421 research outputs found
Negative Temperature States in the Discrete Nonlinear Schroedinger Equation
We explore the statistical behavior of the discrete nonlinear Schroedinger
equation. We find a parameter region where the system evolves towards a state
characterized by a finite density of breathers and a negative temperature. Such
a state is metastable but the convergence to equilibrium occurs on astronomical
time scales and becomes increasingly slower as a result of a coarsening
processes. Stationary negative-temperature states can be experimentally
generated via boundary dissipation or from free expansions of wave packets
initially at positive temperature equilibrium.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Cathodoluminescence Study of Defects in III-V Substrates and Structures
Solid state detector cathodoluminescence studies of semiconducting and semi-insulating GaAs and InP crystals, were performed. The origin of the dislocation contrast in GaAs:Si doped substrates, in the carrier concentration range from 1016 to 6 · 1018 cm-3, were discussed. The image contrast was explained on the basis of the emission efficiency versus carrier concentration curve, obtained in the transmission mode. Single dislocations and dislocation arrangements in addition to growth striations, clusters and precipitate-like microdefects were evidenced. The above mentioned microdefects were detected in GaAs: Te, S and Si doped and InP: Sn doped specimens. Commercial InP:Sn and S doped crystals by different manufacturers were also tested in order to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the defect content. Finally, combining emission and transmission cathodoluminescence, Si and Ge detectors at different beam energies, the defect distribution of different layers in simple and double heterostructures was determined in a non-destructive way. MBE InGaAs/InP and LPE InGaAsP/InP structures, employed as semiconductor detectors and lasers, were investigated
Ground-state Properties of Small-Size Nonlinear Dynamical Lattices
We investigate the ground state of a system of interacting particles in small
nonlinear lattices with M > 2 sites, using as a prototypical example the
discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation that has been recently used
extensively in the contexts of nonlinear optics of waveguide arrays, and
Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices. We find that, in the presence of
attractive interactions, the dynamical scenario relevant to the ground state
and the lowest-energy modes of such few-site nonlinear lattices reveals a
variety of nontrivial features that are absent in the large/infinite lattice
limits: the single-pulse solution and the uniform solution are found to coexist
in a finite range of the lattice intersite coupling where, depending on the
latter, one of them represents the ground state; in addition, the single-pulse
mode does not even exist beyond a critical parametric threshold. Finally, the
onset of the ground state (modulational) instability appears to be intimately
connected with a non-standard (``double transcritical'') type of bifurcation
that, to the best of our knowledge, has not been reported previously in other
physical systems.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; submitted to PR
Phase transitions as topology changes in configuration space: an exact result
The phase transition in the mean-field XY model is shown analytically to be
related to a topological change in its configuration space. Such a topology
change is completely described by means of Morse theory allowing a computation
of the Euler characteristic--of suitable submanifolds of configuration
space--which shows a sharp discontinuity at the phase transition point, also at
finite N. The present analytic result provides, with previous work, a new key
to a possible connection of topological changes in configuration space as the
origin of phase transitions in a variety of systems.Comment: REVTeX file, 5 pages, 1 PostScript figur
Spectral Properties of Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates
We investigate the energy spectrum structure of a system of two (identical)
interacting bosonic wells occupied by N bosons within the Schwinger realization
of the angular momentum. This picture enables us to recognize the symmetry
properties of the system Hamiltonian H and to use them for characterizing the
energy eigenstates. Also, it allows for the derivation of the single-boson
picture which is shown to be the background picture naturally involved by the
secular equation for H. After deriving the corresponding eigenvalue equation,
we recast it in a recursive N-dependent form which suggests a way to generate
the level doublets (characterizing the H spectrum) via suitable inner
parameters. Finally, we show how the presence of doublets in the spectrum
allows to recover, in the classical limit, the symmetry breaking effect that
characterizes the system classically.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. A. The present extended
form replaces the first version in the letter forma
The Origins of Phase Transitions in Small Systems
The identification and classification of phases in small systems, e.g.
nuclei, social and financial networks, clusters, and biological systems, where
the traditional definitions of phase transitions are not applicable, is
important to obtain a deeper understanding of the phenomena observed in such
systems. Within a simple statistical model we investigate the validity and
applicability of different classification schemes for phase transtions in small
systems. We show that the whole complex temperature plane contains necessary
information in order to give a distinct classification.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, revtex 4 beta 5, for further information see
http://www.smallsystems.d
Geometry and observables in (2+1)-gravity
We review the geometrical properties of vacuum spacetimes in (2+1)-gravity
with vanishing cosmological constant. We explain how these spacetimes are
characterised as quotients of their universal cover by holonomies. We explain
how this description can be used to clarify the geometrical interpretation of
the fundamental physical variables of the theory, holonomies and Wilson loops.
In particular, we discuss the role of Wilson loop observables as the generators
of the two fundamental transformations that change the geometry of
(2+1)-spacetimes, grafting and earthquake. We explain how these variables can
be determined from realistic measurements by an observer in the spacetime.Comment: Talk given at 2nd School and Workshop on Quantum Gravity and Quantum
Geometry (Corfu, September 13-20 2009); 10 pages, 13 eps figure
Weak and strong chaos in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam models and beyond
We briefly review some of the most relevant results that our group obtained in the past, while investigating the dynamics of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) models. The first result is the numerical evidence of the existence of two different kinds of transitions in the dynamics of the FPU models: (i) A stochasticity threshold (ST), characterized by a value of the energy per degree of freedom below which the overwhelming majority of the phase space trajectories are regular (vanishing Lyapunov exponents). It tends to vanish as the number N of degrees of freedom is increased. (ii) A strong stochasticity threshold (SST), characterized by a value of the energy per degree of freedom at which a crossover appears between two different power laws of the energy dependence of the largest Lyapunov exponent, which phenomenologically corresponds to the transition between weak and strong chaotic regimes. It is stable with N. The second result is the development of a Riemannian geometric theory to explain the origin of Hamiltonian chaos. Starting this theory has been motivated by the inadequacy of the approach based on homoclinic intersections to explain the origin of chaos in systems of arbitrarily large N, or arbitrarily far from quasi-integrability, or displaying a transition between weak and strong chaos. Finally, the third result stems from the search for the transition between weak and strong chaos in systems other than FPU. Actually, we found that a very sharp SST appears as the dynamical counterpart of a thermodynamic phase transition, which in turn has led, in the light of the Riemannian theory of chaos, to the development of a topological theory of phase transitions. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics
The Torus Universe in the Polygon Approach to 2+1-Dimensional Gravity
In this paper we describe the matter-free toroidal spacetime in 't Hooft's
polygon approach to 2+1-dimensional gravity (i.e. we consider the case without
any particles present). Contrary to earlier results in the literature we find
that it is not possible to describe the torus by just one polygon but we need
at least two polygons. We also show that the constraint algebra of the polygons
closes.Comment: 18 pages Latex, 13 eps-figure
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