798 research outputs found
Expansion, Thermalization and Entropy Production in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions
The thermalization process is studied in an expanding parton gas using the
Boltzmann equation with two types of collision terms. In the relaxation time
approximation we determine the criteria under which a time-dependent relaxation
time leads to thermalization of the partons. We calculate the entropy
production due to collisions for the general time-dependent relaxation time. In
a perturbative QCD approach on the other hand, we can estimate the parton
collision time and its dependence on expansion time. The effective `out of
equilibrium' collision time differs from the standard transport relaxation
time, , by a weak time
dependence. It is in both cases Debye screening and Landau damping that
regulate the singular forward scattering processes. We find that the parton gas
does thermalize eventually but only after having undergone a phase of free
streaming and gradual equilibration where considerable entropy is produced
(``after-burning"). The final entropy and thus particle density depends on the
collision time as well as the initial conditions (a ``memory effect"). Results
for entropy production are presented based upon various model estimates of
early parton production.Comment: 15 pages revtex + 4 figures. Figures can be obtained by supplying
address to: [email protected]
Structure of Strange Dwarfs with Color Superconducting Core
We study effects of two-flavor color superconductivity on the structure of
strange dwarfs, which are stellar objects with similar masses and radii with
ordinary white dwarfs but stabilized by the strange quark matter core. We find
that unpaired quark matter is a good approximation to the core of strange
dwarfs.Comment: 8 pages 5 figures, J. Phys. G, accepte
Fragmentation of Bose-Einstein Condensates
We present the theory of bosonic systems with multiple condensates, unifying
disparate models which are found in the literature, and discuss how
degeneracies, interactions, and symmetries conspire to give rise to this
unusual behavior. We show that as degeneracies multiply, so do the types of
fragmentation, eventually leading to strongly correlated states with no trace
of condensation.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure, revtex
Bose Metals and Insulators on Multi-Leg Ladders with Ring Exchange
We establish compelling evidence for the existence of new
quasi-one-dimensional descendants of the d-wave Bose liquid (DBL), an exotic
two-dimensional quantum phase of uncondensed itinerant bosons characterized by
surfaces of gapless excitations in momentum space [O. I. Motrunich and M. P. A.
Fisher, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 75}, 235116 (2007)]. In particular, motivated by a
strong-coupling analysis of the gauge theory for the DBL, we study a model of
hard-core bosons moving on the -leg square ladder with frustrating four-site
ring exchange. Here, we focus on four- and three-leg systems where we have
identified two novel phases: a compressible gapless Bose metal on the four-leg
ladder and an incompressible gapless Mott insulator on the three-leg ladder.
The former is conducting along the ladder and has five gapless modes, one more
than the number of legs. This represents a significant step forward in
establishing the potential stability of the DBL in two dimensions. The latter,
on the other hand, is a fundamentally quasi-one-dimensional phase that is
insulating along the ladder but has two gapless modes and incommensurate power
law transverse density-density correlations. In both cases, we can understand
the nature of the phase using slave-particle-inspired variational wave
functions consisting of a product of two distinct Slater determinants, the
properties of which compare impressively well to a density matrix
renormalization group solution of the model Hamiltonian. Stability arguments
are made in favor of both quantum phases by accessing the universal low-energy
physics with a bosonization analysis of the appropriate quasi-1D gauge theory.
