Statistical Mechanics of Lamé Solitons
arXiv:cond-mat/0504295 · doi:10.1088/0031-8949/73/6/005
Abstract
We study the exact statistical mechanics of Lamé solitons using a transfer matrix method. This requires a knowledge of the first forbidden band of the corresponding Schrödinger equation with the periodic Lamé potential. Since the latter is a quasi-exactly solvable system, an analytical evaluation of the partition function can be done only for a few temperatures. We also study approximately the finite temperature thermodynamics using the ideal kink gas phenomenology. The zero-temperature "thermodynamics" of the soliton lattice solutions is also addressed. Moreover, in appropriate limits our results reduce to that of the sine-Gordon problem.
29 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physica Scripta