Smooth Crossover Research Articles

Primordial black holes and induced gravitational waves from a smooth crossover beyond standard model theories

Primordial black holes and induced gravitational waves from a smooth crossover beyond standard model theories

Smooth crossover between weak and strong thermalization using rigorous bounds on equilibration of isolated systems

It is usually expected and observed that non-integrable isolated quantum systems thermalize. However, for some non-integrable spin chain models, in a numerical study, initial states with oscillations that persisted for some time were found and the phenomenon was named weak thermalization. Later, it was argued that such oscillations will eventually decay suggesting that weak thermalization was about time scales and not the size of the fluctuations. Nevertheless, the analyses of the size of the fluctuations were more qualitative. Here, using exact diagonalization we analyze how the size of the typical fluctuation, after long enough time for equilibration to happen, scales with the system size. For that, we use rigorous mathematical upper bounds on the equilibration of isolated quantum systems. We show that weak thermalization can be understood to be due to the small effective dimension of the initial state. Furthermore, we show that the fluctuations decay exponentially with the system size for both weak and strong thermalization indicating no sharp transitions between these two regimes.

Characterizing localization effects in an ultracold disordered Fermi gas by diffusion analysis

Disorder can fundamentally modify the transport properties of a system. A striking example is Anderson localization, suppressing transport due to destructive interference of propagation paths. In inhomogeneous many-body systems, not all particles are localized for finite-strength disorder, and the system can become partially diffusive. Unraveling the intricate signatures of localization from such observed diffusion is a longstanding problem. Here, we experimentally study a degenerate, spin-polarized Fermi gas in a disorder potential formed by an optical speckle pattern. We record the diffusion through the disordered potential upon release from an external confining potential. We compare different methods to analyze the resulting density distributions, including a new approach to capture particle dynamics by evaluating absorption-image statistics. Using standard observables, such as diffusion exponent and coefficient, localized fraction, or localization length, we find that some show signatures for a transition to localization above a critical disorder strength, while others show a smooth crossover to a modified diffusion regime. In laterally displaced disorder, we spatially resolve different transport regimes simultaneously, which allows us to extract the subdiffusion exponent expected for weak localization. Our work emphasizes that the transition toward localization can be investigated by closely analyzing the system's diffusion, offering ways of revealing localization effects beyond the signature of exponentially decaying density distribution. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Thermally induced localization of dopants in a magnetic spin ladder

I unveil an emergent localization phenomenon pertaining to the motion of a dopant in a thermal spin lattice. This is rendered localized by thermal spin fluctuations, whereby it is in stark constrast to the intrinsic origin of Anderson localization for quenched disorder. The system of interest consists of spin-1/2 particles organized in a two-leg ladder with nearest-neighbor Ising interactions J. The motion of a hole—the dopant—is initialized by suddenly removing a spin from the thermal spin ensemble, which then moves along the ladder via nearest-neighbor hopping t. I find that the hole remains for all values of J/t and for nonzero temperatures. The origin is an effective disorder potential seen by the hole and induced by thermal spin fluctuations. Its length scale is found to match with the underlying spin-spin correlation length at low temperatures. For ferromagnetic couplings (J<0), the associated localization length of the hole increases with decreasing temperature and becomes proportional to the correlation length at low temperatures, asymptotically delocalizing at low temperatures. For antiferromagnetic couplings (J>0), there is a smooth crossover between thermal localization at high temperatures to localization driven by the antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures. At infinite temperatures, the dynamics becomes independent of the sign of the spin coupling, whereby the localization length is a universal function of |J|/t, diverging as (t/J)2 for |J|≪t. Finally, I analyze a setup with Rydberg-dressed atoms, which naturally realizes finite-range Ising interactions, accessible in current experimental setups. I show that the discovered localization phenomenon can be probed on experimentally accessible length- and timescales, providing a strong testing ground for my predictions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Magneto-induced topological phase transition in inverted InAs/GaSb bilayers

We report a magneto-induced topological phase transition in inverted InAs/GaSb bilayers from a quantum spin Hall insulator to a normal insulator. We utilize a dual-gated Corbino device in which the degree of band inversion, or equivalently the electron and hole densities, can be continuously tuned. We observe a topological phase transition around the magnetic field where a band crossing occurs, accompanied by a bulk-gap closure characterized by a bulk conductance peak (BCP). In another set of experiments, we study the transition under a tilted magnetic field (tilt angle ). We observe the characteristic magnetoconductance around BCP as a function of , which dramatically depends on the density of the bilayers. In a relatively deep inversion (hence a higher density) regime, where the electron-hole hybridization dominates the excitonic interaction, the BCP grows with . On the contrary, in a shallowly inverted (a lower density) regime, where the excitonic interaction dominates the hybridization, the BCP is suppressed indicating a smooth crossover without a gap closure. This suggests the existence of a low-density, correlated insulator with spontaneous symmetry breaking near the critical point. Our highly controllable electron-hole system offers an ideal platform to study interacting topological states as proposed by recent theories. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Gas-to-soliton transition of attractive bosons on a spherical surface

We investigate the ground-state properties of N bosons with attractive zero-range interactions characterized by the scattering length a > 0 and confined to the surface of a sphere of radius R. We present the analytic solution of the problem for N = 2, mean-field analysis for N→∞, and exact diffusion Monte Carlo results for intermediate N. For finite N, we observe a smooth crossover from the uniform state in the limit a/R≫1 (weak attraction) to a localized state at small a/R (strong attraction). With increasing N, this crossover narrows down to a discontinuous transition from the uniform state to a soliton of size ∼R/N. The two states are separated by an energy barrier, tunneling under which is exponentially suppressed at large N. The system behavior is marked by a peculiar competition between space-curvature effects and beyond-mean-field terms, both breaking the scaling invariance of a two-dimensional mean-field theory.

Magneto-Permeability Effect in Ferrofluid Flow Through Porous Media Studied via Multiparticle Collision Dynamics

AbstractAs more and more promising applications of magnetic nanoparticles in complicated environments are explored, their flow properties in porous media are of increasing interest. We here propose a hybrid approach based on the multiparticle collision dynamics method extended to porous media via friction forces and coupled with Brownian dynamics simulations of the rotational motion of magnetic nanoparticles’ magnetic moment. We simulate flow in planar channels homogeneously filled with a porous medium and verify our implementation by reproducing the analytical velocity profile of the Darcy–Brinkman model in the non-magnetic case. In the presence of an externally applied magnetic field, the non-equilibrium magnetization and friction forces lead to field-dependent velocity profiles that result in effective, field-dependent permeabilities. We provide a theoretical expression for this magneto-permeability effect in analogy with the magneto-viscous effect. Finally, we study the flow through planar channels, where only the walls are covered with a porous medium. We find a smooth crossover from the Poiseuille profile in the center of the channel to Brinkman–Darcy flow in the porous layers. We propose a simple estimate of the thickness of the porous layer based on the flow rate and maximum flow velocity.

Polaronic proton and diproton clustering in neutron-rich matter

We show that the strong spin-triplet neutron-proton interaction causes polaronic protons to occur in neutron matter at subnuclear densities and nonzero temperatures. As the neutron density increases, proton spectra exhibit a smooth crossover from a bare impurity to a repulsive polaron branch; this branch coexists with an attractive polaron branch. With the neutron density increased further, the attractive polarons become stable with respect to deuteron formation. For two adjacent protons, we find that the polaron effects and the neutron-mediated attraction are sufficient to induce a bound diproton, which leads possibly to diproton formation in the neutron skin region of neutron-rich nuclei in laboratories as well as in neutron stars.

Liquid-Liquid Crossover in Water Model: Local Structure vs Kinetics of Hydrogen Bonds.

In equilibrium and supercooled liquids, polymorphism is manifested by thermodynamic regions defined in the phase diagram, which are predominantly of different short- and medium-range order (local structure). It is found that on the phase diagram of the water model, the thermodynamic region corresponding to the equilibrium liquid phase is divided by a line of the smooth liquid-liquid crossover. In the case of the water model TIP4P/2005, this crossover is revealed by various local order parameters and corresponds to pressures on the order of 3150 ± 350 atm at ambient temperature. In the vicinity of the crossover, the dynamics of water molecules change significantly, which is reflected, in particular, in the fact that the self-diffusion coefficient reaches its maximum values. In addition, changes in the structure also manifest themselves in changes in the kinetics of hydrogen bonding, which are captured by values of such quantities as the average lifetime of hydrogen bonding, the average lifetimes of different local coordination numbers, and the frequencies of changes in different local coordination numbers. An interpretation of the hydrogen bond kinetics in terms of the free energy landscape concept in the space of possible coordination numbers is proposed.

