Conjugate gradient algorithms and the Galerkin boundary element method

Original article can be found at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/08981221 Copyright Elsevier Ltd. DOI: 10.1016/j.camwa.2004.02.002Peer reviewe

Real-Time-RG Analysis of the Dynamics of the Spin-Boson Model

Using a real-time renormalization group method we determine the complete dynamics of the spin-boson model with ohmic dissipation for coupling strengths $\alpha\lesssim 0.1-0.2$. We calculate the relaxation and dephasing time, the static susceptibility and correlation functions. Our results are consistent with quantum Monte Carlo simulations and the Shiba relation. We present for the first time reliable results for finite cutoff and finite bias in a regime where perturbation theory in $\alpha$ or in tunneling breaks down. Furthermore, an unambigious comparism to results from the Kondo model is achieved.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Low-temperature nonequilibrium transport in a Luttinger liquid

The temperature-dependent nonlinear conductance for transport of a Luttinger liquid through a barrier is calculated in the nonperturbative regime for $g=1/2-\epsilon$, where $g$ is the dimensionless interaction constant. To describe the low-energy behavior, we perform a leading-log summation of all diagrams contributing to the conductance which is valid for $|\epsilon| << 1$. With increasing external voltage, the asymptotic low-temperature behavior displays a turnover from the $T^{2/g-2}$ to a universal $T^2$ law.Comment: 13 pages RevTeX 3.0, accepted by Physical Review

AMPK activation protects from neuronal dysfunction and vulnerability across nematode, cellular and mouse models of Huntington's disease.

The adenosine monophosphate activated kinase protein (AMPK) is an evolutionary-conserved protein important for cell survival and organismal longevity through the modulation of energy homeostasis. Several studies suggested that AMPK activation may improve energy metabolism and protein clearance in the brains of patients with vascular injury or neurodegenerative disease. However, in Huntington's disease (HD), AMPK may be activated in the striatum of HD mice at a late, post-symptomatic phase of the disease, and high-dose regiments of the AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide may worsen neuropathological and behavioural phenotypes. Here, we revisited the role of AMPK in HD using models that recapitulate the early features of the disease, including Caenorhabditis elegans neuron dysfunction before cell death and mouse striatal cell vulnerability. Genetic and pharmacological manipulation of aak-2/AMPKα shows that AMPK activation protects C. elegans neurons from the dysfunction induced by human exon-1 huntingtin (Htt) expression, in a daf-16/forkhead box O-dependent manner. Similarly, AMPK activation using genetic manipulation and low-dose metformin treatment protects mouse striatal cells expressing full-length mutant Htt (mHtt), counteracting their vulnerability to stress, with reduction of soluble mHtt levels by metformin and compensation of cytotoxicity by AMPKα1. Furthermore, AMPK protection is active in the mouse brain as delivery of gain-of-function AMPK-γ1 to mouse striata slows down the neurodegenerative effects of mHtt. Collectively, these data highlight the importance of considering the dynamic of HD for assessing the therapeutic potential of stress-response targets in the disease. We postulate that AMPK activation is a compensatory response and valid approach for protecting dysfunctional and vulnerable neurons in HD

Self-consistent quantal treatment of decay rates within the perturbed static path approximation

The framework of the Perturbed Static Path Approximation (PSPA) is used to calculate the partition function of a finite Fermi system from a Hamiltonian with a separable two body interaction. Therein, the collective degree of freedom is introduced in self-consistent fashion through a Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation. In this way all transport coefficients which dominate the decay of a meta-stable system are defined and calculated microscopically. Otherwise the same formalism is applied as in the Caldeira-Leggett model to deduce the decay rate from the free energy above the so called crossover temperature $T_0$.Comment: 17 pages, LaTex, no figures; final version, accepted for publication in PRE; e-mail: [email protected]

