27 research outputs found
Aspects of the Color Flavor Locking phase of QCD in the Nambu-Jona Lasinio approximation
We study two aspects of the CFL phase of QCD in the NJL approximation. The
first one is the issue of the dependence on \mu of the ultraviolet cutoff in
the gap equation, which is solved allowing a running coupling constant. The
second one is the dependence of the gap on the strange quark mass; using the
high density effective theory we perform an expansion in the parameter
(m_s/\mu)^2 after checking that its numerical validity is very good already at
first order.Comment: LaTeX file, 6 figure
On the Perturbative Nature of Color Superconductivity
Color superconductivity is a possible phase of high density QCD. We present a
systematic derivation of the transition temperature, T_C, from the QCD
Lagrangian through study of the di-quark proper vertex. With this approach, we
confirm the dependence of T_C on the coupling g, namely , previously obtained from the one-gluon exchange approximation
in the superconducting phase. The diagrammatic approach we employ allows us to
examine the perturbative expansion of the vertex and the propagators. We find
an additional O(1) contribution to the prefactor of the exponential from the
one-loop quark self energy and that the other one-loop radiative contributions
and the two gluon exchange vertex contribution are subleading.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, revtex, details and discussion expande
Kinks in the Hartree approximation
The topological defects of the lambda phi^4 theory, kink and antikink, are
studied in the Hartree approximation. This allows us to discuss quantum effects
on the defects in both stationary and dynamical systems. The kink mass is
calculated for a number of parameters, and compared to classical, one loop and
Monte Carlo results known from the literature. We discuss the thermalization of
the system after a kink antikink collision. A classical result, the existence
of a critical speed, is rederived and shown for the first time in the quantum
theory. We also use kink antikink collisions as a very simple toy model for
heavy ion collisions and discuss the differences and similarities, for example
in the pressure. Finally, using the Hartree Ensemble Approximation allows us to
study kink antikink nucleation starting from a thermal (Bose Einstein)
distribution. In general our results indicate that on a qualitative level there
are few differences with the classical results, but on a quantitative level
there are some import ones.Comment: 20 pages REVTeX 4, 17 Figures. Uses amsmath.sty and subfigure.sty.
Final version, fixed typo in published versio
Numerical Portrait of a Relativistic Thin Film BCS Superfluid
We present results of numerical simulations of the 2+1d Nambu - Jona-Lasinio
model with a non-zero baryon chemical potential mu including the effects of a
diquark source term. Diquark condensates, susceptibilities and masses are
measured as functions of source strength j. The results suggest that diquark
condensation does not take place in the high density phase mu>mu_c, but rather
that the condensate scales non-analytically with j implying a line of critical
points and long range phase coherence. Analogies are drawn with the low
temperature phase of the 2d XY model. The spectrum of the spin-1/2 sector is
also studied yielding the quasiparticle dispersion relation. There is no
evidence for a non-zero gap; rather the results are characteristic of a normal
Fermi liquid with Fermi velocity less than that of light. We conclude that the
high density phase of the model describes a relativistic gapless thin film BCS
superfluid.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figure
Shear viscosity of the Quark-Gluon Plasma from a virial expansion
We calculate the shear viscosity in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase
within a virial expansion approach with particular interest in the ratio of
to the entropy density , i.e. . The virial expansion approach
allows us to include the interactions between the partons in the deconfined
phase and to evaluate the corrections to a single-particle partition function.
In the latter approach we start with an effective interaction with parameters
fixed to reproduce thermodynamical quantities of QCD such as energy and/or
entropy density. We also directly extract the effective coupling \ga_{\rm V}
for the determination of . Our numerical results give a ratio
at the critical temperature , which is very
close to the theoretical bound of . Furthermore, for temperatures
the ratio is in the range of the present
experimental estimates at RHIC. When combining our results for
in the deconfined phase with those from chiral perturbation theory or
the resonance gas model in the confined phase we observe a pronounced minimum
of close to the critical temperature .Comment: Published in Eur. Phys. J. C, 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tabl
Far-from-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics
The theory of real-time quantum many-body dynamics as put forward in Ref.
