Spin Structure Factor of the Frustrated Quantum Magnet Cs_2CuCl_4

The ground state properties and neutron structure factor for the two-dimensional antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice, with uni-directional anisotropy in the nearest-neighbor exchange couplings and a weak Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction, are studied. This Hamiltonian has been used to interpret neutron scattering measurements on the spin 1/2 spiral spin-density-wave system, Cs_2CuCl_4, [R. Coldea, et al., Phys. Rev. B 68, 134424 (2003)]. Calculations are performed using a 1/S expansion, taking into account interactions between spin-waves. The ground state energy, the shift of the ordering wave-vector, Q, and the local magnetization are all calculated to order 1/S^2. The neutron structure factor, obtained using anharmonic spin-wave Green's functions to order 1/S, is shown to be in reasonable agreement with published neutron data, provided that slightly different parameters are used for the exchange and DM interactions than those inferred from measurements in high magnetic field.Comment: 14 pages, 6 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Anisotropic pairing in the iron pnictides

We determine the anisotropy of the spin fluctuation induced pairing gap on the Fermi surface of the FeAs based superconductors as function of the exchange and Hund's coupling $J_{H}$. We find that for sufficiently large $J_{H}$, nearly commensurate magnetic fluctuations yield a fully gapped $s^{\pm}$-pairing state with small anisotropy of the gap amplitude on each Fermi surface sheet, but significant variations of the gap amplitude for different sheets of the Fermi surface. In particular, we obtain the large variation of the gap amplitude on different Fermi surface sheets, as seen in ARPES experiments. For smaller values of Hund's coupling incommensurate magnetic fluctuations yield an $s^{\pm}$-pairing state with line nodes. Such a state is also possible once the anisotropy of the material is reduced and three dimensional effects come into play.Comment: Revised and substantially extended version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B; 9 pages, 6 figure

PyMembrane: A flexible framework for efficient simulations of elastic and liquid membranes

PyMembrane is a software package for simulating liquid and elastic membranes using a discretisation of the continuum description based on unstructured triangulated two-dimensional meshes embedded in three-dimensional space. The package is written in C++, with a flexible and intuitive Python interface, allowing for a quick setup, execution and analysis of complex simulations. PyMembrane follows modern software engineering principles and features a modular design that allows for straightforward implementation of custom extensions while ensuring consistency and enabling inexpensive maintenance. A hallmark feature of this design is the use of a standardized C++ interface which streamlines adding new functionalities. Furthermore, PyMembrane uses data structures optimised for unstructured meshes, ensuring efficient mesh operations and force calculations. By providing several templates for typical simulations supplemented by extensive documentation, the users can seamlessly set up and run research-level simulations and extend the package to integrate additional features, underscoring PyMembrane's commitment to user-centric design.Comment: 7 Figure

Dynamics at a smeared phase transition

We investigate the effects of rare regions on the dynamics of Ising magnets with planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions. In these systems, the magnetic phase transition is smeared because static long-range order can develop on isolated rare regions. We first study an infinite-range model by numerically solving local dynamic mean-field equations. Then we use extremal statistics and scaling arguments to discuss the dynamics beyond mean-field theory. In the tail region of the smeared transition the dynamics is even slower than in a conventional Griffiths phase: the spin autocorrelation function decays like a stretched exponential at intermediate times before approaching the exponentially small equilibrium value following a power law at late times.Comment: 10 pages, 8eps figures included, final version as publishe

The quantum phase transition of itinerant helimagnets

We investigate the quantum phase transition of itinerant electrons from a paramagnet to a state which displays long-period helical structures due to a Dzyaloshinskii instability of the ferromagnetic state. In particular, we study how the self-generated effective long-range interaction recently identified in itinerant quantum ferromagnets is cut-off by the helical ordering. We find that for a sufficiently strong Dzyaloshinskii instability the helimagnetic quantum phase transition is of second order with mean-field exponents. In contrast, for a weak Dzyaloshinskii instability the transition is analogous to that in itinerant quantum ferromagnets, i.e. it is of first order, as has been observed in MnSi.Comment: 5 pages RevTe

