This Inter-American Materials Collaboration project examines the thermodynamic properties of thin films of magnetic compounds and liquid helium. The project brings together groups led by D. Landau, Center for Simulational Physics at the U. of Georgia in the US, and J.A. Plascak, at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The main issues addressed for the magnetic meso-structures are: i) how the lateral size of high quality magnetic nanofilm structures controls its magnetic properties; ii) the influence of atomic steps, islands, etc., on the magnetic behavior of such films; iii) the evolution of the thermodynamic behavior as a function of the film thickness. The studies of liquid helium focus on the use of classical "magnetic" models that are believed to be in the same universality class as helium. The computer simulations are done by using Monte Carlo methods for continuous spin systems together with re-weighting procedures and also spin dynamics for the intrinsic time evolution for the correlations.
Computer simulations are of increasing importance due to their ability to determine the properties of many models in statistical physics that are not amenable to exact solution. The collaboration furthers the training in computer simulations and the international exposure of junior project participants. This award is supported by the Division of Materials Research, the Office of International Science and Engineering, and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
