The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick spin glass model in the presence of a random field with a joint Gaussian probability density function for the exchange interactions and random fields

The magnetic systems with disorder form an important class of systems, which are under intensive studies, since they reflect real systems. Such a class of systems is the spin glass one, which combines randomness and frustration. The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick Ising spin glass with random couplings in the presence of a random magnetic field is investigated in detail within the framework of the replica method. The two random variables (exchange integral interaction and random magnetic field) are drawn from a joint Gaussian probability density function characterized by a correlation coefficient $\rho$. The thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams are studied with respect to the natural parameters of both random components of the system contained in the probability density. The de Almeida-Thouless line is explored as a function of temperature, $\rho$ and other system parameters. The entropy for zero temperature as well as for non zero temperatures is partly negative or positive, acquiring positive branches as $h_{0}$ increases.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:cond-mat/0504615 by other author

Uncovering the secrets of the 2d random-bond Blume-Capel model

The effects of bond randomness on the ground-state structure, phase diagram and critical behavior of the square lattice ferromagnetic Blume-Capel (BC) model are discussed. The calculation of ground states at strong disorder and large values of the crystal field is carried out by mapping the system onto a network and we search for a minimum cut by a maximum flow method. In finite temperatures the system is studied by an efficient two-stage Wang-Landau (WL) method for several values of the crystal field, including both the first- and second-order phase transition regimes of the pure model. We attempt to explain the enhancement of ferromagnetic order and we discuss the critical behavior of the random-bond model. Our results provide evidence for a strong violation of universality along the second-order phase transition line of the random-bond version.Comment: 6 LATEX pages, 3 EPS figures, Presented by AM at the symposium "Trajectories and Friends" in honor of Nihat Berker, MIT, October 200

Multicritical Points and Crossover Mediating the Strong Violation of Universality: Wang-Landau Determinations in the Random-Bond d=2d=2 Blume-Capel model

The effects of bond randomness on the phase diagram and critical behavior of the square lattice ferromagnetic Blume-Capel model are discussed. The system is studied in both the pure and disordered versions by the same efficient two-stage Wang-Landau method for many values of the crystal field, restricted here in the second-order phase transition regime of the pure model. For the random-bond version several disorder strengths are considered. We present phase diagram points of both pure and random versions and for a particular disorder strength we locate the emergence of the enhancement of ferromagnetic order observed in an earlier study in the ex-first-order regime. The critical properties of the pure model are contrasted and compared to those of the random model. Accepting, for the weak random version, the assumption of the double logarithmic scenario for the specific heat we attempt to estimate the range of universality between the pure and random-bond models. The behavior of the strong disorder regime is also discussed and a rather complex and yet not fully understood behavior is observed. It is pointed out that this complexity is related to the ground-state structure of the random-bond version.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, submitted for publicatio

Strong Violation of Critical Phenomena Universality: Wang-Landau Study of the 2d Blume-Capel Model under Bond Randomness

We study the pure and random-bond versions of the square lattice ferromagnetic Blume-Capel model, in both the first-order and second-order phase transition regimes of the pure model. Phase transition temperatures, thermal and magnetic critical exponents are determined for lattice sizes in the range L=20-100 via a sophisticated two-stage numerical strategy of entropic sampling in dominant energy subspaces, using mainly the Wang-Landau algorithm. The second-order phase transition, emerging under random bonds from the second-order regime of the pure model, has the same values of critical exponents as the 2d Ising universality class, with the effect of the bond disorder on the specific heat being well described by double-logarithmic corrections, our findings thus supporting the marginal irrelevance of quenched bond randomness. On the other hand, the second-order transition, emerging under bond randomness from the first-order regime of the pure model, has a distinctive universality class with \nu=1.30(6) and \beta/\nu=0.128(5). This amounts to a strong violation of the universality principle of critical phenomena, since these two second-order transitions, with different sets of critical exponents, are between the same ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. Furthermore, the latter of these two transitions supports an extensive but weak universality, since it has the same magnetic critical exponent (but a different thermal critical exponent) as a wide variety of two-dimensional systems. In the conversion by bond randomness of the first-order transition of the pure system to second order, we detect, by introducing and evaluating connectivity spin densities, a microsegregation that also explains the increase we find in the phase transition temperature under bond randomness.Comment: Added discussion and references. 10 pages, 6 figures. Published versio

