61 research outputs found
Partial survival and inelastic collapse for a randomly accelerated particle
We present an exact derivation of the survival probability of a randomly
accelerated particle subject to partial absorption at the origin. We determine
the persistence exponent and the amplitude associated to the decay of the
survival probability at large times. For the problem of inelastic reflection at
the origin, with coefficient of restitution , we give a new derivation of
the condition for inelastic collapse, , and determine
the persistence exponent exactly.Comment: 6 page
Large N study of extreme type II superconductors in a magnetic field
The large N analysis of an extreme type II superconductor is revisited. It is
found that the phase transition is of second-order in dimensions 4 < d < 6. For
the physical dimension d=3 no sign of phase transition is found, contrary to
early claims.Comment: Revtex, 7 pages, no figure
Quenched Random Graphs
Spin models on quenched random graphs are related to many important
optimization problems. We give a new derivation of their mean-field equations
that elucidates the role of the natural order parameter in these models.Comment: 9 pages, report CPTH-A264.109
Pheochromocytoma diagnosed during pregnancy: lessons learned from a series of ten patients
BACKGROUND: Pheochromocytoma (PHEO) in pregnancy is a life-threatening condition. Its management is challenging with regards to the timing and type of surgery.
METHODS: A retrospective review of the management of ten patients diagnosed with pheochromocytoma during pregnancy was performed. Data were collected on the initial diagnostic workup, symptoms, treatment, and follow-up.
RESULTS: PHEO was diagnosed in ten patients who were between the 10th and the 29th weeks of pregnancy. Six patients had none to mild symptoms, while four had complications of paroxysmal hypertension. Imaging investigations consisted of MRI, CT scan and ultrasounds. All had urinary metanephrines, measured as part of their workup. Three patients had MEN 2A, one VHL syndrome, one suspected SDH mutation. All patients were treated either with α/β blockers or calcium channel blockers to stabilize their clinical conditions. Seven patients underwent a laparoscopic adrenalectomy before delivery. Three out of these seven patients had a bilateral PHEO and underwent a unilateral adrenalectomy of the larger tumor during pregnancy, followed by a planned cesarean section and a subsequent contralateral adrenalectomy within a few months after delivery. Three patients had emergency surgery for maternal or fetal complications, with C-section followed by concomitant or delayed adrenalectomy. All newborns from the group of planned surgery were healthy, while two out three newborns within the emergency surgery group died shortly after delivery secondary to cardiac and pulmonary complications.
CONCLUSIONS: PHEO in pregnancy is a rare condition. Maternal and fetal prognosis improved over the last decades, but still lethal consequences may be present if misdiagnosed or mistreated. A thorough multidisciplinary team approach should be tailored on an individual basis to better manage the pathology. Unilateral adrenalectomy in a pregnant patient with bilateral PHEO may be an option to avoid the risk of adrenal insufficiency after bilateral adrenalectomy
A record-driven growth process
We introduce a novel stochastic growth process, the record-driven growth
process, which originates from the analysis of a class of growing networks in a
universal limiting regime. Nodes are added one by one to a network, each node
possessing a quality. The new incoming node connects to the preexisting node
with best quality, that is, with record value for the quality. The emergent
structure is that of a growing network, where groups are formed around record
nodes (nodes endowed with the best intrinsic qualities). Special emphasis is
put on the statistics of leaders (nodes whose degrees are the largest). The
asymptotic probability for a node to be a leader is equal to the Golomb-Dickman
constant omega=0.624329... which arises in problems of combinatorical nature.
This outcome solves the problem of the determination of the record breaking
rate for the sequence of correlated inter-record intervals. The process
exhibits temporal self-similarity in the late-time regime. Connections with the
statistics of the cycles of random permutations, the statistical properties of
randomly broken intervals, and the Kesten variable are given.Comment: 30 pages,5 figures. Minor update
Griffiths-McCoy singularities in random quantum spin chains: Exact results through renormalization
The Ma-Dasgupta-Hu renormalization group (RG) scheme is used to study
singular quantities in the Griffiths phase of random quantum spin chains. For
the random transverse-field Ising spin chain we have extended Fisher's
analytical solution to the off-critical region and calculated the dynamical
exponent exactly. Concerning other random chains we argue by scaling
considerations that the RG method generally becomes asymptotically exact for
large times, both at the critical point and in the whole Griffiths phase. This
statement is checked via numerical calculations on the random Heisenberg and
quantum Potts models by the density matrix renormalization group method.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 2 figures include
Even-visiting random walks: exact and asymptotic results in one dimension
We reconsider the problem of even-visiting random walks in one dimension.
This problem is mapped onto a non-Hermitian Anderson model with binary
disorder. We develop very efficient numerical tools to enumerate and
characterize even-visiting walks. The number of closed walks is obtained as an
exact integer up to 1828 steps, i.e., some walks. On the analytical
side, the concepts and techniques of one-dimensional disordered systems allow
to obtain explicit asymptotic estimates for the number of closed walks of
steps up to an absolute prefactor of order unity, which is determined
numerically. All the cumulants of the maximum height reached by such walks are
shown to grow as , with exactly known prefactors. These results
illustrate the tight relationship between even-visiting walks, trapping models,
and the Lifshitz tails of disordered electron or phonon spectra.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures. To appear in J. Phys.
Sample-size dependence of the ground-state energy in a one-dimensional localization problem
We study the sample-size dependence of the ground-state energy in a
one-dimensional localization problem, based on a supersymmetric quantum
mechanical Hamiltonian with random Gaussian potential. We determine, in the
form of bounds, the precise form of this dependence and show that the
disorder-average ground-state energy decreases with an increase of the size
of the sample as a stretched-exponential function, , where the
characteristic exponent depends merely on the nature of correlations in the
random potential. In the particular case where the potential is distributed as
a Gaussian white noise we prove that . We also predict the value of
in the general case of Gaussian random potentials with correlations.Comment: 30 pages and 4 figures (not included). The figures are available upon
reques
Dressed States Approach to Quantum Systems
Using the non-perturbative method of {\it dressed} states previously
introduced in JPhysA, we study effects of the environment on a quantum
mechanical system, in the case the environment is modeled by an ensemble of non
interacting harmonic oscillators. This method allows to separate the whole
system into the {\it dressed} mechanical system and the {\it dressed}
environment, in terms of which an exact, non-perturbative approach is possible.
When applied to the Brownian motion, we give explicit non-perturbative formulas
for the classical path of the particle in the weak and strong coupling regimes.
When applied to study atomic behaviours in cavities, the method accounts very
precisely for experimentally observed inhibition of atomic decay in small
cavities PhysLA, physics0111042
Critical properties of the topological Ginzburg-Landau model
We consider a Ginzburg-Landau model for superconductivity with a Chern-Simons
term added. The flow diagram contains two charged fixed points corresponding to
the tricritical and infrared stable fixed points. The topological coupling
controls the fixed point structure and eventually the region of first order
transitions disappears. We compute the critical exponents as a function of the
topological coupling. We obtain that the value of the exponent does not
vary very much from the XY value, . This shows that the
Chern-Simons term does not affect considerably the XY scaling of
superconductors. We discuss briefly the possible phenomenological applications
of this model.Comment: RevTex, 7 pages, 8 figure
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