19,991 research outputs found
Finite-element modeling of liquid-crystal hydrodynamics with a variable degree of order
A finite-element model of liquid-crystal hydrodynamics based on the Qian and Sheng formulation has been developed. This formulation is a generalization of the Ericksen-Leslie theory to include variations in the order parameter, allowing for a proper description of disclinations. The present implementation is well suited to treat properly the various length scales necessary to model large regions yet resolve the rapid variations in the order parameter in proximity to disclinations
Modeling of weak anisotropic anchoring of nematic liquid crystals in the Landau-de Gennes theory
The anisotropic anchoring effect of a treated solid surface on a nematic liquid crystal is described in the Landau-de Gennes theory using a power expansion on the tensor-order parameter and two mutually orthogonal unit vectors. The expression has three degrees of freedom, allowing for independent assignment of polar and azimuthal anchoring strengths and a preferred value of the surface-order parameter. It is shown that in the limit for a uniaxial constant-order parameter, the expression simplifies to the anisotropic generalization of the Rapini-Papoular anchoring energy density proposed by Zhao et al. Experimentally measurable values with a physical meaning in the Oseen-Frank theory can be scaled and assigned to the scalar coefficients of the tensor-order-parameter expansion. Results of numerical experiments comparing the anchoring according to the study of Zhao et al. in the Oseen-Frank theory and the power expansion in the Landau-de Gennes theory are presented and shown to agree well
Is simultaneous and --scaling in the quasi-elastic region accidental?
We study the and --scaling of the nuclear response at large momentum
transfer in order to understand how scaling based on very different
descriptions of the elementary interaction can occur simultaneously. We find
that the approximate validity of -scaling at low energy loss arises from
the coincidental behavior of the quasielastic and deep inelastic cross
sections.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figure
Alternative determinism principle for topological analysis of chaos
The topological analysis of chaos based on a knot-theoretic characterization
of unstable periodic orbits has proved a powerful method, however knot theory
can only be applied to three-dimensional systems. Still, the core principles
upon which this approach is built, determinism and continuity, apply in any
dimension. We propose an alternative framework in which these principles are
enforced on triangulated surfaces rather than curves and show that in dimension
three our approach numerically predicts the correct topological entropies for
periodic orbits of the horseshoe map.Comment: Accepted for publication as Rapid Communication in Physical Review
High Density Mesoscopic Atom Clouds in a Holographic Atom Trap
We demonstrate the production of micron-sized high density atom clouds of
interest for meso- scopic quantum information processing. We evaporate atoms
from 60 microK, 3x10^14 atoms/cm^3 samples contained in a highly anisotropic
optical lattice formed by interfering di racted beams from a holographic phase
plate. After evaporating to 1 microK by lowering the con ning potential, in
less than a second the atom density reduces to 8x10^13 cm^- 3 at a phase space
density approaching unity. Adiabatic recompression of the atoms then increases
the density to levels in excess of 1x10^15 cm^-3. The resulting clouds are
typically 8 microns in the longest dimension. Such samples are small enough to
enable mesoscopic quantum manipulation using Rydberg blockade and have the high
densities required to investigate new collision phenomena.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Theory of the high-frequency chiral optical response in a p_x+ip_y superconductor
The optical Hall conductivity and the polar Kerr angle are calculated as
functions of temperature for a two-dimensional chiral p_x+ip_y superconductor,
where the time-reversal symmetry is spontaneously broken. The theoretical
estimate for the polar Kerr angle agrees by the order of magnitude with the
recent experimental measurement in Sr2RuO4 by Xia et al. cond-mat/0607539. The
theory predicts that the Kerr angle is proportional to the square of the
superconducting energy gap and is inversely proportional to the cube of
frequency, which can be verified experimentally.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, RevTeX. V.2: one reference and discussion of
horizontal lines of nodes added. V.3: a typo corrected, and one reference
added. V.4: two references added and minor stylistic changes made, as in the
published versio
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