325 research outputs found
Onset of incommensurability in quantum spin chains
In quantum spin chains, it has been observed that the incommensurability
occurs near valence-bond-solid (VBS)-type solvable points, and the correlation
length becomes shortest at VBS-type points. Besides, the correlation function
decays purely exponentially at VBS-type points, in contrast with the
two-dimensional (2D) Ornstein-Zernicke type behavior in the other region with
an excitation gap. We propose a mechanism to explain the onset of the
incommensurability and the shortest correlation length at VBS-like points. This
theory can be applicable for more general cases.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Large scale numerical investigation of excited states in poly(phenylene)
A density matrix renormalisation group scheme is developed, allowing for the
first time essentially exact numerical solutions for the important excited
states of a realistic semi-empirical model for oligo-phenylenes. By monitoring
the evolution of the energies with chain length and comparing them to the
experimental absorption peaks of oligomers and thin films, we assign the four
characteristic absorption peaks of phenyl-based polymers. We also determine the
position and nature of the nonlinear optical states in this model.Comment: RevTeX, 10 pages, 4 eps figures included using eps
Numerical and approximate analytical results for the frustrated spin-1/2 quantum spin chain
We study the frustrated phase of the quantum spin-
system with nearest-neighbour and next-nearest-neighbour isotropic exchange
known as the Majumdar-Ghosh Hamiltonian. We first apply the coupled-cluster
method of quantum many-body theory based on a spiral model state to obtain the
ground state energy and the pitch angle. These results are compared with
accurate numerical results using the density matrix renormalisation group
method, which also gives the correlation functions. We also investigate the
periodicity of the phase using the Marshall sign criterion. We discuss
particularly the behaviour close to the phase transitions at each end of the
frustrated phase.Comment: 17 pages, Standard Latex File + 7 PostScript figures in separate
file. Figures also can also be requested from [email protected]
Breakdown of the Luttinger sum-rule at the Mott-Hubbard transition in the one-dimensional t1-t2 Hubbard model
We investigate the momentum distribution function near the Mott-Hubbard
transition in the one-dimensional t1-t2 Hubbard model (the zig-zag Hubbard
chain), with the density-matrix renormalization-group technique. We show that
for strong interactions the Mott-Hubbard transition occurs between the
metallic-phase and an insulating dimerized phase with incommensurate spin
excitations, suggesting a decoupling of magnetic and charge excitations not
present in weak coupling. We illustrate the signatures for the Mott-Hubbard
transition and the commensurate-incommensurate transition in the insulating
spin-gapped state in their respective ground-state momentum distribution
functions
Reconstituted high-density lipoproteins promote wound repair and blood flow recovery in response to ischemia in aged mice
Background: The average population age is increasing and the incidence of age-related vascular complications is rising in parallel. Impaired wound healing and disordered ischemia-mediated angiogenesis are key contributors to age-impaired vascular complications that can lead to amputation. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) have vasculo-protective properties and augment ischemia-driven angiogenesis in young animals. We aimed to determine the effect of reconstituted HDL (rHDL) on aged mice in a murine wound healing model and the hindlimb ischemia (HLI) model. Methods: Murine wound healing model—24-month-old aged mice received topical application of rHDL (50 μg/wound/ day) or PBS (vehicle control) for 10 days following wounding. Murine HLI model—Femoral artery ligation was performed on 24-month-old mice. Mice received rHDL (40 mg/kg) or PBS, intravenously, on alternate days, 1 week pre-surgery and up to 21 days post ligation. For both models, blood flow perfusion was determined using laser Doppler perfusion imaging. Mice were sacrificed at 10 (wound healing) or 21 (HLI) days post-surgery and tissues were collected for histological and gene analyses. Results: Daily topical application of rHDL increased the rate of wound closure by Day 7 post-wounding (25 %, p < 0.05). Wound blood perfusion, a marker of angiogenesis, was elevated in rHDL treated wounds (Days 4–10 by 22–25 %, p < 0. 05). In addition, rHDL increased wound capillary density by 52.6 %. In the HLI model, rHDL infusions augmented blood flow recovery in ischemic limbs (Day 18 by 50 % and Day 21 by 88 %, p < 0.05) and prevented tissue necrosis and toe loss. Assessment of capillary density in ischemic hindlimb sections found a 90 % increase in rHDL infused animals. In vitro studies in fibroblasts isolated from aged mice found that incubation with rHDL was able to significantly increase the key pro-angiogenic mediator vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein (25 %, p < 0.05). Conclusion: rHDL can promote wound healing and wound angiogenesis, and blood flow recovery in response to ischemia in aged mice. Mechanistically, this is likely to be via an increase in VEGF. This highlights a potential role for HDL in the therapeutic modulation of age-impaired vascular complications
Investigation of Quantum Phase Transitions using Multi-target DMRG Methods
In this paper we examine how the predictions of conformal invariance can be
widely exploited to overcome the difficulties of the density-matrix
renormalization group near quantum critical points. The main idea is to match
the set of low-lying energy levels of the lattice Hamiltonian, as a function of
the system's size, with the spectrum expected for a given conformal field
theory in two dimensions. As in previous studies this procedure requires an
accurate targeting of various excited states. Here we discuss how this can be
achieved within the DMRG algorithm by means of the recently proposed
Thick-restart Lanczos method. As a nontrivial benchmark we use an anisotropic
spin-1 Hamiltonian with special attention to the transitions from the Haldane
phase. Nonetheless, we think that this procedure could be generally valid in
the study of quantum critical phenomena.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX2e (svjour class), 8 EPS figures. Same version as the
published one, with new references and English corrections of the proofreade
Evaluation of synthetic vascular grafts in a mouse carotid grafting model
Current animal models for the evaluation of synthetic grafts are lacking many of the molecular tools and transgenic studies available to other branches of biology. A mouse model of vascular grafting would allow for the study of molecular mechanisms of graft failure, including in the context of clinically relevant disease states. In this study, we comprehensively characterise a sutureless grafting model which facilitates the evaluation of synthetic grafts in the mouse carotid artery. Using conduits electrospun from polycaprolactone (PCL) we show the gradual development of a significant neointima within 28 days, found to be greatest at the anastomoses. Histological analysis showed temporal increases in smooth muscle cell and collagen content within the neointima, demonstrating its maturation. Endothelialisation of the PCL grafts, assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and CD31 staining, was near complete within 28 days, together replicating two critical aspects of graft performance. To further demonstrate the potential of this mouse model, we used longitudinal non-invasive tracking of bone-marrow mononuclear cells from a transgenic mouse strain with a dual reporter construct encoding both luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP). This enabled characterisation of mononuclear cell homing and engraftment to PCL using bioluminescence imaging and histological staining over time (7, 14 and 28 days). We observed peak luminescence at 7 days post-graft implantation that persisted until sacrifice at 28 days. Collectively, we have established and characterised a high-throughput model of grafting that allows for the evaluation of key clinical drivers of graft performance.Alex H.P. Chan, Richard P. Tan, Praveesuda L. Michael, Bob S.L. Lee, Laura Z. Vanags, Martin K.C. Ng, Christina A. Bursill, Steven G. Wis
A density matrix renormalisation group algorithm for quantum lattice systems with a large number of states per site
A variant of White's density matrix renormalisation group scheme which is
designed to compute low-lying energies of one-dimensional quantum lattice
models with a large number of degrees of freedom per site is described. The
method is tested on two exactly solvable models---the spin-1/2
antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain and a dimerised XY spin chain. To illustrate
the potential of the method, it is applied to a model of spins interacting with
quantum phonons. It is shown that the method accurately resolves a number of
energy gaps on periodic rings which are sufficiently large to afford an
accurate investigation of critical properties via the use of finite-size
scaling theory.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 2 figure
Excited states of linear polyenes
We present density matrix renormalisation group calculations of the Pariser-
Parr-Pople-Peierls model of linear polyenes within the adiabatic approximation.
We calculate the vertical and relaxed transition energies, and relaxed
geometries for various excitations on long chains. The triplet (3Bu+) and even-
parity singlet (2Ag+) states have a 2-soliton and 4-soliton form, respectively,
both with large relaxation energies. The dipole-allowed (1Bu-) state forms an
exciton-polaron and has a very small relaxation energy. The relaxed energy of
the 2Ag+ state lies below that of the 1Bu- state. We observe an attraction
between the soliton-antisoliton pairs in the 2Ag+ state. The calculated
excitation energies agree well with the observed values for polyene oligomers;
the agreement with polyacetylene thin films is less good, and we comment on the
possible sources of the discrepencies. The photoinduced absorption is
interpreted. The spin-spin correlation function shows that the unpaired spins
coincide with the geometrical soliton positions. We study the roles of
electron-electron interactions and electron-lattice coupling in determining the
excitation energies and soliton structures. The electronic interactions play
the key role in determining the ground state dimerisation and the excited state
transition energies.Comment: LaTeX, 15 pages, 9 figure
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