Generalized Mean Field Theory Research Articles

Dynamical analysis of the low-temperature phase diagram of a cuprate superconductor

For a cuprate superconductor, specifically the yttrium barium copper oxide system, we analyze the low-temperature phase diagram consisting of the superconducting, pseudogap, and normal phases by using a phonon-mediated attraction and Coulomb repulsion mechanism. Through this analysis, we show this mechanism in the cuprate is quite important for its key dynamics. For the pairing mechanism, a variational method is developed and applied, and a generalized mean field theory is used to calculate the condensate energy and the energy gap of the quasiparticle. We obtain a self-consistent system of equations for these quantities. The superconducting and pseudogap phases, which involve pair-condensates, are assumed to be equilibrium systems of the condensate and normal subphases. The condition for the phase transition point is given by the equal total electronic energy gains. Assuming that the difference in the pairing range of the pair condensate is small between just above and below the transition temperature, computations are performed to solve the self-consistent system of equations. We find solutions compatible with experimental data. Plausible values of the energy gap in the superconducting phase and in the pseudogap phase are obtained. The present analysis shows that the phonon-mediated attraction and Coulomb repulsion mechanism itself is compatible with the experimental data. The importance of the screening effect through one-phonon exchange in the pairing mechanism and of the structure of the valence band is discussed.

Wetting Behavior of a Three-Phase System in Contact with a Surface.

We extend the Cahn-Landau-de Gennes mean field theory of wetting in binary mixtures to understand the wetting thermodynamics of a three phase system (e.g., polymer dispersed liquid crystals or polymer-colloid mixtures) that is in contact with an external surface, which prefers one of the phases. Using a model free-energy, which has three minima in its landscape, we show that as the central minimum becomes more stable compared to the remaining ones, the bulk phase diagram encounters a triple point and then bifurcates and we observe a novel non-monotonic dependence of the surface tension as a function of the stability of the central minimum. We show that this non-monotonicity in surface tension is associated with a complete to partial wetting transition. We obtain the complete wetting phase behavior as a function of phase stability and the surface interaction parameters when the system is close to the bulk triple point. The model free-energy that we use is qualitatively similar to that of a renormalized free energy, which arises in the context of polymer-liquid crystal mixtures. Finally, we study the thermodynamics of wetting for an explicit polymer-liquid crystal mixture and show that its thermodynamics is similar to that of our model free-energy.

Spin-imbalanced ultracold Fermi gases in a two-dimensional array of tubes

Motivated by a recent experiment [Revelle et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 235301 (2016)] that characterized the one- to three-dimensional crossover in a spin-imbalanced ultracold gas of $^6$Li atoms trapped in a two-dimensional array of tunnel-coupled tubes, we calculate the phase diagram for this system using Hartree-Fock Bogoliubov-de Gennes mean-field theory, and compare the results with experimental data. Mean-field theory predicts fully spin-polarized normal, partially spin-polarized normal, spin-polarized superfluid, and spin-balanced superfluid phases in a homogeneous system. We use the local density approximation to obtain density profiles of the gas in a harmonic trap. We compare these calculations with experimental measurements in Revelle {\em et al.} as well as previously unpublished data. Our calculations qualitatively agree with experimentally-measured densities and coordinates of the phase boundaries in the trap, and quantitatively agree with experimental measurements at moderate-to-large polarizations. Our calculations also reproduce the experimentally-observed universal scaling of the phase boundaries for different scattering lengths at a fixed value of scaled inter-tube tunneling. However, our calculations have quantitative differences with experimental measurements at low polarization, and fail to capture important features of the one- to three-dimensional crossover observed in experiments. These suggest the important role of physics beyond-mean-field theory in the experiments. We expect that our numerical results will aid future experiments in narrowing the search for the FFLO phase.

