Critical behavior of spin and chiral degrees of freedom in three-dimensional disordered XY models studied by the nonequilibrium aging method

The critical behavior of the gauge-glass and the XY spin-glass models in three dimensions is studied by analyzing their nonequilibrium aging dynamics. A new numerical method, which relies on the calculation of the two-time correlation and integrated response functions, is used to determine both the critical temperature and the nonequilibrium scaling exponents, both for spin and chiral degrees of freedom. First, the ferromagnetic XY model is studied to validate this nonequilibirum aging method (NAM), since for this nondisordered system we can compare with known results obtained with standard equilibrium and nonequilibrium techniques. When applied to the case of the gauge-glass model, we show that the NAM allows us to obtain precise and reliable values of its critical quantities, improving previous estimates. The XY spin-glass model with both Gaussian and bimodal bond distributions, is analyzed in more detail. The spin and the chiral two-time correlation and integrated response functions are calculated in our simulations. The results obtained mainly for Gaussian and, to a lesser extent, for bimodal interactions, support the existence of a spin-chiral decoupling scenario, where the chiral order occurs at a finite temperature while the spin degrees of freedom order at very low or zero temperature.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures. Phys. Rev. B 89, 024408 (2014

Multipolar expansion of the electrostatic interaction between charged colloids at interfaces

The general form of the electrostatic potential around an arbitrarily charged colloid at an interface between a dielectric and a screening phase (such as air and water, respectively) is analyzed in terms of a multipole expansion. The leading term is isotropic in the interfacial plane and varies with $d^{-3}$ where $d$ is the in--plane distance from the colloid. The electrostatic interaction potential between two arbitrarily charged colloids is likewise isotropic and $\propto d^{-3}$, corresponding to the dipole--dipole interaction first found for point charges at water interfaces. Anisotropic interaction terms arise only for higher powers $d^{-n}$ with $n \ge 4$.Comment: 6 pages, mathematical details adde

Transport properties and structures of vortex matter in layered superconductors

In this paper we analyze the structure, phase transitions and some transport properties of the vortex system when the external magnetic field lies parallel to the planes in layered superconductors. We show that experimental results for resistivity are qualitatively consistent with numerical simulations that describe the melting of a commensurate rotated lattice. However for some magnetic fields, the structure factor indicates the occurrence of smectic peaks at an intermediate temperature regime.Comment: 8 pages, 8 eps figure