49 research outputs found
Mesoscopic theory of the viscoelasticity of polymers
We have advanced our previous static theory of polymer entanglement involving
an extended Cahn-Hilliard functional, to include time-dependent dynamics. We go
beyond the Gaussian approximation, to the one-loop level, to compute the
frequency dependent storage and loss moduli of the system. The three parameters
in our theory are obtained by fitting to available experimental data on
polystyrene melts of various chain lengths. This provides a physical
representation of the parameters in terms of the chain length of the system. We
discuss the importance of the various terms in our energy functional with
respect to their contribution to the viscoelastic response of the polymeric
system.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Chaos vs. Linear Instability in the Vlasov Equation: A Fractal Analysis Characterization
In this work we discuss the most recent results concerning the Vlasov
dynamics inside the spinodal region. The chaotic behaviour which follows an
initial regular evolution is characterized through the calculation of the
fractal dimension of the distribution of the final modes excited. The ambiguous
role of the largest Lyapunov exponent for unstable systems is also critically
reviewed.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX, 4 figures not included but available upon reques
Galactic cannibalism in the galaxy cluster C0337-2522 at z=0.59
According to the galactic cannibalism model, cD galaxies are formed in the
center of galaxy clusters by merging of massive galaxies and accretion of
smaller stellar systems: however, observational examples of the initial phases
of this process are lacking. We have identified a strong candidate for this
early stage of cD galaxy formation: a group of five elliptical galaxies in the
core of the X-ray cluster C0337-2522 at redshift z=0.59. With the aid of
numerical simulations, in which the galaxies are represented by N-body systems,
we study their dynamical evolution up to z=0; the cluster dark matter
distribution is also described as a N-body system. We find that a multiple
merging event in the considered group of galaxies will take place before z=0
and that the merger remnant preserves the Fundamental Plane and the
Faber-Jackson relations, while its behavior with respect to the Mbh-sigma
relation is quite sensitive to the details of black hole merging [abridged].Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS (accepted
The clustering of the first galaxy halos
We explore the clustering properties of high redshift dark matter halos,
focusing on halos massive enough to host early generations of stars or galaxies
at redshift 10 and greater. Halos are extracted from an array of dark matter
simulations able to resolve down to the "mini-halo" mass scale at redshifts as
high as 30, thus encompassing the expected full mass range of halos capable of
hosting luminous objects and sources of reionization. Halo clustering on
large-scales agrees with the Sheth, Mo & Tormen halo bias relation within all
our simulations, greatly extending the regime where large-scale clustering is
confirmed to be "universal" at the 10-20% level (which means, for example, that
3sigma halos of cluster mass at z=0 have the same large-scale bias with respect
to the mass distribution as 3sigma halos of galaxy mass at z=10). However, on
small-scales, the clustering of our massive halos (> ~10^9 Msun/h) at these
high redshifts is stronger than expected from comparisons with small-scale halo
clustering extrapolated from lower redshifts. This implies "non-universality"
in the scale-dependence of halo clustering, at least for the commonly used
parameterizations of the scale-dependence of bias that we consider. We provide
a fit for the scale-dependence of bias in our results. This study provides a
basis for using extraordinarily high redshift galaxies (redshift ~10) as a
probe of cosmology and galaxy formation at its earliest stages. We show also
that mass and halo kinematics are strongly affected by finite simulation
volumes. This suggests the potential for adverse affects on gas dynamics in
hydrodynamic simulations of limited volumes, such as is typical in simulations
of the formation of the "first stars", though further study is warranted.Comment: MNRAS accepte
Flat galaxies with dark matter halos - existence and stability
We consider a model for a flat, disk-like galaxy surrounded by a halo of dark
matter, namely a Vlasov-Poisson type system with two particle species, the
stars which are restricted to the galactic plane and the dark matter particles.
These constituents interact only through the gravitational potential which
stars and dark matter create collectively. Using a variational approach we
prove the existence of steady state solutions and their nonlinear stability
under suitably restricted perturbations.Comment: 39 page
Onset of entanglement
We have developed a theory of polymer entanglement using an extended
Cahn-Hilliard functional, with two extra terms. One is a nonlocal attractive
term, operating over mesoscales, which is interpreted as giving rise to
entanglement, and the other a local repulsive term indicative of excluded
volume interactions. We show how such a functional can be derived using notions
from gauge theory. We go beyond the Gaussian approximation, to the one-loop
level, to show that the system exhibits a crossover to a state of entanglement
as the average chain length between points of entanglement decreases. This
crossover is marked by critical slowing down, as the effective diffusion
constant goes to zero. We have also computed the tensile modulus of the system,
and we find a corresponding crossover to a regime of high modulus.Comment: 18 pages, with 4 figure
Monte Carlo Renormalization Group Analysis of Lattice Model in
We present a simple, sophisticated method to capture renormalization group
flow in Monte Carlo simulation, which provides important information of
critical phenomena. We applied the method to lattice model and
obtained renormalization flow diagram which well reproduces theoretically
predicted behavior of continuum model. We also show that the method
can be easily applied to much more complicated models, such as frustrated spin
models.Comment: 13 pages, revtex, 7 figures. v1:Submitted to PRE. v2:considerably
reduced redundancy of presentation. v3:final version to appear in Phys.Rev.
Sterols sense swelling in lipid bilayers
In the mimetic membrane system of phosphatidylcholine bilayers, thickening
(pre-critical behavior, anomalous swelling) of the bilayers is observed, in the
vicinity of the main transition, which is non-linear with temperature. The
sterols cholesterol and androsten are used as sensors in a time-resolved
simultaneous small- and wide angle x-ray diffraction study to investigate the
cause of the thickening. We observe precritical behavior in the pure lipid
system, as well as with sterol concentrations less than 15%. To describe the
precritical behavior we introduce a theory of precritical phenomena.The good
temperature resolution of the data shows that a theory of the influence of
fluctuations needs modification. The main cause of the critical behavior
appears to be a changing hydration of the bilayer.Comment: 11 pages, 7 ps figures included, to appear in Phys.Rev.
Nonequilibrium phase transitions induced by multiplicative noise: effects of self-correlation
A recently introduced lattice model, describing an extended system which
exhibits a reentrant (symmetry-breaking, second-order) noise-induced
nonequilibrium phase transition, is studied under the assumption that the
multiplicative noise leading to the transition is colored. Within an effective
Markovian approximation and a mean-field scheme it is found that when the
self-correlation time of the noise is different from zero, the transition is
also reentrant with respect to the spatial coupling D. In other words, at
variance with what one expects for equilibrium phase transitions, a large
enough value of D favors disorder. Moreover, except for a small region in the
parameter subspace determined by the noise intensity and D, an increase in the
self-correlation time usually preventsthe formation of an ordered state. These
effects are supported by numerical simulations.Comment: 15 pages. 9 figures. To appear in Phys.Rev.
The QCD Phase Structure at High Baryon Density
We consider the possibility that color deconfinement and chiral symmetry
restoration do not coincide in dense baryonic matter at low temperature. As a
consequence, a state of massive "constituent" quarks would exist as an
intermediate phase between confined nuclear matter and the plasma of deconfined
massless quarks and gluons. We discuss the properties of this state and its
relation to the recently proposed quarkyonic matter.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure