4,792 research outputs found
Critical properties of Ising model on Sierpinski fractals. A finite size scaling analysis approach
The present paper focuses on the order-disorder transition of an Ising model
on a self-similar lattice. We present a detailed numerical study, based on the
Monte Carlo method in conjunction with the finite size scaling method, of the
critical properties of the Ising model on some two dimensional deterministic
fractal lattices with different Hausdorff dimensions. Those with finite
ramification order do not display ordered phases at any finite temperature,
whereas the lattices with infinite connectivity show genuine critical behavior.
In particular we considered two Sierpinski carpets constructed using different
generators and characterized by Hausdorff dimensions d_H=log 8/log 3 = 1.8927..
and d_H=log 12/log 4 = 1.7924.., respectively.
The data show in a clear way the existence of an order-disorder transition at
finite temperature in both Sierpinski carpets.
By performing several Monte Carlo simulations at different temperatures and
on lattices of increasing size in conjunction with a finite size scaling
analysis, we were able to determine numerically the critical exponents in each
case and to provide an estimate of their errors.
Finally we considered the hyperscaling relation and found indications that it
holds, if one assumes that the relevant dimension in this case is the Hausdorff
dimension of the lattice.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures; a new section has been added with results for a
second fractal; there are other minor change
Feedback-controlled transport in an interacting colloidal system
Based on dynamical density functional theory (DDFT) we consider a
non-equilibrium system of interacting colloidal particles driven by a constant
tilting force through a periodic, symmetric "washboard" potential. We
demonstrate that, despite of pronounced spatio-temporal correlations, the
particle current can be reversed by adding suitable feedback control terms to
the DDFT equation of motion. We explore two distinct control protocols with
time delay, focussing on either the particle positions or the density profile.
Our study shows that the DDFT is an appropriate framework to implement
time-delayed feedback control strategies widely used in other fields of
nonlinear physicsComment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Relaxation dynamics in fluids of platelike colloidal particles
The relaxation dynamics of a model fluid of platelike colloidal particles is
investigated by means of a phenomenological dynamic density functional theory.
The model fluid approximates the particles within the Zwanzig model of
restricted orientations. The driving force for time-dependence is expressed
completely by gradients of the local chemical potential which in turn is
derived from a density functional -- hydrodynamic interactions are not taken
into account. These approximations are expected to lead to qualitatively
reliable results for low densities as those within the isotropic-nematic
two-phase region. The formalism is applied to model an initially spatially
homogeneous stable or metastable isotropic fluid which is perturbed by
switching a two-dimensional array of Gaussian laser beams. Switching on the
laser beams leads to an accumulation of colloidal particles in the beam
centers. If the initial chemical potential and the laser power are large enough
a preferred orientation of particles occurs breaking the symmetry of the laser
potential. After switching off the laser beams again the system can follow
different relaxation paths: It either relaxes back to the homogeneous isotropic
state or it forms an approximately elliptical high-density core which is
elongated perpendicular to the dominating orientation in order to minimize the
surface free energy. For large supersaturations of the initial isotropic fluid
the high-density cores of neighboring laser beams of the two-dimensional array
merge into complex superstructures.Comment: low-resolution figures due to file size restrictions, revised versio
Dynamical density functional theory: phase separation in a cavity and the influence of symmetry
Consider a fluid composed of two species of particles, where the
interparticle pair potentials . On confining an
equal number of particles from each species in a cavity, one finds that the
average one body density profiles of each species are constrained to be exactly
the same due to the symmetry, when both external cavity potentials are the
same. For a binary fluid of Brownian particles interacting via repulsive
Gaussian pair potentials that exhibits phase separation, we study the dynamics
of the fluid one body density profiles on breaking the symmetry of the external
potentials, using the dynamical density functional theory of Marconi and
Tarazona [{\it J. Chem. Phys.}, {\bf 110}, 8032 (1999)]. On breaking the
symmetry we see that the fluid one body density profiles can then show the
phase separation that is present.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the proceedings of the Liquid Matter
conference 2005, to be publication in J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Modelling the evaporation of thin films of colloidal suspensions using Dynamical Density Functional Theory
Recent experiments have shown that various structures may be formed during
the evaporative dewetting of thin films of colloidal suspensions. Nano-particle
deposits of strongly branched `flower-like', labyrinthine and network
structures are observed. They are caused by the different transport processes
and the rich phase behaviour of the system. We develop a model for the system,
based on a dynamical density functional theory, which reproduces these
structures. The model is employed to determine the influences of the solvent
evaporation and of the diffusion of the colloidal particles and of the liquid
over the surface. Finally, we investigate the conditions needed for
`liquid-particle' phase separation to occur and discuss its effect on the
self-organised nano-structures
Interface pinning and slow ordering kinetics on infinitely ramified fractal structures
We investigate the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) equation for a non
conserved order parameter on an infinitely ramified (deterministic) fractal
lattice employing two alternative methods: the auxiliary field approach and a
numerical method of integration of the equations of evolution. In the first
case the domain size evolves with time as , where is
the anomalous random walk exponent associated with the fractal and differs from
the normal value 2, which characterizes all Euclidean lattices. Such a power
law growth is identical to the one observed in the study of the spherical model
on the same lattice, but fails to describe the asymptotic behavior of the
numerical solutions of the TDGL equation for a scalar order parameter. In fact,
the simulations performed on a two dimensional Sierpinski Carpet indicate that,
after an initial stage dominated by a curvature reduction mechanism \`a la
Allen-Cahn, the system enters in a regime where the domain walls between
competing phases are pinned by lattice defects.
