176 research outputs found
Memory effects in response functions of driven vortex matter
Vortex flow in driven type II superconductors shows strong memory and history
dependent effects. Here, we study a schematic microscopic model of driven
vortices to propose a scenario for a broad set of these kind of phenomena
ranging from ``rejuvenation'' and ``stiffening'' of the system response, to
``memory'' and ``irreversibility'' in I-V characteristics
Record dynamics and the observed temperature plateau in the magnetic creep rate of type II superconductors
We use Monte Carlo simulations of a coarse grained three dimensional model to
demonstrate that the experimentally observed approximate temperature
independence of the magnetic creep rate for a broad range of temperatures may
be explained in terms of record dynamics, {\it viz.} the dynamical properties
of the times at which a stochastic fluctuating signal establishes records.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Replaced in order to correct the order of the
Bessel function in Eq.
Dynamical response functions in models of vibrated granular media
In recently introduced schematic lattice gas models for vibrated dry granular
media, we study the dynamical response of the system to small perturbations of
shaking amplitudes and its relations with the characteristic fluctuations.
Strong off equilibrium features appear and a generalized version of the
fluctuation dissipation theorem is introduced. The relations with thermal
glassy systems and the role of Edwards' compactivity are discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 2 postscript figure
A cellular automaton for the factor of safety field in landslides modeling
Landslide inventories show that the statistical distribution of the area of
recorded events is well described by a power law over a range of decades. To
understand these distributions, we consider a cellular automaton to model a
time and position dependent factor of safety. The model is able to reproduce
the complex structure of landslide distribution, as experimentally reported. In
particular, we investigate the role of the rate of change of the system
dynamical variables, induced by an external drive, on landslide modeling and
its implications on hazard assessment. As the rate is increased, the model has
a crossover from a critical regime with power-laws to non power-law behaviors.
We suggest that the detection of patterns of correlated domains in monitored
regions can be crucial to identify the response of the system to perturbations,
i.e., for hazard assessment.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Vortices Clustering: The Origin of the Second Peak in the Magnetisation Loops of High Temperature Superconductors
We study vortex clustering in type II Superconductors. We demonstrate that
the ``second peak'' observed in magnetisation loops may be a dynamical effect
associated with a density driven instability of the vortex system. At the
microscopic level the instability shows up as the clustering of individual
vortices at (rare) preferential regions of the pinning potential. In the limit
of quasi-static ramping the instability is related to a phase transition in the
equilibrium vortex system.Comment: 11 pages + 3 figure
Off equilibrium magnetic properties in a model for vortices in superconductors
We study the properties of a simple lattice model of repulsive particles
diffusing in a pinning landscape. The behaviour of the model is very similar to
the observed physics of vortices in superconductors. We compare and discuss the
equilibrium phase diagram, creep dynamics, the Bean state profiles, hysteresis
of magnetisation loops (including the second peak feature), and, in particular,
``off equilibrium'' relaxations. The model is analytically tractable in replica
mean field theory and numerically via Monte Carlo simulations. It offers a
comprehensive schematic framework of the observed phenomenology
The jamming transition of Granular Media
We briefly review the basics ideas and results of a recently proposed
statistical mechanical approach to granular materials. Using lattice models
from standard Statistical Mechanics and results from a mean field replica
approach and Monte Carlo simulations we find a jamming transition in granular
media closely related to the glass transition in super-cooled liquids. These
models reproduce the logarithmic relaxation in granular compaction and
reversible-irreversible lines, in agreement with experimental data. The models
also exhibit aging effects and breakdown of the usual fluctuation dissipation
relation. It is shown that the glass transition may be responsible for the
logarithmic relaxation and may be related to the cooperative effects underlying
many phenomena of granular materials such as the Reynolds transition.Comment: 18 pages with 6 postscript figures. to appear in J.Phys: Cond. Ma
Two-phase densification of cohesive granular aggregates
When poured into a container, cohesive granular materials form low-density,
open granular aggregates. If pressed upon with a ram, these aggregates densify
by particle rearrangement. Here we introduce experimental evidence to the
effect that particle rearrangement is a spatially heterogeneous phenomenon,
which occurs in the form of a phase transformation between two configurational
phases of the granular aggregate. We then show that the energy landscape
associated with particle rearrangement is consistent with our interpretation of
the experimental results. Besides affording insight into the physics of the
granular state, our conclusions are relevant to many engineering processes and
natural phenomena.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Aging and memory phenomena in magnetic and transport properties of vortex matter: a brief review
There is mounting experimental evidence that strong off-equilibrium
phenomena, such as ``memory'' or ``aging'' effects, play a crucial role in the
physics of vortices in type II superconductors. We give a short review, based
on a recently introduced schematic vortex model, of current progresses in
understanding out of equilibrium vortex behaviours. We develop a unified
description of ``memory'' phenomena in magnetic and transport properties, such
as magnetisation loops and their ``anomalous'' 2nd peak, logarithmic creep,
``anomalous'' finite creep rate in the limit of vanishing temperature,
``memory'' and ``irreversibility'' in I-V characteristics, time dependent
critical currents, ``rejuvenation'' and ``aging'' of the system response.Comment: updated versio
Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of frozen systems in inherent states
We discuss a Statistical Mechanics approach in the manner of Edwards to the
``inherent states'' (defined as the stable configurations in the potential
energy landscape) of glassy systems and granular materials. We show that at
stationarity the inherent states are distributed according a generalized Gibbs
measure obtained assuming the validity of the principle of maximum entropy,
under suitable constraints. In particular we consider three lattice models (a
diluted Spin Glass, a monodisperse hard-sphere system under gravity and a
hard-sphere binary mixture under gravity) undergoing a schematic ``tap
dynamics'', showing via Monte Carlo calculations that the time average of
macroscopic quantities over the tap dynamics and over such a generalized
distribution coincide. We also discuss about the general validity of this
approach to non thermal systems.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figure
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