In this thesis, we have explored the commonalities and connections between different classes of quantum systems that do not thermalize. Specifically, we have (1) shown that localized systems possess conservation laws like integrable systems, which can be constructed in a systematic way and used to detect localization-delocalization transitions , (2) studied the phenomenon of many-body localization in a model with a single particle mobility edge, (3) shown that interesting finite-size scaling emerges, with universal exponents, when athermal quantum systems are forced to thermalize through the application of perturbations and (4) shown that these scaling laws also arise when a perturbation causes a crossover between quantum systems described by different random matrix ensembles. We conclude with a brief summary of each chapter. In Chapter 2, we have investigated the effects of finite size on the crossover between quantum integrable systems and non-integrable systems. Using exact diagonalization of finite-sized systems, we have studied this crossover by obtaining the energy level statistics and Drude weight associated with transport. Our results reinforce the idea that for system size L → ∞, non-integrability sets in for an arbitrarily small integrabilitybreaking perturbation. The crossover value of the perturbation scales as a power law ∼ L−3 when the integrable system is gapless and the scaling appears to be robust to microscopic details and the precise form of the perturbation. In Chapter 3, we have studied the crossover among different random matrix ensembles CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION 127 [Poissonian, Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE), Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE) and Gaussian Symplectic Ensemble (GSE)] realized in different microscopic models. We have found that the perturbation causing the crossover among the different ensembles scales to zero with system size as a power law with an exponent that depends on the ensembles between which the crossover takes place. This exponent is independent of microscopic details of the perturbation. We have also found that the crossover from the Poissonian ensemble to the other three is dominated by the Poissonian to GOE crossover which introduces level repulsion while the crossover from GOE to GUE or GOE to GSE associated with symmetry breaking introduces a subdominant contribution. Finally,we have conjectured that the exponent is dependent on whether the system contains interactions among the elementary degrees of freedom or not and is independent of the dimensionality of the system. In Chapter 4, we have outlined a procedure to construct conservation laws for Anderson localized systems. These conservation laws are found as power series in the hopping parameters. We have also obtained the conservation laws for the disorder free Aubry-Andre model, where the states are either localized or extended depending on the strength of a coupling constant. We have formulated a specific procedure for averaging over disorder, in order to examine the convergence of the power series. Using this procedure for the Aubry-Andre model, we show that integrals of motion given by our construction are well-defined in the localized phase but not so in the extended phase. Finally, we also obtain the integrals of motion for a model with interactions to lowest order in the interaction. In Chapter 5, we have studied many body localization and investigated its nature in the presence of a single particle mobility edge. Employing the technique of exact diagonalization for finite-sized systems, we have calculated the level spacing distribution, time evolution of entanglement entropy, optical conductivity and return probability to characterize the nature of localization. The localization that develops in the presence of interactions in these systems appears to be different from regular Many-Body Localization (MBL) in that the growth of entanglement entropy with time is linear (like in CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION 128 a thermal phase) instead of logarithmic but saturates to a value much smaller than the thermal value (like for MBL). All other diagnostics seem consistent with regular MBL

Apesar de sua familiaridade e simplicidade, a água apresenta um conjunto propriedades termodinâmicas, dinâmicas e estruturais que são ainda objeto de intensa pesquisa. O aumento da densidade com a temperatura, da difusão com a densidade, ou ainda do ordenamento com a temperatura são exemplos de alguns de seus comportamentos não usuais. Com a finalidade de melhor compreender tais propriedades inúmeras abordagens têm sido utilizadas, tais como o uso geometrias de confinamento, modelos simplificados ou até mesmo misturas. Dentre as geometrias confinantes frequentemente usadas, encontra-se, nanoporos, placas paralelas e meio porosos. Os meios porosos são formados por obstáculos fixos que impõem efeitos de volume excluído adicionais ao sistema. Já no caso de misturas quando elas ocorrem entre líquidos capazes de formar ligações de hidrogênio, o comportamento não usual da água dá origem a um conjunto ainda maior de propriedades anômalas. A mistura água-metanol por exemplo, é munida de um conjunto propriedades de excesso incapazes de serem descritas pelas teorias usuais. São alguns exemplos, o máximo no calor específico e o mínimo no volume e entalpia de excesso. Neste projeto de doutoramento, nós estudamos por simulações numericas o confinamento por meio poroso (desordem queched) e misturas de água com solutos interagentes. O primeiro estudo é realizado usando um modelo 2D tipo-água que é largamente conhecido na literatura. No segundo estágio, estamos a influência de solutos interagentes nas propriedades de modelos em rede e contínuos. Para o modelo em rede, nós desenvolvemos um modelo de soluto e posteriormente uma técnica capaz de simular misturas de modelos em rede a pressão constante. De posse desta técnica estudamos as propriedades de excesso da mistura. / Although the familiarity and simplicity, the water show a set of thermodynamic, dynamics and structural properties which are still subject to intense research. The increase of density as the temperature, of diffusion as the density, or even of ordering with the temperature are examples of some of its unusual behavior. In order to better understand these properties numerous approaches have been used, such as the use of confinement geometries, simplified models, or ever mixtures. Among the confinement geometries used, are those, nanopores, parallel plates and porous media. The porous media are formed by fixed obstacles that impose the additional excluded volume effects to the system. In the case of mixtures, when they occur between liquids able to form hydrogen-bonds, the unusual behavior of water give rise to a set even higher anomalous properties. The water-methanol mixture, for example, has a set of excess properties unable to be described by usual theories. Some examples are the maximum in the specific heat and minimum in excess volume and enthalpy. In this Ph.D. project, we study by numerical simulations, the confinement of water by porous media(or under quenched disorder) and the mixture of water with interacting solutes. The first study is performed using a 2D lattice model which is widely known in the literature. In a second stage, we study the influence of interacting solutes on the properties of lattice and continuous models. For the lattice model, we develop a solute model and a technique to simulate mixtures of lattice models at constant pressure. Using this technique, we study the excess properties of the mixture. For the continuous model we study the influence of a dimeric solute on the TMD of a water-like model and posteriorly we study the excess properties of this type of mixture.

Bewegungen von prozessiven molekularen Motoren des Zytoskeletts sind durch ein Wechselspiel von gerichteter Bewegung entlang von Filamenten und Diffusion in der umgebenden Lösung gekennzeichnet. Diese eigentümlichen Bewegungen werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit untersucht, indem sie als Random Walks auf einem Gitter modelliert werden. Ein weiterer Gegenstand der Untersuchung sind Effekte von Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Motoren auf diese Bewegungen. <br /> <br /> Im einzelnen werden vier Transportphänomene untersucht: <br /> (i) Random Walks von einzelnen Motoren in Kompartimenten verschiedener Geometrien, <br /> (ii) stationäre Konzentrationsprofile, die sich in geschlossenen Kompartimenten infolge dieser Bewegungen einstellen,<br /> (iii) randinduzierte Phasenübergänge in offenen röhrenartigen Kompartimenten, die an Motorenreservoirs gekoppelt sind, und <br /> (iv) der Einfluß von kooperativen Effekten bei der Motor-Filament-Bindung auf die Bewegung. Alle diese Phänomene sind experimentell zugänglich, und mögliche experimentelle Realisierungen werden diskutiert. / Movements of processive cytoskeletal motors are characterized by an interplay between directed motion along filament and diffusion in the surrounding solution. In the present work, these peculiar movements are studied by modeling them as random walks on a lattice. An additional subject of our studies is the effect of motor-motor interactions on these movements. <br /> <br /> In detail, four transport phenomena are studied: <br /> (i) Random walks of single motors in compartments of various geometries, <br /> (ii) stationary concentration profiles which build up as a result of these movements in closed compartments, <br /> (iii) boundary-induced phase transitions in open tube-like compartments coupled to reservoirs of motors, and <br /> (iv) the influence of cooperative effects in motor-filament binding on the movements. All these phenomena are experimentally accessible and possible experimental realizations are discussed.

In the mid-1920s, the great Albert Einstein proposed that at extremely low temperatures, a gas of bosonic particles will enter a new phase where a large fraction of them occupy the same quantum state. This state would bring many of the peculiar features of quantum mechanics, previously reserved for small samples consisting only of a few atoms or molecules, up to a macroscopic scale. This is what we today call a Bose-Einstein condensate. It would take physicists almost 70 years to realize Einstein's idea, but in 1995 this was finally achieved. The research on Bose-Einstein condensates has since taken many directions, one of the most exciting being to study their behavior when they are placed in optical lattices generated by laser beams. This has already produced a number of fascinating results, but it has also proven to be an ideal test-ground for predictions from certain nonlinear lattice models. Because on the other hand, nonlinear science, the study of generic nonlinear phenomena, has in the last half century grown out to a research field in its own right, influencing almost all areas of science and physics. Nonlinear localization is one of these phenomena, where localized structures, such as solitons and discrete breathers, can appear even in translationally invariant systems. Another one is the (in)famous chaos, where deterministic systems can be so sensitive to perturbations that they in practice become completely unpredictable. Related to this is the study of different types of instabilities; what their behavior are and how they arise. In this thesis we compare classical and quantum mechanical nonlinear lattice models which can be applied to BECs in optical lattices, and also examine how classical nonlinear concepts, such as localization, chaos and instabilities, can be transfered to the quantum world.

