the low-temperature phase of BaTi 2 Sb 2 O . Finally, we then use density functional theory calculations to extract exchange parameters to confirm that the model is applicable to BaTi 2 Sb 2 O .« less

Double-stage nematic bond ordering above double stripe magnetism: Application to BaTi 2 Sb 2 O

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, G.; Glasbrenner, J. K.; Flint, R.

Spin-driven nemore » maticity, or the breaking of the point-group symmetry of the lattice without long-range magnetic order, is clearly quite important in iron-based superconductors. From a symmetry point of view, nematic order can be described as a coherent locking of spin fluctuations in two interpenetrating Néel sublattices with ensuing nearest-neighbor bond order and an absence of static magnetism. In this paper, we argue that the low-temperature state of the recently discovered superconductor BaTi 2 Sb 2 O is a strong candidate for a more exotic form of spin-driven nematic order, in which fluctuations occurring in four Néel sublattices promote both nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor bond order. We develop a low-energy field theory of this state and show that it can have, as a function of temperature, up to two separate bond-order phase transitions, namely, one that breaks rotation symmetry and one that breaks reflection and translation symmetries of the lattice. The resulting state has an orthorhombic lattice distortion, an intra-unit-cell charge density wave, and no long-range magnetic order, all consistent with reported measurements of the low-temperature phase of BaTi 2 Sb 2 O . Finally, we then use density functional theory calculations to extract exchange parameters to confirm that the model is applicable to BaTi 2 Sb 2 O .« less

Effects of flavor-symmetry violation from staggered fermion lattice simulations of graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giedt, Joel; Nayak, Saroj; Skinner, Andrew

2011-01-15

We analyze the effects of flavor splitting from staggered fermion lattice simulations of a low-energy effective theory for graphene. Both the unimproved action and the tadpole-improved action with a Naik term show significant flavor-symmetry breaking in the spectrum of the Dirac operator. Note that this is true even in the vicinity of the second-order phase transition point where it has been argued that the flavor-symmetry breaking should be small due to the continuum limit being approached. We show that at weaker couplings the flavor splitting is drastically reduced by stout link smearing, while this mechanism is ineffective at the strongermore » couplings relevant to suspended graphene. We also measure the average plaquette and describe how it calls for a reinterpretation of previous lattice Monte Carlo simulation results, due to tadpole improvement. After taking into account these effects, we conclude that previous lattice simulations are possibly indicative of an insulating phase, although the effective number of light flavors could be effectively less than two due to the flavor-splitting effects. If that is true, then simulations with truly chiral fermions (such as overlap fermions) are needed in order to settle the question.« less

Transition from homogeneous to inhomogeneous limit cycles: Effect of local filtering in coupled oscillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Tanmoy; Biswas, Debabrata; Ghosh, Debarati; Bandyopadhyay, Biswabibek; Kurths, Jürgen

2018-04-01

We report an interesting symmetry-breaking transition in coupled identical oscillators, namely, the continuous transition from homogeneous to inhomogeneous limit cycle oscillations. The observed transition is the oscillatory analog of the Turing-type symmetry-breaking transition from amplitude death (i.e., stable homogeneous steady state) to oscillation death (i.e., stable inhomogeneous steady state). This novel transition occurs in the parametric zone of occurrence of rhythmogenesis and oscillation death as a consequence of the presence of local filtering in the coupling path. We consider paradigmatic oscillators, such as Stuart-Landau and van der Pol oscillators, under mean-field coupling with low-pass or all-pass filtered self-feedback and through a rigorous bifurcation analysis we explore the genesis of this transition. Further, we experimentally demonstrate the observed transition, which establishes its robustness in the presence of parameter fluctuations and noise.

The structural phases and vibrational properties of Mo1-xWxTe2 alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliver, Sean M.; Beams, Ryan; Krylyuk, Sergiy; Kalish, Irina; Singh, Arunima K.; Bruma, Alina; Tavazza, Francesca; Joshi, Jaydeep; Stone, Iris R.; Stranick, Stephan J.; Davydov, Albert V.; Vora, Patrick M.

2017-12-01

The structural polymorphism in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provides exciting opportunities for developing advanced electronics. For example, MoTe2 crystallizes in the 2H semiconducting phase at ambient temperature and pressure, but transitions into the 1T‧ semimetallic phase at high temperatures. Alloying MoTe2 with WTe2 reduces the energy barrier between these two phases, while also allowing access to the T d Weyl semimetal phase. The \\text{M}{{\\text{o}}1-\\text{x}} WxTe2 alloy system is therefore promising for developing phase change memory technology. However, achieving this goal necessitates a detailed understanding of the phase composition in the MoTe2-WTe2 system. We combine polarization-resolved Raman spectroscopy with x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) to study bulk \\text{M}{{\\text{o}}1-\\text{x}} WxTe2 alloys over the full compositional range x from 0 to 1. We identify Raman and XRD signatures characteristic of the 2H, 1T‧, and T d structural phases that agree with density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, and use them to identify phase fields in the MoTe2-WTe2 system, including single-phase 2H, 1T‧, and T d regions, as well as a two-phase 1T‧  +  T d region. Disorder arising from compositional fluctuations in \\text{M}{{\\text{o}}1-\\text{x}} WxTe2 alloys breaks inversion and translational symmetry, leading to the activation of an infrared 1T‧-MoTe2 mode and the enhancement of a double-resonance Raman process in \\text{2H-M}{{\\text{o}}1-\\text{x}} WxTe2 alloys. Compositional fluctuations limit the phonon correlation length, which we estimate by fitting the observed asymmetric Raman lineshapes with a phonon confinement model. These observations reveal the important role of disorder in \\text{M}{{\\text{o}}1-\\text{x}} WxTe2 alloys, clarify the structural phase boundaries, and provide a foundation for future explorations of phase transitions and electronic phenomena in this system.

Conformer-specific microwave spectroscopy of 3-phenylpropionitrile by strong field coherence breaking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fritz, Sean M.; Hernandez-Castillo, A. O.; Abeysekera, Chamara; Hays, Brian M.; Zwier, Timothy S.

2018-07-01

Strong field coherence breaking (SFCB) was used with a chirped-pulse Fourier Transform microwave spectrometer to obtain conformer-specific rotational spectra of 3-phenylpropionitrile in the 8-18 GHz region. Transitions belonging to anti and gauche conformers were identified and assigned and accurate experimental rotational constants were determined to provide insight to the molecular structure. Experimental rotational transitions provided relative abundances in the supersonic expansion. A modified line picking scheme was developed in the process to modulate more transitions and improve the overall efficiency of the SFCB multiple selective excitation technique.

Antiferromagnetic Chern Insulators in Noncentrosymmetric Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Kun; Zhou, Sen; Dai, Xi; Wang, Ziqiang

2018-04-01

We investigate a new class of topological antiferromagnetic (AF) Chern insulators driven by electronic interactions in two-dimensional systems without inversion symmetry. Despite the absence of a net magnetization, AF Chern insulators (AFCI) possess a nonzero Chern number C and exhibit the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE). Their existence is guaranteed by the bifurcation of the boundary line of Weyl points between a quantum spin Hall insulator and a topologically trivial phase with the emergence of AF long-range order. As a concrete example, we study the phase structure of the honeycomb lattice Kane-Mele model as a function of the inversion-breaking ionic potential and the Hubbard interaction. We find an easy z axis C =1 AFCI phase and a spin-flop transition to a topologically trivial x y plane collinear antiferromagnet. We propose experimental realizations of the AFCI and QAHE in correlated electron materials and cold atom systems.

Forbidden phonon: Dynamical signature of bond symmetry breaking in the iron chalcogenides

DOE PAGES

Fobes, David M.; Zaliznyak, Igor A.; Tranquada, John M.; ...

2016-09-01

Investigation of the inelastic neutron scattering spectra in Fe 1+yTe 1₋xSe x near a signature wave vector Q=(1,0,0) for the bond-order wave (BOW) formation of parent compound Fe 1+yTe reveals an acoustic-phonon-like dispersion present in all structural phases. While a structural Bragg peak accompanies the mode in the low-temperature phase of Fe 1+yTe, it is absent in the high-temperature tetragonal phase, where Bragg scattering at this Q is forbidden by symmetry. Notably, this mode is also observed in superconducting FeTe 0.55Se 0.45, where structural and magnetic transitions are suppressed, and no BOW has been observed. Lastly, the presence of thismore » “forbidden” phonon indicates that the lattice symmetry is dynamically or locally broken by magneto-orbital BOW fluctuations, which are strongly coupled to lattice in these materials.« less

Nematic phase in the CE-regime of colossal magnetoresistive manganites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochoa, Emily; Sen, Cengiz; Dagotto, Elbio; Lamar/UTK Collaboration

We report nematic phase tendencies around the first order CE transition in the two-orbital double exchange model with Jahn-Teller phonons at electronic density n = 0 . 5 . Starting with a random state at high temperatures, we employ a careful cool-down method using a Monte Carlo algorithm. We then monitor the spin structure factor S (q) of the CE phase as a function of temperature. Near the critical temperature, S (q) grows with decreasing temperature for both right- and left-ordered CE ladders, followed by a spontaneous symmetry breaking into one or the other as the critical temperature is achieved. Below the critical temperature a pure CE state with a staggered charge order is obtained. Our results are similar to those observed in pnictides in earlier studies. Lamar University Office of Undergraduate Research, and U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.

Graphical Representations and Cluster Algorithms for Ice Rule Vertex Models.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shtengel, Kirill; Chayes, L.

2002-03-01

We introduce a new class of polymer models which is closely related to loop models, recently a topic of intensive studies. These particular models arise as graphical representations for ice-rule vertex models. The associated cluster algorithms provide a unification and generalisation of most of the existing algorithms. For many lattices, percolation in the polymer models evidently indicates first order phase transitions in the vertex models. Critical phases can be understood as being susceptible to colour symmetry breaking in the polymer models. The analysis includes, but is certainly not limited to the square lattice six-vertex model. In particular, analytic criteria can be found for low temperature phases in other even coordinated 2D lattices such as the triangular lattice, or higher dimensional lattices such as the hyper-cubic lattices of arbitrary dimensionality. Finally, our approach can be generalised to the vertex models that do not obey the ice rule, such as the eight-vertex model.

Direct observation of the Higgs amplitude mode in a two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet near the quantum critical point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Tao; Matsumoto, M.; Qiu, Y.; Chen, W. C.; Gentile, T. R.; Watson, S.; Awwadi, F. F.; Turnbull, M. M.; Dissanayake, S. E.; Agrawal, H.; Toft-Petersen, R.; Klemke, B.; Coester, K.; Schmidt, K. P.; Tennant, D. A.

The emergence of low-energy excitations in the spontaneous symmetry-breaking quantum phase transitions can be characterized by fluctuations of phase and amplitude of the order parameter. The phase oscillations correspond to the massless Nambu-Goldstone (or transverse) modes whereas the massive amplitude (or longitudinal) mode, analogous to the Higgs boson in particle physics, is prone to decay into a pair of low-energy Nambu-Goldstone modes in low dimensions, which makes it experimentally difficult to detect Here, using inelastic neutron scattering and applying the bondoperator theory, we directly and unambiguously identify the Higgs amplitude mode in a two dimensional S = 1/2 quantum antiferromagnet C9H18N2CuBr4 near a quantum critical point in two dimensions. Owing to an anisotropic energy gap of the transverse spin excitation, it kinematically prevents such decay and the Higgs amplitude mode acquires an infinite life time.

Exploring the zone of anisotropy and broken symmetries in DNA-mediated nanoparticle crystallization.

PubMed

O'Brien, Matthew N; Girard, Martin; Lin, Hai-Xin; Millan, Jaime A; Olvera de la Cruz, Monica; Lee, Byeongdu; Mirkin, Chad A

2016-09-20

In this work, we present a joint experimental and molecular dynamics simulations effort to understand and map the crystallization behavior of polyhedral nanoparticles assembled via the interaction of DNA surface ligands. In these systems, we systematically investigated the interplay between the effects of particle core (via the particle symmetry and particle size) and ligands (via the ligand length) on crystallization behavior. This investigation revealed rich phase diagrams, previously unobserved phase transitions in polyhedral crystallization behavior, and an unexpected symmetry breaking in the ligand distribution on a particle surface. To understand these results, we introduce the concept of a zone of anisotropy, or the portion of the phase space where the anisotropy of the particle is preserved in the crystallization behavior. Through comparison of the zone of anisotropy for each particle we develop a foundational roadmap to guide future investigations.

Selected inversion as key to a stable Langevin evolution across the QCD phase boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bloch, Jacques; Schenk, Olaf

2018-03-01

We present new results of full QCD at nonzero chemical potential. In PRD 92, 094516 (2015) the complex Langevin method was shown to break down when the inverse coupling decreases and enters the transition region from the deconfined to the confined phase. We found that the stochastic technique used to estimate the drift term can be very unstable for indefinite matrices. This may be avoided by using the full inverse of the Dirac operator, which is, however, too costly for four-dimensional lattices. The major breakthrough in this work was achieved by realizing that the inverse elements necessary for the drift term can be computed efficiently using the selected inversion technique provided by the parallel sparse direct solver package PARDISO. In our new study we show that no breakdown of the complex Langevin method is encountered and that simulations can be performed across the phase boundary.

Drop impact into a deep pool: vortex shedding and jet formation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agbaglah, G.; Thoraval, M. -J.; Thoroddsen, S. T.

2015-02-01

One of the simplest splashing scenarios results from the impact of a single drop on a deep pool. The traditional understanding of this process is that the impact generates an axisymmetric sheet-like jet that later breaks up into secondary droplets. Recently it was shown that even this simplest of scenarios is more complicated than expected because multiple jets can be generated from a single impact event and there are transitions in the multiplicity of jets as the experimental parameters are varied. Here, we use experiments and numerical simulations of a single drop impacting on a deep pool to examine themore » transition from impacts that produce a single jet to those that produce two jets. Using high-speed X-ray imaging methods we show that vortex separation within the drop leads to the formation of a second jet long after the formation of the ejecta sheet. Using numerical simulations we develop a phase diagram for this transition and show that the capillary number is the most appropriate order parameter for the transition.« less

Magnetic and Ferroelectric Anisotropy in Multiferroic FeVO4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelhamid, Ehab; Dixit, Ambesh; Kimura, Kenta; Kimura, Tsuyoshi; Jayakumar, Onattu; Naik, Vaman; Naik, Ratna; Lawes, Gavin; Nadgorny, Boris

FeVO4 has been studied as a model system for understanding the magnetoelectric interaction mechanisms in low symmetry multiferroics. Triclinic FeVO4 is characterized by two antiferromagnetic phase transitions, occurring at TN 1 = 22 K and TN 2 = 15 K, with the latter transition signaling a break in the space inversion symmetry, accompanied by the development of a non-collinear magnetic order which induces ferroelectricity. Earlier measurements on polycrystalline FeVO4 doped with magnetic (Cr and Mn) as well as non magnetic (Zn) dopants indicate the stability of the two antiferromagnetic transition temperatures. In this work, single crystals of both undoped and doped FeVO4 were grown from flux. To track the changes in lattice parameters induced by changing the doping concentration (measured by EDAX), XRD and Raman spectra were obtained. By recording the magnetization along two different crystal orientations, we were able to confirm the easy magnetic axis in this structure. Finally, we obtain the crystal's ferroelectric polarization along two different directions in an attempt to further understand the mechanism responsible for the ferroelectric transition. This work is supported by the NSF under DMR-1306449.

Vortex and half-vortex dynamics in a nonlinear spinor quantum fluid

PubMed Central

Dominici, Lorenzo; Dagvadorj, Galbadrakh; Fellows, Jonathan M.; Ballarini, Dario; De Giorgi, Milena; Marchetti, Francesca M.; Piccirillo, Bruno; Marrucci, Lorenzo; Bramati, Alberto; Gigli, Giuseppe; Szymańska, Marzena H.; Sanvitto, Daniele

2015-01-01

Vortices are archetypal objects that recur in the universe across the scale of complexity, from subatomic particles to galaxies and black holes. Their appearance is connected with spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase transitions. In Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluids, vortices are both point-like and quantized quasiparticles. We use a two-dimensional (2D) fluid of polaritons, bosonic particles constituted by hybrid photonic and electronic oscillations, to study quantum vortex dynamics. Polaritons benefit from easiness of wave function phase detection, a spinor nature sustaining half-integer vorticity, strong nonlinearity, and tuning of the background disorder. We can directly generate by resonant pulsed excitations a polariton condensate carrying either a full or half-integer vortex as initial condition and follow their coherent evolution using ultrafast imaging on the picosecond scale. The observations highlight a rich phenomenology, such as the spiraling of the half-vortex and the joint path of the twin charges of a full vortex, until the moment of their splitting. Furthermore, we observe the ordered branching into newly generated secondary couples, associated with the breaking of radial and azimuthal symmetries. This allows us to devise the interplay of nonlinearity and sample disorder in shaping the fluid and driving the vortex dynamics. In addition, our observations suggest that phase singularities may be seen as fundamental particles whose quantized events span from pair creation and recombination to 2D+t topological vortex strings. PMID:26665174

Vortex and half-vortex dynamics in a nonlinear spinor quantum fluid.

PubMed

Dominici, Lorenzo; Dagvadorj, Galbadrakh; Fellows, Jonathan M; Ballarini, Dario; De Giorgi, Milena; Marchetti, Francesca M; Piccirillo, Bruno; Marrucci, Lorenzo; Bramati, Alberto; Gigli, Giuseppe; Szymańska, Marzena H; Sanvitto, Daniele

2015-12-01

Vortices are archetypal objects that recur in the universe across the scale of complexity, from subatomic particles to galaxies and black holes. Their appearance is connected with spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase transitions. In Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluids, vortices are both point-like and quantized quasiparticles. We use a two-dimensional (2D) fluid of polaritons, bosonic particles constituted by hybrid photonic and electronic oscillations, to study quantum vortex dynamics. Polaritons benefit from easiness of wave function phase detection, a spinor nature sustaining half-integer vorticity, strong nonlinearity, and tuning of the background disorder. We can directly generate by resonant pulsed excitations a polariton condensate carrying either a full or half-integer vortex as initial condition and follow their coherent evolution using ultrafast imaging on the picosecond scale. The observations highlight a rich phenomenology, such as the spiraling of the half-vortex and the joint path of the twin charges of a full vortex, until the moment of their splitting. Furthermore, we observe the ordered branching into newly generated secondary couples, associated with the breaking of radial and azimuthal symmetries. This allows us to devise the interplay of nonlinearity and sample disorder in shaping the fluid and driving the vortex dynamics. In addition, our observations suggest that phase singularities may be seen as fundamental particles whose quantized events span from pair creation and recombination to 2D+t topological vortex strings.

Degeneracy breakdown as a source of supernovae Ia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clavelli, L.

2018-01-01

In a confined system of multiple Fermions, the particles are forced into high energy levels by the Pauli Exclusion Principle. We refer to this system as a Pauli tower. We pursue the investigation of a model for sub-Chandrasekhar supernovae Ia explosions (SNIa) in which the energy stored in the Pauli tower is released to trigger a nuclear deflagration. The simplest physical model for such a degeneracy breakdown and collapse of the Pauli tower is a phase transition to an exactly supersymmetric state in which the scalar partners of protons, neutrons, and leptons become degenerate with the familiar fermions of our world as in the supersymmetric standard model with susy breaking parameters relaxed to zero. We focus on the ability of the susy phase transition model to fit the total SNIa rate as well as the delay time distribution of SNIa after the birth of a progenitor white dwarf. We also study the ejected mass distribution and its correlation with delay time. Finally, we discuss the expected SNIa remnant in the form of a black hole of roughly Jupiter mass and the prospects for detecting such remnants.

Bending and breaking of stripes in a charge ordered manganite.

PubMed

Savitzky, Benjamin H; El Baggari, Ismail; Admasu, Alemayehu S; Kim, Jaewook; Cheong, Sang-Wook; Hovden, Robert; Kourkoutis, Lena F

2017-12-01

In charge-ordered phases, broken translational symmetry emerges from couplings between charge, spin, lattice, or orbital degrees of freedom, giving rise to remarkable phenomena such as colossal magnetoresistance and metal-insulator transitions. The role of the lattice in charge-ordered states remains particularly enigmatic, soliciting characterization of the microscopic lattice behavior. Here we directly map picometer scale periodic lattice displacements at individual atomic columns in the room temperature charge-ordered manganite Bi 0.35 Sr 0.18 Ca 0.47 MnO 3 using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. We measure transverse, displacive lattice modulations of the cations, distinct from existing manganite charge-order models. We reveal locally unidirectional striped domains as small as ~5 nm, despite apparent bidirectionality over larger length scales. Further, we observe a direct link between disorder in one lattice modulation, in the form of dislocations and shear deformations, and nascent order in the perpendicular modulation. By examining the defects and symmetries of periodic lattice displacements near the charge ordering phase transition, we directly visualize the local competition underpinning spatial heterogeneity in a complex oxide.

Anharmonicity and Disorder in the Black Phases of Cesium Lead Iodide Used for Stable Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells.

PubMed

Marronnier, Arthur; Roma, Guido; Boyer-Richard, Soline; Pedesseau, Laurent; Jancu, Jean-Marc; Bonnassieux, Yvan; Katan, Claudine; Stoumpos, Constantinos C; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G; Even, Jacky

2018-04-24

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites emerged as a new generation of absorber materials for high-efficiency low-cost solar cells in 2009. Very recently, fully inorganic perovskite quantum dots also led to promising efficiencies, making them a potentially stable and efficient alternative to their hybrid cousins. Currently, the record efficiency is obtained with CsPbI 3 , whose crystallographical characterization is still limited. Here, we show through high-resolution in situ synchrotron XRD measurements that CsPbI 3 can be undercooled below its transition temperature and temporarily maintained in its perovskite structure down to room temperature, stabilizing a metastable perovskite polytype (black γ-phase) crucial for photovoltaic applications. Our analysis of the structural phase transitions reveals a highly anisotropic evolution of the individual lattice parameters versus temperature. Structural, vibrational, and electronic properties of all the experimentally observed black phases are further inspected based on several theoretical approaches. Whereas the black γ-phase is shown to behave harmonically around equilibrium, for the tetragonal phase, density functional theory reveals the same anharmonic behavior, with a Brillouin zone-centered double-well instability, as for the cubic phase. Using total energy and vibrational entropy calculations, we highlight the competition between all the low-temperature phases of CsPbI 3 (γ, δ, β) and show that avoiding the order-disorder entropy term arising from double-well instabilities is key to preventing the formation of the yellow perovskitoid phase. A symmetry-based tight-binding model, validated by self-consistent GW calculations including spin-orbit coupling, affords further insight into their electronic properties, with evidence of Rashba effect for both cubic and tetragonal phases when using the symmetry-breaking structures obtained through frozen phonon calculations.

Chaos in a restricted problem of rotation of a rigid body with a fixed point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borisov, A. V.; Kilin, A. A.; Mamaev, I. S.

2008-06-01

In this paper, we consider the transition to chaos in the phase portrait of a restricted problem of rotation of a rigid body with a fixed point. Two interrelated mechanisms responsible for chaotization are indicated: (1) the growth of the homoclinic structure and (2) the development of cascades of period doubling bifurcations. On the zero level of the area integral, an adiabatic behavior of the system (as the energy tends to zero) is noted. Meander tori induced by the break of the torsion property of the mapping are found.

Exact-exchange spin-density functional theory of Wigner localization and phase transitions in quantum rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnold, Thorsten; Siegmund, Marc; Pankratov, Oleg

2011-08-01

We apply exact-exchange spin-density functional theory in the Krieger-Li-Iafrate approximation to interacting electrons in quantum rings of different widths. The rings are threaded by a magnetic flux that induces a persistent current. A weak space and spin symmetry breaking potential is introduced to allow for localized solutions. As the electron-electron interaction strength described by the dimensionless parameter rS is increased, we observe—at a fixed spin magnetic moment—the subsequent transition of both spin sub-systems from the Fermi liquid to the Wigner crystal state. A dramatic signature of Wigner crystallization is that the persistent current drops sharply with increasing rS. We observe simultaneously the emergence of pronounced oscillations in the spin-resolved densities and in the electron localization functions indicating a spatial electron localization showing ferrimagnetic order after both spin sub-systems have undergone the Wigner crystallization. The critical rSc at the transition point is substantially smaller than in a fully spin-polarized system and decreases further with decreasing ring width. Relaxing the constraint of a fixed spin magnetic moment, we find that on increasing rS the stable phase changes from an unpolarized Fermi liquid to an antiferromagnetic Wigner crystal and finally to a fully polarized Fermi liquid.

Exact-exchange spin-density functional theory of Wigner localization and phase transitions in quantum rings.

PubMed

Arnold, Thorsten; Siegmund, Marc; Pankratov, Oleg

2011-08-24

We apply exact-exchange spin-density functional theory in the Krieger-Li-Iafrate approximation to interacting electrons in quantum rings of different widths. The rings are threaded by a magnetic flux that induces a persistent current. A weak space and spin symmetry breaking potential is introduced to allow for localized solutions. As the electron-electron interaction strength described by the dimensionless parameter r(S) is increased, we observe-at a fixed spin magnetic moment-the subsequent transition of both spin sub-systems from the Fermi liquid to the Wigner crystal state. A dramatic signature of Wigner crystallization is that the persistent current drops sharply with increasing r(S). We observe simultaneously the emergence of pronounced oscillations in the spin-resolved densities and in the electron localization functions indicating a spatial electron localization showing ferrimagnetic order after both spin sub-systems have undergone the Wigner crystallization. The critical r(S)(c) at the transition point is substantially smaller than in a fully spin-polarized system and decreases further with decreasing ring width. Relaxing the constraint of a fixed spin magnetic moment, we find that on increasing r(S) the stable phase changes from an unpolarized Fermi liquid to an antiferromagnetic Wigner crystal and finally to a fully polarized Fermi liquid. © 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd

Differential scanning calorimetric study of the binding between native DNA and its primary water of hydration.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marlowe, R. L.; Lukan, A. M.; Lee, S. A.; Anthony, L.; Rupprecht, A.

