Quantum Phase Diagram of Bosons in Optical Lattices

We work out two different analytical methods for calculating the boundary of the Mott-insulator-superfluid (MI-SF) quantum phase transition for scalar bosons in cubic optical lattices of arbitrary dimension at zero temperature which improve upon the seminal mean-field result. The first one is a variational method, which is inspired by variational perturbation theory, whereas the second one is based on the field-theoretic concept of effective potential. Within both analytical approaches we achieve a considerable improvement of the location of the MI-SF quantum phase transition for the first Mott lobe in excellent agreement with recent numerical results from Quantum Monte-Carlo simulations in two and three dimensions. Thus, our analytical results for the whole quantum phase diagram can be regarded as being essentially exact for all practical purposes

Effective Action Approach for Quantum Phase Transitions in Bosonic Lattices

Based on standard field-theoretic considerations, we develop an effective action approach for investigating quantum phase transitions in lattice Bose systems at arbitrary temperature. We begin by adding to the Hamiltonian of interest a symmetry breaking source term. Using time-dependent perturbation theory, we then expand the grand-canonical free energy as a double power series in both the tunneling and the source term. From here, an order parameter field is introduced in the standard way, and the underlying effective action is derived via a Legendre transformation. Determining the Ginzburg-Landau expansion to first order in the tunneling term, expressions for the Mott insulator-superfluid phase boundary, condensate density, average particle number, and compressibility are derived and analyzed in detail. Additionally, excitation spectra in the ordered phase are found by considering both longitudinal and transverse variations of the order parameter. Finally, these results are applied to the concrete case of the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian on a three dimensional cubic lattice, and compared with the corresponding results from mean-field theory. Although both approaches yield the same Mott insulator - superfluid phase boundary to first order in the tunneling, the predictions of our effective action theory turn out to be superior to the mean-field results deeper into the superfluid phase

An evaluation of the factors that affect the health-related quality of life of children following myelosuppressive chemotherapy

PurposeThe purposes of this study, in children who were assessed 1 week after the administration of myelosuppressive chemotherapy were: to compare the total and subscale scores on a generic measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) to normative data from healthy children and describe the relationships between demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics of children with cancer and generic and disease-specific dimensions of HRQOL.MethodsPatients (n = 61) were predominantly male (52.5%), minority (63.9%), and 14.7 years of age. Children completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale for 10- to 18-year olds, the PedsQL™ Generic and Cancer Modules, and the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) scale 1 week after the start of a chemotherapy cycle.ResultsThe mean number of symptoms per patient was 10.6. Compared with the normative sample, children with cancer reported significantly lower scores for the total scale and all of the subscales except emotional and social functioning. No significant differences were found between any demographic characteristics and total or subscale scores on the generic or disease-specific measures of HRQOL. Lower KPS scores were associated with poorer generic and disease-specific HRQOL scores. In addition, a higher number of symptoms was associated with poorer generic and disease-specific HRQOL scores. Finally, higher symptom distress scores were associated with poorer generic and disease-specific HRQOL scores.ConclusionAmong the demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics studied, poorer functional status and higher symptom burden were associated with significant decreases in HRQOL in children who received myelosuppressive chemotherapy