486 research outputs found
Relaxation times of kinetically constrained spin models with glassy dynamics
We analyze the density and size dependence of the relaxation time for
kinetically constrained spin systems. These have been proposed as models for
strong or fragile glasses and for systems undergoing jamming transitions. For
the one (FA1f) or two (FA2f) spin facilitated Fredrickson-Andersen model at any
density and for the Knight model below the critical density at which
the glass transition occurs, we show that the persistence and the spin-spin
time auto-correlation functions decay exponentially. This excludes the
stretched exponential relaxation which was derived by numerical simulations.
For FA2f in , we also prove a super-Arrhenius scaling of the form
. For FA1f in = we
rigorously prove the power law scalings recently derived in \cite{JMS} while in
we obtain upper and lower bounds consistent with findings therein.
Our results are based on a novel multi-scale approach which allows to analyze
in presence of kinetic constraints and to connect time-scales and
dynamical heterogeneities. The techniques are flexible enough to allow a
variety of constraints and can also be applied to conservative stochastic
lattice gases in presence of kinetic constraints.Comment: 4 page
On the dynamical behavior of the ABC model
We consider the ABC dynamics, with equal density of the three species, on the
discrete ring with sites. In this case, the process is reversible with
respect to a Gibbs measure with a mean field interaction that undergoes a
second order phase transition. We analyze the relaxation time of the dynamics
and show that at high temperature it grows at most as while it grows at
least as at low temperature
Systematic perturbation approach for a dynamical scaling law in a kinetically constrained spin model
The dynamical behaviours of a kinetically constrained spin model
(Fredrickson-Andersen model) on a Bethe lattice are investigated by a
perturbation analysis that provides exact final states above the nonergodic
transition point. It is observed that the time-dependent solutions of the
derived dynamical systems obtained by the perturbation analysis become
systematically closer to the results obtained by Monte Carlo simulations as the
order of a perturbation series is increased. This systematic perturbation
analysis also clarifies the existence of a dynamical scaling law, which
provides a implication for a universal relation between a size scale and a time
scale near the nonergodic transition.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, v2; results have been refined, v3; A figure has
been modified, v4; results have been more refine
Exclusion processes with degenerate rates: convergence to equilibrium and tagged particle
Stochastic lattice gases with degenerate rates, namely conservative particle
systems where the exchange rates vanish for some configurations, have been
introduced as simplified models for glassy dynamics. We introduce two
particular models and consider them in a finite volume of size in
contact with particle reservoirs at the boundary. We prove that, as for
non--degenerate rates, the inverse of the spectral gap and the logarithmic
Sobolev constant grow as . It is also shown how one can obtain, via a
scaling limit from the logarithmic Sobolev inequality, the exponential decay of
a macroscopic entropy associated to a degenerate parabolic differential
equation (porous media equation). We analyze finally the tagged particle
displacement for the stationary process in infinite volume. In dimension larger
than two we prove that, in the diffusive scaling limit, it converges to a
Brownian motion with non--degenerate diffusion coefficient.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figure
Dog filariosis in the Lazio region (Central Italy): first report on the presence of Dirofilaria repens
BACKGROUND: Epidemiological investigations were carried out in the Lazio Region to assess the status of canine filariosis and to evaluate the actual risk for veterinary and medical public health. METHODS: Since August 2001 to June 2003, a total of 972 canine blood samples, collected in public kennels and from private owners animals of the 5 Provinces of the Region, were tested. The presence of filarial parasites was evaluated by microscopy and bio-molecular techniques; the species identification was performed by means of the same diagnostic tools. RESULTS: A total of 17/972 (1.75%; 95%CI 1.06%â2.85%) blood samples were parasitized by D. repens,13 out them drawn by dogs resident in the Province of Roma, and 4 in the other provinces. Multivariate analysis was performed in order to evaluate the association between filariosis and risk factors. The origin from coastal territories seems to be a significant risk factor to acquire the infection. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of canine filariosis in the Lazio Region, where D. repens was before reported only in foxes. The risk of human zoonotic infection is stressed, and the absence of other filarial species is discusse
Consanguinity and polygenic diseases: a model for antibody deficiencies
Primary immunodeficiencies represent a heterogeneous group of disorders of the immune system, predisposing to various types of infections. Among them, common variable immunodeficiency is the most common symptomatic antibody deficiency. It includes several different forms characterized by defects in the terminal stage of B lymphocyte differentiation, leading to markedly reduced immunoglobulin serum levels and increased susceptibility to bacterial infections. The clinical phenotype is complex, including autoimmunity, granulomatous inflammation, lymphoproliferative disorders and malignancies. Rare autosomal recessive mutations in a number of single genes have recently been reported. However, the underlying genetic defects remain unknown in the majority of cases. In order to seek new genes responsible for the disease, we studied a consanguineous Italian family through exome sequencing combined with homozygosity mapping. Six missense homozygous variants passed our filtering selection and at least two of them were associated with some aspects of the pathological phenotype. Our data remark the complexity of immune system disorders and emphasize the difficulty to understand the significance of genetic results and their correlation with the disease phenotype
Activity phase transition for constrained dynamics
We consider two cases of kinetically constrained models, namely East and
FA-1f models. The object of interest of our work is the activity A(t) defined
as the total number of configuration changes in the interval [0,t] for the
dynamics on a finite domain. It has been shown in [GJLPDW1,GJLPDW2] that the
large deviations of the activity exhibit a non-equilibirum phase transition in
the thermodynamic limit and that reducing the activity is more likely than
increasing it due to a blocking mechanism induced by the constraints. In this
paper, we study the finite size effects around this first order phase
transition and analyze the phase coexistence between the active and inactive
dynamical phases in dimension 1. In higher dimensions, we show that the finite
size effects are also determined by the dimension and the choice of boundary
conditions.Comment: 38 pages, 3 figure
Non-equilibrium dynamics of spin facilitated glass models
We consider the dynamics of spin facilitated models of glasses in the
non-equilibrium aging regime following a sudden quench from high to low
temperatures. We briefly review known results obtained for the broad class of
kinetically constrained models, and then present new results for the behaviour
of the one-spin facilitated Fredrickson-Andersen and East models in various
spatial dimensions. The time evolution of one-time quantities, such as the
energy density, and the detailed properties of two-time correlation and
response functions are studied using a combination of theoretical approaches,
including exact mappings of master operators and reductions to integrable
quantum spin chains, field theory and renormalization group, and independent
interval and timescale separation methods. The resulting analytical predictions
are confirmed by means of detailed numerical simulations. The models we
consider are characterized by trivial static properties, with no finite
temperature singularities, but they nevertheless display a surprising variety
of dynamic behaviour during aging, which can be directly related to the
existence and growth in time of dynamic lengthscales. Well-behaved
fluctuation-dissipation ratios can be defined for these models, and we study
their properties in detail. We confirm in particular the existence of negative
fluctuation-dissipation ratios for a large number of observables. Our results
suggest that well-defined violations of fluctuation-dissipation relations, of a
purely dynamic origin and unrelated to the thermodynamic concept of effective
temperatures, could in general be present in non-equilibrium glassy materials.Comment: 72 pages, invited contribution to special issue of JSTAT on
"Principles of Dynamics of Nonequilibrium Systems" (Programme at Newton
Institute Cambridge). v2: New data added to Figs. 11, 23, 24, new Fig. 26 on
East model in d=3, minor improvements to tex
- âŠ