PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Phase Transition”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 955 records · Page 53Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Geometric view on colloidal interactions above the nematic-isotropic phase transition.

Particles dispersed in a liquid crystal above the nematic-isotropic phase transition are surrounded by a surface-induced nematic wetting layer. When the nematic coronas of two particles overlap, they experience a strong attraction since the volume of nematic ordering and therefore the free energy is reduced. For normal anchoring of the liquid-crystal molecules on the particles' surfaces, we demonstrate that the implementation of this geometric view reproduces the Yukawa interaction derived by Galatola and Fournier in a recent paper [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3915 (2001)], however with half the strength. To understand the factor 2, we rederive the Yukawa potential with the approximation of linear superposition of two one-particle profiles. At the end, we comment on the similarities of our approach to the screened electrostatic interaction of charged colloids.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Phase transition of two-dimensional Ising model on random point patterns.

The phase transition of two-dimensional Ising model on random point patterns is investigated using Monte Carlo simulation and the critical temperature is calculated using the Bethe approximation. We find a linear relation between the critical temperature and the structural characteristics of the random point pattern, as described by Aboav's parameter. Numerical results and analytical calculation both yield this linear relation with a similar slope, though the intercept is different due to the Bethe approximation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Phase transition in the n > 2 honeycomb O(n) model

We determine the phase diagram of the O(n) loop model on the honeycomb lattice, in particular, in the range n>2, by means of a transfer-matrix method. We find that, contrary to the prevailing expectation, there is a line of critical points in the range between n = 2 and infinity. This phase transition, which belongs to the three-state Potts universality class, is unphysical in terms of the O(n) spin model, but falls inside the physical region of the n-component corner-cubic model. It can also be interpreted in terms of the ordering of a system of soft particles with hexagonal symmetry.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Lattice Boltzmann model for anisotropic liquid-solid phase transition.

We develop a simple reaction model for the liquid-solid phase transition in the context of the lattice Boltzmann method with enhanced collisions. Calculations for a two-dimensional test problem of Ga melting and for a two-dimensional anisotropic growth of dendrites are presented and commented on.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Universal scaling of the conductivity at the superfluid-insulator phase transition.

The scaling of the conductivity at the superfluid-insulator quantum phase transition in two dimensions is studied by numerical simulations of the Bose-Hubbard model. In contrast to previous studies, we focus on properties of this model in the experimentally relevant thermodynamic limit at finite temperature T. We find clear evidence for deviations from omega k scaling of the conductivity towards omega k/T scaling at low Matsubara frequencies omega k. By careful analytic continuation using Padé approximants we show that this behavior carries over to the real frequency axis where the conductivity scales with omega/T at small frequencies and low temperatures. We estimate the universal dc conductivity to be sigma* = 0.45(5)Q2/h, distinct from previous estimates in the T = 0, omega/T >> 1 limit.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Optical properties in nonequilibrium phase transitions.

An open question about the dynamical behavior of materials is how phase transition occurs in highly nonequilibrium systems. One important class of study is the excitation of a solid by an ultrafast, intense laser. The preferential heating of electrons by the laser field gives rise to initial states dominated by hot electrons in a cold lattice. Using a femtosecond laser pump-probe approach, we have followed the temporal evolution of the optical properties of such a system. The results show interesting correlation to nonthermal melting and lattice disordering processes. They also reveal a liquid-plasma transition when the lattice energy density reaches a critical value.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Two successive single crystal phase transitions involving the coordination sphere of antimony in PhSb(dmit), the first organo-antimony(III) dithiolene complex.

PhSb(dmit) (dmit(2)(-), 4,5-dithiolato-1,3-dithiole-2-thione), the first neutral organo-antimony dithiolene complex, has been synthesized by addition of PhSbCl(2) on a suspension of Na(2)(dmit). The complex was characterized by spectroscopic ((1)H and (13)C NMR and IR) methods and elemental analysis. Its crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction at room temperature in the monoclinic P2(1)/c space group, with a = 12.580(3), b = 8.9756(18), c = 15.905(3) A, beta = 109.06(3) degrees, V = 1697.5(6) A(3), Z = 4. A coordinating THF molecule was found in the structure and the coordination geometry around the antimony atom is of distorted pseudopentagonal bipyramid type, if taking into account the Sb.O and secondary Sb.S interactions, as well as the stereochemically active 5s(2) lone pair. The intermolecular Sb.S and S.S contacts, shorter than the sum of van der Waals radii of corresponding atoms, lead to the formation of a three-dimensional polymeric network in the solid state. A second X-ray diffraction experiment, performed at 85 K, revealed a very similar monoclinic unit cell with the noncentrosymmetrical space group P2(1) with a = 12.613(3), b = 8.9876(18), c = 15.109(3) A, beta = 107.01(3) degrees, V = 1637.8(6), Z = 4. The structural differences with the first one are basically due to the rotation of the THF ligand in the coordination sphere of the antimony center, leading to the loss of every inversion center found at room temperature. A temperature variable X-ray diffraction study on a PhSb(dmit) single-crystal allowed the detection, with a remarkable accuracy, of two successive first-order phase transitions, the first occurring at T = 162.5 K, while the second was observed at T = 182.5 K. Subsequently, a third set of X-ray data was collected at 180 K and the resulting structure (monoclinic, P2(1)/c, a = 16.736(3), b = 8.9653(18), c = 33.132(7) A, beta = 91.98(3) degrees, V = 4968.2(17), Z = 12) derives from the two others by a common b axis, a 3-fold cell volume increase, and the presence of only one-third of the inversion centers present at room temperature. A DSC analysis, showing two endothermic peaks at the expected temperatures, confirms the occurrence of the two structural phase transitions, also in agreement with preliminary Raman data.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Reentrant phenomenon in the quantum phase transitions of a gas of bosons trapped in an optical lattice.

