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PubMed2002

Scaling of entanglement close to a quantum phase transition.

Classical phase transitions occur when a physical system reaches a state below a critical temperature characterized by macroscopic order. Quantum phase transitions occur at absolute zero; they are induced by the change of an external parameter or coupling constant, and are driven by quantum fluctuations. Examples include transitions in quantum Hall systems, localization in Si-MOSFETs (metal oxide silicon field-effect transistors; ref. 4) and the superconductor-insulator transition in two-dimensional systems. Both classical and quantum critical points are governed by a diverging correlation length, although quantum systems possess additional correlations that do not have a classical counterpart. This phenomenon, known as entanglement, is the resource that enables quantum computation and communication. The role of entanglement at a phase transition is not captured by statistical mechanics-a complete classification of the critical many-body state requires the introduction of concepts from quantum information theory. Here we connect the theory of critical phenomena with quantum information by exploring the entangling resources of a system close to its quantum critical point. We demonstrate, for a class of one-dimensional magnetic systems, that entanglement shows scaling behaviour in the vicinity of the transition point.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1997

Osmotic stress induces a phase transition from interdigitated gel phase to bilayer gel phase in multilamellar vesicles of dihexadecylphosphatidylcholine.

We have investigated the effects of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the structure and phase behavior of multilamellar vesicles of dihexadecylphosphatidylcholine (DHPC-MLVs) using an X-ray diffraction method. At low concentrations of PEG-6K (MW = 7500), DHPC-MLVs were in an interdigitated gel (L(beta)I) phase, a gel phase with interdigitated hydrocarbon chains. At around 24% (w/v) PEG 6K, a phase transition from the L(beta)I phase to a bilayer gel phase occurred in the DHPC-MLVs, and above this concentration, they were in a bilayer gel phase. On the other hand, ethylene glycol (EG), the monomer of PEG, did not induce this phase transition in the DHPC-MLVs. A mechanism of this phase transition is proposed and discussed; a decrease in the repulsive interaction between the head groups of the phospholipids in the bilayer gel phase with an increase in PEG concentration, which is due to a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the head group region by osmotic stress, may be the main reason for this phase transition.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Phase transition studies of model and biological membranes. I. Use of hydrophobic fluorescent probes for studying phase transitions in liposomes].

Phase transition induced by temperature changes in liposomes prepared from synthetic dimyristoyl-(DML), dipalmytoyl-(DPL) and distearyl-(DSL) lecithins and also from equimolar mixture of DML and DPL and mixtures of DPL and cholesterol were studied with fluorescent probes such as 3-metoxybenzantron (MBA) and dimetylaminocholkone (DMC). The significant changes of fluorescence intensity and maximum position of MBA and DMC were found in the regions of phase transitions at 23, 42, 54 and 31c in liposomes from DML, DPL, DSL and mixture of DML and DPL, respectively. Cholesterol incorporation into liposomes from DPL led to a decrease of transition temperature and cooperativity for these liposomes. At cholesterol concentration of 20 mol. percent or more the transition disappeared completely. It is concluded that MBA and DMC can be used for the investigation of biological membranes phase transitions.

Cholesterol↗
PubMed2001

The effect of ethanol on the phase transition temperature and the phase structure of monounsaturated phosphatidylcholines.

