arXiv subjects

David R. Nelson

Publications and source records attributed to David R. Nelson.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv1998

Winding Numbers, Complex Currents, and Non-Hermitian Localization

The nature of extended states in disordered tight binding models with a constant imaginary vector potential is explored. Such models, relevant to vortex physics in superconductors and to population biology, exhibit a delocalization transition and a band of extended states even for a one dimensional ring. Using an analysis of eigenvalue trajectories in the complex plane, we demonstrate that each delocalized state is characterized by an (integer) winding number, and evaluate the associated complex current. Winding numbers in higher dimensions are also discussed.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1998

Non-Hermitian Localization and Population Biology

The time evolution of spatial fluctuations in inhomogeneous d-dimensional biological systems is analyzed. A single species continuous growth model, in which the population disperses via diffusion and convection is considered. Time-independent environmental heterogeneities, such as a random distribution of nutrients or sunlight are modeled by quenched disorder in the growth rate. Linearization of this model of population dynamics shows that the fastest growing localized state dominates in a time proportional to a power of the logarithm of the system size. Using an analogy with a Schrodinger equation subject to a constant imaginary vector potential, we propose a delocalization transition for the steady state of the nonlinear problem at a critical convection threshold separating localized and extended states. In the limit of high convection velocity, the linearized growth problem in $d$ dimensions exhibits singular scaling behavior described by a (d-1)-dimensional generalization of the noisy Burgers' equation, with universal singularities in the density of states associated with disorder averaged eigenvalues near the band edge in the complex plane. The Burgers mapping leads to unusual transverse spreading of convecting delocalized populations.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv1997

Superfluid Bosons and Flux Liquids: Disorder, Thermal Fluctuations, and Finite-Size Effects

The influence of different types of disorder (both uncorrelated and correlated) on the superfluid properties of a weakly interacting or dilute Bose gas, as well as on the corresponding quantities for flux line liquids in high-temperature superconductors at low magnetic fields are reviewed, investigated and compared. We exploit the formal analogy between superfluid bosons and the statistical mechanics of directed lines, and explore the influence of the different "imaginary time" boundary conditions appropriate for a flux line liquid. For superfluids, we discuss the density and momentum correlations, the condensate fraction, and the normal-fluid density as function of temperature for two- and three-dimensional systems subject to a space- and time-dependent random potential as well as conventional point-, line-, and plane-like defects. In the case of vortex liquids subject to point disorder, twin boundaries, screw dislocations, and various configurations of columnar damage tracks, we calculate the corresponding quantities, namely density and tilt correlations, the ``boson'' order parameter, and the tilt modulus. The finite-size corrections due to periodic vs. open "imaginary time" boundary conditions differ in interesting and important ways. Experimental implications for vortex lines are described briefly.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1997

Vortex Pinning and Non-Hermitian Quantum Mechanics

A delocalization phenomenon is studied in a class of non-Hermitian random quantum-mechanical problems. Delocalization arises in response to a sufficiently large constant imaginary vector potential. The transition is related to depinning of flux lines from extended defects in type-II superconductors subject to a tilted external magnetic field. The physical meaning of the complex eigenvalues and currents of the non-Hermitian system is elucidated in terms of properties of tilted vortex lines. The singular behavior of the penetration length describing stretched exponential screening of a perpendicular magnetic field (transverse Meissner effect), the surface transverse magnetization, and the trapping length are determined near the flux-line depinning point.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

Polymer Winding Numbers and Quantum Mechanics

The winding of a single polymer in thermal equilibrium around a repulsive cylindrical obstacle is perhaps the simplest example of statistical mechanics in a multiply connected geometry. As shown by S.F. Edwards, this problem is closely related to the quantum mechanics of a charged particle interacting with a Aharonov-Bohm flux. In another development, Pollock and Ceperley have shown that boson world lines in 2+1 dimensions with periodic boundary conditions, regarded as ring polymers on a torus, have a mean square winding number given by $ = 2n_s\hbar^2/mk_BT$, where $m$ is the boson mass and $n_s$ is the superfluid number density. Here, we review the mapping of the statistical mechanics of polymers with constraints onto quantum mechanics, and show that there is an interesting generalization of the Pollock-Ceperley result to directed polymer melts interacting with a repulsive rod of radius $a$. When translated into boson language, the mean square winding number around the rod for a system of size $R$ perpendicular to the rod reads $ = {n_s\hbar^2\over 2πmk_BT}\ln(R/a)$. This result is directly applicable to vortices in Type II superconductors in the presence of columnar defects. An external current passing through the rod couples directly to the winding number in this case.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv1996

