Phase transitions in wave turbulence

Second-harmonic generation as a minimal model of turbulence

When two resonantly interacting modes are in contact with a thermostat, their statistics is exactly Gaussian and the modes are statistically independent despite strong interaction. Considering a noise-driven system, we show that when one mode is pumped and another dissipates, the statistics of such cascades is never close to Gaussian, no matter what is the relation between interaction and noise. One finds substantial phase correlation in the limit of strong interaction or weak noise. Surprisingly, the mutual information between modes increases and entropy decreases when interaction strength decreases. We use the model to elucidate the fundamental problem of far-from equilibrium physics: where the information, or entropy deficit, is encoded, and how singular measures form. For an instability-driven system, such as laser, even a small added noise leads to large fluctuations of the relative phase near the stability threshold, while far from the equilibrium the conversion into the second harmonic is weakly affected by noise.

Evolution of inverse cascades and formation of precondensate in Gross-Pitaevskii turbulence in two dimensions

Here we study how coherence appears in a system driven by noise at small scales. In the wave turbulence modeled by the Gross-Pitaevskii or the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, we observe states with correlation scales smaller than the system size but much larger than the excitation scale. We call a such state precondensate to distinguish it from condensate defined as a systemwide coherent state. Both condensate and precondensate are characterized by large-scale phase coherence and a narrow distribution of amplitudes. When one excites small scales, precondensate is achieved relatively quickly by an inverse cascade heating quasiequilibrium distribution of large-scale modes. The transition from the precondensate to the systemwide condensate requires a much longer time. The spectra of precondensate differ from quasiequilibrium and are characterized by two bending points, one on the scale of the average distance between vortex pairs and the other on the scale of the distance between vortices in a pair. We suggest temporal evolution laws for both lengths and use them to predict the probability of the transition to condensate.

Experimental investigations and phase-field simulations of triple-phase-separation kinetics within liquid ternary Co-Cu-Pb immiscible alloys

The phase-separation kinetics and microstructure evolution mechanisms of liquid ternary Co_{43}Cu_{40}Pb_{17} immiscible alloys are investigated by both the drop tube technique and phase-field method. Two successive phase separations take place during droplet falling and lead to the formation of a three-phase three-layer core-shell structure composed of a Co-rich core, a Cu-rich middle layer, and a Pb-rich shell. The Pb-rich shell becomes more and more conspicuous as droplet diameter decreases. Meanwhile, the Co-rich core center gradually moves away from the core-shell center. Theoretical analyses show that a larger temperature gradient inside a smaller alloy droplet induces the accelerated growth of the surface segregation shell during triple-phase separation. The residual Stokes motion and the asymmetric Marangoni convection result in the appearance of an eccentric Co-rich core and the core deviation degree is closely related to the droplet size and initial velocity. A three-dimensional phase-field model of ternary immiscible alloys, which considers the successive phase separations under the combined effects of Marangoni convection and surface segregation, is proposed to explore the formation mechanisms of three-phase core-shell structures. The simulated core-shell morphologies are consistent with the experimental observations, which verifies the model's validity in reproducing the core-shell dynamic evolution. Numerical results reveal that the development of three-phase three-layer core-shell structures can be attributed to the primary and then secondary phase separations dominated simultaneously by Marangoni convection and surface segregation. Furthermore, the effects of droplet temperature gradient on the growth kinetics of the surface segregation shell are analyzed in the light of phase-field theory.

Cascades in nonlocal turbulence

We consider developed turbulence in the two-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii model, which describes wide classes of phenomena from atomic and optical physics to condensed matter, fluids, and plasma. The well-known difficulty of the problem is that the hypothetical local spectra of both inverse and direct cascades in the weak-turbulence approximation carry fluxes that are either zero or have the wrong sign; Such spectra cannot be realized. We analytically derive the exact flux constancy laws (analogs of Kolmogorov's 4/5 law for incompressible fluid turbulence), expressed via the fourth-order moment and valid for any nonlinearity. We confirm the flux laws in direct numerical simulations. We show that a constant flux is realized by a nonlocal wave interaction in both the direct and inverse cascades. Wave spectra (second-order moments) are close to slightly (logarithmically) distorted thermal equilibrium in both cascades.

Oscillations in a turbulence-condensate system

We consider developed turbulence in the Gross-Pitaevsky model, where a condensate appears due to an inverse cascade. Despite being fully turbulent, the system demonstrates nondecaying periodic oscillations around a steady state, when turbulence and condensate periodically exchange a small fraction of waves. We show that these collective oscillations are not of a predator-prey type, as was suggested earlier; rather, they are due to phase coherence and anomalous correlations imposed by the condensate.