Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “SUPERFLUID MODEL”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6

Dynamics of a Tunable Superfluid Junction

We study the population dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential throughout the crossover from Josephson dynamics to hydrodynamics. At barriers higher than the chemical potential, we observe slow oscillations well described by a Josephson model. In the limit of low barriers, the fundamental frequency agrees with a simple hydrodynamic model, but we also observe a second, higher frequency. A full numerical simulation of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation giving the frequencies and amplitudes of the observed modes between these two limits is compared to the data and is used to understand the origin of the higher mode. Implications for trapped matter-wave interferometers are discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Luttinger liquid phase in the Aubry-André Hubbard chain

We study the interplay between an on-site Hubbard repulsion and quasiperiodic potential in one-dimensional fermion chains using the density matrix renormalization group. We find that, at half-filling, the quasiperiodic potential can destroy the Mott gap, leading to a metallic Luttinger liquid phase between the gapped Mott insulator at strong repulsion and localized gapless Aubry- André insulator at strong quasiperiodic potential. Away from half-filing, the metallic phase of the interacting model persists to larger critical strengths of the potential than in the non-interacting case, suggesting interaction-stabilized delocalization at finite doping. Here, we characterize the Luttinger liquid through its charge and spin correlations, structure factors, and entanglement entropy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Anisotropic Melting of Frustrated Ising Antiferromagnets

Magnetic frustrations and dimensionality play an important role in determining the nature of the magnetic long-range order and how it melts at temperatures above the ordering transition T N . In this Letter, we use large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to study these phenomena in a class of frustrated Ising spin models in two spatial dimensions. Here we find that the melting of the magnetic long-range order into an isotropic gaslike paramagnet proceeds via an intermediate stage where the classical spins remain anisotropically correlated. This correlated paramagnet exists in a temperature range T N < T < T * , whose width increases as magnetic frustrations grow. This intermediate phase is typically characterized by short-range correlations; however, the two-dimensional nature of the model allows for an additional exotic feature—formation of an incommensurate liquidlike phase with algebraically decaying spin correlations. The two-stage melting of magnetic order is generic and pertinent to many frustrated quasi-2D magnets with large (essentially classical) spins.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Superconductivity from Luttinger surfaces: Emergent Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev physics with infinite-body interactions

The pairing of two electrons on a Fermi surface due to an infinitesimal attraction between them always results in a superconducting instability at zero temperature (T = 0). The equivalent question of pairing instability on a Luttinger surface (LS)—190a contour of zeros of the propagator—instead leads to a quantum critical point (QCP) that separates a non-Fermi liquid and superconductor. A surprising and little understood aspect of pair fluctuations at this QCP is that their thermodynamics maps to that of the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model in the strong coupling limit. Here, we offer a simple justification for this mapping by demonstrating that (i) LS models share the reparametrization symmetry of the q → ∞ SYK model with q-body interactions close to the LS, and (ii) the enforcement of gauge invariance results in a $\frac{1}{√τ}$ (τ ~ T -1 ) behavior of the fluctuation propagator near the QCP, as is the feature of SYK conformal Green functions, but leaves the overall form of the free energy map robust.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A study on computational fluid dynamics modeling of a refrigerated container for COVID-19 vaccine distribution with experimental validation

A key issue with the distribution of vaccines to prevent COVID-19 is the temperature level required during transport, storage, and distribution. Typical refrigerated transport containers can provide a temperature-controlled environment down to -30 °C. However, the Pfizer vaccine must be carefully transported and stored under a lower temperature between -80 °C and -60 °C. One way to provide the required temperature is to pack the vaccine vials into small packages containing dry ice. Dry ice sublimates from a solid to a gas, which limits the allowable transport duration. This can be mitigated by transporting in a -30 °C refrigerated container. Moreover, because the dry ice will sublimate and thereby release CO 2 gas into the transport container, monitoring the CO 2 concentration within the refrigerated container is also essential. In the present work, a 3D computational fluid dynamics model was developed based on a commercially available refrigerated container and validated with experimental data. The airflow, temperature distribution, and CO 2 concentration within the container were obtained from the simulations. The modeling results can provide guidance on preparing experimental setups, thus saving time and lowering cost, and also provide insight into safety precautions needed to avoid hazardous conditions associated with the release of CO 2 during vaccine distribution.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The core structure of dislocations and their relationship to the material γ-surface

Using a density functional theory-phase field dislocation dynamics model, we reveal a strong inverse relationship between the dislocation equilibrium core width and the normalized intrinsic stacking fault energy for nine face centered cubic (fcc) metals, in quantitative agreement with experiments but not with conventional continuum models. In addition, we show that due to an anomalous feature in its γ-surface, platinum has a fundamentally different core structure and a much wider equilibrium core width than expected. Based on ab initio electronic structure calculations, we attribute this anomaly to distinct differences in the directionality of charge transfer in platinum.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Phase Switch Driven by the Hidden Half-Ice, Half-Fire State in a Ferrimagnet

The notion of “half fire, half ice” was recently introduced to describe an exotic macroscopic ground-state degeneracy emerging in a ferrimagnet under the critical magnetic field, in which the “hot” spins are fully disordered on the sublattice with smaller magnetic moments and the “cold” spins are fully ordered on the sublattice with larger magnetic moments. Here, we further point out that this state has a twin named “half ice, half fire” in which the hot and cold spins switch positions. The new state is an excited state—thus hidden in the ground-state phase diagram—and is robust with respect to the interactions that destroy the half-fire, half-ice state. We demonstrate with exact results how this hidden state can drive phase switching at desirable finite temperature, even for the one-dimensional Ising model where phase transition at finite temperature is forbidden. Finally, we suggest that our findings may open a new door to the understanding and controlling of phase competition and transition in unconventional frustrated systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Observation of signatures of subresolution defects in two-dimensional superconductors with a scanning SQUID

The diamagnetic susceptibility of a superconductor is directly related to its superfluid density. Mutual inductance is a highly sensitive method for characterizing thin films, however, in traditional mutual inductance measurements, the measured response is a nontrivial average over the area of the mutual inductance coils, which are typically of millimeter size. Here we measure localized, isolated features in the diamagnetic susceptibility of Nb superconducting thin films with lithographically defined through holes, δ-doped SrTiO 3 , and the two-dimensional electron system at the interface between LaAlO 3 and SrTiO 3 , using scanning superconducting quantum interference device susceptometry, with spatial resolution as fine as 0.7 μm. We show that these features can be modeled as locally suppressed superfluid density, with a single parameter that characterizes the strength of each feature. In conclusion, this method provides a systematic means of finding and quantifying submicron defects in two-dimensional superconductors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

SEGR in SiO ${}_2$ &#x2013;Si $_3$ N $_4$ Stacks

This work presents experimental SEGR data for MOS-devices, where the gate dielectrics are are made of stacked SiO 2 –Si 3 N 4 structures. Also a semi-empirical model for predicting the critical gate voltage in these structures under heavy-ion exposure is proposed. Then statistical interrelationship between SEGR cross-section data and simulated energy deposition probabilities in thin dielectric layers is discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Strongly anisotropic electronic and magnetic structures in oxide dichlorides RuOCl 2 and OsOCl 2

The van der Waals oxide dichlorides MOX 2 (M=V, Ta, Nb, Ru, and Os; X=halogen element), with different electronic densities, are attracting considerable attention. Ferroelectricity, spin-singlet formation, and orbital-selective Peierls phases were reported in this family with d 1 or d 2 electronic configurations, all believed to be caused by the strongly anisotropic electronic orbital degree of freedom. Here, using density functional theory and density matrix renormalization group methods, we investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of RuOCl 2 and OsOCl 2 with d 4 electronic configurations. Different from a previous study using VOI 2 with d 1 configuration, these systems with 4d4 or 5d4 do not exhibit a ferroelectric instability along the a axis. Due to the fully occupied dxy orbital in RuOCl 2 and OsOCl 2 , the Peierls instability distortion disappears along the b axis, leading to an undistorted Immm phase (No. 71). Furthermore, we observe strongly anisotropic electronic and magnetic structures along the a axis. For this reason, the materials of our focus can be regarded as “effective one-dimensional” systems even when they apparently have a dominant two-dimensional lattice geometry. The large crystal-field splitting energy (between dxz/yz and dxy orbitals) and large hopping between nearest-neighbor Ru and Os atoms suppresses the J = 0 singlet state in MOCl 2 (M=Ru or Os) with electronic density n = 4, resulting in a spin-1 system. Moreover, we find staggered antiferromagnetic order with π wave vector along the M-O chain direction (a axis) while the magnetic coupling along the b axis is weak. Based on Wannier functions from first-principles calculations, we calculated the relevant hopping amplitudes and crystal-field splitting energies of the t 2g orbitals for the Os atoms to construct a multiorbital Hubbard model for the M-O chains. Staggered AFM with ↑|-|↓-↑|-|↓ spin structure dominates in our density matrix renormalization group calculations, in agreement with density functional theory calculations. Our results for RuOCl 2 and OsOCl 2 provide guidance to experimentalists and theorists working on this interesting family of oxide dichlorides.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Paired superfluidity and fractionalized vortices in systems of spin-orbit coupled bosons

In this Rapid Communication we study finite-temperature properties of spin-1/2 interacting bosons with spin-orbit coupling in two dimensions. When the ground state has stripe order, we show that thermal fluctuations will first melt the stripe order and lead to a superfluid of boson pairs if the spin-orbit coupling is isotropic or nearly isotropic. Such a phase supports fractionalized quantum vortices. The Kosterlitz-Thouless transition from superfluid to normal state is driven by proliferation of half vortices. When the ground state is a plane-wave state, the transition to normal state is driven by conventional Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. However, the critical temperature will drop to zero for isotropic spin-orbit coupling.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Finite-size subthermal regime in disordered SU ( N ) -symmetric Heisenberg chains

SU⁡(N) symmetry is incompatible with the many-body localized (MBL) phase, even when strong disorder is present. However, recent studies have shown that finite-size SU⁡(2) systems exhibit nonergodic, subthermal behavior, characterized by the breakdown of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, and by the excited eigenstates entanglement entropy that is intermediate between area and volume law. In this paper, we extend previous studies of the SU⁡(2)-symmetric disordered Heisenberg model to larger systems, using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group (tDMRG) method. We simulate quench dynamics from weakly entangled initial states up to long times, finding robust subthermal behavior at stronger disorder. Although we find an increased tendency towards thermalization at larger system sizes, the subthermal regime persists at intermediate time scales, nevertheless, and therefore should be accessible experimentally. At weaker disorder, we observe signatures of thermalization; however, entanglement entropy exhibits slow sublinear growth, in contrast to conventional thermalizing systems. Furthermore, we study dynamics of the SU⁡(3)-symmetric disordered Heisenberg model. Similarly, strong disorder drives the system into subthermal regime, albeit thermalizing phase is broader compared to the SU⁡(2) case. Finally, our findings demonstrate the robustness of the subthermal regime in spin chains with non-Abelian continuous symmetry, and are consistent with eventual thermalization at large system sizes and long time scales, suggested by previous studies.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Four-mode Bose-Hubbard model with two greatly differing tunneling rates as a model for the Josephson oscillation of heat

As a model for mesoscopic quantum systems in thermal contact, we consider a four-mode Bose-Hubbard model with two greatly differing tunneling rates. By a series of Holstein-Primakoff transformations, we show that the low-frequency dynamics of this system consists in general of two slow Josephson oscillations, rather than the single slow mode predicted by linear Bogoliubov theory. We identify the second slow Josephson oscillation as a heat exchange mode analogous to second sound.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Phonon dynamics in the chiral Kitaev spin liquid