Previous studies from our laboratories have delineated the relationship between the acyl chain asymmetry of mixed-chain phosphatidylcholines, C(X):C(Y)PC, and the effect of ethanol concentration, [EtOH], on the main phase transition temperature, T(m), and the phase structure of the lipid bilayer composed of C(X):C(Y)PC using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction techniques [Huang and McIntosh, Biophys. J. 72 (1997) 2702--2709]. In the present work, we have extended these studies to characterize the effect of [EtOH] on the T(m) and the phase structure of the lipid bilayer composed of sn-1 saturated/sn-2 monounsaturated phosphatidylcholines with various positions of the cis double bond. Specifically, five positional isomers of 1-eicosanoyl-2-eicosenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholines, C(20):C(20:1 Delta(n))PC with n=5, 8, 11, 13 and 17, were synthesized and studied. For C(20):C(20:1 Delta(n))PC with n=5 and 8, results from the calorimetric experiments showed that in response to various concentrations of ethanol, the change in T(m) of the lipid bilayer composed of monounsaturated lipids was characterized by a sigmoidal or biphasic profile in the plot of T(m) versus [EtOH]. In contrast, a continuous depression of the T(m) by ethanol was observed calorimetrically for C(20):C(20:1 Delta(n))PC with n> or =11. The X-ray diffraction experiments further demonstrated that C(20):C(20:1 Delta(5))PC and C(20):C(20:1 Delta(8))PC can undergo the ethanol-induced gel-to-fully interdigitated phase transition at T<T(m). Such a transition, however, was not observed for C(20):C(20:1 Delta(13))PC even at a very high ethanol concentration of 100 mg/ml. These distinct different effects of [EtOH] on the phase transition temperature and the phase structure can be attributed to various positions of the cis double bond in these monounsaturated phosphatidylcholines. And the different effects of ethanol can, in fact, be explained based on the molecular structures of these monounsaturated lipids packed in the gel-state bilayer as generated by molecular mechanics simulations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the ethanol-induced fully interdigitated bilayers are observed at T<T(m) for unsaturated phospholipids with well defined double bond positions in their sn-2 acyl chains.

Calorimetry, Differential Scanning↗
PubMed2005

Cluster mean-field study of the parity-conserving phase transition.

The phase transition of the branching and annihilating random walk with even offspring is studied by N-cluster mean-field approximations on one-dimensional lattices. By allowing the system to reach zero branching rate a phase transition can be seen for any N < or = 12. Coherent anomaly extrapolations applied for the series of approximations results in nu(perpendicular) = 1.85(3) and beta=0.96(2).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Nomenclature of magnetic, incommensurate, composition-changed morphotropic, polytype, transient-structural and quasicrystalline phases undergoing phase transitions. II. Report of an IUCr Working Group on Phase Transition Nomenclature.

A general nomenclature applicable to the phases that form in any sequence of transitions in the solid state has been recommended by an IUCr Working Group [Acta Cryst. (1998). A54, 1028-1033]. The six-field notation of the first Report, hereafter I, was applied to the case of structural phase transitions, i.e. to transformations resulting from temperature and/or pressure changes between two crystalline (strictly periodic) phases involving modifications to the atomic arrangement. Extensive examples that illustrate the recommendations were provided. This second Report considers, within the framework of a similar six-field notation, the more complex nomenclature of transitions involving magnetic phases, incommensurate phases and transitions that occur as a function of composition change. Extension of the nomenclature to the case of phases with less clearly established relevance to standard schemes of transition in equilibrium systems, namely polytype phases, radiation-induced and other transient phases, quasicrystalline phases and their transitions is recommended more tentatively. A uniform notation for the translational periodicity, propagation vector or wavevector for magnetic and/or incommensurate substances is specified. The notation adopted for incommensurate phases, relying partly on the existence of an average structure, is also consistent with that for commensurate phases in a sequence. The sixth field of the nomenclature is used to emphasize the special features of polytypes and transient phases. As in I, illustrative examples are provided for each category of phase sequence.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

The influence of water on the phase transition of sheep lung surfactant. A possible mechanism for surfactant phase transitions in vivo.

The effect of water on the thermal properties of sheep lung surfactant lipids was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Dry surfactant exhibited a phase transition with an upper limit of about 54 degrees C, whereas that of the fully hydrated surfactant was about 30 degrees C. The effect of water was confined to a range of hydration values from 0 to 25%. The results indicate that pulmonary surfactant lipids are capable of undergoing both thermotropic and lyotropic mesomorphism in vitro. The degree of hydration of the surfactant could influence its in vivo biophysical role in alveolar dynamics. Indeed, small changes in the surfactant to water ratio induced by regional differences in the surfactant concentration at the alveolar surface during alveolar expansion and contraction could be sufficient to trigger isothermal phase transitions in the surfactant lipids. This would allow changes to occur in the equilibrium between solidus and fluidus surfactant during the respiratory cycle.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Phase transition dynamics of liquid phase precipitation from a supersaturated gas mixture.

