Competing Interactions And Microstructures Statics And Dynamics

Competing Interactions and Microstructures: Statics and Dynamics

Many macroscopic properties of materials are determined primarily by inhomogeneous structures and textures. These intermediate-scale structures often arise from competing interactions operating on different length scales within the material. Our understanding of such phenomena has increased substantially with the identification and theoretical description of solid-state materials with incommensurate and long-period modulated phases, such as ferroelectrics, charge-density-wave compounds, epitaxial layers and polytypes. Experimental diagnosis of inhomogeneous ground states and metastable phases has advanced so far that these are now well-accepted phenomena. These proceedings bring together the work of physicists and materials scientists to review developments in this area and to examine possible future directions, such as how the microscopic understanding emerging in bench-top solid-state systems can be applied in materials science.

Competing Interactions and Pattern Formation in Nanoworld

Systems displaying competing interactions of some kind are widespread - much more, in fact, as commonly anticipated (magnetic and Ising-type interactions or the dynamics of DNA molecules being only two popular examples). Written for researchers in the field with different professional backgrounds, this volume classifies phenomena not by system but rather by the type of competing interactions involved. This allows for a straightforward presentation of the underlying principles and the universal laws governing the behaviour of different systems. Starting with a historical overview, the author proceeds by describing self-competitions of various types of interactions (such as diploar or multipolar interactions), competitions between a short-range and a long-range interaction (as in Ising systems or DNA models) or between a long-range interaction and an anisotropy (as in ultrathin magnetic films or magnetic nanoparticles) and finally competitions between interactions of the same range (as in spin glasses). Each chapter contains a few problems with solutions which provide suitable material for lecturers of mathematics and physics as well as biology courses. A vast body of references to the original literature make the volume self-contained and ideally suited to master this interdisciplinary field.

Competing Interactions and Microstructures