Driven Disordered Polymorphic Solids: Phases and Phase Transitions, Dynamical Coexistence and Peak Effect Anomalies

We study a model for the depinning and driven steady state phases of a solid tuned across a polymorphic phase transition between ground states of triangular and square symmetry. These include pinned states which may have dominantly triangular or square correlations, a plastically flowing liquid-like phase, a moving phase with hexatic correlations, flowing triangular and square states and a dynamic coexistence regime characterized by the complex interconversion of locally square and triangular regions. We locate these phases in a dynamical phase diagram. We demonstrate that the apparent power-law orientational correlations we obtain in our moving hexatic phase arise from circularly averaging an orientational correlation function with qualitatively different behaviour in the longitudinal (drive) and transverse directions. The intermediate coexistence regime exhibits several novel properties, including substantial enhancement in the current noise, an unusual power-law spectrum of current fluctuations and striking metastability effects. This noise arises from the fluctuations of the interface separating locally square and triangular ordered regions. We demonstrate the breakdown of effective ``shaking temperature'' treatments in the coexistence regime by showing that such shaking temperatures are non-monotonic functions of the drive in this regime. Finally we discuss the relevance of these simulations to the anomalous behaviour seen in the peak effect regime of vortex lines in the disordered mixed phase of type-II superconductors. We propose that this anomalous behavior is directly linked to the behavior exhibited in our simulations in the dynamical coexistence regime, thus suggesting a possible solution to the problem of the origin of peak effect anomalies.Comment: 22 pages, double column, higher quality figures available from author

p-wave Holographic Superconductors from Born-Infeld Black Holes

We obtain (2+1) dimensional p-wave holographic superconductors from charged Born-Infeld black holes in the presence of massive charged vector fields in a bulk $AdS_4$ Einstein-Born-Infeld theory through the $AdS_4$-$CFT_3$ correspondence. Below a certain critical transition temperature the charged black hole develops vector hair that corresponds to charged vector condensate in the strongly coupled (2+1) dimensional boundary field theory that breaks both the $U(1)$ symmetry as well as the rotational invariance. The holographic free energy is computed for the boundary field theory which shows that the vector order parameter exhibits a rich phase structure involving zeroth order, first order, second order and retrograde phase transitions for different values of the backreaction and the Born-Infeld parameters. We numerically compute the ac conductivity for the p-wave superconducting phase of the strongly coupled (2+1) dimensional boundary field theory which also depends on the relative values of the parameters in the theory.Comment: 26 pages, 18 figure

Thermodynamic Geometry and Phase Transitions of AdS Braneworld Black Holes

The thermodynamics and phase transitions of charged RN-AdS and rotating Kerr-AdS black holes in a generalized Randall-Sundrum braneworld are investigated in the framework of thermodynamic geometry. A detailed analysis of the thermodynamics, stability and phase structures in the canonical and the grand canonical ensembles for these AdS braneworld black holes are described. The thermodynamic curvatures for both these AdS braneworld black holes are computed and studied as a function of the thermodynamic variables. Through this analysis we illustrate an interesting dependence of the phase structures on the braneworld parameter for these black holes.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures and Appendix adde

Hidden Isometry in a Chiral Gauged WZW Model

It is shown that the asymmetric chiral gauging of the WZW models give rise to consistent string backgrounds. The target space structure of the ${[{SL(2,\Re)/ {SO(1,1)}}]}_L \bigotimes {[{SL(2,\Re)/U(1)}]}_R$ model is analyzed and the presence of a hidden isometry in this background is demonstrated. A nonlinear coordinate transformation is obtained which transforms the asymmetric model to the symmetric one, analyzed recently by two of the present authors.Comment: 11 pages, IP/BBSR/92-67, IISC/CTS/92-