The statistical mechanics of the two-dimensional hydrogen-bonding self-avoiding walk including solvent effects

A two-dimensional square-lattice model for the formation of secondary structures in proteins, the hydrogen-bonding model, is extended to include the effects of solvent quality. This is achieved by allowing configuration-dependent nearest-neighbour interactions. The phase diagram is presented, and found to have a much richer variety of phases than either the pure hydrogen-bonding self-avoiding walk model or the standard $\Theta$-point model.Comment: 23 pages 15 figure

On the origin of heavy quasiparticles in LiV_2O_4

An explanation is provided for the heavy quasiparticle excitations in LiV_2O_4. It differs considerably from that of other known heavy-fermion systems. Main ingredients of our theory are the cubic spinel structure of the material and strong short-range correlations of the d electrons. The large gamma-coefficient is shown to result from excitations of Heisenberg spin 1/2 rings and chains. The required coupling constant is calculated from LDA+U calculations and is found to be of the right size. Also the calculated Sommerfeld-Wilson ratio is reasonably close to the observed one.Comment: REVTEX, 5 pages, 2 figure

Universality in Heavy Fermions Revisited

A previous scaling analysis of pressure experiments in heavy fermion is reviewed and enlarged. We show that the critical exponents obtained from this analysis indicate that a one-parameter scaling describes these experiments. We obtain explicitly the enhancemente factors showing that these systems are indeed near criticality and that the scaling approach is appropriate. The physics responsible for the one-parameter scaling and breakdown of hyperscaling is clarified. We discuss a microsocopic theory that is in agreement with the experiments. The scaling theory is generalized for the case the shift and crossover exponents are different. The exponents governing the physical behavior along the non-Fermi liquid trajectory are obtained for this case.Comment: 7 pages, Latex, 3 Postscript figures, to be published in Physical Review

Classical heisenberg antiferromagnet away from the pyrochlore lattice limit: entropic versus energetic selection

The stability of the disordered ground state of the classical Heisenberg pyrochlore antiferromagnet is studied within extensive Monte Carlo simulations by introducing an additional exchange interaction $J'$ that interpolates between the pyrochlore lattice ($J'=0$) and the face-centered cubic lattice ($J'=J$). It is found that for $J'/J$ as low as $J'/J\ge 0.01$, the system is long range ordered : the disordered ground state of the pyrochlore antiferromagnet is unstable when introducing very small deviations from the pure $J'=0$ limit. Furthermore, it is found that the selected phase is a collinear state energetically greater than the incommensurate phase suggested by a mean field analysis. To our knowledge this is the first example where entropic selection prevails over the energetic one.Comment: 5 (two-column revtex4) pages, 1 table, 7 ps/eps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Corner transfer matrix renormalization group method for two-dimensional self-avoiding walks and other O(n) models

We present an extension of the corner transfer matrix renormalisation group (CTMRG) method to O(n) invariant models, with particular interest in the self-avoiding walk class of models (O(n=0)). The method is illustrated using an interacting self-avoiding walk model. Based on the efficiency and versatility when compared to other available numerical methods, we present CTMRG as the method of choice for two-dimensional self-avoiding walk problems.Comment: 4 pages 7 figures Substantial rewrite of previous version to include calculations of critical points and exponents. Final version accepted for publication in PRE (Rapid Communications

Zero temperature phases of the frustrated J1-J2 antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on a simple cubic lattice

At zero temperature magnetic phases of the quantum spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a simple cubic lattice with competing first and second neighbor exchanges (J1 and J2) is investigated using the non-linear spin wave theory. We find existence of two phases: a two sublattice Neel phase for small J2 (AF), and a collinear antiferromagnetic phase at large J2 (CAF). We obtain the sublattice magnetizations and ground state energies for the two phases and find that there exists a first order phase transition from the AF-phase to the CAF-phase at the critical transition point, pc = 0.28. Our results for the value of pc are in excellent agreement with results from Monte-Carlo simulations and variational spin wave theory. We also show that the quartic 1/S corrections due spin-wave interactions enhance the sublattice magnetization in both the phases which causes the intermediate paramagnetic phase predicted from linear spin wave theory to disappear.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, Fig. 1b modified, Appendix B text modifie

Feed-back on the development of a small scale Contact Erosion Test in the laboratory (characteristic size ~ 30 cm)

To determine the hydraulic load requested to initiate contact erosion process, tests are performed with an apparatus called the “Contact Erosion Test”. This device originally results from research carried out by Grenoble University, Électricité de France and Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, at the scale of ~60 cm. It has been adapted to a smaller scale in geophyConsult laboratory to conduct tests on samples extracted from core drilling. The instrumentation was improved to enable a better control of the hydraulic loading and avoid biases. The test protocol was modified, especially to better constrain the soil density at the interface. From the first series of test, we drew conclusions on the test repeatability and on the influence of parameters of the soil state. Discrepancies with previous results obtained at the scale of ~60 cm were identified. Therefore, a new erosion test campaign was planned to confirm and determine the reasons for these differences

Neutron scattering study of role of partial disorder-type spin fluctuations in conductivity of frustrated conductor Mn3_3Pt

The spin-frustrated conductor Mn$_3$Pt exhibits a characteristic magnetic structure called partial disorder in which some spin sites can form magnetic order through the generation of non-ordered sites that locally relieve the frustration. Here we report the results of a single-crystal inelastic neutron scattering study of this compound. The measured momentum $\vec{Q}$ correlations of diffusive magnetic scattering reveal that the paramagnetic phase exhibits short-range spin fluctuations with the same type of partial disorder. Its relation to conductivity is also discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Series expansions from the corner transfer matrix renormalization group method: the hard squares model

The corner transfer matrix renormalization group method is an efficient method for evaluating physical quantities in statistical mechanical models. It originates from Baxter's corner transfer matrix equations and method, and was developed by Nishino and Okunishi in 1996. In this paper, we review and adapt this method, previously used for numerical calculations, to derive series expansions. We use this to calculate 92 terms of the partition function of the hard squares model. We also examine the claim that the method is subexponential in the number of generated terms and briefly analyse the resulting series.Comment: 10 figure