Non-Hookean statistical mechanics of clamped graphene ribbons

Thermally fluctuating sheets and ribbons provide an intriguing forum in which to investigate strong violations of Hooke's Law: large distance elastic parameters are in fact not constant, but instead depend on the macroscopic dimensions. Inspired by recent experiments on free-standing graphene cantilevers, we combine the statistical mechanics of thin elastic plates and large-scale numerical simulations to investigate the thermal renormalization of the bending rigidity of graphene ribbons clamped at one end. For ribbons of dimensions $W\times L$ (with $L\geq W$), the macroscopic bending rigidity $\kappa_R$ determined from cantilever deformations is independent of the width when $W<\ell_\textrm{th}$, where $\ell_\textrm{th}$ is a thermal length scale, as expected. When $W>\ell_\textrm{th}$, however, this thermally renormalized bending rigidity begins to systematically increase, in agreement with the scaling theory, although in our simulations we were not quite able to reach the system sizes necessary to determine the fully developed power law dependence on $W$. When the ribbon length $L > \ell_p$, where $\ell_p$ is the $W$-dependent thermally renormalized ribbon persistence length, we observe a scaling collapse and the beginnings of large scale random walk behavior

Order parameter symmetry and mode coupling effects at dirty superconducting quantum phase transitions

We derive an order-parameter field theory for a quantum phase transition between a disordered metal and an exotic (non-s-wave) superconductor. Mode coupling effects between the order parameter and other fermionic soft modes lead to an effective long-range interaction between the anomalous density fluctuations which is reflected in singularities in the free energy functional. However, this long-range interaction is not strong enough to suppress disorder fluctuations. The asymptotic critical region is characterized by run-away flow to large disorder. For weak coupling, this asymptotic region is very narrow. It is preempted by a wide crossover regime with mean-field critical behavior and, in the p-wave case, logarithmic corrections to scaling in all dimensions.Comment: final version as publishe

Effect of prolonged precipitation on morphology and crystal struture of the bacterial nanocelulose/Fe3O4 composite

Cellulose is a biopolymer with a wide range of properties like biocompatibility, hydrophilicity, porosity, good mechanical properties, biodegradability and non-toxicity. The properties and application of cellulose based materials are related to the source of the cellulose production. Despite the fact that the plant cellulose is playing a leading role in obtaining cellulose fibers, it has been found that ecologically and economically, a better source for obtaining cellulose is by fermenting a particular strain of bacteria. Although bacterial nano cellulose (BCN) based materials can be used in numerous industries, from the paper and food industries to biomedicine, their application in electronics is limited because bacterial cellulose does not have conductive and ferromagnetic properties. Having this in mind in this research, the results of the development of nanocomposite materials based on BCN modified with Fe3O4 has been presented. The differences in the interaction of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and BCN obtained by varying precipitation parameters were investigated and the effect of reaction time was followed by SEM-EDS, XRD, and FTIR analysis. It has been found that this type of modifications of the initial BCN, enables development of new composite materials with superior properties, which can be used in various fields of electronics

Smeared phase transition in a three-dimensional Ising model with planar defects: Monte-Carlo simulations

We present results of large-scale Monte Carlo simulations for a three-dimensional Ising model with short range interactions and planar defects, i.e., disorder perfectly correlated in two dimensions. We show that the phase transition in this system is smeared, i.e., there is no single critical temperature, but different parts of the system order at different temperatures. This is caused by effects similar to but stronger than Griffiths phenomena. In an infinite-size sample there is an exponentially small but finite probability to find an arbitrary large region devoid of impurities. Such a rare region can develop true long-range order while the bulk system is still in the disordered phase. We compute the thermodynamic magnetization and its finite-size effects, the local magnetization, and the probability distribution of the ordering temperatures for different samples. Our Monte-Carlo results are in good agreement with a recent theory based on extremal statistics.Comment: 9 pages, 6 eps figures, final version as publishe

Quantum Griffiths effects and smeared phase transitions in metals: theory and experiment

In this paper, we review theoretical and experimental research on rare region effects at quantum phase transitions in disordered itinerant electron systems. After summarizing a few basic concepts about phase transitions in the presence of quenched randomness, we introduce the idea of rare regions and discuss their importance. We then analyze in detail the different phenomena that can arise at magnetic quantum phase transitions in disordered metals, including quantum Griffiths singularities, smeared phase transitions, and cluster-glass formation. For each scenario, we discuss the resulting phase diagram and summarize the behavior of various observables. We then review several recent experiments that provide examples of these rare region phenomena. We conclude by discussing limitations of current approaches and open questions.Comment: 31 pages, 7 eps figures included, v2: discussion of the dissipative Ising chain fixed, references added, v3: final version as publishe