The dynamical equation of the spinning electron

We obtain by invariance arguments the relativistic and non-relativistic invariant dynamical equations of a classical model of a spinning electron. We apply the formalism to a particular classical model which satisfies Dirac's equation when quantised. It is shown that the dynamics can be described in terms of the evolution of the point charge which satisfies a fourth order differential equation or, alternatively, as a system of second order differential equations by describing the evolution of both the center of mass and center of charge of the particle. As an application of the found dynamical equations, the Coulomb interaction between two spinning electrons is considered. We find from the classical viewpoint that these spinning electrons can form bound states under suitable initial conditions. Since the classical Coulomb interaction of two spinless point electrons does not allow for the existence of bound states, it is the spin structure that gives rise to new physical phenomena not described in the spinless case. Perhaps the paper may be interesting from the mathematical point of view but not from the point of view of physics.Comment: Latex2e, 14 pages, 5 figure

Symmetry-protected Topological Phases at Finite Temperature

We have applied the recently developed theory of topological Uhlmann numbers to a representative model of a topological insulator in two dimensions, the Qi-Wu-Zhang model. We have found a stable symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phase under external thermal fluctuations in two-dimensions. A complete phase diagram for this model is computed as a function of temperature and coupling constants in the original Hamiltonian. It shows the appearance of large stable phases of matter with topological properties compatible with thermal fluctuations or external noise and the existence of critical lines separating abruptly trivial phases from topological phases. These novel critical temperatures represent thermal topological phase transitions. The initial part of the paper comprises a self-contained explanation of the Uhlmann geometric phase needed to understand the topological properties that it may acquire when applied to topological insulators and superconductors.Comment: Contribution to the focus issue on "Artificial Graphene". Edited by Maciej Lewenstein, Vittorio Pellegrini, Marco Polini and Mordechai (Moti) Sege

Observation of a tricritical wedge filling transition in the 3D Ising model

In this Letter we present evidences of the occurrence of a tricritical filling transition for an Ising model in a linear wedge. We perform Monte Carlo simulations in a double wedge where antisymmetric fields act at the top and bottom wedges, decorated with specific field acting only along the wegde axes. A finite-size scaling analysis of these simulations shows a novel critical phenomenon, which is distinct from the critical filling. We adapt to tricritical filling the phenomenological theory which successfully was applied to the finite-size analysis of the critical filling in this geometry, observing good agreement between the simulations and the theoretical predictions for tricritical filling.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure