RESUMO
The Langevin equation for a particle ("random walker") moving in d-dimensional space under an attractive central force and driven by a Gaussian white noise is considered for the case of a power-law force, F(r) approximately -r(-sigma). The "persistence probability," P0(t), that the particle has not visited the origin up to time t is calculated for a number of cases. For sigma>1, the force is asymptotically irrelevant (with respect to the noise), and the asymptotics of P0(t) are those of a free random walker. For sigma<1, the noise is (dangerously) irrelevant and the asymptotics of P0(t) can be extracted from a weak noise limit within a path-integral formalism employing the Onsager-Machlup functional. The case sigma=1, corresponding to a logarithmic potential, is most interesting because the noise is exactly marginal. In this case, P0(t) decays as a power law, P0(t) approximately t(-straight theta) with an exponent straight theta that depends continuously on the ratio of the strength of the potential to the strength of the noise. This case, with d=2, is relevant to the annihilation dynamics of a vortex-antivortex pair in the two-dimensional XY model. Although the noise is multiplicative in the latter case, the relevant Langevin equation can be transformed to the standard form discussed in the first part of the paper. The mean annihilation time for a pair initially separated by r is given by t(r) approximately r(2) ln(r/a) where a is a microscopic cutoff (the vortex core size). Implications for the nonequilibrium critical dynamics of the system are discussed and compared to numerical simulation results.
RESUMO
The distribution n(k,t) of the interval sizes k between clusters of persistent sites in the dynamical evolution of the one-dimensional q-state Potts model is studied using a combination of numerical simulations, scaling arguments, and exact analysis. It is shown to have the scaling form n(k,t)=t(-2z)f(k/t(z)), with z=max(1/2, straight theta), where straight theta(q) is the persistence exponent which describes the fraction P(t) approximately t(-straight theta) of sites which have not changed their state up to time t. When straight theta>1/2, the scaling length t(straight theta) for the interval-size distribution is larger than the coarsening length scale t(1/2) that characterizes spatial correlations of the Potts variables.
RESUMO
We analytically study coarsening dynamics in a system with nonconserved scalar order parameter, when a uniform time-independent shear flow is present. We use an anisotropic version of the Ohta-Jasnow-Kawasaki approximation to calculate the growth exponents in two and three dimensions: for d=3 the exponents we find are the same as expected on the basis of simple scaling arguments, that is, 3/2 in the flow direction and 1/2 in all the other directions, while for d=2 we find an unusual behavior, in that the domains experience an unlimited narrowing for very large times and a nontrivial dynamical scaling appears. In addition, we consider the case where an oscillatory shear is applied to a two-dimensional system, finding in this case a standard t(1/2) growth, modulated by periodic oscillations. We support our two-dimensional results by means of numerical simulations and we propose to test our predictions by experiments on twisted nematic liquid crystals.
RESUMO
The approach to equilibrium, from a nonequilibrium initial state, in a system at its critical point is usually described by a scaling theory with a single growing length scale, xi(t) approximately t(1/z), where z is the dynamic exponent that governs the equilibrium dynamics. We show that, for the 2D XY model, the rate of approach to equilibrium depends on the initial condition. In particular, xi(t) approximately t(1/2) if no free vortices are present in the initial state, while xi(t) approximately (t/lnt)(1/2) if free vortices are present.
