Expansion in the Width and Collective Dynamics of a Domain Wall

We show that collective dynamics of a curved domain wall in a (3+1)-dimensional relativistic scalar field model is represented by Nambu-Goto membrane and (2+1)-dimensional scalar fields defined on the worldsheet of the membrane. Our argument is based on a recently proposed by us version of the expansion in the width. Derivation of the expansion is significantly reformulated for the present purpose. Third and fourth order corrections to the domain wall solution are considered. We also derive an equation of motion for the core of the domain wall. Without the (2+1)-dimensional scalar fields this equation would be nonlocal.Comment: 26 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Twinlike models with identical linear fluctuation spectra

Recently, the possibility of so-called twinlike field theories has been demonstrated, that is, of different field theories which share the same topological defect solution with the same energy density. Further, purely algebraic conditions have been derived which the corresponding Lagrangians have to obey in order that the field theories be twins of each other. A further diagnostical tool which, in general, allows to distinguish the topological defects of a given theory from the corresponding defects of its twins is the spectrum of linear fluctuations about these defects. Very recently, however, explicit examples of twin theories have been constructed such that not only their shapes and energy densities coincide, but also their linear fluctuation spectra are the same. Here we show that, again, there exist purely algebraic conditions for the Lagrangian densities which imply that the corresponding field theories are twins and that the fluctuation spectra about their defects coincide. These algebraic conditions allow to construct an infinite number of twins with coinciding fluctuation spectra for a given theory, and we provide some explicit examples. The importance of this result is related to the fact that coinciding defects with coinciding energy densities and identical fluctuation spectra are almost indistinguishable physically, that is, indistinguishable in a linear or semiclassical approximation. This implies that the measurable physical properties of a kink, in general, do not allow to determine the theory which provides the kink uniquely. Instead, in principle an infinite number of possible theories has to be considered.Comment: Latex, 13 pages, no figure

Three-body forces from a classical nonlinear field

Forces in the systems of two opposite sign and three identical charges coupled to the dynamical scalar field of the signum-Gordon model are investigated. Three-body force is present, and the exact formula for it is found. Flipping the sign of one of the two charges changes not only the sign but also the magnitude of the force. Both effects are due to nonlinearity of the field equation.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

QuaDMutEx: quadratic driver mutation explorer

Background Somatic mutations accumulate in human cells throughout life. Some may have no adverse consequences, but some of them may lead to cancer. A cancer genome is typically unstable, and thus more mutations can accumulate in the DNA of cancer cells. An ongoing problem is to figure out which mutations are drivers - play a role in oncogenesis, and which are passengers - do not play a role. One way of addressing this question is through inspection of somatic mutations in DNA of cancer samples from a cohort of patients and detection of patterns that differentiate driver from passenger mutations. Results We propose QuaDMutEx, a method that incorporates three novel elements: a new gene set penalty that includes non-linear penalization of multiple mutations in putative sets of driver genes, an ability to adjust the method to handle slow- and fast-evolving tumors, and a computationally efficient method for finding gene sets that minimize the penalty, through a combination of heuristic Monte Carlo optimization and exact binary quadratic programming. Compared to existing methods, the proposed algorithm finds sets of putative driver genes that show higher coverage and lower excess coverage in eight sets of cancer samples coming from brain, ovarian, lung, and breast tumors. Conclusions Superior ability to improve on both coverage and excess coverage on different types of cancer shows that QuaDMutEx is a tool that should be part of a state-of-the-art toolbox in the driver gene discovery pipeline. It can detect genes harboring rare driver mutations that may be missed by existing methods. QuaDMutEx is available for download from https://github.com/bokhariy/QuaDMutEx under the GNU GPLv3 license

Axial momentum for the relativistic Majorana particle

The Hilbert space of states of the relativistic Majorana particle consists of normalizable bispinors with real components, and the usual momentum operator $- i \nabla$ can not be defined in this space. For this reason, we introduce the axial momentum operator, $- i \gamma_5 \nabla$ as a new observable for this particle. In the Heisenberg picture, the axial momentum contains a component which oscillates with the amplitude proportional to $m/E$, where $E$ is the energy and $m$ the mass of the particle. The presence of the oscillations discriminates between the massive and massless Majorana particle. We show how the eigenvectors of the axial momentum, called the axial plane waves, can be used as a basis for obtaining the general solution of the evolution equation, also in the case of free Majorana field. Here a novel feature is a coupling of modes with the opposite momenta, again present only in the case of massive particle or field.Comment: 13 pages, improved presentation, change in the titl

Supersymmetric K field theories and defect structures

We construct supersymmetric K field theories (i.e., theories with a non-standard kinetic term) in 1+1 and 2+1 dimensions such that the bosonic sector just consists of a nonstandard kinetic term plus a potential. Further, we study the possibility of topological defect formation in these supersymmetric models. Finally, we consider more general supersymmetric K field theories where, again, topological defects exist in some cases.Comment: Latex, 6 figures, 27 page