Pinning and Tribology of Tethered Monolayers on Disordered Substrates

We study the statistical mechanics and dynamics of crystalline films with a fixed internal connectivity on a random substrate. Defect free triangular lattices exhibit a sharp transition to a low temperature glassy phase with anomalous phonon fluctuations and a nonlinear force-displacement law with a continuously variable exponent, similar to the vortex glass phase of directed lines in 1+1 dimensions. The periodicity of the tethered monolayer acts like a filter which amplifies particular Fourier components of the disorder. However, the absence of annealed topological defects like dislocations is crucial: the transition is destroyed when the constraint of fixed connectivity is relaxed and dislocations are allowed to proliferate.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

Irreversibility, Mechanical Entanglement and Thermal Melting in Superconducting Vortex Crystals with Point Impurities

We discuss the onset of irreversibility and entanglement of vortex lines in high Tc superconductors due to point disorder and thermal fluctuations using a simplified cage model. A combination of Flory arguments, known results from directed polymers in random media, and a Lindemann criterion are used to estimate the field and temperature dependence of irreversibility, mechanical entanglement and thermal melting. The qualitative features of this dependence, including its nonmonotonicity when disorder is sufficiently strong, are in good agreement with recent experiments.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

Longitudinal Current Dissipation in Bose-glass Superconductors

A scaling theory of vortex motion in Bose glass superconductors with currents parallel to the common direction of the magnetic field and columnar defects is presented. Above the Bose-glass transition the longitudinal DC resistivity $ρ_{||}(T)\sim (T-T_{BG})^{ν' z'}$ vanishes much faster than the corresponding transverse resistivity $ρ_{\perp}(T)\sim (T-T_{BG})^{ν' (z'-2)}$, thus {\it reversing} the usual anisotropy of electrical transport in the normal state of layered superconductors. In the presence of a current $\bf J$ at an angle $θ_J$ with the common field and columnar defect axis, the electric field angle $θ_E$ approaches $π/2$ as $T\rightarrow T_{BG}^+$. Scaling also predicts the behavior of penetration depths for the AC currents as $T\rightarrow T_{BG}^-$, and implies a {\it jump discontinuity} at $T_{BG}$ in the superfluid density describing transport parallel to the columns.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

Electrostriction of Polar Glasses

We develop a finite temperature theory for the susceptibility and electrostriction of isotropic substances in which permanent electric dipoles are restrained from free rotation by elastic forces. All parameters are constrained by the measured susceptibility and elastic constants. When applied to polyurethane, the predicted electrostriction is approximately consistent wiht some of the wide range of data. The saturation of the electrostriction at high field may be explained qualitatively if the dipoles consist of several amide groups locked together by crystallization of the hard segments of the polymer.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1996

Localization transitions in non-Hermitian quantum mechanics

We study the localization transitions which arise in both one and two dimensions when quantum mechanical particles described by a random Schrödinger equation are subjected to a constant imaginary vector potential. A path-integral formulation relates the transition to flux lines depinned from columnar defects by a transverse magnetic field in superconductors. The theory predicts that the transverse Meissner effect is accompanied by stretched exponential relaxation of the field into the bulk and a diverging penetration depth at the transition.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1995

Free Energies of Isolated 5- and 7-fold Disclinations in Hexatic Membranes

We examine the shapes and energies of 5- and 7-fold disclinations in low-temperature hexatic membranes. These defects buckle at different values of the ratio of the bending rigidity, $κ$, to the hexatic stiffness constant, $K_A$, suggesting {\em two} distinct Kosterlitz-Thouless defect proliferation temperatures. Seven-fold disclinations are studied in detail numerically for arbitrary $κ/K_A$. We argue that thermal fluctuations always drive $κ/K_A$ into an ``unbuckled'' regime at long wavelengths, so that disclinations should, in fact, proliferate at the {\em same} critical temperature. We show analytically that both types of defects have power law shapes with continuously variable exponents in the ``unbuckled'' regime. Thermal fluctuations then lock in specific power laws at long wavelengths, which we calculate for 5- and 7-fold defects at low temperatures.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1995

Defects in Chiral Columnar Phases: Tilt Grain Boundaries and Iterated Moire Maps

Biomolecules are often very long with a definite chirality. DNA, xanthan and poly-gamma-benzyl-glutamate (PBLG) can all form columnar crystalline phases. The chirality, however, competes with the tendency for crystalline order. For chiral polymers, there are two sorts of chirality: the first describes the usual cholesteric-like twist of the local director around a pitch axis, while the second favors the rotation of the local bond-orientational order and leads to a braiding of the polymers along an average direction. In the former case chirality can be manifested in a tilt grain boundary phase (TGB) analogous to the Renn-Lubensky phase of smectic-A liquid crystals. In the latter case we are led to a new "moire" state with twisted bond order. In the moire state polymers are simultaneously entangled, crystalline, and aligned, on average, in a common direction. In the moire state polymers are simultaneously entangled, crystalline, and aligned, on average, in a common direction. In this case the polymer trajectories in the plane perpendicular to their average direction are described by iterated moire maps of remarkable complexity, reminiscent of dynamical systems.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1995