The lack of translational invariance determines a rough free energy
landscape, the existence of many metastable minima and the suppression of the
marginally stable modes, which in translationally invariant systems lead to
power law growth and self similar patterns. On fractal structures as the
temperature vanishes the evolution is frozen, since only thermally activated
processes can sustain the growth of pinned domains.Comment: 16 pages+14 figure
Derivation of the nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamic equation from underdamped Langevin equation
We derive the fluctuating hydrodynamic equation for the number and momentum
densities exactly from the underdamped Langevin equation. This derivation is an
extension of the Kawasaki-Dean formula in underdamped case. The steady state
probability distribution of the number and momentum densities field can be
expressed by the kinetic and potential energies. In the massless limit, the
obtained fluctuating hydrodynamic equation reduces to the Kawasaki-Dean
equation. Moreover, the derived equation corresponds to the field equation
derived from the canonical equation when the friction coefficient is zero.Comment: 16 page
Directed polymers and interfaces in random media : free-energy optimization via confinement in a wandering tube
We analyze, via Imry-Ma scaling arguments, the strong disorder phases that
exist in low dimensions at all temperatures for directed polymers and
interfaces in random media. For the uncorrelated Gaussian disorder, we obtain
that the optimal strategy for the polymer in dimension with
involves at the same time (i) a confinement in a favorable tube of radius with (ii) a superdiffusive behavior with for the wandering of the best favorable
tube available. The corresponding free-energy then scales as with and the left tail of the probability
distribution involves a stretched exponential of exponent .
These results generalize the well known exact exponents ,
and in , where the subleading transverse length is known as the typical distance between two replicas in the Bethe
Ansatz wave function. We then extend our approach to correlated disorder in
transverse directions with exponent and/or to manifolds in dimension
with . The strategy of being both confined and
superdiffusive is still optimal for decaying correlations (), whereas
it is not for growing correlations (). In particular, for an
interface of dimension in a space of total dimension with
random-bond disorder, our approach yields the confinement exponent . Finally, we study the exponents in the presence of an
algebraic tail in the disorder distribution, and obtain various
regimes in the plane.Comment: 19 page
Unification of dynamic density functional theory for colloidal fluids to include inertia and hydrodynamic interactions: derivation and numerical experiments.
Starting from the Kramers equation for the phase-space dynamics of the N-body probability distribution, we derive a dynamical density functional theory (DDFT) for colloidal fluids including the effects of inertia and hydrodynamic interactions (HI). We compare the resulting theory to extensive Langevin dynamics simulations for both hard rod systems and three-dimensional hard sphere systems with radially symmetric external potentials. As well as demonstrating the accuracy of the new DDFT, by comparing with previous DDFTs which neglect inertia, HI, or both, we also scrutinize the significance of including these effects. Close to local equilibrium we derive a continuum equation from the microscopic dynamics which is a generalized Navier–Stokes-like equation with additional non-local terms governing the effects of HI. For the overdamped limit we recover analogues of existing configuration-space DDFTs but with a novel diffusion tensor
Generalized Casimir forces in non-equilibrium systems
In the present work we propose a method to determine fluctuation induced
forces in non equilibrium systems. These forces are the analogue of the well
known Casimir forces, which were originally introduced in Quantum Field theory
and later extended to the area of Critical Phenomena. The procedure starts from
the observation that many non equilibrium systems exhibit long-range
correlations and the associated structure factors diverge in the long
wavelength limit. The introduction of external bodies into such systems in
general modifies the spectrum of these fluctuations and leads to the appearance
of a net force between these bodies. The mechanism is illustrated by means of a
simple example: a reaction diffusion equation with random noises.Comment: Submitted to Europhysics Letters. 7 pages, 2 figure
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