Growing smooth interfaces with inhomogeneous moving external fields: dynamical transitions, devil's staircases, and...

Area of Science:

• Statistical Mechanics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Computational Physics

Background:

• Understanding interface dynamics is crucial in various physical systems.
• The Ising model provides a fundamental framework for studying phase transitions and critical phenomena.
• Interface stabilization in inhomogeneous fields presents complex behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the steady-state structure and dynamics of an interface in a pure Ising system.
• To analyze the effect of an inhomogeneous external field designed to stabilize a flat interface.
• To explore the interface behavior under translation with varying velocities.

Main Methods:

• Simulation of a pure Ising system on a square lattice.
• Application of an inhomogeneous external field with a stabilizing profile.
• Analysis of interface structure and dynamics at different translation velocities (v(e)).

Main Results:

• For low velocities, the interface locks to the field profile, exhibiting macroscopic smoothness and incommensurate ripples.
• The interface exhibits a devil's staircase phenomenon, with local slopes locking to rational values.
• As velocity increases, these lock-in structures and ripples vanish, leading to profile detachment.

Conclusions:

• The study reveals a velocity-dependent transition in interface behavior.
• The devil's staircase and ripple formation are characteristic of low-velocity interface dynamics in this system.
• Interface detachment from the stabilizing field profile occurs at higher velocities.