Search results for "METASTABILITY"
showing 10 items of 262 documents
Theory of first-order phase transitions
1987
An introductory review of various concepts about first-order phase transitions is given. Rules for classification of phase transitions as second or first order are discussed, as well as exceptions to these rules. Attention is drawn to the rounding of first-order transitions due to finite-size or quenched impurities. Computational methods to calculate phase diagrams for simple model Hamiltonians are also described. Particular emphasis is laid on metastable states near first-order phase transitions, on the 'stability limits' of such states (e.g. the 'spinodal curve' of the gas-liquid transition) and on the dynamic mechanisms by which metastable states decay (nucleation and growth of droplets …
Collisional de-excitation of the metastableD-states of Ba+ by He, Ne, N2 and H2
1989
The rate constants 〈σ · υ〉 for collisional de-excitation of the metastable 5D states of Ba+ ions have been determined in an ion trap experiment. TheD-states are selectively populated by pulsed laser excitation of the 6P1/2 or 6P3/2 state and the decay at different background pressures is monitored by the change in fluorescence intensity of the excited ions. From the pressure dependence of the decay constants we calculate the de-excitation rate constants for different collision partners, averaged over the velocity distribution of the trapped ion cloud. For He, Ne, H2 and N2 we obtain in the c.m. energy range of 0.1–0.5 eV: 〈σ·υ〉 (He)=3.0±0.2·10−13cm3/s, 〈σ·υ〉 (Ne)=5.1±0.4·10−13cm3/s, 〈σ·υ〉 (…
Direct time delay computation applied to the O + O2 exchange reaction at low energy: Lifetime spectrum of O3* species
2021
We report full quantum dynamical calculations for lifetimes of scattering resonances, among which are true metastable states, of the intermediate heavy ozone complex 50O3* of the 18O + 16O16O reaction, for any value of the total angular momentum quantum number J. We show that computations for nonzero values of J are mandatory in order to properly analyze resonances and time delays, with a view to establish a somewhat comprehensive eigenlife spectrum of the complex O3*. Calculations have been performed in a given low to moderate energy range, including the interval between zero-point energies (ZPEs) of reagents and product species. Quasi-bound states tend to be more numerous, and eigenlifeti…
Spin stiffness of vector spin glasses
2011
Abstract We study domain-wall excitations for O ( m ) vector spin glasses in the limit m → ∞ , where the energy landscape is simplified considerably compared to XY or Heisenberg models due to the complete disappearance of metastability. Using numerical ground-state calculations and appropriate pairs of complementary boundary conditions, domain-wall defects are inserted into the systems and their excitation energies are measured. This allows us to determine the stiffness exponents for lattices of a range of spatial dimensions d = 2 , … , 7 . Compiling these results, we can finally determine the lower critical dimension of the model. The outcome is compared to estimates resulting from field-t…
3He neutron spin filter at ILL
1997
Abstract The strongly spin-dependent absorption of neutrons in nuclear spin polarized 3He opens the possibility to polarize neutrons over the full-spectrum of cold, thermal and epithermal neutrons. At ILL a neutron spin filter (NSF) development started which uses the direct optical pumping of metastable 3He atoms in a 3He plasma at 1 mbar. At present 0.5 bar 1 of gaseous 3He can be polarized within 1 h. Subsequent polarization-preserving compression by a two-stage compressor system enables one to prepare NSF cells of about 300 cm3 volume in the required pressure range of several bars. A remote type of operation based on relaxation times of up to 100 h has been demonstrated in a first survey…
Dynamics of wetting transitions: A time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau treatment
1987
The dynamic behavior at wetting transitions is studied for systems with short-range forces and nonconserved order parameter. From a continuum limit of a purely relaxational lattice model in mean-field approximation, a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation with a time-dependent boundary condition at the surface is derived in the long wavelength approximation. The dynamics of relaxation close to stable and metastable states is treated in linear response. A divergence of the relaxation time occurs both for critical wetting and along the surface spinodal lines (in the case of first-order wetting), although the static surface layer susceptibilities χ1, χ11 stay finite at the surface spinodal i…
Enhancement of stability in randomly switching potential with metastable state
2004
The overdamped motion of a Brownian particle in randomly switching piece-wise metastable linear potential shows noise enhanced stability (NES): the noise stabilizes the metastable system and the system remains in this state for a longer time than in the absence of white noise. The mean first passage time (MFPT) has a maximum at a finite value of white noise intensity. The analytical expression of MFPT in terms of the white noise intensity, the parameters of the potential barrier, and of the dichotomous noise is derived. The conditions for the NES phenomenon and the parameter region where the effect can be observed are obtained. The mean first passage time behaviours as a function of the mea…
Crystallization of hard spheres revisited. I. Extracting kinetics and free energy landscape from forward flux sampling
2018
We investigate the kinetics and the free energy landscape of the crystallization of hard spheres from a supersaturated metastable liquid though direct simulations and forward flux sampling. In this first paper, we describe and test two different ways to reconstruct the free energy barriers from the sampled steady state probability distribution of cluster sizes without sampling the equilibrium distribution. The first method is based on mean first passage times, and the second method is based on splitting probabilities. We verify both methods for a single particle moving in a double-well potential. For the nucleation of hard spheres, these methods allow us to probe a wide range of supersatura…
Evidence for metastable photo-induced superconductivity in K3C60
2021
Far and mid infrared optical pulses have been shown to induce non-equilibrium unconventional orders in complex materials, including photo-induced ferroelectricity in quantum paraelectrics, magnetic polarization in antiferromagnets and transient superconducting correlations in the normal state of cuprates and organic conductors. In the case of non-equilibrium superconductivity, femtosecond drives have generally resulted in electronic properties that disappear immediately after excitation, evidencing a state that lacks intrinsic rigidity. Here, we make use of a new optical device to drive metallic K$_3$C$_{60}$ with mid-infrared pulses of tunable duration, ranging between one picosecond and o…
Doppler free ?dark resonances? for hyperfine measurements and isotope shifts in Ca+ isotopes in a Paul trap
1995
We have observed “dark resonances” in theA-type level structure, formed by the 4S1/2 ground state, the 4P1/2 excited state and the low lying metastable 3D3/2 state in the Calcium ion, confined in a Paul radio-frequency trap. These Doppler-free and potentially very narrow resonances were used to determine the magnetic dipole hyperfine interaction constant A for the 4P1/2 and 3D3/2 state of43Ca+, giving −142(8) MHz and −48.3(1.6) MHz, respectively. From measurements of the P-D (E1) and S-D (E2) transition wavelength in a mixture of43Ca+ and40Ca+ we determined the isotope shifts of these lines.