Criticality of Lamellar Surfaces by Conformational Degrees of freedom

A new model for lamellar surfaces formed by anisotropic molecules is proposed. The molecules have internal degrees of freedom, associated with their flexible section of length $N$ at zero temperature. We obtain a 2D non-standard six vertex model, which is exactly soluble and exhibits a finite order transition. The order and the character of the transition are determined by the dominant term in the $1 \over N$-expansion of the interaction energy. The dependence of the critical temperatures on $N$ is, instead, determined by the non-leading terms in the same expansion.Comment: 26 pages,plane tex, 5 figures not included, [email protected]

Stochastic Resonance in Two Dimensional Landau Ginzburg Equation

We study the mechanism of stochastic resonance in a two dimensional Landau Ginzburg equation perturbed by a white noise. We shortly review how to renormalize the equation in order to avoid ultraviolet divergences. Next we show that the renormalization amplifies the effect of the small periodic perturbation in the system. We finally argue that stochastic resonance can be used to highlight the effect of renormalization in spatially extended system with a bistable equilibria

A New Look at the Schouten-Nijenhuis, Fr\"olicher-Nijenhuis and Nijenhuis-Richardson Brackets for Symplectic Spaces

In this paper we re-express the Schouten-Nijenhuis, the Fr\"olicher-Nijenhuis and the Nijenhuis-Richardson brackets on a symplectic space using the extended Poisson brackets structure present in the path-integral formulation of classical mechanics.Comment: 27+1 pages, Latex, no figure

Onsager reciprocity relations without microscopic reversibility

In this paper we show that Onsager--Machlup time reversal properties of thermodynamic fluctuations and Onsager reciprocity relations for transport coefficients can hold also if the microscopic dynamics is not reversible. This result is based on the explicit construction of a class of conservative models which can be analysed rigorously.Comment: revtex, no figure

Renormalization Group and Probability Theory

The renormalization group has played an important role in the physics of the second half of the twentieth century both as a conceptual and a calculational tool. In particular it provided the key ideas for the construction of a qualitative and quantitative theory of the critical point in phase transitions and started a new era in statistical mechanics. Probability theory lies at the foundation of this branch of physics and the renormalization group has an interesting probabilistic interpretation as it was recognized in the middle seventies. This paper intends to provide a concise introduction to this aspect of the theory of phase transitions which clarifies the deep statistical significance of critical universality

Yoichiro Nambu: Remembering an unusual physicist, a mentor and a friend

I was lucky to meet Yoichiro Nambu at the beginning of my scientific activity. The experience of working with him influenced my subsequent research and in the following I will try to convey what he transmitted to me. It was also a friendship that continued for decades in spite of the rare occasions to meet after our collaboration

Typical state of an isolated quantum system with fixed energy and unrestricted participation of eigenstates

This work describes the statistics for the occupation numbers of quantum levels in a large isolated quantum system, where all possible superpositions of eigenstates are allowed, provided all these superpositions have the same fixed energy. Such a condition is not equivalent to the conventional micro-canonical condition, because the latter limits the participating eigenstates to a very narrow energy window. The statistics is obtained analytically for both the entire system and its small subsystem. In a significant departure from the Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics, the average occupation numbers of quantum states exhibit in the present case weak algebraic dependence on energy. In the macroscopic limit, this dependence is routinely accompanied by the condensation into the lowest energy quantum state. This work contains initial numerical tests of the above statistics for finite systems, and also reports the following numerical finding: When the basis states of large but finite random matrix Hamiltonians are expanded in terms of eigenstates, the participation of eigenstates in such an expansion obeys the newly obtained statistics. The above statistics might be observable in small quantum systems, but for the macroscopic systems, it rather reenforces doubts about self-sufficiency of non-relativistic quantum mechanics for justifying the Boltzmann-Gibbs equilibrium.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Macroscopic current fluctuations in stochastic lattice gases

We study current fluctuations in lattice gases in the macroscopic limit extending the dynamic approach to density fluctuations developed in previous articles. More precisely, we derive large deviation estimates for the space--time fluctuations of the empirical current which include the previous results. Large time asymptotic estimates for the fluctuations of the time average of the current, recently established by Bodineau and Derrida, can be derived in a more general setting. There are models where we have to modify their estimates and some explicit examples are introduced.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, Changed conten

Minimum dissipation principle in stationary non equilibrium states

We generalize to non equilibrium states Onsager's minimum dissipation principle. We also interpret this principle and some previous results in terms of optimal control theory. Entropy production plays the role of the cost necessary to drive the system to a prescribed macroscopic configuration