Nonlinearity in Condensed Matter: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Conference, Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 5–9 May, 1986 (Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences, 69)

The Sixth Annual Conference of the Center for Nonlinear Studies at the Los Alamos National Laboratory was held May 5-9, 1986, on the topic "Nonlinearity in Condensed Matter: Lessons from the Past and Prospects for the Future. " As conference organizers, we felt that the study of non­ linear phenomena in condensed matter had matured to the point where it made sense to take stock of the numerous lessons to be learned from a variety of contexts where nonlinearity plays a fundamental role and to evaluate the prospects for the growth of this general discipline. The successful 1978 Oxford Symposium on nonlinear (soliton) struc­ ture and dynamics in condensed matter (Springer Ser. Solid-State Sci. , Vol. 8) was held at a time when the ubiquity of solitons was just begin­ ning to be appreciated by the condensed matter community; in subsequent years the soliton paradigm has provided a rather useful framework for in­ vestigating a large number of phenomena, particularly in low-dimensional systems. Nevertheless, we felt that the importance of nonlinearity in wider arenas than "solitonics" merited a significant expansion in the scope of the conference over that of the 1978 symposium. Indeed, many of the lessons are quite general and their potential for cross-fertilization of otherwise poorly connected disciplines was certainly one of the prime motivations for this conference. Thus, while these proceedings contain many contribu­ tions pertaining to soliton behavior in different contexts, the reader will find much more as well, particularly in the later chapters. Front Matter....Pages I-X Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Nonlinearity: Historical and Technological View....Pages 2-22 Front Matter....Pages 23-23 Soliton Dynamics: Experiments on Magnetic Chains....Pages 24-36 Soliton Dynamics in One-Dimensional Antiferromagnets....Pages 37-41 One-Dimensional Easy-Plane Magnets: Classical Sine-Gordon Theory or a Quantum Model?....Pages 42-52 Towards a Quantitative Theory of Solitons in One-Dimensional Magnets: Quantum Effects, Out-of-Plane Fluctuations and the Specific Heat....Pages 53-58 Quantum Corrections to the Specific Heat of the Easy-Plane Ferromagnetic Chain....Pages 59-68 Monte Carlo Calculations of Quantum Systems....Pages 69-80 Front Matter....Pages 81-81 Photogeneration of Nonlinear Excitations in Semiconducting Polymers: Fast Response Nonlinear Optical Phenomena....Pages 82-93 When Kinks are not Elementary Excitations....Pages 94-105 Phonons and Soliton Diffusion in Polyacetylene....Pages 106-110 Ground State Properties of Polyacetylene with Off-Diagonal Random Disorder....Pages 111-115 Front Matter....Pages 117-117 Neutron Scattering Studies of Non-Linear Systems....Pages 118-129 Novel Experimental Techniques and Realizations of Quasi-Periodicity....Pages 130-141 Heavy-Electron Materials....Pages 142-150 Magnetic Resonance as a Probe of Nonlinearity in Condensed Matter Physics....Pages 151-158 High-Resolution He Beam Scattering as a Tool for the Investigation of the Structural and Dynamical Properties of Surface Soliton Dislocations....Pages 159-165 Front Matter....Pages 167-167 Quantum Mechanics at the Macroscopic Level....Pages 168-171 Soluble Models....Pages 172-182 Variational Schemes for Many-Electron Systems....Pages 183-193 Quantum Monte Carlo....Pages 194-202 Front Matter....Pages 167-167 Quantum Spin Chains and Conformally Invariant Non-Linear σ -Models....Pages 203-210 Collective Coordinates and Linear Modes of the Double-Sine-Gordon Kink....Pages 211-214 A Collective Coordinate Method for Classical Dynamics of Nonlinear Klein-Gordon Kinks....Pages 215-219 Quantum Coherence and the Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation....Pages 220-225 Energy Transfer, Self-Trapping, and Solitons on a Nonlinear Dimer....Pages 226-231 Front Matter....Pages 233-233 Microscopic Probing of BaTiO 3 Ferroelectric Phase Transitions by EPR....Pages 234-245 Structural Transformations in DNA....Pages 246-254 Phonon Anomalies, Structural Transformations, and Precursor Structure in the Martensitic Alloys TiNi(Fe) and Al 1−x Ni x ....Pages 255-259 Temperature Dependence of the Soft Mode for Structural Phase Transitions in Highly Anisotropic Systems....Pages 260-264 A Model for the B→Z Transition of DNA Involving Solitary Excitations....Pages 265-270 Front Matter....Pages 271-271 Recent Experimental Results in Spin-Glass Dynamics....Pages 272-282 Spin Glasses: Recent Theoretical Developments....Pages 283-289 The Random Field Problem — Facts and Fiction....Pages 290-290 Statics and Dynamics of the Random Field Ising Model (Theory)....Pages 291-307 A Driven Random Field System: CDW Dynamics....Pages 308-318 Front Matter....Pages 319-319 Topography and Diffusion of Kinks in Incommensurate Insulators: Relationship Between Phase Conjugation and Thermal Hysteresis in Incommensurate Phases, and a Physical Analog for Circadian Biorhythms....Pages 320-329 Model of Icosahedral Order....Pages 330-337 Systematics of Disorder in Quasiperiodic Material....Pages 338-338 Friction and Forced Flow: Collective Transport in Disordered Media....Pages 339-349 Non-Equilibrium Behavior, Hysteresis and Condensate Quakes in the Pinned Charge Density Wave....Pages 350-360 Front Matter....Pages 319-319 Vortex Dynamics in Two-Dimensional Arrays of Superconducting Weak Links....Pages 361-373 Interfacial Pattern Formation: A Progress Report....Pages 374-385 Intrinsic Defect States in Protein Assemblages....Pages 386-389 Is Universality Valid on Hierarchical and Fractal Lattices?....Pages 390-394 Front Matter....Pages 395-395 Lessons from the Past and Prospects for the Future?....Pages 396-399 Back Matter....Pages 401-401