34 research outputs found
Anomalous diffusion as a signature of collapsing phase in two dimensional self-gravitating systems
A two dimensional self-gravitating Hamiltonian model made by
fully-coupled classical particles exhibits a transition from a collapsing phase
(CP) at low energy to a homogeneous phase (HP) at high energy. From a dynamical
point of view, the two phases are characterized by two distinct single-particle
motions : namely, superdiffusive in the CP and ballistic in the HP. Anomalous
diffusion is observed up to a time that increases linearly with .
Therefore, the finite particle number acts like a white noise source for the
system, inhibiting anomalous transport at longer times.Comment: 10 pages, Revtex - 3 Figs - Submitted to Physical Review
First and second order clustering transitions for a system with infinite-range attractive interaction
We consider a Hamiltonian system made of classical particles moving in
two dimensions, coupled via an {\it infinite-range interaction} gauged by a
parameter . This system shows a low energy phase with most of the particles
trapped in a unique cluster. At higher energy it exhibits a transition towards
a homogenous phase. For sufficiently strong coupling an intermediate phase
characterized by two clusters appears. Depending on the value of the
observed transitions can be either second or first order in the canonical
ensemble. In the latter case microcanonical results differ dramatically from
canonical ones. However, a canonical analysis, extended to metastable and
unstable states, is able to describe the microcanonical equilibrium phase. In
particular, a microcanonical negative specific heat regime is observed in the
proximity of the transition whenever it is canonically discontinuous. In this
regime, {\it microcanonically stable} states are shown to correspond to {\it
saddles} of the Helmholtz free energy, located inside the spinodal region.Comment: 4 pages, Latex - 3 EPS Figs - Submitted to Phys. Rev.
A vortex description of the first-order phase transition in type-I superconductors
Using both analytical arguments and detailed numerical evidence we show that
the first order transition in the type-I 2D Abelian Higgs model can be
understood in terms of the statistical mechanics of vortices, which behave in
this regime as an ensemble of attractive particles. The well-known
instabilities of such ensembles are shown to be connected to the process of
phase nucleation. By characterizing the equation of state for the vortex
ensemble we show that the temperature for the onset of a clustering instability
is in qualitative agreement with the critical temperature. Below this point the
vortex ensemble collapses to a single cluster, which is a non-extensive phase,
and disappears in the absence of net topological charge. The vortex description
provides a detailed mechanism for the first order transition, which applies at
arbitrarily weak type-I and is gauge invariant unlike the usual field-theoretic
considerations, which rely on asymptotically large gauge coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, uses RevTex. Additional references added, some
small corrections to the tex
Physical tests for Random Numbers in Simulations
We propose three physical tests to measure correlations in random numbers
used in Monte Carlo simulations. The first test uses autocorrelation times of
certain physical quantities when the Ising model is simulated with the Wolff
algorithm. The second test is based on random walks, and the third on blocks of
n successive numbers. We apply the tests to show that recent errors in high
precision simulations using generalized feedback shift register algorithms are
due to short range correlations in random number sequences. We also determine
the length of these correlations.Comment: 16 pages, Post Script file, HU-TFT-94-
Long Range Magnetic Order and the Darwin Lagrangian
We simulate a finite system of confined electrons with inclusion of the
Darwin magnetic interaction in two- and three-dimensions. The lowest energy
states are located using the steepest descent quenching adapted for velocity
dependent potentials. Below a critical density the ground state is a static
Wigner lattice. For supercritical density the ground state has a non-zero
kinetic energy. The critical density decreases with for exponential
confinement but not for harmonic confinement. The lowest energy state also
depends on the confinement and dimension: an antiferromagnetic cluster forms
for harmonic confinement in two dimensions.Comment: 5 figure
Equilibrium and dynamical properties of two dimensional self-gravitating systems
A system of N classical particles in a 2D periodic cell interacting via
long-range attractive potential is studied. For low energy density a
collapsed phase is identified, while in the high energy limit the particles are
homogeneously distributed. A phase transition from the collapsed to the
homogeneous state occurs at critical energy U_c. A theoretical analysis within
the canonical ensemble identifies such a transition as first order. But
microcanonical simulations reveal a negative specific heat regime near .
The dynamical behaviour of the system is affected by this transition : below
U_c anomalous diffusion is observed, while for U > U_c the motion of the
particles is almost ballistic. In the collapsed phase, finite -effects act
like a noise source of variance O(1/N), that restores normal diffusion on a
time scale diverging with N. As a consequence, the asymptotic diffusion
coefficient will also diverge algebraically with N and superdiffusion will be
observable at any time in the limit N \to \infty. A Lyapunov analysis reveals
that for U > U_c the maximal exponent \lambda decreases proportionally to
N^{-1/3} and vanishes in the mean-field limit. For sufficiently small energy,
in spite of a clear non ergodicity of the system, a common scaling law \lambda
\propto U^{1/2} is observed for any initial conditions.Comment: 17 pages, Revtex - 15 PS Figs - Subimitted to Physical Review E - Two
column version with included figures : less paper waste
The effect of angular momentum conservation in the phase transitions of collapsing systems
The effect of angular momentum conservation in microcanonical thermodynamics
is considered. This is relevant in gravitating systems, where angular momentum
is conserved and the collapsing nature of the forces makes the microcanonical
ensemble the proper statistical description of the physical processes. The
microcanonical distribution function with non-vanishing angular momentum is
obtained as a function of the coordinates of the particles. As an example, a
simple model of gravitating particles, introduced by Thirring long ago, is
worked out. The phase diagram contains three phases: for low values of the
angular momentum the system behaves as the original model, showing a
complete collapse at low energies and an entropy with a convex intruder. For
intermediate values of the collapse at low energies is not complete and the
entropy still has a convex intruder. For large there is neither collapse
nor anomalies in the thermodynamical quantities. A short discussion of the
extension of these results to more realistic situations is exposed.Comment: Latex, 21 pages, 5 figures. Corrected misprints in some equations and
a few clarifying remarks adde