Order Parameter Field Research Articles

Nature of Topological Phase Transition of Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquids.

We investigate the nature of the topological quantum phase transition between the gapless and gapped Kitaev quantum spin liquid phases away from the exactly solvable point. The transition is driven by anisotropy of the Kitaev couplings. At the critical point, the two Dirac points of the gapless Majorana modes merge, resulting in the formation of a semi-Dirac point with quadratic and linear band touching directions. We derive an effective Gross-Neveu-Yukawa-type field theory that describes the topological phase transition in the presence of additional magnetic interactions. We obtain the infrared scaling form of the propagator of the dynamical Ising order parameter field and perform a renormalization-group analysis. The universality of the transition is found to be different from that of symmetry-breaking phase transitions of semi-Dirac electrons. However, as in the electronic case, the Majorana fermions acquire an anomalous dimension, indicative of the breakdown of the fractionalized quasiparticle description.

Hyperuniformity in phase ordering: the roles of activity, noise, and non-constant mobility

Hyperuniformity emerges generically in the coarsening regime of phase-separating fluids. Numerical studies of active and passive systems have shown that the structure factor S(q) behaves as q ς for q → 0, with hyperuniformity exponent ς = 4. For passive systems, this result was explained in 1991 by a qualitative scaling analysis of Tomita, exploiting isotropy at scales much larger than the coarsening length. Here we reconsider and extend Tomita’s argument to address cases of active phase separation and of non-constant mobility, again finding ς = 4. We further show that dynamical noise of variance D creates a transient ς = 2 regime for q^≪q^∗∼Dt[1−(d+2)ν]/2 , crossing over to ς = 4 at larger q^ . Here, ν is the coarsening exponent for the domain size ℓ , such that ℓ(t)∼tν , and q^∝qℓ is the rescaled wavenumber. In diffusive coarsening ν=1/3 , so the rescaled crossover wavevector q^∗ vanishes at large times when d⩾2 . The slowness of this decay suggests a natural explanation for experiments that observe a long-lived ς = 2 scaling in phase-separating active fluids (where noise is typically large). Conversely, in d = 1, we demonstrate that with noise the ς = 2 regime survives as t→∞ , with q^∗∼D5/6 . (The structure factor is not then determined by the zero-temperature fixed point.) We confirm our analytical predictions by numerical simulations of continuum theories for active and passive phase separation in the deterministic case and of Model B for the stochastic case. We also compare them with related findings for a system near an absorbing-state transition rather than undergoing phase separation. A central role is played throughout by the presence or absence of a conservation law for the centre of mass position R of the order parameter field.

Mean field theory for strongly coupled systems: Holographic approach

In this paper, we develop the holographic mean field theory for strongly interacting fermion systems. We investigate various types of the symmetry-breakings and their effect on the spectral function. We found analytic expressions of fermion Green’s functions in the probe-limit for all types of tensor order parameter fields. We classified the spectral shapes and singularity types from the analytic Green’s function. We calculated the fermions spectral function in the full backreacted background and then compared it with the analytic results to show the reliability of analytic results in the probe limit. The fact that all the main features of the spectral features in the current condensed matter physics including gaps of s-,p- waves, nodal rings and nodal shells, the flat band of dimension 1,2,3, can be obtained in the absence of the lattice as consequences of the order and symmetry breaking pattern, is a pleaseant surprise.

Colloid and nanoparticle-driven phase behavior in weakly perturbed nematic liquid crystals

We study theoretically weakly colloidal particle or nano-particle perturbed nematic liquid crystal (LC) order. We consider cases where the particles are essentially homogeneously dispersed in LC matrix. A mesoscopic Landau-de Gennes approach is used where we focus on the temperature variations in the amplitude order parameter field for different particle volume concentrations ϕ. In the dilute regime, we describe the nematic order in terms of interface and volume amplitude order fields. This modeling suggests that the temperature-driven order-disorder crossover exhibits a two-step transformation. In the case that particles locally support LC order, on decreasing temperature firstly the interface order is established, followed by the build-up of volume order. The latter appears via the 1st order phase transition. On the other hand, the interface order growth is formed either gradually or via the 1st order interfacial transition. In the regime of relatively high values of ϕ the system can be effectively described in terms of a single amplitude order parameter field. In this case, the temperature-driven phase behaviour is qualitatively similar to the interface order temperature response in the diluted regime. We analytically express phase transition temperatures and determine critical points in the temperature-interface interaction phase space. Key novelties of the paper are the determination of conditions for particle-LC interface-driven discontinuous change of nematic ordering and nanoparticle-enabled critical point condition in pressure-driven order-disorder phase transformations. Experimental evidences supporting the predicted phase behavior are presented.