1996-03-01

Differential scanning calorimetry was used to measure the binding strength between calf-thymus DNA and its primary water of hydration. The specific heat of wet-spun films was found to have a broad endothermic transition near 80 ^oC and a sharp exothermic transition near 250 ^oC. The broad transition is believed to be mainly due to the breaking of the bonds of the strongly bound water of hydration. This transition was found to be reversible, as expected. Kissinger analysis indicates that the activation barrier for breaking the bonds of these water molecules is about 0.6 eV. The sharp transition appeared to be an indication of a thermal decomposition of the DNA. Samples taken above this transition lost mass, showed evidence of having melted, and had turned black in color. This transition is irreversible.

Cosmic curvature and condensation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harwit, Martin

1992-01-01

It is shown that the universe may consist of a patchwork of domains with different Riemann curvature constants k = 0, +/-1. Features of a phase transition in which flat space breaks up in a transition 2k0 - k(-) + k(+) with initial scale factors R(-) = R(+) are postulated and explored. It is shown that such a transition is energetically permitted, has the equivalent of a Curie temperature, and can lead in a natural way to the formation of voids and galaxies. It is predicted that, if the ambient universe on average is well fitted by a purely k(-) space, with only occasional domains of k(+) containing galaxies, a density parameter of (A(z sub c + 1)) super -1 should be expected, where z sub c represents the redshift of the earliest objects to have condensed, and A takes on values ranging from about 5 to 3. Present observations of quasars would suggest a density of about 0.03 or 0.05, respectively, but it could be lower if earlier condensation took place.

Global Formation of Topological Defects in the Multiferroic Hexagonal Manganites

DOE PAGES

Meier, Q. N.; Lilienblum, M.; Griffin, S. M.; ...

2017-10-20

The spontaneous transformations associated with symmetry-breaking phase transitions generate domain structures and defects that may be topological in nature. The formation of these defects can be described according to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, which provides a generic relation that applies from cosmological to interatomic length scales. Its verification is challenging, however, in particular at the cosmological scale where experiments are impractical. While it has been demonstrated for selected condensed-matter systems, major questions remain regarding, e.g., its degree of universality. Here, we develop a global Kibble-Zurek picture from the condensed-matter level. We show theoretically that a transition between two fluctuation regimes (Ginzburgmore » and mean field) can lead to an intermediate region with reversed scaling, and we verify experimentally this behavior for the structural transition in the series of multiferroic hexagonal manganites. Trends across the series allow us to identify additional intrinsic features of the defect formation beyond the original Kibble-Zurek paradigm.« less

Voltage-induced switching of an antiferromagnetically ordered topological Dirac semimetal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Youngseok; Kang, Kisung; Schleife, André; Gilbert, Matthew J.

2018-04-01

An antiferromagnetic semimetal has been recently identified as a new member of topological semimetals that may host three-dimensional symmetry-protected Dirac fermions. A reorientation of the Néel vector may break the underlying symmetry and open a gap in the quasiparticle spectrum, inducing the (semi)metal-insulator transition. Here, we predict that such a transition may be controlled by manipulating the chemical potential location of the material. We perform both analytical and numerical analysis on the thermodynamic potential of the model Hamiltonian and find that the gapped spectrum is preferred when the chemical potential is located at the Dirac point. As the chemical potential deviates from the Dirac point, the system shows a possible transition from the gapped to the gapless phase and switches the corresponding Néel vector configuration. We perform density functional theory calculations to verify our analysis using a realistic material and discuss a two terminal transport measurement as a possible route to identify the voltage-induced switching of the Néel vector.

Global Formation of Topological Defects in the Multiferroic Hexagonal Manganites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meier, Q. N.; Lilienblum, M.; Griffin, S. M.

The spontaneous transformations associated with symmetry-breaking phase transitions generate domain structures and defects that may be topological in nature. The formation of these defects can be described according to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, which provides a generic relation that applies from cosmological to interatomic length scales. Its verification is challenging, however, in particular at the cosmological scale where experiments are impractical. While it has been demonstrated for selected condensed-matter systems, major questions remain regarding, e.g., its degree of universality. Here, we develop a global Kibble-Zurek picture from the condensed-matter level. We show theoretically that a transition between two fluctuation regimes (Ginzburgmore » and mean field) can lead to an intermediate region with reversed scaling, and we verify experimentally this behavior for the structural transition in the series of multiferroic hexagonal manganites. Trends across the series allow us to identify additional intrinsic features of the defect formation beyond the original Kibble-Zurek paradigm.« less

Universal far-from-equilibrium dynamics of a holographic superconductor.

PubMed

Sonner, Julian; Del Campo, Adolfo; Zurek, Wojciech H

2015-06-23

Symmetry-breaking phase transitions are an example of non-equilibrium processes that require real-time treatment, a major challenge in strongly coupled systems without long-lived quasiparticles. Holographic duality provides such an approach by mapping strongly coupled field theories in D dimensions into weakly coupled quantum gravity in D+1 anti-de Sitter spacetime. Here we use holographic duality to study the formation of topological defects-winding numbers-in the course of a superconducting transition in a strongly coupled theory in a 1D ring. When the system undergoes the transition on a given quench time, the condensate builds up with a delay that can be deduced using the Kibble-Zurek mechanism from the quench time and the universality class of the theory, as determined from the quasinormal mode spectrum of the dual model. Typical winding numbers deposited in the ring exhibit a universal fractional power law dependence on the quench time, also predicted by the Kibble-Zurek Mechanism.

Janus monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides.

PubMed

Lu, Ang-Yu; Zhu, Hanyu; Xiao, Jun; Chuu, Chih-Piao; Han, Yimo; Chiu, Ming-Hui; Cheng, Chia-Chin; Yang, Chih-Wen; Wei, Kung-Hwa; Yang, Yiming; Wang, Yuan; Sokaras, Dimosthenis; Nordlund, Dennis; Yang, Peidong; Muller, David A; Chou, Mei-Yin; Zhang, Xiang; Li, Lain-Jong

2017-08-01

Structural symmetry-breaking plays a crucial role in determining the electronic band structures of two-dimensional materials. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to breaking the in-plane symmetry of graphene with electric fields on AB-stacked bilayers or stacked van der Waals heterostructures. In contrast, transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers are semiconductors with intrinsic in-plane asymmetry, leading to direct electronic bandgaps, distinctive optical properties and great potential in optoelectronics. Apart from their in-plane inversion asymmetry, an additional degree of freedom allowing spin manipulation can be induced by breaking the out-of-plane mirror symmetry with external electric fields or, as theoretically proposed, with an asymmetric out-of-plane structural configuration. Here, we report a synthetic strategy to grow Janus monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides breaking the out-of-plane structural symmetry. In particular, based on a MoS 2 monolayer, we fully replace the top-layer S with Se atoms. We confirm the Janus structure of MoSSe directly by means of scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and prove the existence of vertical dipoles by second harmonic generation and piezoresponse force microscopy measurements.

On the non-existence of a sharp cooling break in gamma-ray burst afterglow spectra

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Uhm, Z. Lucas; Zhang, Bing, E-mail: uhm@physics.unlv.edu, E-mail: zhang@physics.unlv.edu

Although the widely used analytical afterglow model of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) predicts a sharp cooling break ν {sub c} in its afterglow spectrum, the GRB observations so far rarely show clear evidence for a cooling break in their spectra or a corresponding temporal break in their light curves. Employing a Lagrangian description of the blast wave, we conduct a sophisticated calculation of the afterglow emission. We precisely follow the cooling history of non-thermal electrons accelerated into each Lagrangian shell. We show that a detailed calculation of afterglow spectra does not in fact give rise to a sharp cooling break atmore » ν {sub c}. Instead, it displays a very mild and smooth transition, which occurs gradually over a few orders of magnitude in energy or frequency. The main source of this slow transition is that different mini shells have different evolutionary histories of the comoving magnetic field strength B, so that deriving the current value of ν {sub c} of each mini shell requires an integration of its cooling rate over the time elapsed since its creation. We present the time evolution of optical and X-ray spectral indices to demonstrate the slow transition of spectral regimes and discuss the implications of our result in interpreting GRB afterglow data.« less

Stable room-temperature ferromagnetic phase at the FeRh(100) surface

DOE PAGES

Pressacco, Federico; Uhlir, Vojtech; Gatti, Matteo; ...

2016-03-03

Interfaces and low dimensionality are sources of strong modifications of electronic, structural, and magnetic properties of materials. FeRh alloys are an excellent example because of the first-order phase transition taking place at ~400 K from an antiferromagnetic phase at room temperature to a high temperature ferromagnetic one. It is accompanied by a resistance change and volume expansion of about 1%. We have investigated the electronic and magnetic properties of FeRh(100) epitaxially grown on MgO by combining spectroscopies characterized by different probing depths, namely X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and photoelectron spectroscopy. Furthermore, we find that the symmetry breaking induced at themore » Rh-terminated surface stabilizes a surface ferromagnetic layer involving five planes of Fe and Rh atoms in the nominally antiferromagnetic phase at room temperature. First-principles calculations provide a microscopic description of the structural relaxation and the electron spin-density distribution that support the experimental findings.« less

Chern structure in the Bose-insulating phase of Sr2RuO4 nanofilms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nobukane, Hiroyoshi; Matsuyama, Toyoki; Tanda, Satoshi

2017-01-01

The quantum anomaly that breaks the symmetry, for example the parity and the chirality, in the quantization leads to a physical quantity with a topological Chern invariant. We report the observation of a Chern structure in the Bose-insulating phase of Sr2RuO4 nanofilms by employing electric transport. We observed the superconductor-to-insulator transition by reducing the thickness of Sr2RuO4 single crystals. The appearance of a gap structure in the insulating phase implies local superconductivity. Fractional quantized conductance was observed without an external magnetic field. We found an anomalous induced voltage with temperature and thickness dependence, and the induced voltage exhibited switching behavior when we applied a magnetic field. We suggest that there was fractional magnetic-field-induced electric polarization in the interlayer. These anomalous results are related to topological invariance. The fractional axion angle Θ = π/6 was determined by observing the topological magneto-electric effect in the Bose-insulating phase of Sr2RuO4 nanofilms.

Higgs amplitude mode in a two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet near the quantum critical point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Tao; Matsumoto, Masashige; Qiu, Yiming; Chen, Wangchun; Gentile, Thomas R.; Watson, Shannon; Awwadi, Firas F.; Turnbull, Mark M.; Dissanayake, Sachith E.; Agrawal, Harish; Toft-Petersen, Rasmus; Klemke, Bastian; Coester, Kris; Schmidt, Kai P.; Tennant, David A.

2017-07-01

Spontaneous symmetry-breaking quantum phase transitions play an essential role in condensed-matter physics. The collective excitations in the broken-symmetry phase near the quantum critical point can be characterized by fluctuations of phase and amplitude of the order parameter. The phase oscillations correspond to the massless Nambu-Goldstone modes whereas the massive amplitude mode, analogous to the Higgs boson in particle physics, is prone to decay into a pair of low-energy Nambu-Goldstone modes in low dimensions. Especially, observation of a Higgs amplitude mode in two dimensions is an outstanding experimental challenge. Here, using inelastic neutron scattering and applying the bond-operator theory, we directly and unambiguously identify the Higgs amplitude mode in a two-dimensional S = 1/2 quantum antiferromagnet C9H18N2CuBr4 near a quantum critical point in two dimensions. Owing to an anisotropic energy gap, it kinematically prevents such decay and the Higgs amplitude mode acquires an infinite lifetime.

Phase structure of NJL model with weak renormalization group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aoki, Ken-Ichi; Kumamoto, Shin-Ichiro; Yamada, Masatoshi

2018-06-01

We analyze the chiral phase structure of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model at finite temperature and density by using the functional renormalization group (FRG). The renormalization group (RG) equation for the fermionic effective potential V (σ ; t) is given as a partial differential equation, where σ : = ψ bar ψ and t is a dimensionless RG scale. When the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking (DχSB) occurs at a certain scale tc, V (σ ; t) has singularities originated from the phase transitions, and then one cannot follow RG flows after tc. In this study, we introduce the weak solution method to the RG equation in order to follow the RG flows after the DχSB and to evaluate the dynamical mass and the chiral condensate in low energy scales. It is shown that the weak solution of the RG equation correctly captures vacuum structures and critical phenomena within the pure fermionic system. We show the chiral phase diagram on temperature, chemical potential and the four-Fermi coupling constant.

Crystalline phases by an improved gradient expansion technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carignano, S.; Mannarelli, M.; Anzuini, F.; Benhar, O.

2018-02-01

We develop an innovative technique for studying inhomogeneous phases with a spontaneous broken symmetry. The method relies on the knowledge of the exact form of the free energy in the homogeneous phase and on a specific gradient expansion of the order parameter. We apply this method to quark matter at vanishing temperature and large chemical potential, which is expected to be relevant for astrophysical considerations. The method is remarkably reliable and fast as compared to performing the full numerical diagonalization of the quark Hamiltonian in momentum space and is designed to improve the standard Ginzburg-Landau expansion close to the phase transition points. For definiteness, we focus on inhomogeneous chiral symmetry breaking, accurately reproducing known results for one-dimensional and two-dimensional modulations and examining novel crystalline structures, as well. Consistently with previous results, we find that the energetically favored modulation is the so-called one-dimensional real-kink crystal. We propose a qualitative description of the pairing mechanism to motivate this result.

Role of Madden-Julian Oscillation in Modulating Monsoon Retreat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Madhu; Bhatla, R.

2018-01-01

The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) is the major fluctuation in tropical weather on a seasonal scale. The impact of MJO on different epochs, viz., onset, advance and active break is well known. There can be several MJO events in a season and it may enhance/suppress the retreat process. The present study aims to find the MJO-modulated retreat of monsoon. The results suggest that the fastest retreat of monsoon occurred in the years 2007 and 2008, while slowest retreat of monsoon occurred in the year 1979. The retreat features of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) are investigated with the MJO phase and amplitude variations. The daily MJO indices for the retreat period 1979-2016 are used. The results reveal that the MJO strength decreases during the transition phase (i.e., summer monsoon to winter monsoon transition). The monsoon retreat is most favored by strong MJO phase 4 and phase 5. The fastest retreat of monsoon occurred in the years 2007 and 2008, while the slowest retreat of monsoon occurred in the year 1979. There exists a weak positive correlation between the MJO amplitude and the retreat period of monsoon. The monsoon retreat is most favored by strong MJO phase 4 and phase 5. The MJO amplitude variations during MJO phases 1-8 suggest that the MJO amplitude decreases with increase in retreat period. The MJO-modulated retreat results in slow retreat of monsoon, whereas fast and normal retreat of monsoon is seen on rare occasions. Weak MJO events lead to normal retreat of monsoon.

Symmetry-broken states in a system of interacting bosons on a two-leg ladder with a uniform Abelian gauge field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greschner, S.; Piraud, M.; Heidrich-Meisner, F.; McCulloch, I. P.; Schollwöck, U.; Vekua, T.

2016-12-01

We study the quantum phases of bosons with repulsive contact interactions on a two-leg ladder in the presence of a uniform Abelian gauge field. The model realizes many interesting states, including Meissner phases, vortex fluids, vortex lattices, charge density waves, and the biased-ladder phase. Our work focuses on the subset of these states that breaks a discrete symmetry. We use density matrix renormalization group simulations to demonstrate the existence of three vortex-lattice states at different vortex densities and we characterize the phase transitions from these phases into neighboring states. Furthermore, we provide an intuitive explanation of the chiral-current reversal effect that is tied to some of these vortex lattices. We also study a charge-density-wave state that exists at 1/4 particle filling at large interaction strengths and flux values close to half a flux quantum. By changing the system parameters, this state can transition into a completely gapped vortex-lattice Mott-insulating state. We elucidate the stability of these phases against nearest-neighbor interactions on the rungs of the ladder relevant for experimental realizations with a synthetic lattice dimension. A charge-density-wave state at 1/3 particle filling can be stabilized for flux values close to half a flux quantum and for very strong on-site interactions in the presence of strong repulsion on the rungs. Finally, we analytically describe the emergence of these phases in the low-density regime, and, in particular, we obtain the boundaries of the biased-ladder phase, i.e., the phase that features a density imbalance between the legs. We make contact with recent quantum-gas experiments that realized related models and discuss signatures of these quantum states in experimentally accessible observables.

Aggression, academic behaviors, and popularity perceptions among boys of color during the transition to middle school.

PubMed

Xie, Hongling; Dawes, Molly; Wurster, Tabitha J; Shi, Bing

2013-01-01

The transition to middle school often presents behavioral and academic challenges to youths. Boys of color (i.e., African American and Hispanic in this study) may be especially vulnerable. In this study, peer nominations of aggressive and academic behaviors as well as youths' perceptions of how these behaviors were related to popularity in peer networks were obtained from the spring semester of fifth grade through the spring semester of seventh grade, with the transition occurring as the students entered the sixth grade. The sample included 188 boys (71 Caucasian, 90 African American, and 27 Hispanic) from an urban school district in the northeastern United States. Trajectory analyses showed that African American boys scored lower in studentship and higher in rule-breaking and aggressive (both physical and social) behaviors prior to the transition, and such differences among ethnic groups were largely maintained during the transition. Hispanic boys displayed decreases in their studentship during the transition. African American boys' perception of how studentship affects popularity was more positive than other boys prior to the transition, but it decreased during the transition. African American boys also endorsed rule breaking and physical and social aggression more positively for popularity prior to the transition, whereas Caucasian and Hispanic boys' endorsement increased during the transition and eventually caught up with those of African American boys in seventh grade. A positive within-individual association was found between youths' popularity perception and their behavior for studentship, rule breaking, and physical aggression, which did not differ by ethnicity. © 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

Anomalous dynamical phase in quantum spin chains with long-range interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homrighausen, Ingo; Abeling, Nils O.; Zauner-Stauber, Valentin; Halimeh, Jad C.

2017-09-01

The existence or absence of nonanalytic cusps in the Loschmidt-echo return rate is traditionally employed to distinguish between a regular dynamical phase (regular cusps) and a trivial phase (no cusps) in quantum spin chains after a global quench. However, numerical evidence in a recent study (J. C. Halimeh and V. Zauner-Stauber, arXiv:1610.02019) suggests that instead of the trivial phase, a distinct anomalous dynamical phase characterized by a novel type of nonanalytic cusps occurs in the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model when interactions are sufficiently long range. Using an analytic semiclassical approach and exact diagonalization, we show that this anomalous phase also arises in the fully connected case of infinite-range interactions, and we discuss its defining signature. Our results show that the transition from the regular to the anomalous dynamical phase coincides with Z2-symmetry breaking in the infinite-time limit, thereby showing a connection between two different concepts of dynamical criticality. Our work further expands the dynamical phase diagram of long-range interacting quantum spin chains, and can be tested experimentally in ion-trap setups and ultracold atoms in optical cavities, where interactions are inherently long range.

The magnetic ground state and relationship to Kitaev physics in α-RuCl3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Arnab

The 2D Kitaev candidate alpha-RuCl3 consists of stacked honeycomb layers weakly coupled by Van der Waals interactions. Here we report the measurements of bulk properties and neutron diffraction in both powder and single crystal samples. Our results show that the full three dimensional magnetic ground state is highly pliable with at least two dominant phases corresponding to two different out-of-plane magnetic orders. They have different Neel temperatures dependent on the stacking of the 2D layers, such as a broad magnetic transition at TN = 14 K as observed in phase-pure powder samples, or a sharp magnetic transition at a lower TN = 7 K as observed in homogeneous single crystals with no evidence for stacking faults. The magnetic refinements of the neutron scattering data will be discussed, which in all cases shows the in-plane magnetic ground state is the zigzag phase common in Kitaev related materials including the honeycomb lattice Iridates. Inelastic neutron scattering in all cases shows that this material consistently exhibit strong two-dimensional magnetic fluctuations leading to a break-down of the classical spin-wave picture. Work performed at ORNL is supported by U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences and Office of User Facilities Division.

Phase boundaries, nucleation rates and speed of crystal growth of the water-to-ice transition under an electric field: a simulation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaragoza, Alberto; Espinosa, Jorge R.; Ramos, Regina; Cobos, José Antonio; Aragones, Juan Luis; Vega, Carlos; Sanz, Eduardo; Ramírez, Jorge; Valeriani, Chantal

2018-05-01

We investigate with computer simulations the effect of applying an electric field on the water-to-ice transition. We use a combination of state-of-the-art simulation techniques to obtain phase boundaries and crystal growth rates (direct coexistence), nucleation rates (seeding) and interfacial free energies (seeding and mold integration). First, we consider ice Ih, the most stable polymorph in the absence of a field. Its normal melting temperature, speed of crystal growth and nucleation rate (for a given supercooling) diminish as the intensity of the field goes up. Then, we study polarised cubic ice, or ice Icf, the most stable solid phase under a strong electric field. Its normal melting point goes up with the field and, for a given supercooling, under the studied field (0.3 V nm‑1) ice Icf nucleates and grows at a similar rate as Ih with no field. The net effect of the field would then be that ice nucleates at warmer temperatures, but in the form of ice Icf. The main conclusion of this work is that reasonable electric fields (not strong enough to break water molecules apart) are not relevant in the context of homogeneous ice nucleation at 1 bar.

Phase boundaries, nucleation rates and speed of crystal growth of the water-to-ice transition under an electric field: a simulation study.

PubMed

Zaragoza, Alberto; Espinosa, Jorge R; Ramos, Regina; Antonio Cobos, José; Luis Aragones, Juan; Vega, Carlos; Sanz, Eduardo; Ramírez, Jorge; Valeriani, Chantal

2018-05-02

We investigate with computer simulations the effect of applying an electric field on the water-to-ice transition. We use a combination of state-of-the-art simulation techniques to obtain phase boundaries and crystal growth rates (direct coexistence), nucleation rates (seeding) and interfacial free energies (seeding and mold integration). First, we consider ice Ih, the most stable polymorph in the absence of a field. Its normal melting temperature, speed of crystal growth and nucleation rate (for a given supercooling) diminish as the intensity of the field goes up. Then, we study polarised cubic ice, or ice Icf, the most stable solid phase under a strong electric field. Its normal melting point goes up with the field and, for a given supercooling, under the studied field (0.3 V nm -1 ) ice Icf nucleates and grows at a similar rate as Ih with no field. The net effect of the field would then be that ice nucleates at warmer temperatures, but in the form of ice Icf. The main conclusion of this work is that reasonable electric fields (not strong enough to break water molecules apart) are not relevant in the context of homogeneous ice nucleation at 1 bar.

