Joseph W. Kane

Bio: Joseph W. Kane is an academic researcher from Cornell University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Critical point (thermodynamics) & Helium-4. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 1228 citations.

Static Phenomena Near Critical Points: Theory and Experiment

Abstract: This paper compares theory and experiment for behavior very near critical points. The primary experimental results are the "critical indices" which describe singularities in various thermodynamic derivatives and correlation functions. These indices are tabulated and compared with theory. The basic theoretical ideas are introduced via the molecular field approach, which brings in the concept of an order parameter and suggests that there are close relations among different phase transition problems. Although this theory is qualitatively correct it is quantitatively wrong, it predicts the wrong values of the critical indices. Another theoretical approach, the "scaling law" concept, which predicts relations among these indices, is described. The experimental evidence for and against the scaling laws is assessed. It is suggested that the scaling laws provide a promising approach to understanding phenomena near the critical point, but that they are by no means proved or disproved by the existing experimental data.

Green's Functions and Superfluid Hydrodynamics

Abstract: The two‐fluid hydrodynamics of Landau and Tisza is related to the thermodynamic Green's function formulation of the many‐body problem. A specific approximation for the self‐energies yields directly the superfluid hydrodynamics in the limit of slow space and time variation. The approximation chosen is the simplest possible form for the self energies which includes the effects of collisions and which also satisfies the differential conservation laws for the mass, momentum, and energy. Of course these self energies are not adequate for a realistic description of 4He. Nonetheless the structure of this model may provide some insight into the exact theory. For example, in the model employed here the self‐energies and Green's functions obey several integral identities which are utilized in the derivation of the two‐fluid hydrodynamics, and which yield useful expressions for some thermodynamic quantities. It is speculated that the identities and the consequent expressions for the various thermodynamic quantities ...

Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

Abstract: The field of phase transitions and critical phenomena continues to be active in research, producing a steady stream of interesting and fruitful results. It has moved into a central place in condensed matter studies. Statistical physics, and more specifically, the theory of transitions between states of matter, more or less defines what we know about 'everyday' matter and its transformations. The major aim of this serial is to provide review articles that can serve as standard references for research workers in the field, and for graduate students and others wishing to obtain reliable information on important recent developments.

Fractal measures and their singularities: The characterization of strange sets

Abstract: We propose a description of normalized distributions (measures) lying upon possibly fractal sets; for example those arising in dynamical systems theory. We focus upon the scaling properties of such measures, by considering their singularities, which are characterized by two indices: \ensuremath{\alpha}, which determines the strength of their singularities; and f, which describes how densely they are distributed. The spectrum of singularities is described by giving the possible range of \ensuremath{\alpha} values and the function f(\ensuremath{\alpha}). We apply this formalism to the ${2}^{\ensuremath{\infty}}$ cycle of period doubling, to the devil's staircase of mode locking, and to trajectories on 2-tori with golden-mean winding numbers. In all cases the new formalism allows an introduction of smooth functions to characterize the measures. We believe that this formalism is readily applicable to experiments and should result in new tests of global universality.

Renormalization Group and Critical Phenomena. I. Renormalization Group and the Kadanoff Scaling Picture

Abstract: The Kadanoff theory of scaling near the critical point for an Ising ferromagnet is cast in differential form. The resulting differential equations are an example of the differential equations of the renormalization group. It is shown that the Widom-Kadanoff scaling laws arise naturally from these differential equations if the coefficients in the equations are analytic at the critical point. A generalization of the Kadanoff scaling picture involving an "irrelevant" variable is considered; in this case the scaling laws result from the renormalization-group equations only if the solution of the equations goes asymptotically to a fixed point.

The theory of equilibrium critical phenomena

Abstract: The theory of critical phenomena in systems at equilibrium is reviewed at an introductory level with special emphasis on the values of the critical point exponents α, β, γ,..., and their interrelations. The experimental observations are surveyed and the analogies between different physical systems - fluids, magnets, superfluids, binary alloys, etc. - are developed phenomenologically. An exact theoretical basis for the analogies follows from the equivalence between classical and quantal `lattice gases' and the Ising and Heisenberg-Ising magnetic models. General rigorous inequalities for critical exponents at and below Tc are derived. The nature and validity of the `classical' (phenomenological and mean field) theories are discussed, their predictions being contrasted with the exact results for plane Ising models, which are summarized concisely. Pade approximant and ratio techniques applied to appropriate series expansions lead to precise critical-point estimates for the three-dimensional Heisenberg and Ising models (tables of data are presented). With this background a critique is presented of recent theoretical ideas: namely, the `droplet' picture of the critical point and the `homogeneity' and `scaling' hypotheses. These lead to a `law of corresponding states' near a critical point and to relations between the various exponents which suggest that perhaps only two or three exponents might be algebraically independent for any system.