This research consists of two parts. E. K. Riedel will extend his analytical and numerical studies of quantum coherence and transport phenomena in small mesoscopic structures. The initial focus will be on persistent currents in non-superconducting rings and related static and dynamic mesoscopic phenomena. The goal is the elucidation of unusual quantum coherence and statistical mechanical effects that occur in the electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties of submicron sized structures. He will also look at the competition between surface-roughening and surface-melting phase transitions in solids. M. den Nijs will extend his present work on two-dimensional critical phenomena and phase transitions and on the ground state properties of one-dimensional quantum systems. This can be characterized by the following four closely related topics: 1. interrelations between surface roughening and surface reconstruction; 2. development and applications of numerical Monte Carlo finite size scaling of interface free energies; 3. further development and applications of extended scaling and conformal invariance; 4. novel fluid states with long range order in one-dimensional quantum spin chains.
