Vortex-ring model of the superfluid lambda transition

Density functional theory of superfluid helium at finite temperatures

A density functional theory-based method is developed to describe the static and dynamic response of superfluid helium at finite temperatures. The model relies on the well-established 0 K Orsay-Trento functional, which has been extensively used to study the response of bulk superfluid helium as well as superfluid helium droplets. By including a phenomenological stochastic term in this model, it is possible to obtain thermodynamic equilibrium corresponding to a given temperature by propagating the system in imaginary time. The temperature dependence of thermodynamic quantities, such as the internal energy and entropy, is computed and is compared well with experimental reference data for the bulk liquid up to about 2 K, but begins to gradually deviate above that temperature. Inspection of pseudovorticity during real-time evolution of the system near 2 K reveals the presence of roton quasiparticles, which are suggested to be precursors for quantized vortex rings (Onsager's ghosts), as well as weaker analogs of extended vortex loops.

Dynamic heterogeneity, cooperative motion, and Johari-Goldstein [Formula: see text]-relaxation in a metallic glass-forming material exhibiting a fragile-to-strong transition

We investigate the Johari-Goldstein (JG) [Formula: see text]-relaxation process in a model metallic glass-forming (GF) material ([Formula: see text]), previously studied extensively by both frequency-dependent mechanical measurements and simulation studies devoted to equilibrium properties, by molecular dynamics simulations based on validated and optimized interatomic potentials with the primary aim of better understanding the nature of this universal relaxation process from a dynamic heterogeneity (DH) perspective. The present relatively low temperature and long-time simulations reveal a direct correspondence between the JG [Formula: see text]-relaxation time [Formula: see text] and the lifetime of the mobile particle clusters [Formula: see text], defined as in previous DH studies, a relationship dual to the corresponding previously observed relationship between the [Formula: see text]-relaxation time [Formula: see text] and the lifetime of immobile particle clusters [Formula: see text]. Moreover, we find that the average diffusion coefficient D nearly coincides with [Formula: see text] of the smaller atomic species (Al) and that the 'hopping time' associated with D coincides with [Formula: see text] to within numerical uncertainty, both trends being in accord with experimental studies. This indicates that the JG [Formula: see text]-relaxation is dominated by the smaller atomic species and the observation of a direct relation between this relaxation process and rate of molecular diffusion in GF materials at low temperatures where the JG [Formula: see text]-relaxation becomes the prevalent mode of structural relaxation. As an unanticipated aspect of our study, we find that [Formula: see text] exhibits fragile-to-strong (FS) glass formation, as found in many other metallic GF liquids, but this fact does not greatly alter the geometrical nature of DH in this material and the relation of DH to dynamical properties. On the other hand, the temperature dependence of the DH and dynamical properties, such as the structural relaxation time, can be significantly altered from 'ordinary' GF liquids.

Vortex-loop calculation of the specific heat of superfluid ^{4}He under pressure

Vortex-loop renormalization is used to compute the specific heat of superfluid ^{4}He near the lambda point at various pressures up to 26 bars. The input parameters are the pressure dependence of T_{λ} and the superfluid density, which determine the nonuniversal parameters of the vortex core energy and core size. The results for the specific heat are found to be in good agreement with experimental data, matching the expected universal pressure dependence to within about 5%. The nonuniversal critical amplitude of the specific heat is found to be in reasonable agreement, a factor of four larger than the experiments. We point out problems with recent Gross-Pitaevskii simulations that claimed the vortex-loop percolation temperature did not match the critical temperature of the superfluid phase transition.

Phase transitions and pattern formation in ensembles of phase-amplitude solitons in quasi-one-dimensional electronic systems

Most common types of symmetry breaking in quasi-one-dimensional electronic systems possess a combined manifold of states degenerate with respect to both the phase θ and the amplitude A sign of the order parameter Aexp(iθ). These degrees of freedom can be controlled or accessed independently via either the spin polarization or the charge densities. To understand statistical properties and the phase diagram in the course of cooling under the controlled parameters, we present here an analytical treatment supported by Monte Carlo simulations for a generic coarse-grained two-field model of XY-Ising type. The degeneracies give rise to two coexisting types of topologically nontrivial configurations: phase vortices and amplitude kinks, i.e., the solitons. In two- and three-dimensional states with long-range (or Berezinskii--Kosterlitz--Thouless-type) orders, the topological confinement sets in at a temperature T=T_{1} which binds together the kinks and unusual half-integer vortices. At a lower T=T_{2}, the solitons start to aggregate into walls formed as rods of amplitude kinks which are ultimately terminated by half-integer vortices. With lowering T, the walls multiply, passing sequentially across the sample. The presented results indicate a possible physical realization of a peculiar system of half-integer vortices with rods of amplitude kinks connecting their cores. Its experimental realization becomes feasible in view of recent successes in real-space observations and even manipulations of domain walls in correlated electronic systems.

Anomalous translational velocity of vortex ring with finite-amplitude Kelvin waves

We consider finite-amplitude Kelvin waves on an inviscid vortex assuming that the vortex core has infinitesimal thickness. By numerically solving the governing Biot-Savart equation of motion, we study how the frequency of the Kelvin waves and the velocity of the perturbed ring depend on the Kelvin wave amplitude. In particular, we show that, if the amplitude of the Kelvin waves is sufficiently large, the perturbed vortex ring moves backwards.

Stochastic perturbations in vortex-tube dynamics

A dual lattice vortex formulation of homogeneous turbulence is developed, within the Martin-Siggia-Rose field theoretical approach. It consists of a generalization of the usual dipole version of the Navier-Stokes equations, known to hold in the limit of vanishing external forcing. We investigate, as a straightforward application of our formalism, the dynamics of closed vortex tubes, randomly stirred at large length scales by Gaussian stochastic forces. We find that besides the usual self-induced propagation, the vortex tube evolution may be effectively modeled through the introduction of an additional white-noise correlated velocity field background. The resulting phenomenological picture is closely related to observations previously reported from a wavelet decomposition analysis of turbulent flow configurations.

Critical properties of loop percolation models with optimization constraints

We study loop percolation models in two and in three space dimensions, in which configurations of occupied bonds are forced to form a closed loop. We show that the uncorrelated occupation of elementary plaquettes of the square and the simple cubic lattice by elementary loops leads to a percolation transition that is in the same universality class as the conventional percolation. In contrast to this, an optimization constraint for the loop configurations, which then have to minimize a particular generic energy function, leads to a percolation transition that constitutes a universality class for which we report the critical exponents. Implication for the physics of solid-on-solid and vortex glass models are discussed.

Evidence of two distinct dynamic critical exponents in connection with vortex physics

The dynamic critical exponent z is determined from numerical simulations for the three-dimensional (3D) lattice Coulomb gas (LCG) and the 3D XY models with relaxational dynamics. It is suggested that the dynamics is characterized by two distinct dynamic critical indices z0 and z related to the divergence of the relaxation time tau by tau proportional to xi(z0) and tau proportional to k(-z), where xi is the correlation length and k the wave vector. The values determined are z0 approximately 1.5 and z approximately 1 for the 3D LCG and z0 approximately 1.5 and z approximately 2 for the 3D XY model. Comparisons with other results are discussed.

Percolation, Bose-Einstein condensation, and string proliferation

The close analogy between cluster percolation and string proliferation in the context of critical phenomena is studied. Like clusters in percolation theory, closed strings, which can be either finite-temperature worldlines or topological line defects, are described by a distribution parametrized by only two exponents. On approaching the critical point, the string tension vanishes and the loops proliferate, thereby signalling the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation (in the case of worldlines) or the disordering of the ordered state (in the case of vortices). The ideal Bose gas with modified energy spectrum is used as a stepping stone to derive general expressions for the critical exponents in terms of the two exponents parametrizing the loop distribution near criticality.

Suppression of superconductivity in mesoscopic superconductors

We propose a new boundary-driven phase transition associated with vortex nucleation in mesoscopic superconductors (of size of the order of, or larger than, the penetration depth). We derive the rescaling equations and we show that boundary effects associated with vortex nucleation lower the conventional transition temperature in mesoscopic superconductors by an amount which is a function of the size of the superconductor. This result explains recent experiments in small superconductors where it was found that the transition temperature depends on the size of the system and is lower than the critical Berezinskĭ-Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature.