Related papers: Incompatible sets of gradients and metastability
Diffusionless phase transitions are at the core of the multifunctionality of (magnetic) shape memory alloys, ferroelectrics and multiferroics. Giant strain effects under external fields are obtained in low symmetric modulated martensitic…
We study metastability and nucleation for the Blume-Capel model: a ferromagnetic nearest neighbour two-dimensional lattice system with spin variables taking values in -1,0,+1. We consider large but finite volume, small fixed magnetic field…
In this research, we investigate in-depth the nonlinear energy transmission phenomenon in a metastable modular metastructure and develop efficient tools for the design of such systems. Previous studies on a one-dimensional (1D)…
In simulations of the 2D Ising model, we examine heterogeneous nucleation induced by a small impurity consisting of a line of $l$ fixed spins. As $l$ increases, we identify a limit of stability beyond which the metastable phase is not…
A system of a metastable phase with several sorts of the heterogeneous centers is considered. An analytical theory for the process of condensation in such a system is constructed in dynamic conditions. The free energy of formation of the…
What are the signatures of the onset of catastrophe? Here we present the rich system physics characterizing the transition from homeostasis to stochasticity driven breakdown in an experimentally motivated minimal model. Recent…
This article investigates the properties of a few interacting particles trapped in a few wells and how these properties change under adiabatic tuning of interaction strength and inter-well tunneling. While some system properties are…
Symmetry-breaking quantum phase transitions play a key role in several condensed matter, cosmology and nuclear physics theoretical models. Its observation in real systems is often hampered by finite temperatures and limited control of the…
In modern power systems, the operating point, at which the demand and supply are balanced, may take different values due to changes in loads and renewable generation levels. Understanding the dynamics of stressed power systems with a range…
It has recently been proposed that quantum gravity might lead to the decoherence of superpositions in energy, corresponding to a discretization of time at the Planck scale. At first sight the proposal seems amenable to experimental…
Melting and solidification processes, intertwined with convective flows, play a fundamental role in geophysical contexts. One of these processes is the formation of melt ponds on glaciers, ice shelves, and sea ice. It is driven by solar…
We have identified the ground state configurations of soft particles (interacting via inverse power potentials) confined between two hard, impenetrable walls. To this end we have used a highly reliable optimization scheme at {\it vanishing}…
Systematic experiments on stress-induced phase transitions in thin SMA structures in literature have revealed two interesting instability phenomena: the coalescence of two martensite-austenite fronts leads to a sudden stress drop and that…
We study numerically an inhomogeneous Ising lattice gas with short-range interactions where different sectors are in contact with thermal baths at different temperatures. Inside the different sectors particles jump to empty sites following…
We study the Landau model of the class of incommensurate systems with a scalar order parameter where the modulated phase is driven by a gradient-squared term with negative coefficient. For example, theoretical studies of cholesteric liquid…
A crystal lattice, when confined to the surface of a cylinder, must have a periodic structure that is commensurate with the cylinder circumference. This constraint can frustrate the system, leading to oblique crystal lattices or to…
There is increasing evidence that entropy can induce microphase separation in binary fluid mixtures interacting through hard particle potentials. One such phase consists of alternating two dimensional liquid-like layers of rods and spheres.…
The question of the local stability of the (replica-symmetric) amorphous solid state is addressed for a class of systems undergoing a continuous liquid to amorphous-solid phase transition driven by the effect of random constraints. The…
We use numerical simulations to study the phase behavior of a system of purely repulsive soft dumbbells as a function of size ratio of the two components and their relative degree of deformability. We find a plethora of different phases…
Metastable polymorphs often result from the interplay between thermodynamics and kinetics. Despite advances in predictive synthesis for solution-based techniques, there remains a lack of methods to design solid-state reactions targeting…