Chaos and plasticity in superconductor vortices: a low-dimensional dynamics

We present new results of numerical simulations for driven vortex lattices in presence of random disorder at zero temperature. We show that the plastic dynamics of vortices display dissipative chaos. Intermittency "routes to chaos" have been clearly identified below the differential resistance peak. The peak region is characterized by positive Lyapunov exponents characteristic of chaos, and low frequency broad-band noise. Furthermore we find a low fractal dimension of the strange attractor, which suggests that only a few dynamical variables are sufficient to model the complex plastic dynamics of vortices.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in The Physical Review

Molecular Dynamics Study of Rotating Nanodroplets: Finite-size Effects and Nonequilibrium Deformation

Noneqiuilibrium dynamics of rotating droplets are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Small deviations from the theoretical prediction are observed when the size of a droplet is small, and the deviations become smaller as the size of the droplet increases. The characteristic timescale of the deformation is observed, and we find (i) the deformation timescale is almost independent of the rotating velocity with for small frequency and (ii) the deformation timescale becomes shorter as temperature increases. A simple model is proposed to explain the deformation dynamics of droplets.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure, added references, changed titl

Vortex jamming in superconductors and granular rheology

We demonstrate that a highly frustrated anisotropic Josephson junction array(JJA) on a square lattice exhibits a zero-temperature jamming transition, which shares much in common with those in granular systems. Anisotropy of the Josephson couplings along the horizontal and vertical directions plays roles similar to normal load or density in granular systems. We studied numerically static and dynamic response of the system against shear, i. e. injection of external electric current at zero temperature. Current-voltage curves at various strength of the anisotropy exhibit universal scaling features around the jamming point much as do the flow curves in granular rheology, shear-stress vs shear-rate. It turns out that at zero temperature the jamming transition occurs right at the isotropic coupling and anisotropic JJA behaves as an exotic fragile vortex matter : it behaves as superconductor (vortex glass) into one direction while normal conductor (vortex liquid) into the other direction even at zero temperature. Furthermore we find a variant of the theoretical model for the anisotropic JJA quantitatively reproduces universal master flow-curves of the granular systems. Our results suggest an unexpected common paradigm stretching over seemingly unrelated fields - the rheology of soft materials and superconductivity.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. To appear in New Journal of Physic

Local Anisotropy of Fluids using Minkowski Tensors

Statistics of the free volume available to individual particles have previously been studied for simple and complex fluids, granular matter, amorphous solids, and structural glasses. Minkowski tensors provide a set of shape measures that are based on strong mathematical theorems and easily computed for polygonal and polyhedral bodies such as free volume cells (Voronoi cells). They characterize the local structure beyond the two-point correlation function and are suitable to define indices $0\leq \beta_\nu^{a,b}\leq 1$ of local anisotropy. Here, we analyze the statistics of Minkowski tensors for configurations of simple liquid models, including the ideal gas (Poisson point process), the hard disks and hard spheres ensemble, and the Lennard-Jones fluid. We show that Minkowski tensors provide a robust characterization of local anisotropy, which ranges from $\beta_\nu^{a,b}\approx 0.3$ for vapor phases to $\beta_\nu^{a,b}\to 1$ for ordered solids. We find that for fluids, local anisotropy decreases monotonously with increasing free volume and randomness of particle positions. Furthermore, the local anisotropy indices $\beta_\nu^{a,b}$ are sensitive to structural transitions in these simple fluids, as has been previously shown in granular systems for the transition from loose to jammed bead packs

Geometrically Frustrated Crystals: Elastic Theory and Dislocations

Elastic theory of ring-(or cylinder-)shaped crystals is constructed and the generation of edge dislocations due to geometrical frustration caused by the bending is studied. The analogy to superconducting (or superfluid) vortex state is pointed out and the phase diagram of the ring-crystal, which depends on radius and thickness, is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Phase Transition of the Ising model on a Hyperbolic Lattice

The matrix product structure is considered on a regular lattice in the hyperbolic plane. The phase transition of the Ising model is observed on the hyperbolic $(5, 4)$ lattice by means of the corner-transfer-matrix renormalization group (CTMRG) method. Calculated correlation length is always finite even at the transition temperature, where mean-field like behavior is observed. The entanglement entropy is also always finite.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Ordinary Percolation with Discontinuous Transitions

Percolation on a one-dimensional lattice and fractals such as the Sierpinski gasket is typically considered to be trivial because they percolate only at full bond density. By dressing up such lattices with small-world bonds, a novel percolation transition with explosive cluster growth can emerge at a nontrivial critical point. There, the usual order parameter, describing the probability of any node to be part of the largest cluster, jumps instantly to a finite value. Here, we provide a simple example of this transition in form of a small-world network consisting of a one-dimensional lattice combined with a hierarchy of long-range bonds that reveals many features of the transition in a mathematically rigorous manner.Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 4 eps-figs, and Mathematica Notebook as Supplement included. Final version, with several corrections and improvements. For related work, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher