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V. Thanh Ngo

Publications and source records attributed to V. Thanh Ngo.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2015

A New Model for the Collective Behavior of Animals

We propose a new model in order to study behaviors of self-organized system such as a group of animals. We assume that the individuals have two degrees of freedom corresponding one to their internal state and the other to their external state. The external state is characterized by its moving orientation. The rule of the interaction between the individuals is determined by the internal state which can be either in the non-excited state or in the excited state. The system is put under a source of external perturbation called "noise". To study the behavior of the model with varying noise, we use the Monte-Carlo simulation technique. The result clearly shows two first-order transitions separating the system into three phases: with increasing noise, the system undergoes a phase transition from a dilute disordered phase to an ordered compact phase and then to the disordered dispersed phase. These phases correspond to behaviors of animals: uncollected state at low noise, flocking at medium noise and runaway at high noise, respectively.

physics.bio-ph↗
arXiv2015

Effect of Vision Angle on the Phase Transition in a Flocking Behavior of Animal Groups

The nature of the phase transition in a system of self-propelling particles has been extensively studied during the last few decades. A theoretical model was proposed by T. Vicsek, {\it et. al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 75}, 1226 (1995)] with a simple rule for updating the direction of motion of each particle. Based on the Vicsek's model (VM) [1], in this work, we consider a group of animals as particles moving freely on a two-dimensional space. Due to the fact that the viewable area of animals depends on the species, we consider the motion of each individual within an angle $φ=Φ/2$ ($Φ$ is called angle of view) of a circle centered at its position, of radius $R$. We obtained a phase diagram in the space ($φ$, $η_c$) with $η_c$ being the critical noise. We show that, the phase transition exists only in the case of a wide view's angle $φ\geq 0.5π$. The flocking of animals is an universal behavior of the species of prey, but not the one of the predator. Our simulation results are in good agreement with experimental observation [2].

physics.bio-ph↗
arXiv2014

Effect of Disorder in the Frustrated Ising FCC Antiferromagnet: Phase Diagram and Stretched Exponential Relaxation

We study the phase transition in a face-centered-cubic antiferromagnet with Ising spins as a function of the concentration $p$ of ferromagnetic bonds randomly introduced into the system. Such a model describes the spin-glass phase at strong bond disorder. Using the standard Monte Carlo simulation and the powerful Wang-Landau flat-histogram method, we carry out in this work intensive simulations over the whole range of $p$. We show that the first-order transition disappears with a tiny amount of ferromagnetic bonds, namely $p\sim 0.01$, in agreement with theories and simulations on other 3D models. The antiferromagnetic long-range order is also destroyed with a very small $p$ ($\simeq 5%$). With increasing $p$, the system changes into a spin glass and then to a ferromagnetic phase when $p>0.65$. The phase diagram in the space ($T_c,p$) shows an asymmetry, unlike the case of the $\pm J$ Ising spin glass on the simple cubic lattice. We calculate the relaxation time around the spin-glass transition temperature and we show that the spin autocorrelation follows a stretched exponential relaxation law where the factor $b$ is equal to $\simeq 1/3$ at the transition as suggested by the percolation-based theory. This value is in agreement with experiments performed on various spin glasses and with Monte Carlo simulations on different SG models.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2013

Theory and Simulation of Magnetic Materials: Physics at Phase Frontiers

The combination of theory and simulation is necessary in the investigation of properties of complex systems where each method alone cannot do the task properly. Theory needs simulation to test ideas and to check approximations. Simulation needs theory for modeling and for understanding results coming out from computers. In this review, we give recent examples to illustrate this necessary combination in a few domains of interest such as frustrated spin systems, surface magnetism, spin transport and melting. Frustrated spin systems have been intensively studied for more than 30 years. Surface effects in magnetic materials have been widely investigated also in the last three decades. These fields are closely related to each other and their spectacular development is due to numerous applications. We confine ourselves to theoretical developments and numerical simulations on these subjects with emphasis on spectacular effects occurring at frontiers of different phases.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2011

Flat Energy-Histogram Simulation of the Phase Transition in an Ising Fully Frustrated Lattice

We show in this paper the results on the phase transition of the so-called fully frustrated simple cubic lattice with the Ising spin model. We use here the Monte Carlo method with the flat energy-histogram Wang-Landau technique which is very powerful to detect weak first-order phase transition. We show that the phase transition is clearly of first order, providing a definite answer to a question raised 25 years ago.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2010

First-Order Transition in XY Fully Frustrated Simple Cubic Lattice

We study the nature of the phase transition in the fully frustrated simple cubic lattice with the XY spin model. This system is the Villain's model generalized in three dimensions. The ground state is very particular with a 12-fold degeneracy. Previous studies have shown unusual critical properties. With the powerful Wang-Landau flat-histogram Monte Carlo method, we carry out in this work intensive simulations with very large lattice sizes. We show that the phase transition is clearly of first order, putting an end to the uncertainty which has lasted for more than twenty years.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2010

Phase Transition in Heisenberg Fully Frustrated Simple Cubic Lattice

The phase transition in frustrated spin systems is a fascinated subject in statistical physics. We show the result obtained by the Wang-Landau flat histogram Monte Carlo simulation on the phase transition in the fully frustrated simple cubic lattice with the Heisenberg spin model. The degeneracy of the ground state of this system is infinite with two continuous parameters. We find a clear first-order transition in contradiction with previous studies which have shown a second-order transition with unusual critical properties. The robustness of our calculations allows us to conclude this issue putting an end to the 20-year long uncertainty.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2009

Crossover from First to Second-Order Transition in Frustrated Ising Antiferromagnetic Films

In the bulk state, the Ising FCC antiferromagnet is fully frustrated and is known to have a very strong first-order transition. In this paper, we study the nature of this phase transition in the case of a thin film, as a function of the film thickness. Using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, we show that the transition remains first order down to a thickness of four FCC cells. It becomes clearly second order at a thickness of two FCC cells, i.e. four atomic layers. It is also interesting to note that the presence of the surface reduces the ground state (GS) degeneracy found in the bulk. For the two-cell thickness, the surface magnetization is larger than the interior one. It undergoes a second-order phase transition at a temperature $T_C$ while interior spins become disordered at a lower temperature $T_D$. This loss of order is characterized by a peak of the interior spins susceptibility and a peak of the specific heat which do not depend on the lattice size suggesting that either it is not a real transition or it is a Kosterlitz-Thouless nature. The surface transition, on the other hand, is shown to be of second order with critical exponents deviated from those of pure 2D Ising universality class. We also show results obtained from the Green's function method. Discussion is given.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2008

Phase Transition in Heisenberg Stacked Triangular Antiferromagnets: End of a Controversy

By using the Wang-Landau flat-histogram Monte Carlo (MC) method for very large lattice sizes never simulated before, we show that the phase transition in the frustrated Heisenberg stacked triangular antiferromagnet is of first-order, contrary to results of earlier MC simulations using old-fashioned methods. Our result lends support to the conclusion of a nonperturbative renormalization group performed on an effective Hamiltonian. It puts an end to a 20-year long controversial issue.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2007

Critical behavior of magnetic thin films as a function of thickness

We study the critical behavior of magnetic thin films as a function of the film thickness. We use the ferromagnetic Ising model with the high-resolution multiple histogram Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. We show that though the 2D behavior remains dominant at small thicknesses, there is a systematic continuous deviation of the critical exponents from their 2D values. We observe that in the same range of varying thickness the deviation of the exponent $ν$ is rather small, while exponent $β$ suffers a larger deviation. We explain these deviations using the concept of "effective" exponents suggested by Capehart and Fisher in a finite-size analysis. The shift of the critical temperature with the film thickness obtained here by MC simulation is in an excellent agreement with their prediction.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2007

