573 research outputs found
Landscapes and Fragilities
The concept of fragility provides a possibility to rank different supercooled
liquids on the basis of the temperature dependence of dynamic and/or
thermodynamic quantities. We recall here the definitions of kinetic and
thermodynamic fragility proposed in the last years and discuss their
interrelations. At the same time we analyze some recently introduced models for
the statistical properties of the potential energy landscape. Building on the
Adam-Gibbs relation, which connects structural relaxation times to
configurational entropy, we analyze the relation between statistical properties
of the landscape and fragility. We call attention to the fact that the
knowledge of number, energy depth and shape of the basins of the potential
energy landscape may not be sufficient for predicting fragility. Finally, we
discuss two different possibilities for generating strong behavior.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures; accepted version, minor correction
Simultaneous dynamic characterization of charge and structural motion during ferroelectric switching
Monitoring structural changes in ferroelectric thin films during electric
field-induced polarization switching is important for a full microscopic
understanding of the coupled motion of charges, atoms and domain walls. We
combine standard ferroelectric test-cycles with time-resolved x-ray diffraction
to investigate the response of a nanoscale ferroelectric oxide capacitor upon
charging, discharging and switching. Piezoelectric strain develops during the
electronic RC time constant and additionally during structural domain-wall
creep. The complex atomic motion during ferroelectric polarization reversal
starts with a negative piezoelectric response to the charge flow triggered by
voltage pulses. Incomplete screening limits the compressive strain. The
piezoelectric modulation of the unit cell tweaks the energy barrier between the
two polarization states. Domain wall motion is evidenced by a broadening of the
in-plane components of Bragg reflections. Such simultaneous measurements on a
working device elucidate and visualize the complex interplay of charge flow and
structural motion and challenges theoretical modelling
AKLT Models with Quantum Spin Glass Ground States
We study AKLT models on locally tree-like lattices of fixed connectivity and
find that they exhibit a variety of ground states depending upon the spin,
coordination and global (graph) topology. We find a) quantum paramagnetic or
valence bond solid ground states, b) critical and ordered N\'eel states on
bipartite infinite Cayley trees and c) critical and ordered quantum vector spin
glass states on random graphs of fixed connectivity. We argue, in consonance
with a previous analysis, that all phases are characterized by gaps to local
excitations. The spin glass states we report arise from random long ranged
loops which frustrate N\'eel ordering despite the lack of randomness in the
coupling strengths.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur
Time-dependent Nonlinear Optical Susceptibility of an Out-of-Equilibrium Soft Material
We investigate the time-dependent nonlinear optical absorption of a clay
dispersion (Laponite) in organic dye (Rhodamine B) water solution displaying
liquid-arrested state transition. Specifically, we determine the characteristic
time of the nonlinear susceptibility build-up due as to the Soret
effect. By comparing with the relaxation time provided by standard
dynamic light scattering measurements we report on the decoupling of the two
collective diffusion times at the two very different length scales during the
aging of the out-of-equilibrium system. With this demonstration experiment we
also show the potentiality of nonlinear optics measurements in the study of the
late stage of arrest in soft materials
Low-frequency vibrational spectrum of mean-field disordered systems
We study a recently introduced and exactly solvable mean-field model for the density of vibrational states D(ω) of a structurally disordered system. The model is formulated as a collection of disordered anharmonic oscillators, with random stiffness κ drawn from a distribution p(κ), subjected to a constant field h and interacting bilinearly with a coupling of strength J. We investigate the vibrational properties of its ground state at zero temperature. When p(κ) is gapped, the emergent D(ω) is also gapped, for small J. Upon increasing J, the gap vanishes on a critical line in the (h, J) phase diagram, whereupon replica symmetry is broken. At small h, the form of this pseudogap is quadratic, D(ω) ~ ω2, and its modes are delocalized, as expected from previously investigated mean-field spin glass models. However, we determine that for large enough h, a quartic pseudogap D(ω) ~ ω4, populated by localized modes, emerges, the two regimes being separated by a special point on the critical line. We thus uncover that mean-field disordered systems can generically display both a quadratic-delocalized and a quartic-localized spectrum at the glass transition.</p
Can the jamming transition be described using equilibrium statistical mechanics?
