Relativistic Equilibrium Distribution by Relative Entropy Maximization

The equilibrium state of a relativistic gas has been calculated based on the maximum entropy principle. Though the relativistic equilibrium state was long believed to be the Juttner distribution, a number of papers have been published in recent years proposing alternative equilibrium states. However, some of these papers do not pay enough attention to the covariance of distribution functions, resulting confusion in equilibrium states. Starting from a fully covariant expression to avoid this confusion, it has been shown in the present paper that the Juttner distribution is the maximum entropy state if we assume the Lorentz symmetry.Comment: Six pages, no figure

Critical bubbles and implications for critical black strings

We demonstrate the existence of gravitational critical phenomena in higher dimensional electrovac bubble spacetimes. To this end, we study linear fluctuations about families of static, homogeneous spherically symmetric bubble spacetimes in Kaluza-Klein theories coupled to a Maxwell field. We prove that these solutions are linearly unstable and posses a unique unstable mode with a growth rate that is universal in the sense that it is independent of the family considered. Furthermore, by a double analytical continuation this mode can be seen to correspond to marginally stable stationary modes of perturbed black strings whose periods are integer multiples of the Gregory-Laflamme critical length. This allow us to rederive recent results about the behavior of the critical mass for large dimensions and to generalize them to the charged black string case.Comment: A reference to unpublished work for the case q=2, by J. Hovdebo adde

Stationarity, soft ergodicity, and entropy in relativistic systems

Recent molecular dynamics simulations show that a dilute relativistic gas equilibrates to a Juettner velocity distribution if ensemble velocities are measured simultaneously in the observer frame. The analysis of relativistic Brownian motion processes, on the other hand, implies that stationary one-particle distributions can differ depending on the underlying time-parameterizations. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate how this relativistic phenomenon can be understood within a deterministic model system. We show that, depending on the time-parameterization, one can distinguish different types of soft ergodicity on the level of the one-particle distributions. Our analysis further reveals a close connection between time parameters and entropy in special relativity. A combination of different time-parameterizations can potentially be useful in simulations that combine molecular dynamics algorithms with randomized particle creation, annihilation, or decay processes.Comment: 4 page

Shotgun next-generation sequencing of maternal plasma: a method for prenatal aneuploidy identification

PURPOSE: Every year, thousands of Americans pursue prenatal diagnosis of fetal aneuploidy though chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis. Because these procedures are invasive and carry an inherent risk for pregnancy loss, they are selectively offered to women who have an increased risk to have a child with a chromosome condition, such as aneuploidy. In order to identify pregnancies at an increased risk, several non-invasive screening methods have been developed. Although quite useful, these screening methods have limited accuracy and can only be completed during specific gestational age windows. Recent discovery of cell free fetal DNA in maternal circulation has created new and exciting possibilities for prenatal screening and non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. This research study explores shotgun next-generation sequencing of fetal DNA in maternal plasma as a method for non-invasive identification of fetal aneuploidy.METHODS: We carried out shotgun next-generation sequencing on samples of maternal plasma DNA obtained in the first trimester of pregnancies with confirmed aneuploidy and control pregnancies. Three Trisomy 21 samples were compared to four control samples in order to identify any differences in the amount of chromosomal material. RESULTS: We identified a statistically significant increase in chromosome 21 material in the cases of Trisomy 21 as compared to the control cases.IMPLICATIONS: This research demonstrates that shotgun next-generation sequencing of maternal plasma DNA can successfully identify Trisomy 21, showing that it is possible to detect fetal aneuploidy using this noninvasive method. This technology could potentially be used as a method of noninvasive screening for fetal aneuploidy, which is likely to have improved accuracy over other screening methods. Development of a screening test with greater sensitivity and specificity could have significant public health implications. This would not only provide more accurate identification of pregnancies at an increased risk for aneuploidy, but it would also reduce the number of false positives. This in turn would reduce the number of pregnancies that are unnecessarily classified as "high risk", preventing avoidable parental anxiety and reducing the number of pregnancies that are put at unnecessary risk of invasive prenatal diagnostic procedures

Clinical features, anaesthetic management and perioperative complications seen in three horses with pheochromocytoma