Hydraulic fracturing is a multi-physics multi-scale problem related to natural processes such as the formation of dikes. It also has wide engineering applications such as extraction of unconventional resources, enhanced geothermal energy and carbon capture and storage. Current simulators are highly simplified because of the assumption of homogeneous reservoir. Unconventional reservoirs are heterogeneous owing to the presence of natural fracture network. Because of high computational effort, three-dimensional multi-scale simulations are uncommon, in particular, modelling material as a heterogeneous medium. Lattice Element Method (LEM) is therefore proposed for multi-scale simulation of heterogeneous material. In LEM, material is discretised into cells and their interactions are modelled by lattices, hence a three-dimensional model is simplified to a network of one-dimensional lattice. Normal, shear and rotational springs are used to define the constitutive laws of a lattice. LEM enables desktop computers for simulation of a lattice model that consists of millions of lattices. From simulations, normal springs govern the macroscopic bulk deformation while shear springs govern the macroscopic distortion. There is fluctuation of stresses even under uniform loading which is one of the characteristics of a lattice model. The magnitude increases with the stiffness ratio of shear spring to normal spring. Fracturing process can be modelled by LEM by introducing a microscopic tensile strength and a microscopic shear strength to the lattice properties. The strength parameters can be related to fracture toughness with the length scales of cells. From simulations, the relationships between model parameters and macroscopic parameters that are measurable in experiments are identified. From the simulations of uni-axial tension tests, both the spring stiffness ratio and the applied heterogeneity govern the fracturing process. The heterogeneity increases the ductility at the expense of the reduction on the macroscopic strengths. Different stages of fracturing are identified which are characterised by the model heterogeneity. Heterogeneous models go through the stages of the spatially distributed microscrack formation, the growth of multiple fracture clusters to the dominant fracture propagation. For homogeneous models, one of the microcracks rapidly propagates and becomes a dominant fracture with the absence of intermediate stages. From the uni-axial compression test simulations, the peak compressive stress is reached at the onset of the microscopic shear crack formation. Ductility is governed by the stiffness reduction ratio of a lattice in closed fractured stage to its unfractured stage. A novel Dual Lattice Model (DLM) is proposed for hydraulic fracture simulation by coupling a solid lattice model with a fluid lattice model. From DLM simulations of hydraulic fracturing of the classical penny shape crack problem under hydrostatic condition, the heterogeneities from both the fracture asperity and the applied heterogeneity increase the apparent fracture toughness. A semi-analytical solution is derived to consider the effect of fluid viscosity in the elastic deformation regime. Two asymptotes are identified that gives steep pressure gradients near the injection point and near the fracture tip which are also identified in the DLM simulations. Simulations also show three evolving regimes on energy dissipation/transfer mechanisms: the viscosity dominant, the elastic deformation dominant and the mixture of elastic deformation and toughness.

Apesar de sua familiaridade e simplicidade, a água apresenta um conjunto propriedades termodinâmicas, dinâmicas e estruturais que são ainda objeto de intensa pesquisa. O aumento da densidade com a temperatura, da difusão com a densidade, ou ainda do ordenamento com a temperatura são exemplos de alguns de seus comportamentos não usuais. Com a finalidade de melhor compreender tais propriedades inúmeras abordagens têm sido utilizadas, tais como o uso geometrias de confinamento, modelos simplificados ou até mesmo misturas. Dentre as geometrias confinantes frequentemente usadas, encontra-se, nanoporos, placas paralelas e meio porosos. Os meios porosos são formados por obstáculos fixos que impõem efeitos de volume excluído adicionais ao sistema. Já no caso de misturas quando elas ocorrem entre líquidos capazes de formar ligações de hidrogênio, o comportamento não usual da água dá origem a um conjunto ainda maior de propriedades anômalas. A mistura água-metanol por exemplo, é munida de um conjunto propriedades de excesso incapazes de serem descritas pelas teorias usuais. São alguns exemplos, o máximo no calor específico e o mínimo no volume e entalpia de excesso. Neste projeto de doutoramento, nós estudamos por simulações numericas o confinamento por meio poroso (desordem queched) e misturas de água com solutos interagentes. O primeiro estudo é realizado usando um modelo 2D tipo-água que é largamente conhecido na literatura. No segundo estágio, estamos a influência de solutos interagentes nas propriedades de modelos em rede e contínuos. Para o modelo em rede, nós desenvolvemos um modelo de soluto e posteriormente uma técnica capaz de simular misturas de modelos em rede a pressão constante. De posse desta técnica estudamos as propriedades de excesso da mistura. / Although the familiarity and simplicity, the water show a set of thermodynamic, dynamics and structural properties which are still subject to intense research. The increase of density as the temperature, of diffusion as the density, or even of ordering with the temperature are examples of some of its unusual behavior. In order to better understand these properties numerous approaches have been used, such as the use of confinement geometries, simplified models, or ever mixtures. Among the confinement geometries used, are those, nanopores, parallel plates and porous media. The porous media are formed by fixed obstacles that impose the additional excluded volume effects to the system. In the case of mixtures, when they occur between liquids able to form hydrogen-bonds, the unusual behavior of water give rise to a set even higher anomalous properties. The water-methanol mixture, for example, has a set of excess properties unable to be described by usual theories. Some examples are the maximum in the specific heat and minimum in excess volume and enthalpy. In this Ph.D. project, we study by numerical simulations, the confinement of water by porous media(or under quenched disorder) and the mixture of water with interacting solutes. The first study is performed using a 2D lattice model which is widely known in the literature. In a second stage, we study the influence of interacting solutes on the properties of lattice and continuous models. For the lattice model, we develop a solute model and a technique to simulate mixtures of lattice models at constant pressure. Using this technique, we study the excess properties of the mixture. For the continuous model we study the influence of a dimeric solute on the TMD of a water-like model and posteriorly we study the excess properties of this type of mixture.

