854 research outputs found
Free energy determination of phase coexistence in model C60: A comprehensive Monte Carlo study
The free energy of the solid and fluid phases of the Girifalco C60 model are
determined through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. In this model the
molecules interact through a spherical pair potential, characterized by a
narrow and attractive well, adjacent to a harshly repulsive core. We have used
the Widom test particle method and a mapping from an Einstein crystal, in order
to estimate the absolute free energy in the fluid and solid phases,
respectively; we have then determined the free energy along several isotherms,
and the whole phase diagram, by means of standard thermodynamic integrations.
We highlight how the interplay between the liquid-vapor and the liquid-solid
coexistence conditions determines the existence of a narrow liquid pocket in
the phase diagram, whose stability is assessed and confirmed in agreement with
previous studies. In particular, the critical temperature follows closely an
extended corresponding-states rule recently outlined by Noro and Frenkel [J.
Chem. Phys. 113:2941 (2000)].
We discuss the emerging "energetic" properties of the system, which drive the
phase behavior in systems interacting through short-range forces [A. A. Louis,
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 359:939 (2001)], in order to explain the discrepancy
between the predictions of several structural indicators and the results of
full free energy calculations, to locate the fluid phase boundaries.
More generally, we aim to provide extended reference data for calculations of
the free energy of the C60 fullerite in the low temperature regime, as for the
determination of the phase diagram of higher order fullerenes and other
fullerene-related materials, whose description is based on the same model
adopted in this work.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 9 figure
Cosmological Density Perturbations From A Quantum Gravitational Model Of Inflation
We derive the implications for anisotropies in the cosmic microwave
background following from a model of inflation in which a bare cosmological
constant is gradually screened by an infrared process in quantum gravity. The
model predicts that the amplitude of scalar perturbations is , that the tensor-to-scalar ratio is , and that the scalar and tensor spectral indices are
and , respectively. By comparing the model's
power spectrum with the COBE 4-year RMS quadrupole, the mass scale of inflation
is determined to be . At this scale
the model produces about e-foldings of inflation, so another prediction
is .Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX 2 epsilon, 1 eps file, uses epsfi
One Loop Back Reaction On Power Law Inflation
We consider quantum mechanical corrections to a homogeneous, isotropic and
spatially flat geometry whose scale factor expands classically as a general
power of the co-moving time. The effects of both gravitons and the scalar
inflaton are computed at one loop using the manifestly causal formalism of
Schwinger with the Feynman rules recently developed by Iliopoulos {\it et al.}
We find no significant effect, in marked contrast with the result obtained by
Mukhanov {\it et al.} for chaotic inflation based on a quadratic potential. By
applying the canonical technique of Mukhanov {\it et al.} to the exponential
potentials of power law inflation, we show that the two methods produce the
same results, within the approximations employed, for these backgrounds. We
therefore conclude that the shape of the inflaton potential can have an
enormous impact on the one loop back-reaction.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX 2 epsilo
Signature of the interaction between dark energy and dark matter in observations
We investigate the effect of an interaction between dark energy and dark
matter upon the dynamics of galaxy clusters. This effect is computed through
the Layser-Irvine equation, which describes how an astrophysical system reaches
virial equilibrium and was modified to include the dark interactions. Using
observational data from almost 100 purportedly relaxed galaxy clusters we put
constraints on the strength of the couplings in the dark sector. We compare our
results with those from other observations and find that a positive (in the
sense of energy flow from dark energy to dark matter) non vanishing interaction
is consistent with the data within several standard deviations.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures; matches PRD published versio
Energy-Momentum Tensor of Cosmological Fluctuations during Inflation
We study the renormalized energy-momentum tensor (EMT) of cosmological scalar
fluctuations during the slow-rollover regime for chaotic inflation with a
quadratic potential and find that it is characterized by a negative energy
density which grows during slow-rollover. We also approach the back-reaction
problem as a second-order calculation in perturbation theory finding no
evidence that the back-reaction of cosmological fluctuations is a gauge
artifact. In agreement with the results on the EMT, the average expansion rate
is decreased by the back-reaction of cosmological fluctuations.Comment: 19 pages, no figures.An appendix and references added, conclusions
unchanged, version accepted for publication in PR
One Loop Back Reaction On Chaotic Inflation
We extend, for the case of a general scalar potential, the inflaton-graviton
Feynman rules recently developed by Iliopoulos {\it et al.} As an application
we compute the leading term, for late co-moving times, of the one loop back
reaction on the expansion rate for . This is
expressed as the logarithmic time derivative of the scale factor in the
coordinate system for which the expectation value of the metric has the form:
. This quantity should be a gauge
independent observable. Our result for it agrees exactly with that inferred
from the effect previously computed by Mukhanov {\it et al.} using canonical
quantization. It is significant that the two calculations were made with
completely different schemes for fixing the gauge, and that our computation was
done using the standard formalism of covariant quantization. This should settle
some of the issues recently raised by Unruh.Comment: 41 pages, LaTeX 2 epsilo
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