Search results for "Disordered system"
showing 10 items of 244 documents
Effect of physical aging on the low-frequency vibrational density of states of a glassy polymer
2003
The effects of the physical aging on the vibrational density of states (VDOS) of a polymeric glass is studied. The VDOS of a poly(methyl methacrylate) glass at low-energy (<15 meV), was determined from inelastic neutron scattering at low-temperature for two different physical thermodynamical states. One sample was annealed during a long time at temperature lower than Tg, and another was quenched from a temperature higher than Tg. It was found that the VDOS around the boson peak, relatively to the one at higher energy, decreases with the annealing at lower temperature than Tg, i.e., with the physical aging.
Re-entrant glass transition in a colloid-polymer mixture with depletion attractions.
2002
Performing light scattering experiments we show that introducing short-ranged attraction to a colloidal suspension of nearly hard spheres by addition of free polymer produces new glass transition phenomena. We observe a dramatic acceleration of the density fluctuations amounting to the melting of a colloidal glass. Increasing the strength of the attractions the system freezes into another nonergodic state sharing some qualitative features with gel states occurring at lower colloid packing fractions. This reentrant glass transition is in qualitative agreement with recent theoretical predictions.
Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulation of the glass transition of polymers
1998
Two coarse-grained models for polymer chains in dense glass-forming polymer melts are studied by computer simulation: the bond-fluctuation model on a simple cubic lattice, where a bond-length potential favors long bonds, is treated by dynamic Monte Carlo methods, and a bead-spring model in the continuum with a Lennard-Jones potential between the beads is treated by Molecular Dynamics. While the dynamics of both models differ for short length scales and associated time scales, on mesoscopic spatial and temporal scales both models behave similarly. In particular, the mode coupling theory of the glass transition can be used to interpret the slowing down of the undercooled polymer melt. For the…
Interfacial properties of glassy polymer melts: A Monte Carlo study
1996
The properties of the interface between a polymer melt and a solid wall are studied over a wide range of temperatures by dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that in the supercooled state near the glass transition of the melt an “interphase” forms, the structure of which is influenced by the wall. The thickness of this interphase is determined from the monomer density profile near the surface and is strongly temperature dependent. At low glass-like temperatures it is larger than the bulk radius of gyration of the chains.
Optical Hole Burning and Thermal Irreversibility of Non-Ergodic Systems: Polymers, Proteins, Glasses
1989
A spectral hole is used to probe configurational dynamics of non-ergodic systems far below the glass transition temperature
From orientational glasses to structural glasses: What computer simulations have contributed to understand experiments
2002
Abstract Orientational glasses, produced by random dilution of molecular crystals, exhibit a freezing transition of the quadrupole moments. Monte Carlo simulations of lattice models (generalization of the Edwards–Anderson spin glass model) have been used to elucidate this behavior. While short range models exhibit a static glass transition at zero temperature only, the infinite range Potts glass exhibits a transition where a glass order parameter appears discontinuously. At higher temperature, a dynamical transition occurs, described by mode-coupling theory (MCT). MCT has also been tested by Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of coarse-grained models of glass-forming polymers. W…
Nonlinear Relaxation in Population Dynamics
2001
We analyze the nonlinear relaxation of a complex ecosystem composed of many interacting species. The ecological system is described by generalized Lotka-Volterra equations with a multiplicative noise. The transient dynamics is studied in the framework of the mean field theory and with random interaction between the species. We focus on the statistical properties of the asymptotic behaviour of the time integral of the i-th population and on the distribution of the population and of the local field.
Characterization of E'delta and triplet point defects in oxygen-deficient amorphous silicon dioxide
2005
We report an experimental study by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of gamma ray irradiation induced point defects in oxygen deficient amorphous SiO2 materials. We have found that three intrinsic (E'gamma, E'delta and triplet) and one extrinsic ([AlO4]0) paramagnetic centers are induced. All the paramagnetic defects but E'gamma center are found to reach a concentration limit value for doses above 10^3 kGy, suggesting a generation process from precursors. Isochronal thermal treatments of a sample irradiated at 10^3 kGy have shown that for T>500 K the concentrations of E'gamma and E'delta centers increase concomitantly to the decrease of [AlO4]0. This occurrence speaks for an hole tra…
Theoretical and experimental study of two discrete coupled Nagumo chains
2001
We analyze front wave (kink and antikink) propagation and pattern formation in a system composed of two coupled discrete Nagumo chains using analytical and numerical methods. In the case of homogeneous interaction among the chains, we show the possibility of the effective control on wave propagation. In addition, physical experiments on electrical chains confirm all theoretical behaviors.
PROPAGATING INTERFACES IN A TWO-LAYER BISTABLE NEURAL NETWORK
2006
The dynamics of propagating interfaces in a bistable neural network is investigated. We consider the network composed of two coupled 1D lattices and assume that they interact in a local spatial point (pin contact). The network unit is modeled by the FitzHugh–Nagumo-like system in a bistable oscillator mode. The interfaces describe the transition of the network units from the rest (unexcited) state to the excited state where each unit exhibits periodic sequences of excitation pulses or action potentials. We show how the localized inter-layer interaction provides an "excitatory" or "inhibitory" action to the oscillatory activity. In particular, we describe the interface propagation failure a…