Quantum Phase Transition in the One-Dimensional Water Chain

Ground states of planar dipolar rotor chains with recurrent neural networks

In this contribution, we employ a recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture in a variational optimization to obtain the ground state of linear chains of planar, dipolar rotors. We test different local basis sets and discuss their impact on the sign structure of the many-body ground state wavefunction. It is demonstrated that the RNN ansatz we employ is able to treat systems with and without a sign problem in the ground state. For larger chains with up to 50 rotors, accurate properties, such as correlation functions and Binder parameters, are calculated. By employing quantum annealing, we show that precise entanglement properties can be obtained. All these properties allow one to identify a quantum phase transition between a paraelectric and a ferroelectric quantum phase.

Quantum criticality in chains of planar rotors with dipolar interactions

In this work, we perform a density matrix renormalization group study of chains of planar rotors interacting via dipolar interactions. By exploring the ground state from weakly to strongly interacting rotors, we find the occurrence of a quantum phase transition between a disordered and a dipole-ordered quantum state. We show that the nature of the ordered state changes from ferroelectric to antiferroelectric when the relative orientation of the rotor planes varies and that this change requires no modification of the overall symmetry. The observed quantum phase transitions are characterized by critical exponents and central charges, which reveal different universality classes ranging from that of the (1 + 1)D Ising model to the 2D classical XY model.

Different pathways to anomalous stabilization of ice layers on methane hydrates

We explore the Casimir-Lifshitz free-energy theory for surface freezing of methane gas hydrates near the freezing point of water. The theory enables us to explore different pathways, resulting in anomalous (stabilizing) ice layers on methane hydrate surfaces via energy minimization. Notably, we will contrast the gas hydrate material properties, under which thin ice films can form in water vapor, with those previously predicted to be required in the presence of liquid water. It is predicted that methane hydrates in water vapor near the freezing point of water nucleate ice films, instead of water films.

Quantum Criticality and Universal Behavior in Molecular Dipolar Lattices of Endofullerenes

Fullerene cages allow the confinement of single molecules and the construction of molecular assemblies whose properties strongly differ from those of free species. In this work, we employ the density-matrix renormalization group method to show that chains of fullerenes filled with polar molecules (LiF, HF, and H₂O) can form dipole-ordered quantum phases. In symmetry broken environments, these ordered phases are ferroelectric, a property that makes them promising candidates for quantum devices. We demonstrate that for a given guest molecule, the occurrence of these quantum phases can be enforced or influenced either by changing the effective electric dipole moment or by isotopic substitution. In the ordered phase, all systems under consideration are characterized by universal behavior that depends only on the ratio of the effective electric dipole and of the rotational constant. A phase diagram is derived, and further molecules are proposed as candidates for dipole-ordered endofullerene chains.

On the nature of the Schottky anomaly in endohedral water

In this work, we study the heat capacity contribution of a rigid water molecule encapsulated in C₆₀ by performing six-dimensional eigenstate calculations with the inclusion of its quantized rotational and translational degrees of freedom. Two confinement model potentials are considered: in the first, confinement is described using distributed pairwise Lennard-Jones interactions, while in the second, the water molecule is trapped within an eccentric but isotropic 3D harmonic effective confinement potential [Wespiser et al., J. Chem. Phys. 156, 074304 (2022)]. Contributions to the heat capacity from both the ortho and para nuclear spin isomers of water are considered to enable the effects of their interconversion to be assessed. By including a symmetry-breaking quadrupolar potential energy term in the Hamiltonian, we can reproduce the experimentally observed Schottky anomaly at ∼2 K [Suzuki et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 10, 1306 (2019)]. Furthermore, our calculations predict a second Schottky anomaly at ∼0.1 K resulting from the H configuration, a different orientational arrangement of the fullerene cages in crystalline solid C₆₀. Contributions from the H configuration to C_V also explain the second peak observed at ∼7 K in the experimentally measured heat capacity.

Toward a quasiphase transition in the single-file chain of water molecules: Simple lattice model

Recently, Ma et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 027402 (2017)] have suggested that water molecules encapsulated in (6,5) single-wall carbon nanotube experience a temperature-induced quasiphase transition around 150 K interpreted as changes in the water dipoles orientation. We discuss further this temperature-driven quasiphase transition performing quantum chemical calculations and molecular dynamics simulations and, most importantly, suggesting a simple lattice model to reproduce the properties of the one-dimensional confined finite arrays of water molecules. The lattice model takes into account not only the short-range and long-range interactions but also the rotations in a narrow tube, and both ingredients provide an explanation for a temperature-driven orientational ordering of the water molecules, which persists within a relatively wide temperature range.