Interplay between Microscopic and Macroscopic Properties of Charged Hydrogels

We have investigated aqueous charged poly(acrylamide-co-acrylate) gels by varying polymer concentrations at fixed concentrations of added sodium chloride salt. Using a combination of static and dynamic light scattering, rheology, and water permeation experiments, we have made independent measurements of shear modulus, friction coefficient, diffusion coefficient, and mesh size of the gel. We have also derived a generalized mean field theory for charged gels by including electrostatic interactions between polymer segments, in addition to the contributions from free energy of mixing, elasticity, and the Donnan equilibrium. The measured dependencies of modulus, friction coefficient, and gel diffusion coefficient on polymer concentration are in accordance with the predictions of the generalized mean field theory, enabling a reliable bridge between the macroscopic and microscopic properties of polyelectrolyte gels. When the contributions to free energy of the gel from fluctuations in polymer concentration and c...

Gapless inhomogeneous superfluid phase with spin-dependent disorder

We show that the presence of a spin-dependent random potential in a superconductor or a superfluid atomic gas leads to distinct transitions at which the energy gap and average order parameter vanish, generating an intermediate gapless superfluid phase, in marked contrast to the case of spin-symmetric randomness where no such gapless superfluid phase is seen. By allowing the pairing amplitude to become inhomogeneous, the gapless superconducting phase persists up to considerably higher disorder compared with the prediction of Abrikosov–Gorkov. The low-lying excited states are located predominantly in regions where the pairing amplitude vanishes and coexist with the superfluid regions with a finite pairing. Our results are based on inhomogeneous Bogoliubov–de Gennes mean field theory for a two-dimensional attractive Hubbard model with spin-dependent disorder.

Interplay of superconductivity and spin-dependent disorder

The finite temperature phase diagram for the 2D attractive fermion Hubbard model with spin-dependent disorder is considered within Bogoliubov-de Gennes mean field theory. Three types of disorder are studied. In the first, only one species is coupled to a random site energy; in the second, the two species both move in random site energy landscapes which are of the same amplitude, but different realizations; and finally, in the third, the disorder is in the hopping rather than the site energy. For all three cases we find that, unlike the case of spin-symmetric randomness, where the energy gap and average order parameter do not vanish as the disorder strength increases, a critical disorder strength exists separating distinct phases. In fact, the energy gap and the average order parameter vanish at distinct transitions, $V_{c}^{\rm gap}$ and $V_{c}^{\rm op}$, allowing for a gapless superconducting (gSC) phase. The gSC phase becomes smaller with increasing temperature, until it vanishes at a temperature $T^{\ast}$.

Anisotropic vortex lattice structures in the FeSe superconductor

In the recent work by Song et al. [Science 332, 1410 (2011)], the scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiment in the stoichiometric FeSe reveals evidence for nodal superconductivity and strong anisotropy. The nodal structure can be explained with the extended s-wave pairing structure with the mixture of the $s_{x^2+y^2}$ and $s_{x^2y^2}$ pairing symmetries. We calculate the anisotropic vortex structure by using the self-consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes mean-field theory. In considering the absence of magnetic ordering in the FeSe at the ambient pressure, orbital ordering is introduced, which breaks the $C_4$ lattice symmetry down to $C_2$, to explain the anisotropy in the vortex tunneling spectra.

A generalized mean field theory of coarse-graining

A general mean field theory is presented for the construction of equilibrium coarse-grained models. Inverse methods that reconstruct microscopic models from low resolution experimental data can be derived as particular implementations of this theory. The theory also applies to the opposite problem of reduction, where relevant information is extracted from available equilibrium ensemble data. Additionally, a complementary approach is presented and problems of representability in coarse-grained modeling analyzed using information theoretic arguments. These problems are central to the construction of coarse-grained representations of complex systems, and commonly used coarse-graining methods and variational principles for coarse-graining are derived as particular cases of the general theory.

Quasi-two-dimensional diluted magnetic semiconductors with arbitrary carrier degeneracy

In the framework of the generalized mean field theory, conditions for arising the ferromagnetic state in a two-dimensional diluted magnetic semiconductor and the features of that state are defined. RKKY-interaction of magnetic impurities is supposed. The spatial disorder of their arrangement and temperature alteration of the carrier degeneracy are taken into account.

