14,028 research outputs found
Quantum Fluctuations Driven Orientational Disordering: A Finite-Size Scaling Study
The orientational ordering transition is investigated in the quantum
generalization of the anisotropic-planar-rotor model in the low temperature
regime. The phase diagram of the model is first analyzed within the mean-field
approximation. This predicts at a phase transition from the ordered to
the disordered state when the strength of quantum fluctuations, characterized
by the rotational constant , exceeds a critical value . As a function of temperature, mean-field theory predicts a range of
values of where the system develops long-range order upon cooling, but
enters again into a disordered state at sufficiently low temperatures
(reentrance). The model is further studied by means of path integral Monte
Carlo simulations in combination with finite-size scaling techniques,
concentrating on the region of parameter space where reentrance is predicted to
occur. The phase diagram determined from the simulations does not seem to
exhibit reentrant behavior; at intermediate temperatures a pronounced increase
of short-range order is observed rather than a genuine long-range order.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, RevTe
Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem
This article reconsiders what Marx says about the transformation problem in Chapter IX of Capital Volume III, in the light of Marx's claim, made in Capital Volume I, that the value of a commodity is determined by the socially necessary labour time that goes into its production. The article criticises the traditional way of thinking about the transformation problem, according to which what Marx is doing in Chapter IX is considering the transformation of values into prices ('prices of production'). I argue that Marx's prices of production may be thought of as modified values. The discussion in Chapter IX is usually seen as a supplement to the labour theory of value. On this view its purpose is to explain how and why the prices of commodities sometimes deviate from their values. Against this view, the paper argues that Marx's remarks in Chapter IX can be seen as an elaboration on or development of the labour theory of value. It is a refinement of the account offered in Capital Volume I, which takes into consideration what Marx had in mind there when he introduced the notion of socially necessary as opposed to actual labour-time. The paper draws attention to the importance of Marx's distinction between the individual value of a commodity (determined by actual labour-time) and its social value (determined by socially necessary labour-time). It also draws attention to the methodological difficulties that are generated by any attempt to read Marx in this way
Pattern formation without heating in an evaporative convection experiment
We present an evaporation experiment in a single fluid layer. When latent
heat associated to the evaporation is large enough, the heat flow through the
free surface of the layer generates temperature gradients that can destabilize
the conductive motionless state giving rise to convective cellular structures
without any external heating. The sequence of convective patterns obtained here
without heating, is similar to that obtained in B\'enard-Marangoni convection.
This work present the sequence of spatial bifurcations as a function of the
layer depth. The transition between square to hexagonal pattern, known from
non-evaporative experiments, is obtained here with a similar change in
wavelength.Comment: Submitted to Europhysics Letter
Efficient formalism for large scale ab initio molecular dynamics based on time-dependent density functional theory
A new "on the fly" method to perform Born-Oppenheimer ab initio molecular
dynamics (AIMD) is presented. Inspired by Ehrenfest dynamics in time-dependent
density functional theory, the electronic orbitals are evolved by a
Schroedinger-like equation, where the orbital time derivative is multiplied by
a parameter. This parameter controls the time scale of the fictitious
electronic motion and speeds up the calculations with respect to standard
Ehrenfest dynamics. In contrast to other methods, wave function orthogonality
needs not be imposed as it is automatically preserved, which is of paramount
relevance for large scale AIMD simulations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 color figures, revtex4 packag
Pattern formation driven by nematic ordering of assembling biopolymers
The biopolymers actin and microtubules are often in an ongoing
assembling/disassembling state far from thermal equilibrium. Above a critical
density this leads to spatially periodic patterns, as shown by a scaling
argument and in terms of a phenomenological continuum model, that meets also
Onsager's statistical theory of the nematic--to--isotropic transition in the
absence of reaction kinetics.
This pattern forming process depends much on nonlinear effects and a common
linear stability analysis of the isotropic distribution of the filaments is
often misleading. The wave number of the pattern decreases with the
assembling/disassembling rate and there is an uncommon discontinuous transition
between the nematic and the periodic state.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The time of the Roma in times of crisis: Where has European neoliberal capitalism failed?
This paper argues that the economic and financial crisis that has ensnared Europe from the late 2000s has been instrumental in reshaping employment and social relations in a detrimental way for the majority of the European people. It argues that the crisis has exacerbated the socio-economic position of most Roma people, immigrants as well as of other vulnerable groups. This development is approached here as an outcome of the widening structural inequalities that underpin the crisis within an increasingly neoliberalised Europe. Through recent policy developments and public discourses from a number of European countries I show how rising inequalities nurture racialised social tensions. My account draws on classic and contemporary theoretical propositions that have been propounded about the nature of capitalism, its contemporary re-articulation as well as its ramification for the future of Europe
Exchange Monte Carlo for Molecular Simulations with Monoelectronic Hamiltonians
We introduce a general Monte Carlo scheme for achieving atomistic simulations
with monoelectronic Hamiltonians including the thermalization of both nuclear
and electronic degrees of freedom. The kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm is used to
obtain the exact occupation numbers of the electronic levels at canonical
equilibrium, and comparison is made with Fermi-Dirac statistics in infinite and
finite systems. The effects of a nonzero electronic temperature on the
thermodynamic properties of liquid silver and sodium clusters are presented
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