arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S. Fournais.
We consider a dilute Bose gas in the thermodynamic limit and prove a lower bound on the free energy for low temperatures which is in agreement with the conjecture of Lee-Huang-Yang on the excitation spectrum of the system. Combining techniques of \cite{FS2} and \cite{HHNST}, we give a simpler and shorter proof resolving the case of strong interactions, including the hard-core potential.
We prove the following formula for the ground state energy density of a dilute Bose gas with density $ρ$ in $2$ dimensions in the thermodynamic limit \begin{align*} e^{\rm{2D}}(ρ) = 4πρ^2 Y\left(1 - Y \vert \log Y \vert + \left( 2Γ+ \frac{1}{2} + \log(π) \right) Y \right) + o(ρ^2 Y^{2}). \end{align*} Here $Y= |\log(ρa^2)|^{-1}$ and $a$ is the scattering length of the two-body potential. This result in $2$ dimensions corresponds to the famous Lee-Huang-Yang formula in $3$ dimensions. The proof is valid for essentially all positive potentials with finite scattering length, in particular it covers the crucial case of the hard core potential.
We study the Ginzburg-Landau model of superconductivity in three dimensions and for strong external magnetic fields. For magnetic field strengths above the phenomenologically defined second critical field it is known from Physics that superconductivity should be essentially restricted to a region near the boundary. We prove that the expected region does indeed carry superconductivity. Furthermore, we give precise energy estimates valid also in the regime around the second critical field which display the transition from bulk superconductivity to surface superconductivity.
We consider the Ginzburg-Landau functional defined over a bounded and smooth three dimensional domain. Supposing that the magnetic field is comparable with the second critical field and that the Ginzburg-Landau parameter is large, we determine a sharp asymptotic estimate of the minimizing energy. In particular, this shows how bulk superconductivity decreases in average as the applied magnetic field approaches the second critical field from below. Other estimates are also obtained which allow us to obtain, in a subsequent paper, a fine characterization of the second critical field. The approach relies on a careful analysis of several limiting energies, which is of independent interest.
In this paper we give a detailed asymptotic formula for the lowest eigenvalue of the magnetic Neumann Schrödinger operator in the ball in three dimensions with constant magnetic field, as the strength of the magnetic field tends to infinity. This asymptotic formula is used to prove that the eigenvalue is monotonically increasing for large values of the magnetic field.
We consider the two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau functional with constant applied magnetic field. For applied magnetic fields close to the second critical field $H_{C_2}$ and large Ginzburg-Landau parameter, we provide leading order estimates on the energy of minimizing configurations. We obtain a fine threshold value of the applied magnetic field for which bulk superconductivity contributes to the leading order of the energy. Furthermore, the energy of the bulk is related to that of the Abrikosov problem in a periodic lattice. A key ingredient of the proof is a novel $L^\infty$-bound which is of independent interest.
For a cylindrical superconductor surrounded by a normal material, we discuss transition to the normal phase of stable, locally stable and critical configurations. Associated with those phase transitions, we define critical magnetic fields and we provide a sufficient condition for which those critical fields coincide. In particular, when the conductivity ratio of the superconducting and the normal material is large, we show that the aforementioned critical magnetic fields coincide, thereby proving that the transition to the normal phase is sharp. One key-ingredient in the paper is the analysis of an elliptic boundary value problem involving `transmission' boundary conditions. Another key-ingredient involves a monotonicity result (with respect to the magnetic field strength) of the first eigenvalue of a magnetic Schroedinger operator with discontinuous coefficients.
We provide a leading order semiclassical asymptotics of the energy of bound states for magnetic Neumann Schrödinger operators in two dimensional (exterior) domains with smooth boundaries. The asymptotics is valid all the way up to the bottom of the essential spectrum. When the spectral parameter is varied near the value where bound states become allowed in the interior of the domain, we show that the energy has a boundary and a bulk component. The estimates rely on coherent states, in particular on the construction of `boundary coherent states', and magnetic Lieb-Thirring estimates.
We consider superconductors of Type II near the transition from the 'bulk superconducting' to the 'surface superconducting' state. We prove a new $L^{\infty}$ estimate on the order parameter in the bulk, i.e. away from the boundary. This solves an open problem posed by Aftalion and Serfaty.
We study the three dimensional Ginzburg-Landau model of superconductivity. Several `natural' definitions of the (third) critical field, $H_{C_3}$, governing the transition from the superconducting state to the normal state, are considered. We analyze the relation between these fields and give conditions as to when they coincide. An interesting part of the analysis is the study of the monotonicity of the ground state energy of the Laplacian, with constant magnetic field and with Neumann (magnetic) boundary condition, in a domain $Ω$. It is proved that the ground state energy is a strictly increasing function of the field strength for sufficiently large fields. As a consequence of our analysis we give an affirmative answer to a conjecture by Pan.
We consider the Neumann Laplacian with constant magnetic field on a regular domain. Let $B$ be the strength of the magnetic field, and let $λ_1(B)$ be the first eigenvalue of the magnetic Neumann Laplacian on the domain. It is proved that $B \mapsto λ_1(B)$ is monotone increasing for large $B$. Combined with the results of \cite{FournaisHelffer3}, this implies that all the `third' critical fields for strongly Type II superconductors coincide.
We study the two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau functional in a domain with corners for exterior magnetic field strengths near the critical field where the transition from the superconducting to the normal state occurs. We discuss and clarify the definition of this field and obtain a complete asymptotic expansion for it in the large $κ$ regime. Furthermore, we discuss nucleation of superconductivity at the boundary.
We reconsider the elliptic estimates for magnetic operators in two and three dimensions used in connection with Ginzburg-Landau theory. Furthermore we discuss the so-called blow-up technique in order to obtain optimal estimates in the limiting cases.
We study confinement of the ground state of atoms in strong magnetic fields to different subspaces related to the lowest Landau band. The results obtained allow us to calculate the quantum current in the entire semiclassical region $B \ll Z^3$.
Using recent results by the authors on the spectral asymptotics of the Neumann Laplacian with magnetic field, we give precise estimates on the critical field, $H_{C_3}$, describing the appearance of superconductivity in superconductors of type II. Furthermore, we prove that the local and global definitions of this field coincide. Near $H_{C_3}$ only a small part, near the boundary points where the curvature is maximal, of the sample carries superconductivity. We give precise estimates on the size of this zone and decay estimates in both the normal (to the boundary) and parallel variables.
Motivated by the theory of superconductivity and more precisely by the problem of the onset of superconductivity in dimension two, many papers devoted to the analysis in a semi-classical regime of the lowest eigenvalue of the Schrödinger operator with magnetic field have appeared recently. Here we would like to mention the works by Bernoff-Sternberg, Lu-Pan, Del Pino-Felmer-Sternberg and Helffer-Morame and also Bauman-Phillips-Tang for the case of a disc. In the present paper we settle one important part of this question completely by proving an asymptotic expansion to all orders for low-lying eigenvalues for generic domains. The word `generic' means in this context that the curvature of the boundary of the domain has a unique non-degenerate maximum.
We prove a limiting absorption principle at zero energy for two-body Schrödinger operators with long-range potentials having a positive virial at infinity. More precisely, we establish a complete asymptotic expansion of the resolvent in weighted spaces when the spectral parameter varies in cones; one of the two branches of boundary for the cones being given by the positive real axis. The principal tools are absence of eigenvalue at zero, singular Mourre theory and microlocal estimates.
We prove that the electronic density of atomic and molecular eigenfunctions is smooth away from the nuclei. The result is proved without decay assumptions on the eigenfunctions.