arXiv subjects

Paul M. Goldbart

Publications and source records attributed to Paul M. Goldbart.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Proximity-measurement induced random localization in quantum fluids

Proximity measurements probe whether pairs of particles are close to one another. We consider the impact of post-selected random proximity measurements on a quantum fluid of many distinguishable particles. We show that such measurements induce random spatial localization of a fraction of the particles, and yet preserve homogeneity macroscopically. Eventually, all particles localize, with a distribution of localization lengths that saturates at a scale controlled by the typical measurement rate. The steady-state distribution of these lengths is governed by a familiar scaling form.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Statistical field theory of equilibrium amorphous solids and the intrinsic heterogeneity distributions that characterize them

A rich variety of amorphous solids are found in nature and technology, including ones formed via the vulcanization of long, flexible molecules. A special class -- those featuring a wide gap between the long timescales over which constraints in them release and the much shorter timescales over which their unconstrained freedoms relax -- exhibit states of thermodynamic equilibrium and are thus amenable to the framework of equilibrium statistical physics. The approach reviewed here is the least specific -- and thus the most general -- approach to the statistical mechanics of equilibrium amorphous solid-formers: statistical field theory. An overview is given of the key elements and results of this theory. The field of the theory is constructed to detect and diagnose the amorphous solid state. Its form turns out to be unusual, in ways that are essential for its application, so it is examined in detail, as is the form of the field theory controlling the field. What this theory can predict for the equilibrium properties of amorphous solids is then discussed, including: the transition to the amorphous solid state and the heterogeneity of the resulting solid; the impact of fluctuations on the transition and connections with percolation theory; the pattern of symmetry-breaking and the nature of the resulting elasticity; and field correlations and the information they provide. Emphasis is placed on the idea, peculiar to amorphous solids, that their equilibrium states are naturally characterized in terms of distributions that capture the intrinsic spatial heterogeneity of the thermal motions of their constituents. The theory's field has an internal structure that subtly encodes this information, via the wave-vector dependencies of the average field and its correlations. Reflections are made on the applicability of theses ideas and results to a range of amorphous solids and related systems.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2025

Towards perfect quantum insulation

Electric fields, applied to insulators, cause transitions between valence and conduction bands, giving rise to current. Adjustments of the Hamiltonian can perfect the quality of the insulator, shutting down transitions whilst fully preserving the many-particle state, but they are challenging to implement. Instead, adjusted Hamiltonians having desirable features are addressed variationally, via the analysis of a suitable figure of merit. They suppress current-enabling transitions whilst tending to preserve the many-particle state, and hence they yield optimal insulation. Emerging naturally from this approach are two established concepts: transitionless quantum driving [M. V. Berry, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 42, 365303 (2009)] and (a modified) localization tensor [R. Resta and S. Sorella, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 370-373 (1999)]. The variational approach is illustrated via application to a tight-binding model. In this setting, the optimally adjusted Hamiltonian has a powerful impact on transition suppression and localization-tensor reduction, suggesting strong enhancement of insulation. These features are expected to be more general than the model that displays them.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Universal mesoscale heterogeneity and its spatial correlations in equilibrium amorphous solids

Candidates for random network media include, e.g., systems consisting of long, flexible macromolecules cross-linked (i.e., permanently bonded) together at random to form the network. Owing to the random architecture, the characteristics of the thermal motion of the elements of these media vary randomly from point to point, provided the medium has been cross-linked sufficiently to exhibit the equilibrium amorphous solid state. A particular replica field theory has long been known to capture the essential physics of amorphous solids and the transition to them. Encoded in the mean value of the field associated with this theory--i.e., the transition's order parameter--is statistical information about the thermal motions of the constituents: (i) the fraction of localized constituents, and (ii) the heterogeneity of the strength of this localization. Encoded in the field's correlations is more refined information about the motions, e.g.: (i) how the localization characteristics of pairs of localized constituents are correlated, (ii) how the correlations between the position fluctuations of the pair are distributed, and (iii) how these descriptors vary with pair separation. This information about amorphous solids is referred to as mesoscale heterogeneity. Increasingly accurate approximations to the order parameter and field correlations are examined, beginning with mean-field theory, moving up to the incorporation of gapless (i.e., elastic-displacement) fluctuations, and finally via the qualitative examination of how the gapped branches of fluctuations would further improve accuracy. Hence, an increasingly accurate set of distributions is obtained, which characterize the mesoscale heterogeneity of amorphous solids. Along the way, attention is paid to the induced measure arising from the transformation from the fluctuating order-parameter field to the fluctuating elastic displacement fields.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2023

