Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics Commons^™

Geometry, Growth And Pattern Formation In Thin Elastic Structures, Salem Al-Mosleh

Doctoral Dissertations

Thin shells are abundant in nature and industry, from atomic to planetary scales. The mechanical behavior of a thin shell depends crucially on its geometry and embedding in 3 dimensions (3D). In fact, the behavior of extremely thin shells becomes scale independent and only depends on geometry. That is why the crumpling of graphene will have similarities to the crumpling of paper. In this thesis, we start by discussing the static behavior of thin shells, highlighting the role of asymptotic curves (curves with zero normal curvature) in determining the possible deformations and in controlling the folding patterns. In particular, we …

Magnetoelectric Memory Cells With Domain-Wall-Mediated Switching, Kirill Belashchenko, Oleg Tchernyshyov, Alexey Kovalev, Dmitri Nikonov

Kirill Belashchenko Publications

A magnetoelectric memory cell with domain - wall - mediated switching is implemented using a split gate architecture . The split gate architecture allows a domain wall to be trapped within a magnetoelectric antiferromagnetic ( MEAF ) active layer . An extension of this architecture applies to multiple gate linear arrays that can offer advantages in memory density , programmability , and logic functionality . Applying a small anisotropic in - plane shear strain to the MEAF can block domain wall precession to improve reliability and speed of switching

Complex Ground States Of Vortices And Filaments, Qingyou Meng

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two parts. In the first part, we studied the ground state configurations of vortices with multi-scale inter-vortex interactions in layered superconductors. We found that by tuning the multi-scale interaction length, we could create vortex lattice ground states with different symmetries. It has been proposed that these structures can trap ultra-cold atoms for use in quantum emulators. In further work, we measured the phase diagram and discovered many new phases by changing the relative magnitude of the interaction ranges. In the second part, we analyzed the ground state configurations of confined filaments with long-range repulsive interactions. We …

Emergent Phenomena In Quantum Critical Systems, Kun Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

A quantum critical point (QCP) is a point in the phase diagram of quantum matter where a continuous phase transition takes place at zero temperature. Low-dimensional quantum critical systems are strongly correlated, therefore hosting nontrivial emergent phenomena. In this thesis, we first address two decades-old problems on quantum critical dynamics. We then reveal two novel emergent phenomena of quantum critical impurity problems. In the first part of the thesis, we address the linear response dynamics of the $(2+1)$-dimensional $O(2)$ quantum critical universality class, which can be realized in the ultracold bosonic system near the superfluid (SF) to Mott insulator (MI) …

Pseudo Power Law Statistics In A Jammed, Amorphous Solid, Jacob Brian Hass

Physics

Simulations have shown that in many solid materials, rearrangements within the solid obey power-law statistics. A connection has been proposed between these statistics and the ability of a system to reach a limit cycle under cyclic driving. We study experimentally a 2D jammed solid that reaches such a limit cycle. Our solid consists of microscopic plastic beads adsorbed at an oil-water interface and cyclically sheared by a magnetically driven needle. We track each particles trajectory in the solid to identify rearrangements. By associating particles both spatially and temporally, we can measure the extent of each rearrangement. We study specifically the …

Simulating The Electrical Properties Of Random Carbon Nanotube Networks Using A Simple Model Based On Percolation Theory, Roberto Abril Valenzuela

Physics

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been subject to extensive research towards their possible applications in the world of nanoelectronics. The interest in carbon nanotubes originates from their unique variety of properties useful in nanoelectronic devices. One key feature of carbon nanotubes is that the chiral angle at which they are rolled determines whether the tube is metallic or semiconducting. Of main interest to this project are devices containing a thin film of randomly arranged carbon nanotubes, known as carbon nanotube networks. The presence of semiconducting tubes in a CNT network can lead to a switching effect when the film is electro-statically …

Vibrational Relaxation Theory For Systems Embedded In Microscopically Specified Reservoirs, Anastasia Aemilia Ierides

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

This dissertation is a study of the theoretical framework of the practical as well as fundamental problem of the process of relaxation to equilibrium of quantum mechanical systems. The fundamental aspect is concerned with the simultaneous occurrence of decoherence and population equilibration. The practical aspect deals with experimental observations of vibrational relaxation of molecules embedded in liquids or solids. The systems include, but are not limited to, the nondegenerate dimer and harmonic oscillator, in one case weak and in the other strong, interaction with a thermal bath. The time dependence of the energy and the temperature dependence of the relaxation …

Standard And Anomalous Wave Transport Inside Random Media, Xujun Ma

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis is a study of wave transport inside random media using random matrix theory. Anderson localization plays a central role in wave transport in random media. As a consequence of destructive interference in multiple scattering, the wave function decays exponentially inside random systems. Anderson localization is a wave effect that applies to both classical waves and quantum waves. Random matrix theory has been successfully applied to study the statistical properties of transport and localization of waves. Particularly, the solution of the Dorokhov-Mello-Pereyra-Kumar (DMPK) equation gives the distribution of transmission.

For wave transport in standard one dimensional random systems in …

Vibrated Squares As Equilibrium And Active Matter, Lee Askew Walsh

Doctoral Dissertations

We study the effects of particle shape and self-propulsion on the collective behaviors of a two-dimensional granular fluid, using an experimental system of hard square grains. We energize the system by vibration, which, depending on particle shape, induces either isotropic diffusion or persistent self-propulsion in the particles. We use specially designed grains as a model system to study (i) the equilibrium packing of hard squares in two dimensions, (ii) the dynamics of athermal self-propelled particles, and (iii) the melting kinetics of an unconfined granular crystallite. The first study concerns the phase diagram of a two-dimensional fluid of hard squares, which …

Band Filling And Temperature Effects On Electrical Conductivity In Strongly Correlated Hybridized Electron Systems, Dylan T. Meyer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

We investigate the effects of band filling as well as temperature change on the electrical conductivity of materials with strong interelectron interaction as well as band hybridization. This is done by use of the irreducible two-particle Green function method applied to strongly correlated electron systems described by the Periodic Anderson Model. It was found that there is a definite peak in electrical conductivity at low band occupancy when the d-energy sub-band is half filled. Conductivity was found to have a sharp drop with an increase in temperature as a result of thermal dispersion as well as a change in the …