A viscoelastic material stores part of the work of deformation and dissipates part. In the linear regime its stress depends on the strain history, not just the instantaneous strain or shear strain rate. For simple shear, a causal relaxation modulus gives . A sudden strain then probes stress relaxation, while a constant imposed stress probes material creep; these are different experiments.
For steady sinusoidal strain use the convention and complex amplitudes. The complex viscoelastic modulus isso . The storage modulus is the in-phase elastic component. The loss modulus multiplies the component in phase with shear strain rate; stress leads strain by . The loss tangent is when .
Multiplying stress by shear strain rate and averaging gives . Hence the dissipated energy per oscillatory shear cycle isThe elastic contribution returns its work over the cycle. A passive material has nonnegative dissipation, which fixes the sign of the loss term in the chosen Fourier convention. This complex viscoelastic modulus is a response function, not the mathematical absolute value of a complex number.
A Maxwell model places a spring of shear modulus in series with a dashpot of viscosity , so the strains add at common stress:The Maxwell fluid dynamic modulus isAt the response is predominantly viscous, and . At it approaches the elastic plateau . The two moduli cross, and reaches its maximum, at . A Kelvin-Voigt model instead has the spring and dashpot in parallel, giving and no fluid-like zero-frequency terminal flow. Real materials often need a spectrum of relaxation times rather than one Maxwell time.
Original Maxwell storage and loss moduli, with a stress–strain cycle whose enclosed area measures dissipated work
. Details. Oscillatory rheometry measures stress amplitude and phase while imposing a small strain. An oscillatory-shear amplitude sweep first identifies a linear regime; an oscillatory-shear frequency sweep then measures and . Repeat at controlled temperature, suppress evaporation, check wall slip and sample aging, and correct instrument inertia at high frequency. Frequency-dependent structure and a nonlinear response cannot be inferred reliably by fitting one spring and dashpot to one point.
Past exam of the soft condensed matter course of the University of Cambridge 2017 2 c Solution 2026-10-18
The requested model is the standard linear solid model: a spring of modulus in parallel with a Maxwell branch consisting of a spring in series with a dashpot of viscosity . Both parallel branches have the same strain; their stresses add. In the Maxwell branch the spring and dashpot have the same stress and their strains add. The equilibrium spring prevents indefinite flow at long times.
For harmonic strain , define the dynamic modulus by . The Maxwell branch has compliance . Defining therefore givesThe same mechanical model can represent a shear modulus if the appropriate shear stresses and strains are used consistently.
A spring parallel to a Maxwell element gives finite low- and high-frequency storage moduli and one loss-modulus peak
. Details. Writing , its storage modulus and loss modulus areWith this time convention the physical stress is and leads the strain by the loss angle. The dissipated energy per unit volume per cycle is . Thus describes elastic storage and describes dissipation.
At low frequency, , the dashpot flows during a cycle and relaxes the Maxwell spring, leaving , . At high frequency, , the dashpot hardly deforms within a cycle, so both springs carry elastic load: , while . The loss modulus is maximal at , with peak value .
The equivalent constitutive equation isAfter a sudden strain is imposed and held, the stress relaxes as . It falls from the instantaneous modulus to the nonzero relaxed modulus . This single-time relaxation is the simplest improvement over a purely elastic solid or a Maxwell fluid with zero long-time modulus.
The loss tangent is . Its maximum need not coincide with the loss-modulus maximum: the peak frequencies in a standard linear solid give for the loss tangent. The model captures one viscoelastic crossover between two finite elastic plateaux, with dissipation concentrated near the relaxation frequency.
TODO: biomolecular force assays are user-deferred. The following notes cover the generic physical apparatus, calibrated dielectric handles and synthetic attachments only.
In optical tweezers, a tightly focused laser produces a restoring gradient force on a suitable transparent bead. Scattering also transfers momentum along propagation, so a stable three-dimensional trap needs axial as well as lateral restoration. An objective with high numerical aperture, correctly filled entrance pupil, controlled beam polarization and low-aberration sample chamber are practical design elements. Collect transmitted/scattered light with a condenser and measure bead displacement with calibrated imaging or back-focal-plane photodetection. A steerable beam or translation stage sets relative positions; the force signal comes from bead displacement, not commanded stage displacement alone.
Near a stable operating point, use a harmonic optical trap with . For a slowly changing external force, in that coordinate; the optical restoring force is . Calibrate each axis and the range over which its response is linear. Detector sensitivity must also be known: write , with measured detector voltage , offset and position sensitivity in . A spring constant in arbitrary detector units is not a force calibration.
Three complementary physical calibrations are useful. At thermal equilibrium the equipartition theorem givesThis needs an independently calibrated position scale and a variance corrected for drift, detector noise and exposure averaging. In an overdamped Newtonian medium, the optical trap Langevin calibration obeysUsing a one-sided position power spectral density per hertz,The corner frequency and spectral amplitude test both relaxation and fluctuation size. If drag is known, . The isolated-sphere value must be corrected near boundaries; otherwise measured height dependence can be mistaken for a changed trap stiffness. An independent steady optical trap drag calibration moves fluid past the trapped sphere: . Use small positive and negative speeds to verify slope, offset and force range.
