Censored Glauber Dynamics for the mean field Ising Model

We study Glauber dynamics for the Ising model on the complete graph on $n$ vertices, known as the Curie-Weiss Model. It is well known that at high temperature ($\beta < 1$) the mixing time is $\Theta(n\log n)$, whereas at low temperature ($\beta > 1$) it is $\exp(\Theta(n))$. Recently, Levin, Luczak and Peres considered a censored version of this dynamics, which is restricted to non-negative magnetization. They proved that for fixed $\beta > 1$, the mixing-time of this model is $\Theta(n\log n)$, analogous to the high-temperature regime of the original dynamics. Furthermore, they showed \emph{cutoff} for the original dynamics for fixed $\beta<1$. The question whether the censored dynamics also exhibits cutoff remained unsettled. In a companion paper, we extended the results of Levin et al. into a complete characterization of the mixing-time for the Currie-Weiss model. Namely, we found a scaling window of order $1/\sqrt{n}$ around the critical temperature $\beta_c=1$, beyond which there is cutoff at high temperature. However, determining the behavior of the censored dynamics outside this critical window seemed significantly more challenging. In this work we answer the above question in the affirmative, and establish the cutoff point and its window for the censored dynamics beyond the critical window, thus completing its analogy to the original dynamics at high temperature. Namely, if $\beta = 1 + \delta$ for some $\delta > 0$ with $\delta^2 n \to \infty$, then the mixing-time has order $(n / \delta)\log(\delta^2 n)$. The cutoff constant is $(1/2+[2(\zeta^2 \beta / \delta - 1)]^{-1})$, where $\zeta$ is the unique positive root of $g(x)=\tanh(\beta x)-x$, and the cutoff window has order $n / \delta$.Comment: 55 pages, 4 figure

Non-linear equation: energy conservation and impact parameter dependence

In this paper we address two questions: how energy conservation affects the solution to the non-linear equation, and how impact parameter dependence influences the inclusive production. Answering the first question we solve the modified BK equation which takes into account energy conservation. In spite of the fact that we used the simplified kernel, we believe that the main result of the paper: the small ($\leq 40$) suppression of the inclusive productiondue to energy conservation, reflects a general feature. This result leads us to believe that the small value of the nuclear modification factor is of a non-perturbative nature. In the solution a new scale appears Q_{fr} = Q_s \exp(-1/(2 \bas)) and the production of dipoles with the size larger than $2/Q_{fr}$ is suppressed. Therefore, we can expect that the typical temperature for hadron production is about $Q_{fr}$ ($T \approx Q_{fr}$). The simplified equation allows us to obtain a solution to Balitsky-Kovchegov equation taking into account the impact parameter dependence. We show that the impact parameter ($b$) dependence can be absorbed into the non-perturbative $b$ dependence of the saturation scale. The solution of the BK equation, as well as of the modified BK equation without $b$ dependence, is only accurate up to $\pm 25$.Comment: 24 pp. 8 figures in eps file

Detectability of Cosmic Topology in Flat Universes

Recent observations seem to indicate that we live in a universe whose spatial sections are nearly or exactly flat. Motivated by this we study the problem of observational detection of the topology of universes with flat spatial sections. We first give a complete description of the diffeomorphic classification of compact flat 3-manifolds, and derive the expressions for the injectivity radii, and for the volume of each class of Euclidean 3-manifolds. There emerges from our calculations the undetectability conditions for each (topological) class of flat universes. To illustrate the detectability of flat topologies we construct toy models by using an assumption by Bernshtein and Shvartsman which permits to establish a relation between topological typical lengths to the dynamics of flat models.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, latex2e. New references added. Inserted clarifying points. To appear in Phys. Lett. A (2003) in the present for

High energy amplitude as an admixture of "soft" and "hard" Pomerons

In this paper an attempt is made to find an interface of the perturbative BFKL Pomeron with the non-perturbative Pomeron originating from non-perturbative QCD phenomena such as QCD instantons and/or scale anomaly. The main idea is that the non-perturbative Pomeron involves a large scale ($M_0 \approx 2 GeV$), which is larger than the scale from which perturbative QCD is applicable. One key result is that even for processes involving a large hard scale (such as DIS) the low $x$ behavior is determined by an effective Pomeron with an intercept having an essential non-perturbative QCD contribution.Comment: 29 pages, 13 fugures. Accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

Estrogen receptor-beta prevents cardiac fibrosis.