Defect turbulence in a dense suspension of polar, active swimmers.

We study the effects of inertia in dense suspensions of polar swimmers. The hydrodynamic velocity field and the polar order parameter field describe the dynamics of the suspension. We show that a dimensionless parameter R (ratio of the swimmer self-advection speed to the active stress invasion speed [Phys. Rev. X 11, 031063 (2021)2160-330810.1103/PhysRevX.11.031063]) controls the stability of an ordered swimmer suspension. For R smaller than a threshold R_{1}, perturbations grow at a rate proportional to their wave number q. Beyond R_{1} we show that the growth rate is O(q^{2}) until a second threshold R=R_{2} is reached. The suspension is stable for R>R_{2}. We perform direct numerical simulations to characterize the steady-state properties and observe defect turbulence for R<R_{2}. An investigation of the spatial organization of defects unravels a hidden transition: for small R≈0 defects are uniformly distributed and cluster as R→R_{1}. Beyond R_{1}, clustering saturates and defects are arranged in nearly stringlike structures.

Finding simplicity: unsupervised discovery of features, patterns, and order parameters via shift-invariant variational autoencoders * *Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under Contract No. DE-AC0500OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide

Recent advances in scanning tunneling and transmission electron microscopies (STM and STEM) have allowed routine generation of large volumes of imaging data containing information on the structure and functionality of materials. The experimental data sets contain signatures of long-range phenomena such as physical order parameter fields, polarization, and strain gradients in STEM, or standing electronic waves and carrier-mediated exchange interactions in STM, all superimposed onto scanning system distortions and gradual changes of contrast due to drift and/or mis-tilt effects. Correspondingly, while the human eye can readily identify certain patterns in the images such as lattice periodicities, repeating structural elements, or microstructures, their automatic extraction and classification are highly non-trivial and universal pathways to accomplish such analyses are absent. We pose that the most distinctive elements of the patterns observed in STM and (S)TEM images are similarity and (almost-) periodicity, behaviors stemming directly from the parsimony of elementary atomic structures, superimposed on the gradual changes reflective of order parameter distributions. However, the discovery of these elements via global Fourier methods is non-trivial due to variability and lack of ideal discrete translation symmetry. To address this problem, we explore the shift-invariant variational autoencoders (shift-VAEs) that allow disentangling characteristic repeating features in the images, their variations, and shifts that inevitably occur when randomly sampling the image space. Shift-VAEs balance the uncertainty in the position of the object of interest with the uncertainty in shape reconstruction. This approach is illustrated for model 1D data, and further extended to synthetic and experimental STM and STEM 2D data. We further introduce an approach for training shift-VAEs that allows finding the latent variables that comport to known physical behavior. In this specific case, the condition is that the latent variable maps should be smooth on the length scale of the atomic lattice (as expected for physical order parameters), but other conditions can be imposed. The opportunities and limitations of the shift VAE analysis for pattern discovery are elucidated.

Logarithmically divergent friction on ultrarelativistic bubble walls

We calculate the friction experienced by ultrarelativistic bubble walls resulting from the 1 → 2 light-to-heavy transition process, with finite-wall-width effects fully taken into account. In this process, the light particle is excited from the order-parameter scalar field, while the two heavy particles are excitations of a dark matter scalar field. Unlike earlier estimates suggesting a friction scaling as γw 0, where γw represents the Lorentz factor of the wall velocity, our more precise numerical analysis reveals a logarithmic dependence of the friction on γw . We offer a numerical fit to capture this frictional pressure accurately. Our analysis verifies that the friction stemming from the 1 → 2 light-to-heavy transition is typically much smaller than the friction from the 1 → 1 transmission of the dark matter particles.

