The impact of magnetoelasticity on structural phase transitions in cubic ferromagnets
Influence of the magnetoelastic interaction on the structural phase transitions in cubic ferromagnets is investigated on the basis of a Ginzburg-Landau theory. It is shown that for the case of a positive magnetic anisotropy constant the structural phase transitions are not accompanied by a spin-reorientation. In the magnetic state the high-temperature phase has small deformations caused by the magnetostriction. For the case of a strong magnetoelastic coupling these deformations lead to vanishing of the first order structural transitions. Corresponding critical points are determined. Due to the magnetoelastic interaction a first order magnetic phase transition can occur simultaneously with a structural first order transformation. The constrained theory allows to calculate a realistic (T,x)-phase diagram for Ni2+xMn1−xGa alloys. 64.10.+h, 64.70.Kb, 75.30.Gw, 75.80.+q Typeset using REVTEX 1
The Landau theory of phase transitions: A mechanical analog
The Landau theory of phase transitions occupies a centerpiece position in physics. We illustrate the theory by a pedagogical example at the pre-university level. In the example a bead of mass is threaded on a ring which is set rotating about a vertical diameter. The dynamics of the bead mimics key features of the Landau theory.
Esoteric Elementary Particle Phenomena in Undergraduate Physics-Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking and Scale Invariance
We take two rather abstract concepts from elementary particle physics, and show that there actually exist analogs to both of them in undergraduate physics. In the case of spontaneous symmetry breaking, we provide an example where the most symmetrical state of a simple system suddenly becomes unstable, while a less symmetrical state develops lower energy and becomes stable. In the case of scale invariance, we consider an example with no natural scale determined, and show that a straightforward dimensional analysis of the problem leads to incorrect results, because of the occurrence of infinities, even though they would appear to be irrelevant infinities that might not be expected to affect the dimensions of the answer. We then show how a simple use of the scale invariance of the problem leads to the correct answer.