New quantum phase transitions in the two-dimensional J1-J2 model

We analyze the phase diagram of the frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet, the J1-J2 model, in two dimensions. Two quantum phase transitions in the model are already known: the second order transition from the Neel state to the spin liquid state at (J_2/J_1)_{c2}=0.38, and the first order transition from the spin liquid state to the collinear state at (J_2/J_1)_{c4}=0.60. We have found evidence for two new second order phase transitions: the transition from the spin columnar dimerized state to the state with plaquette type modulation at (J_2/J_1)_{c3}=0.50(2), and the transition from the simple Neel state to the Neel state with spin columnar dimerization at (J_2/J_1)_{c1}=0.34(4). We also present an independent calculation of (J_2/J_1)_{c2}=0.38 using a new approach.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures; added referenc

Shack-hartmann wavefront sensor with holographic lenslet array for the aberration measurements in a speckle field

The application of a Shack-Hartmann sensor with holographic lenslet array to the measurements of wavefront aberrations in a speckle field is offered. The main feature of the method is that the tested wave front can be compared with an arbitrary wavefront preliminary recorded in the holographic memory of the array. An iterative algorithm of the sensor work for measuring the variable speckled wavefronts is offered. The experimental results of measurements of the curvature of a spherical speckled wave are presented. The possibility to use the method proposed in the analysis of deformations of a rough surface is shown

Excitation spectrum and ground state properties of the S=1/2 Heisenberg ladder with staggered dimerization

We have studied the excitation spectrum of the $S=1/2$ quantum spin ladder with staggered dimerization by dimer series expansions, diagrammatic analysis of an effective interacting Bose gas of local triplets, and exact diagonalization of small clusters. We find that the model has two massive phases, with predominant inter-chain (rung) or intra-chain correlations. The transition from the rung dimer into the intra-chain dimer phase is characterized by softening of the triplet spectrum at $k=\pi$. The excitation spectrum as well as the spin correlations away from and close to the critical line are calculated. The location of the phase boundary is also determined.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Speckle pattern formation in spatially limited optical systems

The dependences of statistical parameters inherent to speckle patterns on the object roughness and aperture size have been investigated. The experimental results that confirm theoretical dependence quality within the limits of errors were obtained. It has been shown that spatial finiteness of the optical system causes significant changes of transferred field

Critical Dynamics of Singlet Excitations in a Frustrated Spin System

We construct and analyze a two-dimensional frustrated quantum spin model with plaquette order, in which the low-energy dynamics is controlled by spin singlets. At a critical value of frustration the singlet spectrum becomes gapless, indicating a quantum transition to a phase with dimer order. This T=0 transition belongs to the 3D Ising universality class, while at finite temperature a 2D Ising critical line separates the plaquette and dimerized phases. The magnetic susceptibility has an activated form throughout the phase diagram, whereas the specific heat exhibits a rich structure and a power law dependence on temperature at the quantum critical point. We argue that the novel quantum critical behavior associated with singlet criticality discussed in this work can be relevant to a wide class of quantum spin systems, such as antiferromagnets on Kagome and pyrochlore lattices, where the low-energy excitations are known to be spin singlets, as well as to the CAVO lattice and several recently discovered strongly frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnets.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, additional discussion and figure added, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Radiation of photons in process of charge particle volume reflection in bent single crystal

New type of radiation in crystals is predicted and investigated in computer simulation. It is shown that process of volume reflection of electrons and positrons in bent crystals is accomplished with high-power radiation of photons. Volume reflection radiation has intensity comparable with known channeling radiation, but it is less sensitive to entrance angle and sign of charge of a particle. Simulated spectra of radiation power are presented for 10 GeV and 200GeV particles.Comment: Latex, 8 pages, 4 fig

Studies and application of bent crystals for beam steering at 70-GeV IHEP accelerator

This report overviews studies accomplished in the U70 proton synchrotron of IHEP-Protvino during the recent two decades. Major attention is paid to a routine application of bent crystals for beam extraction from the machine. It has been confirmed experimentally that efficiency of beam extraction with a crystal deflector of around 85% is well feasible for a proton beam with intensity up to 1012 protons per cycle. Another trend is to use bent crystals for halo collimation in a high energy collider. New promising options emerge for, say, LHC and ILC based on the "volume reflection" effect, which has been discovered recently in machine study runs at U70 of IHEP (50 GeV) and SPS of CERN (400 GeV).Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure

Excitation spectrum of the S=1/2 quantum spin ladder with frustration: elementary quasiparticles and many-particle bound states

We study the excitation spectrum of the two-chain S=1/2 Heisenberg spin ladder with additional inter-chain second-neighbor frustrating interactions. The one and two-particle excitations are analyzed by using a mapping of the model onto a Bose gas of hard-core triplets. We find that low-lying singlet and triplet two-particle bound states are present and their binding energy increases with increasing frustration. In addition, many-particle bound states are found by a combination of variational and exact diagonalization techniques. We prove that the larger the number of bound quasiparticles the larger the binding energy. Thus the excitation spectrum has a complex structure and consists of elementary triplets and collective many-particle singlet and triplet excitations which generally mix with the elementary ones. The model exhibits a quantum phase transition from an antiferromagnetic ladder phase (small frustration) into Haldane phase (effectively ferromagnetic ladder for large frustration). We argue that near the transition point the spectrum in both triplet and singlet channels becomes gapless. The excitation wave function is dominated by large-size bound states which leads to the vanishing of the quasiparticle residue.Comment: RevTeX, 23 pages, 12 figure

Boundaries, Cusps and Caustics in the Multimagnon Continua of 1D Quantum Spin Systems

The multimagnon continua of 1D quantum spin systems possess several interesting singular features that may soon be accessible experimentally through inelastic neutron scattering. These include cusps and composition discontinuities in the boundary envelopes of two-magnon continuum states and discontinuities in the density of states, "caustics", on and within the continuum, which will appear as discontinuities in scattering intensity. In this note we discuss the general origins of these continuum features, and illustrate our results using the alternating Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain and two-leg ladder as examples.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Determination of surface defects by using the wavefront scanner

The possibility of changes in the polarization state of the laser beam reflected from inhomogeneity with the refractive index gradient is theoretically shown, which allows separating the phase shifts related with relief inhomogeneities and local changes of the surface refractive index. Modification of the wavefront scanner for analyzing the wavefront of the laser beam reflected from the samples’ surface is considered. The main idea of the method is to use the focused laser beams with different polarizations for illuminating separate areas of the surface. The results of detecting test surfaces with different structures by the wavefront scanner are presented