Exactly solvable path integral for open cavities in terms of quasinormal modes

We evaluate the finite-temperature Euclidean phase-space path integral for the generating functional of a scalar field inside a leaky cavity. Provided the source is confined to the cavity, one can first of all integrate out the fields on the outside to obtain an effective action for the cavity alone. Subsequently, one uses an expansion of the cavity field in terms of its quasinormal modes (QNMs)-the exact, exponentially damped eigenstates of the classical evolution operator, which previously have been shown to be complete for a large class of models. Dissipation causes the effective cavity action to be nondiagonal in the QNM basis. The inversion of this action matrix inherent in the Gaussian path integral to obtain the generating functional is therefore nontrivial, but can be accomplished by invoking a novel QNM sum rule. The results are consistent with those obtained previously using canonical quantization.Comment: REVTeX, 26 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

VLA imaging of 12CO J = 1-0 and free-free emission in lensed submillimetre galaxies

We present a study using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) of 12CO J = 1-0 emission in three strongly lensed submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMM J16359, SMM J14009 and SMM J02399) at z = 2.5-2.9. These galaxies span LIR = 1011-1013 L⊙, offering an opportunity to compare the interstellar medium of luminous infrared galaxies and ultraluminous infrared galaxies at high redshift. We estimate molecular gas masses in the range of 2-40 × 109 M⊙ using a method that assumes canonical underlying brightness temperature (Tb) ratios for star-forming and non-star-forming gas phases and a maximal star formation efficiency. A more simplistic method - using XCO = 0.8 and the measured Tb ratios - yields gas masses twice as high. In SMM J14009 we find L CO 3-2'/L CO 1-0'=0.95±0.12, indicative of warm, star-forming gas, possibly influenced by the central active galactic nucleus (AGN). We set a gas mass limit of 3σ < 6 × 108 M⊙ for the Lyman break galaxy, A2218 #384, located in the same field as SMM J16359 at z = 2.515. Finally, we use the rest-frame ˜115 GHz free-free flux densities for SMM J14009 and SMM J02399 - measurements tied directly to the photoionization rate of massive stars, and made possible by VLA's bandwidth - to estimate star formation rates (SFRs) of 400-600 M⊙ yr-1 and to estimate the fraction of LIR due to AGN

Exact Occupation Time Distribution in a Non-Markovian Sequence and Its Relation to Spin Glass Models

We compute exactly the distribution of the occupation time in a discrete {\em non-Markovian} toy sequence which appears in various physical contexts such as the diffusion processes and Ising spin glass chains. The non-Markovian property makes the results nontrivial even for this toy sequence. The distribution is shown to have non-Gaussian tails characterized by a nontrivial large deviation function which is computed explicitly. An exact mapping of this sequence to an Ising spin glass chain via a gauge transformation raises an interesting new question for a generic finite sized spin glass model: at a given temperature, what is the distribution (over disorder) of the thermally averaged number of spins that are aligned to their local fields? We show that this distribution remains nontrivial even at infinite temperature and can be computed explicitly in few cases such as in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model with Gaussian disorder.Comment: 10 pages Revtex (two-column), 1 eps figure (included

Dynamics of Tunneling Centers in Metallic Systems

Dynamics of tunneling centers (TC) in metallic systems is studied, using the technique of bosonization. The interaction of the TC with the conduction electrons of the metal involves two processes, namely, the screening of the TC by electrons, and the so-called electron assisted tunneling. The presence of the latter process leads to a different form of the renormalized tunneling frequency of the TC, and the tunneling motion is damped with a temperature dependent relaxation rate. As the temperature is lowered, the relaxation rate per temperature shows a steep rise as opposed to that in the absence of electron assisted process. It is expected that this behavior should be observed at very low temperatures in a careful experiment. The present work thus tries to go beyond the existing work on the {\it dynamics} of a two-level system in metals, by treating the electron assisted process.Comment: REVTeX twocolumn format, 5 pages, two PostScript figures available on request. Preprint # : imsc 94/3

Low noise amplication of an optically carried microwave signal: application to atom interferometry

In this paper, we report a new scheme to amplify a microwave signal carried on a laser light at $\lambda$=852nm. The amplification is done via a semiconductor tapered amplifier and this scheme is used to drive stimulated Raman transitions in an atom interferometer. Sideband generation in the amplifier, due to self-phase and amplitude modulation, is investigated and characterized. We also demonstrate that the amplifier does not induce any significant phase-noise on the beating signal. Finally, the degradation of the performances of the interferometer due to the amplification process is shown to be negligible