239 research outputs found
Ginzburg-Landau theory for the time-dependent phase field in a two-dimensional d-wave superconductor
We derive a finite temperature time-dependent effective theory for the phase
of the pairing field, which is appropriate for a 2D conducting
electron system with non-retarded d-wave attraction. As for s-wave pairing the
effective action contains terms with Landau damping, but their structure
appears to be different from the s-wave case due to the fact that the Landau
damping is determined by the quasiparticle group velocity , which for the
d-wave pairing does not have the same direction as the non-interacting Fermi
velocity . We show that for the d-wave pairing the Landau terms have a
linear low temperature dependence and in contrast to the s-wave case are
important for all finite temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX; paper presented at New^3SC-3, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA,
2001. To be published in Physica
Quantum Monte Carlo treatment of elastic exciton-exciton scattering
We calculate cross sections for low energy elastic exciton-exciton scattering
within the effective mass approximation. Unlike previous theoretical
approaches, we give a complete, non-perturbative treatment of the four-particle
scattering problem. Diffusion Monte Carlo is used to calculate the essentially
exact energies of scattering states, from which phase shifts are determined.
For the case of equal-mass electrons and holes, which is equivalent to
positronium-positronium scattering, we find a_s = 2.1 a_x for scattering of
singlet-excitons and a_s= 1.5 a_x for triplet-excitons, where a_x is the
excitonic radius. The spin dependence of the cross sections arises from the
spatial exchange symmetry of the scattering wavefunctions. A significant
triplet-triplet to singlet-singlet scattering process is found, which is
similar to reported effects in recent experiments and theory for excitons in
quantum wells. We also show that the scattering length can change sign and
diverge for some values of the mass ratio m_h/m_e, an effect not seen in
previous perturbative treatments.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. Revision has updated figures, improved paper
structure, some minor correction
The low-energy phase-only action in a superconductor: a comparison with the XY model
The derivation of the effective theory for the phase degrees of freedom in a
superconductor is still, to some extent, an open issue. It is commonly assumed
that the classical XY model and its quantum generalizations can be exploited as
effective phase-only models. In the quantum regime, however, this assumption
leads to spurious results, such as the violation of the Galilean invariance in
the continuum model. Starting from a general microscopic model, in this paper
we explicitly derive the effective low-energy theory for the phase, up to
fourth-order terms. This expansion allows us to properly take into account
dynamic effects beyond the Gaussian level, both in the continuum and in the
lattice model. After evaluating the one-loop correction to the superfluid
density we critically discuss the qualitative and quantitative differences
between the results obtained within the quantum XY model and within the correct
low-energy theory, both in the case of s-wave and d-wave symmetry of the
superconducting order parameter. Specifically, we find dynamic anharmonic
vertices, which are absent in the quantum XY model, and are crucial to restore
Galilean invariance in the continuum model. As far as the more realistic
lattice model is concerned, in the weak-to-intermediate-coupling regime we find
that the phase-fluctuation effects are quantitatively reduced with respect to
the XY model. On the other hand, in the strong-coupling regime we show that the
correspondence between the microscopically derived action and the quantum XY
model is recovered, except for the low-density regime.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures. Slightly revised presentation, accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
Nonequilibrium relaxation in neutral BCS superconductors: Ginzburg-Landau approach with Landau damping in real time
We present a field-theoretical method to obtain consistently the equations of
motion for small amplitude fluctuations of the order parameter directly in real
time for a homogeneous, neutral BCS superconductor. This method allows to study
the nonequilibrium relaxation of the order parameter as an initial value
problem. We obtain the Ward identities and the effective actions for small
phase the amplitude fluctuations to one-loop order. Focusing on the
long-wavelength, low-frequency limit near the critical point, we obtain the
time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau effective action to one-loop order, which is
nonlocal as a consequence of Landau damping. The nonequilibrium relaxation of
the phase and amplitude fluctuations is studied directly in real time. The
long-wavelength phase fluctuation (Bogoliubov-Anderson-Goldstone mode) is
overdamped by Landau damping and the relaxation time scale diverges at the
critical point, revealing critical slowing down.Comment: 31 pages 14 figs, revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Theory of parity violation in compound nuclear states; one particle aspects
In this work we formulate the reaction theory of parity violation in compound
nuclear states using Feshbach's projection operator formalism. We derive in
this framework a complete set of terms that contribute to the longitudinal
asymmetry measured in experiments with polarized epithermal neutrons. We also
discuss the parity violating spreading width resulting from this formalism. We
then use the above formalism to derive expressions which hold in the case when
the doorway state approximation is introduced. In applying the theory we limit
ourselves in this work to the case when the parity violating potential and the
strong interaction are one-body. In this approximation, using as the doorway
the giant spin-dipole resonance and employing well known optical potentials and
a time-reversal even, parity odd one-body interaction we calculate or estimate
the terms we derived. In our calculations we explicitly orthogonalize the
continuum and bound wave functions. We find the effects of orthogonalization to
be very important. Our conclusion is that the present one-body theory cannot
explain the average longitudinal asymmetry found in the recent polarized
neutron experiments. We also confirm the discrepancy, first pointed out by
Auerbach and Bowman, that emerges, between the calculated average asymmetry and
the parity violating spreading width, when distant doorways are used in the
theory.Comment: 37 pages, REVTEX, 5 figures not included (Postscript, available from
