Computer Simulations of Phase Transitions

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0094422LandauComputer simulations are a powerful tool for obtaining fundamental information about wide ranging problems in statistical physics and to complement traditional theoretical and experimental methods. This grant supports a broad program on computer simulations of statistical systems. As part of this effort, large scale simulation methods will be developed and refined for the study of phase transitions in systems which are difficult to treat analytically. Techniques to be used include diverse Monte Carlo and Spin Dynamics simulations which have been exceedingly well refined. Models to be examined will be relevant to magnetic materials (including systems which exhibit colossal magnetoresistance), binary semiconductor alloys, growing films, and disordered media. Several of the systems include particles which may move continuously in space and which are subject to elastic interactions, whereas others will be confined to rigid lattices (including classical spins with continuous degrees of freedom) with discrete near-neighbor interactions. In many of the systems finite geometries and/or the presence of walls are responsible for behavior which is different than that which is found in the bulk. Both static and dynamic critical phenomena for systems in equilibrium will be carefully examined, and simple non-equilibrium models related to film growth and superionic diffusion will be studied using Monte Carlo and Kinetic Monte Carlo methods. Where possible, results will be compared with analytical theory and/or experiment.%%%Computer simulations are a powerful tool for obtaining fundamental information about wide ranging problems in statistical physics and to complement traditional theoretical and experimental methods. This grant supports a broad program on computer simulations. Computational techniques will be developed and refined, and these techniques will be applied to a variety of physics systems. ***