Quenched disorder and vestigial nematicity in the pseudogap regime of the cuprates

PubMed Central

Nie, Laimei; Tarjus, Gilles; Kivelson, Steven Allan

2014-01-01

The cuprate high-temperature superconductors have been the focus of unprecedentedly intense and sustained study not only because of their high superconducting transition temperatures, but also because they represent the most exquisitely investigated examples of highly correlated electronic materials. In particular, the pseudogap regime of the phase diagram exhibits a variety of mysterious emergent behaviors. In the last few years, evidence from NMR and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies, as well as from a new generation of X-ray scattering experiments, has accumulated, indicating that a general tendency to short-range–correlated incommensurate charge density wave (CDW) order is “intertwined” with the superconductivity in this regime. Additionally, transport, STM, neutron-scattering, and optical experiments have produced evidence—not yet entirely understood—of the existence of an associated pattern of long-range–ordered point-group symmetry breaking with an electron-nematic character. We have carried out a theoretical analysis of the Landau–Ginzburg–Wilson effective field theory of a classical incommensurate CDW in the presence of weak quenched disorder. Although the possibilities of a sharp phase transition and long-range CDW order are precluded in such systems, we show that any discrete symmetry-breaking aspect of the charge order—nematicity in the case of the unidirectional (stripe) CDW we consider explicitly—generically survives up to a nonzero critical disorder strength. Such “vestigial order,” which is subject to unambiguous macroscopic detection, can serve as an avatar of what would be CDW order in the ideal, zero disorder limit. Various recent experiments in the pseudogap regime of the hole-doped cuprates are readily interpreted in light of these results. PMID:24799709

Polarons and Mobile Impurities Near a Quantum Phase Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shadkhoo, Shahriar

This dissertation aims at improving the current understanding of the physics of mobile impurities in highly correlated liquid-like phases of matter. Impurity problems pose challenging and intricate questions in different realms of many-body physics. For instance, the problem of ''solvation'' of charged solutes in polar solvents, has been the subject of longstanding debates among chemical physicists. The significant role of quantum fluctuations of the solvent, as well as the break down of linear response theory, render the ordinary treatments intractable. Inspired by this complicated problem, we first attempt to understand the role of non-specific quantum fluctuations in the solvation process. To this end, we calculate the dynamic structure factor of a model polar liquid, using the classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. We verify the failure of linear response approximation in the vicinity of a hydrated electron, by comparing the outcomes of MD simulations with the predictions of linear response theory. This nonlinear behavior is associated with the pronounced peaks of the structure factor, which reflect the strong fluctuations of the local modes. A cavity picture is constructed based on heuristic arguments, which suggests that the electron, along with the surrounding polarization cloud, behave like a frozen sphere, for which the linear response theory is broken inside and valid outside. The inverse radius of the spherical region serves as a UV momentum cutoff for the linear response approximation to be applicable. The problem of mobile impurities in polar liquids can be also addressed in the framework of the ''polaron'' problem. Polaron is a quasiparticle that typically acquires an extended state at weak couplings, and crossovers to a self-trapped state at strong couplings. Using the analytical fits to the numerically obtained charge-charge structure factor, a phenomenological approach is proposed within the Leggett's influence functional formalism, which derives the effective Euclidean action from the classical equation of motion. We calculate the effective mass of the polaron in the model polar liquid at zero and finite temperatures. The self-trapping transition of this polaron turns out to be discontinuous in certain regions of the phase diagram. In order to systematically investigate the role of quantum fluctuations on the polaron properties, we adopt a quantum field theory which supports nearly-critical local modes: the quantum Landau-Brazovskii (QLB) model, which exhibits fluctuation-induced first order transition (weak crystallization). In the vicinity of the phase transition, the quantum fluctuations are strongly correlated; one can in principle tune the strength of these fluctuations, by adjusting the parameters close to or away from the transition point. Furthermore, sufficiently close to the transition, the theory accommodates "soliton'' solutions, signaling the nonlinear response of the system. Therefore, the model seems to be a promising candidate for studying the effects of strong quantum fluctuations and also failure of linear response theory, in the polaron problem. We observe that at zero temperature, and away from the Brazovskii transition where the linear response approximation is valid, the localization transition of the polaron is discontinuous. Upon enhancing fluctuations---of either thermal or quantum nature---the gap of the effective mass closes at distinct second-order critical points. Sufficiently close to the Brazovskii transition where the nonlinear contributions of the field are significantly large, a new state appears in addition to extended and self-trapped polarons: an impurity-induced soliton. We interpret this as the break-down of linear response, reminiscent of what we observe in a polar liquid. Quantum LB model has been proposed to be realizable in ultracold Bose gases in cavities. We thus discuss the experimental feasibility, and propose a setup which is believed to exhibit the aforementioned polaronic and solitonic states. We eventually generalize the polaron formalism to the case of impurities that couple quadratically to a nearly-critical field; hence called the ''quadratic polaron''. The Hertz-Millis field theory and its generalization to the case of magnetic transition in helimagnets, is taken as a toy model. The phase diagram of the bare model contains both second-order and fluctuation-induced first-order quantum phase transitions. We propose a semi-classical scenario in which the impurity and the field couple quadratically. The polaron properties in the vicinity of these transitions are calculated in different dimensions. We observe that the quadratic coupling in three dimensions, even in the absence of the critical modes with finite wavelength, leads to a jump-like localization of the polaron. In lower dimensions, the transition behavior remains qualitatively similar to those in the case of linear coupling, namely the critical modes must have a finite wavelength to localize the particle.

Roles of dynamical symmetry breaking in driving oblate-prolate transitions of atomic clusters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oka, Yurie, E-mail: ok-yu@fuji.waseda.jp; Yanao, Tomohiro, E-mail: yanao@waseda.jp; Koon, Wang Sang, E-mail: koon@cds.caltech.edu

2015-04-07

This paper explores the driving mechanisms for structural transitions of atomic clusters between oblate and prolate isomers. We employ the hyperspherical coordinates to investigate structural dynamics of a seven-atom cluster at a coarse-grained level in terms of the dynamics of three gyration radii and three principal axes, which characterize overall mass distributions of the cluster. Dynamics of gyration radii is governed by two kinds of forces. One is the potential force originating from the interactions between atoms. The other is the dynamical forces called the internal centrifugal forces, which originate from twisting and shearing motions of the system. The internalmore » centrifugal force arising from twisting motions has an effect of breaking the symmetry between two gyration radii. As a result, in an oblate isomer, activation of the internal centrifugal force that has the effect of breaking the symmetry between the two largest gyration radii is crucial in triggering structural transitions into prolate isomers. In a prolate isomer, on the other hand, activation of the internal centrifugal force that has the effect of breaking the symmetry between the two smallest gyration radii is crucial in triggering structural transitions into oblate isomers. Activation of a twisting motion that switches the movement patterns of three principal axes is also important for the onset of structural transitions between oblate and prolate isomers. Based on these trigger mechanisms, we finally show that selective activations of specific gyration radii and twisting motions, depending on the isomer of the cluster, can effectively induce structural transitions of the cluster. The results presented here could provide further insights into the control of molecular reactions.« less

Roles of dynamical symmetry breaking in driving oblate-prolate transitions of atomic clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oka, Yurie; Yanao, Tomohiro; Koon, Wang Sang

2015-04-01

This paper explores the driving mechanisms for structural transitions of atomic clusters between oblate and prolate isomers. We employ the hyperspherical coordinates to investigate structural dynamics of a seven-atom cluster at a coarse-grained level in terms of the dynamics of three gyration radii and three principal axes, which characterize overall mass distributions of the cluster. Dynamics of gyration radii is governed by two kinds of forces. One is the potential force originating from the interactions between atoms. The other is the dynamical forces called the internal centrifugal forces, which originate from twisting and shearing motions of the system. The internal centrifugal force arising from twisting motions has an effect of breaking the symmetry between two gyration radii. As a result, in an oblate isomer, activation of the internal centrifugal force that has the effect of breaking the symmetry between the two largest gyration radii is crucial in triggering structural transitions into prolate isomers. In a prolate isomer, on the other hand, activation of the internal centrifugal force that has the effect of breaking the symmetry between the two smallest gyration radii is crucial in triggering structural transitions into oblate isomers. Activation of a twisting motion that switches the movement patterns of three principal axes is also important for the onset of structural transitions between oblate and prolate isomers. Based on these trigger mechanisms, we finally show that selective activations of specific gyration radii and twisting motions, depending on the isomer of the cluster, can effectively induce structural transitions of the cluster. The results presented here could provide further insights into the control of molecular reactions.

Aspects of Chiral Symmetry Breaking in Lattice QCD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horkel, Derek P.

In this thesis we describe two studies concerting lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD): first, an analysis of the phase structure of Wilson and twisted-mass fermions with isospin breaking effects, second a computational study measuring non-perturbative Greens functions. We open with a brief overview of the formalism of QCD and LQCD, focusing on the aspects necessary for understanding how a lattice computation is performed and how discretization effects can be understood. Our work in Wilson and twisted-mass fermions investigates an increasingly relevant regime where lattice simulations are performed with quarks at or near their physical masses and both the mass difference of the up and down quarks and their differing electric charges are included. Our computation of a non-perturbative Greens functions on the lattice serves as a first attempt to validate recent work by Dine et. al. [24] in which they calculate Greens functions which vanish in perturbation theory, yet have a contribution from the one instanton background. In chapter 2, we determine the phase diagram and pion spectrum for Wilson and twisted-mass fermions in the presence of non-degeneracy between the up and down quark and discretization errors, using Wilson and twisted-mass chiral perturbation theory. We find that the CP-violating phase of the continuum theory (which occurs for sufficiently large non-degeneracy) is continuously connected to the Aoki phase of the lattice theory with degenerate quarks. We show that discretization effects can, in some cases, push simulations with physical masses closer to either the CP-violating phase or another phase not present in the continuum, so that at sufficiently large lattice spacings physical-point simulations could lie in one of these phases. In chapter 3, we extend the work in chapter 2 to include the effects of electromagnetism, so that it is applicable to recent simulations incorporating all sources of isospin breaking. For Wilson fermions, we find that the phase diagram is unaffected by the inclusion of electromagnetism--the only effect is to raise the charged pion masses. For maximally twisted fermions, we previously took the twist and isospin-breaking directions to be different, in order that the fermion determinant is real and positive. However, this is incompatible with electromagnetic gauge invariance, and so here we take the twist to be in the isospin-breaking direction, following the RM123 collaboration. We map out the phase diagram in this case, which has not previously been studied. The results differ from those obtained with different twist and isospin directions. One practical issue when including electromagnetism is that the critical masses for up and down quarks differ. We show that one of the criteria suggested to determine these critical masses does not work, and propose an alternative. In chapter 4, we delve deeper into the technical details of the analysis in chapter 3. We determine the phase diagram and chiral condensate for lattice QCD with two flavors of twisted-mass fermions in the presence of nondegenerate up and down quarks, discretization errors and a nonzero value of thetaQCD. We find that, in general, the only phase structure is a first-order transition of finite length. Pion masses are nonvanishing throughout the phase plane except at the endpoints of the first-order line. Only for extremal values of the twist angle and thetaQCD (o = 0 or pi/2 and thetaQCD = 0 or pi) are there second-order transitions. In chapter 5 we move on to a new topic, working to make a first measurement of non-perturbative Greens functions which vanish in perturbation theory but have a non-vanishing one-instanton contribution, as suggested in recent work by Dine et. al. [24] using a semi- classical approach. This measurement was done using 163 x 48 configurations generated by the MILC collaboration, with coupling beta = 6.572, light quark mass m la = 0.0097, strange quark mass msa = 0.0484, lattice spacing a ≈ 0.14 fm and pion mass mpia = 0.2456. The analysis was done by separating the Green function of interest into pseudoscalar and scalar components. These are separately calculated on 440 configurations, using the Chroma software package. To improve statistics, we used the various reduction technique suggested in Ref. [13]. We subtracted out the long distance contributions from the pion, excited pion and a0 from the Green function, in the hope of obtaining the short distance form predicted by Ref. [24]. Unfortunately, after subtraction of the a0 and pion states only noise remained. While the results are not in themselves useful, we believe this approach will be worth repeating in the future with finer lattices with a fermion action with better chiral symmetry.

Regional Climate Model Performance in Simulating Intra-seasonal and Interannual Variability of Indian Summer Monsoon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatla, R.; Ghosh, Soumik; Mall, R. K.; Sinha, P.; Sarkar, Abhijit

2018-05-01

Establishment of Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall passes through the different phases and is not uniformly distributed over the Indian subcontinent. This enhancement and reduction in daily rainfall anomaly over the Indian core monsoon region during peak monsoon season (i.e., July and August) are commonly termed as `active' and `break' phases of monsoon. The purpose of this study is to analyze REGional Climate Model (RegCM) results obtained using the most suitable convective parameterization scheme (CPS) to determine active/break phases of ISM. The model-simulated daily outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), mean sea level pressure (MSLP), and the wind at 850 hPa of spatial resolution of 0.5°× 0.5° are compared with NOAA, NCEP, and EIN15 data, respectively over the South-Asia Co-Ordinated Regional Climate Downscaling EXperiment (CORDEX) region. 25 years (1986-2010) composites of OLR, MSLP, and the wind at 850 hPa are considered from start to the dates of active/break phase and up to the end dates of active/break spell of monsoon. A negative/positive anomaly of OLR with active/break phase is found in simulations with CPSs Emanuel and Mix99 (Grell over land; Emanuel over ocean) over the core monsoon region as well as over Monsoon Convergence Zone (MCZ) of India. The appearance of monsoon trough during active phase over the core monsoon zone and its shifting towards the Himalayan foothills during break phase are also depicted well. Because of multi-cloud function over oceanic region and single cloud function over the land mass, the Mix99 CPSs perform well in simulating the synoptic features during the phases of monsoon.

Intradomain phase transitions in flexible block copolymers with self-aligning segments.

PubMed

Burke, Christopher J; Grason, Gregory M

2018-05-07

We study a model of flexible block copolymers (BCPs) in which there is an enlthalpic preference for orientational order, or local alignment, among like-block segments. We describe a generalization of the self-consistent field theory of flexible BCPs to include inter-segment orientational interactions via a Landau-de Gennes free energy associated with a polar or nematic order parameter for segments of one component of a diblock copolymer. We study the equilibrium states of this model numerically, using a pseudo-spectral approach to solve for chain conformation statistics in the presence of a self-consistent torque generated by inter-segment alignment forces. Applying this theory to the structure of lamellar domains composed of symmetric diblocks possessing a single block of "self-aligning" polar segments, we show the emergence of spatially complex segment order parameters (segment director fields) within a given lamellar domain. Because BCP phase separation gives rise to spatially inhomogeneous orientation order of segments even in the absence of explicit intra-segment aligning forces, the director fields of BCPs, as well as thermodynamics of lamellar domain formation, exhibit a highly non-linear dependence on both the inter-block segregation (χN) and the enthalpy of alignment (ε). Specifically, we predict the stability of new phases of lamellar order in which distinct regions of alignment coexist within the single mesodomain and spontaneously break the symmetries of the lamella (or smectic) pattern of composition in the melt via in-plane tilt of the director in the centers of the like-composition domains. We further show that, in analogy to Freedericksz transition confined nematics, the elastic costs to reorient segments within the domain, as described by the Frank elasticity of the director, increase the threshold value ε needed to induce this intra-domain phase transition.

Intradomain phase transitions in flexible block copolymers with self-aligning segments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burke, Christopher J.; Grason, Gregory M.

2018-05-01

We study a model of flexible block copolymers (BCPs) in which there is an enlthalpic preference for orientational order, or local alignment, among like-block segments. We describe a generalization of the self-consistent field theory of flexible BCPs to include inter-segment orientational interactions via a Landau-de Gennes free energy associated with a polar or nematic order parameter for segments of one component of a diblock copolymer. We study the equilibrium states of this model numerically, using a pseudo-spectral approach to solve for chain conformation statistics in the presence of a self-consistent torque generated by inter-segment alignment forces. Applying this theory to the structure of lamellar domains composed of symmetric diblocks possessing a single block of "self-aligning" polar segments, we show the emergence of spatially complex segment order parameters (segment director fields) within a given lamellar domain. Because BCP phase separation gives rise to spatially inhomogeneous orientation order of segments even in the absence of explicit intra-segment aligning forces, the director fields of BCPs, as well as thermodynamics of lamellar domain formation, exhibit a highly non-linear dependence on both the inter-block segregation (χN) and the enthalpy of alignment (ɛ). Specifically, we predict the stability of new phases of lamellar order in which distinct regions of alignment coexist within the single mesodomain and spontaneously break the symmetries of the lamella (or smectic) pattern of composition in the melt via in-plane tilt of the director in the centers of the like-composition domains. We further show that, in analogy to Freedericksz transition confined nematics, the elastic costs to reorient segments within the domain, as described by the Frank elasticity of the director, increase the threshold value ɛ needed to induce this intra-domain phase transition.

Modeling the solid-liquid phase transition in saturated triglycerides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pink, David A.; Hanna, Charles B.; Sandt, Christophe; MacDonald, Adam J.; MacEachern, Ronald; Corkery, Robert; Rousseau, Dérick

2010-02-01

We investigated theoretically two competing published scenarios for the melting transition of the triglyceride trilaurin (TL): those of (1) Corkery et al. [Langmuir 23, 7241 (2007)], in which the average state of each TL molecule in the liquid phase is a discotic "Y" conformer whose three chains are dynamically twisted, with an average angle of ˜120° between them, and those of (2) Cebula et al. [J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 69, 130 (1992)], in which the liquid-state conformation of the TL molecule in the liquid phase is a nematic h∗-conformer whose three chains are in a modified "chair" conformation. We developed two competing models for the two scenarios, in which TL molecules are in a nematic compact-chair (or "h") conformation, with extended, possibly all-trans, chains at low-temperatures, and in either a Y conformation or an h∗ conformation in the liquid state at temperatures higher than the phase-transition temperature, T∗=319 K. We defined an h-Y model as a realization of the proposal of Corkery et al. [Langmuir 23, 7241 (2007)], and explored its predictions by mapping it onto an Ising model in a temperature-dependent field, performing a mean-field approximation, and calculating the transition enthalpy ΔH. We found that the most plausible realization of the h-Y model, as applied to the solid-liquid phase transition in TL, and likely to all saturated triglycerides, gave a value of ΔH in reasonable agreement with the experiment. We then defined an alternative h-h∗ model as a realization of the proposal of Cebula et al. [J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 69, 130 (1992)], in which the liquid phase exhibits an average symmetry breaking similar to an h conformation, but with twisted chains, to see whether it could describe the TL phase transition. The h-h∗ model gave a value of ΔH that was too small by a factor of ˜3-4. We also predicted the temperature dependence of the 1132 cm-1 Raman band for both models, and performed measurements of the ratios of three TL Raman bands in the temperature range of -20 °C≤T ≤90 °C. The experimental results were in accord with the predictions of the h-Y model and support the proposal of Corkery et al. [Langmuir 23, 7241 (2007)] that the liquid state is made up of molecules that are each, on average, in a Y conformation. Finally, we carried out computer simulations of minimal-model TLs in the liquid phase, and concluded that although the individual TL molecules are, on average, Y conformers, long-range discotic order is unlikely to exist.

Brillouin-Wigner theory for high-frequency expansion in periodically driven systems: Application to Floquet topological insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mikami, Takahiro; Kitamura, Sota; Yasuda, Kenji; Tsuji, Naoto; Oka, Takashi; Aoki, Hideo

2016-04-01

We construct a systematic high-frequency expansion for periodically driven quantum systems based on the Brillouin-Wigner (BW) perturbation theory, which generates an effective Hamiltonian on the projected zero-photon subspace in the Floquet theory, reproducing the quasienergies and eigenstates of the original Floquet Hamiltonian up to desired order in 1 /ω , with ω being the frequency of the drive. The advantage of the BW method is that it is not only efficient in deriving higher-order terms, but even enables us to write down the whole infinite series expansion, as compared to the van Vleck degenerate perturbation theory. The expansion is also free from a spurious dependence on the driving phase, which has been an obstacle in the Floquet-Magnus expansion. We apply the BW expansion to various models of noninteracting electrons driven by circularly polarized light. As the amplitude of the light is increased, the system undergoes a series of Floquet topological-to-topological phase transitions, whose phase boundary in the high-frequency regime is well explained by the BW expansion. As the frequency is lowered, the high-frequency expansion breaks down at some point due to band touching with nonzero-photon sectors, where we find numerically even more intricate and richer Floquet topological phases spring out. We have then analyzed, with the Floquet dynamical mean-field theory, the effects of electron-electron interaction and energy dissipation. We have specifically revealed that phase transitions from Floquet-topological to Mott insulators emerge, where the phase boundaries can again be captured with the high-frequency expansion.

Symmetry-Breaking Transitions in RECuAs 2-xP x (RE=Sm, Gd, Ho, and Er)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mozharivskyj, Yurij

Structural changes resulting in lower symmetries can be understood in terms of electronic instabilities and Coulomb interactions. The interplay of these two interrelated factors is complicated and difficult to analyze. The RECuAs 2-xP x phases, because of the variation in the chemical content (As/P substitution), allow, with the aid of band structures, Madelung energies and Landau theory, a partial unraveling of the forces important in the symmetry-breaking transitions in RECuAs 2-xP x (RE = Sm, Gd, Ho and Er). Distortions of the P layers in SmCu 1.15P 2, GdCuP 2.20 and ErCuP 2 are usefully thought of asmore » generalized Peierls distortions, i.e., they lower the electronic (and total) energy and lead to more stable structures. On the other hand, the P4/nmm → Pmmn transitions, which are observed in all studied arsenophosphide series and occur upon substitution of P for As, originate from the B1g vibrational mode and are structural adaptations to smaller P atoms. These transitions provide tighter atomic packing and better Coulomb interactions. Configurational contribution to the entropy becomes important in stabilizing the mixed occupancy in the RECuAs 2-xP x arsenophosphides. While geometric and electronic factors favor separation of the As and P atoms over two different crystallographic sites, configurational entropy stabilizes the As/P mixing on these two sites.;Progress in the research on RECuAs 2-xP x was dependent upon the ability of Landau theory to predict, explain and dismiss structural models and transitions. The space group Pmmn (arising from the B 1g vibrational mode) in all mixed arsenophosphides and the existence of these mixed arsenophosphides followed from the analysis of GdCuAs 2 and GdCuP 2, using Landau theory. The impossibility of obtaining the high-symmetry structure (P4/nmm) and the low symmetry structure (Pnmm) at the same temperature for the displacive continuous symmetry-breaking transition P4/ nmm → Pmmn led to the conclusion, later experimentally proven, that the tetragonal structures of the SmCu 1+δAs 2-xP x arsenophosphides are stabilized by additional Cu atoms. On the other hand, the coexistence of the two structures with the P2/ n and Cmmm symmetries at two samples indicated that the structural change from the SmCuP 2 structure (P2/ n) to the SmCu 1.15P 2 (Cmmm) structure is first-order and that this transition does not occur continuously upon introducing Cu atoms into the SmCuP 2 structure.« less

DNA unzipping phase diagram calculated via replica theory.

PubMed

Roland, C Brian; Hatch, Kristi Adamson; Prentiss, Mara; Shakhnovich, Eugene I

2009-05-01

We show how single-molecule unzipping experiments can provide strong evidence that the zero-force melting transition of long molecules of natural dsDNA should be classified as a phase transition of the higher-order type (continuous). Toward this end, we study a statistical-mechanics model for the fluctuating structure of a long molecule of dsDNA, and compute the equilibrium phase diagram for the experiment in which the molecule is unzipped under applied force. We consider a perfect-matching dsDNA model, in which the loops are volume-excluding chains with arbitrary loop exponent c . We include stacking interactions, hydrogen bonds, and main-chain entropy. We include sequence heterogeneity at the level of random sequences; in particular, there is no correlation in the base-pairing (bp) energy from one sequence position to the next. We present heuristic arguments to demonstrate that the low-temperature macrostate does not exhibit degenerate ergodicity breaking. We use this claim to understand the results of our replica-theoretic calculation of the equilibrium properties of the system. As a function of temperature, we obtain the minimal force at which the molecule separates completely. This critical-force curve is a line in the temperature-force phase diagram that marks the regions where the molecule exists primarily as a double helix versus the region where the molecule exists as two separate strands. We compare our random-sequence model to magnetic tweezer experiments performed on the 48 502 bp genome of bacteriophage lambda . We find good agreement with the experimental data, which is restricted to temperatures between 24 and 50 degrees C . At higher temperatures, the critical-force curve of our random-sequence model is very different for that of the homogeneous-sequence version of our model. For both sequence models, the critical force falls to zero at the melting temperature T_{c} like |T-T_{c}|;{alpha} . For the homogeneous-sequence model, alpha=1/2 almost exactly, while for the random-sequence model, alpha approximately 0.9 . Importantly, the shape of the critical-force curve is connected, via our theory, to the manner in which the helix fraction falls to zero at T_{c} . The helix fraction is the property that is used to classify the melting transition as a type of phase transition. In our calculation, the shape of the critical-force curve holds strong evidence that the zero-force melting transition of long natural dsDNA should be classified as a higher-order (continuous) phase transition. Specifically, the order is 3rd or greater.

Dynamics of a molecular glass former: Energy landscapes for diffusion in ortho-terphenyl

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niblett, S. P.; de Souza, V. K.; Stevenson, J. D.; Wales, D. J.

2016-07-01

Relaxation times and transport processes of many glass-forming supercooled liquids exhibit a super-Arrhenius temperature dependence. We examine this phenomenon by computer simulation of the Lewis-Wahnström model for ortho-terphenyl. We propose a microscopic definition for a single-molecule cage-breaking transition and show that, when correlation behaviour is taken into account, these rearrangements are sufficient to reproduce the correct translational diffusion constants over an intermediate temperature range in the supercooled regime. We show that super-Arrhenius behaviour can be attributed to increasing negative correlation in particle movement at lower temperatures and relate this to the cage-breaking description. Finally, we sample the potential energy landscape of the model and show that it displays hierarchical ordering. Substructures in the landscape, which may correspond to metabasins, have boundaries defined by cage-breaking transitions. The cage-breaking formulation provides a direct link between the potential energy landscape and macroscopic diffusion behaviour.

Three years of Transients with Fermi GBM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.

2012-01-01

The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an all-sky monitoring instrument, sensitive between 8 keV and 40 MeV, with a primary objective of supporting the Large Area Telescope (LAT) in observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Both instruments are part of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Together, the GBM and LAT instruments have provided ground-breaking measurements of GRBs that have, after 10 years of focus on GRB afterglows, inspired renewed interest in the prompt emission phase of GRBs and the physical mechanisms that fuel them. In addition to GRB science, GBM has made significant contributions to the astrophysics of galactic transient sources including long-term variations in the Crab nebula, spin state transitions in accretion powered pulsars, state transitions in black hole X-ray binaries, and unprecedented time-resolved spectral studies of soft gamma-ray repeater bursts. Closer to home, GBM also contributes to solar flare and terrestrial gamma flash science.

Laser-driven localization of collective CO vibrations in metal-carbonyl complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lisaj, Mateusz; Kühn, Oliver

2014-11-01

Using the example of a cobalt dicarbonyl complex it is shown that two perpendicular linearly polarized IR laser pulses can be used to trigger an excitation of the delocalized CO stretching modes, which corresponds to an alternating localization of the vibration within one CO bond. The switching time for localization in either of the two bonds is determined by the energy gap between the symmetric and asymmetric fundamental transition frequencies. The phase of the oscillation between the two local bond excitations can be tuned by the relative phase of the two pulses. The extend of control of bond localization is limited by the anharmonicity of the potential energy surfaces leading to wave packet dispersion. This prevents such a simple pulse scheme from being used for laser-driven bond breaking in the considered example.