Interactions, Distribution of Pinning Energies, and Transport in the Bose Glass Phase of Vortices in Superconductors

We study the ground state and low energy excitations of vortices pinned to columnar defects in superconductors, taking into account the long--range interaction between the fluxons. We consider the ``underfilled'' situation in the Bose glass phase, where each flux line is attached to one of the defects, while some pins remain unoccupied. By exploiting an analogy with disordered semiconductors, we calculate the spatial configurations in the ground state, as well as the distribution of pinning energies, using a zero--temperature Monte Carlo algorithm minimizing the total energy with respect to all possible one--vortex transfers. Intervortex repulsion leads to strong correlations whenever the London penetration depth exceeds the fluxon spacing. A pronounced peak appears in the static structure factor $S(q)$ for low filling fractions $f \leq 0.3$. Interactions lead to a broad Coulomb gap in the distribution of pinning energies $g(ε)$ near the chemical potential $μ$, separating the occupied and empty pins. The vanishing of $g(ε)$ at $μ$ leads to a considerable reduction of variable--range hopping vortex transport by correlated flux line pinning.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1995

Quantum Smectic and Supersolid Order in Helium Films and Vortex Arrays

A flux liquid can condense into a smectic crystal in a pure layered superconductor with the magnetic field oriented nearly parallel to the layers. Similar order can arise in low temperature $^4$He films with a highly anisotropic periodic substrate potential. If the smectic order is commensurate with the layering, this periodic array is {\sl stable} to quenched random point--like disorder. By tilting and adjusting the magnitude of the applied field, both incommensurate and tilted smectic and crystalline phases are found for vortex arrays. Related variations are possible by changing the chemical potential in the helium system. We discuss transport near the second order smectic freezing transition, and show that permeation modes in superconductors lead to a small non--zero resistivity and a large but finite tilt modulus in the smectic crystal. In helium films, the theory predicts a nonzero superfluid density and propagating third sound modes, showing that the quantum smectic is always simultaneously crystalline and superfluid.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1995

Defects in Superfluids, Superconductors and Membranes

An introduction to the defects which dominate the physics of superfluid He$^4$ films, of superconducting slabs and of crystalline and hexatic membranes is given. We first review point vortices in two-dimensional neutral superfluids and discuss the unusual screening which arises when the bosons are charged, as in superconducting films. Dislocation and disclination defects in crystalline membranes are discussed from a similar point of view. There is little or no screening in ``monolayer'' crystals, which are strongly constrained to lie in a flat two-dimensional plane. A strong nonlinear screening effect arises, however, in 2d membranes allowed to buckle into the third dimension. This screening drastically lowers dislocation and disclination energies, and forces crystalline membranes to melt at any finite temperature. We point out that buckled 5- and 7-fold disclinations in hexatic membranes have in general different logarithmically divergent energies. A similar asymmetry exists in the energies of 5- and 7-fold defects in {\it liquid} membranes. This difference determines the sign of the Gaussian bending rigidity, and has important consequences in membranes which can change their topology or with free boundary conditions.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1994

Polymer Braids and Iterated Moire Maps

Crystalline order in dense packings of long polymers with a definite handedness is difficult to reconcile with the tendency of these chiral objects to twist and braid about each other. If the chirality is weak, the state of lowest energy is a triangular lattice of rigid rods. When the chirality is strong, however, screw dislocations proliferate, leading to either a tilt grain boundary phase or a new "moire state" with twisted bond order. In the latter case, polymer trajectories in the plane perpendicular to their average direction are described by iterated moiré maps of remarkable complexity, reminiscent of dynamical systems.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1994

Theory of Double-Sided Flux Decorations

A novel two-sided Bitter decoration technique was recently employed by Yao et al. to study the structure of the magnetic vortex array in high-temperature superconductors. Here we discuss the analysis of such experiments. We show that two-sided decorations can be used to infer {\it quantitative} information about the bulk properties of flux arrays, and discuss how a least squares analysis of the local density differences can be used to bring the two sides into registry. Information about the tilt, compressional and shear moduli of bulk vortex configurations can be extracted from these measurements.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1994

Coulomb Gap and Correlated Vortex Pinning in Superconductors

The positions of columnar pins and magnetic flux lines determined from a decoration experiment on BSCCO were used to calculate the single--particle density of states at low temperatures in the Bose glass phase. A wide Coulomb gap is found, with gap exponent $s \approx 1.2$, as a result of the long--range interaction between the vortices. As a consequence, the variable--range hopping transport of flux lines is considerably reduced with respect to the non--interacting case, the effective Mott exponent being enhanced from $p_0 = 1/3$ to $p_{\rm eff} \approx 0.5$ for this specific experiment.

cond-mat↗