Development of cardiac fibrosis portends the transition and deterioration from hypertrophy to dilation and heart failure. Here we examined how estrogen blocks this important development. Angiotensin II (AngII) and endothelin-1 induce cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in humans. and we find that these agents directly stimulate the transition of the cardiac fibroblast to a myofibroblast. AngII and endothelin-1 stimulated TGFβ1 synthesis in the fibroblast, an inducer of fibrosis that signaled via c-jun kinase to Sma- and Mad-related protein 3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation in myofibroblasts. As a result, mesenchymal proteins fibronectin and vimentin were produced, as were collagens I and III, the major forms found in fibrotic hearts. 17β-Estradiol (E2) or dipropylnitrile, an estrogen receptor (ER)β agonist, comparably blocked all these events, reversed by estrogen receptor (ER)β small interfering RNA. E2 and dipropylnitrile signaling through cAMP and protein kinase A prevented myofibroblast formation and blocked activation of c-jun kinase and important events of fibrosis. In the hearts of ovariectomized female mice, cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis were induced by AngII infusion and prevented by E2 administration to wild type but not ERβ knockout rodents. Our results establish the cardiac fibroblast as an important target for hypertrophic/fibrosis-inducing peptides the actions of which were mitigated by E2/ERβ acting in these stromal cells

Parton Densities in a Nucleon

In this paper we re-analyse the situation with the shadowing corrections (SC) in QCD for the proton deep inelastic structure functions. We reconsider the Glauber - Mueller approach for the SC in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) and suggest a new nonlinear evolution equation. We argue that this equation solves the problem of the SC in the wide kinematic region where \as \kappa = \as \frac{3 \pi \as}{2 Q^2R^2} x G(x,Q^2) \leq 1. Using the new equation we estimate the value of the SC which turn out to be essential in the gluon deep inelastic structure function but rather small in $F_2(x,Q^2)$. We claim that the SC in $xG(x,Q^2)$ is so large that the BFKL Pomeron is hidden under the SC and cannot be seen even in such "hard" processes that have been proposed to test it. We found that the gluon density is proportional to $\ln(1/x)$ in the region of very small $x$. This result means that the gluon density does not reach saturation in the region of applicability of the new evolution equation. It should be confronted with the solution of the GLR equation which leads to saturation.Comment: latex file 53 pages, 27 figures in eps file

Parton saturation and N_part scaling of semi--hard processes in QCD

We argue that the suppression of high p_t hadrons discovered recently in heavy ion collisions at RHIC may be a consequence of saturation in the Color Glass Condensate. We qualitatively and semi-quantitatively describe the data, in particular, the dependence upon the number of nucleon participants. We show that if parton saturation sets in at sufficiently small energy, then in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies the cross sections of semi-hard processes should scale approximately with the number of participants, N_{part}. Our results provide a possible explanation of both the absence of apparent jet quenching at SPS energies and its presence at RHIC. Under the same assumption we predict that in semi--central and central pA (dA) collisions at collider energies the dependence of semi--hard processes on the number of participating nucleons of the nucleus will change to \sim (N_{part}^A)^{1/2}. The forthcoming data on dA collisions will provide a crucial test of this description.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX; significantly extended versio

Estrogens promote misfolded proinsulin degradation to protect insulin production and delay diabetes

Summary: Conjugated estrogens (CE) delay the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in postmenopausal women, but the mechanism is unclear. In T2D, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) fails to promote proinsulin folding and, in failing to do so, promotes ER stress and β cell dysfunction. We show that CE prevent insulin-deficient diabetes in male and in female Akita mice using a model of misfolded proinsulin. CE stabilize the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) system and promote misfolded proinsulin proteasomal degradation. This involves activation of nuclear and membrane estrogen receptor-α (ERα), promoting transcriptional repression and proteasomal degradation of the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme and ERAD degrader, UBC6e. The selective ERα modulator bazedoxifene mimics CE protection of β cells in females but not in males. : Estrogens prevent diabetes in women, but the mechanism is poorly understood. Xu et al. report that estrogens activate the endoplasmic-reticulum-associated protein degradation pathway, which promotes misfolded proinsulin degradation, suppresses endoplasmic reticulum stress, and protects insulin secretion in mice and in human pancreatic β cells. Keywords: estrogens, beta cell, islet, endoplasmic reticulum stress, proinsulin misfolding, diabetes, bazedoxifene, sex dimorphism, ERAD, SER

A new approach to parton recombination in a QCD evolution equation

Parton recombination is reconsidered in perturbation theory without using the AGK cutting rules in the leading order of the recombination. We use time-ordered perturbation theory to sum the cut diagrams, which are neglected in the GLR evolution equation. We present a set of new evolution equations including parton recombination.Comment: 25 pages, LaTex, 10 PS figures, submmitted to Nucl. Phys.

Statistical isotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background

The breakdown of statistical homogeneity and isotropy of cosmic perturbations is a generic feature of ultra large scale structure of the cosmos, in particular, of non trivial cosmic topology. The statistical isotropy (SI) of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature fluctuations (CMB anisotropy) is sensitive to this breakdown on the largest scales comparable to, and even beyond the cosmic horizon. We propose a set of measures, $\kappa_\ell$ ($\ell=1,2,3, ...$) which for non-zero values indicate and quantify statistical isotropy violations in a CMB map. We numerically compute the predicted $\kappa_\ell$ spectra for CMB anisotropy in flat torus universe models. Characteristic signature of different models in the $\kappa_\ell$ spectrum are noted.Comment: Presented at PASCOS'03, January 3-8, 2003, in TIFR, Mumbai; to be published in a special issue of 'Pramana' (4 pages, 1 figure, style files included