Extending Density Phase-Field Simulations to Dynamic Regimes

Density-based phase-field (DPF) methods have emerged as a technique for simulating grain boundary thermodynamics and kinetics. Compared to the classical phase-field, DPF gives a more physical description of the grain boundary structure and chemistry, bridging CALPHAD databases and atomistic simulations, with broad applications to grain boundary and segregation engineering. Notwithstanding their notable progress, further advancements are still warranted in DPF methods. Chief among these are the requirements to resolve its performance constraints associated with solving fourth-order partial differential equations (PDEs) and to enable the DPF methods for simulating moving grain boundaries. Presented in this work is a means by which the aforementioned problems are addressed by expressing the density field of a DPF simulation in terms of a traditional order parameter field. A generic DPF free energy functional is derived and used to carry out a series of equilibrium and dynamic simulations of grain boundaries in order to generate trends such as grain boundary width vs. gradient energy coefficient, grain boundary velocity vs. applied driving force, and spherical grain radius vs. time. These trends are compared with analytical solutions and the behavior of physical grain boundaries in order to ascertain the validity of the coupled DPF model. All tested quantities were found to agree with established theories of grain boundary behavior. In addition, the resulting simulations allow for DPF simulations to be carried out by existing phase-field solvers.

A phase field-based framework for electro-chemo-mechanical fracture: Crack-contained electrolytes, chemical reactions and stabilisation

We present a new theoretical and computational framework for modelling electro-chemo-mechanical fracture. The model combines a phase field description of fracture with a fully coupled characterisation of electrolyte behaviour, surface chemical reactions and stress-assisted diffusion. Importantly, a new physics-based formulation is presented to describe electrolyte-containing phase field cracks, appropriately capturing the sensitivity of electrochemical transport and reaction kinetics to the crack opening height. Unlike other existing methods, this approach is shown to accurately capture the results obtained with discrete fracture simulations. The potential of the electro-chemo-mechanical model presented is demonstrated by particularising it to the analysis of hydrogen embrittlement in metallic samples exposed to aqueous electrolytes. The finite element implementation takes as nodal degrees-of-freedom the electrolyte potential, the concentrations of relevant ionic species, the surface coverage, the concentration of diluted species, the displacement field and the phase field order parameter. Particular attention is devoted to improve stability and efficiency, resulting in the development of strategies for avoiding ill-constrained degrees of freedom and lumped integration schemes that eliminate numerical oscillations. The numerical experiments conducted showcase the ability of the model to deliver assumptions-free predictions for systems involving both free-flowing and crack-contained electrolytes. The results obtained highlight the role of electrolyte behaviour in driving the cracking process, evidencing the limitations of existing models.

Geometric Confinement in Gauge Theories

In 1978, Friedberg and Lee introduced the phenomenological soliton bag model of hadrons, generalizing the MIT bag model developed in 1974 shortly after the formulation of QCD. In this model, quarks and gluons are confined due to coupling with a real scalar field ρ, which tends to zero outside some compact region S⊂R3 determined dynamically from the equations of motion. The gauge coupling in the soliton bag model runs as the inverse power of ρ, already at the semiclassical level. We show that this model arises naturally as a consequence of introducing the warped product metric dsM2+ρ2dsG2 on the principal G-bundle P(M,G)≅M×G with a non-Abelian group G over Minkowski space M=R3,1. Confinement of quarks and gluons in a compact domain S⊂R3 is a consequence of the collapse of the bundle manifold M×G to M outside S due to shrinking of the group manifold G to a point. We describe the formation of such regions S as a dynamical process controlled by the order parameter field ρ.