Apesar de sua familiaridade e simplicidade, a água apresenta um conjunto propriedades termodinâmicas, dinâmicas e estruturais que são ainda objeto de intensa pesquisa. O aumento da densidade com a temperatura, da difusão com a densidade, ou ainda do ordenamento com a temperatura são exemplos de alguns de seus comportamentos não usuais. Com a finalidade de melhor compreender tais propriedades inúmeras abordagens têm sido utilizadas, tais como o uso geometrias de confinamento, modelos simplificados ou até mesmo misturas. Dentre as geometrias confinantes frequentemente usadas, encontra-se, nanoporos, placas paralelas e meio porosos. Os meios porosos são formados por obstáculos fixos que impõem efeitos de volume excluído adicionais ao sistema. Já no caso de misturas quando elas ocorrem entre líquidos capazes de formar ligações de hidrogênio, o comportamento não usual da água dá origem a um conjunto ainda maior de propriedades anômalas. A mistura água-metanol por exemplo, é munida de um conjunto propriedades de excesso incapazes de serem descritas pelas teorias usuais. São alguns exemplos, o máximo no calor específico e o mínimo no volume e entalpia de excesso. Neste projeto de doutoramento, nós estudamos por simulações numericas o confinamento por meio poroso (desordem queched) e misturas de água com solutos interagentes. O primeiro estudo é realizado usando um modelo 2D tipo-água que é largamente conhecido na literatura. No segundo estágio, estamos a influência de solutos interagentes nas propriedades de modelos em rede e contínuos. Para o modelo em rede, nós desenvolvemos um modelo de soluto e posteriormente uma técnica capaz de simular misturas de modelos em rede a pressão constante. De posse desta técnica estudamos as propriedades de excesso da mistura. / Although the familiarity and simplicity, the water show a set of thermodynamic, dynamics and structural properties which are still subject to intense research. The increase of density as the temperature, of diffusion as the density, or even of ordering with the temperature are examples of some of its unusual behavior. In order to better understand these properties numerous approaches have been used, such as the use of confinement geometries, simplified models, or ever mixtures. Among the confinement geometries used, are those, nanopores, parallel plates and porous media. The porous media are formed by fixed obstacles that impose the additional excluded volume effects to the system. In the case of mixtures, when they occur between liquids able to form hydrogen-bonds, the unusual behavior of water give rise to a set even higher anomalous properties. The water-methanol mixture, for example, has a set of excess properties unable to be described by usual theories. Some examples are the maximum in the specific heat and minimum in excess volume and enthalpy. In this Ph.D. project, we study by numerical simulations, the confinement of water by porous media(or under quenched disorder) and the mixture of water with interacting solutes. The first study is performed using a 2D lattice model which is widely known in the literature. In a second stage, we study the influence of interacting solutes on the properties of lattice and continuous models. For the lattice model, we develop a solute model and a technique to simulate mixtures of lattice models at constant pressure. Using this technique, we study the excess properties of the mixture. For the continuous model we study the influence of a dimeric solute on the TMD of a water-like model and posteriorly we study the excess properties of this type of mixture.

This thesis reports the results of light-scattering measurements and visual investigations of critical phenomena in the complex mixture 1-propanol (1P) + water (W) + potassium chloride (KCl) which has a special critical point (or a special thermodynamic state) known as the double critical point (DCP). The main theme of the thesis is the critical behavior on approaching a special critical point (i.e., the DCP) in a complex or associating mixture in contrast with that in simple, nonassociating mixtures. The asymptotic critical behavior in complex or associating fluids, such as polymer solutions and blends, ionic and nonionic micellar solutions, microemulsions, aqueous and nonaqueous electrolyte solutions, protein solutions, etc., is now commonly accepted to belong to the 3D-Ising universality class. However, the temperature range of the asymptotic regime in these fluids, with universal behavior, has a nonuniversal width and is, in general, smaller than that in simple or nonassociating fluids. In complex mixtures, which are made up of relatively large molecules or particle clusters of mesoscopic range, the coupling between the conventional correlation length of the critical fluctuations ( ξ) and an additional length scale associated with the mesoscale structures (ξD) is known to modify the approach towards the universal nonclassical critical behavior near their critical points. Nevertheless, the generality of this approach needs to be confirmed. There are also instances of a pure classical or close to classical behavior being observed in the critical domain of complex mixtures, although recent experimental results contradict the earlier observations. Therefore, further experimental evidences than that presently available are necessary before one can say how far the analogy between simple and complex fluids can be pushed. Variations in the effective dielectric constant of a mixture have been known to affect the critical behavior. Furthermore, we anticipate the presence of special critical points in complex mixtures to cause nontrivial modifications in the approach towards the universal asymptotic critical behavior. Special thermodynamic states are characterized by critical fluctuations with exceptionally large correlation length, and are displayed by multicomponent liquid mixtures, in which there are a multitude of thermodynamic paths by which a critical point can be approached, and offers rich information about the critical phenomena. These issues are being addressed in this research work. This thesis is organized into 7 Chapters. Chapter 1 begins with an account of the historical development of the field of critical point phenomena with a brief introduction to critical phenomena in simple fluids. Critical phenomena observed in various complex systems such as aqueous and nonaqueous ionic fluids, polymer solutions and blends, micellar and microemulsion systems, etc., are discussed, with particular attention to investigations into crossover from Ising to mean-field critical behavior observed in these systems, which are relevant to the present work. Theoretical attempts at modeling ionic criticality are cited and summarized. This is followed by a discussion of re-entrant phase transitions in multicomponent liquid systems. An account of the various types of special critical points, such as double critical point, critical double point, critical inflection point, quadruple critical point, etc., highlighting the critical behavior on approaching these special critical points, and some of the models of reentrant miscibility are briefly given. The Chapter ends with a statement on the goals of the present research work. Chapter 2 describes the instrumentation developed and the data acquisition procedures adopted for the study. Details of the thermostats and precision temperature controllers used for visual and light-scattering measurements are provided. The important design considerations relating to the achievement of a high degree of temperature stability (~ ±1 mK in the range 293-383 K) are elucidated clearly. The temperature sensors used in the present experiments and their calibration procedures are discussed. The light-scattering instrumentation is discussed in depth. The problems associated with the light-scattering techniques when it is used to study critical point phenomena, and the strategies adopted to overcome them are discussed. The sample cells used for visual investigations and light- scattering experiments, along with the procedure adopted for cleaning and filling of sample cells are also described. Chapter 3 essentially deals with the characterization of the system 1P + W + KCl. It begins with a brief introduction to the critical behavior in complex mixtures, and the motivation behind choosing the present system. The phase behavior in the present mixture, the generation of the coexistence curves and the line of critical points in the mixture, and the method used for preparation of the samples are described. The criticality of the samples is judged by the equal volume phase separation criterion through visual investigations. Addition of a small amount of salt (i.e., KCl) to the 1P + W solution induces phase separation in the mixture as a result of a salting-out process. Decreasing the salt concentration has the same effect as that of increasing pressure on the liquid-liquid demixing of this mixture. Therefore, KCl may be considered as an appropriate field variable analogous to pressure in this mixture. The mixture 1P + W + KCl exhibits reentrant phase transitions and has an array of lower (TL) and upper (TU) critical solution temperatures. It is found that the line of TL’s and TU’s, known as the line of critical points, merge (TU - TL = ΔT → 0) to form a special thermodynamic state known as the DCP. The DCP is approached as close as 509 mK (i.e., ΔT ~ 509 mK) in this work. An analysis of the critical line shows that it is roughly parabolic in shape, which is in consonance with the predictions of the lattice models and the Landau-Ginzburg theory of phase transition. In addition to the presence of a special critical point, various structure probing techniques like small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS), etc., indicate the presence of large-scale density inhomogeneities or clusters in 1P + W solution and its augmentation on adding small amount of KCl. Therefore, the present mixture provides a unique possibility to investigate the combined effects of molecular structuring as well as a special critical point on the critical behavior. Only a section of the coexistence surface of the mixture could be generated, owing to various experimental limitations and other problems inherent to the system. This limited further studies on the coexistence curves in the mixture. Chapter 4 reports the critical behavior of osmotic susceptibility in the present mixture. The behavior of the susceptibility exponent is deduced from static light-scattering measurements, on approaching the lower critical solution temperatures (TL’s) along different experimental paths by varying t [ =| (T - T TL)/ TL|] from the lower one-phase region. The light-scattering data analysis emphasizes the need for correction-to-scaling terms for a proper description of the data over the investigated t range. Renormalization of the critical exponents is observed as the critical line is approached along certain special paths. Experimental evidence for the doubling of the extended scaling exponent Δ1 near the DCP is shown. There is no signature of Fisher renormalization in the values of the critical exponents. The data analysis yields very large magnitudes for the correction amplitudes A1 and A2, with the first-correction amplitude A1 being negative, signifying a nonmonotonic crossover behavior of the susceptibility exponent in the mixture. The magnitudes of the correction amplitudes are observed to increase gradually as TL approaches the DCP. The increasing need for extended scaling in the neighborhood of special critical points has been noted earlier in several aqueous electrolyte solutions, in polymer-solvent systems, etc. However, the magnitudes of the correction amplitudes were not as large as that in the present case. Analysis of the effective susceptibility exponent γeff in terms of t indicate that, for the TL far away from the DCP, γeff displays a nonmonotonic crossover from its single limit 3D Ising value (~ 1.24) towards its mean-field value with increase in t. While for that closest to the DCP, γeff displays a sharp, nonmonotonic crossover from its nearly doubled 3D-Ising value (~ 2.39) towards its nearly doubled mean-field value (~ 1.84) with increase in t. For the in-between TL’s, the limiting value of γeff in the asymptotic as well as nonasymptotic regimes gradually increases towards the DCP. The renormalized Ising regime extends over a relatively larger t range for the TL closest to the DCP, and a trend towards shrinkage in the renormalized Ising regime is observed as TL shifts away from the DCP. Nevertheless, the crossover behavior to the mean-field limit extends well beyond t > 10¯2 for the TL’s studied. The crossover behavior is discussed in terms of the emergence of a new lengthscale ξD associated with the enhanced ion-induced clustering seen in the mixture, as revealed by various structure probing techniques, while the observed unique trend in the crossover is discussed in terms of the varying influence of the DCP on the critical behavior along the TL line. The discussion is extended to explain the observed critical behavior in various re-entrant systems having other special critical points. The extended renormalized Ising regime towards the DCP is also reflected in a decrease in the correlation length amplitude (ξ0) as TL approaches the DCP. It is observed that the first-correction amplitude A1 corresponding to fit using two correction terms becomes more negative as TL approaches the DCP, implying an increase in the value of the parameter ū of the crossover model [by Anisimov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3146 (1995)] as the DCP is approached. This increase in reflected in a trend towards a relatively sharp crossover behavior of γeff as TL shifts towards the DCP, i.e., towards the high temperature critical points. The significance of the field variable tUL in understanding different aspects of reentrant phase transitions is manifested in the present system as well. Analysis of the data in terms of tUL led to the retrieval of universal values of the exponents for all TL’s. The effective susceptibility exponent as a function of tUL displays a nonmonotonic crossover from its asymptotic 3D-Ising value towards a value slightly lower than its nonasymptotic mean-field value of 1. The limited (TL _ T) range restricted such a behavior of the effective exponent (in terms of t as well as tUL) for the lowest TL. This feature of the effective susceptibility exponent is interpreted in terms of the possibility of a nonmonotonic crossover to the mean-field value from lower values in the nonasymptotic, high tUL region, as foreseen earlier in micellar systems. The effective susceptibility exponent in terms of tUL also indicates an increase in the sharpness of crossover towards the high temperature TL’s. An increase in the sharpness of crossover with polymer chain length has been observed in polymer solutions. Therefore, our results suggest the need for further composition and temperature-dependent study of molecular structuring in the present mixture. There is also a large decrease in the dielectric constant of the mixture towards the high temperature TL’s. In Chapter 5 the light-scattering measurements are performed on approaching the DCP along the line of the upper critical solution temperatures (i.e., TU’s), by varying t [ = (T - TU )/ TU ] from the high temperature one-phase region in the mixture. A trend towards shrinkage in the simple scaling region is observed as TU shifts away from the DCP. Such a trend was not visible in the data analysis of the TL’s using the correction terms, due to the varying (TL - T) ranges. The light-scattering data analysis substantiates the existence of a nonmonotonic crossover behavior of the susceptibility exponent in the mixture. As with the TL’s, for the TU closest to the DCP, γeff displays a nonmonotonic crossover from its 3D-Ising value towards its nearly doubled mean-field value with increase in t. While for that far away from the DCP, γeff displays a nonmonotonic crossover from its single limit Ising value towards a value slightly lower than its mean-field value of 1 with increase in t. The limited (TL – T) range restricted such a behavior of γeff for the TL far away from the DCP, This feature of γeff in the nonasymptotic, high t region is yet again interpreted in terms of the possibility of a nonmonotonic crossover to the mean-field value from below. Unlike TL’s, the crossover behavior in the present case is pronounced and more sharp for all TU’s. However, the variation in the width of the renormalized Ising regime on approaching the DCP along the TU line is quite similar to that observed along the TL line. The crossover behavior is attributed to the strong ion-induced structuring seen