Comment on "First order amorphous-amorphous transformation in silica"

In a recent letter (Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4629 (2000)), Lacks presents evidence of a first order amorphous-amorphous transition in silica at T=0. He calculates the free energy along a path of compression and successive decompression of a sample of 108 SiO2 units. The free energy of the two branches cross each other, and this is interpreted as evidence of a first order transition. We show that this conclusion does not follow from the shown data, since qualitatively the same phenomenology is obtained in a model where a first order transition does not exist.Comment: 1 page, 1 figure, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Liquid-liquid equilibrium for monodisperse spherical particles

A system of identical particles interacting through an isotropic potential that allows for two preferred interparticle distances is numerically studied. When the parameters of the interaction potential are adequately chosen, the system exhibits coexistence between two different liquid phases (in addition to the usual liquid-gas coexistence). It is shown that this coexistence can occur at equilibrium, namely, in the region where the liquid is thermodynamically stable.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. Published versio

Constraints on Hidden Photon Models from Electron g-2 and Hydrogen Spectroscopy

The hidden photon model is one of the simplest models which can explain the anomaly of the muon anomalous magnetic moment (g-2). The experimental constraints are studied in detail, which come from the electron g-2 and the hydrogen transition frequencies. The input parameters are set carefully in order to take dark photon contributions into account and to prevent the analysis from being self-inconsistent. It is shown that the new analysis provides a constraint severer by more than one order of magnitude than the previous result.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. v2: minor correction

Interplay Between Time-Temperature-Transformation and the Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in Water

We study the TIP5P water model proposed by Mahoney and Jorgensen, which is closer to real water than previously-proposed classical pairwise additive potentials. We simulate the model in a wide range of deeply supercooled states and find (i) the existence of a non-monotonic ``nose-shaped'' temperature of maximum density line and a non-reentrant spinodal, (ii) the presence of a low temperature phase transition, (iii) the free evolution of bulk water to ice, and (iv) the time-temperature-transformation curves at different densities.Comment: RevTeX4, 4 pages, 4 eps figure

Supercooling across first-order phase transitions in vortex matter

Hysteresis in cycling through first-order phase transitions in vortex matter, akin to the well-studied phenomenon of supercooling of water, has been discussed in literature. Hysteresis can be seen while varying either temperature T or magnetic field H (and thus the density of vortices). Our recent work on phase transitions with two control variables shows that the observable region of metastability of the supercooled phase would depend on the path followed in H-T space, and will be larger when T is lowered at constant H compared to the case when H is lowered at constant T. We discuss the effect of isothermal field variations on metastable supercooled states produced by field-cooling. This path dependence is not a priori applicable to metastability caused by reduced diffusivity or hindered kinetics.Comment: Tex, 8 pages, 3 Postscripts figures. Submitted to Pramana - J. Physic

Chargino Contributions in B→ϕKSB \to \phi K_S Asymmetry

CP asymmetry in $B \to \phi K_S$ decay is studied in a special context of supersymmetry theories, in which the charginos play an important role. We find that in addition to the gluino, chargino can also make large contributions to CP asymmetry in $B \to \phi K_S$ decay. After considering the constraints from $B \to J/psi K_S$ decay, we study three special scenarios: (a). Large mixing on left-handed charm and top squarks (LL mixing); (b). Large mixing on right-handed charm and top squarks (RR mixing); (c). Large mixing on left-handed charm and top squarks plus right-handed charm and top squarks (LL + RR mixing). We show quantitatively that because of large squark mixing within second and third generations, an $\mathcal O$(1) effect on CP violation in $B \to \phi K_S$ is possible

Thermal Conditions for Scalar Bosons in a Curved Space Time

The conditions that allow us to consider the vacuum expectation value of the energy-momentum tensor as a statistical average, at some particular temperature, are given. When the mean value of created particles is stationary, a planckian distribution for the field modes is obtained. In the massless approximation, the temperature dependence is as that corresponding to a radiation dominated Friedmann-like model.Comment: 14 pages (TeX manuscript

Physics of the liquid-liquid critical point

Within the inherent structure (IS) thermodynamic formalism introduced by Stillinger and Weber [F. H. Stillinger and T. A. Weber, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 25}, 978 (1982)] we address the basic question of the physics of the liquid-liquid transition and of density maxima observed in some complex liquids such as water by identifying, for the first time, the statistical properties of the potential energy landscape (PEL) responsible for these anomalies. We also provide evidence of the connection between density anomalies and the liquid-liquid critical point. Within the simple (and physically transparent) model discussed, density anomalies do imply the existence of a liquid-liquid transition.Comment: Physical Review Letters, in publicatio

The Bd → K∗μ+μ− decay: A study in the Standard Model

The rare semileptonic Bd → K∗μ+μ− decay has been extensively studied within the Standard Model and beyond. Recently, data provided by the LHCb experiment suggested the presence of new physics given the discrepancy found between the theoretical and the experimental value of a certain observable (P'5) at low q2. This requires a careful re-examination of the Standard Model estimates so that a discrimination between the latter and any model of new physics can be made. We present in this work a Bayesian analysis of the decay in the full range of q2, in which we perform a full fit from available data. We also make well-motivated arguments about the size of the hadronic uncertainties and ultimately study the compatibility of the currently available experimental data with the Standard Model predictions