[arXiv:0710.4627] is evaluated in detail. The formulation is based on a
generating functional of correlation functions where the Keldysh contour is
closed at a given time. Extending the Keldysh contour from this time to a later
time leads to a dynamic flow of the generating functional. This flow describes
the dynamics of the system and has an explicit causal structure. In the present
work it is evaluated within a vertex expansion of the effective action leading
to time evolution equations for Green functions. These equations are applicable
for strongly interacting systems as well as for studying the late-time
behaviour of nonequilibrium time evolution. For the specific case of a bosonic
N-component phi^4 theory with contact interactions an s-channel truncation is
identified to yield equations identical to those derived from the 2PI effective
action in next-to-leading order of a 1/N expansion. The presented approach
allows to directly obtain non-perturbative dynamic equations beyond the widely
used 2PI approximations.Comment: 20 pp., 6 figs; submitted version with added references and typos
corrected
Electromagnetic superconductivity of vacuum induced by strong magnetic field
The quantum vacuum may become an electromagnetic superconductor in the
presence of a strong external magnetic field of the order of 10^{16} Tesla. The
magnetic field of the required strength (and even stronger) is expected to be
generated for a short time in ultraperipheral collisions of heavy ions at the
Large Hadron Collider. The superconducting properties of the new phase appear
as a result of a magnetic-field-assisted condensation of quark-antiquark pairs
with quantum numbers of electrically charged rho mesons. We discuss
similarities and differences between the suggested superconducting state of the
quantum vacuum, a conventional superconductivity and the Schwinger pair
creation. We argue qualitatively and quantitatively why the superconducting
state should be a natural ground state of the vacuum at the sufficiently strong
magnetic field. We demonstrate the existence of the superconducting phase using
both the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and an effective bosonic model based on the
vector meson dominance (the rho-meson electrodynamics). We discuss various
properties of the new phase such as absence of the Meissner effect, anisotropy
of superconductivity, spatial inhomogeneity of ground state, emergence of a
neutral superfluid component in the ground state and presence of new
topological vortices in the quark-antiquark condensates.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures, to appear in Lect. Notes Phys. "Strongly
interacting matter in magnetic fields" (Springer), edited by D. Kharzeev, K.
Landsteiner, A. Schmitt, H.-U. Ye
Crossovers in Unitary Fermi Systems
Universality and crossover is described for attractive and repulsive
interactions where, respectively, the BCS-BEC crossover takes place and a
ferromagnetic phase transition is claimed. Crossovers are also described for
optical lattices and multicomponent systems. The crossovers, universal
parameters and phase transitions are described within the Leggett and NSR
models and calculated in detail within the Jastrow-Slater approximation. The
physics of ultracold Fermi atoms is applied to neutron, nuclear and quark
matter, nuclei and electrons in solids whenever possible. Specifically, the
differences between optical lattices and cuprates is discussed w.r.t.
antiferromagnetic, d-wave superfluid phases and phase separation.Comment: 50 pages, 15 figures. Contribution to Lecture Notes in Physics
"BCS-BEC crossover and the Unitary Fermi Gas" edited by W. Zwerge
The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex
INTRODUCTION
The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities. Variations in human cortical surface area and thickness are associated with neurological, psychological, and behavioral traits and can be measured in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Studies in model organisms have identified genes that influence cortical structure, but little is known about common genetic variants that affect human cortical structure.
RATIONALE
To identify genetic variants associated with human cortical structure at both global and regional levels, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain MRI data from 51,665 individuals across 60 cohorts. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 cortical regions with known functional specializations.
RESULTS
We identified 306 nominally genome-wide significant loci (P < 5 × 10−8) associated with cortical structure in a discovery sample of 33,992 participants of European ancestry. Of the 299 loci for which replication data were available, 241 loci influencing surface area and 14 influencing thickness remained significant after replication, with 199 loci passing multiple testing correction (P < 8.3 × 10−10; 187 influencing surface area and 12 influencing thickness).
Common genetic variants explained 34% (SE = 3%) of the variation in total surface area and 26% (SE = 2%) in average thickness; surface area and thickness showed a negative genetic correlation (rG = −0.32, SE = 0.05, P = 6.5 × 10−12), which suggests that genetic influences have opposing effects on surface area and thickness. Bioinformatic analyses showed that total surface area is influenced by genetic variants that alter gene regulatory activity in neural progenitor cells during fetal development. By contrast, average thickness is influenced by active regulatory elements in adult brain samples, which may reflect processes that occur after mid-fetal development, such as myelination, branching, or pruning. When considered together, these results support the radial unit hypothesis that different developmental mechanisms promote surface area expansion and increases in thickness.
To identify specific genetic influences on individual cortical regions, we controlled for global measures (total surface area or average thickness) in the regional analyses. After multiple testing correction, we identified 175 loci that influence regional surface area and 10 that influence regional thickness. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes involved in the Wnt signaling pathway, which is known to influence areal identity.
We observed significant positive genetic correlations and evidence of bidirectional causation of total surface area with both general cognitive functioning and educational attainment. We found additional positive genetic correlations between total surface area and Parkinson’s disease but did not find evidence of causation. Negative genetic correlations were evident between total surface area and insomnia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depressive symptoms, major depressive disorder, and neuroticism.
CONCLUSION
This large-scale collaborative work enhances our understanding of the genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex and its regional patterning. The highly polygenic architecture of the cortex suggests that distinct genes are involved in the development of specific cortical areas. Moreover, we find evidence that brain structure is a key phenotype along the causal pathway that leads from genetic variation to differences in general cognitive function