Here, we investigate the effect of a magnetic field on the extended Kitaev spin-liquid state through phonon dynamics. Using a constrained fermionic self-consistent mean field method, we analyze the quantum spin liquid (QSL) ground state for the extended Kitaev model with both the Zeeman term and the perturbative three-spin interaction term 𝜅. Our results demonstrate the dependence of the stability of the Kitaev QSL state on the field direction, consistent with findings in the literature. Additionally, we calculate the phonon dynamics for acoustic phonons coupled to the Majorana fermion excitations of the Kitaev spin-liquid state, discussing the temperature and field evolution of these quantities.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Superconductivity in Repulsive Fermi-Systems at Low Density

We analyze superconducting instabilities in 3D and 2D extended Hubbard model with Coulomb repulsion between electrons on neighboring sites in the limit of low electron density on simple cubic (square) lattices. We show that in a realistic strong-coupling case the main superconducting instability corresponds to the p-wave pairing and in the leading order is correctly described by the equations obtained earlier in the absence of the intersite Coulomb interaction V = 0.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Simulating Lindbladian evolution with non-Abelian symmetries: Ballistic front propagation in the SU(2) Hubbard model with a localized loss

In this work, we develop a non-Abelian time evolving block decimation (NA-TEBD) approach to study open systems governed by Lindbladian time evolution, while exploiting an arbitrary number of Abelian or non-Abelian symmetries. We illustrate this method in a one-dimensional fermionic SU(2) Hubbard model on a semi-infinite lattice with localized particle loss at one end. We observe a ballistic front propagation with strongly renormalized front velocity, and a hydrodynamic current density profile. For large loss rates, a suppression of the particle current is observed, as a result of the quantum Zeno effect. Operator entanglement is found to propagate faster than the depletion profile, preceding the latter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Isochronal annealing effects on local structure, crystalline fraction, and undamaged region size of radiation damage in Ga-stabilized δ-Pu

The effects on the local structure due to self-irradiation damage of Ga stabilized δ-Pu stored at cryogenic temperatures have been examined using extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) experiments. Extensive damage, seen as a loss of local order, was evident after 72 days of storage below 15 K. The effect was observed from both the Pu and the Ga sites, although less pronounced around Ga. Isochronal annealing was performed on this sample to study the annealing processes that occur between cryogenic and room temperature storage conditions, where damage is mostly reversed. Damage fractions at various points along the annealing curve have been determined using an amplitude-ratio method, a standard EXAFS fitting, and a spherical crystallite model, and provide information complementary to the previous electrical resistivity- and susceptibility-based isochronal annealing studies. The use of a spherical crystallite model accounts for the changes in EXAFS spectra using just two parameters, namely, the crystalline fraction and the particle radius. Together, these results are discussed in terms of changes to the local structure around Ga and Pu throughout the annealing process and highlight the unusual role of Ga in the behavior of the lowest temperature anneals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Weak-coupling theory of neutron scattering as a probe of altermagnetism

Inelastic neutron scattering provides a powerful probe of the magnetic excitations of quantum magnets. Altermagnets have recently emerged as a new class of magnets with vanishing net magnetization characteristic of antiferromagnets and with a spin-split electronic structure typical of ferromagnets. Here we introduce a minimal Hubbard model with two-sublattice orthorhombic anisotropy as a framework to study altermagnetism. Using unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations, we find an altermagnetic state for this model that evolves from a metallic state to an insulating state with increasing Hubbard-U Coulomb repulsion. We then examine the inelastic neutron scattering response in these states using random-phase approximation calculations of the dynamic spin susceptibility χ"(q,ω). We find that the magnetic excitation spectrum depends on its chirality for q along certain directions in reciprocal space, an observation that may be used in inelastic neutron scattering experiments as a probe of altermagnetism.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