Spinodal decomposition during the hadronization stage at RHIC?

The expansion of strongly interacting matter formed in high-energy nuclear collisions drives the system through the region of phase coexistence. The present study examines the associated spinodal instability and finds that the degree of amplification may be sufficient to raise the prospect of using the spinodal pattern formation as a diagnostic tool for probing the hadronization phase transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figure

Thermal melting of density waves on the square lattice

We present the theory of the effect of thermal fluctuations on commensurate "p x p" density wave ordering on the square lattice (p >= 3, integer). For the case in which this order is lost by a second order transition, we argue that the adjacent state is generically an incommensurate striped state, with commensurate p-periodic long range order along one direction, and incommensurate quasi-long-range order along the orthogonal direction. We also present the routes by which the fully disordered high temperature state can be reached. For p=4, and at special commensurate densities, the "4 x 4" commensurate state can melt directly into the disordered state via a self-dual critical point with non-universal exponents.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Topological Gauge Structure and Phase Diagram for Weakly Doped Antiferromagnets

We show that the topological gauge structure in the phase string theory of the {\rm t-J} model gives rise to a global phase diagram of antiferromagnetic (AF) and superconducting (SC) phases in a weakly doped regime. Dual confinement and deconfinement of holons and spinons play essential roles here, with a quantum critical point at a doping concentration $x_c\simeq 0.043$. The complex experimental phase diagram at low doping is well described within such a framework.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, modified version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Fragility of String Orders

One-dimensional gapped systems are often characterized by a 'hidden' non-local order parameter, the so-called string order. Due to the gap, thermodynamic properties are robust against a weak higher-dimensional coupling between such chains or ladders. To the contrary, we find that the string order is not stable and decays for arbitrary weak inter-chain or inter-ladder coupling. We investigate the vanishing of the order for three different systems: spin-one Haldane chains, band insulators, and the transverse-field Ising model. Using perturbation theory and bosonization, we show that the fragility of the string order arises from non-local commutation relations between the non-local order parameter and the perturbation.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Published versio

Melting of a p-H2 monolayer on a lithium substrate

Adsorption of para-hydrogen films on Alkali metals substrates at low temperature is studied theoretically by means of Path Integral Monte Carlo simulations. Realistic potentials are utilized to model the interaction between two para-hydrogen molecules, as well as between a para-hydrogenmolecule and the substrate, assumed smooth. Results show that adsorption of para-hydrogen on a Lithium substrate, the most attractive among the Alkali, occurs through completion of successive solid adlayers. Each layer has a two-dimensional density approximatley equal 0.070 inverse square Angstroms. A solid para-hydrogen monolayer displays a higher degree of confinement, in the direction perpendicular to the substrate, than a monolayer Helium film, and has a melting temperature of about 6.5 K. The other Alkali substrates are not attractive enough to be wetted by molecular hydrogen at low temperature. No evidence of a possible superfluid phase of para-hydrogen is seen in these systems.Comment: Scales on the y-axis in Figs. 4,5 and 7 are off by a factor 2 in published version; corrected her

Superconducting film with randomly magnetized dots: A realization of the 2D XY model with random phase shifts

We consider a thin superconducting film with randomly magnetized dots on top of it. The dots produce a disordered pinning potential for vortices in the film. We show that for dots with permanent and random magnetization normal or parallel to the film surface, our system is an experimental realization of the two-dimensional XY model with random phase shifts. The low-temperature superconducting phase, that exists without magnetic dots, survives in the presence of magnetic dots for sufficiently small disorder.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Phase diagram for Coulomb-frustrated phase separation in systems with negative short-range compressibility

Using numerical techniques and asymptotic expansions we obtain the phase diagram of a paradigmatic model of Coulomb frustrated phase separation in systems with negative short-range compressibility. The transition from the homogeneous phase to the inhomogeneous phase is generically first order in isotropic three-dimensional systems except for a critical point. Close to the critical point, inhomogeneities are predicted to form a BCC lattice with subsequent transitions to a triangular lattice of rods and a layered structure. Inclusion of a strong anisotropy allows for second- and first-order transition lines joined by a tricritical point.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Improved figures and presentatio

Nonaffine Correlations in Random Elastic Media

Materials characterized by spatially homogeneous elastic moduli undergo affine distortions when subjected to external stress at their boundaries, i.e., their displacements \uv (\xv) from a uniform reference state grow linearly with position \xv, and their strains are spatially constant. Many materials, including all macroscopically isotropic amorphous ones, have elastic moduli that vary randomly with position, and they necessarily undergo nonaffine distortions in response to external stress. We study general aspects of nonaffine response and correlation using analytic calculations and numerical simulations. We define nonaffine displacements \uv' (\xv) as the difference between \uv (\xv) and affine displacements, and we investigate the nonaffinity correlation function $\mathcal{G} =$ and related functions. We introduce four model random systems with random elastic moduli induced by locally random spring constants, by random coordination number, by random stress, or by any combination of these. We show analytically and numerically that $\mathcal{G}$ scales as A |\xv|^{-(d-2)} where the amplitude $A$ is proportional to the variance of local elastic moduli regardless of the origin of their randomness. We show that the driving force for nonaffine displacements is a spatial derivative of the random elastic constant tensor times the constant affine strain. Random stress by itself does not drive nonaffine response, though the randomness in elastic moduli it may generate does. We study models with both short and long-range correlations in random elastic moduli.Comment: 22 Pages, 18 figures, RevTeX

Screening effects in Coulomb frustrated phase separation

We solve a model of phase separation among two competing phases frustrated by the long-range Coulomb interaction in two and three dimensions (2D/3D) taking into account finite compressibility effects. In the limit of strong frustration in 2D, we recover the results of R. Jamei, S. Kivelson, and B. Spivak, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 056805 (2005) and the system always breaks into domains in a narrow range of densities, no matter how big is the frustration. For weak frustration in 2D and for arbitrary frustration in 3D the finite compressibility of the phases is shown to play a fundamental role. Our results clarify the different role of screening in 2D and 3D systems. We discuss the thermodynamic stability of the system near the transition to the phase separated state and the possibility to observe it in real systems.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Discontinuous Euler instability in nanoelectromechanical systems

We investigate nanoelectromechanical systems near mechanical instabilities. We show that quite generally, the interaction between the electronic and the vibronic degrees of freedom can be accounted for essentially exactly when the instability is continuous. We apply our general framework to the Euler buckling instability and find that the interaction between electronic and vibronic degrees of freedom qualitatively affects the mechanical instability, turning it into a discontinuous one in close analogy with tricritical points in the Landau theory of phase transitions.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figures, published versio