Effect of disorder on the pressure-induced superconducting state of CeAu 2Si 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Z.; Giriat, G.; Scheerer, G. W.; Lapertot, G.; Jaccard, D.

2015-03-01

CeAu2Si2 is a newly discovered pressure-induced heavy fermion superconductor, which shows very unusual interplay between superconductivity and magnetism under pressure. Here we compare the results of high-pressure measurements on single-crystalline CeAu2Si2 samples with different levels of disorder. It is found that while the magnetic properties are essentially sample independent, superconductivity is rapidly suppressed when the residual resistivity of the sample increases. We show that the depression of bulk Tc can be well understood in terms of pair breaking by nonmagnetic disorder, which strongly suggests an unconventional pairing state in pressurized CeAu2Si2 . Furthermore, increasing the level of disorder leads to the emergence of another phase transition at T* within the magnetic phase, which might be in competition with superconductivity.

Self-energy functional theory with symmetry breaking for disordered lattice bosons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hügel, Dario; Strand, Hugo U. R.; Pollet, Lode

2018-07-01

We extend the self-energy functional theory to the case of interacting lattice bosons in the presence of symmetry breaking and quenched disorder. The self-energy functional we derive depends only on the self-energies of the disorder-averaged propagators, allowing for the construction of general non-perturbative approximations. Using a simple single-site reference system with only three variational parameters, we are able to reproduce numerically exact quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) results on local observables of the Bose–Hubbard model with box disorder with high accuracy. At strong interactions, the phase boundaries are reproduced qualitatively but shifted with respect to the ones observed with QMC due to the extremely low condensate fraction in the superfluid phase. Deep in the strongly-disordered weakly-interacting regime, the simple reference system employed is insufficient and no stationary solutions can be found within its restricted variational subspace. By systematically analyzing thermodynamical observables and the spectral function, we find that the strongly interacting Bose glass is characterized by different regimes, depending on which local occupations are activated as a function of the disorder strength. We find that the particles delocalize into isolated superfluid lakes over a strongly localized background around maximally-occupied sites whenever these sites are particularly rare. Our results indicate that the transition from the Bose glass to the superfluid phase around unit filling at strong interactions is driven by the percolation of superfluid lakes which form around doubly occupied sites.

Cosmic strings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bennett, David P.

1988-01-01

Cosmic strings are linear topological defects which are predicted by some grand unified theories to form during a spontaneous symmetry breaking phase transition in the early universe. They are the basis for the only theories of galaxy formation aside from quantum fluctuations from inflation based on fundamental physics. In contrast to inflation, they can also be observed directly through gravitational lensing and their characterisitc microwave background anisotropy. It was recently discovered that details of cosmic string evolution are very differnt from the so-called standard model that was assumed in most of the string-induced galaxy formation calculations. Therefore, the details of galaxy formation in the cosmic string models are currently very uncertain.

Highly efficient chiral resolution of DL-arginine by cocrystal formation followed by recrystallization under preferential-enrichment conditions.

PubMed

Iwama, Sekai; Kuyama, Kazunori; Mori, Yuko; Manoj, Kochunnoonny; Gonnade, Rajesh G; Suzuki, Katsuaki; Hughes, Colan E; Williams, P Andrew; Harris, Kenneth D M; Veesler, Stéphane; Takahashi, Hiroki; Tsue, Hirohito; Tamura, Rui

2014-08-11

An excellent chiral symmetry-breaking spontaneous enantiomeric resolution phenomenon, denoted preferential enrichment, was observed on recrystallization of the 1:1 cocrystal of dl-arginine and fumaric acid, which is classified as a racemic compound crystal with a high eutectic ee value (>95 %), under non-equilibrium crystallization conditions. On the basis of temperature-controlled video microscopy and in situ time-resolved solid-state (13) C NMR spectroscopic studies on the crystallization process, a new mechanism of phase transition that can induce preferential enrichment is proposed. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Spontaneous and superfluid chiral edge states in exciton-polariton condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigurdsson, H.; Li, G.; Liew, T. C. H.

2017-09-01

We present a scheme of interaction-induced topological band structures based on the spin anisotropy of exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. We predict theoretically that this scheme allows the engineering of topological gaps, without requiring a magnetic field or strong spin-orbit interaction (transverse electric-transverse magnetic splitting). Under nonresonant pumping we find that an initially topologically trivial system undergoes a topological transition upon the spontaneous breaking of phase symmetry associated with polariton condensation. Under either nonresonant or resonant coherent pumping we find that it is also possible to engineer a topological dispersion that is linear in wave vector—a property associated with polariton superfluidity.

Emergence of social structures via preferential selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lipowski, Adam; Lipowska, Dorota; Ferreira, Antonio Luis

2014-09-01

We examine a weighted-network multiagent model with preferential selection such that agents choose partners with probability p (w), where w is the number of their past selections. When p (w) increases sublinearly with the number of past selections [p(w)˜wα,α<1], agents develop a uniform preference for all other agents. At α =1, this state loses stability and more complex structures form. For a superlinear increase (α>1), strong heterogeneities emerge and agents make selections mainly within small and sometimes asymmetric clusters. Even in a few-agent case, the formation of such clusters resembles phase transitions with spontaneous symmetry breaking.

Study of CP(N-1) theta-vacua by cluster simulation of SU(N) quantum spin ladders.

PubMed

Beard, B B; Pepe, M; Riederer, S; Wiese, U-J

2005-01-14

D-theory provides an alternative lattice regularization of the 2D CP(N-1) quantum field theory in which continuous classical fields emerge from the dimensional reduction of discrete SU(N) quantum spins. Spin ladders consisting of n transversely coupled spin chains lead to a CP(N-1) model with a vacuum angle theta=npi. In D-theory no sign problem arises and an efficient cluster algorithm is used to investigate theta-vacuum effects. At theta=pi there is a first order phase transition with spontaneous breaking of charge conjugation symmetry for CP(N-1) models with N>2.

Nuclear Deformation at Finite Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alhassid, Y.; Gilbreth, C. N.; Bertsch, G. F.

2014-12-01

Deformation, a key concept in our understanding of heavy nuclei, is based on a mean-field description that breaks the rotational invariance of the nuclear many-body Hamiltonian. We present a method to analyze nuclear deformations at finite temperature in a framework that preserves rotational invariance. The auxiliary-field Monte Carlo method is used to generate a statistical ensemble and calculate the probability distribution associated with the quadrupole operator. Applying the technique to nuclei in the rare-earth region, we identify model-independent signatures of deformation and find that deformation effects persist to temperatures higher than the spherical-to-deformed shape phase-transition temperature of mean-field theory.

Large deviations in the presence of cooperativity and slow dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitelam, Stephen

2018-06-01

We study simple models of intermittency, involving switching between two states, within the dynamical large-deviation formalism. Singularities appear in the formalism when switching is cooperative or when its basic time scale diverges. In the first case the unbiased trajectory distribution undergoes a symmetry breaking, leading to a change in shape of the large-deviation rate function for a particular dynamical observable. In the second case the symmetry of the unbiased trajectory distribution remains unbroken. Comparison of these models suggests that singularities of the dynamical large-deviation formalism can signal the dynamical equivalent of an equilibrium phase transition but do not necessarily do so.

Baryon asymmetry from hypermagnetic helicity in dilaton hypercharge electromagnetism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bamba, Kazuharu

2006-12-15

The generation of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe from the hypermagnetic helicity, the physical interpretation of which is given in terms of hypermagnetic knots, is studied in inflationary cosmology, taking into account the breaking of the conformal invariance of hypercharge electromagnetic fields through both a coupling with the dilaton and with a pseudoscalar field. It is shown that, if the electroweak phase transition is strongly first order and the present amplitude of the generated magnetic fields on the horizon scale is sufficiently large, a baryon asymmetry with a sufficient magnitude to account for the observed baryon-to-entropy ratio can bemore » generated.« less

Reference Determinant Dependence of the Random Phase Approximation in 3d Transition Metal Chemistry.

PubMed

Bates, J E; Mezei, P D; Csonka, G I; Sun, J; Ruzsinszky, A

2017-01-10

Without extensive fitting, accurate prediction of transition metal chemistry is a challenge for semilocal and hybrid density funcitonals. The Random Phase Approximation (RPA) has been shown to yield superior results to semilocal functionals for main group thermochemistry, but much less is known about its performance for transition metals. We have therefore analyzed the behavior of reaction energies, barrier heights, and ligand dissociation energies obtained with RPA and compare our results to several semilocal and hybrid functionals. Particular attention is paid to the reference determinant dependence of RPA. We find that typically the results do not vary much between semilocal or hybrid functionals as a reference, as long as the fraction of exact exchange (EXX) mixing in the hybrid functional is small. For large fractions of EXX mixing, however, the Hartree-Fock-like nature of the determinant can severely degrade the performance. Overall, RPA systematically reduces the errors of semilocal functionals and delivers excellent performance from a single reference determinant for inherently multireference reactions. The behavior of dual hybrids that combine RPA correlation with a hybrid exchange energy was also explored, but ultimately did not lead to a systematic improvement compared to traditional RPA for these systems. We rationalize this conclusion by decomposing the contributions to the reaction energies, and briefly discuss the possible implications for double-hybrid functionals based on RPA. The correlation between EXX mixing and spin-symmetry breaking is also discussed.

Modelling ultrafast laser ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rethfeld, Baerbel; Ivanov, Dmitriy S.; E Garcia, Martin; Anisimov, Sergei I.

2017-05-01

This review is devoted to the study of ultrafast laser ablation of solids and liquids. The ablation of condensed matter under exposure to subpicosecond laser pulses has a number of peculiar properties which distinguish this process from ablation induced by nanosecond and longer laser pulses. The process of ultrafast ablation includes light absorption by electrons in the skin layer, energy transfer from the skin layer to target interior by nonlinear electronic heat conduction, relaxation of the electron and ion temperatures, ultrafast melting, hydrodynamic expansion of heated matter accompanied by the formation of metastable states and subsequent formation of breaks in condensed matter. In case of ultrashort laser excitation, these processes are temporally separated and can thus be studied separately. As for energy absorption, we consider peculiarities of the case of metal irradiation in contrast to dielectrics and semiconductors. We discuss the energy dissipation processes of electronic thermal wave and lattice heating. Different types of phase transitions after ultrashort laser pulse irradiation as melting, vaporization or transitions to warm dense matter are discussed. Also nonthermal phase transitions, directly caused by the electronic excitation before considerable lattice heating, are considered. The final material removal occurs from the physical point of view as expansion of heated matter; here we discuss approaches of hydrodynamics, as well as molecular dynamic simulations directly following the atomic movements. Hybrid approaches tracing the dynamics of excited electrons, energy dissipation and structural dynamics in a combined simulation are reviewed as well.

Damage, Self-Healing, and Hysteresis in Spider Silks

PubMed Central

De Tommasi, D.; Puglisi, G.; Saccomandi, G.

2010-01-01

Abstract In this article, we propose a microstructure-based continuum model to describe the material behavior of spider silks. We suppose that the material is composed of a soft fraction with entropic elasticity and a hard, damageable fraction. The hard fraction models the presence of stiffer, crystal-rich, oriented regions and accounts for the effect of softening induced by the breaking of hydrogen bonds. To describe the observed presence of crystals with different size, composition, and orientation, this hard fraction is modeled as a distribution of materials with variable properties. The soft fraction describes the remaining regions of amorphous material and is here modeled as a wormlike chain. During stretching, we consider the effect of bond-breaking as a transition from the hard- to the soft-material phase. As we demonstrate, a crucial effect of bond-breaking that accompanies the softening of the material is an increase in contour length associated with chains unraveling. The model describes also the self-healing properties of the material by assuming partial bond reconnection upon unloading. Despite its simplicity, the proposed mechanical system reproduces the main experimental effects observed in cyclic loading of spider silks. Moreover, our approach is amenable to two- or three-dimensional extensions and may prove to be a useful tool in the field of microstructure optimization for bioinspired materials. PMID:20441758

Renormalization-group study of the Nagel-Schreckenberg model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teoh, Han Kheng; Yong, Ee Hou

2018-03-01

We study the phase transition from free flow to congested phases in the Nagel-Schreckenberg (NS) model by using the dynamically driven renormalization group (DDRG). The breaking probability p that governs the driving strategy is investigated. For the deterministic case p =0 , the dynamics remain invariant in each renormalization-group (RG) transformation. Two fully attractive fixed points, ρc*=0 and 1, and one unstable fixed point, ρc*=1 /(vmax+1 ) , are obtained. The critical exponent ν which is related to the correlation length is calculated for various vmax. The critical exponent appears to decrease weakly with vmax from ν =1.62 to the asymptotical value of 1.00. For the random case p >0 , the transition rules in the coarse-grained scale are found to be different from the NS specification. To have a qualitative understanding of the effect of stochasticity, the case p →0 is studied with simulation, and the RG flow in the ρ -p plane is obtained. The fixed points p =0 and 1 that govern the driving strategy of the NS model are found. A short discussion on the extension of the DDRG method to the NS model with the open-boundary condition is outlined.

Dark Matter Decay between Phase Transitions at the Weak Scale.

PubMed

Baker, Michael J; Kopp, Joachim

2017-08-11

We propose a new alternative to the weakly interacting massive particle paradigm for dark matter. Rather than being determined by thermal freeze-out, the dark matter abundance in this scenario is set by dark matter decay, which is allowed for a limited amount of time just before the electroweak phase transition. More specifically, we consider fermionic singlet dark matter particles coupled weakly to a scalar mediator S_{3} and to auxiliary dark sector fields, charged under the standard model gauge groups. Dark matter freezes out while still relativistic, so its abundance is initially very large. As the Universe cools down, the scalar mediator develops a vacuum expectation value (VEV), which breaks the symmetry that stabilizes dark matter. This allows dark matter to mix with charged fermions and decay. During this epoch, the dark matter abundance is reduced to give the value observed today. Later, the SM Higgs field also develops a VEV, which feeds back into the S_{3} potential and restores the dark sector symmetry. In a concrete model we show that this "VEV flip-flop" scenario is phenomenologically successful in the most interesting regions of its parameter space. We also comment on detection prospects at the LHC and elsewhere.

Dark Matter Decay between Phase Transitions at the Weak Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, Michael J.; Kopp, Joachim

2017-08-01

We propose a new alternative to the weakly interacting massive particle paradigm for dark matter. Rather than being determined by thermal freeze-out, the dark matter abundance in this scenario is set by dark matter decay, which is allowed for a limited amount of time just before the electroweak phase transition. More specifically, we consider fermionic singlet dark matter particles coupled weakly to a scalar mediator S3 and to auxiliary dark sector fields, charged under the standard model gauge groups. Dark matter freezes out while still relativistic, so its abundance is initially very large. As the Universe cools down, the scalar mediator develops a vacuum expectation value (VEV), which breaks the symmetry that stabilizes dark matter. This allows dark matter to mix with charged fermions and decay. During this epoch, the dark matter abundance is reduced to give the value observed today. Later, the SM Higgs field also develops a VEV, which feeds back into the S3 potential and restores the dark sector symmetry. In a concrete model we show that this "VEV flip-flop" scenario is phenomenologically successful in the most interesting regions of its parameter space. We also comment on detection prospects at the LHC and elsewhere.

Low-temperature breakdown of antiferromagnetic quantum critical behavior in FeSe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grinenko, V.; Sarkar, R.; Materne, P.; Kamusella, S.; Yamamshita, A.; Takano, Y.; Sun, Y.; Tamegai, T.; Efremov, D. V.; Drechsler, S.-L.; Orain, J.-C.; Goko, T.; Scheuermann, R.; Luetkens, H.; Klauss, H.-H.

2018-05-01

A nematic transition preceding a long-range spin density wave antiferromagnetic phase is a common feature of many parent compounds of Fe-based superconductors. However, in the FeSe system with a nematic transition at Ts≈90 K, no evidence for long-range static magnetism is found down to very low temperatures. The lack of magnetism is a challenge for the theoretical description of FeSe. We investigated high-quality single crystals of FeSe using high-field (up to 9.5 T) muon spin rotation (μ SR ) measurements. The μ SR Knight shift and the bulk susceptibility linearly scale at high temperatures but deviate from this behavior around T*˜10 -20 K, where the Knight shift exhibits a kink. In the temperature range Ts≳T ≳T* , the muon spin depolarization rate shows a quantum critical behavior Λ ∝T-0.4 . The observed critical scaling indicates that FeSe is in the vicinity of an itinerant antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. Below T* the quantum critical behavior breaks down. We argue that this breakdown is caused by a temperature-induced Lifschitz transition.

Tuning excitation laser wavelength for secondary resonance in low-intensity phase-selective laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for in-situ analytical measurement of nanoaerosols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Gang; Li, Shuiqing; Tse, Stephen D.

2018-02-01

In recent years, a novel low-intensity phase-selective laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (PS-LIBS) technique has been developed for unique elemental-composition identification of aerosolized nanoparticles, where only the solid-phase nanoparticles break down, forming nanoplasmas, without any surrounding gas-phase breakdown. Additional work has demonstrated that PS-LIBS emissions can be greatly enhanced with secondary resonant excitation by matching the excitation laser wavelength with an atomic transition line in the formed nanoplasma, thereby achieving low limits of detection. In this work, a tunable dye laser is employed to investigate the effects of excitation wavelength and irradiance on in-situ PS-LIBS measurements of TiO2 nanoaerosols. The enhancement factor by resonant excitation can be 220 times greater than that for non-resonant cases under similar conditions. Moreover, the emitted spectra are unique for the selected resonant transition lines for a given element, suggesting the potential to make precise phase-selective and analyte-selective measurements of nanoparticles in a multicomponent multiphase system. The enhancement factor by resonant excitation is highly sensitive to excitation laser wavelength, with narrow excitation spectral windows, i.e., 0.012 to 0.023 nm (FWHM, full width at half maximum) for Ti (I) neutral atomic lines, and 0.051 to 0.139 nm (FWHM) for Ti (II) single-ionized atomic lines. Boltzmann analysis of the emission intensities, temporal response of emissions, and emission dependence on excitation irradiance are investigated to understand aspects of the generated nanoplasmas such as temperature, local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), and excitation mechanism.

Transitions in romantic relationships and development of self-esteem.

PubMed

Luciano, Eva C; Orth, Ulrich

2017-02-01

Research suggests that self-esteem increases during late adolescence and young adulthood, but that there is large interindividual variability in this development. However, little is known about the factors accounting for these findings. Using propensity score matching, we tested whether important transitions in the domain of romantic relationships (i.e., beginning a relationship, marrying, and breaking up) explain why individuals differ in the particular self-esteem trajectory they follow. Data came from a longitudinal German study with a large sample of 3 nationally representative cohorts of late adolescents and young adults (total N = 9,069). The analyses were based on 4 assessments across a 3-year period. Using matched samples, the results showed that beginning a relationship increased self-esteem and that the increase persisted when the relationship held at least for 1 year. Experiencing a relationship break-up decreased self-esteem, but the effect disappeared after 1 year, even if the participant stayed single. Marrying did not influence self-esteem. Additionally, we tested for selection effects of self-esteem on the later occurrence of relationship transitions. High self-esteem predicted the beginning of a relationship and low self-esteem predicted relationship break-up. All findings held across gender, age, and migration background. Furthermore, relationship quality mediated the effect of self-esteem on relationship break-up and the effect of beginning a longer versus a short relationship on self-esteem. The findings have significant implications because they show that self-esteem influences whether important transitions occur in the relationship domain and that, in turn, experiencing these transitions influences the further development of self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of doping and interchain interactions on the metal-insulator transition in trans-polyacetylene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paulsson, Magnus; Stafström, Sven

1999-09-01

Using a tight-binding Hamiltonian the metal-insulator phase diagram for trans-polyacetylene was calculated as a function of doping concentration and interchain interaction strength. The phase boundary for the periodic system coincides with the gap closing, which occurs for certain combinations of critical values for the doping concentration and the interchain interaction strength. The values found are in good agreement with the experimentally observed increase in the Pauli susceptibility. To simulate disorder in the polymer, the effect of finite chain lengths was studied. This type of disorder pushes the metal/insulator phase boundary towards the metallic side of the phase diagram. An increase in the doping concentration and/or interchain interaction is shown to reduce the localizing effects of disorder effectively. For realistic values of the interchain interaction strength the number of chain breaks needed to localize the states at the Fermi energy is quite small, of the order of a few percent. The localization length is found to be substantially longer than the conjugation length of the polymer.

Chern structure in the Bose-insulating phase of Sr2RuO4 nanofilms

PubMed Central

Nobukane, Hiroyoshi; Matsuyama, Toyoki; Tanda, Satoshi

2017-01-01

The quantum anomaly that breaks the symmetry, for example the parity and the chirality, in the quantization leads to a physical quantity with a topological Chern invariant. We report the observation of a Chern structure in the Bose-insulating phase of Sr2RuO4 nanofilms by employing electric transport. We observed the superconductor-to-insulator transition by reducing the thickness of Sr2RuO4 single crystals. The appearance of a gap structure in the insulating phase implies local superconductivity. Fractional quantized conductance was observed without an external magnetic field. We found an anomalous induced voltage with temperature and thickness dependence, and the induced voltage exhibited switching behavior when we applied a magnetic field. We suggest that there was fractional magnetic-field-induced electric polarization in the interlayer. These anomalous results are related to topological invariance. The fractional axion angle Θ = π/6 was determined by observing the topological magneto-electric effect in the Bose-insulating phase of Sr2RuO4 nanofilms. PMID:28112269

Topological phase transition in the two-dimensional anisotropic Heisenberg model: A study using the Replica Exchange Wang-Landau sampling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Figueiredo, T. P.; Rocha, J. C. S.; Costa, B. V.

2017-12-01

Although the topological Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition was for the first time described by 40 years ago, it is still a matter of discussion. It has been used to explain several experiments in the most diverse physical systems. In contrast with the ordinary continuous phase transitions the BKT-transition does not break any symmetry. However, in some contexts it can easily be confused with other continuous transitions, in general due to an insufficient data analysis. The two-dimensional XY (or sometimes called planar rotator) spin model is the fruit fly model describing the BKT transition. As demonstrated by Bramwell and Holdsworth (1993) the finite-size effects are more important in two-dimensions than in others due to the logarithmic system size dependence of the properties of the system. Closely related is the anisotropic two dimensional Heisenberg model (AH). Although they have the same Hamiltonian the spin variable in the former has only two degrees of freedom while the AH has three. Many works treat the AH model as undergoing a transition in the same universality class as the XY model. However, its characterization as being in the BKT class of universality deserve some investigation. This paper has two goals. First, we describe an analytical evidence showing that the AH model is in the BKT class of universality. Second, we make an extensive simulation, using the numerical Replica Exchange Wang-Landau method that corroborate our analytical calculations. From our simulation we obtain the BKT transition temperature as TBKT = 0 . 6980(10) by monitoring the susceptibility, the two point correlation function and the helicity modulus. We discuss the misuse of the fourth order Binder's cumulant to locate the transition temperature. The specific heat is shown to have a non-critical behavior as expected in the BKT transition. An analysis of the two point correlation function at low temperature, C(r) ∝r - η(T), shows that the exponent, η, is consistent with an exponential law η =η0eζT, with η0 = 0 . 025(5) and ζ = 3 . 25(10) in close agreement with the results of Cardy (1981) for the p-state clock model.

Orbitally limited pair-density-wave phase of multilayer superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Möckli, David; Yanase, Youichi; Sigrist, Manfred

2018-04-01

We investigate the magnetic field dependence of an ideal superconducting vortex lattice in the parity-mixed pair-density-wave phase of multilayer superconductors within a circular cell Ginzburg-Landau approach. In multilayer systems, due to local inversion symmetry breaking, a Rashba spin-orbit coupling is induced at the outer layers. This combined with a perpendicular paramagnetic (Pauli) limiting magnetic field stabilizes a staggered layer dependent pair-density-wave phase in the superconducting singlet channel. The high-field pair-density-wave phase is separated from the low-field BCS phase by a first-order phase transition. The motivating guiding question in this paper is: What is the minimal necessary Maki parameter αM for the appearance of the pair-density-wave phase of a superconducting trilayer system? To address this problem we generalize the circular cell method for the regular flux-line lattice of a type-II superconductor to include paramagnetic depairing effects. Then, we apply the model to the trilayer system, where each of the layers are characterized by Ginzburg-Landau parameter κ0 and a Maki parameter αM. We find that when the spin-orbit Rashba interaction compares to the superconducting condensation energy, the orbitally limited pair-density-wave phase stabilizes for Maki parameters αM>10 .

