Dipolar Systems Research Articles

Specific heat anomaly in relaxor ferroelectrics and dipolar glasses

The temperature and electric field dependence of the specific heat of relaxor ferroelectrics and dipolar glasses is investigated by means of a Landau-type theoretical model. It is shown that the dipolar specific heat, which is due to the randomly interacting polar nanoregions in relaxors and electric dipoles in dipolar glasses, is negative in a temperature region below the permittivity maximum. Also, it follows that for sufficiently low values of the field, where the induced polarization shows a quasi linear field dependence, the dipolar specific heat is proportional to the second temperature derivative of the dielectric polarization. This quantity can be extracted from the experimental temperature profile of the polarization, thus enabling an indirect experimental estimate of the negative specific heat, which is demonstrated for a set of representative relaxor and dipolar glass systems.

Observation of discrete time-crystalline order in a disordered dipolar many-body system.

Understanding quantum dynamics away from equilibrium is an outstanding challenge in the modern physical sciences. Out-of-equilibrium systems can display a rich variety of phenomena, including self-organized synchronization and dynamical phase transitions. More recently, advances in the controlled manipulation of isolated many-body systems have enabled detailed studies of non-equilibrium phases in strongly interacting quantum matter; for example, the interplay between periodic driving, disorder and strong interactions has been predicted to result in exotic 'time-crystalline' phases, in which a system exhibits temporal correlations at integer multiples of the fundamental driving period, breaking the discrete time-translational symmetry of the underlying drive. Here we report the experimental observation of such discrete time-crystalline order in a driven, disordered ensemble of about one million dipolar spin impurities in diamond at room temperature. We observe long-lived temporal correlations, experimentally identify the phase boundary and find that the temporal order is protected by strong interactions. This order is remarkably stable to perturbations, even in the presence of slow thermalization. Our work opens the door to exploring dynamical phases of matter and controlling interacting, disordered many-body systems.

Spin waves in rings of classical magnetic dipoles

We theoretically and numerically investigate spin waves that occur in systems of classical magnetic dipoles that are arranged at the vertices of a regular polygon and interact solely via their magnetic fields. There are certain limiting cases that can be analyzed in detail. One case is that of spin waves as infinitesimal excitations from the system’s ground state, where the dispersion relation can be determined analytically. The frequencies of these infinitesimal spin waves are compared with the peaks of the Fourier transform of the thermal expectation value of the autocorrelation function calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. In the special case of vanishing wave number an exact solution of the equations of motion is possible describing synchronized oscillations with finite amplitudes. Finally, the limiting case of a dipole chain with is investigated and completely solved.

Dipolar fermions in a multilayer geometry

We investigate the behavior of identical dipolar fermions with aligned dipole moments in two-dimensional multilayers at zero temperature. We consider density instabilities that are driven by the attractive part of the dipolar interaction and, for the case of bilayers, we elucidate the properties of the stripe phase recently predicted to exist in this interaction regime. When the number of layers is increased, we find that this "attractive" stripe phase exists for an increasingly larger range of dipole angles, and if the interlayer distance is sufficiently small, the stripe phase eventually spans the full range of angles, including the situation where the dipole moments are aligned perpendicular to the planes. In the limit of an infinite number of layers, we derive an analytic expression for the interlayer effects in the density-density response function and, using this result, we find that the stripe phase is replaced by a collapse of the dipolar system.

Tissue Variability and Antennas for Power Transfer to Wireless Implantable Medical Devices.

