Rethinking the Properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma at T∼TcT\sim T_c

We argue that although at asymptotically high temperatures the QGP in bulk behaves as a gas of weakly interacting quasiparticles (modulo long-range magnetism), at temperatures up to few times the critical temperature $T_c$ it displays different properties. If the running of the QCD coupling constant continues in the Coulomb phase till the screening length scale, it reaches the strong coupling treshold $\alpha_s(m_D)\sim 1$. As a result, the Coulomb phase supports weakly bound Coulombic s-wave $\bar c c$, light quark and even $gg$ states. The existence of shallow bound states dramatically increases the quasiparticle rescattering at low energies, reducing the viscosity and thereby explaining why heavy ion collisions at RHIC exhibit robust collective phenomena. In conformal gauge theories at finite temperature the Coulomb binding persists further in the strong coupling regime, as found for ${\cal N}=4$ SUSY YM in the Maldacena regime.Comment: v2 version have one more figure and one more reference, v3 is the same as v2 except a double-page format (the v2 had corrupted last lines on the page

Real Time Correlators in Hot (2+1)d QCD

We use dimensional reduction techniques to relate real time finite T correlation functions in (2+1) dimensional QCD to bound state parameters in a generalized 't Hooft model with an infinite number of heavy quark and adjoint scalar fields. While static susceptibilities and correlation functions of the DeTar type can be calculated using only the light (static) gluonic modes, the dynamical correlators require the inclusion of the heavy modes. In particular we demonstrate that the leading T perturbative result can be understood in terms of the bound states of the 2d model and that consistency requires bound state trajectories composed of both quarks and adjoint scalars. We also propose a non-perturbative expression for the dynamical DeTar correlators at small spatial momenta.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, uses axodra

Two-vibron bound states in alpha-helix proteins : the interplay between the intramolecular anharmonicity and the strong vibron-phonon coupling

The influence of the intramolecular anharmonicity and the strong vibron-phonon coupling on the two-vibron dynamics in an $\alpha$-helix protein is studied within a modified Davydov model. The intramolecular anharmonicity of each amide-I vibration is considered and the vibron dynamics is described according to the small polaron approach. A unitary transformation is performed to remove the intramolecular anharmonicity and a modified Lang-Firsov transformation is applied to renormalize the vibron-phonon interaction. Then, a mean field procedure is realized to obtain the dressed anharmonic vibron Hamiltonian. It is shown that the anharmonicity modifies the vibron-phonon interaction which results in an enhancement of the dressing effect. In addition, both the anharmonicity and the dressing favor the occurrence of two different bound states which the properties strongly depend on the interplay between the anharmonicity and the dressing. Such a dependence was summarized in a phase diagram which characterizes the number and the nature of the bound states as a function of the relevant parameters of the problem. For a significant anharmonicity, the low frequency bound states describe two vibrons trapped onto the same amide-I vibration whereas the high frequency bound states refer to the trapping of the two vibrons onto nearest neighbor amide-I vibrations.Comment: may 2003 submitted to Phys. Rev.

Permissive Controller Synthesis for Probabilistic Systems

We propose novel controller synthesis techniques for probabilistic systems modelled using stochastic two-player games: one player acts as a controller, the second represents its environment, and probability is used to capture uncertainty arising due to, for example, unreliable sensors or faulty system components. Our aim is to generate robust controllers that are resilient to unexpected system changes at runtime, and flexible enough to be adapted if additional constraints need to be imposed. We develop a permissive controller synthesis framework, which generates multi-strategies for the controller, offering a choice of control actions to take at each time step. We formalise the notion of permissivity using penalties, which are incurred each time a possible control action is disallowed by a multi-strategy. Permissive controller synthesis aims to generate a multi-strategy that minimises these penalties, whilst guaranteeing the satisfaction of a specified system property. We establish several key results about the optimality of multi-strategies and the complexity of synthesising them. Then, we develop methods to perform permissive controller synthesis using mixed integer linear programming and illustrate their effectiveness on a selection of case studies

