5,151 research outputs found
Quantum statistical correlations in thermal field theories: boundary effective theory
We show that the one-loop effective action at finite temperature for a scalar
field with quartic interaction has the same renormalized expression as at zero
temperature if written in terms of a certain classical field , and if
we trade free propagators at zero temperature for their finite-temperature
counterparts. The result follows if we write the partition function as an
integral over field eigenstates (boundary fields) of the density matrix element
in the functional Schr\"{o}dinger field-representation, and perform a
semiclassical expansion in two steps: first, we integrate around the
saddle-point for fixed boundary fields, which is the classical field ,
a functional of the boundary fields; then, we perform a saddle-point
integration over the boundary fields, whose correlations characterize the
thermal properties of the system. This procedure provides a
dimensionally-reduced effective theory for the thermal system. We calculate the
two-point correlation as an example.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur
Uniform semiclassical approximation in quantum statistical mechanics
We present a simple method to deal with caustics in the semiclassical
approximation to the partition function of a one-dimensional quantum system.
The procedure, which makes use of complex trajectories, is applied to the
quartic double-well potential.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Latex. Contribution to the Proceedings of the XXI
Brazilian National Meeting on Particles and Fields (Sao Lourenco, October
23-27, 2000
The Role of Fermions in Bubble Nucleation
We present a study of the role of fermions in the decay of metastable states
of a scalar field via bubble nucleation. We analyze both one and
three-dimensional systems by using a gradient expansion for the calculation of
the fermionic determinant. The results of the one-dimensional case are compared
to the exact results of previous work.Comment: 15 pages, revtex, 9 figure
Hydration-induced anisotropic spin fluctuations in Na_{x}CoO_{2}\cdot1.3H_{2}O superconductor
We report ^{59}Co NMR studies in single crystals of cobalt oxide
superconductor Na_{0.42}CoO_{2}\cdot1.3H_{2}O (T_c=4.25K) and its parent
compound Na_{0.42}CoO_{2}. We find that both the magnitude and the temperature
(T) dependence of the Knight shifts are identical in the two compounds above
T_c. The spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T_1) is also identical above T_0
\sim60 K for both compounds. Below T_0, the unhydrated sample is found to be a
non-correlated metal that well conforms to Fermi liquid theory, while spin
fluctuations develop in the superconductor. These results indicate that water
intercalation does not change the density of states but its primary role is to
bring about spin fluctuations. Our result shows that, in the hydrated
superconducting compound, the in-plane spin fluctuation around finite wave
vector is much stronger than that along the c-axis, which indicates that the
spin correlation is quasi-two-dimensional.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Effective potential in the BET formalism
We calculate the one-loop effective potential at finite temperature for a
system of massless scalar fields with quartic interaction in
the framework of the boundary effective theory (BET) formalism. The calculation
relies on the solution of the classical equation of motion for the field, and
Gaussian fluctuations around it. Our result is non-perturbative and differs
from the standard one-loop effective potential for field values larger than
.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Pressure of massless hot scalar theory in the boundary effective theory framework
We use the boundary effective theory (BET) approach to thermal field theory
in order to calculate the pressure of a system of massless scalar fields with
quartic interaction. The method naturally separates the infrared physics, and
is essentially non-perturbative. To lowest order, the main ingredient is the
solution of the free Euler-Lagrange equation with non-trivial (time) boundary
conditions. We derive a resummed pressure, which is in good agreement with
recent calculations found in the literature, following a very direct and
compact procedure.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF A PARAFFIN BASED HYBRID ROCKET
Hybrid rockets are known to be simpler, safer, environmentally friend, and, more importantly, cheaper than most of the technologies for propulsion devices used today. Hybrid rockets can be applied as the propulsion system in satellites launch vehicles, micro-satellites and tactical missiles. This paper deals with combustion of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and paraffin as the solid fuels burning with gaseous oxygen (GOX) as well as N O as the oxidizer in lab scale hybrid rocket motors. A test 2 stand was built to carry out the experiments. The main objectives were to investigate the ignition of the solid fuels, burning performance and regression rates for different operating conditions. With paraffin-based fuel the hybrid motor had the regression rate enhanced two to three folds compared to the UHMWPE, as reported in the literature. The overall performance of the motor, with paraffin as the fuel, is comparable to other technologies. Paraffin-based hybrid rockets can, then, be a safer and cheaper alternative to satellite launch vehicles for the Brazilian space program
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