Wetting of Curved Surfaces

As a first step towards a microscopic understanding of the effective interaction between colloidal particles suspended in a solvent we study the wetting behavior of one-component fluids at spheres and fibers. We describe these phenomena within density functional theory which keeps track of the microscopic interaction potentials governing these systems. In particular we properly take into account the power-law decay of both the fluid-fluid interaction potentials and the substrate potentials. The thicknesses of the wetting films as a function of temperature and chemical potential as well as the wetting phase diagrams are determined by minimizing an effective interface potential which we obtain by applying a sharp-kink approximation to the density functional. We compare our results with previous approaches to this problem.Comment: 54 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Physica

Wetting problem for multi-component fluid mixtures

In this paper we propose an extension of the Cahn method to binary mixtures and study the problem of wetting near a two-phase critical point without any assumption on the form of intermolecular potentials. A comparison between Cahn's method and later works by Sullivan, Evans et al is made. By using an expression of the energy of interaction between solid surface and liquids proposed recently by Gouin, we obtain the equations of density profiles and the boundary conditions on a solid surface. In the case of a convex free energy, a one-dimensional solution of a linear problem is proposed for the density profiles between a bulk and on a solid wall. A non-linear model of binary mixtures extending Cahn's results for simple fluids is also studied. For the case of a purely attractive wall we have established a criterion of a first order transition in terms of the structure of the level set of the homogeneous part of the free energy. Additively, explicit expressions of density profiles near the wall are proposed. They allow one to consider the adsorption of mixture components by a solid wall.Comment: 20 pages and 4 figure

A comparative study of the dynamic critical behavior of the four-state Potts like models

We investigate the short-time critical dynamics of the Baxter-Wu (BW) and $n=3$ Turban (3TU) models to estimate their global persistence exponent $\theta _{g}$. We conclude that this new dynamical exponent can be useful in detecting differences between the critical behavior of these models which are very difficult to obtain in usual simulations. In addition, we estimate again the dynamical exponents of the four-state Potts (FSP) model in order to compare them with results previously obtained for the BW and 3TU models and to decide between two sets of estimates presented in the current literature. We also revisit the short-time dynamics of the 3TU model in order to check if, as already found for the FSP model, the anomalous dimension of the initial magnetization $x_{0}$ could be equal to zero

Human intestinal anion exchanger isoforms: expression, distribution, and membrane localization

AbstractA family of anion exchangers (AEs) including AE1, AE2 and AE3 has been described. AE3 gene has been shown to encode two alternatively spliced isoforms termed as bAE3 (brain subtype) and cAE3 (cardiac subtype). The identity of the AE(s) involved in the human intestinal NaCl absorption is not fully understood. Current studies were undertaken to identify the AE isoforms expressed in the human intestine, to define their regional and vertical axis (crypt vs. surface cells) distribution, and to elucidate their membrane localization in the epithelial cells along the entire length of the human intestine. Our studies utilizing reverse transcription (RT)-PCR with total RNA extracted from pinch biopsies from various regions of the human intestine demonstrate that AE2 and bAE3 but not AE1 or cAE3 were expressed in all the regions of the human intestine. Utilizing in situ RT-PCR, we demonstrated that the message of AE2 was expressed throughout the vertical surface–crypt axis of the colon. Our Western blotting studies demonstrated that AE2 and bAE3 are localized to the basolateral but not the apical membranes of the intestinal epithelial cells from the human ileum and colon. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that in the human intestine, AE2 and bAE3, but not AE1 or cAE3, are expressed throughout the tract with the highest expression in the colon compared to the ileum and jejunum. Both the isoforms were found to be localized to the basolateral but not the apical membranes of the epithelial cells. We speculate that, in the human intestine, AE2 and bAE3 may be the ‘housekeeping’ isoforms, and the apical AE, the potential candidate for chloride absorption, remains to be identified