Scale-dependent elasticity as a probe of universal heterogeneity in equilibrium amorphous solids

The equilibrium amorphous solid state -- formed, e.g., by adequately randomly crosslinking the constituents of a macromolecular fluid -- is a heterogeneous state characterized by a universal distribution of particle localization lengths. Near to the crosslink-density-controlled continuous amorphous-solidification transition, this distribution obeys a scaling form: it has a single peak at a lengthscale that diverges (along with the width of the distribution) as the transition is approached. The modulus controlling macroscale elastic shear deformations of the amorphous solid does not depend on the distribution of localization lengths. However, it is natural to anticipate that for deformations at progressively shorter lengthscales -- mesoscale deformations -- the effective modulus exhibits a scale-dependence, softening as the deformation lengthscale is reduced. This is because an increasing fraction of the localized particles are, in effect, liquid-like at the deformation lengthscale, and therefore less effective at contributing to the elastic response. In this paper, the relationship between the distribution of localization lengths and the scale-dependent elastic shear modulus is explored, and it is shown, within the setting of a replica mean-field theory, that the effective modulus does indeed exhibit scale-dependent softening. Through this softening, mesoscale elasticity provides a probe of the heterogeneity of the state as characterized by the distribution of localization lengths. In particular, the response to short-lengthscale elastic deformations is shown to shed light on the asymptotics of the universal localization-length distribution at short localization lengths.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

Swelling thermodynamics and phase transitions of polymer gels

We present a pedagogical review of the swelling thermodynamics and phase transitions of polymer gels. In particular, we discuss how features of the volume phase transition of the gel's osmotic equilibrium is analogous to other transitions described by mean-field models of binary mixtures, and the failure of this analogy at the critical point due to shear rigidity. We then consider the phase transition at fixed volume, a relatively unexplored paradigm for polymer gels that results in a phase-separated equilibrium consisting of coexisting solvent-rich and solvent-poor regions of gel. Again, the gel's shear rigidity is found to have a profound effect on the phase transition, here resulting in macroscopic shape change at constant volume of the sample, exemplified by the tunable buckling of toroidal samples of polymer gel. By drawing analogies with extreme mechanics, where large shape changes are achieved via mechanical instabilities, we formulate the notion of extreme thermodynamics, where large shape changes are achieved via thermodynamic instabilities, i.e. phase transitions.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2018

Curvature corrections to the nonlocal interfacial model for short-ranged forces

In this paper we revisit the derivation of a nonlocal interfacial Hamiltonian model for systems with short-ranged intermolecular forces. Starting from a microscopic Landau-Ginzburg-Wilson Hamiltonian with a double parabola potential, we reformulate the derivation of the interfacial model using a rigorous boundary integral approach. This is done for three scenarios: a single fluid phase in contact with a nonplanar substrate (i.e., wall); a free interface separating coexisting fluid phases (say, liquid and gas); and finally a liquid-gas interface in contact with a nonplanar confining wall, as is applicable to wetting phenomena. For the first two cases our approaches identifies the correct form of the curvature corrections to the free energy and, for the case of a free interface, it allows us to recast these as an interfacial self-interaction as conjectured previously in the literature. When the interface is in contact with a substrate our approach similarly identifies curvature corrections to the nonlocal binding potential, describing the interaction of the interface and wall, for which we propose a generalized and improved diagrammatic formulation.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2018

Extreme thermodynamics with polymer gel tori: harnessing thermodynamic instabilities to induce large-scale deformations

When a swollen, thermoresponsive polymer gel is heated in a solvent bath, it expels solvent and deswells. When this heating is slow, deswelling proceeds homogeneously, as observed in a toroid-shaped gel that changes volume whilst maintaining its toroidal shape. By contrast, if the gel is heated quickly, an impermeable layer of collapsed polymer forms and traps solvent within the gel, arresting the volume change. The ensuing evolution of the gel then happens at fixed volume, leading to phase-separation and the development of inhomogeneous stress that deforms the toroidal shape. We observe that this stress can cause the torus to buckle out of the plane, via a mechanism analogous to the bending of bimetallic strips upon heating. Our results demonstrate that thermodynamic instabilities, i.e., phase transitions, can be used to actuate mechanical deformation in an extreme thermodynamics of materials.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2017

Flocking from a quantum analogy: Spin-orbit coupling in an active fluid

Systems composed of strongly interacting self-propelled particles can form a spontaneously flowing polar active fluid. The study of the connection between the microscopic dynamics of a single such particle and the macroscopic dynamics of the fluid can yield insights into experimentally realizable active flows, but this connection is well understood in only a few select cases. We introduce a model of self-propelled particles based on an analogy with the motion of electrons that have strong spin-orbit coupling. We find that, within our model, self-propelled particles are subject to an analog of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle that relates translational and rotational noise. Furthermore, by coarse-graining this microscopic model, we establish expressions for the coefficients of the Toner-Tu equations---the hydrodynamic equations that describe an active fluid composed of these "active spins." The connection between self-propelled particles and quantum spins may help realize exotic phases of matter using active fluids via analogies with systems composed of strongly correlated electrons.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2016

Emergent collective properties of many-motor systems in one dimension

Along a microtubule, certain active motors propel themselves in one direction whereas others propel themselves in the opposite direction. For example, the cargo transporting motor proteins dynein and kinesin propel themselves towards the so-called plus- and minus-ends of the microtubule, respectively, and in so doing are able to pass one another, but not without interacting. We address the emergent collective behavior of systems composed of many motors, some propelling towards the plus-end and others propelling towards the minus-end. To do this, we used an analogy between this strongly interacting, far-from-equilibrium, classical stochastic many-motor system and a certain quantum-mechanical many-body system evolving in imaginary time. We apply well-known methods from quantum many-body theory, including self-consistent mean-field theory and bosonization, to shed light on phenomena exhibited by the many-motor system such as structure formation and the dynamics of collective modes at low-frequencies and long-wavelengths. In particular, via the bosonized description we find analogs of chiral Luttinger liquids, as well as a qualitative transition in the nature of the low-frequency modes---from propagating to purely dissipative---controlled by density and interaction strength.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Control of noisy quantum systems: Field theory approach to error mitigation

We consider the quantum-control task of obtaining a target unitary operation via control fields that couple to the quantum system and are chosen to best mitigate errors resulting from time-dependent noise. We allow for two sources of noise: fluctuations in the control fields and those arising from the environment. We address the issue of error mitigation by means of a formulation rooted in the Martin-Siggia-Rose (MSR) approach to noisy, classical statistical-mechanical systems. We express the noisy control problem in terms of a path integral, and integrate out the noise to arrive at an effective, noise-free description. We characterize the degree of success in error mitigation via a fidelity, which characterizes the proximity of the sought-after evolution to ones achievable in the presence of noise. Error mitigation is then accomplished by applying the optimal control fields, i.e., those that maximize the fidelity subject to any constraints obeyed by the control fields. To make connection with MSR, we reformulate the fidelity in terms of a Schwinger-Keldysh (SK) path integral, with the added twist that the `forward' and `backward' branches of the time-contour are inequivalent with respect to the noise. The present approach naturally allows the incorporation of constraints on the control fields; a useful feature in practice, given that they feature in real experiments. We illustrate this MSR-SK approach by considering a system consisting of a single spin $s$ freedom (with $s$ arbitrary), focusing on the case of $1/f$ noise. We discover that optimal error-mitigation is accomplished via a universal control field protocol that is valid for all $s$, from the qubit (i.e., $s=1/2$) case to the classical (i.e., $s \to \infty$) limit. In principle, this MSR-SK approach provides a framework for addressing quantum control in the presence of noise for systems of arbitrary complexity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Beads on a string: Structure of bound aggregates of globular particles and long polymer chains

Macroscopic properties of suspensions, such as those composed of globular particles (e.g., colloidal or macromolecular), can be tuned by controlling the equilibrium aggregation of the particles. We examine how aggregation -- and, hence, macroscopic properties -- can be controlled in a system composed of both globular particles and long, flexible polymer chains that reversibly bind to one another. We base this on a minimal statistical mechanical model of a single aggregate in which the polymer chain is treated either as ideal or self-avoiding, and, in addition, the globular particles are taken to interact with one another via excluded volume repulsion. Furthermore, each of the globular particles is taken to have one single site to which at most one polymer segment may bind. Within the context of this model, we examine the statistics of the equilibrium size of an aggregate and, thence, the structure of dilute and semidilute suspensions of these aggregates. We apply the model to biologically relevant aggregates, specifically those composed of macromolecular proteoglycan globules and long hyaluronan polymer chains. These aggregates are especially relevant to the materials properties of cartilage and the structure-function properties of perineuronal nets in brain tissue, as well as the pericellular coats of mammalian cells.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2015

Emergent tilt order in Dirac polymer liquids

We study a liquid of zigzagging two-dimensional directed polymers with bending rigidity, i.e., polymers whose conformations follow checkerboard paths. In the continuum limit the statistics of such polymers obey the Dirac equation for particles of imaginary mass. We exploit this observation to investigate a liquid of these polymers via a quantum many-fermion analogy. A self-consistent approximation predicts a phase of tilted order, in which the polymers may develop a preference to zig rather than zag. We compute the phase diagram and key response functions for the polymer liquid, and comment on the role played by fluctuations.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2014

Impact of single-particle compressibility on the fluid-solid phase transition for ionic microgel suspensions

We study ionic microgel suspensions composed of swollen particles for various single-particle stiffnesses. We measure the osmotic pressure $π$ of these suspensions and show that it is dominated by the contribution of free ions in solution. As this ionic osmotic pressure depends on the volume fraction of the suspension $ϕ$, we can determine $ϕ$ from $π$, even at volume fractions so high that the microgel particles are compressed. We find that the width of the fluid-solid phase coexistence, measured using $ϕ$, is larger than its hard-sphere value for the stiffer microgels that we study and progressively decreases for softer microgels. For sufficiently soft microgels, the suspensions are fluid-like, irrespective of volume fraction. By calculating the dependence on $ϕ$ of the mean volume of a microgel particle, we show that the behavior of the phase-coexistence width correlates with whether or not the microgel particles are compressed at the volume fractions corresponding to fluid-solid coexistence.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Organization of strongly interacting directed polymer liquids in the presence of stringent constraints

The impact of impenetrable obstacles on the energetics and equilibrium structure of strongly repulsive directed polymers is investigated. As a result of the strong interactions, regions of severe polymer depletion and excess are found in the vicinity of the obstacle, and the associated free-energy cost is found to scale quadratically with the average polymer density. The polymer-polymer interactions are accounted for via a sequence of transformations: from the 3D line liquid to a 2D fluid of Bose particles to a 2D composite fermion fluid and, finally, to a 2D one-component plasma. The results presented here are applicable to a range of systems consisting of noncrossing directed lines.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Directed-polymer systems explored via their quantum analogs: General polymer interactions and their consequences

The impact of polymer-polymer interactions of various types on the thermodynamics, structure, and accommodation of topological constraints is addressed for systems comprising many directed polymers in two spatial dimensions. The approach is predicated on the well-known equivalence between the classical equilibrium statistical mechanics of directed polymers in two spatial dimensions and the imaginary-time quantum dynamics of particles in one spatial dimension, originally exploited by P.-G. de Gennes [J.\ Chem.\ Phys.\ {\bf 48}, 2257 (1968)]. Known results concerning two exactly solvable microscopic models of quantum particles moving in one spatial dimension---the Lieb-Liniger model of contact interactions and the Calogero-Sutherland model of long-range interactions---are used to shed light on the behavior of the corresponding polymeric systems. In addition, the technique of bosonization is used to reveal how generic polymer interactions give rise to an emergent polymer fluid that has universal collective excitations. Comparison of the response to topological constraints of a fluid of simply noncrossing (i.e., noncrossing but otherwise noninteracting) directed polymers, explored in a companion Paper, to the response of a generically interacting directed polymer fluid reveals that the structure is quantitatively unchanged by the generic interactions on the line transverse to the pin, and is qualitatively unchanged by the generic interactions throughout the two dimensions of the system's extent. Furthermore, the free-energy cost associated with a pin that partitions a system having generic interactions is found to be proportional to the pin-partitioning cost for a system of simply noncrossing polymers.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Generalized Deam-Edwards Approach to the Statistical Mechanics of Randomly Crosslinked Systems

We address the statistical mechanics of randomly and permanently crosslinked networks. We develop a theoretical framework (vulcanization theory) which can be used to systematically analyze the correlation between the statistical properties of random networks and their histories of formation. Generalizing the original idea of Deam and Edwards, we consider an instantaneous crosslinking process, where all crosslinkers (modeled as Gaussian springs) are introduced randomly at once in an equilibrium liquid state, referred to as the preparation state. The probability that two functional sites are crosslinked by a spring exponentially decreases with their distance squared. After formally averaging over network connectivity, we obtained an effective theory with all degrees of freedom replicated 1 + n times. Two thermodynamic ensembles, the preparation ensemble and the measurement ensemble, naturally appear in this theory. The former describes the thermodynamic fluctuations in the state of preparation, while the latter describes the thermodynamic fluctuations in the state of measurement. We classify various correlation functions and discuss their physical significances. In particular, the memory correlation functions characterize how the properties of networks depend on their history of formation, and are the hallmark properties of all randomly crosslinked materials. We clarify the essential difference between our approach and that of Deam-Edwards, discuss the saddle-point order parameters and its physical significance. Finally we also discuss the connection between saddle-point approximation of vulcanization theory, and the classical theory of rubber elasticity as well as the neo-classical theory of nematic elastomers.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2013

Statistical physics of isotropic-genesis nematic elastomers: I. Structure and correlations at high temperatures

Isotropic-genesis nematic elastomers (IGNEs) are liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) that have been randomly, permanently cross-linked in the high-temperature state so as to form an equilibrium random solid. Thus, instead of being free to diffuse throughout the entire volume, as they would be in the liquid state, the constituent LCPs in an IGNE are mobile only over a finite length-scale controlled by the density of cross-links. We address the effects that such network-induced localization have on the liquid-crystalline characteristics of an IGNE, as probed via measurements made at high temperatures. In contrast with the case of uncross-linked LCPs, for IGNEs these characteristics are determined not only by thermal fluctuations but also by the quenched disorder associated with the cross-link constraints. To study IGNEs, we consider a microscopic model of dimer nematogens in which the dimers interact via orientation-dependent excluded volume forces. The dimers are, furthermore, randomly, permanently cross-linked via short Hookean springs, the statistics of which we model by means of a Deam-Edwards type of distribution. We show that at length-scales larger than the size of the nematogens this approach leads to a recently proposed phenomenological Landau theory of IGNEs [Lu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 257803 (2012)], and hence predicts a regime of short-ranged oscillatory spatial correlations in the nematic alignment, of both thermal and glassy types. In addition, we consider two alternative microscopic models of IGNEs: (i) a wormlike chain model of IGNEs that are formed via the cross-linking of side-chain LCPs; and (ii) a jointed chain model of IGNEs that are formed via the cross-linking of main-chain LCPs. At large length-scales, both of these models give rise to liquid-crystalline characteristics that are qualitatively in line with those predicted by the dimer-and-springs model.

cond-mat.soft↗