This work presents a self-consistent description of phase transition dynamics of disperse liquid phase precipitating from a supersaturated gas mixture. The unified approach integrates the macroscale transport phenomena of cloud dynamics with the essential microphysical kinetic processes of droplet condensation, evaporation, and droplet collisions simultaneously taking place in stochastic population of liquid droplets. A complete set of governing equations with well-defined dissipative fluxes and kinetic rates is derived for phase transition dynamics from nucleation to postnucleation to coarsening stages. The local thermodynamics of precipitating system, which is considered as ternary mixture of disperse liquid phase and water vapor with dry air, is redefined to explicitly include on equal basis both the vapor content and liquid content into the fundamental thermodynamic relations and equation of state. The molecular kinetic flux regularization method for growth of submicron droplets is reexamined to include, among others, significant contribution of vapor molecular energy flux into total heat flux, resulting in new expressions for the droplet temperature, growth rate, and effective diffusion coefficients. The local kinetic rates are determined on the basis of microscale kinetic equation for the droplet distribution function. This is in contrast to commonly used semiempirical parametrization schemes for kinetic rates with adjustable parameters, wherein the probabilistic aspects of microphysical processes are not rigorously addressed. Stochastic diffusion interactions among droplets competing for the available water vapor and modifications in the kinetic equation for droplets growing in stochastic population with direct long-range diffusion interactions amongst them are discussed and formulated as well.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Inducing spin crossover in metallo-supramolecular polyelectrolytes through an amphiphilic phase transition.

A phase transition in an amphiphilic mesophase is explored to deliberately induce mechanical strain in an assembly of tightly coupled metal ion coordination centers. Melting of the alkyl chains in the amphiphilic mesophase causes distortion of the coordination geometry around the central transition metal ion. As a result, the crystal field splitting of the d-orbital subsets decreases resulting in a spin transition from a low-spin to a high-spin state. The diamagnetic-paramagnetic transition is reversible. This concept is demonstrated in a metallo-supramolecular coordination polyelectrolyte-amphiphile complex self-assembled from ditopic bis-terpyridines, Fe(II) as central transition metal, and dialkyl phosphates as amphiphiles. The magnetic properties are studied in a Langmuir-Blodgett multilayer. The modularity of this concept provides extensive control of structure and function from molecular to macroscopic length scales and gives access to a wide range of new molecular magnetic architectures such as nanostructures, thin films, and liquid crystals.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Crossover between a displacive and an order-disorder phase transition

The phase transition in a three-dimensional array of classical anharmonic oscillators with harmonic nearest-neighbor coupling (discrete straight phi(4) model) is studied by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and by analytical methods. The model allows us to choose a single dimensionless parameter a determining completely the behavior of the system. Changing a from 0 to +infinity allows to go continuously from the displacive to the order-disorder limit. We calculate the transition temperature T(c) and the temperature dependence of the order parameter down to T=0 for a wide range of the parameter a. The T(c) from MC calculations shows an excellent agreement with the known asymptotic values for small and large a. The obtained MC results are further compared with predictions of the mean-field and independent-mode approximations as well as with predictions of our own approximation scheme. In this approximation, we introduce an auxiliary system, which yields approximately the same temperature behavior of the order parameter, but allows the decoupling of the phonon modes. Our approximation gives the value of T(c) within an error of 5% and satisfactorily describes the temperature dependence of the order parameter for all values of a.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Phase transitions of reversed-phase stationary phases. Cause and effects in the mechanism of retention.

We provide a somewhat historical perspective on the work that has been accomplished that supports the suggestion of phase transitions in reversed-phase liquid chromatographic bonded phases. In addition to this general review, we consider from both a practical and theoretical viewpoint the implications of such transitions in the rational design of improved reversed-phase separations. Analytical theory and molecular simulation approaches to chromatographic stationary phases and related systems are reviewed. Initial results are presented on the temperature, density and chain length dependences of stationary phase properties. The role of computer simulation in analyzing transition behavior and retention processes is discussed.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed2000

Yang-Lee theory for a nonequilibrium phase transition

To analyze phase transitions in a nonequilibrium system, we study its grand canonical partition function as a function of complex fugacity. Real and positive roots of the partition function mark phase transitions. This behavior, first found by Yang and Lee under general conditions for equilibrium systems, can also be applied to nonequilibrium phase transitions. We consider a one-dimensional diffusion model with periodic boundary conditions. Depending on the diffusion rates, we find real and positive roots and can distinguish two regions of analyticity, which can be identified with two different phases. In a region of the parameter space, both of these phases coexist. The condensation point can be computed with high accuracy.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Influence of electric field on the phase transitions of the hexagonal cylinder phase of diblock copolymers.