Investigation of the spin crossover behaviour of a sublimable Fe(II)-qsal complex: from the bulk to a submonolayer on graphene/SiO2.

We synthesized a sublimable molecular spin crossover Fe(II) complex based on the Schiff base tridentate ligand qsal-NEt2 (5-diethylamino-2-((quinolin-8-ylimino)methyl)phenol). The compound undergoes a transition in temperature with thermally induced excited spin state-trapping (TIESST) for high-temperature sweep rates, which can be suppressed by reducing the sweep rate. The X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies on the microcrystalline powder confirm the TIESST effect. The molecules are deposited under ultra-high vacuum on a graphene/SiO2 substrate as a submonolayer. Investigation of the submonolayer by XAS reveals the molecular integrity and shows a spin crossover for the whole temperature range from 350 to 4 K, with residual HS species at low temperature and no TIESST effect. DFT calculations suggest a distribution of energetically similar adsorption configurations on graphene, i.e., with smooth crossover behaviour and the absence of TIESST, consistent with very weak intermolecular interactions and the absence of large molecular islands within the submonolayer.

(Pseudo) Scalar mesons in a self-consistent NJL model* *X.W. is supported by the Start-up Funding of Jiangsu University(4111190010) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (12147103)

In this study, we investigate the mass spectra of π and σ mesons at finite chemical potential using the self-consistent NJL model and the Fierz-transformed interaction Lagrangian. The model introduces an arbitrary parameter α to reflect the weights of the Fierz-transformed interaction channels. We show that, when α exceeds a certain threshold value, the chiral phase transition transforms from a first-order one to a smooth crossover, which is evident from the behaviors of the chiral condensates and meson masses. Additionally, at a high chemical potential, the smaller the value of α, the higher the masses of the π and σ mesons. Moreover, the Mott and dissociation chemical potentials increase with the increase in α. Thus, the meson mass emerges as a valuable experimental observable for determining the value of α and investigating the properties of the chiral phase transition in dense QCD matter.

Phase transition of the two Higgs doublets in early universe

In this paper, we study the phase transition of the two Higgs-doublets model (2HDM) and consider a scenario of a electroweak phase transition at alignment limit. Using the Cornwall–Jackiw–Tomboulis formalism at finite temperature, we consider the phase transition of the aligned 2HDM in the two-loop double-bubble contribution. By requirement of Goldstone theorem, the effective potential is corrected and the results show that the system obeys a second-order phase transition. A possible thermal history of the early universe has been treated out: the universe undergoes a smooth crossover in the SM, a second-order phase transition in this model before going to a strong first-order transition in the new physics as in recent 2HDMs and supersymmetry (from the EW symmetric to the broken phase).

Implementation of cluster expansion for hot QCD matter

We present a cluster expansion EoS model for strongly-interacting matter based on the generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck formalism to describe hadrons as bound clusters of quarks. This formalism can describe both confined and deconfined phases. Our emphasis is on the region of vanishing baryon densities, where numerical solutions available from Lattice QCD predict a smooth crossover transition from hadron to quark matter. Medium effects are taken into account as self energies, which are motivated from both perturbative QCD calculations and phenomenological models. Parameters are tuned to Lattice QCD data and result in a good agreement of the thermodynamics.

Thermal properties of structurally balanced systems on classical random graphs

The dynamics of social relations and the possibility of reaching the state of structural balance (Heider balance) under the influence of the temperature modeling the social noise level are discussed for interacting actors occupying nodes of classical random graphs. Depending on the graph density D, either a smooth crossover or a first-order phase transition from a balanced to an imbalanced state of the system is observed with an increase in the thermal noise level. The minimal graph density Dmin for which the first-order phase transition can be observed decreases with the system size N as Dmin∝N−0.58(1). For graph densities D>Dmin, the reduced critical temperature Tc⋆=Tc/Tc(D=1) increases with the graph density as Tc⋆∝D1.719(6) independently of the system size N.