in the mixture, while the observed trend in the crossover as TU shifts towards/away from the DCP is attributed to the varying influence of the DCP. The influence of the DCP on the critical behavior along the TU (or TL) line decreases as TU (or TL) shifts away from the DCP. Our observations indicate an increase in the sharpness of crossover as the critical temperature shifts from TL towards TU, or in other words, as the critical point shifts towards higher temperatures. SANS measurements on the present mixture indicate no difference in the growth of mesoscale clusters in the lower and upper one-phase regions in the mixture. Hence, the observed increase in the sharpness of crossover towards the TU’s is very puzzling. The dielectric constant of the major constituent (i.e., water, ~ 62 %) of the present mixture decreases from around 80 to 63 as the critical temperature shifts from TL towards TU. Therefore, our results suggest the need to look at the crossover phenomena probably from two perspectives, namely, the solvent or dielectric effect and the clustering effect. The increase in the sharpness of the crossover behavior on approaching the high temperature critical points is probably related to the macroscopic property of the mixture, i.e., to the decrease in the dielectric constant of the mixture, while the actual nonmonotonic character of the crossover behavior is related to the microscopic property of the mixture, i.e., to the clustering effects, the extent of which determines the width of the asymptotic critical domain. However, this conclusion is somewhat subtle and calls for rigorous theoretical and experimental efforts to unravel the exact dependence of the crossover behavior on the dielectric constant. Analysis using the field variable tUL in lieu of the conventional variable t led to the retrieval of unique, universal exponents for all TU’s irrespective of the ΔT value. For all TU’s, the effective susceptibility exponent in terms of tUL displays a nonmonotonic crossover from its asymptotic 3D-Ising value towards a value slightly lower than its nonasymptotic mean-field value of 1, as that observed in the t analysis of the effective exponent for the TU far away from the DCP. Like with the TL’s, the crossover behavior extends over nearly the same tUL range for the TU’s studied. However, the crossover is again sharper when compared to the TL’s. Chapter 6 reports light-scattering measurements (by heating as well as cooling) on a non phase-separating 1P + W + KCl mixture in the vicinity of the DCP. The results indicate that despite the lack of phase-separation or critical points, critical-phenomena-like fluctuations can still occur in homogeneous mixtures if they reside in some other direction than temperature or composition (like, pressure or salt concentration) of the phase diagram. Unlike earlier studies on non phase-separating mixtures, our results indicate a crossover behavior of the effective susceptibility exponent, in addition to the power-law behavior. Chapter 7 sums up the major findings of the work reported in this thesis. It also presents a range of open problems that need to be explored further in order to fully understand the results that are reported in this thesis, especially, regarding the exact dependence of dielectric constant of the mixture on the character of the crossover behavior.

Nous analysons les caractéristiques d'intrication de quelques matériaux à l'état solide ainsi que des systèmes particuliers d'atomes et de champs en interaction. Une étude détaillée de la riche structure de phase des modèles de spins de basse dimension, décrivant le minéral naturel d'azurite et les composés de coordination à base de cuivre, a révélé des régimes à comportement d'intrication des plus robustes. En utilisant l'approche des systèmes dynamiques, la structure de phase de certains modèles classiques en réseaux hiérarchiques (récursifs) a aussi été étudiée et, pour la première fois, la transition entre régime chaotique et régime périodique au moyen de la bifurcation tangente a été détectée.Nous présentons une description détaillée des propriétés d'intrication de trois atomes piégés dans la limite dispersive. Une relativement simple accordabilité de la force atomique d'interaction de ce système et son étroite relation aux problèmes de frustration magnétique est démontrée. Les effets de propagation de pulses laser intenses dans un système atomique de type [lambda] avec des forces d'oscillateurs différentes sont analysés. Les résultats obtenus sont d'extrême importance dans des problèmes d'information quantique, comme par exemple, dans l'analyse du mécanisme de transfert de population dans des milieux ayant les propriétés définies ci-avant. Enfin, nous avons analysé les effets dissipatifs dans un protocole de distillation de l'intrication à variable continue récemment proposé. Malgré des contraintes additionnelles sur les paramètres du protocole, il est encore possible d'implémenter ce schéma de distillation évoqué ci-avant dans les technologies émergentes. / The entanglement features of some solid state materials, as well as of particular systems of interacting atoms and fields are analyzed. A detailed investigation of the rich phase structure of low dimensional spin models, describing the natural mineral azurite and copper based coordination compounds, has revealed regimes with the most robust entanglement behavior. Using the dynamical system approach, the phase structure of some classical models on hierarchical (recursive) lattices has been also studied and, for the first time, the transition between chaotic and periodic regimes by means of tangent bifurcation has been detected.A detailed description of entanglement properties of three atoms trapped in a cavity within the dispersive limit is presented. A relatively simple tunability of the atomic interaction strength of the above system and its close relation to the problems of frustrated magnetism is shown. Furthermore, the propagation effects of two intense laser pulses in a medium of [lambda] atoms with unequal oscillator strengths are investigated. Obtained results are crucial in some problems of quantum information theory, as, e.g., in the analysis of population transfer mechanism in media possessing the above properties. Finally, the dissipation effects in a recently proposed compact continuous-variable entanglement distillation protocol have been analyzed. Despite additional constraints on the parameters of the protocol, the discussed entanglement distillation scheme in quantum memories is still possible to implement within emerging technologies.