Can phenological models predict tree phenology accurately under climate change conditions?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuine, Isabelle; Bonhomme, Marc; Legave, Jean Michel; García de Cortázar-Atauri, Inaki; Charrier, Guillaume; Lacointe, André; Améglio, Thierry

2014-05-01

The onset of the growing season of trees has been globally earlier by 2.3 days/decade during the last 50 years because of global warming and this trend is predicted to continue according to climate forecast. The effect of temperature on plant phenology is however not linear because temperature has a dual effect on bud development. On one hand, low temperatures are necessary to break bud dormancy, and on the other hand higher temperatures are necessary to promote bud cells growth afterwards. Increasing phenological changes in temperate woody species have strong impacts on forest trees distribution and productivity, as well as crops cultivation areas. Accurate predictions of trees phenology are therefore a prerequisite to understand and foresee the impacts of climate change on forests and agrosystems. Different process-based models have been developed in the last two decades to predict the date of budburst or flowering of woody species. They are two main families: (1) one-phase models which consider only the ecodormancy phase and make the assumption that endodormancy is always broken before adequate climatic conditions for cell growth occur; and (2) two-phase models which consider both the endodormancy and ecodormancy phases and predict a date of dormancy break which varies from year to year. So far, one-phase models have been able to predict accurately tree bud break and flowering under historical climate. However, because they do not consider what happens prior to ecodormancy, and especially the possible negative effect of winter temperature warming on dormancy break, it seems unlikely that they can provide accurate predictions in future climate conditions. It is indeed well known that a lack of low temperature results in abnormal pattern of bud break and development in temperate fruit trees. An accurate modelling of the dormancy break date has thus become a major issue in phenology modelling. Two-phases phenological models predict that global warming should delay or compromise dormancy break at the species equatorward range limits leading to a delay or even impossibility to flower or set new leaves. These models are classically parameterized with flowering or budburst dates only, with no information on the dormancy break date because this information is very scarce. We evaluated the efficiency of a set of process-based phenological models to accurately predict the dormancy break dates of four fruit trees. Our results show that models calibrated solely with flowering or budburst dates do not accurately predict the dormancy break date. Providing dormancy break date for the model parameterization results in much more accurate simulation of this latter, with however a higher error than that on flowering or bud break dates. But most importantly, we show also that models not calibrated with dormancy break dates can generate significant differences in forecasted flowering or bud break dates when using climate scenarios. Our results claim for the urgent need of massive measurements of dormancy break dates in forest and fruit trees to yield more robust projections of phenological changes in a near future.

Extracting preseismic VLF-VHF electromagnetic signatures: A possible way in which the critical regime is reached as the earthquake approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eftaxias, K.; Kapiris, P.; Karamanos, K.; Balasis, G.; Peratzakis, A.

2005-12-01

We view earthquakes EQ's as large-scale fracture phenomena in the Earth's heterogeneous crust. Our main observational tool is the monitoring of the microfractures, which occur in the prefocal area before the final break-up, by recording their kHz-MHz electromagnetic (EM) emissions, with the MHz radiation appearing earlier than the kHz. Our model of the focal area consists of a backbone of strong and almost homogeneous large asperities that sustains the system and a strongly heterogeneous medium that surrounds the family of strong asperities. We distinguish two characteristic epochs in the evolution of precursory EM activity and identify them with the equivalent critical stages in the EQ preparation process. Our approach will be in terms of critical phase transitions in statistical physics, drawing on recently published results. We obtain two major results. First, the initial MHz part of the preseismic EM emission, which has antipersistent behavior, is triggered by microfractures in the highly disordered system that surrounds the essentially homogeneous "backbone asperities" within the prefocal area and could be described in analogy with a thermal continuous phase transition. However, the analysis reveals that the system is gradually driven out of equilibrium. Considerations of the symmetry-breaking and ``intermittent dynamics of critical fluctuations" method estimate the time beyond which the process generating the preseismic EM emission could continue only as a nonequilibrium instability. Second, the abrupt emergence of strong kHz EM emission in the tail of the precursory radiation, showing strong persistent behavior, is thought to be due to the fracture of the high strength ``backbones". The associated phase of the EQ nucleation is a nonequilibrium process without any footprint of an equilibrium thermal phase transition. The family of asperities sustains the system. Physically, the appearance of persistent properties may indicate that the process acquires a self-regulating character and to a great degree the property of irreversibility, one of the important components of predictive capability. We address the role of the order of material heterogeneity on the transition from antipersistent to persistent behavior. We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the European Union Program EPEAEK/PYTHAGORAS 70/3/7357 P. Kapiris, K. Eftaxias and T. Chelidze, Electromagnetic Signature of Prefracture Criticality in Heterogeneous Media, Physical Review Letters, 92(6), 065702, 2004. P. Kapiris, J. Polygiannakis, X. Li, X. Yao and K. Eftaxias, Similarities in precursory features in seismic shocks and epileptic seizures, Europhysics Letters 69, 657-663, 2005. P. Kapiris, K. Nomicos, G. Antonopoulos, J. Polygiannakis, K. Karamanos, J. Kopanas, A. Zissos, A. Peratzakis and K. Eftaxias, Distinguished seismological and electromagnetic features of the impending global failure: did the 7/9/1999 M5.9 Athens earthquake come with a warning?, Earth Planets and Space, 57, 215-230, 2005 Y. Contoyiannis, P. Kapiris and K. Eftaxias, A Monitoring of a Pre-Seismic Phase from its Electromagnetic Precursors, Physical Review E, 71, 066123, 2005. K. Karamanos, A. Peratzakis, P. Kapiris, S. Nikolopoulos, J. Kopanas, and K. Eftaxias, Extracting preseismic electromagnetic signatures in terms of symbolic dynamics, Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, (in press), 2005.

Applying the relaxation model of interfacial heat transfer to calculate the liquid outflow with supercritical initial parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alekseev, M. V.; Vozhakov, I. S.; Lezhnin, S. I.; Pribaturin, N. A.

2017-09-01

A comparative numerical simulation of the supercritical fluid outflow on the thermodynamic equilibrium and non-equilibrium relaxation models of phase transition for different times of relaxation has been performed. The model for the fixed relaxation time based on the experimentally determined radius of liquid droplets was compared with the model of dynamically changing relaxation time, calculated by the formula (7) and depending on local parameters. It is shown that the relaxation time varies significantly depending on the thermodynamic conditions of the two-phase medium in the course of outflowing. The application of the proposed model with dynamic relaxation time leads to qualitatively correct results. The model can be used for both vaporization and condensation processes. It is shown that the model can be improved on the basis of processing experimental data on the distribution of the droplet sizes formed during the breaking up of the liquid jet.

Condensed matter analogues of cosmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kibble, Tom; Srivastava, Ajit

2013-10-01

It is always exciting when developments in one branch of physics turn out to have relevance in a quite different branch. It would be hard to find two branches farther apart in terms of energy scales than early-universe cosmology and low-temperature condensed matter physics. Nevertheless ideas about the formation of topological defects during rapid phase transitions that originated in the context of the very early universe have proved remarkably fruitful when applied to a variety of condensed matter systems. The mathematical frameworks for describing these systems can be very similar. This interconnection has led to a deeper understanding of the phenomena in condensed matter systems utilizing ideas from cosmology. At the same time, one can view these condensed matter analogues as providing, at least in a limited sense, experimental access to the phenomena of the early universe for which no direct probe is possible. As this special issue well illustrates, this remains a dynamic and exciting field. The basic idea is that when a system goes through a rapid symmetry-breaking phase transition from a symmetric phase into one with spontaneously broken symmetry, the order parameter may make different choices in different regions, creating domains that when they meet can trap defects. The scale of those domains, and hence the density of defects, is constrained by the rate at which the system goes through the transition and the speed with which order parameter information propagates. This is what has come to be known as the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. The resultant scaling laws have now been tested in a considerable variety of different systems. The earliest experiments illustrating the analogy between cosmology and condensed matter were in liquid crystals, in particular on the isotropic-to-nematic transition, primarily because it is very easy to induce the phase transition (typically at room temperature) and to image precisely what is going on. This field remains one of the liveliest. A number of new experiments are reported here studying the dynamical evolution of domains and defects. Another phenomenon that played a key early role was the formation of vortices in the normal-to-superfluid transition in liquid helium-3. The complicated nature of the order parameter energy surface gives rise to a variety of intriguing effects. This too is still a vigorous field. Superconductivity is a special case because the symmetry that is broken is a gauge symmetry. This is also true in fundamental particle physics theories of relevance to cosmology, and for that reason experiments on superconductors are of particular interest to cosmologists. The situation in this case is more complicated because there are competing mechanisms of defect formation. Experiments in the field have not proved easy, either to perform or to interpret, but the papers in this collection show that good progress has been made of late. In recent years a new type of system has proved immensely fruitful, namely atomic Bose-Einstein or Fermi-gas condensates. Experiments on condensates with tunable parameters have in general provided broad support for the theory, and have also revealed a wide range of interesting and novel features, with intriguing possible analogues in cosmology (e.g. causal horizons and particle creation). The basic idea of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism has been shown to be relevant in this whole range of systems. But numerous complexities have also emerged, concerned for example with the role of inhomogeneity or the existence of composite defects. The field is still developing rapidly. Acknowledgments Finally, we would like to thank all the authors who have contributed to this issue, and the staff of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter who have made it possible. Condensed matter analogues of cosmology contents Condensed matter analogues of cosmologyTom Kibble and Ajit Srivastava Symmetry breaking in nematic liquid crystals: analogy with cosmology and magnetismR Repnik, A Ranjkesh, V Simonka, M Ambrozic, Z Bradac and S Kralj Morphogenesis of defects and tactoids during isotropic-nematic phase transition in self-assembled lyotropic chromonic liquid crystalsYoung-Ki Kim, Sergij V Shiyanovskii and Oleg D Lavrentovich Annihilation dynamics of stringlike topological defects in a nematic lyotropic liquid crystalR R Guimarães, R S Mendes, P R G Fernandes and H Mukai Duality between the dynamics of line-like brushes of point defects in 2D and strings in 3D in liquid crystalsSanatan Digal, Rajarshi Ray, P S Saumia and Ajit M Srivastava The multiuniverse transition in superfluid 3HeYury Bunkov Coherent topological defect dynamics and collective modes in superconductors and electronic crystalsD Mihailovic, T Mertelj, V V Kabanov and S Brazovskii Gaussianity revisited: exploring the Kibble-Zurek mechanism with superconducting ringsD J Weir, R Monaco, V P Koshelets, J Mygind and R J Rivers The Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a subcritical bifurcationM A Miranda, D Laroze and W González-Viñas Topological relics of symmetry breaking: winding numbers and scaling tilts from random vortex-antivortex pairsW H Zurek Causality and non-equilibrium second-order phase transitions in inhomogeneous systemsA del Campo, T W B Kibble and W H Zurek The role of causality in tunable Fermi gas condensatesJen-Tsung Hsiang, Chi-Yong Lin, Da-Shin Lee and Ray J Rivers Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a trapped ferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensateHiroki Saito, Yuki Kawaguchi and Masahito Ueda D-brane solitons and boojums in field theory and Bose-Einstein condensatesKenichi Kasamatsu, Hiromitsu Takeuchi and Muneto Nitta Kibble-Zurek scaling and string-net coarsening in topologically ordered systemsAnushya Chandran, F J Burnell, Vedika Khemani and S L Sondhi Universal frozen spectra after time-dependent symmetry restoring phase transitionsFriedemann Queisser, Patrick Navez and Ralf Schützhold Microscopic theory of non-adiabatic response in real and imaginary timeC De Grandi, A Polkovnikov and A W Sandvik

Transits and Eclipses of the Best of the Best: 23 Hot Jupiters for Atmospheric Characterization by Spitzer, Hubble, and JWST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deming, Drake; Benneke, Bjoern; Fraine, Jonathan; Kataria, Tiffany; Knutson, Heather; Lewis, Nikole; Madhusudhan, Nikku; Mandell, Avi; McCullough, Peter; Sheppard, Kyle; Sing, David; Stevenson, Kevin; Todorov, Kamen; Wakeford, Hannah; Wilkins, Ashlee; Burrows, Adam

2016-08-01

We propose a program of Spitzer transit and secondary eclipse observations for 23 of the 'best of the best' hot giant planets (R > 0.8 Jupiters). We focus on planets that are already observed by HST, proposed to be observed by HST, or candiates for JWST Early Release Science observations. Our eclipse observations will measure day side temperatures that are needed for HST spectroscopy, and temperatures of the hottest and most favorable planets for JWST spectroscopy and possible phase curve observations. Several of our planets are extremely inflated, with atmospheric scale heights exceeding a thousand kilometers, yielding large atmospheric signatures during transit. Our transit photometry has the potential to detect molecular absorption by comparing transit radii and eclipse depths in the two Spitzer bands. Moreover, our precise transit depths will help to evaluate the magnitude of continuous opacity in the exoplanetary atmospheres, breaking the degeneracy between composition and cloud opacity, as recently demonstrated by Sing et al. We will thereby find the hottest and clearest giant exoplanetary atmospheres, with the largest molecular signatures, for HST and JWST spectroscopy. This will complete the Spitzer hot Jupiter legacy by providing a uniform set of transit and eclipse observations for the most favorable members of the intriguing population of close-in highly-irradiated giant planets. This unique Spitzer data set will guide efforts toward detailed atmospheric characterization of individual hot Jupiters for years to come.

Observation of discrete time-crystalline order in a disordered dipolar many-body system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Soonwon; Choi, Joonhee; Landig, Renate; Kucsko, Georg; Zhou, Hengyun; Isoya, Junichi; Jelezko, Fedor; Onoda, Shinobu; Sumiya, Hitoshi; Khemani, Vedika; von Keyserlingk, Curt; Yao, Norman Y.; Demler, Eugene; Lukin, Mikhail D.

2017-03-01

Understanding quantum dynamics away from equilibrium is an outstanding challenge in the modern physical sciences. Out-of-equilibrium systems can display a rich variety of phenomena, including self-organized synchronization and dynamical phase transitions. More recently, advances in the controlled manipulation of isolated many-body systems have enabled detailed studies of non-equilibrium phases in strongly interacting quantum matter; for example, the interplay between periodic driving, disorder and strong interactions has been predicted to result in exotic ‘time-crystalline’ phases, in which a system exhibits temporal correlations at integer multiples of the fundamental driving period, breaking the discrete time-translational symmetry of the underlying drive. Here we report the experimental observation of such discrete time-crystalline order in a driven, disordered ensemble of about one million dipolar spin impurities in diamond at room temperature. We observe long-lived temporal correlations, experimentally identify the phase boundary and find that the temporal order is protected by strong interactions. This order is remarkably stable to perturbations, even in the presence of slow thermalization. Our work opens the door to exploring dynamical phases of matter and controlling interacting, disordered many-body systems.

Constructing local integrals of motion in the many-body localized phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandran, Anushya; Kim, Isaac H.; Vidal, Guifre; Abanin, Dmitry A.

2015-02-01

Many-body localization provides a generic mechanism of ergodicity breaking in quantum systems. In contrast to conventional ergodic systems, many-body-localized (MBL) systems are characterized by extensively many local integrals of motion (LIOM), which underlie the absence of transport and thermalization in these systems. Here we report a physically motivated construction of local integrals of motion in the MBL phase. We show that any local operator (e.g., a local particle number or a spin-flip operator), evolved with the system's Hamiltonian and averaged over time, becomes a LIOM in the MBL phase. Such operators have a clear physical meaning, describing the response of the MBL system to a local perturbation. In particular, when a local operator represents a density of some globally conserved quantity, the corresponding LIOM describes how this conserved quantity propagates through the MBL phase. Being uniquely defined and experimentally measurable, these LIOMs provide a natural tool for characterizing the properties of the MBL phase, in both experiments and numerical simulations. We demonstrate the latter by numerically constructing an extensive set of LIOMs in the MBL phase of a disordered spin-chain model. We show that the resulting LIOMs are quasilocal and use their decay to extract the localization length and establish the location of the transition between the MBL and ergodic phases.

Phase transitions and Al partitioning in a pyrolitic MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 composition at 16-31 GPa and 1500-2300 K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Y.; Gu, C.; Shim, S.; Prakapenka, V.; MacDowell, A.

2013-12-01

In order to understand strong seismic heterogeneities found in the base of the mantle transition zone, it is important to explore the effects of temperature and composition on the phase boundaries in the region. We have determined the phase boundaries near the 660-km discontinuity in an iron-free pyrolitic MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 (MAS) composition by combining in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and laser-heated diamond-anvil cell at 16-31 GPa and 1500-2300 K. The pyrolitic MAS composition glass starting materials were mixed with platinum (laser coupler and internal pressure scale) and loaded into the diamond-anvil cells together with argon (pressure transmitting medium and thermal insulator). The in-situ measurements were conducted at the GSECARS sector of Advanced Photon Source and beamline 12.2.2 of Advanced Light Source. We found that the post-spinel transition (ringwoodite to perovskite+periclase) occurs at the pressure and temperature conditions expected for the 660-km discontinuity at 1800 K if the shockwave platinum pressure scale by Holmes et al. (1989) is used. At temperatures above 1900 K, ringwoodite breaks down to garnet+periclase, instead of perovskite+periclase, followed by the post-garnet transition (garnet to perovskite) at the pressure-temperature conditions expected for warm heterogeneities at 650-680 km depths (23-24 GPa and 1900-2300 K). The Clapeyron slopes of the post-spinel and post-garnet boundaries are constrained to be -2.8×0.2 and +2.4×0.3 MPa/K, respectively, indicating similar magnitude of thermal effects (with opposite signs) on the topography of the 660-km discontinuity by these phase boundaries. The dominance of the post-garnet transition above normal mantle temperatures will facilitate material exchange across the 660 discontinuity in warm mantle heterogeneities due to its positive Clapeyron slope. In our pyrolitic MAS composition, akimotoite was observed up to 2000-2300 K between 20 and 22 GPa in both fresh sample heating and reversal measurements, and the post-ilmenite transition (akimotoite to perovskite) occurs at 1-2 GPa higher pressures than the post-spinel transition below 1800 K, significantly different from phase behaviors found in iron-bearing systems. Molar volumes of the temperature quenched samples indicate that Al strongly partitions into akimotoite (akimotoite can contain even greater amount of Al2O3 than coexisting garnet and perovskite). The strong partitioning of Al into akimotoite in iron-free system may be responsible for the observed stability of akimotoite to higher pressures and temperatures, suggesting variations in iron content can produce mineralogical heterogeneities through control of relative stability of akimotoite and garnet.

Dynamic Linkages Between the Transition Zone & Surface Plate Motions in 2D Models of Subduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arredondo, K.; Billen, M. I.

2013-12-01

While slab pull is considered the dominant force controlling plate motion and speed, its magnitude is controlled by slab behavior in the mantle, where tomographic studies show a wide range of possibilities from direct penetration to folding, or stagnation directly above the lower mantle (e.g. Fukao et al., 2009). Geodynamic studies have investigated various parameters, such as plate age and two phase transitions, to recreate observed behavior (e.g. Běhounková and Cízková, 2008). However, past geodynamic models have left out known slab characteristics that may have a large impact on slab behavior and our understanding of subduction processes. Mineral experiments and seismic observations have indicated the existence of additional phase transitions in the mantle transition zone that may produce buoyancy forces large enough to affect the descent of a subducting slab (e.g. Ricard et al., 2005). The current study systematically tests different common assumptions used in geodynamic models: kinematic versus free-slip boundary conditions, the effects of adiabatic heating, viscous dissipation and latent heat, compositional layering and a more complete suite of phase transitions. Final models have a complete energy equation, with eclogite, harzburgite and pyrolite lithosphere compositional layers, and seven composition-dependent phase transitions within the olivine, pyroxene and garnet polymorph minerals. Results show important feedback loops between different assumptions and new behavior from the most complete models. Kinematic models show slab weakening or breaking above the 660 km boundary and between compositional layers. The behavior in dynamic models with a free-moving trench and overriding plate is compared to the more commonly found kinematic models. The new behavior may have important implications for the depth distribution of deep earthquakes within the slab. Though the thermodynamic parameters of certain phase transitions may be uncertain, their presence and feedback to other added processes remain important, which could encourage mineralogical research into multiphase systems. Feedback from the compositionally complex slab to the dynamic trench may improve understanding on the mechanics of slab behavior in the upper and lower mantle and surface behavior of the subducting and overriding plates. Běhounková, M., and H. Cízková, Long-wavelength character of subducted slabs in the lower mantle, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 275, 43-53, 2008. Fukao, Y., M. Obayashi, T. Nakakuki, and the Deep Slab Project Group, Stagnant slab: A review, Annual Reviews of Earth and Planetary Science, 37, 19-46, 2009. Ricard, Y., E. Mattern, and J. Matas, Synthetic tomographic images of slabs from mineral physics, in Earth's Deep Mantle: Structure, Composition, and Evolution, Geophysical Monograph Series, vol. 160, American Geophysical Union, 2005.

General purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of cosmological domain wall network evolution.

PubMed

Correia, J R C C C; Martins, C J A P

2017-10-01

Topological defects unavoidably form at symmetry breaking phase transitions in the early universe. To probe the parameter space of theoretical models and set tighter experimental constraints (exploiting the recent advances in astrophysical observations), one requires more and more demanding simulations, and therefore more hardware resources and computation time. Improving the speed and efficiency of existing codes is essential. Here we present a general purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of the canonical Press-Ryden-Spergel algorithm for the evolution of cosmological domain wall networks. This is ported to the Open Computing Language standard, and as a consequence significant speedups are achieved both in two-dimensional (2D) and 3D simulations.

Study of the Transition from MRI to Magnetic Turbulence via Parasitic Instability by a High-order MHD Simulation Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirai, Kenichiro; Katoh, Yuto; Terada, Naoki; Kawai, Soshi

2018-02-01

Magnetic turbulence in accretion disks under ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) conditions is expected to be driven by the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) followed by secondary parasitic instabilities. We develop a three-dimensional ideal MHD code that can accurately resolve turbulent structures, and carry out simulations with a net vertical magnetic field in a local shearing box disk model to investigate the role of parasitic instabilities in the formation process of magnetic turbulence. Our simulations reveal that a highly anisotropic Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) mode parasitic instability evolves just before the first peak in turbulent stress and then breaks large-scale shear flows created by MRI. The wavenumber of the enhanced parasitic instability is larger than the theoretical estimate, because the shear flow layers sometimes become thinner than those assumed in the linear analysis. We also find that interaction between antiparallel vortices caused by the K–H mode parasitic instability induces small-scale waves that break the shear flows. On the other hand, at repeated peaks in the nonlinear phase, anisotropic wavenumber spectra are observed only in the small wavenumber region and isotropic waves dominate at large wavenumbers unlike for the first peak. Restructured channel flows due to MRI at the peaks in nonlinear phase seem to be collapsed by the advection of small-scale shear structures into the restructured flow and resultant mixing.

Cascading gauge theory on dS4 and String Theory landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buchel, Alex; Galante, Damián A.

2014-06-01

Placing anti-D3 branes at the tip of the conifold in Klebanov-Strassler geometry provides a generic way of constructing meta-stable de Sitter (dS) vacua in String Theory. A local geometry of such vacua exhibit gravitational solutions with a D3 charge measured at the tip opposite to the asymptotic charge. We discuss a restrictive set of such geometries, where anti-D3 branes are smeared at the tip. Such geometries represent holographic dual of cascading gauge theory in dS4 with or without chiral symmetry breaking. We find that in the phase with unbroken chiral symmetry the D3 charge at the tip is always positive. Furthermore, this charge is zero in the phase with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. We show that the effective potential of the chirally symmetric phase is lower than that in the symmetry broken phase, i.e., there is no spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking for cascading gauge theory in dS4. The positivity of the D3 brane charge in smooth de-Sitter deformed conifold geometries with fluxes presents difficulties in uplifting AdS vacua to dS ones in String Theory via smeared anti-D3 branes. First, turning on fluxes on Calabi-Yau compactifications of type IIB string theory produces highly warped geometry with stabilized complex structure (but not Kähler) moduli of the compactification [3]; Next, including non-perturbative effects (which are under control given the unbroken supersymmetry), one obtains anti-de Sitter (AdS4) vacua with all moduli fixed; Finally, one uses anti-D3 branes of type IIB string theory to uplift AdS4 to de Sitter (dS4) vacua. As the last step of the construction completely breaks supersymmetry, it is much less controlled. In fact, in [4-7] it was argued that putting anti-D3 branes at the tip of the Klebanov-Strassler (KS) [8] geometry (as done in KKLT construction) leads to a naked singularity. Whether or not the resulting singularity is physical is subject to debates. When M4=dS4 and the chiral symmetry is unbroken, the D3 brane charge at the tip of the conifold is always positive, as long as ln H2Λ2/P2g0 ⩾-0.4. When M4=dS4 and the chiral symmetry is broken, the D3 brane charge at the tip of the conifold is always zero; we managed to construct geometries of this type for ln H2Λ2/P2g0⩾-0.03. Comparing effective potential of the gauge theory in broken Veffb and unbroken Veffs phases we establish that in all cases, when we can construct the phase with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry, Veffb>Veffs, when ln H2Λ2/P2g0⩾-0.03, i.e., spontaneous symmetry breaking does not happen for given values of the gauge theory parameters. To put these parameters in perspective, note that the (first-order) confinement/deconfinement and chiral symmetry breaking phase transition in cascading gauge theory plasma occurs at temperature T such that [16] ln Tdeconfinement,χSB2Λ2/P2g0=0.2571(2), and the (first-order) chiral symmetry breaking in cascading gauge theory on S3 occurs for compactification scale μ3≡ℓ3-1 such that [21] ln μ3,χSB2Λ2/P2g0=0.4309(8). When M4=R×S3 and the chiral symmetry is unbroken, the D3 brane charge at the tip of the conifold is negative when ln μ32Λ2/P2g0 μ, and the D3 brane charge at the tip of the conifold in broken phase is zero, the charge in the ground state is in fact zero whenever μ3⩽μ. Furthermore, chirally symmetric states of cascading gauge theory on S3 develop symmetry breaking tachyonic instabilities at μ (below the first order chiral symmetry breaking scale μ) ln μ3,tachyon2Λ2/P2g0=0.3297(3) which is again above μ.Our results represented here, together with those reported in [10], point that the singularity of smeared anti-D3 branes at the tip of the conifold is unphysical: had it been otherwise, we should have been able to implement an infrared cutoff in the geometry with a D3 brane charge measured at the cutoff being negative. The role of the cutoff is played by the temperature (as discussed in [10]), by the compactification scale (when M4=R×S3), or by the Hubble scale (when M4=dS4). Interesting, we find that the D3 brane charge can become negative when the KT throat geometry is S3 deformed; however this occurs in the regime where this phase is unstable both via the first order phase transition and the tachyon condensation to S3 deformed KS throat geometry - the latter geometry has zero D3 brane charge at the tip. All this raises questions about construction of generic de Sitter vacua in String Theory [2].We stress, however, that our analysis does not definitely exclude local non-singular supergravity description of de Sitter vacua in String Theory. The issue stems from the anti-D3 brane “smearing approximation” used. Early discussion of the relevant smearing approximation appeared in [6,9]. There, the authors carefully analyzed non-supersymmetric deformations of KS geometry, invariant under the SU(2)×SU(2) global symmetry of the latter. They further identified a class of perturbations that is being sources by anti-D3 branes, placed at the tip of the conifold, and then computed the leading-order backreaction of those perturbations on KS geometry. Insistence on preserving the SU(2)×SU(2) global symmetry is a smearing approximation - from the brane perspective it implies that anti-D3 branes are uniformly distributed (uniformly smeared) over the transverse compact five-dimensional manifold. Our discussion here shares the same smearing approximation as in [6,9], but extends the analysis to the full (rather than leading-order) backreaction. Smearing approximation is a practical tool enabling the analysis of the complicated cascading geometries involved. However, it must be questioned: it is not clear that non-supersymmetric uniform distribution along T directions of anti-D3 branes is stable against ‘clumping’. While it is highly desirable to lift this approximation, it is very difficult to do this in practice: one is forced to analyze a coupled nonlinear system of partial differential equations, rather than ordinary differential equations. We feel that until fully localized anti-D3 brane analysis in cascading geometries are performed, the singularity question of local supergravity description of de Sitter vacua in String Theory will remain open.