We calculate the location of the quantum phase transitions of a Bose gas trapped in an optical lattice as a function of effective scattering length a(eff) and temperature T. Knowledge of recent high-loop results on the shift of the critical temperature at weak couplings is used to locate a nose in the phase diagram above the free Bose-Einstein critical temperature T((0))(c), thus predicting the existence of a reentrant transition above T((0))(c), where a condensate should form when increasing a(eff). At zero temperature, the transition to the normal phase produces the experimentally observed Mott insulator.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Partition coefficients of charged and uncharged local anesthetics into dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membrane: estimation from pH dependence on the depression of phase transition temperatures.

Effects of the local anesthetics, dibucaine, bupivacaine and lidocaine on the phase transition temperatures of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayer membrane were studied by the optical method. We focus our attention on pH dependence of the depression of main transition and pretransition temperatures. The temperatures of both transitions of DPPC bilayer membrane were depressed by the addition of anesthetics; the higher the value of pH, the larger the depression of main transition temperature and/or pretransition temperature by anesthetics. By extending the colligative thermodynamic framework to the depression of main transition temperature by an anesthetic, we can estimate the differential partition coefficient, which is defined by the difference in partition coefficients of an anesthetic into the ripple gel and liquid crystal phases. The difference in partition coefficient between the lamellar and ripple gel phases can also be estimated from the depression of pretransition temperature. Since the differential partition coefficients include both contributions of the charged and uncharged anesthetics, we could estimate the partition coefficients of the charged and uncharged anesthetic into the membranes from the pH dependence of differential partition coefficients. The liquid crystalline membrane of DPPC bilayer was more receptive to the uncharged local anesthetics than the charged species. The partition coefficients of the charged and uncharged anesthetics into the liquid crystalline phase of DPPC bilayer membrane were 3540 and 249000 (for dibucaine), 1120 and 83900 (for bupivacaine), 256 and 11700 (for lidocaine), respectively. The transfer free energy of uncharged anesthetics from the aqueous phase to the liquid crystalline membrane was well correlated to the local anesthetic potency.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Dynamics of the magnetic and structural alpha-epsilon phase transition in iron.

We have studied the high-pressure iron bcc to hcp phase transition by simultaneous x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and x-ray absorption spectroscopy with an x-ray energy dispersive spectrometer. The combination of the two techniques allows us to obtain simultaneously information on both the structure and the magnetic state of iron under pressure. The magnetic and structural transitions simultaneously observed are sharp. Both are of first order in agreement with the theoretical prediction. The pressure domain of the transition observed (2.4+/-0.2 GPa) is narrower than that usually cited in the literature (8 GPa). Our data indicate that the magnetic transition slightly precedes the structural one, suggesting that the origin of the instability of the bcc phase in iron with increasing pressure is to be attributed to the effect of pressure on magnetism as predicted by spin-polarized full-potential total energy calculations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Real-time X-Ray diffraction measurements of the phase transition in KCl shocked along

X-ray diffraction measurements and analyses were developed and used to examine the phase transition in KCl shocked to 7 GPa. Diffraction data were obtained below and above the transition stress, and related quantitatively to macroscopic compression in the two phases. Interplanar spacing measurements revealed isotropic compression of the unit cell. Above the transition stress, a diffraction peak from the (110) planes in phase II was observed consistently and the orientation of the transformed crystal structure was determined with respect to the phase I structure. This determination provides a mechanism for the atomic rearrangement from the rocksalt to the cesium chloride structure in KCl shocked along [100].

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Paraelectric-antiferroelectric phase transition in achiral liquid crystals.