Les comportements critiques des systèmes de mécanique statistique en 2 dimensions ou de mécanique quantique en 1+1 dimensions, ainsi que certains aspects des systèmes sans interactions en 2+1 dimensions, sont efficacement décrits par les méthodes de la théorie des champs conforme et de l'intégrabilité, dont le développement a été spectaculaire au cours des 40 dernières années. Plusieurs problèmes résistent cependant toujours à une compréhension exacte, parmi lesquels celui de la transition entre plateaux dans l'Effet Hall Quantique Entier. La raison principale en est que de tels problèmes sont généralement associés à des théories non unitaires, ou théories conformes logarithmiques, dont la classification se révèle être d'une grande difficulté mathématique. Se tournant vers la recherche de modèles discrets (chaînes de spins, modèles sur réseau), dans l'espoir en particulier d'en trouver des représentations en termes de modèles exactement solubles (intégrables), on se heurte à la deuxième difficulté représentée par le fait que les théories associées sont la plupart du temps non compactes, ou en d'autres termes qu'elles donnent lieu à un continuum d'exposants critiques. En effet, le lien entre modèles discrets et théories des champs non compactes est à ce jour loin d'être compris, en particulier il a longtemps été cru que de telles théories ne pouvaient pas émerger comme limites continues de modèles discrets construits à partir d'un ensemble compact de degrés de libertés, par ailleurs les seuls qui donnent a accès à une construction systématique de solutions exactes.Dans cette thèse, on montre que le monde des modèles discrets compacts ayant une limite continue non compacte est en fait beaucoup plus grand que ce que les quelques exemples connus jusqu'ici auraient pu laisser suspecter. Plus précisément, on y présente une solution exacte par ansatz de Bethe d'une famille infinie de modèles(les modèles $a_n^{(2)}$, ainsi que quelques résultats sur les modèles $b_n^{(1)}$, où il est observé que tous ces modèles sont décrits dans un certain régime par des théories conformes non compactes. Parmi ces modèles, certains jouent un rôle important dans la description de phénomènes physiques, parmi lesquels la description de polymères en deux dimensions avec des interactions attractives et des modèles de boucles impliqués dans l'étude de modèles de Potts couplés ou dans une tentative de description de la transition entre plateaux dans l'Effet Hall par un modèle géométrique compact.On montre que l'existence insoupçonnéede limite continues non compacts pour de tels modèles peut avoir d'importantes conséquences pratiques, par exemple dans l'estimation numérique d'exposants critiques ou dans le résultats de simulations de Monte Carlo. Nos résultats sont appliqués à une meilleure compréhension de la transition theta décrivant l'effondrement des polymères en deux dimensions, et des perspectives pour une potentielle compréhension de la transition entre plateaux en termes de modèles sur réseaux sont présentées. / The critical points of statistical mechanical systems in 2 dimensions or quantum mechanical systems in 1+1 dimensions (this also includes non interacting systems in 2+1 dimensions) are effciently tackled by the exact methods of conformal fieldtheory (CFT) and integrability, which have witnessed a spectacular progress during the past 40 years. Several problems have however escaped an exact understanding so far, among which the plateau transition in the Integer Quantum Hall Effect,the main reason for this being that such problems are usually associated with non unitary, logarithmic conformal field theories, the tentative classification of which leading to formidable mathematical dificulties. Turning to a lattice approach, andin particular to the quest for integrable, exactly sovable representatives of these problems, one hits the second dificulty that the associated CFTs are usually of the non compact type, or in other terms that they involve a continuum of criticalexponents. The connection between non compact field theories and lattice models or spin chains is indeed not very clear, and in particular it has long been believed that the former could not arise as the continuum limit of discrete models built out of acompact set of degrees of freedom, which are the only ones allowing for a systematic construction of exact solutions.In this thesis, we show that the world of compact lattice models/spin chains with a non compact continuum limit is much bigger than what could be expected from the few particular examples known up to this date. More precisely we propose an exact Bethe ansatz solution of an infinite family of models (the so-called $a_n^{(2)}$ models, as well as some results on the $b_n^{(1)}$ models), and show that all of these models allow for a regime described by a non compact CFT. Such models include cases ofgreat physical relevance, among which a model for two-dimensional polymers with attractive interactions and loop models involved in the description of coupled Potts models or in a tentative description of the quantum Hall plateau transition by somecompact geometrical truncation. We show that the existence of an unsuspected non compact continuum limit for such models can have dramatic practical effects, for instance on the output of numerical determination of the critical exponents or ofMonte-Carlo simulations. We put our results to use for a better understanding of the controversial theta transition describing the collapse of polymers in two dimensions, and draw perspectives on a possible understanding of the quantum Hall plateautransition by the lattice approach.