We will briefly discuss the potential relevance of these findings to
high-temperature superconductors, cold atomic gases, and frustrated quantum
magnets.Comment: 33 pages, 16 figures; this is the print version, only very minor
changes from v
An electron correlation originated negative magnetoresistance in a system having a partly flat band
Inspired from an experimentally examined organic conductor, a novel mechanism
for negative magnetoresistance is proposed for repulsively interacting
electrons on a lattice whose band dispersion contains a flat portion (a flat
bottom below a dispersive part here). When the Fermi level lies in the flat
part, the electron correlation should cause ferromagnetic spin fluctuations to
develop with an enhanced susceptibility. A relatively small magnetic field will
then shift the majority-spin Fermi level to the dispersive part, resulting in a
negative magnetoresistance. We have actually confirmed the idea by calculating
the conductivity in magnetic fields, with the fluctuation exchange
approximation, for the repulsive Hubbard model on a square lattice having a
large second nearest-neighbor hopping.Comment: RevTex, 5 figures in Postscript, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Phase Transitions in Rotating Neutron Stars
As rotating neutron stars slow down, the pressure and the density in the core
region increase due to the decreasing centrifugal forces and phase transitions
may occur in the center. We extract the analytic behavior near the critical
angular velocity , where the phase transitions occur in the center of
a neutron star, and calculate the moment of inertia, angular velocity, rate of
slow down, braking index, etc. For a first order phase transition these
quantities have a characteristic behavior, e.g., the braking index diverges as
. Observational consequences for first, second
and other phase transitions are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, one figure included, revtex latex styl
Superfluid density and condensate fraction in the BCS-BEC crossover regime at finite temperatures
The superfluid density is a fundamental quantity describing the response to a
rotation as well as in two-fluid collisional hydrodynamics. We present
extensive calculations of the superfluid density \rho_s in the BCS-BEC
crossover regime of a uniform superfluid Fermi gas at finite temperatures. We
include strong-coupling or fluctuation effects on these quantities within a
Gaussian approximation. We also incorporate the same fluctuation effects into
the BCS single-particle excitations described by the superfluid order parameter
\Delta and Fermi chemical potential \mu, using the Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink
(NSR) approximation. This treatment is shown to be necessary for consistent
treatment of \rho_s over the entire BCS-BEC crossover. We also calculate the
condensate fraction N_c as a function of the temperature, a quantity which is
quite different from the superfluid density \rho_s. We show that the mean-field
expression for the condensate fraction N_c is a good approximation even in the
strong-coupling BEC regime. Our numerical results show how \rho_s and N_c
depend on temperature, from the weak-coupling BCS region to the BEC region of
tightly-bound Cooper pair molecules. In a companion paper by the authors
(cond-mat/0609187), we derive an equivalent expression for \rho_s from the
thermodynamic potential, which exhibits the role of the pairing fluctuations in
a more explicit manner.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figure
Spin-Dependent Mass Enhancement under Magnetic Field in the Periodic Anderson Model
In order to study the mechanism of the mass enhancement in heavy fermion
compounds in the presence of magnetic field, we study the periodic Anderson
model using the fluctuation exchange approximation. The resulting value of the
mass enhancement factor z^{-1} can become up to 10, which is significantly
larger than that in the single-band Hubbard model. We show that the difference
between the magnitude of the mass enhancement factor of up spin (minority spin)
electrons z^{-1}_up and that of down spin (majority spin) electrons z^{-1}_down
increases by the applied magnetic field B//z, which is consistent with de
Haas-van Alphen measurements for CeCoIn_5, CeRu_2Si_2 and CePd_2Si_2. We
predict that z^{-1}_up >z^{-1}_down in many Ce compounds, whereas z^{-1}_up <
z^{-1}_down in Yb compounds.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Signal of Quark Deconfinement in the Timing Structure of Pulsar Spin-Down
The conversion of nuclear matter to quark matter in the core of a rotating
neutron star alters its moment of inertia. Hence the epoch over which
conversion takes place will be signaled in the spin-down "signal_prl.tex" 581
lines, 22203 characters characteristics of pulsars. We find that an observable
called the braking index should be easily measurable during the transition
epoch and can have a value far removed (by orders of magnitude) from the
canonical value of three expected for magnetic dipole radiation, and may have
either sign. The duration of the transition epoch is governed by the slow loss
of angular momentum to radiation and is further prolonged by the reduction in
the moment of inertia caused by the phase change which can even introduce an
era of spin-up. We estimate that about one in a hundred pulsars may be passing
through this phase. The phenomenon is analogous to ``bachbending'' observed in
the moment of inertia of rotating nuclei observed in the 1970's, which also
signaled a change in internal structure with changing spin.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Revtex. (May 12, 1997, submitted to PRL
Dislocation-Mediated Melting in Superfluid Vortex Lattices
We describe thermal melting of the two-dimensional vortex lattice in a
rotating superfluid by generalizing the Halperin and Nelson theory of
dislocation-mediated melting. and derive a melting temperature proportional to
the renormalized shear modulus of the vortex lattice. The rigid-body rotation
of the superfluid attenuates the effects of lattice compression on the energy
of dislocations and hence the melting temperature, while not affecting the
shearing. Finally, we discuss dislocations and thermal melting in inhomogeneous
rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensates; we delineate a phase diagram in the
temperature -- rotation rate plane, and infer that the thermal melting
temperature should lie below the Bose-Einstein transition temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
- …