Thermally activated interface motion in a disordered ferromagnet

We investigate interface motion in disordered ferromagnets by means of Monte Carlo simulations. For small temperatures and driving fields a so-called creep regime is found and the interface velocity obeys an Arrhenius law. We analyze the corresponding energy barrier as well as the field and temperature dependence of the prefactor.Comment: accepted for publication in Computer Physics Communication

Majority-Vote Model on a Random Lattice

The stationary critical properties of the isotropic majority vote model on random lattices with quenched connectivity disorder are calculated by using Monte Carlo simulations and finite size analysis. The critical exponents $\gamma$ and $\beta$ are found to be different from those of the Ising and majority vote on the square lattice model and the critical noise parameter is found to be $q_{c}=0.117\pm0.005$.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Phase transitions in nanosystems caused by interface motion: The Ising bi-pyramid with competing surface fields

The phase behavior of a large but finite Ising ferromagnet in the presence of competing surface magnetic fields +/- H_s is studied by Monte Carlo simulations and by phenomenological theory. Specifically, the geometry of a double pyramid of height 2L is considered, such that the surface field is positive on the four upper triangular surfaces of the bi-pyramid and negative on the lower ones. It is shown that the total spontaneous magnetization vanishes (for L -> infinity) at the temperature T_f(H), related to the "filling transition" of a semi-infinite pyramid, which can be well below the critical temperature of the bulk. The discontinuous vanishing of the magnetization is accompanied by a susceptibility that diverges with a Curie-Weiss power law, when the transition is approached from either side. A Landau theory with size-dependent critical amplitudes is proposed to explain these observations, and confirmed by finite size scaling analysis of the simulation results. The extension of these results to other nanosystems (gas-liquid systems, binary mixtures, etc.) is briefly discussed

Hysteresis and the dynamic phase transition in thin ferromagnetic films

Hysteresis and the non-equilibrium dynamic phase transition in thin magnetic films subject to an oscillatory external field have been studied by Monte Carlo simulation. The model under investigation is a classical Heisenberg spin system with a bilinear exchange anisotropy in a planar thin film geometry with competing surface fields. The film exhibits a non-equilibrium phase transition between dynamically ordered and dynamically disordered phases characterized by a critical temperature Tcd, whose location of is determined by the amplitude H0 and frequency w of the applied oscillatory field. In the presence of competing surface fields the critical temperature of the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition for the film is suppressed from the bulk system value, Tc, to the interface localization-delocalization temperature Tci. The simulations show that in general Tcd < Tci for the model film. The profile of the time-dependent layer magnetization across the film shows that the dynamically ordered and dynamically disordered phases coexist within the film for T < Tcd. In the presence of competing surface fields, the dynamically ordered phase is localized at one surface of the film.Comment: PDF file, 21 pages including 8 figure pages; added references,typos added; to be published in PR

Does Young's equation hold on the nanoscale? A Monte Carlo test for the binary Lennard-Jones fluid

When a phase-separated binary ($A+B$) mixture is exposed to a wall, that preferentially attracts one of the components, interfaces between A-rich and B-rich domains in general meet the wall making a contact angle $\theta$. Young's equation describes this angle in terms of a balance between the $A-B$ interfacial tension $\gamma_{AB}$ and the surface tensions $\gamma_{wA}$, $\gamma_{wB}$ between, respectively, the $A$- and $B$-rich phases and the wall, $\gamma _{AB} \cos \theta =\gamma_{wA}-\gamma_{wB}$. By Monte Carlo simulations of bridges, formed by one of the components in a binary Lennard-Jones liquid, connecting the two walls of a nanoscopic slit pore, $\theta$ is estimated from the inclination of the interfaces, as a function of the wall-fluid interaction strength. The information on the surface tensions $\gamma_{wA}$, $\gamma_{wB}$ are obtained independently from a new thermodynamic integration method, while $\gamma_{AB}$ is found from the finite-size scaling analysis of the concentration distribution function. We show that Young's equation describes the contact angles of the actual nanoscale interfaces for this model rather accurately and location of the (first order) wetting transition is estimated.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Monte-Carlo simulations of the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem in domain growth processes

Numerical simulations of various domain growth systems are reported, in order to compute the parameter describing the violation of fluctuation dissipation theorem (FDT) in aging phenomena. We compute two-times correlation and response functions and find that, as expected from the exact solution of a certain mean-field model (equivalent to the O(N) model in three dimensions, in the limit of N going to infinity), this parameter is equal to one (no violation of FDT) in the quasi-equilibrium regime (short separation of times), and zero in the aging regime.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps figure

Capillary Waves in a Colloid-Polymer Interface

The structure and the statistical fluctuations of interfaces between coexisting phases in the Asakura-Oosawa (AO) model for a colloid--polymer mixture are analyzed by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. We make use of a recently developed grand canonical cluster move with an additional constraint stabilizing the existence of two interfaces in the (rectangular) box that is simulated. Choosing very large systems, of size LxLxD with L=60 and D=120, measured in units of the colloid radius, the spectrum of capillary wave-type interfacial excitations is analyzed in detail. The local position of the interface is defined in terms of a (local) Gibbs surface concept. For small wavevectors capillary wave theory is verified quantitatively, while for larger wavevectors pronounced deviations show up. For wavevectors that correspond to the typical distance between colloids in the colloid-rich phase, the interfacial fluctuations exhibit the same structure as observed in the bulk structure factor. When one analyzes the data in terms of the concept of a wavevector-dependent interfacial tension, a monotonous decrease of this quantity with increasing wavevector is found. Limitations of our analysis are critically discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figure

Finite-size Scaling and Universality above the Upper Critical Dimensionality

According to renormalization theory, Ising systems above their upper critical dimensionality d_u = 4 have classical critical behavior and the ratio of magnetization moments Q = ^2 / has the universal value 0.456947... However, Monte Carlo simulations of d = 5 Ising models have been reported which yield strikingly different results, suggesting that the renormalization scenario is incorrect. We investigate this issue by simulation of a more general model in which d_u < 4, and a careful analysis of the corrections to scaling. Our results are in a perfect agreement with the renormalization theory and provide an explanation of the discrepancy mentioned.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 1 PostScript figure. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Phase separation in fluids exposed to spatially periodic external fields

We consider the liquid-vapor type phase transition for fluids confined within spatially periodic external fields. For a fluid in d=3 dimensions, the periodic field induces an additional phase, characterized by large density modulations along the field direction. At the triple point, all three phases (modulated, vapor, and liquid) coexist. At temperatures slightly above the triple point and for low (high) values of the chemical potential, two-phase coexistence between the modulated phase and the vapor (liquid) is observed. We study this phenomenon using computer simulations and mean-field theory for the Ising model. The theory shows that, in order for the modulated phase to arise, the field wavelength must exceed a threshold value. We also find an extremely low tension of the interface between the modulated phase and the vapor/liquid phases. The tension is of the order 10^{-4} kB T per squared lattice spacing, where kB is the Boltzmann constant, and T the temperature. In order to detect such low tensions, a new simulation method is proposed. We also consider the case of d=2 dimensions. The modulated phase then does not survive, leading to a radically different phase diagram.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figure