Ac dynamic reorganization and non-equilibrium phase transition in driven vortex matter

TL;DR

This paper presents experimental evidence of ac-driven non-equilibrium phase transitions in vortex matter, showing dynamic reorganization into ordered states and analyzing critical behavior, with implications for understanding glassy systems.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental demonstration of ac-driven NEPTs in vortex matter and estimates critical exponents for this transition.

Findings

Reorganization of vortex lattices under ac drive

Identification of NEPT signatures in vortex matter

Estimation of critical exponents for the transition

Abstract

Externally driven glassy systems may undergo non-equilibrium phase transitions (NEPTs). In particular, ac-driven systems display special features, like those observed in the vortex matter of $\mathrm{NbSe_2}$, where oscillatory drives reorganize the system into partially ordered vortex lattices. We provide experimental evidence for this dynamic reorganization and we show an unambiguous signature of its connection with an NEPT driven by ac forces. We perform a scaling analysis and we estimate critical exponents for this transition. Our results share similarities with some glass-to-viscous-liquid NEPTs and invite to search for similar physics in other elastic disordered media.