Random-Manifold to Random-Periodic Depinning of an Elastic Interface

We study numerically the depinning transition of driven elastic interfaces in a random-periodic medium with localized periodic-correlation peaks in the direction of motion. The analysis of the moving interface geometry reveals the existence of several characteristic lengths separating different length-scale regimes of roughness. We determine the scaling behavior of these lengths as a function of the velocity, temperature, driving force, and transverse periodicity. A dynamical roughness diagram is thus obtained which contains, at small length scales, the critical and fast-flow regimes typical of the random-manifold (or domain wall) depinning, and at large length-scales, the critical and fast-flow regimes typical of the random-periodic (or charge-density wave) depinning. From the study of the equilibrium geometry we are also able to infer the roughness diagram in the creep regime, extending the depinning roughness diagram below threshold. Our results are relevant for understanding the geometry at depinning of arrays of elastically coupled thin manifolds in a disordered medium such as driven particle chains or vortex-line planar arrays. They also allow to properly control the effect of transverse periodic boundary conditions in large-scale simulations of driven disordered interfaces.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure

Thermal rounding exponent of the depinning transition of an elastic string in a random medium

We study numerically thermal effects at the depinning transition of an elastic string driven in a two-dimensional uncorrelated disorder potential. The velocity of the string exactly at the sample critical force is shown to behave as $V \sim T^\psi$, with $\psi$ the thermal rounding exponent. We show that the computed value of the thermal rounding exponent, $\psi = 0.15$, is robust and accounts for the different scaling properties of several observables both in the steady-state and in the transient relaxation to the steady-state. In particular, we show the compatibility of the thermal rounding exponent with the scaling properties of the steady-state structure factor, the universal short-time dynamics of the transient velocity at the sample critical force, and the velocity scaling function describing the joint dependence of the steady-state velocity on the external drive and temperature

Mode coupling induced dissipative and thermal effects at long times after a quantum quench

An interaction quench in a Luttinger liquid can drive it into an athermal steady state. We analyze the effects on such an out of equilibrium state of a mode coupling term due to a periodic potential. Employing a perturbative renormalization group approach we show that even when the periodic potential is an irrelevant perturbation in equilibrium, it has important consequences on the athermal steady state as it generates a temperature as well as a dissipation and hence a finite life-time for the bosonic modes.Comment: 4+ pages and 2 figure

Deconfinement and cold atoms in optical lattices

Despite the fact that by now one dimensional and three dimensional systems of interacting particles are reasonably well understood, very little is known on how to go from the one dimensional physics to the three dimensional one. This is in particular true in a quasi-one dimensional geometry where the hopping of particles between one dimensional chains or tubes can lead to a dimensional crossover between a Luttinger liquid and more conventional high dimensional states. Such a situation is relevant to many physical systems. Recently cold atoms in optical traps have provided a unique and controllable system in which to investigate this physics. We thus analyze a system made of coupled one dimensional tubes of interacting fermions. We explore the observable consequences, such as the phase diagram for isolated tubes, and the possibility to realize unusual superfluid phases in coupled tubes systems.Comment: Proceedings of the conference on "Quantum Many Body Theories 13", to be published by World Scientifi

Hall effect in quasi one-dimensional organic conductors

We study the Hall effect in a system of weakly coupled Luttinger Liquid chains, using a Memory function approach to compute the Hall constant in the presence of umklapp scattering along the chains. In this approximation, the Hall constant decomposes into two terms: a high-frequency term and a Memory function term. For the case of zero umklapp scattering, where the Memory function vanishes, the Hall constant is simply the band value, in agreement with former results in a similar model with no dissipation along the chains. With umklapp scattering along the chains, we find a power-law temperature dependance of the Hall constant. We discuss the applications to quasi 1D organic conductors at high temperatures.Comment: Proceedings of the ISCOM conference "Sixth International Symposium on Crystalline Organic Metals, Superconductors, and Ferromagnets", Key West, Florida, USA (Sept. 2005), to be plublished in the Journal of Low Temperature Physic