Three horses presenting with colic signs to the Equine Referral Hospital at The Royal Veterinary College underwent general anaesthesia between September 2013 and November 2017 for emergency exploratory laparotomy. No obvious cause for the colic signs was identified in two horses, while a haemoperitoneum was identified in the third. All horses were euthanased within 12 hours of surgery due to deteriorating haemodynamic instability and/or intractable pain. Postmortem examination revealed an adrenal mass in each case, confirmed to be a pheochromocytoma on histopathology. In retrospect, each horse had some hallmark characteristics consistent with a functional pheochromocytoma, including hyperglycaemia and hyperlactataemia. Extremely high packed cell volume (PCV) (>65 per cent) was also identified in two horses, with a high-normal PCV found in the haemoperitoneum case. Perioperative haemodynamic instability was predominantly characterised by episodes of intermittent hypertension and tachycardia

On Existence and Properties of Approximate Pure Nash Equilibria in Bandwidth Allocation Games

In \emph{bandwidth allocation games} (BAGs), the strategy of a player consists of various demands on different resources. The player's utility is at most the sum of these demands, provided they are fully satisfied. Every resource has a limited capacity and if it is exceeded by the total demand, it has to be split between the players. Since these games generally do not have pure Nash equilibria, we consider approximate pure Nash equilibria, in which no player can improve her utility by more than some fixed factor $\alpha$ through unilateral strategy changes. There is a threshold $\alpha_\delta$ (where $\delta$ is a parameter that limits the demand of each player on a specific resource) such that $\alpha$-approximate pure Nash equilibria always exist for $\alpha \geq \alpha_\delta$, but not for $\alpha < \alpha_\delta$. We give both upper and lower bounds on this threshold $\alpha_\delta$ and show that the corresponding decision problem is ${\sf NP}$-hard. We also show that the $\alpha$-approximate price of anarchy for BAGs is $\alpha+1$. For a restricted version of the game, where demands of players only differ slightly from each other (e.g. symmetric games), we show that approximate Nash equilibria can be reached (and thus also be computed) in polynomial time using the best-response dynamic. Finally, we show that a broader class of utility-maximization games (which includes BAGs) converges quickly towards states whose social welfare is close to the optimum

Single to Double Hump Transition in the Equilibrium Distribution Function of Relativistic Particles

We unveil a transition from single peaked to bimodal velocity distribution in a relativistic fluid under increasing temperature, in contrast with a non-relativistic gas, where only a monotonic broadening of the bell-shaped distribution is observed. Such transition results from the interplay between the raise in thermal energy and the constraint of maximum velocity imposed by the speed of light. We study the Bose-Einstein, the Fermi-Dirac, and the Maxwell-J\"uttner distributions, all exhibiting the same qualitative behavior. We characterize the nature of the transition in the framework of critical phenomena and show that it is either continuous or discontinuous, depending on the group velocity. We analyze the transition in one, two, and three dimensions, with special emphasis on two-dimensions, for which a possible experiment in graphene, based on the measurement of the Johnson-Nyquist noise, is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Non-analytic microscopic phase transitions and temperature oscillations in the microcanonical ensemble: An exactly solvable 1d-model for evaporation

We calculate exactly both the microcanonical and canonical thermodynamic functions (TDFs) for a one-dimensional model system with piecewise constant Lennard-Jones type pair interactions. In the case of an isolated $N$-particle system, the microcanonical TDFs exhibit (N-1) singular (non-analytic) microscopic phase transitions of the formal order N/2, separating N energetically different evaporation (dissociation) states. In a suitably designed evaporation experiment, these types of phase transitions should manifest themselves in the form of pressure and temperature oscillations, indicating cooling by evaporation. In the presence of a heat bath (thermostat), such oscillations are absent, but the canonical heat capacity shows a characteristic peak, indicating the temperature-induced dissociation of the one-dimensional chain. The distribution of complex zeros (DOZ) of the canonical partition may be used to identify different degrees of dissociation in the canonical ensemble.Comment: version accepted for publication in PRE, minor additions in the text, references adde

Daple is a novel non-receptor GEF required for trimeric G protein activation in Wnt signaling

Peer reviewedPublisher PD