EFFECTIVE MESON MASSES, EFFECTIVE MESON–NUCLEON COUPLINGS AND NEUTRON STAR RADII

Using a generalized mean field theory, we have studied relations among effective meson masses, effective meson–nucleon couplings and equations of state (EOS) in asymmetric nuclear matter. If the effective ω-meson mass becomes smaller at high density, the EOS becomes stiffer. However, if we require that the ω-meson mean field is proportional to baryon density, the effective ω–nucleon coupling also becomes smaller at the same time as the effective ω-meson mass becomes smaller. Consequently, the EOS becomes softer. A similar relation is found for the effective ρ-meson mass and the effective ρ–nucleon coupling. We have also studied relations among effective meson masses, effective meson–nucleon couplings and a radius R of a neutron star. R depends somewhat on the value of the effective ω-meson mass and the effective ω–nucleon coupling.

Exchange bias of hysteresis loop in the Ising two-dimensional ferromagnet-antiferromagnet structure

A simple analytical model is developed to explain the phenomenon of exchange bias of the hysteresis loop in a two-dimensional ferromagnet-antiferromagnet bilayer. A solution of the magnetic relaxation equation is obtained within the framework of the generalized mean field theory, which describes the shape of the hysteresis loop and shows its dependence on the properties of a model interface in the system under consideration.

Generalized mean-field theory for metals and semiconductors with magnetic impurities

Random systems of magnetic moments positioned in cites of a crystal lattice and interacting via RKKY- or Bloembergen–Rowland-type interaction are considered in the framework of generalized mean-field theory (GMFT) based on calculating and analyzing distribution functions F ( H ) of random local magnetic fields H. For concentrated systems (where the random local field is produced by a number of interacting magnetic moments), the function F ( H ) turns out to be Gaussian one and all information about the system is contained in two parameters of that distribution only—it's width and maximum position. For rarefied systems (where the average distance between interacting moments is comparable with or larger than the interaction length), distribution functions are essentially non-Gaussian. GMFT has been applied for calculating the magnetic state of metals and semiconductors diluted with magnetic impurities.

Generalized Mean-Field Theory for Lattice Magnetic Systems and Ferromagnetism of Semiconductors with Magnetic Impurities

Mean-field theory is generalized to lattice systems of interacting magnetic moments by introducing a distribution function of random local magnetic fields to take into account the nonequivalence of various lattice sites. Analytical and numerical methods developed in this approach are used to describe ferromagnetism of nonmagnetic semiconductors with magnetic impurities.

In search of temporal power laws in the orientational relaxation near isotropic-nematic phase transition in model nematogens.

Recent Kerr relaxation experiments by Gottke et al. have revealed the existence of a pronounced temporal power law decay in the orientational relaxation near the isotropic-nematic phase transition (INPT) of nematogens of rather small aspect ratio, kappa (kappa approximately 3-4). We have carried out very long (50 ns) molecular dynamics simulations of model (Gay-Berne) prolate ellipsoids with aspect ratio 3 in order to investigate the origin of this power law. The model chosen is known to undergo an isotropic to nematic phase transition for a range of density and temperature. The distance dependence of the calculated angular pair correlation function correctly shows the emergence of a long range correlation as the INPT is approached along the density axis. In the vicinity of INPT, the single particle second rank orientational time correlation function exhibits power law decay, (t(-alpha)) with exponent alpha approximately 2/3. More importantly, we find the sudden appearance of a pronounced power-law decay in the collective part of the second rank orientational time correlation function at short times when the density is very close to the transition density. The power law has an exponent close to unity, that is, the correlation function decays almost linearly with time. At long times, the decay is exponential-like, as predicted by Landau-de Gennes mean field theory. Since Kerr relaxation experiments measure the time derivative of the collective second rank orientational pair correlation function, the simulations recover the near independence of the signal on time observed in experiments. In order to capture the microscopic essence of the dynamics of pseudonematic domains inside the isotropic phase, we introduce and calculate a dynamic orientational pair correlation function (DOPCF) obtained from the coefficients in the expansion of the distinct part of orientational van Hove time correlation function in terms of spherical harmonics. The DOPCF exhibits power law relaxation when the pair separation length is below certain critical length. The orientational relaxation of a local director, defined in terms of the sum of unit vectors of all the ellipsoidal molecules, is also found to show slow power law relaxation over a long time scale. These results have been interpreted in terms of a newly developed mode coupling theory of orientational dynamics near the INPT. In the present case, the difference between the single particle and the collective orientational relaxation is huge which can be explained by the frequency dependence of the memory kernel, calculated from the mode coupling theory. The relationship of this power law with the one observed in a supercooled liquid near its glass transition temperature is explored.