Kinematics and dynamics of disclination lines in three-dimensional nematics

An exact kinematic law for the motion of disclination lines in nematic liquid crystals as a function of the tensor order parameterQis derived. Unlike other order parameter fields that become singular at their respective defect cores, the tensor order parameter remains regular. Following earlier experimental and theoretical work, the disclination core is defined to be the line where the uniaxial and biaxial order parameters are equal, or equivalently, where the two largest eigenvalues ofQcross. This allows an exact expression relating the velocity of the line to spatial and temporal derivatives ofQon the line, to be specified by a dynamical model for the evolution of the nematic. By introducing a linear core approximation forQ, analytical results are given for several prototypical configurations, including line interactions and motion, loop annihilation, and the response to external fields and shear flows. Behaviour that follows from topological constraints or defect geometry is highlighted. The analytic results are shown to be in agreement with three-dimensional numerical calculations based on a singular Maier–Saupe free energy that allows for anisotropic elasticity.

Thermal evolution of the single-particle spectral function in the half-filled Hubbard model and pseudogap

In the half-filled one-orbital Hubbard model on a square lattice, we find pseudogap-like features in the form of two-peak structures associated with the momentum-resolved spectral function. These features exist within the temperature window ${T}_{N}\ensuremath{\lesssim}T\ensuremath{\lesssim}{T}^{*}$, where ${T}_{N}$ is the N\'eel temperature and ${T}^{*}$ is the temperature below which there exists a well-formed dip in the density of state. Inside the window ${T}_{N}\ensuremath{\lesssim}T\ensuremath{\lesssim}{T}^{*}$, the peak-to-peak separation in the two-peak structure of the momentum-resolved spectral function grows on moving away from the point ($\ensuremath{\pi}/2,\ensuremath{\pi}/2$) along the normal state Fermi surface toward $(\ensuremath{\pi},0)$, a behavior with remarkable similarities to what is observed in the $d$-wave state and pseudogap phase of high-${T}_{c}$ cuprates. We unveil these features by using a parallelized cluster-based Monte Carlo method for simulating the magnetic order parameter fields on a superlattice. The method enables us to access the momentum-resolved single-particle spectral function corresponding to a lattice size of $\ensuremath{\approx}240 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}$ 240 with an almost negligible finite-size effect.

Droplet-mediated long-range interfacial correlations. Exact field theory for entropic repulsion effects

We consider near-critical two-dimensional statistical systems at phase coexistence on the half plane with boundary conditions leading to the formation of a droplet separating coexisting phases. General low-energy properties of two-dimensional field theories are used in order to find exact analytic results for one- and two-point correlation functions of both the energy density and order parameter fields. The subleading finite-size corrections are also computed and interpreted within an exact probabilistic picture in which interfacial fluctuations are characterized by the probability density of a Brownian excursion. The explicit analysis of the closed-form expression for order parameter correlations reveals the long-ranged character of interfacial correlations and their confinement within the interfacial region. The analysis of correlations is then carried out in momentum space through the notion of interface structure factor, which we extend to the case of systems bounded by a flat wall. The presence of the wall and its associated entropic repulsion leads to a specific term in the interface structure factor which we identify.

Renormalization group flow to effective quantum mechanics in the IR in an emergent dual holographic description for spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking

Implementing the Wilsonian renormalization group (RG) transformation in a nonperturbative way, we construct an effective holographic dual description with an emergent extradimension identified with an RG scale. Taking the large$-N$ limit, we obtain an equation of motion of an order-parameter field, here the chiral condensate for our explicit demonstration. In particular, an intertwined structure manifests between the first-order RG flow equations of renormalized coupling functions and the second-order differential equation of the order-parameter field, thus referred to as a nonperturbative RG-improved mean-field theory. Assuming translational symmetry as a vacuum state, we solve these nonlinear coupled mean-field equations based on a matching method between UV- and IR-regional solutions. As a result, we find an RG flow from a weakly-coupled chiral-symmetric UV fixed point to a strongly-correlated chiral-symmetry broken IR fixed point, where the renormalized velocity of Dirac fermions vanishes most rapidly and effective quantum mechanics appears at IR. Furthermore, we translate these RG flows of coupling functions into those of emergent metric tensors and extract out geometrical properties of the emergent holographic spacetime constructed from the UV- and IR-regional solutions. Surprisingly, we obtain the volume law of entanglement entropy in the Ryu-Takayanagi formula, which implies appearance of a black hole type solution in the limit of infinite cutoff even at zero temperature. We critically discuss our field theoretic interpretation for this solution in terms of potentially gapless multi-particle excitation spectra.

