Search results for "classical"
showing 10 items of 2294 documents
Thermodynamics based on the principle of least abbreviated action: Entropy production in a network of coupled oscillators
2006
We present some novel thermodynamic ideas based on the Maupertuis principle. By considering Hamiltonians written in terms of appropriate action-angle variables we show that thermal states can be characterized by the action variables and by their evolution in time when the system is nonintegrable. We propose dynamical definitions for the equilibrium temperature and entropy as well as an expression for the nonequilibrium entropy valid for isolated systems with many degrees of freedom. This entropy is shown to increase in the relaxation to equilibrium of macroscopic systems with short-range interactions, which constitutes a dynamical justification of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Several e…
Structural quantities of quasi-two-dimensional fluids
2014
Quasi-two-dimensional fluids can be generated by confining a fluid between two parallel walls with narrow separation. Such fluids exhibit an inhomogeneous structure perpendicular to the walls due to the loss of translational symmetry. Taking the transversal degrees of freedom as a perturbation to an appropriate 2D reference fluid we provide a systematic expansion of the $m$-particle density for arbitrary $m$. To leading order in the slit width this density factorizes into the densities of the transversal and lateral degrees of freedom. Explicit expressions for the next-to-leading order terms are elaborated analytically quantifying the onset of inhomogeneity. The case $m=1$ yields the densit…
Nonlinear response of superparamagnets with finite damping: an analytical approach
2004
The strongly damping-dependent nonlinear dynamical response of classical superparamagnets is investigated by means of an analytical approach. Using rigorous balance equations for the spin occupation numbers a simple approximate expression is derived for the nonlinear susceptibility. The results are in good agreement with those obtained from the exact (continued-fraction) solution of the Fokker-Planck equation. The formula obtained could be of assistance in the modelling of the experimental data and the determination of the damping coefficient in superparamagnets.
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…
Active Brownian Motion Models and Applications to Ratchets
2008
We give an overview over recent studies on the model of Active Brownian Motion (ABM) coupled to reservoirs providing free energy which may be converted into kinetic energy of motion. First, we present an introduction to a general concept of active Brownian particles which are capable to take up energy from the source and transform part of it in order to perform various activities. In the second part of our presentation we consider applications of ABM to ratchet systems with different forms of differentiable potentials. Both analytical and numerical evaluations are discussed for three cases of sinusoidal, staircase-like and Mateos ratchet potentials, also with the additional loads modeled by…
Systematic derivation of hydrodynamic equations for viscoelastic phase separation
2021
(abridged) We present a detailed derivation of a simple hydrodynamic two-fluid model, which aims at the description of the phase separation of non-entangled polymer solutions, where viscoelastic effects play a role. It is directly based upon the coarse-graining of a well-defined molecular model, such that all degrees of freedom have a clear and unambiguous molecular interpretation. The considerations are based upon a free-energy functional, and the dynamics is split into a conservative and a dissipative part, where the latter satisfies the Onsager relations and the Second Law of thermodynamics. The model is therefore fully consistent with both equilibrium and non-equilibrium thermodynamics.…
Stochastic Kinetics with Wave Nature
2003
We consider stochastic second-order partial differential equations. We indroduce a noisy non-linear wave equation and discuss its connections, in particular via the Lorentz transformation, with known stochastic models.
Studies of the hydrodynamic evolution of matter produced in fluctuations inp¯pcollisions and in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions
1986
In this first paper of a series of two, we present a comprehensive study of the hydrodynamic evolution of matter produced in the central region of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions and in high-multiplicity fluctuations of p-barp-italic collisions. We shall begin with a discussion of the limits of the applicability of a perfect-fluid hydrodynamic description of high-energy collisions. A simple bag-model equation of state is argued to have qualitative and semiquantitative features expected from lattice gauge theory and present theoretical understanding. We also discuss the boundary conditions for the perfect-fluid hydrodynamic equations, and what classes of simple events would correspond…
Tunneling in a ?breathing? double well: Adiabatic and antiadiabatic limits and tunneling suppression
1995
Tunneling in a piecewise harmonic potential coupled to a harmonic oscillator is considered by means of the path integral technique. The reduced propagator for the tunneling particle is calculated explicitly and the tunneling splitting is found in semiclassical approximation. The result holds for arbitrary values of the parameters of the system. From this the adiabatic and antiadiabatic approximations are obtained as particular cases and compared with the results obtained differently. The limit of a strong interaction is also considered. It is found that for strong interaction or equivalently for the harmonic frequency tending to zero the preexponential factor in the tunneling splitting tend…
Velocity locking of incoherent nonlinear wave packets
2006
We show both theoretically and experimentally in an optical fiber system that a set of incoherent nonlinear waves irreversibly evolves to a specific equilibrium state, in which the individual wave packets propagate with identical group velocities. This intriguing process of velocity locking can be explained in detail by simple thermodynamic arguments based on the kinetic wave theory. Accordingly, the selection of the velocity-locked state is shown to result from the natural tendency of the isolated wave system to approach the state that maximizes the nonequilibrium entropy.