The emergence of global phase coherence from local pairing in underdoped cuprates

In conventional metallic superconductors such as aluminium, the large number of weakly bounded Cooper pairs become phase-coherent as soon as they start to form. The cuprate high-temperature superconductors belong to a different category because, being doped Mott insulators, they are known to have low superfluid density and are therefore susceptible to phase fluctuations. It has been proposed that pairing and phase coherence may occur separately in cuprates, and that the measured critical temperature corresponds to the phase-coherence temperature controlled by the superfluid density. Here we examine the evolution of pairing and phase-ordering in underdoped cuprates, and find that a chequerboard plaquette pattern of charge order plays a crucial role, such that the global phase coherence is established once its spatial occupation exceeds a threshold. We make these observations via scanning tunnelling microscopy on underdoped Bi2LaxSr2 − xCuO6 + δ. We observe a smooth crossover from the Mott insulator to superconductor on small islands that have chequerboard order. Each chequerboard plaquette contains approximately two holes and exhibits a stripy internal structure that has a strong influence on the superconducting spectroscopic features. The local spectra remain qualitatively the same across the insulator-to-superconductor transition, and the quasiparticle interference becomes long-ranged. How the superconducting state emerges from a Mott insulator in cuprate superconductors is still not fully understood. Now, the spatial extent of a chequerboard charge order with internal stripes is shown to be crucial.

Gravitational Wave Signal for Quark Matter with Realistic Phase Transition.

The cores of neutron stars (NSs) near the maximum mass can realize a transitional change to quark matter (QM). Gravitational waves from binary NS mergers are expected to convey information about the equation of state (EOS) sensitive to the QM transition. Here, we present the first results of gravitational wave simulation with the realistic EOS that is consistent with abinitio approaches of χEFT and pQCD and is assumed to go through smooth crossover. We compare them to results obtained with another EOS with a first-order hadron-quark phase transition. Our results suggest that early collapse to a black hole in the post-merger stage after NS merger robustly signifies softening of the EOS associated with the QM onset in the crossover scenario. The nature of the hadron-quark phase transition can be further constrained by the condition that electromagnetic counterparts should be energized by the material left outside the remnant black hole.

Primordial black hole formation during a strongly coupled crossover

The final mass distribution of primordial black holes is sensitive to the equation of state of the Universe at the scales accessible by the power spectrum. Motivated by the presence of phase transitions in several beyond the Standard Model theories, some of which are strongly coupled, we analyze the production of primordial black holes during such phase transitions, which we model using the gauge/gravity duality. We focus in the (often regarded as physically uninteresting) case for which the phase transition is just a smooth crossover. We find an enhancement of primordial black hole production in the range $M_{\rm{PBH}}\in[10^{-16},10^{-6}]M_{\odot}$.

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.

Comparison of the 3-Fluid Dynamic Model with Experimental Data

The article considers a way to compare large bulks of experimental data with theoretical calculations, in which the quality of theoretical models is clearly demonstrated graphically. The main idea of the method consists in grouping physical observables, represented by experiment and theoretical calculation, into samples, each of which characterizes a certain physical process. A further choice of a convenient criterion for comparing measurements and calculations, its calculation and averaging within each sample and then over all samples, makes it possible to choose the best theoretical model in the entire measurement area. Published theoretical data of the three-fluid dynamic model (3FD) applied to the experimental data from heavy-ion collisions at the energy range $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\,=\,2.7 - 63$ GeV are used as example of application of the developed methodology. When analyzing the results, the quantum nature of the fireball, created at heavy ion collisions, was taken into account. Thus, even at energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\,=\,63$ GeV of central collisions of heavy ions, there is a nonzero probability of fireball formation without ignition of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). At the same time, QGP ignition at central collision energies above at least $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\,=\,12 GeV occurs through two competing processes, through a first-order phase transition and through a smooth crossover. That is, in nature, these two possibilities are realized, which occur with approximately the same probabilities.

Constraining the QCD phase diagram

Lattice QCD and functional methods are making significant progress in constraining the QCD phase diagram. As an important milestone, the chiral phase transition with massless u, d-quarks at zero density is now understood to be of second order for all strange quark masses, and a smooth crossover as soon as mu,d, ≠ 0. Together with information on fluctuations and refined reweighted simulations, this bounds a possible critical point to be at µB/T ≲3. On the other hand, an approximately chiral-spin symmetric temperature window has been discovered above the chiral crossover, Tch<T ≳3Tch, with distinct correlator multiplet patterns and a pion spectral function suggesting resonance-like degrees of freedom, which dissolve graduallly with temperature.