Hybrid Topological Lie-Hamiltonian Learning in Evolving Energy Landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivancevic, Vladimir G.; Reid, Darryn J.

2015-11-01

In this Chapter, a novel bidirectional algorithm for hybrid (discrete + continuous-time) Lie-Hamiltonian evolution in adaptive energy landscape-manifold is designed and its topological representation is proposed. The algorithm is developed within a geometrically and topologically extended framework of Hopfield's neural nets and Haken's synergetics (it is currently designed in Mathematica, although with small changes it could be implemented in Symbolic C++ or any other computer algebra system). The adaptive energy manifold is determined by the Hamiltonian multivariate cost function H, based on the user-defined vehicle-fleet configuration matrix W, which represents the pseudo-Riemannian metric tensor of the energy manifold. Search for the global minimum of H is performed using random signal differential Hebbian adaptation. This stochastic gradient evolution is driven (or, pulled-down) by `gravitational forces' defined by the 2nd Lie derivatives of H. Topological changes of the fleet matrix W are observed during the evolution and its topological invariant is established. The evolution stops when the W-topology breaks down into several connectivity-components, followed by topology-breaking instability sequence (i.e., a series of phase transitions).

The microscopic structure of charge density waves in underdoped YBa 2Cu 3O 6.54 revealed by x-ray diffraction

DOE PAGES

E. M. Forgan; Huecker, M.; Blackburn, E.; ...

2015-12-09

Charge density wave (CDW) order appears throughout the underdoped high-temperature cuprate superconductors, but the underlying symmetry breaking and the origin of the CDW remain unclear. We use X-ray diffraction to determine the microscopic structure of the CDWs in an archetypical cuprate YBa 2Cu 3O 6.54 at its superconducting transition temperature ~60 K. We find that the CDWs in this material break the mirror symmetry of the CuO 2 bilayers. The ionic displacements in the CDWs have two components, which are perpendicular and parallel to the CuO 2 planes, and are out of phase with each other. The planar oxygen atomsmore » have the largest displacements, perpendicular to the CuO 2 planes. Our results allow many electronic properties of the underdoped cuprates to be understood. For example, the CDWs will lead to local variations in the electronic structure, giving an explicit explanation of density-wave states with broken symmetry observed in scanning tunnelling microscopy and soft X-ray measurements.« less

Symmetries, holography, and quantum phase transition in two-dimensional dilaton AdS gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cadoni, Mariano; Ciulu, Matteo; Tuveri, Matteo

2018-05-01

We revisit the Almheiri-Polchinski dilaton gravity model from a two-dimensional (2D) bulk perspective. We describe a peculiar feature of the model, namely the pattern of conformal symmetry breaking using bulk Killing vectors, a covariant definition of mass and the flow between different vacua of the theory. We show that the effect of the symmetry breaking is both the generation of an infrared scale (a mass gap) and to make local the Goldstone modes associated with the asymptotic symmetries of the 2D spacetime. In this way a nonvanishing central charge is generated in the dual conformal theory, which accounts for the microscopic entropy of the 2D black hole. The use of covariant mass allows to compare energetically the two different vacua of the theory and to show that at zero temperature the vacuum with a constant dilaton is energetically preferred. We also translate in the bulk language several features of the dual CFT discussed by Maldacena et al. The uplifting of the 2D model to (d +2 )-dimensional theories exhibiting hyperscaling violation is briefly discussed.

The microscopic structure of charge density waves in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6.54 revealed by X-ray diffraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forgan, E. M.; Blackburn, E.; Holmes, A. T.; Briffa, A. K. R.; Chang, J.; Bouchenoire, L.; Brown, S. D.; Liang, Ruixing; Bonn, D.; Hardy, W. N.; Christensen, N. B.; Zimmermann, M. V.; Hücker, M.; Hayden, S. M.

2015-12-01

Charge density wave (CDW) order appears throughout the underdoped high-temperature cuprate superconductors, but the underlying symmetry breaking and the origin of the CDW remain unclear. We use X-ray diffraction to determine the microscopic structure of the CDWs in an archetypical cuprate YBa2Cu3O6.54 at its superconducting transition temperature ~60 K. We find that the CDWs in this material break the mirror symmetry of the CuO2 bilayers. The ionic displacements in the CDWs have two components, which are perpendicular and parallel to the CuO2 planes, and are out of phase with each other. The planar oxygen atoms have the largest displacements, perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. Our results allow many electronic properties of the underdoped cuprates to be understood. For instance, the CDWs will lead to local variations in the electronic structure, giving an explicit explanation of density-wave states with broken symmetry observed in scanning tunnelling microscopy and soft X-ray measurements.

Time-reversal and rotation symmetry breaking superconductivity in Dirac materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chirolli, Luca; de Juan, Fernando; Guinea, Francisco

2017-05-01

We consider mixed symmetry superconducting phases in Dirac materials in the odd-parity channel, where pseudoscalar and vector order parameters can coexist due to their similar critical temperatures when attractive interactions are of a finite range. We show that the coupling of these order parameters to unordered magnetic dopants favors the condensation of time-reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) phases, characterized by a condensate magnetization, rotation symmetry breaking, and simultaneous ordering of the dopant moments. We find a rich phase diagram of mixed TRSB phases characterized by peculiar bulk quasiparticles, with Weyl nodes and nodal lines, and distinctive surface states. These findings are consistent with recent experiments on NbxBi2Se3 that report evidence of point nodes, nematicity, and TRSB superconductivity induced by Nb magnetic moments.

On the construction of a direct numerical simulation of a breaking inertia-gravity wave in the upper mesosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fruman, Mark D.; Remmler, Sebastian; Achatz, Ulrich; Hickel, Stefan

2014-10-01

A systematic approach to the direct numerical simulation (DNS) of breaking upper mesospheric inertia-gravity waves of amplitude close to or above the threshold for static instability is presented. Normal mode or singular vector analysis applied in a frame of reference moving with the phase velocity of the wave (in which the wave is a steady solution) is used to determine the most likely scale and structure of the primary instability and to initialize nonlinear "2.5-D" simulations (with three-dimensional velocity and vorticity fields but depending only on two spatial coordinates). Singular vector analysis is then applied to the time-dependent 2.5-D solution to predict the transition of the breaking event to three-dimensional turbulence and to initialize three-dimensional DNS. The careful choice of the computational domain and the relatively low Reynolds numbers, on the order of 25,000, relevant to breaking waves in the upper mesosphere, makes the three-dimensional DNS tractable with present-day computing clusters. Three test cases are presented: a statically unstable low-frequency inertia-gravity wave, a statically and dynamically stable inertia-gravity wave, and a statically unstable high-frequency gravity wave. The three-dimensional DNS are compared to ensembles of 2.5-D simulations. In general, the decay of the wave and generation of turbulence is faster in three dimensions, but the results are otherwise qualitatively and quantitatively similar, suggesting that results of 2.5-D simulations are meaningful if the domain and initial condition are chosen properly.

Inventing Adulthoods: A Biographical Approach to Youth Transitions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Sheila J.; Holland, Janet; McGrellis, Sheena; Sharpe, Sue; Thomson, Rachel

2006-01-01

"Inventing Adulthoods: A Biographical Approach to Youth Transitions" is a ground-breaking book that offers a new approach to understanding young people's lives and their transitions to adulthood. Contrary to policy and research approaches that often see young people's lives in a fragmented way, the book argues that a biographical approach to youth…

Spin-lattice-coupling-mediated magnetoferroelectric phase transition induced by uniaxial pressure in multiferroic CuFe1 -xMxO2 (M =Ga , Al)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamatsukuri, Hiromu; Mitsuda, Setsuo; Nakamura, Tenfu; Takata, Kouhei; Nakajima, Taro; Prokes, Karel; Yokaichiya, Fabiano; Kiefer, Klaus

2017-05-01

We have investigated magnetic and ferroelectric (dielectric) properties of multiferroic CuFe0.982Ga0.018O2 , CuFe0.965Ga0.035O2 , and CuFe0.95Al0.05O2 under applied uniaxial pressure p up to 600 MPa. Unlike the results of the almost same experiments on CuFeO2 [Tamatsukuri et al., Phys. Rev. B 94, 174402 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevB.94.174402], we have found that the application of p induces a new ferroelectric phase, which is different from the well-studied spin-driven ferroelectric phase with helical magnetic ordering, in all the doped samples investigated here. We have also constructed the temperature versus p magnetoelectric phase diagrams of the three samples. The ferroelectric polarization in the p -induced ferroelectric phase lies along the [110] direction as in the helical magnetoferroelectric phase, and its value is comparable with or larger than that in the helical magnetoferroelectric phase. The magnetic structure in the p -induced ferroelectric phase seems to be of a collinear sinusoidal type. Although this magnetic structure itself does not break the inversion symmetry, it is considered to play an important role in the origin of ferroelectricity in the p -induced ferroelectric phase through the spin-lattice coupling in this system.

Electroclinic effect in the chiral lamellar α phase of a lyotropic liquid crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harjung, Marc D.; Giesselmann, Frank

2018-03-01

In thermotropic chiral Sm -A* phases, an electric field along the smectic layers breaks the D∞ symmetry of the Sm -A* phase and induces a tilt of the liquid crystal director. This so-called electroclinic effect (ECE) was first reported by Garoff and Meyer in 1977 and attracted substantial scientific and technological interest due to its linear and submicrosecond electro-optic response [S. Garoff and R. B. Meyer, Phys. Rev. A 19, 338 (1979), 10.1103/PhysRevA.19.338]. We now report the observation of an ECE in the pretransitional regime from a lyotropic chiral lamellar Lα* phase into a lyo-Sm -C* phase, the lyotropic analog to the thermotropic Sm -C* phase which was recently discovered by Bruckner et al. [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 52, 8934 (2013), 10.1002/anie.201303344]. We further show that the observed ECE has all signatures of its thermotropic counterpart, namely (i) the effect is chiral in nature and vanishes in the racemic Lα phase, (ii) the effect is essentially linear in the sign and magnitude of the electric field, and (iii) the magnitude of the effect diverges hyperbolically as the temperature approaches the critical temperature of the second order tilting transition. Specific deviations between the ECEs in chiral lamellar and chiral smectic phases are related to the internal field screening effect of electric double layers formed by inevitable ionic impurities in lyotropic phases.

On the cosmic ray spectrum from type II supernovae expanding in their red giant presupernova wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cardillo, Martina; Amato, Elena; Blasi, Pasquale

2015-09-01

While from the energetic point of view supernova remnants are viable sources of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs), the issue of whether they can accelerate protons up to a few PeV remains unsolved. Here we discuss particle acceleration at the forward shock of supernovae, and discuss the possibility that the current of escaping particles may excite a non-resonant instability that in turn leads to the formation of resonant modes that confine particles close to the shock, thereby increasing the maximum energy. This mechanism is at work throughout the expansion of the supernova explosion, from the ejecta dominated (ED) phase to the Sedov-Taylor (ST) phase. The transition from one stage to the other reflects in a break in the spectrum of injected particles. Because of their higher explosion rate, we focus our work on type II SNe expanding in the slow, dense wind, produced by the red super-giant progenitor stars. When the explosion occurs in such winds, the transition between the ED and the ST phase is likely to take place within a few tens of years. The highest energies are reached at even earlier times, when, however, a small fraction of the mass of ejecta has been processed. As a result, the spectrum of accelerated particles shows a break in the slope, at an energy that is the maximum energy (EM) achieved at the beginning of the ST phase. Above this characteristic energy, the spectrum becomes steeper but remains a power law rather than developing an exponential cutoff. An exponential cut is eventually present at much higher energies but it does not have a phenomenological relevance. We show that for parameters typical of type II supernovae, EM for protons can easily reach values in the PeV range, confirming that type II SNRs are the best candidate sources for CRs at the knee. From the point of view of implications of this scenario on the measured particle spectra, we have tried to fit KASCADE-Grande, ARGO -YBJ and YAC1-Tibet Array data with our model but we could not find any combination of the parameters that could explain all data sets. Indeed the recent measurement of the proton and helium spectra in the knee region, with the ARGO-YBJ and YAC1-Tibet Array, has made the situation very confused. These measurements suggest that the knee in the light component is at ∼ 650 TeV, appreciably below the knee in the overall spectrum. On one hand this finding would resolve the problem of reaching very high energies in supernovae, but on the other it would open a critical issue in the transition region between Galactic and extragalactic CRs.

Below-Room-Temperature C–H Bond Breaking on an Inexpensive Metal Oxide: Methanol to Formaldehyde on CeO 2(111)

DOE PAGES

Sutton, Jonathan E.; Danielson, Thomas; Beste, Ariana; ...

2017-11-14

C-H bond breaking is important for industrial commodity and specialty chemical transformations, including the upgrading of alcohols. Small primary alcohols – methanol and ethanol – are used industrially as precursors for the corresponding aldehydes at industrial scales. However, upgrading these primary alcohols involves C-H bond breaking and the processes are run at elevated temperatures (> 200 °C). In this work, new understanding from temperature programmed reaction (TPR) studies with methanol over a CeO 2(111) surface show the C-H bond breaking and the subsequent desorption of formaldehyde, even below room temperature. This is of particular interests because CeO 2 is amore » naturally abundant, inexpensive metal oxide. We combine density functional theory (DFT) and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) to simulate the TPR of methanol on CeO2. Our simulations show that the low temperature C H bond breaking occurs via disproportionation of adjacent methoxy species to form methanol and formaldehyde which each then desorb. We further show from DFT calculations that the same transition state with comparably low activation energies should be possible for other sustainable primary alcohols, with ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol having been explicitly calculated. In conclusion, these findings point out a new class of transition states to search for in seeking low temperature C-H bond breaking over inexpensive metal oxides.« less

Below-Room-Temperature C–H Bond Breaking on an Inexpensive Metal Oxide: Methanol to Formaldehyde on CeO 2(111)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sutton, Jonathan E.; Danielson, Thomas; Beste, Ariana

C-H bond breaking is important for industrial commodity and specialty chemical transformations, including the upgrading of alcohols. Small primary alcohols – methanol and ethanol – are used industrially as precursors for the corresponding aldehydes at industrial scales. However, upgrading these primary alcohols involves C-H bond breaking and the processes are run at elevated temperatures (> 200 °C). In this work, new understanding from temperature programmed reaction (TPR) studies with methanol over a CeO 2(111) surface show the C-H bond breaking and the subsequent desorption of formaldehyde, even below room temperature. This is of particular interests because CeO 2 is amore » naturally abundant, inexpensive metal oxide. We combine density functional theory (DFT) and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) to simulate the TPR of methanol on CeO2. Our simulations show that the low temperature C H bond breaking occurs via disproportionation of adjacent methoxy species to form methanol and formaldehyde which each then desorb. We further show from DFT calculations that the same transition state with comparably low activation energies should be possible for other sustainable primary alcohols, with ethanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol having been explicitly calculated. In conclusion, these findings point out a new class of transition states to search for in seeking low temperature C-H bond breaking over inexpensive metal oxides.« less

A MODEL FOR THERMAL PHASE VARIATIONS OF CIRCULAR AND ECCENTRIC EXOPLANETS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cowan, Nicolas B.; Agol, Eric, E-mail: n-cowan@northwestern.edu

2011-01-10

We present a semi-analytic model atmosphere for close-in exoplanets that captures the essential physics of phase curves: orbital and viewing geometry, advection, and re-radiation. We calibrate the model with the well-characterized transiting planet, HD 189733b, then compute light curves for seven of the most eccentric transiting planets: Gl 436b, HAT-P-2b, HAT-P-11b, HD 17156b, HD 80606b, WASP-17b, and XO-3b. We present phase variations for a variety of different radiative times and wind speeds. In the limit of instant re-radiation, the light-curve morphology is entirely dictated by the planet's eccentricity and argument of pericenter: the light curve maximum leads or trails themore » eclipse depending on whether the planet is receding from or approaching the star at superior conjunction, respectively. For a planet with non-zero radiative timescales, the phase peak occurs early for super-rotating winds, and late for sub-rotating winds. We find that for a circular orbit, the timing of the phase variation maximum with respect to superior conjunction indicates the direction of the dominant winds, but cannot break the degeneracy between wind speed and radiative time. For circular planets the phase minimum occurs half an orbit away from the phase maximum-despite the fact that the coolest longitudes are always near the dawn terminator-and therefore does not convey any additional information. In general, increasing the advective frequency or the radiative time has the effect of reducing the peak-to-trough amplitude of phase variations, but there are interesting exceptions to these trends. Lastly, eccentric planets with orbital periods significantly longer than their radiative time exhibit 'ringing', whereby the hot spot generated at periastron rotates in and out of view. The existence of ringing makes it possible to directly measure the wind speed (the frequency of the ringing) and the radiative time constant (the damping of the ringing).« less

Abrupt plate acceleration during rifted margin formation: Cause and effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brune, Sascha; Williams, Simon; Butterworth, Nathaniel; Müller, Dietmar

2017-04-01

Extension rate is known to control key processes during rifted margin formation such as crust-mantle coupling, decompression melting, magmatism, and serpentinisation. Here we build on recent advances in plate tectonic reconstructions by quantifying the extension velocity history of Earth's major rifted margins during the last 240 million years. We find that many successful rifts start with a slow phase of extension followed by rapid acceleration that introduces a fast phase. The transition from slow to fast rifting takes place long before crustal break-up: approximately half of the present day rifted margin area was created during the slow, and the other half during the fast rift phase. We reproduce the rapid transition from slow to fast extension using analytical and numerical modelling with constant force boundary conditions. In these models, rift velocities are not imposed but instead evolve naturally in response to the changing strength of the rift. Our results demonstrate that abrupt plate acceleration during continental rifting is controlled by a rift-intrinsic strength-velocity feedback. The abruptness of rift acceleration is thereby governed by the nonlinearity of lithospheric localization. Realistic brittle and power-law rheologies lead to a speed-up duration between two and ten million years. For successful rifts that generate a new ocean basin, the duration of rift speed-up is notably almost independent of the applied extensional force. Instead, the force controls the duration of the slow phase: higher forces shorten the slow phase while lower forces prolong it. If the force is too low, however, delocalisation processes prevent the rift from reaching the point of speed-up and produce a failed rift, even if the extensional system was active for many million years.

Heat fluctuations of Brownian oscillators in nonstationary processes: Fluctuation theorem and condensation transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crisanti, A.; Sarracino, A.; Zannetti, M.

2017-05-01

We study analytically the probability distribution of the heat released by an ensemble of harmonic oscillators to the thermal bath, in the nonequilibrium relaxation process following a temperature quench. We focus on the asymmetry properties of the heat distribution in the nonstationary dynamics, in order to study the forms taken by the fluctuation theorem as the number of degrees of freedom is varied. After analyzing in great detail the cases of one and two oscillators, we consider the limit of a large number of oscillators, where the behavior of fluctuations is enriched by a condensation transition with a nontrivial phase diagram, characterized by reentrant behavior. Numerical simulations confirm our analytical findings. We also discuss and highlight how concepts borrowed from the study of fluctuations in equilibrium under symmetry-breaking conditions [Gaspard, J. Stat. Mech. (2012) P08021, 10.1088/1742-5468/2012/08/P08021] turn out to be quite useful in understanding the deviations from the standard fluctuation theorem.

Mechanical and thermal properties of promising polymer composites for food packaging applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdellah Ali, S. F.

2016-07-01

Blending starches with biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) was used as a route to make processable thermoplastics. When developing biodegradable polymer composites it is important to use high concentrations of starch for legislative and cost reasons. The addition of starch has a significant effect on all physical properties including toughness, elongation at break and the rheological behaviour of the melt. To enhance the physical properties, we used cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) as a cellulose derivative with high amylase starch and PCL blends. It is suggested that the PCL/starch/CAP blends are partially miscible. It was found that the yield tensile strengths of most PCL/Starch/CAP blends were higher than that of pure PCL itself. There was a big difference between glass transition temperature values of PCL/Starch/CAP blends and the pure PCL glass transition temperature which indicates that no phase separation occurs. Addition of CAP to starch and PCL blends improved the mechanical and thermal properties even at high content of starch.

Properties and Antioxidant Capacity of Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) By-Product Protein Films Containing Thyme Essential Oil.

PubMed

Tural, Serpil; Turhan, Sadettin

2017-03-01

In this study, some properties and antioxidant capacity of anchovy ( Engraulis encrasicholus ) by-product protein films with added 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% of thyme essential oil were investigated. The films with thyme essential oil had higher elongation at break, water vapour permeability and oxygen permeability, lower solubility and tensile strength than control film (p<0.05). The incorporation of thyme essential oil affected transparency values of the films, but only the addition of 1.5% of thyme essential oil significantly reduced the transparency (p<0.05). In the film matrix, molecular organisation and intermolecular interaction were changed by thyme essential oil addition. The films with thyme essential oil had a heterogeneous surface and a relatively smooth cross-section structure. Slightly higher phase transition and lower glass transition temperatures were observed in films with thyme essential oil. The antioxidant capacity of the films was improved by incorporating thyme essential oil depending on its volume fraction.

Properties and Antioxidant Capacity of Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) By-Product Protein Films Containing Thyme Essential Oil

PubMed Central

Tural, Serpil

2017-01-01

Summary In this study, some properties and antioxidant capacity of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) by-product protein films with added 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% of thyme essential oil were investigated. The films with thyme essential oil had higher elongation at break, water vapour permeability and oxygen permeability, lower solubility and tensile strength than control film (p<0.05). The incorporation of thyme essential oil affected transparency values of the films, but only the addition of 1.5% of thyme essential oil significantly reduced the transparency (p<0.05). In the film matrix, molecular organisation and intermolecular interaction were changed by thyme essential oil addition. The films with thyme essential oil had a heterogeneous surface and a relatively smooth cross-section structure. Slightly higher phase transition and lower glass transition temperatures were observed in films with thyme essential oil. The antioxidant capacity of the films was improved by incorporating thyme essential oil depending on its volume fraction. PMID:28559736

HVOSM Studies of Cross-Slope Break on Highway Curves. Phase II Task C

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-05-01

This research was conducted to investigate the operational effects of cross-slope breaks on highway curves. These breaks are created by the superelevation of the traveled way and the adverse shoulder slope. HVOSM simulation studies were performed on ...

Dual Coding Theory Explains Biphasic Collective Computation in Neural Decision-Making.

PubMed

Daniels, Bryan C; Flack, Jessica C; Krakauer, David C

2017-01-01

A central question in cognitive neuroscience is how unitary, coherent decisions at the whole organism level can arise from the distributed behavior of a large population of neurons with only partially overlapping information. We address this issue by studying neural spiking behavior recorded from a multielectrode array with 169 channels during a visual motion direction discrimination task. It is well known that in this task there are two distinct phases in neural spiking behavior. Here we show Phase I is a distributed or incompressible phase in which uncertainty about the decision is substantially reduced by pooling information from many cells. Phase II is a redundant or compressible phase in which numerous single cells contain all the information present at the population level in Phase I, such that the firing behavior of a single cell is enough to predict the subject's decision. Using an empirically grounded dynamical modeling framework, we show that in Phase I large cell populations with low redundancy produce a slow timescale of information aggregation through critical slowing down near a symmetry-breaking transition. Our model indicates that increasing collective amplification in Phase II leads naturally to a faster timescale of information pooling and consensus formation. Based on our results and others in the literature, we propose that a general feature of collective computation is a "coding duality" in which there are accumulation and consensus formation processes distinguished by different timescales.

Dual Coding Theory Explains Biphasic Collective Computation in Neural Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Daniels, Bryan C.; Flack, Jessica C.; Krakauer, David C.

