We study a chain of harmonically interacting atoms confined between two sinusoidal substrate potentials, when the top substrate is driven through an attached spring with a constant velocity. This system is characterized by three inherent length scales and closely related to physical situations with confined lubricant films. We show that, contrary to the standard Frenkel-Kontorova model, the most favorable sliding regime is achieved by choosing chain-substrate incommensurabilities belonging to the class of cubic irrational numbers (e.g., the spiral mean). At large chain stiffness, the well known golden mean incommensurability reveals a very regular time-periodic dynamics with always higher kinetic friction values with respect to the spiral mean case.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.026102 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Crystal-Field Effects in the Formation of Wigner-Molecule Supercrystals in Moiré Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Superlattices.
Phys Rev Lett
December 2024
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0430, USA.
For moiré bilayer TMD superlattices, full-configuration-interaction (FCI) calculations are presented that take into account both the intra-moiré-quantum-dot (MQD) charge-carrier Coulombic interactions, as well as the crystal-field effect from the surrounding moiré pockets (inter-moiré-QD interactions). The effective computational embedding strategy introduced here allows for an FCI methodogy that enables the complete interpretation of the counterintuitive experimental observations reported recently in the context of moiré TMD superlattices at integer fillings ν=2 and 4. Two novel states of matter are reported: (i) a genuinely quantum-mechanical supercrystal of sliding Wigner molecules (WMs) for unstrained moiré TMD materials (when the crystal field is commensurate with the trilobal symmetry of the confining potential in each embedded MQD) and (ii) a supercrystal of pinned Wigner molecules when the crystal field is incommensurate with the trilobal symmetry or straining of the whole material is involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDynamical localization in nonideal kicked rotors driven by two competing pulsatile modulations.
Phys Rev E
November 2024
Departamento de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
We study dynamical localization in an ultracold atom confined in an optical lattice that is simultaneously shaken by two competing pulsatile modulations with different amplitudes, periods, and waveforms. The effects of finite-width time pulses, modulation waveforms, and commensurable and incommensurable driving periods are investigated. We describe a particularly complex scenario and conclude that dynamical localization can survive, or even increase, when a periodic modulation is replaced by a quasiperiodic one of equal amplitude.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIncommensurate Order with Translationally Invariant Projected Entangled-Pair States: Spiral States and Quantum Spin Liquid on the Anisotropic Triangular Lattice.
Phys Rev Lett
October 2024
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Simulating strongly correlated systems with incommensurate order poses significant challenges for traditional finite-size-based approaches. Confining such a phase to a finite-size geometry can induce spurious frustration, with spin spirals in frustrated magnets being a typical example. Here, we introduce an Ansatz based on infinite projected entangled-pair states which overcomes these limitations and enables the direct search for the optimal spiral in the thermodynamic limit, with a computational cost that is independent of the spiral's wavelength.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAperiodic approximants bridging quasicrystals and modulated structures.
Nat Commun
July 2024
Department of Physics, Kindai University, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka, 577-8502, Japan.
Aperiodic crystals constitute a class of materials that includes incommensurate (IC) modulated structures and quasicrystals (QCs). Although these two categories share a common foundation in the concept of superspace, the relationship between them has remained enigmatic and largely unexplored. Here, we show "any metallic-mean" QCs, surpassing the confines of Penrose-like structures, and explore their connection with IC modulated structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProbing structural superlubricity of two-dimensional water transport with atomic resolution.
Science
June 2024
International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Low-dimensional water transport can be drastically enhanced under atomic-scale confinement. However, its microscopic origin is still under debate. In this work, we directly imaged the atomic structure and transport of two-dimensional water islands on graphene and hexagonal boron nitride surfaces using qPlus-based atomic force microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!