77 research outputs found
Glassy Vortex State in a Two-Dimensional Disordered XY-Model
The two-dimensional XY-model with random phase-shifts on bonds is studied.
The analysis is based on a renormalization group for the replicated system. The
model is shown to have an ordered phase with quasi long-range order. This
ordered phase consists of a glass-like region at lower temperatures and of a
non-glassy region at higher temperatures. The transition from the disordered
phase into the ordered phase is not reentrant and is of a new universality
class at zero temperature. In contrast to previous approaches the disorder
strength is found to be renormalized to larger values. Several correlation
functions are calculated for the ordered phase. They allow to identify not only
the transition into the glassy phase but also an additional crossover line,
where the disconnected vortex correlation changes its behavior on large scales
non-analytically. The renormalization group approach yields the glassy features
without a breaking of replica symmetry.Comment: latex 12 pages with 3 figures, using epsf.sty and multicol.st
Generalized Bose-Einstein Condensation
Generalized Bose-Einstein condensation (GBEC) involves condensates appearing
simultaneously in multiple states. We review examples of the three types in an
ideal Bose gas with different geometries. In Type I there is a discrete number
of quantum states each having macroscopic occupation; Type II has condensation
into a continuous band of states, with each state having macroscopic
occupation; in Type III each state is microscopically occupied while the entire
condensate band is macroscopically occupied. We begin by discussing Type I or
"normal" BEC into a single state for an isotropic harmonic oscillator
potential. Other geometries and external potentials are then considered: the
{}"channel" potential (harmonic in one dimension and hard-wall in the other),
which displays Type II, the {}"cigar trap" (anisotropic harmonic potential),
and the "Casimir prism" (an elongated box), the latter two having Type III
condensations. General box geometries are considered in an appendix. We
particularly focus on the cigar trap, which Van Druten and Ketterle first
showed had a two-step condensation: a GBEC into a band of states at a
temperature and another "one-dimensional" transition at a lower
temperature into the ground state. In a thermodynamic limit in which
the ratio of the dimensions of the anisotropic harmonic trap is kept fixed,
merges with the upper transition, which then becomes a normal BEC.
However, in the thermodynamic limit of Beau and Zagrebnov, in which the ratio
of the boundary lengths increases exponentially, becomes fixed at the
temperature of a true Type I phase transition. The effects of interactions on
GBEC are discussed and we show that there is evidence that Type III
condensation may have been observed in the cigar trap.Comment: 17 pages; 6 figures. Intended for American Journal of Physic
Naturally occurring antibodies to bovine and human retinal S antigens; a comparison between uveitis patients and normal healthy volunteers
The antibody responses to human and bovine retinal S antigen in the sera of patients with uveitis from various causes were compared with those of a group of healthy volunteers who were fully screened for signs of eye disease. Antiretinal antibodies were found with equal frequency and through the same range of titres in patients and controls, irrespective of the nature or activity of the uveitis. These findings were confirmed by spectrotypic analysis of sera from patients and controls where the predominant serum antibody response was polyclonal. In a small group of patients with retinal vasculitis there was an additional monoclonal response, indicating clonal expansion of a single lymphocyte subset. The prevalence of serum antibodies to retinal antigens in the normal population may indicate a protective role for 'natural' autoantibodies, as has recently been suggested for autoimmune diseases generally
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