The equilibrium and dynamical cumulants of QCD chiral order parameter with parametric Landau free energy

By linearly parameterizing the QCD Landau free energy near the critical point in the baryon chemical potential and temperature plane, we study the fluctuations of the QCD chiral order parameter field (the sigma field) in the equilibrium case and dynamical phase transition, respectively. By setting the system size to the typical size of the QGP fireball (approx 10^3 fm^3), we show that in the equilibrium case, the discontinuity of the order parameter in the first order phase transition region is replaced by smooth crossover, and the corresponding fluctuations are broadened. Meanwhile, the quartic cumulant kappa _4 of the sigma field is generally negative near the phase transition line. We further derive the dynamical evolution of the QCD Landau free energy in the Fokker–Plank framework, based on which we deduce the dynamical cumulants of the sigma field. Assuming the temperature decreases as a known function of time, we numerically evaluate the dynamical cumulants and confirm that the cumulants present clear memory effects. Moreover, the memory effects on the first order phase transition side is stronger than that on the crossover side, and the dynamical cumulants at the hypothetical freeze-out line present rich non-monotonic structures.

Stable Assemblies of Topological Defects in Nematic Orientational Order.

We considered general mechanisms enabling the stabilization of localized assemblies of topological defects (TDs). There is growing evidence that physical fields represent fundamental natural entities, and therefore these features are of interest to all branches of physics. In general, cores of TDs are energetically costly, and consequently, assemblies of TDs are unfavorable. Owing to the richness of universalities in the physics of TDs, it is of interest to identify systems where they are easily experimentally accessible, enabling detailed and well-controlled analysis of their universal behavior, and cross-fertilizing knowledge in different areas of physics. In this respect, thermotropic nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) represent an ideal experiment testbed for such studies. In addition, TDs in NLCs could be exploited in several applications. We present examples that emphasize the importance of curvature imposed on the phase component of the relevant order parameter field. In NLCs, it is represented by the nematic tensor order parameter. Using a simple Landau-type approach, we show how the coupling between chirality and saddle splay elasticity, which can be expressed as a Gaussian curvature contribution, can stabilize Meron TDs. The latter have numerous analogs in other branches of physics. TDs in 2D curved manifolds reveal that the Gaussian curvature dominantly impacts the assembling and stabilization of TDs. Furthermore, a strong enough curvature that serves as an attractor for TDs is a respective field that could be imposed in a fast enough phase transition. Assemblies of created TDs created in such a disordered environment could be stabilized by appropriate impurities.

Dynamics of vortex defect formation in two-dimensional Coulomb crystals

We study the non-equilibrium dynamics of two dimensional planar ion Coulomb crystals undergoing a structural buckling transition to a three plane configuration, driven by a reduction of the transverse confining frequency. This phase transition can be theoretically modeled using a mapping to a two dimensional Ginzburg-Landau theory with complex order parameter field. We demonstrate that finite rate quenches result in creation of stable topological vortices, which are localized point regions around which the phase of the order parameter field winds a multiple of 2{\pi}. The density of the defects as a function of quench rate is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations and its scaling is shown to be consistent with Kibble-Zurek theory of defect formation. Following the quench, the annihilation of vortex and anti-vortex pairs results in the relaxation of defect density that follows a diffusive scaling with a logarithmic correction. This work highlights the potential for investigating complex non-equilibrium statistical physics of topological defects in an experimentally accessible ion trap setting.