One can also determine position sensitivity without assuming the bulk drag. In a low-frequency sinusoidal-stage optical trap calibration, let the known local fluid velocity amplitude be at drive angular frequency . The coherent bead displacement amplitude isIf the corresponding detector amplitude is , thenAfter removing the coherent drive line from the thermal record, combine this sensitivity with equipartition theorem to recover , and then infer from . A published calibration combines thermal spectra and stage-driven motion without taking bead drag as an input.[ref]
Calibration of optical tweezers with positional detection in the back-focal-plane by Simon F. Tolić-Nørrelykke and others. 2006 author preprint, abstract: combined thermal/stage calibration and drag-independent sensitivity
Controls determine whether these formulas measure the apparatus rather than its noise. Record blocked-light offsets and independent fixed-bead noise; calibrate length with known motion; keep sampling and electronics bandwidth adequate around ; and include exposure filtering and aliasing in a spectral fit. motion blur reduces measured variance and therefore makes naive equipartition theorem overestimate stiffness; additive position noise has the opposite bias. Changing exposure time provides a direct diagnostic.[ref]
The effect of integration time on fluctuation measurements: calibrating an optical trap in the presence of motion blur by Wesley P. Wong and others. §II, equations (12)–(18): variance reduction, temporal filter and aliased spectrum
Check temperature and laser heating, wall separation, bead size and refractive index, alignment and power stability. Repeat after changing power or optical geometry and compare thermal, spectral and drag estimates. For a synthetic force handle, also measure the attachment's compliance and geometry so that bead motion is not automatically identified with its extension.The electron-phonon interaction can produce a retarded attraction. A carrier distorts the ionic lattice; a second carrier can lower its energy in that distortion. Integrating out a phonon gives a frequency-dependent interaction with an attractive low-frequency region. A schematic Matsubara-frequency contribution is . It must be combined with the screened Coulomb repulsion, not treated as a statement that the bare electron-electron force is attractive.
Retardation separates the electronic and phonon energy scales and reduces the repulsive contribution in the pairing channel to a Coulomb pseudopotential. In the simplest weak-coupling approximation, a positive net dimensionless pairing strength givesThe formula assumes a phonon cutoff and simplified coupling; strong-coupling calculations need the spectral interaction rather than this one-number replacement. The phonon frequency's dependence on ionic mass motivates an isotope effect, whose actual exponent can be modified by other physics.
An interaction need not be attractive in every momentum channel to support pairing. Spin fluctuations or other electronic correlations can favor a sign-changing gap: in the gap equation, repulsive scattering between two regions can contribute constructively when their gap signs differ. Such mechanisms are candidates for unconventional superconductivity. Observing a d-wave gap identifies symmetry information but does not, by itself, establish a unique microscopic pairing mechanism in a cuprate.
A Josephson junction weakly couples two superconducting condensates. Its coupling energy is , with a gauge-invariant phase difference across the junction. Choose current and voltage orientations consistently so thatThe DC Josephson effect permits a stationary zero-voltage supercurrent up to . A constant nonzero voltage produces the AC Josephson effect, with frequency . Resistive and capacitive currents are additional circuit contributions, not part of the ideal sinusoidal supercurrent alone.
In a symmetric DC SQUID with negligible loop self-inductance, the two junction phases differ by . Adding their currents and maximizing over the common phase givesFlux changes therefore modulate the critical current or a suitably biased output voltage. This converts phase interference into sensitive flux measurement. Finite loop inductance, unequal junctions, noise and readout conditions alter the simple modulation; the loop flux then includes screening currents. A SQUID is useful in magnetometry, but achieving sensitivity requires both a suitable circuit and controlled environmental noise.
Use a complex pair order parameter with signed charge , . A local isotropic Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity has free energyFor , , the uniform amplitude is . Variation gives the static field equation and supercurrentThe vector potential obeys Maxwell's equations, including and , with and . The static approximation drops the displacement current. A common dissipative near-transition dynamical extension is the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equationIt is a phenomenological relaxation law in its applicable regime, not a universal microscopic Schrödinger equation for every superconductor. Its covariant time derivative and the covariant spatial derivative ensure consistent phase and electromagnetic gauge transformations.
The amplitude and screening lengths areFor the ideal model is type II. An Abrikosov vortex has a phase winding, a core with suppressed of size , and circulating screening currents over . Single-valuedness implies fluxoid and flux quantization in a superconductor:The sign of depends on the chosen circulation and charge convention. Far from the core, where the contour current term is negligible, each singly wound vortex carries one flux quantum in magnitude.
The equilibrium lower critical magnetic field marks favorable entry of the first vortex; for , with an order-one core correction . The upper critical magnetic field follows by linearizing the order-parameter equation in the field:Between these fields lies the superconducting mixed state, often with an Abrikosov vortex lattice. The ideal equilibrium entry and exit fields need not yield large irreversible loops. Flux pinning and surface barriers impede vortex motion; field sweeps then retain history-dependent flux and produce magnetic hysteresis and dissipative losses.
