491 research outputs found
Monte Carlo Calculations for Liquid He at Negative Pressure
A Quadratic Diffusion Monte Carlo method has been used to obtain the equation
of state of liquid He including the negative pressure region down to the
spinodal point. The atomic interaction used is a renewed version (HFD-B(HE)) of
the Aziz potential, which reproduces quite accurately the features of the
experimental equation of state. The spinodal pressure has been calculated and
the behavior of the sound velociy around the spinodal density has been
analyzed.Comment: 10 pages, RevTex 3.0, with 4 PostScript figures include
Off-shell Behavior of the Mixing Amplitude
We extend a recent calculation of the momentum dependence of the
mixing amplitude to the pseudoscalar sector. The
mixing amplitude is calculated in a hadronic model where the mixing is driven
by the neutron-proton mass difference. Closed-form analytic expressions are
presented in terms of a few nucleon-meson parameters. The observed momentum
dependence of the mixing amplitude is strong enough as to question earlier
calculations of charge-symmetry-breaking observables based on the on-shell
assumption. The momentum dependence of the amplitude is,
however, practically identical to the one recently predicted for
mixing. Hence, in this model, the ratio of pseudoscalar to vector mixing
amplitudes is, to a good approximation, a constant solely determined from
nucleon-meson coupling constants. Furthermore, by selecting these parameters in
accordance with charge-symmetry-conserving data and SU(3)-flavor symmetry, we
reproduce the momentum dependence of the mixing amplitude
predicted from chiral perturbation theory. Alternatively, one can use
chiral-perturbation-theory results to set stringent limits on the value of the
coupling constant.Comment: 13 pages, Latex with Revtex, 3 postscript figures (not included)
available on request, SCRI-03089
Strange Stars with a Density-Dependent Bag Parameter
We have studied strange quark stars in the framework of the MIT bag model,
allowing the bag parameter B to depend on the density of the medium. We have
also studied the effect of Cooper pairing among quarks, on the stellar
structure. Comparison of these two effects shows that the former is generally
more significant. We studied the resulting equation of state of the quark
matter, stellar mass-radius relation, mass-central-density relation,
radius-central-density relation, and the variation of the density as a function
of the distance from the centre of the star. We found that the
density-dependent B allows stars with larger masses and radii, due to
stiffening of the equation of state. Interestingly, certain stellar
configurations are found to be possible only if B depends on the density. We
have also studied the effect of variation of the superconducting gap parameter
on our results.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figs; v2: 25 pages, 9 figs, version to be published in
Phys. Rev. (D
Superconducting zero temperature phase transition in two dimensions and in the magnetic field
We derive the Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson theory for the superconducting phase
transition in two dimensions and in the magnetic field. Without disorder the
theory describes a fluctuation induced first-order quantum phase transition
into the Abrikosov lattice. We propose a phenomenological criterion for
determining the transition field and discuss the qualitative effects of
disorder. Comparison with recent experiments on MoGe films is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Tune in to your emotions: a robust personalized affective music player
The emotional power of music is exploited in a personalized affective music player (AMP) that selects music for mood enhancement. A biosignal approach is used to measure listenersâ personal emotional reactions to their own music as input for affective user models. Regression and kernel density estimation are applied to model the physiological changes the music elicits. Using these models, personalized music selections based on an affective goal state can be made. The AMP was validated in real-world trials over the course of several weeks. Results show that our models can cope with noisy situations and handle large inter-individual differences in the music domain. The AMP augments music listening where its techniques enable automated affect guidance. Our approach provides valuable insights for affective computing and user modeling, for which the AMP is a suitable carrier application
Energetics and Possible Formation and Decay Mechanisms of Vortices in Helium Nanodroplets
The energy and angular momentum of both straight and curved vortex states of
a helium nanodroplet are examined as a function of droplet size. For droplets
in the size range of many experiments, it is found that during the pickup of
heavy solutes, a significant fraction of events deposit sufficient energy and
angular momentum to form a straight vortex line. Curved vortex lines exist down
to nearly zero angular momentum and energy, and thus could in principle form in
almost any collision. Further, the coalescence of smaller droplets during the
cooling by expansion could also deposit sufficient angular momentum to form
vortex lines. Despite their high energy, most vortices are predicted to be
stable at the final temperature (0.38 K) of helium nanodroplets due to lack of
decay channels that conserve both energy and angular momentum.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, RevTex 4, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Targeting Toll-like receptor-4 to tackle preterm birth and fetal inflammatory injury
Every year, 15 million pregnancies end prematurely, resulting in more than 1 million infant deaths and long-term health consequences for many children. The physiological processes of labour and birth involve essential roles for immune cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines in gestational tissues. There is compelling evidence that the mechanisms underlying spontaneous preterm birth are initiated when a premature and excessive inflammatory response is triggered by infection or other causes. Exposure to pro-inflammatory mediators is emerging as a major factor in the 'fetal inflammatory response syndrome' that often accompanies preterm birth, where unscheduled effects in fetal tissues interfere with normal development and predispose to neonatal morbidity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are critical upstream gatekeepers of inflammatory activation. TLR4 is prominently involved through its ability to sense and integrate signals from a range of microbial and endogenous triggers to provoke and perpetuate inflammation. Preclinical studies have identified TLR4 as an attractive pharmacological target to promote uterine quiescence and protect the fetus from inflammatory injury. Novel small-molecule inhibitors of TLR4 signalling, specifically the non-opioid receptor antagonists (+)-naloxone and (+)-naltrexone, are proving highly effective in animal models for preventing preterm birth induced by bacterial mimetic LPS, heat-killed Escherichia coli, or the TLR4-dependent pro-inflammatory lipid, platelet-activating factor (PAF). Here, we summarise the rationale for targeting TLR4 as a master regulator of inflammation in fetal and gestational tissues, and the potential utility of TLR4 antagonists as candidates for preventative and therapeutic application in preterm delivery and fetal inflammatory injury.Sarah A Robertson, Mark R Hutchinson, Kenner C Rice, Peck-Yin Chin, Lachlan M Moldenhauer, Michael J Stark, David M Olson, Jeffrey A Keela
Unconventional particle-hole mixing in the systems with strong superconducting fluctuations
Development of the STM and ARPES spectroscopies enabled to reach the
resolution level sufficient for detecting the particle-hole entanglement in
superconducting materials. On a quantitative level one can characterize such
entanglement in terms of the, so called, Bogoliubov angle which determines to
what extent the particles and holes constitute the spatially or momentum
resolved excitation spectra. In classical superconductors, where the phase
transition is related to formation of the Cooper pairs almost simultaneously
accompanied by onset of their long-range phase coherence, the Bogoliubov angle
is slanted all the way up to the critical temperature Tc. In the high
temperature superconductors and in superfluid ultracold fermion atoms near the
Feshbach resonance the situation is different because of the preformed pairs
which exist above Tc albeit loosing coherence due to the strong quantum
fluctuations. We discuss a generic temperature dependence of the Bogoliubov
angle in such pseudogap state indicating a novel, non-BCS behavior. For
quantitative analysis we use a two-component model describing the pairs
coexisting with single fermions and study their mutual feedback effects by the
selfconsistent procedure originating from the renormalization group approach.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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