Structural phase transitions in low-dimensional ion crystals
Statistical Mechanics
2009-11-13 v2 Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
Abstract
A chain of singly-charged particles, confined by a harmonic potential, exhibits a sudden transition to a zigzag configuration when the radial potential reaches a critical value, depending on the particle number. This structural change is a phase transition of second order, whose order parameter is the crystal displacement from the chain axis. We study analytically the transition using Landau theory and find full agreement with numerical predictions by [J. Schiffer Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 818 (1993)] and [Piacente et al Phys. Rev. B 69, 045324 (2004)]. Our theory allows us to determine analytically the system's behaviour at the transition point.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0710.1831,
title = {Structural phase transitions in low-dimensional ion crystals},
author = {Shmuel Fishman and Gabriele De Chiara and Tommaso Calarco and Giovanna Morigi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0710.1831},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
12 pages, 8 figures. Revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev. B