the authors
Effective action approach and Carlson-Goldman mode in d-wave superconductors
We theoretically investigate the Carlson-Goldman (CG) mode in two-dimensional
clean d-wave superconductors using the effective ``phase only'' action
formalism. In conventional s-wave superconductors, it is known that the CG mode
is observed as a peak in the structure factor of the pair susceptibility
only just below the transition temperature T_c and only
in dirty systems. On the other hand, our analytical results support the
statement by Y.Ohashi and S.Takada, Phys.Rev.B {\bf 62}, 5971 (2000) that in
d-wave superconductors the CG mode can exist in clean systems down to the much
lower temperatures, . We also consider the manifestations of
the CG mode in the density-density and current-current correlators and discuss
the gauge independence of the obtained results.Comment: 23 pages, RevTeX4, 12 EPS figures; final version to appear in PR
Dragon-kings: mechanisms, statistical methods and empirical evidence
This introductory article presents the special Discussion and Debate volume
"From black swans to dragon-kings, is there life beyond power laws?" published
in Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics in May 2012. We summarize and put in
perspective the contributions into three main themes: (i) mechanisms for
dragon-kings, (ii) detection of dragon-kings and statistical tests and (iii)
empirical evidence in a large variety of natural and social systems. Overall,
we are pleased to witness significant advances both in the introduction and
clarification of underlying mechanisms and in the development of novel
efficient tests that demonstrate clear evidence for the presence of
dragon-kings in many systems. However, this positive view should be balanced by
the fact that this remains a very delicate and difficult field, if only due to
the scarcity of data as well as the extraordinary important implications with
respect to hazard assessment, risk control and predictability.Comment: 20 page
Spallation reactions. A successful interplay between modeling and applications
The spallation reactions are a type of nuclear reaction which occur in space
by interaction of the cosmic rays with interstellar bodies. The first
spallation reactions induced with an accelerator took place in 1947 at the
Berkeley cyclotron (University of California) with 200 MeV deuterons and 400
MeV alpha beams. They highlighted the multiple emission of neutrons and charged
particles and the production of a large number of residual nuclei far different
from the target nuclei. The same year R. Serber describes the reaction in two
steps: a first and fast one with high-energy particle emission leading to an
excited remnant nucleus, and a second one, much slower, the de-excitation of
the remnant. In 2010 IAEA organized a worskhop to present the results of the
most widely used spallation codes within a benchmark of spallation models. If
one of the goals was to understand the deficiencies, if any, in each code, one
remarkable outcome points out the overall high-quality level of some models and
so the great improvements achieved since Serber. Particle transport codes can
then rely on such spallation models to treat the reactions between a light
particle and an atomic nucleus with energies spanning from few tens of MeV up
to some GeV. An overview of the spallation reactions modeling is presented in
order to point out the incomparable contribution of models based on basic
physics to numerous applications where such reactions occur. Validations or
benchmarks, which are necessary steps in the improvement process, are also
addressed, as well as the potential future domains of development. Spallation
reactions modeling is a representative case of continuous studies aiming at
understanding a reaction mechanism and which end up in a powerful tool.Comment: 59 pages, 54 figures, Revie
HLA tapasin independence: broader peptide repertoire and HIV control.
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I allotypes vary in their ability to present peptides in the absence of tapasin, an essential component of the peptide loading complex. We quantified tapasin dependence of all allotypes that are common in European and African Americans (n = 97), which revealed a broad continuum of values. Ex vivo examination of cytotoxic T cell responses to the entire HIV-1 proteome from infected subjects indicates that tapasin-dependent allotypes present a more limited set of distinct peptides than do tapasin-independent allotypes, data supported by computational predictions. This suggests that variation in tapasin dependence may impact the strength of the immune responses by altering peptide repertoire size. In support of this model, we observed that individuals carrying HLA class I genotypes characterized by greater tapasin independence progress more slowly to AIDS and maintain lower viral loads, presumably due to increased breadth of peptide presentation. Thus, tapasin dependence level, like HLA zygosity, may serve as a means to restrict or expand breadth of the HLA-I peptide repertoire across humans, ultimately influencing immune responses to pathogens and vaccines
Haematological and biochemical parameters in Churra-da-Terra-Quente ewes from the northeast of Portugal
Hematological and biochemical parameters, including plasma electrolytes and thyroid hormones, were determined in 73 clinically healthy Churra-da-Terra-Quente ewes, a typical breed from the northeast of Portugal. The hemogram values were: erythrocytes 9.8±1.51012/L; haemoglobin 118.1±19.1g/L; haematocrit 40.8±5.9%; leukocytes 5.7±1.8109/L; and platelets 544.3±177.2109/L. The thrombin time was 17.3±1.7 seconds. The values of biochemical parameters were: total protein 76.4±6.1g/L; glucose 2.87±0.60mmol/L; total cholesterol 1.65±0.33mmol/L; aspartate aminotransferase 155.9±49.2U/L; alanine aminotransferase 23.2±9.6U/L; γ-glutamyl transferase 48.0±18.7U/L; total alkaline phosphatase 121.6±76.1U/L; glutamate dehydrogenase 6.4±3.7U/L; urea 7.32±2.22mmol/L; creatinine 123.0±54.1μmol/L; total calcium 2.53±0.25mmol/L; phosphorus 2.10±0.46mmol/L; magnesium 1.01±0.09mmol/L; sodium 152.04±3.65mmol/L; potassium 4.7±0.4mmol/L; ionized calcium 1.32±0.07mmol/L; total thyroxine 111.75±42.29nmol/L; total triiodothyronine 1.01±0.28nmol/L; free T4 11.93±1.78pmol/L; free T3 4.22±1.33pmol/L; and thyroid-stimulating hormone 0.18±0.19μIU/mL. Although differences among the Churra-da-Terra-Quente breed and other breeds may occur, the hematological and biochemical parameters, plasma electrolytes, and thyroid hormones, for this indigenous breed, were generally situated within the reference intervals previously reported for sheep
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