Machine-learning-based surrogate modeling of microstructure evolution using phase-field

Phase-field-based models have become common in material science, mechanics, physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering for the simulation of microstructure evolution. Yet, they suffer from the drawback of being computationally very costly when applied to large, complex systems. To reduce such computational costs, a Unet-based artificial neural network is developed as a surrogate model in the current work. Training input for this network is obtained from the results of the numerical solution of initial–boundary-value problems (IBVPs) based on the Fan–Chen model for grain microstructure evolution. In particular, about 250 different simulations with varying initial order parameters are carried out and 200 frames of the time evolution of the phase fields are stored for each simulation. The network is trained with 90% of this data, taking the ith frame of a simulation, i.e. order parameter field, as input, and producing the (i+1)-th frame as the output. Evaluation of the network is carried out with a test dataset consisting of 2200 microstructures based on different configurations than originally used for training. The trained network is applied recursively on initial order parameters to calculate the time evolution of the phase fields. The results are compared to the ones obtained from the conventional numerical solution in terms of the errors in order parameters and the system’s free energy. The resulting order parameter error averaged over all points and all simulation cases is 0.005 and the relative error in the total free energy in all simulation boxes does not exceed 1%.

Principal Polarizability and Orientational Order Parameter Study of some Pure Cholesteric Liquid Crystals and their Homogeneous Mixtures: Phase Transition Behaviour

Objectives: To study the behavior of the molecular polarizabilities (ae, ao) and order parameter (S) in various phases of Cholesteryl Propionate, Cholesteryl Benzoate and their homogeneous mixtures of weight fractions 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75. Methods: The measurement of extraordinary refractive index (ne) and ordinary refractive index (no) was carried out with the help of Abbe’s refractometer and modified wedge method, in the temperature range of 850C– 1800C. The anisotropic internal field model is used to calculate the internal field factor (a) and order parameter (S). Findings: The decrease in the ratio of the principal polarizabilities (ao =a e)with increase in temperature has been observed. At the transition points of solid to cholesteric (S-Ch transition) and cholesteric to isotropic (Ch-I transition), the decrease in the ratio of principal polarizabilities is much sharper for both Cholesteryl Benzoate and Cholesteryl Propionate and also for their mixtures. The value of the order parameter (S) remains constant in solid phase and sharp decrease occurs in its values for pure samples as well as their mixtures, when materials go from solid to cholesteric phase (S-Ch transition). After the S-Ch transition, the order parameter (S) goes on decreasing with further increase in temperature until the cholesteric to isotropic transition (Ch-I transition) occurs. Novelty: Some researchers have calculated the principal polarizabilities and order parameter of optically positive nematic liquid crystals and aligned cholesteric liquid crystals by using isotropic internal field model such as Vuk’s approach. This itself raises the question of how can an anisotropic environment give rise to isotropic field. The present study is based on the anisotropic field model suggested by Maier and Saupe in which the internal field acting on a molecule is considered to be anisotropic. This approach used to calculate principal polarizabilities and order parameter is more realistic and gives more accurate results. Keywords: Cholesteric; Isotropic; Birefringence; Polarizability; Order Parameter; Anisotropic Internal Field Factor

Phase Coherence of Pairs of Cooper Pairs as Quasi-Long-Range Order of Half-Vortex Pairs in a Two-Dimensional Bilayer System.

It is known that the loss of phase coherence of Cooper pairs in two-dimensional superconductivity corresponds to the unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs with the quasi-long-range order in the order-parameter phase field, described by the Berezinskii-Kosterlizt-Thouless (BKT) transition of a 2D XY model. Here we show that the second-order Josephson coupling can induce an exotic superconducting phase in a bilayer system. By using tensor-network methods, the partition function of the 2D classical model is expressed as a product of 1D quantum transfer operator, whose eigenequation can be solved by an algorithm of matrix product states rigorously. From the singularity shown by the entanglement entropy of the 1D quantum analog, various phase transitions can be accurately determined. Below the BKT phase transition, an interlayer Ising long-range order is established at T_{Ising}, and the phase coherence of both intralayers and interlayers is locked together. For two identical layers, the Ising transition coincides with the BKT transition at a multicritical point. For two inequivalent layers, however, there emerges an intermediate quasi-long-range order phase (T_{Ising}<T<T_{BKT}), where the vortex-antivortex bindings occur in the layer with the larger intralayer coupling, but only half-vortex pairs with topological strings exist in the other layer, corresponding to the phase coherence of pairs of Cooper pairs. So our study provides a promising way to realize the charge-4e superconductivity in a bilayer system.