When materials such as foams or emulsions are compressed, they display solid
behaviour above the so-called `jamming' transition. Because compression is done
out-of-equilibrium in the absence of thermal fluctuations, jamming appears as a
new kind of a nonequilibrium phase transition. In this proceeding paper, we
suggest that tools from equilibrium statistical mechanics can in fact be used
to describe many specific features of the jamming transition. Our strategy is
to introduce thermal fluctuations and use statistical mechanics to describe the
complex phase behaviour of systems of soft repulsive particles, before sending
temperature to zero at the end of the calculation. We show that currently
available implementations of standard tools such as integral equations,
mode-coupling theory, or replica calculations all break down at low temperature
and large density, but we suggest that new analytical schemes can be developed
to provide a fully microscopic, quantitative description of the jamming
transition.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figs. Talk presented at Statphys24 (July 2010, Cairns,
Australia
Application of Edwards' statistical mechanics to high dimensional jammed sphere packings
The isostatic jamming limit of frictionless spherical particles from Edwards'
statistical mechanics [Song \emph{et al.}, Nature (London) {\bf 453}, 629
(2008)] is generalized to arbitrary dimension using a liquid-state
description. The asymptotic high-dimensional behavior of the self-consistent
relation is obtained by saddle-point evaluation and checked numerically. The
resulting random close packing density scaling is
consistent with that of other approaches, such as replica theory and density
functional theory. The validity of various structural approximations is
assessed by comparing with three- to six-dimensional isostatic packings
obtained from simulations. These numerical results support a growing accuracy
of the theoretical approach with dimension. The approach could thus serve as a
starting point to obtain a geometrical understanding of the higher-order
correlations present in jammed packings.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Sustainable Chromium Encapsulation: Alkali Activation Route
This article highlights recent experimental advances in the use of inorganic substances in the encapsulation of pollutants and, in particular, discusses the potential applicability and constraints of the geopolymerization process for the treatment of wastewater containing chromium. A great percentage of waste containing chromium salts is produced by the leather industry during the tannery process. Such industrial waste is in the form of liquor containing almost 40% of the initial chromium combined with many other pollutants. The stabilization/solidification (S/S) treatment of this type of waste must be combined with chromium encapsulation in an economic, environmentally friendly and efficient process to be industrially feasible. Here we present a novel process in which the wastewater is used as a component of the formulation together with a clay by-product and with the addition of NaOH pellets with the goal of a no-water plus no-waste technology approach. The final solidified “ceramic-like” material successfully immobilized the heavy metal cations as well as anions and macromolecules of surfactants, avoiding environmental damages to soil and groundwater. The article is completed by mentioning other S/S processes where wastewater has been treated and the resulting sludge encapsulated. The future of the S/S technologies in the tannery industry should progress in the direction of significantly reducing the amount of wastewater directed to the treatment plants, with associated reductions in transport and their CO2 emissions. This article intends to be a contribution in the direction of preventing waste, aligning circular economy and waste management objectives
Glassy behavior of light
We study the nonlinear dynamics of a multi-mode random laser using the
methods of statistical physics of disordered systems. A replica-symmetry
breaking phase transition is predicted as a function of the pump intensity. We
thus show that light propagating in a random non-linear medium displays glassy
behavior, i.e. the photon gas has a multitude of metastable states and a non
vanishing complexity, corresponding to mode-locking processes in random lasers.
The present work reveals the existence of new physical phenomena, and
demonstrates how nonlinear optics and random lasers can be a benchmark for the
modern theory of complex systems and glasses.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
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