A superconducting weak link, such as a tunnel junction or narrow constriction, couples the phases of two superconductors. With consistent choices of phase and voltage orientation, the Josephson effect givesThe Gauge-invariant Josephson phase includes the line integral of across the link. A zero voltage can sustain a phase-dependent steady current; a constant nonzero voltage makes that contribution oscillate. Microwave irradiation can lock this oscillation to an applied frequency, giving voltage steps at , an experimental test of coherent pair transport rather than an ordinary resistive current law.
A DC SQUID places two weak links in a loop. For identical junction critical currents and negligible self-inductance, flux quantization fixes their relative phase difference to . Adding the two sinusoidal currents and maximizing over their common phase givesThe flux-periodic response provides sensitive magnetic measurements. Junction asymmetry or appreciable loop inductance changes the ideal contrast and can introduce additional hysteresis; the phase-coherent interference principle remains. The Jaklevic Josephson interference experiment is a motivating experimental realization of this link between a superconducting loop, weak links and magnetic flux.
A Josephson junction converts a relative condensate phase into a measurable current. For superconductors the relevant coherent object is a Cooper pair, with electric charge . Its Gauge-invariant Josephson phase isWith a consistent directed-current convention, the weak-link relation is . A voltage gives , so a constant voltage produces the AC Josephson effect at frequency . For neutral atom reservoirs the phase evolution instead follows their chemical-potential difference, with the displayed phase labeling. The current transfers atoms rather than electric charge, but still probes coherent matter-wave amplitudes.
A DC SQUID provides two coherent paths around a superconducting loop. Neglect loop self-inductance, take equal junction critical currents , and let be the enclosed flux. The relative junction phase differs by , with superconducting flux quantum . Adding the two sinusoidal currents and maximizing over their common phase givesFor unequal junctions the corresponding result is . Finite inductance and junction asymmetry alter the ideal modulation, so a measured minimum need not be zero. Flux changes a phase difference between the paths; the detector reads the resulting critical-current or voltage modulation. The Jaklevic Josephson interference experiment established superconducting interference experimentally.[ref]
Quantum Interference Effects in Josephson Tunneling by R. C. Jaklevic and others. 1964 primary report
A bosonic Josephson junction uses two weakly linked Bose-Einstein condensates. In the Albiez double-well Josephson experiment, the population distribution was measured in situ and the relative phase inferred from interference fringes. The apparatus therefore tests both number transfer and phase coherence, rather than interpreting a density oscillation alone as a phase measurement. Interactions make the dynamics nonlinear: large imbalance can produce self-trapping instead of simple tunneling oscillations.[ref]
Direct Observation of Tunneling and Nonlinear Self-Trapping in a Single Bosonic Josephson Junction by Michael Albiez and others. 2005 abstract: double-well implementation, density measurement, phase from fringes and nonlinear self-trapping
The usefulness is interferometric sensitivity: a small phase perturbation can change a measurable current. It requires a coherent weak link, controlled phase noise and the appropriate particle's phase evolution; a generic insulating barrier between incoherent reservoirs is not already a matter-wave interferometer.
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2015 1 c iv Solution 2026-10-25
A shorter radiation flash has a broader Fourier transform. From iii, its characteristic angular-frequency bandwidth isAt fixed bending radius this scales as as . The standard synchrotron critical angular frequency makes the same scaling explicit:A periodically circulating electron produces harmonics of its revolution frequency. The very large harmonic range, of order , forms the familiar effectively continuous broad synchrotron spectrum at ordinary detector resolution. The result concerns the intrinsic spectrum of the radiation, not merely the slow envelope imposed by a long incoherent bunch. Ordinary frequency is ; mixing cycles per second with radians per second would introduce a spurious factor of into photon-energy estimates.[ref]
Synchrotron Radiation in the Geant4 Physics Reference Manual by Geant4 Collaboration. critical-energy formula and validity discussion, critical harmonic number
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2015 1 c v Solution 2026-10-25
Using the conventional critical scale rather than guessing a precise Fourier-width coefficient,This is extreme ultraviolet and the very soft X-ray boundary, with a broad spectrum extending on either side; it is not a hard, multi-keV X-ray source at the stated large bending radius. The characteristic energy is not a sharp upper cutoff. For orientation, the standard angle-integrated spectral power per unit frequency peaks near eV, also in the extreme ultraviolet; a particular angular acceptance weights that spectrum differently.
The crucial scale follows from both the GeV energy and the m radius. Using only the fact that synchrotron sources can make X-rays, or replacing the bending radius by a much smaller unstated value, would misidentify the characteristic photon energies here. The critical-energy convention and the broadband character are described by the primary radiation model.[ref]
Synchrotron Radiation in the Geant4 Physics Reference Manual by Geant4 Collaboration. photon-spectrum section, equation (209), and Properties of the Power Spectra



