Continuous Transition of Defect Configuration in a Deformed Liquid Crystal Film

We investigate energetically favorable configurations of point disclinations in nematic films having a bump geometry. Gradual expansion in the bump width {\Delta} gives rise to a sudden shift in the stable position of the disclinations from the top to the skirt of the bump. The positional shift observed across a threshold {\Delta}th obeys a power law function of |{\Delta}-{\Delta}th|, indicating a new class of continuous phase transition that governs the defect configuration in curved nematic films.Comment: 8pages, 3figure

Fast Zonal Field Dynamo in Collisionless Kinetic Alfven Wave Turbulence

The possibility of fast dynamo action by collisionless kinetic Alfven Wave turbulence is demonstrated. The irreversibility necessary to lock in the generated field is provided by electron Landau damping, so the induced electric field does not vanish with resistivity. Mechanisms for self-regulation of the system and the relation of these results to the theory of alpha quenching are discussed. The dynamo-generated fields have symmetry like to that of zonal flows, and thus are termed zonal fields

Superconductivity of Quasi-One-Dimensional Electrons in Strong Magnetic Field

The superconductivity of quasi-one-dimensional electrons in the magnetic field is studied. The system is described as the one-dimensional electrons with no frustration due to the magnetic field. The interaction is assumed to be attractive between electrons in the nearest chains, which corresponds to the lines of nodes of the energy gap in the absence of the magnetic field. The effective interaction depends on the magnetic field and the transverse momentum. As the magnetic field becomes strong, the transition temperature of the spin-triplet superconductivity oscillates, while that of the spin-singlet increases monotonically.Comment: 15 pages, RevTeX, 3 PostScript figures in uuencoded compressed tar file are appende

Oblique amplitude modulation of dust-acoustic plasma waves

Theoretical and numerical studies are presented of the nonlinear amplitude modulation of dust-acoustic (DA) waves propagating in an unmagnetized three component, weakly-coupled, fully ionized plasma consisting of electrons, positive ions and charged dust particles, considering perturbations oblique to the carrier wave propagation direction. The stability analysis, based on a nonlinear Schroedinger-type equation (NLSE), shows that the wave may become unstable; the stability criteria depend on the angle $\theta$ between the modulation and propagation directions. Explicit expressions for the instability rate and threshold have been obtained in terms of the dispersion laws of the system. The possibility and conditions for the existence of different types of localized excitations have also been discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Physica Script