2017-01-01

A central question in cognitive neuroscience is how unitary, coherent decisions at the whole organism level can arise from the distributed behavior of a large population of neurons with only partially overlapping information. We address this issue by studying neural spiking behavior recorded from a multielectrode array with 169 channels during a visual motion direction discrimination task. It is well known that in this task there are two distinct phases in neural spiking behavior. Here we show Phase I is a distributed or incompressible phase in which uncertainty about the decision is substantially reduced by pooling information from many cells. Phase II is a redundant or compressible phase in which numerous single cells contain all the information present at the population level in Phase I, such that the firing behavior of a single cell is enough to predict the subject's decision. Using an empirically grounded dynamical modeling framework, we show that in Phase I large cell populations with low redundancy produce a slow timescale of information aggregation through critical slowing down near a symmetry-breaking transition. Our model indicates that increasing collective amplification in Phase II leads naturally to a faster timescale of information pooling and consensus formation. Based on our results and others in the literature, we propose that a general feature of collective computation is a “coding duality” in which there are accumulation and consensus formation processes distinguished by different timescales. PMID:28634436

Physical Changes in Human Meibum with Age as Measured by Infrared Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Borchman, Douglas; Foulks, Gary N.; Yappert, Marta C.; Kakar, Shelly; Podoll, Nathan; Rychwalski, Paul; Schwietz, Eric

2010-01-01

Both lipids and mucins contribute to the stability of the tear film and lipids may inhibit tears from evaporating. Younger people have lower lipid viscosity, higher lipid volume, and a lower rate of tear evaporation. Since age-related changes in human meibum composition and conformation have never been investigated, as a basis for the study of lipid-associated changes with meibomian gland dysfunction, we used the power of infrared spectroscopy to characterize hydrocarbon chain conformation and packing in meibum from humans without dry eye symptoms in relation to age and sex. Meibum from normal human donors ranging in age from 3 to 88 years was studied. Meibum phase transitions were quantified by fitting them to a 4-parameter 2-state sigmoidal equation. Human meibum order and phase transition temperatures decrease with age and this trend may be attributed to lipid compositional changes. If meibum has the same thermodynamic properties on the surface of the tears as it does on the lid margin, a decrease in lipid-lipid interaction strength with increasing age could decrease the stability of tears since lipid-lipid interactions on the tear surface must be broken for the tear film to break up. This study also serves as a foundation to examine meibum conformational differences in meibum from people with meibomian gland dysfunction. PMID:20160464

The formation of topological defects in phase transitions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hodges, Hardy M.

1989-01-01

It was argued, and fought through numerical work that the results of non-dynamical Monte Carlo computer simulations cannot be applied to describe the formation of topological defects when the correlation length at the Ginzburg temperature is significantly smaller than the horizon size. To test the current hypothesis that infinite strings at formation are essentially described by Brownian walks of size the correlation length at the Ginzburg temperature, fields at the Ginzburg temperature were equilibrated. Infinite structure do not exist in equilibrium for reasonable definitions of the Ginzburg temperature, and horizons must be included in a proper treatment. A phase transition, from small-scale to large-scale string or domain wall structure, is found to occur very close to the Ginzburg temperature, in agreement with recent work. The formation process of domain walls and global strings were investigated through the breaking of initially ordered states. To mimic conditions in the early Universe, cooling times are chosen so that horizons exist in the sample volume when topological structure formation occurs. The classical fields are evolved in real-time by the numerical solution of Langevin equations of motion on a three dimensional spatial lattice. The results indicate that it is possible for most of the string energy to be in small loops, rather than in long strings, at formation.

Probing the thermal stability and the decomposition mechanism of a magnesium-fullerene polymer via X-ray Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations.

PubMed

Aramini, Matteo; Niskanen, Johannes; Cavallari, Chiara; Pontiroli, Daniele; Musazay, Abdurrahman; Krisch, Michael; Hakala, Mikko; Huotari, Simo

2016-02-21

We report the microscopic view of the thermal structural stability of the magnesium intercalated fullerene polymer Mg2C60. With the application of X-ray Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, we study in detail the decomposition pathways of the polymer system upon annealing at temperatures between 300 and 700 °C. We show that there are at least two energy scales involved in the decomposition reaction. Intermolecular carbon bonds, which are responsible for the formation of a 2D fullerene polymer, are broken with a relatively modest thermal energy, while the long-range order of the original polymer remains intact. With an increased thermal energy, the crystal structure in turn is found to undergo a transition to a novel intercalated cubic phase that is stable up to the highest temperature studied here. The local structure surrounding magnesium ions gets severely modified close to, possibly at, the phase transition. We used density functional theory based calculations to study the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the collapse of the fullerene network, and to explain the intermediate steps as well as the reaction pathways in the break-up of this peculiar C60 intermolecular bonding architecture.

Creating orbiting vorticity vectors in magnetic particle suspensions through field symmetry transitions–a route to multi-axis mixing

DOE PAGES

Martin, James E.; Solis, Kyle Jameson

2015-11-09

It has recently been reported that two types of triaxial electric or magnetic fields can drive vorticity in dielectric or magnetic particle suspensions, respectively. The first type-symmetry -- breaking rational fields -- consists of three mutually orthogonal fields, two alternating and one dc, and the second type -- rational triads -- consists of three mutually orthogonal alternating fields. In each case it can be shown through experiment and theory that the fluid vorticity vector is parallel to one of the three field components. For any given set of field frequencies this axis is invariant, but the sign and magnitude ofmore » the vorticity (at constant field strength) can be controlled by the phase angles of the alternating components and, at least for some symmetry-breaking rational fields, the direction of the dc field. In short, the locus of possible vorticity vectors is a 1-d set that is symmetric about zero and is along a field direction. In this paper we show that continuous, 3-d control of the vorticity vector is possible by progressively transitioning the field symmetry by applying a dc bias along one of the principal axes. Such biased rational triads are a combination of symmetry-breaking rational fields and rational triads. A surprising aspect of these transitions is that the locus of possible vorticity vectors for any given field bias is extremely complex, encompassing all three spatial dimensions. As a result, the evolution of a vorticity vector as the dc bias is increased is complex, with large components occurring along unexpected directions. More remarkable are the elaborate vorticity vector orbits that occur when one or more of the field frequencies are detuned. As a result, these orbits provide the basis for highly effective mixing strategies wherein the vorticity axis periodically explores a range of orientations and magnitudes.« less

Zinc Chromate Induces Chromosome Instability and DNA Double Strand Breaks in Human Lung Cells

PubMed Central

Xie, Hong; Holmes, Amie L.; Young, Jamie L.; Qin, Qin; Joyce, Kellie; Pelsue, Stephen C.; Peng, Cheng; Wise, Sandra S.; Jeevarajan, Antony S.; Wallace, William T.; Hammond, Dianne; Wise, John Pierce

2014-01-01

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a respiratory toxicant and carcinogen, with solubility playing an important role in its carcinogenic potential. Zinc chromate, a water insoluble or ‘particulate’ Cr(VI) compound, has been shown to be carcinogenic in epidemiology studies and to induce tumors in experimental animals, but its genotoxicity is poorly understood. Our study shows that zinc chromate induced concentration-dependent increases in cytotoxicity, chromosome damage and DNA double strand breaks in human lung cells. In response to zinc chromate-induced breaks, MRE11 expression was increased and ATM and ATR were phosphorylated, indicating that the DNA double strand break repair system was initiated in the cells. In addition, our data show that zinc chromate-induced double strand breaks were only observed in the G2/M phase population, with no significant amount of double strand breaks observed in G1 and S phase cells. These data will aid in understanding the mechanisms of zinc chromate toxicity and carcinogenesis. PMID:19027772

Pressure effects on magnetic pair-breaking in Mn- and Eu-substituted BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2}

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rosa, P. F. S., E-mail: ferrari@ifi.unicamp.br; University of California, Irvine, California 92697-4574; Garitezi, T. M.

2014-05-07

We report a combined study of hydrostatic pressure (P ≤ 25 kbar) and chemical substitution on the magnetic pair-breaking effect in Eu- and Mn-substituted BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} single crystals. At ambient pressure, both substitutions suppress the superconducting (SC) transition temperature (T{sub c}) of BaFe{sub 2–x}Co{sub x}As{sub 2} samples slightly under the optimally doped region, indicating the presence of a pair-breaking effect. At low pressures, an increase of T{sub c} is observed for all studied compounds followed by an expected decrease at higher pressures. However, in the Eu dilute system, T{sub c} further increases at higher pressure along with a narrowingmore » of the SC transition, suggesting that a pair-breaking mechanism reminiscent of the Eu Kondo single impurity regime is being suppressed by pressure. Furthermore, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements indicate the presence of Mn{sup 2+} and Eu{sup 2+} local moments and the microscopic parameters extracted from the ESR analysis reveal that the Abrikosov–Gor'kov expression for magnetic pair-breaking in a conventional sign-preserving superconducting state cannot describe the observed reduction of T{sub c}.« less

Helical Majorana fermions in d+id'-wave topological superconductivity of doped correlated quantum spin Hall insulators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, Chung-Hou; Sun, Shih-Jye; Chang, Yung-Yeh; Tsai, Wei-Feng; Zhang, Fuchun

Large Hubbard U limit of the Kane-Mele model on a zigzag ribbon of honeycomb lattice near half-filling is studied via a renormalized mean-field theory. The ground state exhibits time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking dx2 -y2 + idxy -wave superconductivity. At large spin-orbit coupling, the Z2 topological phase with non-trivial spin Chern number in the pure Kane-Mele model is persistent into the TRS broken state (called ``spin-Chern phase''), and has two pairs of counter-propagating helical Majorana modes at the edges. As the spin-orbit coupling is reduced, the system undergoes a topological quantum phase transition from the spin-Chern to chiral superconducting states. Possible relevance of our results to adatom-doped graphene and irridate compounds is discussed.Ref.:Shih-Jye Sun, Chung-Hou Chung, Yung-Yeh Chang, Wei-Feng Tsai, and Fu-Chun Zhang, arXiv:1506.02584. CHC acknowledges support from NSC Grant No. 98-2918-I-009-06, No. 98-2112-M-009-010-MY3, the NCTU-CTS, the MOE-ATU program, the NCTS of Taiwan, R.O.C.

Identifying the chiral d-wave superconductivity by Josephson φ0-states.

PubMed

Liu, Jun-Feng; Xu, Yong; Wang, Jun

2017-03-07

We propose the Josephson junctions linked by a normal metal between a d + id superconductor and another d + id superconductor, a d-wave superconductor, or a s-wave superconductor for identifying the chiral d + id superconductivity. The time-reversal breaking in the chiral d-wave superconducting state is shown to result in a Josephson φ 0 -junction state where the current-phase relation is shifted by a phase φ 0 from the sinusoidal relation, other than 0 and π. The ground-state phase difference φ 0 and the critical current can be used to definitely confirm and read the information about the d + id superconductivity. A smooth evolution from conventional 0-π transitions to tunable φ 0 -states can be observed by changing the relative magnitude of two types of d-wave components in the d + id pairing. On the other hand, the Josephson junction involving the d + id superconductor is also the simplest model to realize a φ 0 - junction, which is useful in superconducting electronics and superconducting quantum computation.

Identifying the chiral d-wave superconductivity by Josephson φ0-states

PubMed Central

Liu, Jun-Feng; Xu, Yong; Wang, Jun

2017-01-01

We propose the Josephson junctions linked by a normal metal between a d + id superconductor and another d + id superconductor, a d-wave superconductor, or a s-wave superconductor for identifying the chiral d + id superconductivity. The time-reversal breaking in the chiral d-wave superconducting state is shown to result in a Josephson φ0-junction state where the current-phase relation is shifted by a phase φ0 from the sinusoidal relation, other than 0 and π. The ground-state phase difference φ0 and the critical current can be used to definitely confirm and read the information about the d + id superconductivity. A smooth evolution from conventional 0-π transitions to tunable φ0-states can be observed by changing the relative magnitude of two types of d-wave components in the d + id pairing. On the other hand, the Josephson junction involving the d + id superconductor is also the simplest model to realize a φ0- junction, which is useful in superconducting electronics and superconducting quantum computation. PMID:28266582

Ising-like patterns of spatial synchrony in population biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noble, Andrew; Hastings, Alan; Machta, Jon

2014-03-01

Systems of coupled dynamical oscillators can undergo a phase transition between synchronous and asynchronous phases. In the case of coupled map lattices, the spontaneous symmetry breaking of a temporal-phase order parameter is known to exhibit Ising-like critical behavior. Here, we investigate a noisy coupled map motivated by the study of spatial synchrony in ecological populations far from the extinction threshold. Ising-like patterns of criticality, as well as spinodal decomposition and homogeneous nucleation, emerge from the nonlinear interactions of environmental fluctuations in habitat quality, local density-dependence in reproduction, and dispersal. In the mean-field limit, the correspondence to the Ising model is exact: the fixed points of our dynamical system are given by the equation of state for Weiss mean-field theory under an appropriate mapping of parameters. We have strong evidence that a quantitative correspondence persists, both near and far from the critical point, in the presence of fluctuations. Our results provide a formal connection between equilibrium statistical physics and population biology. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1344187.

High field charge order across the phase diagram of YBa2Cu3Oy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laliberté, Francis; Frachet, Mehdi; Benhabib, Siham; Borgnic, Benjamin; Loew, Toshinao; Porras, Juan; Le Tacon, Mathieu; Keimer, Bernhard; Wiedmann, Steffen; Proust, Cyril; LeBoeuf, David

2018-03-01

In hole-doped cuprates there is now compelling evidence that inside the pseudogap phase, charge order breaks translational symmetry. In YBa2Cu3Oy charge order emerges in two steps: a 2D order found at zero field and at high temperature inside the pseudogap phase, and a 3D order that is superimposed below the superconducting transition Tc when superconductivity is weakened by a magnetic field. Several issues still need to be addressed such as the effect of disorder, the relationship between those charge orders and their respective impact on the Fermi surface. Here, we report high magnetic field sound velocity measurements of the 3D charge order in underdoped YBa2Cu3Oy in a large doping range. We found that the 3D charge order exists over the same doping range as its 2D counterpart, indicating an intimate connection between the two distinct orders. Moreover, our data suggest that 3D charge order has only a limited impact on low-lying electronic states of YBa2Cu3Oy.

Pressure-induced silica quartz amorphization studied by iterative stochastic surface walking reaction sampling.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiao-Jie; Shang, Cheng; Liu, Zhi-Pan

2017-02-08

The crystal to amorphous transformation is a common phenomenon in Nature and has important impacts on material properties. Our current knowledge on such complex solid transformation processes is, however, limited because of their slow kinetics and the lack of long-range ordering in amorphous structures. To reveal the kinetics in the amorphization of solids, this work, by developing iterative reaction sampling based on the stochastic surface walking global optimization method, investigates the well-known crystal to amorphous transformation of silica (SiO 2 ) under external pressures, the mechanism of which has long been debated for its non-equilibrium, pressure-sensitive kinetics and complex product components. Here we report for the first time the global potential energy surface (PES) and the lowest energy pathways for α-quartz amorphization from first principles. We show that the pressurization at 15 GPa, the reaction condition, can lift the quartz phase energetically close to the amorphous zone, which thermodynamically initializes the amorphization. More importantly, the large flexibility of Si cation coordination (including four, five and six coordination) results in many kinetically competing routes to more stable dense forms, including the known MI, stishovite, newly-identified MII and TI phases. All these pathways have high barriers due to the local Si-O bond breaking and are mediated by amorphous structures with five-fold Si. This causes simultaneous crystal-to-crystal and crystal-to-amorphous transitions. The high barrier and the reconstructive nature of the phase transition are the key kinetics origin for silica amorphization under pressures.

Experimental dynamic metamorphism of mineral single crystals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kirby, S.H.; Stern, L.A.

1993-01-01

This paper is a review of some of the rich and varied interactions between non-hydrostatic stress and phase transformations or mineral reactions, drawn mainly from results of experiments done on mineral single crystals in our laboratory or our co-authors. The state of stress and inelastic deformation can enter explicitly into the equilibrium phase relations and kinetics of mineral reactions. Alternatively, phase transformations can have prominent effects on theology and on the nature of inelastic deformation. Our examples represent five types of structural phase changes, each of which is distinguished by particular mechanical effects. In increasing structural complexity, these include: (1) displacive phase transformations involving no bond-breaking, which may produce anomalous brittle behavior. A primary example is the a-?? quartz transition which shows anomalously low fracture strength and tertiary creep behavior near the transition temperature; (2) martensitic-like transformations involving transformation strains dominated by shear deformation. Examples include the orthoenstatite ??? clinoenstatite and w u ??rtzite ??? sphalerite transformations; (3) coherent exsolution or precipitation of a mineral solute from a supersaturated solid-solution, with anisotropy of precipitation and creep rates produced under nonhydrostatic stress. Examples include exsolution of corundum from MgO ?? nAl2O3 spinels and Ca-clinopyroxene from orthopyroxene; (4) order-disorder transformations that are believed to cause anomalous plastic yield strengthening, such as MgO - nAl2O3 spinels; and (5) near-surface devolatilization of hydrous silicate single-crystals that produces a fundamental brittleness thought to be connected with dehydration at microcracks at temperatures well below nominal macroscopic dehydration temperatures. As none of these interactions between single-crystal phase transformations and non-hydrostatic stress is understood in detail, this paper serves as a challenge to field structural geologists to test whether interactions of these types occur in nature, and to theoreticians to reach a deeper understanding of the complex relations between phase transformations, the local state of stress and associated deformation and deformation rates. ?? 1993.

Modeling quiescent phase transport of air bubbles induced by breaking waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Fengyan; Kirby, James T.; Ma, Gangfeng

Simultaneous modeling of both the acoustic phase and quiescent phase of breaking wave-induced air bubbles involves a large range of length scales from microns to meters and time scales from milliseconds to seconds, and thus is computational unaffordable in a surfzone-scale computational domain. In this study, we use an air bubble entrainment formula in a two-fluid model to predict air bubble evolution in the quiescent phase in a breaking wave event. The breaking wave-induced air bubble entrainment is formulated by connecting the shear production at the air-water interface and the bubble number intensity with a certain bubble size spectra observed in laboratory experiments. A two-fluid model is developed based on the partial differential equations of the gas-liquid mixture phase and the continuum bubble phase, which has multiple size bubble groups representing a polydisperse bubble population. An enhanced 2-DV VOF (Volume of Fluid) model with a k - ɛ turbulence closure is used to model the mixture phase. The bubble phase is governed by the advection-diffusion equations of the gas molar concentration and bubble intensity for groups of bubbles with different sizes. The model is used to simulate air bubble plumes measured in laboratory experiments. Numerical results indicate that, with an appropriate parameter in the air entrainment formula, the model is able to predict the main features of bubbly flows as evidenced by reasonable agreement with measured void fraction. Bubbles larger than an intermediate radius of O(1 mm) make a major contribution to void fraction in the near-crest region. Smaller bubbles tend to penetrate deeper and stay longer in the water column, resulting in significant contribution to the cross-sectional area of the bubble cloud. An underprediction of void fraction is found at the beginning of wave breaking when large air pockets take place. The core region of high void fraction predicted by the model is dislocated due to use of the shear production in the algorithm for initial bubble entrainment. The study demonstrates a potential use of an entrainment formula in simulations of air bubble population in a surfzone-scale domain. It also reveals some difficulties in use of the two-fluid model for predicting large air pockets induced by wave breaking, and suggests that it may be necessary to use a gas-liquid two-phase model as the basic model framework for the mixture phase and to develop an algorithm to allow for transfer of discrete air pockets to the continuum bubble phase. A more theoretically justifiable air entrainment formulation should be developed.

Dynamics of Unjammed Emulsions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerra, Rodrigo; Kodger, Thomas; Weitz, David

2014-03-01

Light scattering and NMR densitometry measurements of quiescent emulsions have shown that amorphous packings of soft, repulsive droplets unjam at osmotic pressures 105 times larger than the typical droplet thermal energy density: 3kB/T 4 πR3. This transition corresponds to the pressure at which the thermal fluctuations of individual droplet positions match the yield strain of the packing and drive the fluidization of the material. We use confocal microscopy to investigate the microscopic dynamics of this fluid-like phase and find them to be fundamentally different from those of conventional glass-forming liquids; cage-breaking dynamics are not evident from droplet mean squared displacements and the effective viscosity of the emulsion, though 105 larger than the background fluid, appears largely insensitive to the confining pressure.

Topological Structures of Gravitational Vacuum as a Factor of Unclustered DM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdyuzha, V.; Pacheco, J.; Vereshkov, G.

2003-03-01

Topological structures of gravitational vacuum which could be produced in the result of the first relativistic phase transition or in the result of defect creation of the Universe from "nothing" are discussed. The concrete physical meaning is imparted to the parametrizational noninvariant members of Wheeler -DeWitt equation which may be considered as vacuum topological defects of different dimensions (worm-holes, micromembranes, microstrings and monopoles). After Universe inflation defects smoothed, stretches and broken up. They must be isotropic distributed on background of the expanding Universe. The part of them has survived and now they are perceiving as the structures of Λ -term, quintessence and unclustered dark matter. Mathematical illustration of these processes may be spontaneous breaking of global Lorentz-invariance of quantum geometrodynamics equations.

Cooper Pair-Like Systems at High Temperature and their Role on Fluctuations Near the Critical Temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ausloos, M.; Dorbolo, S.

A logarithmic behavior is hidden in the linear temperature regime of the electrical resistivity R(T) of some YBCO sample below 2Tc where "pairs" break apart, fluctuations occur and "a gap is opening". An anomalous effect also occurs near 200 K in the normal state Hall coefficient. In a simulation of oxygen diffusion in planar 123 YBCO, an anomalous behavior is found in the oxygen-vacancy motion near such a temperature. We claim that the behavior of the specific heat above and near the critical temperature should be reexamined in order to show the influence and implications of fluctuations and dimensionality on the nature of the phase transition and on the true onset temperature.

Landau level splitting in Cd3As2 under high magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Junzhi; Liang, Sihang; Zhang, Cheng; Liu, Yanwen; Huang, Junwei; Jin, Zhao; Chen, Zhi-Gang; Wang, Zhijun; Wang, Qisi; Zhao, Jun; Li, Shiyan; Dai, Xi; Zou, Jin; Xia, Zhengcai; Li, Liang; Xiu, Faxian

2015-07-01

Three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs) are a new kind of Dirac materials that exhibit linear energy dispersion in the bulk and can be viewed as three-dimensional graphene. It has been proposed that TDSs can be driven to other exotic phases like Weyl semimetals, topological insulators and topological superconductors by breaking certain symmetries. Here we report the first transport experiment on Landau level splitting in TDS Cd3As2 single crystals under high magnetic fields, suggesting the removal of spin degeneracy by breaking time reversal symmetry. The detected Berry phase develops an evident angular dependence and possesses a crossover from non-trivial to trivial state under high magnetic fields, a strong hint for a fierce competition between the orbit-coupled field strength and the field-generated mass term. Our results unveil the important role of symmetry breaking in TDSs and further demonstrate a feasible path to generate a Weyl semimetal phase by breaking time reversal symmetry.

Landau level splitting in Cd3As2 under high magnetic fields.

PubMed

Cao, Junzhi; Liang, Sihang; Zhang, Cheng; Liu, Yanwen; Huang, Junwei; Jin, Zhao; Chen, Zhi-Gang; Wang, Zhijun; Wang, Qisi; Zhao, Jun; Li, Shiyan; Dai, Xi; Zou, Jin; Xia, Zhengcai; Li, Liang; Xiu, Faxian

2015-07-13

Three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs) are a new kind of Dirac materials that exhibit linear energy dispersion in the bulk and can be viewed as three-dimensional graphene. It has been proposed that TDSs can be driven to other exotic phases like Weyl semimetals, topological insulators and topological superconductors by breaking certain symmetries. Here we report the first transport experiment on Landau level splitting in TDS Cd3As2 single crystals under high magnetic fields, suggesting the removal of spin degeneracy by breaking time reversal symmetry. The detected Berry phase develops an evident angular dependence and possesses a crossover from non-trivial to trivial state under high magnetic fields, a strong hint for a fierce competition between the orbit-coupled field strength and the field-generated mass term. Our results unveil the important role of symmetry breaking in TDSs and further demonstrate a feasible path to generate a Weyl semimetal phase by breaking time reversal symmetry.

Landau level splitting in Cd3As2 under high magnetic fields

PubMed Central

Cao, Junzhi; Liang, Sihang; Zhang, Cheng; Liu, Yanwen; Huang, Junwei; Jin, Zhao; Chen, Zhi-Gang; Wang, Zhijun; Wang, Qisi; Zhao, Jun; Li, Shiyan; Dai, Xi; Zou, Jin; Xia, Zhengcai; Li, Liang; Xiu, Faxian

2015-01-01

Three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs) are a new kind of Dirac materials that exhibit linear energy dispersion in the bulk and can be viewed as three-dimensional graphene. It has been proposed that TDSs can be driven to other exotic phases like Weyl semimetals, topological insulators and topological superconductors by breaking certain symmetries. Here we report the first transport experiment on Landau level splitting in TDS Cd3As2 single crystals under high magnetic fields, suggesting the removal of spin degeneracy by breaking time reversal symmetry. The detected Berry phase develops an evident angular dependence and possesses a crossover from non-trivial to trivial state under high magnetic fields, a strong hint for a fierce competition between the orbit-coupled field strength and the field-generated mass term. Our results unveil the important role of symmetry breaking in TDSs and further demonstrate a feasible path to generate a Weyl semimetal phase by breaking time reversal symmetry. PMID:26165390

Understanding the Impact of a Ninth-Grade Transition Program in Texas. Vignette

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Institutes for Research, 2012

2012-01-01

Ninth grade often is considered a make-or-break year in determining whether students will be successful in high school and beyond. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) created the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program to ease the transition of at-risk students into high school and increase the likelihood that they graduate on time and…

Wide gap Chern Mott insulating phases achieved by design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Hongli; Gangopadhyay, Shruba; Koeksal, Okan; Pentcheva, Rossitza; Pickett, Warren E.

