16 research outputs found
Domain Growth, Wetting and Scaling in Porous Media
The lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is used to study the kinetics of domain
growth of a binary fluid in a number of geometries modeling porous media.
Unlike the traditional methods which solve the Cahn-Hilliard equation, the LB
method correctly simulates fluid properties, phase segregation, interface
dynamics and wetting. Our results, based on lattice sizes of up to , do not show evidence to indicate the breakdown of late stage dynamical
scaling, and suggest that confinement of the fluid is the key to the slow
kinetics observed. Randomness of the pore structure appears unnecessary.Comment: 13 pages, latex, submitted to PR
Effects of Pore Walls and Randomness on Phase Transitions in Porous Media
We study spin models within the mean field approximation to elucidate the
topology of the phase diagrams of systems modeling the liquid-vapor transition
and the separation of He--He mixtures in periodic porous media. These
topologies are found to be identical to those of the corresponding random field
and random anisotropy spin systems with a bimodal distribution of the
randomness. Our results suggest that the presence of walls (periodic or
otherwise) are a key factor determining the nature of the phase diagram in
porous media.Comment: REVTeX, 11 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Observation of the Smectic C -- Smectic I Critical Point
We report the first observation of the smectic C--smectic I (C--I) critical
point by Xray diffraction studies on a binary system. This is in confirmity
with the theoretical idea of Nelson and Halperin that coupling to the molecular
tilt should induce hexatic order even in the C phase and as such both C and I
(a tilted hexatic phase) should have the same symmetry. The results provide
evidence in support of the recent theory of Defontaines and Prost proposing a
new universality class for critical points in layered systems.Comment: 9 pages Latex and 5 postscript figures available from
[email protected] on request, Phys.Rev.Lett. (in press
On the origin of the A and B electronic Raman scattering peaks in the superconducting state of YBaCuO
The electronic Raman scattering has been investigated in optimally oxygen
doped YBaCuO single crystals as well as in crystals
with non-magnetic, Zn, and magnetic, Ni, impurities. We found that the
intensity of the A peak is impurity independent and their energy to
ratio is almost constant (). Moreover, the
signal at the B channel is completely smeared out when non-magnetic Zn
impurities are present. These results are qualitatively interpreted in terms of
the Zeyher and Greco's theory that relates the electronic Raman scattering in
the A and B channels to \textit{d}-CDW and superconducting order
parameters fluctuations, respectively.Comment: Submited to Phys. Rev. Let
Coherent X-ray Scattering from Manganite Charge and Orbital Domains
We report coherent x-ray scattering studies of charge and orbital domains in
manganite systems. The experiments were carried out on LaMnO_3 and
Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_3, with the incident photon energy tuned near the Mn K
edge. At room temperature, the orbital speckle pattern of LaMnO_3 was observed
to be constant over a timescale of at least minutes, which is indicative of
static orbital domains on this timescale. For Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_3, both
charge and orbital speckle patterns were observed. The observation of the
latter rules out the presence of fast orbital fluctuations, while long time
series data-- on the order of several minutes-- were suggestive of slow dynamic
behavior. In contrast, the charge order speckle patterns were static.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Probing helium interfaces with light scattering : from fluid mechanics to statistical physics
We have investigated the formation of helium droplets in two physical
situations. In the first one, droplets are atomised from superfluid or normal
liquid by a fast helium vapour flow. In the second, droplets of normal liquid
are formed inside porous glasses during the process of helium condensation. The
context, aims, and results of these experiments are reviewed, with focus on the
specificity of light scattering by helium. In particular, we discuss how, for
different reasons, the closeness to unity of the index of refraction of helium
allows in both cases to minimise the problem of multiple scattering and obtain
results which it would not be possible to get using other fluids.Comment: 21 page
RAMAN SCATTERING IN V3Si, V3Ge, Nb3Sb, AND Cr3Si : CORRELATION OF Eg OPTICAL PHONON LINEWIDTH WITH MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
Raman scattering measurements of the Eg optical phonon in V3Si and Nb3Sn show it to have an anomalous width, temperature dependence, and asymmetric lineshape. We have observed a similar, although weaker, anomaly in V3Ge. The Eg and T2g phonons in Nb3Sb and the T2g phonon in Cr3Si show no anomalous behavior and can be understood in terms of simple anharmonic interactions. In Cr3Si the Eg phonon has an anomalous width, shape, and temperature dependence (similar to V3Ge) in spite of its low electronic density of states and temperature independent magnetic susceptibility. A linear correlation is shown to exist between magnetic susceptibility and Eg mode linewidth, Ɖ, in V3Si, Nb3Sn, and V3Ge. With the aid of a simple model, most of the features of the Raman data can be understood in terms of direct coupling of the E phonon to interband electronic transitions between the very flat bands emanating from the Ɖ12 level in these compounds. These results indicate that direct coupling of the Eg optical phonon to the Ɖ12 bands plays a major role in the splitting of the cubic Ɖ12 subband N(E) peak by the dimerization of the transition metal sublattice