Motion of vortices in type II superconductors

The methods of formal asymptotics are used to examine the behaviour of a system of curvilinear vortices in a type II superconductor as the thickness of the vortex cores tends to zero. The vortices then appear as singularities in the field equation and are analagous to line vortices in inviscid hydrodynamics. A local analysis near each vortex core gives an equation of motion governing the evolution of these singularities

Motion and homogenization of vortices in anisotropic Type II superconductors

The motion of vortices in an anisotropic superconductor is considered. For a system of well-separated vortices, each vortex is found to obey a law of motion analogous to the local induction approximation, in which velocity of the vortex depends upon the local curvature and orientation. A system of closely packed vortices is then considered, and a mean field model is formulated in which the individual vortex lines are replaced by a vortex density

Scale separation in granular packings: stress plateaus and fluctuations

It is demonstrated, by numerical simulations of a 2D assembly of polydisperse disks, that there exists a range (plateau) of coarse graining scales for which the stress tensor field in a granular solid is nearly resolution independent, thereby enabling an `objective' definition of this field. Expectedly, it is not the mere size of the the system but the (related) magnitudes of the gradients that determine the widths of the plateaus. Ensemble averaging (even over `small' ensembles) extends the widths of the plateaus to sub-particle scales. The fluctuations within the ensemble are studied as well. Both the response to homogeneous forcing and to an external compressive localized load (and gravity) are studied. Implications to small solid systems and constitutive relations are briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX 4, Minor corrections to match the published versio

Minimal Unitary Models and The Closed SU(2)-q Invariant Spin Chain

We consider the Hamiltonian of the closed $SU(2)_{q}$ invariant chain. We project a particular class of statistical models belonging to the unitary minimal series. A particular model corresponds to a particular value of the coupling constant. The operator content is derived. This class of models has charge-dependent boundary conditions. In simple cases (Ising, 3-state Potts) corresponding Hamiltonians are constructed. These are non-local as the original spin chain.Comment: 19 pages, latex, no figure

Combinatorial point for higher spin loop models

Integrable loop models associated with higher representations (spin k/2) of U_q(sl(2)) are investigated at the point q=-e^{i\pi/(k+2)}. The ground state eigenvalue and eigenvectors are described. Introducing inhomogeneities into the models allows to derive a sum rule for the ground state entries.Comment: latest version adds some reference

Internal relaxation time in immersed particulate materials

We study the dynamics of the solid to liquid transition for a model material made of elastic particles immersed in a viscous fluid. The interaction between particle surfaces includes their viscous lubrication, a sharp repulsion when they get closer than a tuned steric length and their elastic deflection induced by those two forces. We use Soft Dynamics to simulate the dynamics of this material when it experiences a step increase in the shear stress and a constant normal stress. We observe a long creep phase before a substantial flow eventually establishes. We find that the typical creep time relies on an internal relaxation process, namely the separation of two particles driven by the applied stress and resisted by the viscous friction. This mechanism should be relevant for granular pastes, living cells, emulsions and wet foams

Channel Flow of a Tensorial Shear-Thinning Maxwell Model: Lattice Boltzmann Simulations

We introduce a nonlinear generalized tensorial Maxwell-type constitutive equation to describe shear-thinning glass-forming fluids, motivated by a recent microscopic approach to the nonlinear rheology of colloidal suspensions. The model captures a nonvanishing dynamical yield stress at the glass transition and incorporates normal-stress differences. A modified lattice-Boltzmann (LB) simulation scheme is presented that includes non-Newtonian contributions to the stress tensor and deals with flow-induced pressure differences. We test this scheme in pressure-driven 2D Poiseuille flow of the nonlinear generalized Maxwell fluid. In the steady state, comparison with an analytical solution shows good agreement. The transient dynamics after startup and cessation of the pressure gradient are studied; the simulation reproduces a finite stopping time for the cessation flow of the yield-stress fluid in agreement with previous analytical estimates

Shear flow pumping in open microfluidic systems

We propose to drive open microfluidic systems by shear in a covering fluid layer, e.g., oil covering water-filled chemical channels. The advantages as compared to other means of pumping are simpler forcing and prevention of evaporation of volatile components. We calculate the expected throughput for straight channels and show that devices can be built with off-the-shelf technology. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that this concept is scalable down to the nanoscale.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Exactly solvable models and ultracold Fermi gases

Exactly solvable models of ultracold Fermi gases are reviewed via their thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz solution. Analytical and numerical results are obtained for the thermodynamics and ground state properties of two- and three-component one-dimensional attractive fermions with population imbalance. New results for the universal finite temperature corrections are given for the two-component model. For the three-component model, numerical solution of the dressed energy equations confirm that the analytical expressions for the critical fields and the resulting phase diagrams at zero temperature are highly accurate in the strong coupling regime. The results provide a precise description of the quantum phases and universal thermodynamics which are applicable to experiments with cold fermionic atoms confined to one-dimensional tubes.Comment: based on an invited talk at Statphys24, Cairns (Australia) 2010. 16 pages, 6 figure

The Generation of Magnetic Fields Through Driven Turbulence

We have tested the ability of driven turbulence to generate magnetic field structure from a weak uniform field using three dimensional numerical simulations of incompressible turbulence. We used a pseudo-spectral code with a numerical resolution of up to $144^3$ collocation points. We find that the magnetic fields are amplified through field line stretching at a rate proportional to the difference between the velocity and the magnetic field strength times a constant. Equipartition between the kinetic and magnetic energy densities occurs at a scale somewhat smaller than the kinetic energy peak. Above the equipartition scale the velocity structure is, as expected, nearly isotropic. The magnetic field structure at these scales is uncertain, but the field correlation function is very weak. At the equipartition scale the magnetic fields show only a moderate degree of anisotropy, so that the typical radius of curvature of field lines is comparable to the typical perpendicular scale for field reversal. In other words, there are few field reversals within eddies at the equipartition scale, and no fine-grained series of reversals at smaller scales. At scales below the equipartition scale, both velocity and magnetic structures are anisotropic; the eddies are stretched along the local magnetic field lines, and the magnetic energy dominates the kinetic energy on the same scale by a factor which increases at higher wavenumbers. We do not show a scale-free inertial range, but the power spectra are a function of resolution and/or the imposed viscosity and resistivity. Our results are consistent with the emergence of a scale-free inertial range at higher Reynolds numbers.Comment: 14 pages (8 NEW figures), ApJ, in press (July 20, 2000?