We have used the cell dynamic simulations (CDS) method to study the evolution of asymmetric and symmetric diblock copolymers under electric fields. For symmetric diblock copolymers, long-range-ordered lamellar phases form readily under electric fields. For asymmetric diblock copolymers, sphere-to-cylinder phase transitions occur rapidly when strong electric fields are applied, but it takes longer for the system to form hexagonal cylinder structures. The results of these simulations suggest that the sphere phase is stable under weak electric fields, but a threshold electric intensity exists for the sphere-to-cylinder phase transition. In addition, we also studied the kinetic pathways of the transition of the lamellar phase to the hexagonal cylinder phase of the asymmetric diblock copolymers under electric fields. Hexagonal cylinder structures form when the lamellar phase is subjected to a sudden temperature jump. The scattering functions suggest that the hexagonal cylinder structures are very regular and possess very few flaws.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Influence of confinement on the orientational phase transitions in the lamellar phase of a block-copolymer melt under shear flow.

In this paper, we incorporate some real-system effects into the theory of orientational phase transitions under shear flow [M. E. Cates and S. T. Milner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62 1856 (1989) and G. H. Fredrickson, J. Rheol. 38, 1045 (1994)]. In particular, we study the influence of the shear-cell boundaries on the orientation of the lamellar phase. We predict that at low shear rates, the parallel orientation appears to be stable. We show that there is a critical value of the shear rate at which the parallel orientation loses its stability and the perpendicular one appears immediately below the spinodal. We associate this transition with a crossover from the fluctuation to the mean-field behavior. At lower temperatures, the stability of the parallel orientation is restored. We find that the region of stability of the perpendicular orientation rapidly decreases as shear rate increases. This behavior might be misinterpreted as an additional perpendicular to parallel transition recently discussed in literature.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Non-isothermal pattern of phase transition in vesicle membranes].

Phase transition of lipid molecules between liquid and crystalline states in the vesicle membrane has a non-isothermal pattern; it is spread in some temperature range, which depends on the vesicle size. With a change of phase transition the area which falls within a lipid molecule is changed. As a result elastic tensions appear in the membrane. They may account for the non-isothermal pattern of phase transition. The number of molecules in each state is calculated in relation to temperature, and the temperature range is calculated within which the phase transition is realized. The smaller is the vesicle radius, the higher is the temperature range value. Temperature relationship of the membrane heat capacity at non-isothermal phase transition is calculated. The obtained results well agree with the number of experimental data.

Crystallization↗
PubMed2006

Kinetic appearance of first-order gas-liquid expanded and liquid expanded-liquid condensed phase transitions below the triple point.

Phase diagram of Gibbs monolayers of mixtures containing n-hexadecyl phosphate (n-HDP) and L-arginine (L-arg) at a molar ratio of 1:2 has been constructed by measuring surface-pressure-time (pi-t) isotherms with film balance and by observing monolayer morphology with Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). This phase diagram shows a triple point for gas (G), liquid expanded (LE), and liquid condensed (LC) phases at around 6.7 degrees C. Above this triple point, a first-order G-LE phase transition occurring at 0 surface pressure is followed by another first-order LE-LC phase transition taking place at a certain higher surface pressure that depends upon temperature. The BAM observation supports these results. Below the triple point, the pi-t measurements show only one first-order phase transition that should be G-LC. All of these findings are in agreement with the general phase diagram of the spread monolayers. However, the BAM observation at a temperature below the triple point shows that the thermodynamically allowed G-LC phase transition is, in fact, a combination of the G-LE and LE-LC phase transitions. The latter two-phase transitions are separated by time and not by the surface pressure, indicating that the G-LC phase transition is kinetically separated into these two-phase transitions. The position of the LE phase below the triple point in the phase diagram is along the phase boundary between the G and LC phases.

Gases↗