Theory on Plasmon Modes of the Cell Membranes

Considering the plasmon oscillation of each layer of the cell membranes as a quasi-particle, we introduce a simple model for the membrane collective charge excitations, take into account the surface effective potential of the plasmon-plasmon interaction between two layers. By using the useful Bogoliubov transformation method, we easily obtained the expressions of the frequencies of plasmon oscillations as a function of wave-number $k$ and membrane thickness $d$, magnitude of these frequencies is in the order of $\sqrt{kd}$. Our results are in good agreement with ones obtained by E. Manousakis.

physics.bio-ph↗
arXiv2007

Simple Combined Model for Nonlinear Excitations in DNA

We propose a new simple model for DNA denaturation bases on the pendulum model of Englander\cite{A1} and the microscopic model of Peyrard {\it et al.},\cite{A3} so called "combined model". The main parameters of our model are: the coupling constant $k$ along each strand, the mean stretching $y^\ast$ of the hydrogen bonds, the ratio of the damping constant and driven force $γ/F$. We show that both the length $L$ of unpaired bases and the velocity $v$ of kinks depend on not only the coupling constant $k$ but also the temperature $T$. Our results are in good agreement with previous works.

physics.bio-ph↗
arXiv2007

Nature of phase transition in magnetic thin films

We study the critical behavior of magnetic thin films as a function of the film thickness. We use the ferromagnetic Ising model with the high-resolution multiple histogram Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. We show that though the 2D behavior remains dominant at small thicknesses, there is a systematic continuous deviation of the critical exponents from their 2D values. We observe that in the same range of varying thickness the deviation of the exponent $ν$ is very small from its 2D value, while exponent $β$ suffers a larger deviation. Moreover, as long as the film thickness is fixed, i. e. no finite size scaling is done in the $z$ direction perpendicular to the film, the 3D values of the critical exponents cannot be attained even with very large (but fixed) thickness. The crossover to 3D universality class cannot therefore take place without finite size scaling applied in the $z$ direction, in the limit of numerically accessible thicknesses. From values of exponent $α$ obtained by MC, we estimate the effective dimension of the system. We conclude that with regard to the critical behavior, thin films behave as systems with effective dimension between 2 and 3.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2007

Frustration Effects in Antiferromagnetic FCC Heisenberg Films

We study the effects of frustration in an antiferromagnetic film of FCC lattice with Heisenberg spin model including an Ising-like anisotropy. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations have been used to study thermodynamic properties of the film. We show that the presence of the surface reduces the ground state (GS) degeneracy found in the bulk. The GS is shown to depend on the surface in-plane interaction $J_s$ with a critical value at which ordering of type I coexists with ordering of type II. Near this value a reentrant phase is found. Various physical quantities such as layer magnetizations and layer susceptibilities are shown and discussed. The nature of the phase transition is also studied by histogram technique. We have also used the Green's function (GF) method for the quantum counterpart model. The results at low-$T$ show interesting effects of quantum fluctuations. Results obtained by the GF method at high $T$ are compared to those of MC simulations. A good agreement is observed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2006

Effects of Frustrated Surface in Heisenberg Thin Films

We study by extensive Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and analytical Green function (GF) method effects of frustrated surfaces on the properties of thin films made of stacked triangular layers of atoms bearing Heisenberg spins with an Ising-like interaction anisotropy. We suppose that the in-plane surface interaction $J_s$ can be antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic while all other interactions are ferromagnetic. We show that the ground-state spin configuration is non linear when $J_s$ is lower than a critical value $J_s^c$. The film surfaces are then frustrated. In the frustrated case, there are two phase transitions related to disorderings of surface and interior layers. There is a good agreement between MC and GF results. In addition, we show from MC histogram calculation that the value of the ratio of critical exponents $γ/ν$ of the observed transitions is deviated from the values of two and three Ising universality classes. The origin of this deviation is discussed with general physical arguments.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