1,650 research outputs found
Complex free energy landscapes in biaxial nematics and role of repulsive interactions : A Wang - Landau study
General quadratic Hamiltonian models, describing interaction between crystal
molecules (typically with symmetry) take into account couplings
between their uniaxial and biaxial tensors. While the attractive contributions
arising from interactions between similar tensors of the participating
molecules provide for eventual condensation of the respective orders at
suitably low temperatures, the role of cross-coupling between unlike tensors is
not fully appreciated. Our recent study with an advanced Monte Carlo technique
(entropic sampling) showed clearly the increasing relevance of this cross term
in determining the phase diagram, contravening in some regions of model
parameter space, the predictions of mean field theory and standard Monte Carlo
simulation results. In this context, we investigated the phase diagrams and the
nature of the phases therein, on two trajectories in the parameter space: one
is a line in the interior region of biaxial stability believed to be
representative of the real systems, and the second is the extensively
investigated parabolic path resulting from the London dispersion approximation.
In both the cases, we find the destabilizing effect of increased cross-coupling
interactions, which invariably result in the formation of local biaxial
organizations inhomogeneously distributed. This manifests as a small, but
unmistakable, contribution of biaxial order in the uniaxial phase.The free
energy profiles computed in the present study as a function of the two dominant
order parameters indicate complex landscapes, reflecting the difficulties in
the ready realization of the biaxial phase in the laboratory.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure
Adiabatic Heavy Ion Fusion Potentials for Fusion at Deep Sub-barrier Energies
The fusion cross sections from well above barrier to extreme sub-barrier
energies have been analysed using the energy (E) and angular momentum (L)
dependent barrier penetration model ({\small{ELDBPM}}). From this analysis, the
adiabatic limits of fusion barriers have been determined for a wide range of
heavy ion systems. The empirical prescription of Wilzynska and Wilzynski has
been used with modified radius parameter and surface tension coefficient values
consistent with the parameterization of the nuclear masses. The adiabatic
fusion barriers calculated from this prescription are in good agreement with
the adiabatic barriers deduced from {\small{ELDBPM}} fits to fusion data. The
nuclear potential diffuseness is larger at adiabatic limit, resulting in a
lower leading to increase of "logarithmic slope" observed at
energies well below the barrier. The effective fusion barrier radius and
curvature values are anomalously smaller than the predictions of known
empirical prescriptions. A detailed comparison of the systematics of fusion
barrier with and without L-dependence has been presented.Comment: Revtex file of 6 pages and 3 eps figure
The pressure-amorphized state in zirconium tungstate: a precursor to decomposition
In contrast to widely accepted view that pressure-induced amorphization arises due to kinetic hindrance of equilibrium phase transitions, here we provide evidence that the metastable pressure-amorphized state in zirconium tungstate is a precursor to decomposition of the compound into a mixture of simple oxides. This is from the volume collapse ΔV across amorphization, which is obtained for the first time by measuring linear dimensions of irreversibly amorphized samples during their recovery to the original cubic phase upon isochronal annealing up to 1000 K. The anomalously large ΔV of 25.7 ± 1.2% being the same as that expected for the decomposition indicates that this amorphous state is probably a precursor to kinetically hindered decomposition. A P–T diagram of the compound is also proposed
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