Rigidity of glasses and jamming systems at low temperatures

We discuss a microscopic scheme to compute the rigidity of glasses or the plateau modulus of supercooled liquids by twisting replicated liquids. We first summarize the method in the case of harmonic glasses with analytic potentials. Then we discuss how it can be extended to the case of repulsive contact systems : the hard sphere glass and related systems with repulsive contact potentials which enable the jamming transition at zero temperature. For the repulsive contact systems we find entropic rigidity which behaves similarly as the pressure in the low temperature limit: it is proportional to the temperature and tends to diverge approaching the jamming density with increasing volume fraction, which may account for experimental observations of rigidities of repulsive colloids and emulsions.

Transition by Breaking of Analyticity in the Ground State of Josephson Junction Arrays as a Static Signature of the Vortex Jamming Transition

We investigate the ground state of the irrationally frustrated Josephson junction array with controlling anisotropy parameter lambda that is the ratio of the longitudinal Josephson coupling to the transverse one. We find that the ground state has one dimensional periodicity whose reciprocal lattice vector depends on lambda and is incommensurate with the substrate lattice. Approaching the isotropic point, lambda=1 the so called hull function of the ground state exhibits analyticity breaking similar to the Aubry transition in the Frenkel-Kontorova model. We find a scaling law for the harmonic spectrum of the hull functions, which suggests the existence of a characteristic length scale diverging at the isotropic point. This critical behavior is directly connected to the jamming transition previously observed in the current-voltage characteristics by a numerical simulation. On top of the ground state there is a gapless, continuous band of metastable states, which exhibit the same critical behavior as the ground state.

Spin-chirality decoupling and critical properties of a two-dimensional fully frustrated XY model

We study the ordering of the spin and the chirality in the fully frustrated XY model on a square lattice by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Our results indicate unambiguously that the spin and the chirality exhibit separate phase transitions at two distinct temperatures, i. e. , the occurrence of the spin-chirality decoupling. The chirality exhibits a long-range order at T_c=0.45324(1) via a second-order phase transition, where the spin remains disordered with a finite correlation length xi_s(T_c) sim 120. The critical properties of the chiral transition determined from a finite-size scaling analysis for large enough systems of linear size L > xi_s(T_c) are well compatible with the Ising universality. On the other hand, the spin exhibits a phase transition at a lower temperature T_s=0.4418(5) into the quasi-long-range-ordered phase. We found eta(T_s)=0.201(1), suggesting that the universality of the spin transition is different from that of the conventional Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition.

From the Frenkel-Kontorova model to Josephson junction arrays - the Aubrys transition as a jamming-glass transition -

The Frenkel Kontorova (FK) model is known to exhibit the so called Aubrys transition which is a jamming or frictional transition at zero temperature. Recently we found similar transition at zero and finite temperatures in a super-conducting Josephson junction array (JJA) on a square lattice under external magnetic field. In the present paper we discuss how these problems are related.

Vortex jamming in superconductors and granular rheology

We demonstrate that a highly frustrated anisotropic Josephson junction array(JJA) on a square lattice exhibits a zero-temperature jamming transition, which shares much in common with those in granular systems. Anisotropy of the Josephson couplings along the horizontal and vertical directions plays roles similar to normal load or density in granular systems. We studied numerically static and dynamic response of the system against shear, i. e. injection of external electric current at zero temperature. Current-voltage curves at various strength of the anisotropy exhibit universal scaling features around the jamming point much as do the flow curves in granular rheology, shear-stress vs shear-rate. It turns out that at zero temperature the jamming transition occurs right at the isotropic coupling and anisotropic JJA behaves as an exotic fragile vortex matter : it behaves as superconductor (vortex glass) into one direction while normal conductor (vortex liquid) into the other direction even at zero temperature. Furthermore we find a variant of the theoretical model for the anisotropic JJA quantitatively reproduces universal master flow-curves of the granular systems. Our results suggest an unexpected common paradigm stretching over seemingly unrelated fields - the rheology of soft materials and superconductivity.

Spatio-temporal scaling for out-of-equilibrium relaxation dynamics of an elastic manifold in random media: crossover between the Larkin regime and thermally activated regime

We study relaxation dynamics of a three dimensional elastic manifold in random potential from a uniform initial condition by numerically solving the Langevin equation.We observe growth of roughness of the system up to larger wavelengths with time.We analyze structure factor in detail and find a compact scaling ansatz describing two distinct time regimes and crossover between them. We find short time regime corresponding to length scale smaller than the Larkin length $L_c$ is well described by the Larkin model which predicts a power law growth of domain size $L(t)$. Longer time behavior exhibits the random manifold regime with slower growth of $L(t)$.