Thermal rounding of the depinning transition

We study thermal effects at the depinning transition by numerical simulations of driven one-dimensional elastic interfaces in a disordered medium. We find that the velocity of the interface, evaluated at the critical depinning force, can be correctly described with the power law $v\sim T^\psi$, where $\psi$ is the thermal exponent. Using the sample-dependent value of the critical force, we precisely evaluate the value of $\psi$ directly from the temperature dependence of the velocity, obtaining the value $\psi = 0.15 \pm 0.01$. By measuring the structure factor of the interface we show that both the thermally-rounded and the T=0 depinning, display the same large-scale geometry, described by an identical divergence of a characteristic length with the velocity $\xi \propto v^{-\nu/\beta}$, where $\nu$ and $\beta$ are respectively the T=0 correlation and depinning exponents. We discuss the comparison of our results with previous estimates of the thermal exponent and the direct consequences for recent experiments on magnetic domain wall motion in ferromagnetic thin films.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Oscillating Casimir force between impurities in one-dimensional Fermi liquids

We study the interaction of two localized impurities in a repulsive one-dimensional Fermi liquid via bosonization. In a previous paper [Phys. Rev. A 72, 023616 (2005)], it was shown that at distances much larger than the interparticle spacing the impurities interact through a Casimir-type force mediated by the zero sound phonons of the underlying quantum liquid. Here we extend these results and show that the strength and sign of this Casimir interaction depend sensitively on the impurities separation. These oscillations in the Casimir interaction have the same period as Friedel oscillations. Their maxima correspond to tunneling resonances tuned by the impurities separation.Comment: This paper is a continuation of Phys. Rev. A 72, 023616 (2005). v2: two appendix adde

Specific heat of the quantum Bragg Glass

We study the thermodynamics of the vibrational modes of a lattice pinned by impurity disorder in the absence of topological defects (Bragg glass phase). Using a replica variational method we compute the specific heat $C_v$ in the quantum regime and find $C_v \propto T^3$ at low temperatures in dimension three and two. The prefactor is controlled by the pinning length. The non trivial cancellation of the linear term in $C_v$ arises from the so-called marginality condition and has important consequences for other mean field models.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, strongly revised versio

Time-evolution and dynamical phase transitions at a critical time in a system of one dimensional bosons after a quantum quench

A renormalization group approach is used to show that a one dimensional system of bosons subject to a lattice quench exhibits a finite-time dynamical phase transition where an order parameter within a light-cone increases as a non-analytic function of time after a critical time. Such a transition is also found for a simultaneous lattice and interaction quench where the effective scaling dimension of the lattice becomes time-dependent, crucially affecting the time-evolution of the system. Explicit results are presented for the time-evolution of the boson interaction parameter and the order parameter for the dynamical transition as well as for more general quenches.Comment: final published versio

Quantum Simulation of the Hubbard Model: The Attractive Route

We study the conditions under which, using a canonical transformation, the phases sought after for the repulsive Hubbard model, namely a Mott insulator in the paramagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic phases, and a putative d-wave superfluid can be deduced from observations in an optical lattice loaded with a spin-imbalanced ultra-cold Fermi gas with attractive interactions, thus realizing the attractive Hubbard model. We show that the Mott insulator and antiferromagnetic phase of the repulsive Hubbard model are in fact more easy to observe as a paired, and superfluid phase respectively, in the attractive Hubbard model. The putative d-wave superfluid phase of the repulsive Hubbard model doped away from half-filling is related to a d-wave antiferromagnetic phase for the attractive Hubbard model. We discuss the advantages of this approach to 'quantum simulate' the Hubbard model in an optical lattice over the approach that attempts to directly simulate the doped Hubbard model in the repulsive regime. We also point out a number of technical difficulties of the proposed approach and, in some cases, suggest possible solutions.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figs. New version as accepted in PRA. We have clarified the models we are discussing in various places, and expanded on the critical number estimate to include both K40 and Li6 in section V. Also added reference