Chern insulators are exciting both as a novel electronic phase and for their novel and potentially useful boundary transport properties. Honeycomb lattices occupied by heavy transition metal ions,have been proposed by Okamoto and coworkers as Chern insulators, but finding a concrete example has been challenging due to an assortment of broken symmetry phases that thwart the topological character. Building on accumulated knowledge of the behavior of the 3 d series, we tune spin-orbit and interaction strength together with strain to design two Chern insulator systems (one with Ru, one with Os) with bandgaps up to 130 meV and Chern numbers calC = - 1 and calC = 2 . We find, in this class, that a trade-off between larger spin-orbit coupling and strong interactions leads to a larger gap, whereas the stronger SOC correlates with the larger magnitude of the Hall conductivity. Symmetry lowering in the course of structural relaxation hampers retaining QAH character, as pointed out previously. Fortunately there is only mild structural symmetry breaking of the bilayer in these robust Chern phases.Recent (111) growth of insulating, magnetic phases in closely related materials with this orientation supports the likelihood that synthesis and exploitation will follow. Supported partially by the NSF DMREF program.

Observation of discrete time-crystalline order in a disordered dipolar many-body system

PubMed Central

Kucsko, Georg; Zhou, Hengyun; Isoya, Junichi; Jelezko, Fedor; Onoda, Shinobu; Sumiya, Hitoshi; Khemani, Vedika; von Keyserlingk, Curt; Yao, Norman Y.; Demler, Eugene; Lukin, Mikhail D.

2017-01-01

Understanding quantum dynamics away from equilibrium is an outstanding challenge in the modern physical sciences. It is well known that out-of-equilibrium systems can display a rich array of phenomena, ranging from self-organized synchronization to dynamical phase transitions1,2. More recently, advances in the controlled manipulation of isolated many-body systems have enabled detailed studies of non-equilibrium phases in strongly interacting quantum matter3–6. As a particularly striking example, the interplay of periodic driving, disorder, and strong interactions has recently been predicted to result in exotic “time-crystalline” phases7, which spontaneously break the discrete time-translation symmetry of the underlying drive8–11. Here, we report the experimental observation of such discrete time-crystalline order in a driven, disordered ensemble of ~ 106 dipolar spin impurities in diamond at room-temperature12–14. We observe long-lived temporal correlations at integer multiples of the fundamental driving period, experimentally identify the phase boundary and find that the temporal order is protected by strong interactions; this order is remarkably stable against perturbations, even in the presence of slow thermalization15,16. Our work opens the door to exploring dynamical phases of matter and controlling interacting, disordered many-body systems17–19. PMID:28277511

Phase transformations in SrAl2Si2O8 glass

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drummond, Charles H., III; Bansal, Narottam P.

1992-01-01

Bulk glass of SrAl2Si2O8 composition crystallized at temperatures below 1000 C into hexacelsian, a hexagonal phase which undergoes a reversible, rapid transformation to an orthorhombic phase at 758 C, and at higher temperatures crystallized as celsian, a monoclinic phase. The glass transition temperature and crystallization onset temperature were determined to be 883 C and 1086 C, respectively, from DSC at a heating rate of 20 C/min. Thermal expansion of the various phases and density and bend strengths of cold isostatically pressed glass powder bars, sintered at various temperatures, were measured. The kinetics of the hexacelsian-to-celsian transformation for SrAl2Si2O8 were studied. Hexacelsian flakes were isothermally heat treated at temperatures from 1025-1200 C for various times. Avrami plots were determined by quantitatively measuring the amount of monoclinic celsian formed at various times using x ray diffraction. The Avrami constant was determined to be 1.1, suggesting a diffusionless, one dimensional transformation mechanism. The activation energy was determined from an Arrhenius plot of 1n k vs. 1/T to be 125 kilocal/mole. This value is consistent with a mechanism which transforms the layered hexacelsian structure to a three dimensional framework celsian structure and involves the breaking of Si-O bonds.

SINGLE CRYSTAL DIFFRACTION OF SIDERITE UP TO 54 GPA AND HIGH PRESSURE-HIGH TEMPERATURE PHASES IN THE Fe-C-O SYSTEM (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavina, B.; Dera, P. K.; Downs, R. T.

2009-12-01

Phases in the Fe-C-O system are of interest for the deep carbon cycle, they might play an important role in buffering the mantle fO2. Carbon is also common in the fluid phases that greatly influence the Earth’s processes. The study of the high pressure behavior of siderite and of the phases synthesized after laser heating offers a good opportunity to illustrate the advantages and importance of single crystal diffraction in the high pressure science. The structure of siderite, FeCO3, has been refined up to 54 GPa across the spin pairing transition. Splitting of the diffraction peaks at the transition pressure provides unequivocal evidence of the sharpness of the spin crossover and of the absence of any intermediate volume and therefore of an intermediate spin state at ambient temperature. Diffraction intensities were collected in about 30 minutes at a bending magnet station (HPCAT, APS) and in about one minute at an insertion device station (GSECARS, APS). The quality of the refinement is unvaried in the investigated range, and the results obtained from the two different radiation and detectors are consistent. The refinements provide an accurate and robust determination of the dependence of bond distances and angles with pressure. Subtle structural rearrangements associated with the collapse of the octahedral cation size will be discussed. In situ laser heating is a very powerful method to study minerals at the actual P-T of the Earth’s deep interior. Overcoming the kinetic barriers required for bond breaking and atom diffusion, high pressure-high temperature phases may be synthesized. The analysis of high-pressure phases is very challenging. Diffraction patterns are usually of moderate quality and resolution, furthermore in addition to the sample, the pattern contains the contribution of other phases such as those used to insulate the anvils, to provide a pressure medium and a pressure marker. In several cases after laser heating, we observed phase transitions and growth of large crystallites, here the contribution of different phases could be better distinguished by analyzing the 3-dimensional distribution in the reciprocal space of the diffraction peaks. Laser heating experiments in the Fe-C-O system were conducted in the pressure range 20-140 GPa. The siderite stability field seems narrower than the previous investigations suggested. At least one of the extracted single crystal phases provides evidence of oxidation-reduction reactions.

Induction of chromatin damage and distribution of isochromatid breaks in human fibroblast cells exposed to heavy ions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kawata, Tetsuya; Ito, Hisao; Motoori, Ken; Ueda, Takuya; Shigematsu, Naoyuki; Furusawa, Yoshiya; Durante, Marco; George, Kerry; Wu, Honglu; Cucinotta, Francis A.

2002-01-01

The frequency of chromatid breaks and the distribution of isochromatid breaks were measured in G2-phase normal human fibroblasts prematurely condensed a short time after exposure to low- or high-LET radiations. The average number of isochromatid breaks from a single particle traversal increased with increasing LET values, while the average number of chromatid-type breaks appeared to reach a plateau. The distribution of isochromatid breaks after high-LET iron particles exposure was overdispersed compared to gamma-rays, indicating that a single iron particle traversal through a cell nucleus can produce multiple isochromatid breaks.

Induction of chromatin damage and distribution of isochromatid breaks in human fibroblast cells exposed to heavy ions.

PubMed

Kawata, Tetsuya; Ito, Hisao; Motoori, Ken; Ueda, Takuya; Shigematsu, Naoyuki; Furusawa, Yoshiya; Durante, Marco; George, Kerry; Wu, Honglu; Cucinotta, Francis A

2002-12-01

The frequency of chromatid breaks and the distribution of isochromatid breaks were measured in G2-phase normal human fibroblasts prematurely condensed a short time after exposure to low- or high-LET radiations. The average number of isochromatid breaks from a single particle traversal increased with increasing LET values, while the average number of chromatid-type breaks appeared to reach a plateau. The distribution of isochromatid breaks after high-LET iron particles exposure was overdispersed compared to gamma-rays, indicating that a single iron particle traversal through a cell nucleus can produce multiple isochromatid breaks.

Temporal Clustering of Regional-Scale Extreme Precipitation Events in Southern Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barton, Yannick; Giannakaki, Paraskevi; Von Waldow, Harald; Chevalier, Clément; Pfhal, Stephan; Martius, Olivia

2017-04-01

Temporal clustering of extreme precipitation events on subseasonal time scales is a form of compound extremes and is of crucial importance for the formation of large-scale flood events. Here, the temporal clustering of regional-scale extreme precipitation events in southern Switzerland is studied. These precipitation events are relevant for the flooding of lakes in southern Switzerland and northern Italy. This research determines whether temporal clustering is present and then identifies the dynamics that are responsible for the clustering. An observation-based gridded precipitation dataset of Swiss daily rainfall sums and ECMWF reanalysis datasets are used. To analyze the clustering in the precipitation time series a modified version of Ripley's K function is used. It determines the average number of extreme events in a time period, to characterize temporal clustering on subseasonal time scales and to determine the statistical significance of the clustering. Significant clustering of regional-scale precipitation extremes is found on subseasonal time scales during the fall season. Four high-impact clustering episodes are then selected and the dynamics responsible for the clustering are examined. During the four clustering episodes, all heavy precipitation events were associated with an upperlevel breaking Rossby wave over western Europe and in most cases strong diabatic processes upstream over the Atlantic played a role in the amplification of these breaking waves. Atmospheric blocking downstream over eastern Europe supported this wave breaking during two of the clustering episodes. During one of the clustering periods, several extratropical transitions of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic contributed to the formation of high-amplitude ridges over the Atlantic basin and downstream wave breaking. During another event, blocking over Alaska assisted the phase locking of the Rossby waves downstream over the Atlantic.

Theoretical and Computational Studies of Condensed-Phase Phenomena: The Origin of Biological Homochirality, and the Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in Network-Forming Fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ricci, Francesco

This dissertation describes theoretical and computational studies of the origin of biological homochirality, and the existence of a liquid-liquid phase transition in pure-component network-forming fluids. A common theme throughout these studies is the use of sophisticated computer simulation and statistical mechanics techniques to study complex condensed-phase phenomena. In the first part of this dissertation, we use an elementary lattice model with molecular degrees of freedom, and satisfying microscopic reversibility, to investigate the effect of reaction reversibility on the evolution of stochastic symmetry breaking via autocatalysis and mutual inhibition in a closed system. We identify conditions under which the system's evolution towards racemic equilibrium becomes extremely slow, allowing for long-time persistence of a symmetry-broken state. We also identify a "monomer purification" mechanism, due to which a nearly homochiral state can persist for long times, even in the presence of significant reverse reaction rates. Order of magnitude estimates show that with reasonable physical parameters a symmetry broken state could persist over geologically-relevant time scales. In the second part of this dissertation, we study a chiral-symmetry breaking mechanism known as Viedma ripening. We develop a Monte Carlo model to gain further insights into the mechanisms capable of reproducing key experimental signatures associated with this phenomenon. We also provide a comprehensive investigation of how the model parameters impact the system's overall behavior. It is shown that size-dependent crystal solubility alone is insufficient to reproduce most experimental signatures, and that some form of a solid-phase chiral feedback mechanism (e.g., agglomeration) must be invoked in our model. In the third part of this dissertation, we perform rigorous free energy calculations to investigate the possibility of a liquid-liquid phase transition (LLPT) in the Stillinger-Weber (SW) model of silicon. A similar analysis is also presented for the generalized SW family of models by varying the "tetrahedrality" of the potential. Contrary to previously published findings, we do not find any evidence of the existence of an LLPT for SW silicon, nor for the generalized family of SW models over the range of parameters studied. Our results for the original parameterization of SW silicon are in semi-quantitative agreement with previous free energy calculations for this model, which were only provided at three state points. Explanations for the discrepancies between previous independent studies are provided, along with explicit demonstrations of how these discrepancies may have occurred. Finally, in the fourth part of this dissertation, we perform free energy calculations to demonstrate the existence of an LLPT in the Jagla potential. We also utilize finite-size scaling analysis to calculate the surface tension associated with the LLPT. In addition to the thermodynamics of the model, we investigate the relaxation times for density and bond-orientational order and show that, contrary to assertions in the literature, the characteristic relaxation time of bond-orientational order is not orders of magnitude slower than that of density. We compare our results for the Jagla model with those found in the literature for the ST2 model of water (which has also been rigorously shown to exhibit an LLPT) in order to emphasize key similarities and differences between two models that exhibit pure-component liquid-liquid phase separation.

Crustal structure and extension mode in the northwestern margin of the South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Jinwei; Wu, Shiguo; McIntosh, Kirk; Mi, Lijun; Liu, Zheng; Spence, George

2016-06-01

Combining multi-channel seismic reflection and gravity modeling, this study has investigated the crustal structure of the northwestern South China Sea margin. These data constrain a hyper-extended crustal area bounded by basin-bounding faults corresponding to an aborted rift below the Xisha Trough with a subparallel fossil ridge in the adjacent Northwest Sub-basin. The thinnest crust is located in the Xisha Trough, where it is remnant lower crust with a thickness of less than 3 km. Gravity modeling also revealed a hyper-extended crust across the Xisha Trough. The postrift magmatism is well developed and more active in the Xisha Trough and farther southeast than on the northwestern continental margin of the South China Sea; and the magmatic intrusion/extrusion was relatively active during the rifting of Xisha Trough and the Northwest Sub-basin. A narrow continent-ocean transition zone with a width of ˜65 km bounded seaward by a volcanic buried seamount is characterized by crustal thinning, rift depression, low gravity anomaly and the termination of the break-up unconformity seismic reflection. The aborted rift near the continental margin means that there may be no obvious detachment fault like that in the Iberia-Newfoundland type margin. The symmetric rift, extreme hyper-extended continental crust and hotter mantle materials indicate that continental crust underwent stretching phase (pure-shear deformation), thinning phase and breakup followed by onset of seafloor spreading and the mantle-lithosphere may break up before crustal-necking in the northwestern South China Sea margin.

Alleles versus genotypes: Genetic interactions and the dynamics of selection in sexual populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neher, Richard

2010-03-01

Physical interactions between amino-acids are essential for protein structure and activity, while protein-protein interactions and regulatory interactions are central to cellular function. As a consequence of these interactions, the combined effect of two mutations can differ from the sum of the individual effects of the mutations. This phenomenon of genetic interaction is known as epistasis. However, the importance of epistasis and its effects on evolutionary dynamics are poorly understood, especially in sexual populations where recombination breaks up existing combinations of alleles to produce new ones. Here, we present a computational model of selection dynamics involving many epistatic loci in a recombining population. We demonstrate that a large number of polymorphic interacting loci can, despite frequent recombination, exhibit cooperative behavior that locks alleles into favorable genotypes leading to a population consisting of a set of competing clones. As the recombination rate exceeds a certain critical value this ``genotype selection'' phase disappears in an abrupt transition giving way to ``allele selection'' - the phase where different loci are only weakly correlated as expected in sexually reproducing populations. Clustering of interacting sets of genes on a chromosome leads to the emergence of an intermediate regime, where localized blocks of cooperating alleles lock into genetic modules. Large populations attain highest fitness at a recombination rate just below critical, suggesting that natural selection might tune recombination rates to balance the beneficial aspect of exploration of genotype space with the breaking up of synergistic allele combinations.

Direct Observation of Dynamic Symmetry Breaking above Room Temperature in Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite

DOE PAGES

Beecher, Alexander N.; Semonin, Octavi E.; Skelton, Jonathan M.; ...

2016-09-21

Lead halide perovskites such as methylammonium lead triiodide (CH 3NH 3PbI 3) have outstanding optical and electronic properties for photovoltaic applications, yet a full understanding of how this solution-processable material works so well is currently missing. Previous research has revealed that CH 3NH 3PbI 3 possesses multiple forms of static disorder regardless of preparation method, which is surprising in light of its excellent performance. Using high energy resolution inelastic X-ray (HERIX) scattering, we measure phonon dispersions in CH 3NH 3PbI 3 and find direct evidence for another form of disorder in single crystals: large-amplitude anharmonic zone edge rotational instabilities ofmore » the PbI 6 octahedral that persist to room temperature and above, left over from structural phase transitions that take place tens to hundreds of degrees below. Phonon calculations show that the orientations of the methylammonium (CH 3NH 3 +) couple strongly and cooperatively to these modes. The result is a noncentrosymmetric, instantaneous local structure, which we observe in atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements. This local symmetry breaking is unobservable by Bragg diffraction but can explain key material properties such as the structural phase sequence, ultralow thermal transport, and large minority charge carrier lifetimes despite moderate carrier mobility. In conclusion, from the PDF we estimate the size of the fluctuating symmetry broken domains to be between 1 and 3 nm in diameter.« less

Global phase diagram and quantum spin liquids in a spin- 1 2 triangular antiferromagnet

DOE PAGES

Gong, Shou-Shu; Zhu, Wei; Zhu, Jianxin; ...

2017-08-09

For this research, we study the spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice with the nearest-neighbor J 1 > 0 , the next-nearest-neighobr J 2 > 0 Heisenberg interactions, and the additional scalar chiral interaction Jχ (more » $$\\vec{S}$$ i × $$\\vec{S}$$ j ) · $$\\vec{S}$$ k for the three spins in all the triangles using large-scale density matrix renormalization group calculation on cylinder geometry. With increasing J 2 (J 2 / J 1 ≤ 0.3 ) and Jχ (Jχ / J 1 ≤ 1.0 ) interactions, we establish a quantum phase diagram with the magnetically ordered 120°, stripe, and noncoplanar tetrahedral phase. In between these magnetic order phases, we find a chiral spin liquid (CSL) phase, which is identified as a ν = 1/2 bosonic fractional quantum Hall state with possible spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking. By switching on the chiral interaction, we find that the previously identified spin liquid in the J 1 - J 2 triangular model (0.08 ≲ J 2 / J 1 ≲ 0.15) shows a phase transition to the CSL phase at very small Jχ. We also compute the spin triplet gap in both spin liquid phases, and our finite-size results suggest a large gap in the odd topological sector but a small or vanishing gap in the even sector. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our results on the nature of the spin liquid phases.« less

Holographic Phonons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alberte, Lasma; Ammon, Martin; Jiménez-Alba, Amadeo; Baggioli, Matteo; Pujolàs, Oriol

2018-04-01

We present a class of holographic massive gravity models that realize a spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry—they exhibit transverse phonon modes whose speed relates to the elastic shear modulus according to elasticity theory. Massive gravity theories thus emerge as versatile and convenient theories to model generic types of translational symmetry breaking: explicit, spontaneous, and a mixture of both. The nature of the breaking is encoded in the radial dependence of the graviton mass. As an application of the model, we compute the temperature dependence of the shear modulus and find that it features a glasslike melting transition.

Pressure-induced amorphization in orthorhombic Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5}: An intrinsic character of crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Quanjun; Zhang, Huafang; Cheng, Benyuan

2014-05-21

The phase transition of orthorhombic Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} was investigated by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The orthorhombic phase transforms into an amorphous form completely at 24.7 GPa. A bulk modulus B{sub 0} = 139 (9) GPa for the orthorhombic Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} is derived from the P-V data. We suggest that the pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) in Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} can be attributed to the unstability of the a axis under high pressure leads to the connections of polyhedral breaking down and even triggers disorder of the whole crystal frame. These results demonstrate that the PIA is an intrinsic charactermore » of Ta{sub 2}O{sub 5} which depends on its orthorhombic crystal structure rather than nanosize effects. This study provides a new kind of bulk material for investigating PIA in metal oxides.« less

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase coexistence in two-color networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avetisov, V.; Gorsky, A.; Nechaev, S.; Valba, O.

2016-01-01

We consider an equilibrium ensemble of large Erdős-Renyi topological random networks with fixed vertex degree and two types of vertices, black and white, prepared randomly with the bond connection probability p . The network energy is a sum of all unicolor triples (either black or white), weighted with chemical potential of triples μ . Minimizing the system energy, we see for some positive μ the formation of two predominantly unicolor clusters, linked by a string of Nb w black-white bonds. We have demonstrated that the system exhibits critical behavior manifested in the emergence of a wide plateau on the Nb w(μ ) curve, which is relevant to a spinodal decomposition in first-order phase transitions. In terms of a string theory, the plateau formation can be interpreted as an entanglement between baby universes in two-dimensional gravity. We conjecture that the observed classical phenomenon can be considered as a toy model for the chiral condensate formation in quantum chromodynamics.

New Phenomena in NC Field Theory and Emergent Spacetime Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ydri, Badis

2010-10-01

We give a brief review of two nonperturbative phenomena typical of noncommutative field theory which are known to lead to the perturbative instability known as the UV-IR mixing. The first phenomena concerns the emergence/evaporation of spacetime geometry in matrix models which describe perturbative noncommutative gauge theory on fuzzy backgrounds. In particular we show that the transition from a geometrical background to a matrix phase makes the description of noncommutative gauge theory in terms of fields via the Weyl map only valid below a critical value g*. The second phenomena concerns the appearance of a nonuniform ordered phase in noncommutative scalar φ4 field theory and the spontaneous symmetry breaking of translational/rotational invariance which happens even in two dimensions. We argue that this phenomena also originates in the underlying matrix degrees of freedom of the noncommutative field theory. Furthermore it is conjectured that in addition to the usual WF fixed point at θ = 0 there must exist a novel fixed point at θ = ∞ corresponding to the quartic hermitian matrix model.

Multi-pole orders and Kondo screening: Implications for quantum phase transitions in multipolar heavy-fermion systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Hsin-Hua; Nica, Emilian; Si, Qimiao

Motivated by the properties of the heavy-fermion Ce3Pd20Si6 compound which exhibits both antiferro-magnetic (AFM) and antiferro-quadrupolar (AFQ) orders, we study a simplified quantum non-linear sigma model for spin-1 systems, with generalized multi-pole Kondo couplings to conduction electrons. We first consider the case when an SU(3) symmetry relates the spin and quadrupolar channels. We then analyze the effect of breaking the SU(3) symmetry, so that the interaction parameters in the spin and quadrupolar sectors are no longer equivalent, and different stages of Kondo screenings are allowed. A renormalization group analysis is used to analyze the interplay between the Kondo effect and the AFM/AFQ orders. Our work paves the way for understanding the global phase diagram in settings beyond the prototypical spin-1/2 cases. We also discuss similar considerations in the non-Kramers systems such as the heavy fermion compound PrV2Al20

Optomechanical transistor with mechanical gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X. Z.; Tian, Lin; Li, Yong

2018-04-01

We study an optomechanical transistor, where an input field can be transferred and amplified unidirectionally in a cyclic three-mode optomechanical system. In this system, the mechanical resonator is coupled simultaneously to two cavity modes. We show that it only requires a finite mechanical gain to achieve the nonreciprocal amplification. Here the nonreciprocity is caused by the phase difference between the linearized optomechanical couplings that breaks the time-reversal symmetry of this system. The amplification arises from the mechanical gain, which provides an effective phonon bath that pumps the mechanical mode coherently. This effect is analogous to the stimulated emission of atoms, where the probe field can be amplified when its frequency is in resonance with that of the anti-Stokes transition. We show that by choosing optimal parameters, this optomechanical transistor can reach perfect unidirectionality accompanied with strong amplification. In addition, the presence of the mechanical gain can result in ultralong delay in the phase of the probe field, which provides an alternative to controlling light transport in optomechanical systems.

Hydrogen and its compounds under extreme pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utyuzh, A. N.; Mikheyenkov, A. V.

2017-12-01

In the last two or three years, significant advances in the study of hydrogen and its compounds under extreme conditions (ultrahigh pressures over a wide temperature range) have notably changed the hydrogen phase diagram, provided a break-through in understanding hydrides’ behavior under pressure (as exemplified by the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in hydrogen sulfide), and, finally, enabled achieving cold metallization of hydrogen. The situation prior to the 2010s is reviewed in brief and more recent work is examined in detail. While the primary focus is on experimental research, mention is also made of the theoretical and numerical work it stimulates. This review presents an extension of the talk by the authors for the scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, “Old and new ideas in phase transition physics,” which was held on December 21, 2016 (see Phys. Usp. 60 948-957 (2017); Usp. Fiz. Nauk 187 1021 (2017)). (Editor’s note.)

Spontaneous symmetry breaking and phase coexistence in two-color networks.

PubMed

Avetisov, V; Gorsky, A; Nechaev, S; Valba, O

2016-01-01

We consider an equilibrium ensemble of large Erdős-Renyi topological random networks with fixed vertex degree and two types of vertices, black and white, prepared randomly with the bond connection probability p. The network energy is a sum of all unicolor triples (either black or white), weighted with chemical potential of triples μ. Minimizing the system energy, we see for some positive μ the formation of two predominantly unicolor clusters, linked by a string of N_{bw} black-white bonds. We have demonstrated that the system exhibits critical behavior manifested in the emergence of a wide plateau on the N_{bw}(μ) curve, which is relevant to a spinodal decomposition in first-order phase transitions. In terms of a string theory, the plateau formation can be interpreted as an entanglement between baby universes in two-dimensional gravity. We conjecture that the observed classical phenomenon can be considered as a toy model for the chiral condensate formation in quantum chromodynamics.