Pseudogap state in superconductors: Extended Hartree approach to time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory

It is well known that conventional pairing fluctuation theory at the Hartree level leads to a normal state pseudogap in the fermionic spectrum. Our goal is to extend this Hartree approximated scheme to arrive at a generalized mean field theory of pseudogapped superconductors for all temperatures $T$. While an equivalent approach to the pseudogap has been derived elsewhere using a more formal Green's function decoupling scheme, in this paper we re-interpret this mean field theory and BCS theory as well, and demonstrate how they naturally relate to ideal Bose gas condensation. Here we recast the Hartree approximated Ginzburg-Landau self consistent equations in a T-matrix form. This recasting makes it possible to consider arbitrarily strong attractive coupling, where bosonic degrees of freedom appear at $ T^*$ considerably above $T_c$. The implications for transport both above and below $T_c$ are discussed. Below $T_c$ we find two types of contributions. Those associated with fermionic excitations have the usual BCS functional form. That they depend on the magnitude of the excitation gap, nevertheless, leads to rather atypical transport properties in the strong coupling limit, where this gap (as distinct from the order parameter) is virtually $T$-independent. In addition, there are bosonic terms arising from non-condensed pairs whose transport properties are shown here to be reasonably well described by an effective time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory.

Disorder and superconductivity: a new phase of bi-particle localized states

We study the two-dimensional, disordered, attractive Hubbard model by the projector quantum Monte Carlo method and Bogoliubov-de Gennes mean-field theory. Our results for the ground state show the appearance of a new phase with charge localization in the metallic regime of the non-interacting model. Contrary to the common lore, we demonstrate that mean-field theory fails to predict this phase and is unable to describe the correct physical picture in this regime.

Nonequilibrium kinetic Ising models: phase transitions and universality classes in one dimension

Nonequilibrium kinetic Ising models evolving under the competing effect of spin flips at zero temperature and Kawasaki-type spin-exchange kinetics at infinite temperature T are investigated here in one dimension from the point of view of phase transition and critical behaviour. Branching annihilating random walks with an even number of offspring (on the part of the ferromagnetic domain boundaries), is a decisive process in forming the steady state of the system for a range of parameters, in the family of models considered. A wide variety of quantities characterize the critical behaviour of the system. Results of computer simulations and of a generalized mean field theory are presented and discussed.

The structure of homeotropic smectic C (SmC) alignment within liquid crystal cells

A commercially important ferroelectric liquid crystal, SCE13, is characterized in terms of the parameters of Landau-de Gennes mean field theory and elastic continuum theory. A simple model for the alignment of smectic C (SmC) liquid crystals in cells whose surfaces are treated to cause homeotropic alignment is presented. The expected temperature dependence of the director alignment structures is discussed. Data obtained using half-leaky guided mode techniques are presented in support of this model.

Elasticity and the electroclinic effect at the SmA-SmC phase transition

The electroclinic effect has been investigated around the smectic A-smectic C phase transition in the materials SCE8 and SCE13. Attempts have been made to model this effect using the Landau-de Gennes mean field theory. Experiments carried out with low applied electric field at the transition show problems with this model, and we suggest the inclusion of elastic energy to describe the behaviour in this regime. The results indicate that the elastic term is important, and provides a fuller description of the electroclinic behaviour near the transition temperature.

Roles of Repulsive and Attractive Forces in Determining the Structure of Nonuniform Liquids: Generalized Mean Field Theory

The structure of a nonuniform Lennard-Jones (LJ) liquid near a hard wall is approximated by that of a reference fluid with repulsive intermolecular forces in a self-consistently determined external mean field incorporating the effects of attractive forces. We calculate the reference fluid structure by first determining the response to the slowly varying part of the field alone, followed by the response to the harshly repulsive part. Both steps can be carried out very accurately, as confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations, and good agreement with the structure of the full LJ fluid is found.