The design of effective transcutaneous systems demands the consideration of inevitable variations in tissue characteristics, which vary across body areas, among individuals, and over time. The purpose of this paper was to design and evaluate several printed antenna topologies for ultrahigh frequency (UHF) transcutaneous power transfer to implantable medical devices, and to investigate the effects of variations in tissue properties on dipole and loop topologies. Here, we show that a loop antenna topology provides the greatest achievable gain with the smallest implanted antenna, while a dipole system provides higher impedance for conjugate matching and the ability to increase gain with a larger external antenna. In comparison to the dipole system, the loop system exhibits greater sensitivity to changes in tissue structure and properties in terms of power gain, but provides higher gain when the separation is on the order of the smaller antenna dimension. The dipole system was shown to provide higher gain than the loop system at greater implant depths for the same implanted antenna area, and was less sensitive to variations in tissue properties and structure in terms of power gain at all investigated implant depths. The results show the potential of easily-fabricated, low-cost printed antenna topologies for UHF transcutaneous power, and the importance of environmental considerations in choosing the antenna topology.

Topological Analysis of Inertial Dynamics.

Traditional vector field visualization has a close focus on velocity, and is typically constrained to the dynamics of massless particles. In this paper, we present a novel approach to the analysis of the force-induced dynamics of inertial particles. These forces can arise from acceleration fields such as gravitation, but also be dependent on the particle dynamics itself, as in the case of magnetism. Compared to massless particles, the velocity of an inertial particle is not determined solely by its position and time in a vector field. In contrast, its initial velocity can be arbitrary and impacts the dynamics over its entire lifetime. This leads to a four-dimensional problem for 2D setups, and a six-dimensional problem for the 3D case. Our approach avoids this increase in dimensionality and tackles the visualization by an integrated topological analysis approach. We demonstrate the utility of our approach using a synthetic time-dependent acceleration field, a system of magnetic dipoles, and N-body systems both in 2D and 3D.

Noncovalently bound complexes of polar molecules: dipole-inside-of-dipole vs. dipole–dipole systems

Complexes of polar molecules framed by counter-ions exhibit significant stabilities, huge dipole moments, prominent IR-spectral signatures and feasible anion-mediated formation.

Energy transfer in a bilayer Fermi gas in the non-linear regime

We consider a bilayer system of two-dimensional spin-polarized dipolar Fermi gas without any tunneling between the layers. We calculate the energy transfer rate between the layers in the non-linear regime where the layers have a relative velocity, as a function of temperature and drift velocities of the particles of the system in each layer. The effective interactions describing the correlation effects and screening between the dipoles are obtained by the Hubbard approximation in a single layer (intra-layer), and the random-phase approximation (RPA) across the layers (inter-layer). The energy transfer arises from the long-range nature of dipolar interactions between the particles of the system. As a result of the increasing drift velocities, the non-linear heat transfer between the layers remarkably increases and the system reaches its equilibrium at lower temperatures. Our calculations show that cooling with dipolar interactions without any material contact can be utilized to cool the ultracold dipolar systems.

Transient electromagnetic fields of a buried horizontal magnetic dipole

Electromagnetic surveys using a vertical transmitter loop are common in land, marine, and airborne geophysical exploration. Most of these horizontal magnetic dipole (HMD) systems operate in the frequency domain, measuring the time derivative of the induced magnetic fields, and therefore a majority of studies have focused on this subset of field measurements. We examine the time-domain electromagnetic response of a HMD including the electric fields and corresponding smoke rings produced in a conductive half-space. Cases of a dipole at the surface and buried within the earth are considered. Results indicate that when the current in the transmitter is rapidly switched off, a single smoke ring is produced within the plane of the vertical transmitter loop, which is then distorted by the air-earth interface. In this situation, the circular smoke ring, which would normally diffuse symmetrically away from the source in a whole space, is approximately transformed into an ellipse, with a vertical major axis at an early time and a horizontal major axis at a late time. As measured from the location of the transmitter, the depth of investigation and lateral footprint of such a system increases with burial depth. It is also observed that the electric field measured in the direction of the magnetic dipole only contains a secondary response related to the charge accumulation on any horizontal conductivity boundaries because the primary field is always absent. This field component can be expressed analytically in terms of a static and time-varying field, the latter term adding spatial complexity to the total horizontal electric field at the earth surface at early times. Applications of this theoretical study include the design of time-domain induction-logging tools, crossborehole electromagnetic surveys, underground mine expansion work, mine rescue procedures, and novel marine electromagnetic experiments.

Impacts of elevated dissolved CO2 on a shallow groundwater system: Reactive transport modeling of a controlled-release field test

One of the risks that CO2 geological sequestration imposes on the environment is the impact of potential CO2/brine leakage on shallow groundwater. The reliability of reactive transport models predicting the response of groundwater to CO2 leakage depends on a thorough understanding of the relevant chemical processes and key parameters affecting dissolved CO2 transport and reaction. Such understanding can be provided by targeted field tests integrated with reactive transport modeling. A controlled-release field experiment was conducted in Mississippi to study the CO2-induced geochemical changes in a shallow sandy aquifer at about 50m depth. The field test involved a dipole system in which the groundwater was pumped from one well, saturated with CO2 at the pressure corresponding to the hydraulic pressure of the aquifer, and then re-injected into the same aquifer using a second well. Groundwater samples were collected for chemical analyses from four monitoring wells before, during and after the dissolved CO2 was injected. In this paper, we present reactive transport models used to interpret the observed changes in metal concentrations in these groundwater samples. A reasonable agreement between simulated and measured concentrations indicates that the chemical response in the aquifer can be interpreted using a conceptual model that encompasses two main features: (a) a fast-reacting but limited pool of reactive minerals that responds quickly to changes in pH and causes a pulse-like concentration change, and (b) a slow-reacting but essentially unlimited mineral pool that yields rising metal concentrations upon decreased groundwater velocities after pumping and injection stopped. During the injection, calcite dissolution and Ca-driven cation exchange reactions contribute to a sharp pulse in concentrations of Ca, Ba, Mg, Mn, K, Li, Na and Sr, whereas desorption reactions control a similar increase in Fe concentrations. After the injection and pumping stops and the groundwater flow rate decreases, the dissolution of relatively slow reacting minerals such as plagioclase drives the rising concentrations of alkali and alkaline earth metals observed at later stages of the test, whereas the dissolution of amorphous iron sulfide causes slowly increasing Fe concentrations.

Dipolar condensates with tilted dipoles in a pancake-shaped confinement

The effect of dipolar orientation with respect to the condensate plane on the mean-field dynamics of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates in a pancake-shaped confinement is discussed. The stability of a quasi-two-dimensional condensate, with respect to the tilting angle, is found to be different from a two-dimensional layer of dipoles, indicating the relevance of the transverse extension while characterizing two-dimensional dipolar systems. An anisotropic excitation spectrum exhibiting a highly tunable, rotonlike minimum can arise entirely from the dipole-dipole interactions, by tilting the dipoles. At the magic angle and in the absence of contact interactions, the long-wavelength excitations are not phononlike and always unstable. The post-roton-instability dynamics, in contrast to phonon instability, in a uniform condensate, is featured by a transient, defect-free, stripe pattern, which eventually undergoes local collapses, and driving the condensate back into the stable regime can make them sustained for longer. Hopping between stripes has been observed before it melts into a uniform state in the presence of dissipation. Finally, we discuss a class of solutions, in which a quasi-two-dimensional condensate is self-trapped in one direction, as well as a regime of interaction parameters, including attractive short-range interactions, at which a two-dimensional anisotropic soliton can be stabilized, and we show that a chromium condensate with a relatively small number of atoms is well suited for this.

Dynamics of surface of lipid membranes: theoretical considerations and the ESR experiment

The effect of the surface layer of model membranes on their physical properties was discussed in this paper. The research involved a physical ESR experiment with the use of spin probes and computer simulation based on the Monte Carlo technique. Liposomes formed during the process of sonication of lecithin were scanned in an ESR spectrometer. The membrane surface layer model, represented by the system of electric dipoles arranged in rectangular or hexagonal matrices, was studied. The final states of computer simulations were presented as textures. It was found that in the gel phase some ordered domain structures are formed, while in the liquid–crystal phase we got complex textures comprising a plurality of gaps. The process of forming domain structures during the changing of the temperature and the phase transitions taking place in a dipole system as a function of dipole mobility (k-parameter) was presented. The results obtained imply that the head groups (represented by electric dipoles in the computer model) of the surface layer play a key role in membranes, affecting the properties of the entire membrane, which is particularly essential for transport processes. It also modified the characteristics of the membrane gel-liquid crystalline transition phase.

Infrared Behavior of Dipolar Bose Systems at Low Temperatures

We rigorously discuss the infrared behavior of the uniform three dimensional dipolar Bose systems. In particular, it is shown that low-temperature physics of the system is controlled by two parameters, namely isothermal compressibility and intensity of the dipole-dipole interaction. By using hydrodynamic approach we calculate the spectrum and damping of low-lying excitations and analyze infrared behavior of the one-particle Green's function. The low-temperature corrections to the anisotropic superfluid density as well as condensate depletion are found. Additionally we derive equations of the two-fluid hydrodynamics for dipolar Bose systems and calculate velocities of first and second sound.

Buckling Transitions and Clock Order of Two-Dimensional Coulomb Crystals

Crystals of repulsively interacting ions in planar traps form hexagonal lattices, which undergo a buckling instability towards a multi-layer structure as the transverse trap frequency is reduced. Numerical and experimental results indicate that the new structure is composed of three planes, whose separation increases continuously from zero. We study the effects of thermal and quantum fluctuations by mapping this structural instability to the six-state clock model. A prominent implication of this mapping is that at finite temperature, fluctuations split the buckling instability into two thermal transitions, accompanied by the appearance of an intermediate critical phase. This phase is characterized by quasi-long-range order in the spatial tripartite pattern. It is manifested by broadened Bragg peaks at new wave vectors, whose line-shape provides a direct measurement of the temperature dependent exponent $\eta(T)$ characteristic of the power-law correlations in the critical phase. A quantum phase transition is found at the largest value of the critical transverse frequency: here the critical intermediate phase shrinks to zero. Moreover, within the ordered phase, we predict a crossover from classical to quantum behavior, signifying the emergence of an additional characteristic scale for clock order. We discuss experimental realizations with trapped ions and polarized dipolar gases, and propose that within accessible technology, such experiments can provide a direct probe of the rich phase diagram of the quantum clock model, not easily observable in condensed matter analogues. Therefore, this works highlights the potential for ionic and dipolar systems to serve as simulators for complex models in statistical mechanics and condensed matter physics.

Simulation of self-assembly of polyzwitterions into vesicles.

Using the Langevin dynamics method and a coarse-grained model, we have studied the formation of vesicles by hydrophobic polymers consisting of periodically placed zwitterion side groups in dilute salt-free aqueous solutions. The zwitterions, being permanent charge dipoles, provide long-range electrostatic correlations which are interfered by the conformational entropy of the polymer. Our simulations are geared towards gaining conceptual understanding in these correlated dipolar systems, where theoretical calculations are at present formidable. A competition between hydrophobic interactions and dipole-dipole interactions leads to a series of self-assembled structures. As the spacing d between the successive zwitterion side groups decreases, single chains undergo globule → disk → worm-like structures. We have calculated the Flory-Huggins χ parameter for these systems in terms of d and monitored the radius of gyration, hydrodynamic radius, spatial correlations among hydrophobic and dipole monomers, and dipole-dipole orientational correlation functions. During the subsequent stages of self-assembly, these structures lead to larger globules and vesicles as d is decreased up to a threshold value, below which no large scale morphology forms. The vesicles form via a polynucleation mechanism whereby disk-like structures form first, followed by their subsequent merger.

Equilibrium configurations and transitions between them in annular magnetic nanodipole systems

The equilibrium states of annular systems of magnetic dipoles have been studied by computer simulation. The bistability conditions under which the total magnetic moment of one of equilibrium configurations is zero, while the magnetic moment of another equilibrium configuration lies in the ring plane and is close to the sum of the magnetic moments of dipoles in the system, have been determined. The realization of other equilibrium configurations has also been demonstrated. We analyze transitions between equilibrium configurations by acting on the system by longitudinal and circular static fields, as well as transitions from the configuration with the maximal magnetic moment of the system to the configuration with zero total magnetic moment after the relaxation of oscillatory regimes excited by a varying field.

