1,251 research outputs found
A quantum Peierls-Nabarro barrier
Kink dynamics in spatially discrete nonlinear Klein-Gordon systems is
considered. For special choices of the substrate potential, such systems
support continuous translation orbits of static kinks with no (classical)
Peierls-Nabarro barrier. It is shown that these kinks experience, nevertheless,
a lattice-periodic confining potential, due to purely quantum effects anaolgous
to the Casimir effect of quantum field theory. The resulting ``quantum
Peierls-Nabarro potential'' may be calculated in the weak coupling
approximation by a simple and computationally cheap numerical algorithm, which
is applied, for purposes of illustration, to a certain two-parameter family of
substrates.Comment: 13 pages LaTeX, 7 figure
Kinks in dipole chains
It is shown that the topological discrete sine-Gordon system introduced by
Speight and Ward models the dynamics of an infinite uniform chain of electric
dipoles constrained to rotate in a plane containing the chain. Such a chain
admits a novel type of static kink solution which may occupy any position
relative to the spatial lattice and experiences no Peierls-Nabarro barrier.
Consequently the dynamics of a single kink is highly continuum like, despite
the strongly discrete nature of the model. Static multikinks and kink-antikink
pairs are constructed, and it is shown that all such static solutions are
unstable. Exact propagating kinks are sought numerically using the
pseudo-spectral method, but it is found that none exist, except, perhaps, at
very low speed.Comment: Published version. 21 pages, 5 figures. Section 3 completely
re-written. Conclusions unchange
The kink Casimir energy in a lattice sine-Gordon model
The Casimir energy of quantum fluctuations about the classical kink
configuration is computed numerically for a recently proposed lattice
sine-Gordon model. This energy depends periodically on the kink position and is
found to be approximately sinusoidal.Comment: 10 pages, 4 postscript figure
Magnetic bubble refraction and quasibreathers in inhomogeneous antiferromagnets
The dynamics of magnetic bubble solitons in a two-dimensional isotropic
antiferromagnetic spin lattice is studied, in the case where the exchange
integral J(x,y) is position dependent. In the near continuum regime, this
system is described by the relativistic O(3) sigma model on a spacetime with a
spatially inhomogeneous metric, determined by J. The geodesic approximation is
used to describe low energy soliton dynamics in this system: n-soliton motion
is approximated by geodesic motion in the moduli space of static n-solitons,
equipped with the L^2 metric. Explicit formulae for this metric for various
natural choices of J(x,y) are obtained. From these it is shown that single
soliton trajectories experience refraction, with 1/J analogous to the
refractive index, and that this refraction effect allows the construction of
simple bubble lenses and bubble guides. The case where J has a disk
inhomogeneity (taking the value J_1 outside a disk, and J_2<J_1 inside) is
considered in detail. It is argued that, for sufficiently large J_1/J_2 this
type of antiferromagnet supports approximate quasibreathers: two or more
coincident bubbles confined within the disk which spin internally while their
shape undergoes periodic oscillations with a generically incommensurate period.Comment: Conference proceedings paper for talk given at Nonlinear Physics
Theory and Experiment IV, Gallipoli, Italy, June 200
Kink Dynamics in a Topological Phi^4 Lattice
It was recently proposed a novel discretization for nonlinear Klein-Gordon
field theories in which the resulting lattice preserves the topological
(Bogomol'nyi) lower bound on the kink energy and, as a consequence, has no
Peierls-Nabarro barrier even for large spatial discretizations (h~1.0). It was
then suggested that these ``topological discrete systems'' are a natural choice
for the numerical study of continuum kink dynamics. Giving particular emphasis
to the phi^4 theory, we numerically investigate kink-antikink scattering and
breather formation in these topological lattices. Our results indicate that,
even though these systems are quite accurate for studying free kinks in coarse
lattices, for legitimate dynamical kink problems the accuracy is rather
restricted to fine lattices (h~0.1). We suggest that this fact is related to
the breaking of the Bogomol'nyi bound during the kink-antikink interaction,
where the field profile loses its static property as required by the
Bogomol'nyi argument. We conclude, therefore, that these lattices are not
suitable for the study of more general kink dynamics, since a standard
discretization is simpler and has effectively the same accuracy for such
resolutions.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 4 figures; Revised version, accepted to Physical
Review E (Brief Reports
Solar array conceptual design for the Halley's Comet ion drive mission, phase 2
Conceptual design studies were performed directed toward a high power, ultralightweight solar array, compatible with the requirements for the Halley's Comet Ion Drive Mission. A planar, rollup array design concept capable of producing 120 kW at 1 AU and 6 kW at 4.5 AU, and a concentrator, rollup array design concept capable of producing 60 kW at 1 AU and 15.5 kW at 4.5 AU evolved. Both arrays make maximum use of thin film, lightweight technology. The Halley's Comet spacecraft and mission requirements developed from preliminary definition to a more finalized and mature design. As solar array requirements were updated, conceptual design iterations were necessary to keep pace with the rapidly changing program objectives and goals. The Halley's Comet Mission program status and design approaches were reviewed and more realistic power requirements at 4.5 AU for the ion engines were established at the 12 to 16 kW range. This higher power necessitated a change from the planar array design to a concentrator array design in order to remain within suitable cost and weight objectives
Kink dynamics in a novel discrete sine-Gordon system
A spatially-discrete sine-Gordon system with some novel features is
described. There is a topological or Bogomol'nyi lower bound on the energy of a
kink, and an explicit static kink which saturates this bound. There is no
Peierls potential barrier, and consequently the motion of a kink is simpler,
especially at low speeds. At higher speeds, it radiates and slows down.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, archivin
The geodesic approximation for lump dynamics and coercivity of the Hessian for harmonic maps
The most fruitful approach to studying low energy soliton dynamics in field
theories of Bogomol'nyi type is the geodesic approximation of Manton. In the
case of vortices and monopoles, Stuart has obtained rigorous estimates of the
errors in this approximation, and hence proved that it is valid in the low
speed regime. His method employs energy estimates which rely on a key
coercivity property of the Hessian of the energy functional of the theory under
consideration. In this paper we prove an analogous coercivity property for the
Hessian of the energy functional of a general sigma model with compact K\"ahler
domain and target. We go on to prove a continuity property for our result, and
show that, for the CP^1 model on S^2, the Hessian fails to be globally coercive
in the degree 1 sector. We present numerical evidence which suggests that the
Hessian is globally coercive in a certain equivariance class of the degree n
sector for n>1. We also prove that, within the geodesic approximation, a single
CP^1 lump moving on S^2 does not generically travel on a great circle.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure; typos corrected, references added, expanded
discussion of the main function spac
EP-1886: The feasibility of atlas-based automatic segmentation of MRI for H&N radiotherapy planning
Breathers in the weakly coupled topological discrete sine-Gordon system
Existence of breather (spatially localized, time periodic, oscillatory)
solutions of the topological discrete sine-Gordon (TDSG) system, in the regime
of weak coupling, is proved. The novelty of this result is that, unlike the
systems previously considered in studies of discrete breathers, the TDSG system
does not decouple into independent oscillator units in the weak coupling limit.
The results of a systematic numerical study of these breathers are presented,
including breather initial profiles and a portrait of their domain of existence
in the frequency-coupling parameter space. It is found that the breathers are
uniformly qualitatively different from those found in conventional spatially
discrete systems.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures. Section 4 (numerical analysis) completely
rewritte
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