Critical freezing of molecular rotation in an achiral smectic phase, which leads to polar ordering through the second order paraelectric-antiferroelectric (Sm-A-->Sm-APA) phase transition is studied theoretically and experimentally. Strong softening of the polar mode in the Sm-A phase and highly intensive dielectric mode in the Sm-APA phase are observed due to weak antiferroelectric interactions in the system. In the Sm-APA phase the dielectric response behaves critically upon biasing by a dc electric field. Such a behavior is found general for the antiferroelectric smectic phase with significant quadrupolar interlayer coupling.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

[Research on optical property of phase transition VO2 films].

Optical transmission spectra of VO2 films on glass, fused silica, and sapphire were recorded and analyzed during heating process. Thermally induced phase transition of VO2 films occurred at a certain temperature, associated with abrupt changes in optical properties. The transition temperature and the contrast of the optical properties depended on the substrate and the deposit method used. The change in transmittance delta T at 5 microns of VO2 films deposited on sapphire by RF magnetron sputtering was 70%, and the corresponding relative change delta T/TRT was 94%. For the VO2 films deposited on glass by RF magnetron sputtering, delta T at 2.5 microns was 64.2%, and delta T/TRT was as high as 98%.

Aluminum Oxide↗
PubMed2005

Morphological behavior of lipid bilayers induced by melittin near the phase transition temperature.

Morphological changes of DMPC, DLPC, and DPPC bilayers containing melittin (lecithin/melittin molar ratio of 10:1) around the gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperatures (Tc) were examined by a variety of biophysical methods. First, giant vesicles with the diameters of approximately 20 microm were observed by optical microscopy for melittin-DMPC bilayers at 27.9 degrees C. When the temperature was lowered to 24.9 degrees C (Tc = 23 degrees C for the neat DMPC bilayers), the surface of vesicles became blurred and dynamic pore formation was visible in the microscopic picture taken at different exposure times. Phase separation and association of melittin molecules in the bilayers were further detected by fluorescent microscopy and mass spectrometry, respectively. These vesicles disappeared completely at 22.9 degrees C. It was thus found that the melittin-lecithin bilayers reversibly undergo their fusion and disruption near the respective Tcs. The fluctuation of lipids is, therefore, responsible for the membrane fusion above the Tc, and the association of melittin molecules causes membrane fragmentation below the Tc. Subsequent magnetic alignments were observed by solid-state (31)P NMR spectra for the melittin-lecithin vesicles at a temperature above the respective Tcs. On the other hand, additional large amplitude motion induced by melittin at a temperature near the Tc breaks down the magnetic alignment.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗
PubMed2005

On the high-temperature phase transition of Gd5Si2Ge2.

The first-order monoclinic-to-orthorhombic (beta-->gamma) phase transition of the giant magnetocaloric material Gd(5)Si(2)Ge(2) was studied using in situ high-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction. A special crystal mounting procedure was developed to avoid crystal contamination by oxygen or nitrogen at high temperatures. The elastic beta-->gamma transformation occurs at 300-320 degrees C during heating, and it is reversible during fast and slow heating and slow cooling but irreversible during rapid cooling. Contrary to theoretical predictions, the macroscopic distribution of the Si and Ge atoms remains the same in both the orthorhombic gamma-polymorph and the monoclinic beta-phase. It appears that interstitial impurities may affect stability of both the monoclinic and orthorhombic phases. In the presence of small amounts of air, the beta-->gamma transformation is complete only at 600 degrees C. The interslab voids, which can accommodate impurity atoms, have been located in the structure, and an effect of partially filling these voids with oxygen or nitrogen atoms on the beta-gamma transition is discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

The complement: a solution to liquid drop finite size effects in phase transitions.

The effects of the finite size of a liquid drop undergoing a phase transition are described in terms of the complement, the largest (but mesoscopic) drop representing the liquid in equilibrium with the vapor. Vapor cluster concentrations, pressure, and density from fixed mean density lattice gas (Ising) calculations are explained in terms of the complement generalization of Fisher's model. Accounting for this finite size effect is important for extracting the infinite nuclear matter phase diagram from experimental data.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Two-point versus multipartite entanglement in quantum phase transitions.

We analyze correlations between subsystems for an extended Hubbard model exactly solvable in one dimension, which exhibits a rich structure of quantum phase transitions (QPTs). The T = 0 phase diagram is exactly reproduced by studying singularities of single-site entanglement. It is shown how comparison of the latter quantity and quantum mutual information allows one to recognize whether two-point or shared quantum correlations are responsible for each of the occurring QPTs. The method works in principle for any number D of degrees of freedom per site. As a by-product, we are providing a benchmark for direct measures of bipartite entanglement; in particular, here we discuss the role of negativity at the transition.

Journal Article↗