888 research outputs found
Phase coexistence of gradient Gibbs states
We consider the (scalar) gradient fields --with denoting
the nearest-neighbor edges in --that are distributed according to the
Gibbs measure proportional to \texte^{-\beta H(\eta)}\nu(\textd\eta). Here
is the Hamiltonian, is a symmetric potential,
is the inverse temperature, and is the Lebesgue measure on the linear
space defined by imposing the loop condition
for each plaquette
in . For convex , Funaki and Spohn have shown that
ergodic infinite-volume Gibbs measures are characterized by their tilt. We
describe a mechanism by which the gradient Gibbs measures with non-convex
undergo a structural, order-disorder phase transition at some intermediate
value of inverse temperature . At the transition point, there are at
least two distinct gradient measures with zero tilt, i.e., .Comment: 3 figs, PTRF style files include
Entanglement and Sources of Magnetic Anisotropy in Radical Pair-Based Avian Magnetoreceptors
One of the principal models of magnetic sensing in migratory birds rests on
the quantum spin-dynamics of transient radical pairs created photochemically in
ocular cryptochrome proteins. We consider here the role of electron spin
entanglement and coherence in determining the sensitivity of a radical
pair-based geomagnetic compass and the origins of the directional response. It
emerges that the anisotropy of radical pairs formed from spin-polarized
molecular triplets could form the basis of a more sensitive compass sensor than
one founded on the conventional hyperfine-anisotropy model. This property
offers new and more flexible opportunities for the design of biologically
inspired magnetic compass sensors
Orbital order in classical models of transition-metal compounds
We study the classical 120-degree and related orbital models. These are the
classical limits of quantum models which describe the interactions among
orbitals of transition-metal compounds. We demonstrate that at low temperatures
these models exhibit a long-range order which arises via an "order by disorder"
mechanism. This strongly indicates that there is orbital ordering in the
quantum version of these models, notwithstanding recent rigorous results on the
absence of spin order in these systems.Comment: 7 pages, 1 eps fi
Mean-field driven first-order phase transitions in systems with long-range interactions
We consider a class of spin systems on with vector valued spins
(\bS_x) that interact via the pair-potentials J_{x,y} \bS_x\cdot\bS_y. The
interactions are generally spread-out in the sense that the 's exhibit
either exponential or power-law fall-off. Under the technical condition of
reflection positivity and for sufficiently spread out interactions, we prove
that the model exhibits a first-order phase transition whenever the associated
mean-field theory signals such a transition. As a consequence, e.g., in
dimensions , we can finally provide examples of the 3-state Potts model
with spread-out, exponentially decaying interactions, which undergoes a
first-order phase transition as the temperature varies. Similar transitions are
established in dimensions for power-law decaying interactions and in
high dimensions for next-nearest neighbor couplings. In addition, we also
investigate the limit of infinitely spread-out interactions. Specifically, we
show that once the mean-field theory is in a unique ``state,'' then in any
sequence of translation-invariant Gibbs states various observables converge to
their mean-field values and the states themselves converge to a product
measure.Comment: 57 pages; uses a (modified) jstatphys class fil
Trapping in the random conductance model
We consider random walks on among nearest-neighbor random conductances
which are i.i.d., positive, bounded uniformly from above but whose support
extends all the way to zero. Our focus is on the detailed properties of the
paths of the random walk conditioned to return back to the starting point at
time . We show that in the situations when the heat kernel exhibits
subdiffusive decay --- which is known to occur in dimensions --- the
walk gets trapped for a time of order in a small spatial region. This shows
that the strategy used earlier to infer subdiffusive lower bounds on the heat
kernel in specific examples is in fact dominant. In addition, we settle a
conjecture concerning the worst possible subdiffusive decay in four dimensions.Comment: 21 pages, version to appear in J. Statist. Phy
Optimal designs for rational function regression
We consider optimal non-sequential designs for a large class of (linear and
nonlinear) regression models involving polynomials and rational functions with
heteroscedastic noise also given by a polynomial or rational weight function.
The proposed method treats D-, E-, A-, and -optimal designs in a
unified manner, and generates a polynomial whose zeros are the support points
of the optimal approximate design, generalizing a number of previously known
results of the same flavor. The method is based on a mathematical optimization
model that can incorporate various criteria of optimality and can be solved
efficiently by well established numerical optimization methods. In contrast to
previous optimization-based methods proposed for similar design problems, it
also has theoretical guarantee of its algorithmic efficiency; in fact, the
running times of all numerical examples considered in the paper are negligible.
The stability of the method is demonstrated in an example involving high degree
polynomials. After discussing linear models, applications for finding locally
optimal designs for nonlinear regression models involving rational functions
are presented, then extensions to robust regression designs, and trigonometric
regression are shown. As a corollary, an upper bound on the size of the support
set of the minimally-supported optimal designs is also found. The method is of
considerable practical importance, with the potential for instance to impact
design software development. Further study of the optimality conditions of the
main optimization model might also yield new theoretical insights.Comment: 25 pages. Previous version updated with more details in the theory
and additional example
Quantum spin systems at positive temperature
We develop a novel approach to phase transitions in quantum spin models based
on a relation to their classical counterparts. Explicitly, we show that
whenever chessboard estimates can be used to prove a phase transition in the
classical model, the corresponding quantum model will have a similar phase
transition, provided the inverse temperature and the magnitude of the
quantum spins \CalS satisfy \beta\ll\sqrt\CalS. From the quantum system we
require that it is reflection positive and that it has a meaningful classical
limit; the core technical estimate may be described as an extension of the
Berezin-Lieb inequalities down to the level of matrix elements. The general
theory is applied to prove phase transitions in various quantum spin systems
with \CalS\gg1. The most notable examples are the quantum orbital-compass
model on and the quantum 120-degree model on which are shown to
exhibit symmetry breaking at low-temperatures despite the infinite degeneracy
of their (classical) ground state.Comment: 47 pages, version to appear in CMP (style files included
Colligative properties of solutions: I. Fixed concentrations
Using the formalism of rigorous statistical mechanics, we study the phenomena
of phase separation and freezing-point depression upon freezing of solutions.
Specifically, we devise an Ising-based model of a solvent-solute system and
show that, in the ensemble with a fixed amount of solute, a macroscopic phase
separation occurs in an interval of values of the chemical potential of the
solvent. The boundaries of the phase separation domain in the phase diagram are
characterized and shown to asymptotically agree with the formulas used in
heuristic analyses of freezing point depression. The limit of infinitesimal
concentrations is described in a subsequent paper.Comment: 28 pages, 1 fig; see also math-ph/0407035 (both to appear in JSP
Multiferroic behavior in the new double-perovskite LuMnCoO
We present a new member of the multiferroic oxides, LuMnCoO, which we
have investigated using X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, specific heat,
magnetization, electric polarization, and dielectric constant measurements.
This material possesses an electric polarization strongly coupled to a net
magnetization below 35 K, despite the antiferromagnetic ordering of the Mn and Co spins in an configuration along the c-direction. We discuss the magnetic order
in terms of a condensation of domain boundaries between and
ferromagnetic domains, with each domain boundary
producing a net electric polarization due to spatial inversion symmetry
breaking. In an applied magnetic field the domain boundaries slide, controlling
the size of the net magnetization, electric polarization, and magnetoelectric
coupling
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