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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 29: Poster II

DY 29.8: Poster

Thursday, February 28, 2008, 16:00–18:00, Poster C

Thermodynamic Casimir effects at m-axial Lifshitz points — •Matthias Burgsmüller, Daniel Grüneberg, and Hans Werner Diehl — Fachbereich Physik, Universität Duisburg-Essen, D-47048 Duisburg

Many-component spin systems with an O(n)-symmetrical Hamiltonian that have an m-axial bulk Lifshitz point in d dimensions are considered in a slab geometry under periodic and free boundary conditions. The thermodynamic Casimir forces generated by thermal fluctuations at the Lifshitz point are found to depend on the slab’s thickness L in a distinct fashion, depending on whether the confining surfaces are perpendicular to one of the potential modulation axis or parallel to all of them. The small є=d^*(m)−d expansion about the upper critical dimension d^*(m)=4+m/2 is utilized to study the Casimir effect via field-theoretic renormalization group methods and to determine the associated Casimir amplitudes for several boundary conditions.