Theory And Applications Of The Cluster Variation And Path Probability Methods

This volume is a compilation of papers presented at the International Workshop on the Theory and Applications of the Cluster Variation and Path Probability Methods, held in the city of San Juan, Teotihuacan, Mexico, during June 18-22, 1995. The presentations at the workshop provided a state of the art review of the fundamental aspects of the CVM and PPM and their application to a wide range of problems in statistical mechanics and alloy theory. The volume begins with several articles dealing with the study of the kinetics of ordering in Ising sytems and alloys using the PPM and other classical techniques. These articles are followed by the contribution of Professor Masuo Suzuki on the Coherent Anomaly Method which has added a new dimension to mean field theory, and the CVM in particular, in the study of critical phenomena. The remaining of the volume is dedicated to fundamental aspects and specific applications of the CVM in a wide range of subjects ranging from bulk and surface studies to new areas of inquiry such as the problem of image reconstruction. Since the inception by Prof. Ryoichi Kikuchi of the CVM in 1950 and of the PPM in 1966, the latter after a gestation period of approximately six years, the tech niques have found wide acceptance in the physics and materials science communities. Both methods are properly regarded as seminal contributions to equilibrium and non equilibrium statistical mechanics.

The triennial International Alloy Conferences (lACs) aim at the identification and promotion of the common elements developed in the study, either experimental, phenomenological, or theoretical and computational, of materials properties across materials types, from metals to minerals. To accomplish this goal, the lACs bring together scientists from a wide spectrum of materials science including experiment, theory, modeling, and computation, incorporating a broad range of materials properties. The first lAC, lAC-I, took place in Athens, Greece, June 16-21, 1996. The present volume of proceedings contains the papers presented at IAC-2, that took place in Davos, Switzerland, August 8-13, 1999. The topics in this book fall into several themes, which suggest a number of different classification schemes. We have chosen a scheme that classifies the papers in the volume into the categories Microstructural Properties; Ordering, Kinetics and Diffusion; Magnetic Properties and Elastic Properties. We have juxtaposed apparently disparate of revealing the dynamic character approaches to similar physical processes, in the hope of the processes under consideration. We hope this will invigorate new kinds of discussion and reveal challenges and new avenues to the description and prediction of properties of materials in the solid state and the conditions that produce them.

This meeting is devoted to discussing new approaches to critical fluctuation, quantum fluctuation and relaxation phenomena. The main topics include: the study of critical fluctuation, using perturbational expansions, generalized systematic cluster mean-field approximations, the CAM...; possible new systematic approaches to quantum fluctuation including quantum Monte Carlo simulations; and coherent approaches to fluctuation and relaxation in complex systems such as spin glasses.

This volume is a collection of the papers presented at the III Latin American Workshop on Magnetism, Magnetic Materials and Their Applications (Mérida, Venezuela, 20–24 November 1995), following those held in La Habana (Cuba) in 1991 and Guanajuato (México) in 1993. Recent research on magnetic materials with particular reference to fundamental properties, materials preparation and characterisation techniques, and applications are discussed in this volume. Contents:Magnetism in Finite Size Ising Aggregates (F Aguilera-Granja & J L Morán-López)Magnetic Anisotropy in Thin Films (D Givord & O F K McGrath)Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy in Rare Earth Intermetallics (M R Ibarra et al)Ferromagnetism vs Kondo Effect in Normal and Superconducting CeTyX4-y (J G Sereni et al)Magnetic Phase Transition and Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy of Rare-Earth Transition-Metal Alloys (R Grössinger & X C Kou)Giant Magnetoresistance and Related Effects in Multilayer and Granular Magnetic Materials for Practical Applications (N M Baibich)Magnetic Properties of Dilute PdMn Alloys (R E Parra & A C González)TbFe Amorphous Thin Films. Structural, Magnetic and Magnetoelastic Studies (A Hernando et al)Nanophase Exchange Coupled Alloys with Enhanced Hard Magnetic Properties (H A Davies)Exchange Interactions in Ferrimagnetic Rare Earth-Transition Metal Multilayers (A M Ayres & E E Marinero)Superparamagnetic Relaxation in Interacting γ-Fe2O3 Particles (D Fiorani et al)Magnetic Circular X-Ray Dichroism (F Baudelet et al)Non-Frustrated Domains in Ising Lattices with Competing Interactions (E E Vogel et al)Thermomagnetic and X-Ray Diffraction Analysis of Nd3Fe29-xTix and (Nd1-xYx)3Fe27.3Ti1.7 Alloys (J L Sánchez et al)Electron Paramagnetic Resonance above the Ordering Temperature in La1-xCaxMnO3+δ (S B Oseroff et al)Spin-Polarisation at Cr/Fe and Mn/Fe Interfaces (C Demangeat et al)Interplay of Segregation, Phase Separation and Magnetism in Cobalt-Copper Slabs (A Díaz-Ortíz et al)High Temperature Behaviour of Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Soft Magnetic Materials (R Grössinger et al)Preparation of Magnetic Oxide Thin Films (F Leccabue et al)Magnetic Interactions in Enhanced-Remanence Permanent Magnets (F P Missell et al)and other papers Readership: Professionals in the fields of physics, materials science and engineering. keywords:Magnetism;Magnetic;Material;Thin Film;Kondo;Amorphous;Metal

Cluster Analysis for Applications deals with methods and various applications of cluster analysis. Topics covered range from variables and scales to measures of association among variables and among data units. Conceptual problems in cluster analysis are discussed, along with hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering methods. The necessary elements of data analysis, statistics, cluster analysis, and computer implementation are integrated vertically to cover the complete path from raw data to a finished analysis. Comprised of 10 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to the subject of cluster analysis and its uses as well as category sorting problems and the need for cluster analysis algorithms. The next three chapters give a detailed account of variables and association measures, with emphasis on strategies for dealing with problems containing variables of mixed types. Subsequent chapters focus on the central techniques of cluster analysis with particular reference to computational considerations; interpretation of clustering results; and techniques and strategies for making the most effective use of cluster analysis. The final chapter suggests an approach for the evaluation of alternative clustering methods. The presentation is capped with a complete set of implementing computer programs listed in the Appendices to make the use of cluster analysis as painless and free of mechanical error as is possible. This monograph is intended for students and workers who have encountered the notion of cluster analysis.

Engineering materials with desirable physical and technological properties requires understanding and predictive capability of materials behavior under varying external conditions, such as temperature and pressure. This immediately brings one face to face with the fundamental difficulty of establishing a connection between materials behavior at a microscopic level, where understanding is to be sought, and macroscopic behavior which needs to be predicted. Bridging the corresponding gap in length scales that separates the ends of this spectrum has been a goal intensely pursued by theoretical physicists, experimentalists, and metallurgists alike. Traditionally, the search for methods to bridge the length scale gap and to gain the needed predictive capability of materials properties has been conducted largely on a trial and error basis, guided by the skill of the metallurgist, large volumes of experimental data, and often ad hoc semi phenomenological models. This situation has persisted almost to this day, and it is only recently that significant changes have begun to take place. These changes have been brought about by a number of developments, some of long standing, others of more recent vintage.

Covering the latest research in alloy physics together with the underlying basic principles, this comprehensive book provides a sound understanding of the structural changes in metals and alloys -- ranging from plastic deformation, deformation dynamics and ordering kinetics right up to atom jump processes, first principle calculations and simulation techniques. Alongside fundamental topics, such as crystal defects, phase transformations and statistical thermodynamics, the team of international authors treats such hot areas as nano-size effects, interfaces, and spintronics, as well as technical applications of modern alloys, like data storage and recording, and the possibilities offered by materials design.