8,674 research outputs found
Universal dynamics on the way to thermalisation
It is demonstrated how a many-body system far from thermal equilibrium can
exhibit universal dynamics in passing a non-thermal fixed point. As an example,
the process of Bose-Einstein (BE) condensation of a dilute cold gas is
considered. If the particle flux into the low-energy modes, induced, e.g., by a
cooling quench, is sufficiently strong, the Bose gas develops a characteristic
power-law single-particle spectrum , and critical slowing down
in time occurs. The fixed point is shown to be marked by the creation and
dilution of tangled vortex lines. Alternatively, for a weak cooling quench and
particle flux, the condensation process runs quasi adiabatically, passing by
the fixed point in far distance, and signatures of critical scaling remain
absent.Comment: 5+2 pages, 8 figure
Intercluster Correlation in Seismicity
Mega et al.(cond-mat/0212529) proposed to use the ``diffusion entropy'' (DE)
method to demonstrate that the distribution of time intervals between a large
earthquake (the mainshock of a given seismic sequence) and the next one does
not obey Poisson statistics. We have performed synthetic tests which show that
the DE is unable to detect correlations between clusters, thus negating the
claimed possibility of detecting an intercluster correlation. We also show that
the LR model, proposed by Mega et al. to reproduce inter-cluster correlation,
is insufficient to account for the correlation observed in the data.Comment: Comment on Mega et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90. 188501 (2003)
(cond-mat/0212529
Critical Dynamics of a Two-dimensional Superfluid near a Non-Thermal Fixed Point
Critical dynamics of an ultracold Bose gas far from equilibrium is studied in
two spatial dimensions. Superfluid turbulence is created by quenching the
equilibrium state close to zero temperature. Instead of immediately
re-thermalizing, the system approaches a meta-stable transient state,
characterized as a non-thermal fixed point. A focus is set on the vortex
density and vortex-antivortex correlations which characterize the evolution
towards the non-thermal fixed point and the departure to final
(quasi-)condensation. Two distinct power-law regimes in the vortex-density
decay are found and discussed in terms of a vortex binding-unbinding transition
and a kinetic description of vortex scattering. A possible relation to decaying
turbulence in classical fluids is pointed out. By comparing the results to
equilibrium studies of a two-dimensional Bose gas, an intuitive understanding
of the location of the non-thermal fixed point in a reduced phase space is
developed.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures; PRA versio
Motion of a condensate in a shaken and vibrating harmonic trap
The dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in a time-dependent harmonic
trapping potential is determined for arbitrary variations of the position of
the center of the trap and its frequencies. The dynamics of the BEC wavepacket
is soliton-like. The motion of the center of the wavepacket, and the spatially
and temporally dependent phase (which affects the coherence properties of the
BEC) multiplying the soliton-like part of the wavepacket, are analytically
determined.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys. B: At Mol Opt Phy
Calculation of the microcanonical temperature for the classical Bose field
The ergodic hypothesis asserts that a classical mechanical system will in
time visit every available configuration in phase space. Thus, for an ergodic
system, an ensemble average of a thermodynamic quantity can equally well be
calculated by a time average over a sufficiently long period of dynamical
evolution. In this paper we describe in detail how to calculate the temperature
and chemical potential from the dynamics of a microcanonical classical field,
using the particular example of the classical modes of a Bose-condensed gas.
The accurate determination of these thermodynamics quantities is essential in
measuring the shift of the critical temperature of a Bose gas due to
non-perturbative many-body effects.Comment: revtex4, 10 pages, 1 figure. v2: updated to published version. Fuller
discussion of numerical results, correction of some minor error
Earthquake Size Distribution: Power-Law with Exponent Beta = 1/2?
We propose that the widely observed and universal Gutenberg-Richter relation
is a mathematical consequence of the critical branching nature of earthquake
process in a brittle fracture environment. These arguments, though preliminary,
are confirmed by recent investigations of the seismic moment distribution in
global earthquake catalogs and by the results on the distribution in crystals
of dislocation avalanche sizes. We consider possible systematic and random
errors in determining earthquake size, especially its seismic moment. These
effects increase the estimate of the parameter beta of the power-law
distribution of earthquake sizes. In particular, we find that estimated
beta-values may be inflated by 1-3% because relative moment uncertainties
decrease with increasing earthquake size. Moreover, earthquake clustering
greatly influences the beta-parameter. If clusters (aftershock sequences) are
taken as the entity to be studied, then the exponent value for their size
distribution would decrease by 5-10%. The complexity of any earthquake source
also inflates the estimated beta-value by at least 3-7%. The centroid depth
distribution also should influence the beta-value, an approximate calculation
suggests that the exponent value may be increased by 2-6%. Taking all these
effects into account, we propose that the recently obtained beta-value of 0.63
could be reduced to about 0.52--0.56: near the universal constant value (1/2)
predicted by theoretical arguments. We also consider possible consequences of
the universal beta-value and its relevance for theoretical and practical
understanding of earthquake occurrence in various tectonic and Earth structure
environments. Using comparative crystal deformation results may help us
understand the generation of seismic tremors and slow earthquakes and
illuminate the transition from brittle fracture to plastic flow.Comment: 46 pages, 2 tables, 11 figures 53 pages, 2 tables, 12 figure
Acoustic Emission Monitoring of the Syracuse Athena Temple: Scale Invariance in the Timing of Ruptures
We perform a comparative statistical analysis between the acoustic-emission time series from the ancient Greek Athena temple in Syracuse and the sequence of nearby earthquakes. We find an apparent association between acoustic-emission bursts and the earthquake occurrence. The waiting-time distributions for acoustic-emission and earthquake time series are described by a unique scaling law indicating self-similarity over a wide range of magnitude scales. This evidence suggests a correlation between the aging process of the temple and the local seismic activit
- …