Nonlinear Relaxation Phenomena in Metastable Condensed Matter Systems

• Published in: Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 20
• Main Authors: Spagnolo, Bernardo, Guarcello, Claudio, Magazzù, Luca, Carollo, Angelo, Persano Adorno, Dominique, Valenti, Davide
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Condensed matter; Dissipation; Dynamical systems; Electron spin; Fluctuation; Josephson junction; metastability; Metastable state; Noise; noise enhanced stability; nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and nonlinear relaxation time; Nonlinear dynamics; open quantum systems; quantum noise enhanced stability; spin polarized transport in semiconductors
• ISSN: 1099-4300; 1099-4300
• DOI: 10.3390/e19010020

Nonlinear relaxation phenomena in three different systems of condensed matter are investigated. (i) First, the phase dynamics in Josephson junctions is analyzed. Specifically, a superconductor-graphene-superconductor (SGS) system exhibits quantum metastable states, and the average escape time from these metastable states in the presence of Gaussian and correlated fluctuations is calculated, accounting for variations in the the noise source intensity and the bias frequency. Moreover, the transient dynamics of a long-overlap Josephson junction (JJ) subject to thermal fluctuations and non-Gaussian noise sources is investigated. Noise induced phenomena are observed, such as the noise enhanced stability and the stochastic resonant activation. (ii) Second, the electron spin relaxation process in a n-type GaAs bulk driven by a fluctuating electric field is investigated. In particular, by using a Monte Carlo approach, we study the influence of a random telegraph noise on the spin polarized transport. Our findings show the possibility to raise the spin relaxation length by increasing the amplitude of the external fluctuations. Moreover, we find that, crucially, depending on the value of the external field strength, the electron spin depolarization length versus the noise correlation time increases up to a plateau. (iii) Finally, the stabilization of quantum metastable states by dissipation is presented. Normally, quantum fluctuations enhance the escape from metastable states in the presence of dissipation. We show that dissipation can enhance the stability of a quantum metastable system, consisting of a particle moving in a strongly asymmetric double well potential, interacting with a thermal bath. We find that the escape time from the metastable region has a nonmonotonic behavior versus the system- bath coupling and the temperature, producing a stabilizing effect.