On the temperature dependence of correlation functions in the space like direction in hot QCD

We study the temperature dependence of quark antiquark correlations in the space like direction. In particular, we predict the temperature dependence of space like Bethe-Salpeter amplitudes using recent Lattice gauge data for the space like string potential. We also investigate the effect of the space like string potential on the screening mass and discuss possible corrections which may arise when working with point sources.Comment: 15 pages 8 figures (not included, will be sent on request), (SUNY-NTG-94-3

Edge Theories for Polarized Quantum Hall States

Starting from recently proposed bosonic mean field theories for fully and partially polarized quantum Hall states, we construct corresponding effective low energy theories for the edge modes. The requirements of gauge symmetry and invariance under global O(3) spin rotations, broken only by a Zeeman coupling, imply boundary conditions that allow for edge spin waves. In the generic case, these modes are chiral, and the spin stiffness differs from that in the bulk. For the case of a fully polarized $\nu=1$ state, our results agree with previous Hartree-Fock calculations.Comment: 15 pages (number of pages has been reduced by typesetting in RevTeX); 2 references adde

A model checking approach to the parameter estimation of biochemical pathways

Model checking has historically been an important tool to verify models of a wide variety of systems. Typically a model has to exhibit certain properties to be classed ‘acceptable’. In this work we use model checking in a new setting; parameter estimation. We characterise the desired behaviour of a model in a temporal logic property and alter the model to make it conform to the property (determined through model checking). We have implemented a computational system called MC2(GA) which pairs a model checker with a genetic algorithm. To drive parameter estimation, the fitness of set of parameters in a model is the inverse of the distance between its actual behaviour and the desired behaviour. The model checker used is the simulation-based Monte Carlo Model Checker for Probabilistic Linear-time Temporal Logic with numerical constraints, MC2(PLTLc). Numerical constraints as well as the overall probability of the behaviour expressed in temporal logic are used to minimise the behavioural distance. We define the theory underlying our parameter estimation approach in both the stochastic and continuous worlds. We apply our approach to biochemical systems and present an illustrative example where we estimate the kinetic rate constants in a continuous model of a signalling pathway

An analysis of photoemission and inverse photoemission spectra of Si(111) and sulphur-passivated InP(001) surfaces

Photoemission (PES) and inverse-photoemission spectra (IPES) for the sulphur-passivated InP(001) surface are compared with theoretical predictions based on density-functional calculations. As a test case for our methods, we also present a corresponding study of the better known Si(111) surface. The reported spectra for InP(001)-S agree well with the calculated ones if the surface is assumed to consist of a mixture of two phases, namely, the fully S-covered $(2\times2)$-reconstructed structure, which contains four S atoms in the surface unit-cell, and a $(2\times2)$ structure containing two S and two P atoms per unit cell. The latter has recently been identified in total-energy calculations as well as in core-level spectra of S-passivated Si(111)-$(2\times1)$ is in excellent agreement with the calculations. The comparison of the experimental-PES with our calculations provides additional considerations regarding the nature of the sample surface. It is also found that the commonly-used density-of-states approximation to the photo- and inverse- photoemission spectra is not valid for these systems.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. B; 6 postscript formatted pages; 7 figures in gif format; postscript figures available upon reques

Ethics and biobanks

Biobank research has been the focus of great interest of scholars and regulatory bodies who have addressed different ethical issues. On the basis of a review of the literature it may be concluded that, regarding some major themes in this discussion, a consensus seems to emerge on the international scene after the regular exchange of arguments in scientific journals. Broad or general consent is emerging as the generally preferred solution for biobank studies and straightforward instructions for coding will optimise privacy while facilitating research that may result in new methods for the prevention of disease and for medical treatment. The difficult question regarding the return of information to research subjects is the focus of the current research, but a helpful analysis of some of the issues at stake and concrete recommendations have recently been suggested