Correlation effects and collective excitations in bosonic bilayers: Role of quantum statistics, superfluidity, and the dimerization transition

A two-component two-dimensional (2D) dipolar bosonic system in the bilayer geometry is considered. By performing quantum Monte Carlo simulations in a wide range of layer spacings we analyze in detail the pair correlation functions, the static response function, the kinetic and interaction energies. By reducing the layer spacing we observe a transition from weakly to strongly bound dimer states. The transition is accompanied by the onset of short-range correlations, suppression of the superfluid response, and rotonization of the excitation spectrum. A dispersion law and a dynamic structure factor for the {\em in-phase} (symmetric) and {\em out-of-phase} (antisymmetric) collective modes, during the dimerization, is studied in detail with the stochastic reconstruction method and the method of moments. The antisymmetric mode spectrum is most strongly influenced by suppression of the inlayer superfluidity (specified by the superfluid fraction $\gamma_s=\rho_s/\rho$). In a pure superfluid/normal phase only an acoustic/optical(gapped) mode is recovered. In a partially superfluid phase, both are present simultaneously, and the dispersion splits into two branches corresponding to a normal and a superfluid component. The spectral weight of the acoustic mode scales linearly with $\gamma_s$. This weight transfers to the optical branch when $\gamma_s$ is reduced due to formation of dimer states. In summary, we demonstrate how the interlayer dimerization in dipolar bilayers can be uniquely identified by static and dynamic properties.

Analogues of Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation in an array of noninteracting nanotubes

We consider the mechanism for generating radiation whose source is formed by surface currents modulated in the variable z - vt in an array of noninteracting parallel nanotubes. The nanotubes are oriented perpendicular to the axis Oz, and the velocity v exceeds the velocity of light in the medium. On the qualitative level, the radiation process under study is analogous to Vavilov–Cherenkov radiation by a system of dipoles. We show that intense SHF and THz radiation can be generated using this method. We estimate the magnitude of millimetric radiation obtainable using an array of nanotubes.

Charged, dipolar soft matter systems from a combined microscopic–mesoscopic viewpoint

As an example of charged, dipolar soft matter, the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dicyanamide is studied by coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. We focus on the link between microscopic and mesoscopic properties for both structure and dynamics. Thereby, the generalized Kirkwood gK-factor plays a central role in establishing this link which is not possible on the basis of molecular hydrodynamics. The decoupling between translational and rotational motion is indicative of the dynamical heterogeneity in ionic liquids.

Strong Dipolar Effects on an Octupolar Luminiscent Chromophore: Implications on their Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties.

Design parameters derived from structure-property relationships play a very important role in the development of efficient molecular-based functional materials with optical properties. Here, we report on the linear and nonlinear optical properties of a fluorene-derived dipolar system (DS) and its octupolar analogue (OS), in which donor and acceptor groups are connected by a phenylacetylene linkage, as a strategy to increase the number of delocalized electrons in the π-conjugated system. The optical nonlinear response was analyzed in detail by experimental and theoretical methods, showing that, in the octupolar system OS, the dipolar effects induced a strong two-photon absorption process whose magnitude is as large as 2210 GM at infrared wavelengths. Solvatochromism studies were implemented to obtain further insight on the charge transfer process. We found that the triple bond plays a fundamental role in the linear and nonlinear optical responses. The strong solvatochromism behavior in DS and OS was analyzed by using four empirical solvent scales, namely Lippert-Mataga, Kamlet-Taft, Catalán, and the recently proposed scale of Laurence et al., finding consistent results of strong solvent polarizability and viscosity dependence. Finally, the role of the acceptor groups was further studied by synthesizing the analogous compound 2DS, having no acceptor group.