5,969 research outputs found
Interrelated structure of high altitude atmospheric profiles
A preliminary development of a mathematical model to compute probabilities of thermodynamic profiles is presented. The model assumes an exponential expression for pressure and utilizes the hydrostatic law and equation of state in the determination of density and temperature. It is shown that each thermodynamic variable can be factored into the produce of steady state and perturbation functions. The steady state functions have profiles similar to those of the 1962 standard atmosphere while the perturbation functions oscillate about 1. Limitations of the model and recommendations for future work are presented
Quantum fluctuations and glassy behavior: The case of a quantum particle in a random potential
In this paper we expand our previous investigation of a quantum particle
subject to the action of a random potential plus a fixed harmonic potential at
a finite temperature T. In the classical limit the system reduces to a
well-known ``toy'' model for an interface in a random medium. It also applies
to a single quantum particle like an an electron subject to random
interactions, where the harmonic potential can be tuned to mimic the effect of
a finite box. Using the variational approximation, or alternatively, the limit
of large spatial dimensions, together with the use the replica method, and are
able to solve the model and obtain its phase diagram in the
plane, where is the particle's mass. The phase diagram is similar to that
of a quantum spin-glass in a transverse field, where the variable
plays the role of the transverse field. The glassy phase is characterized by
replica-symmetry-breaking. The quantum transition at zero temperature is also
discussed.Comment: revised version, 23 pages, revtex, 5 postscript figures in a separate
file figures.u
Large time dynamics and aging of a polymer chain in a random potential
We study the out-of-equilibrium large time dynamics of a gaussian polymer
chain in a quenched random potential. The dynamics studied is a simple Langevin
dynamics commonly referred to as the Rouse model. The equations for the
two-time correlation and response function are derived within the gaussian
variational approximation. In order to implement this approximation faithfully,
we employ the supersymmetric representation of the Martin-Siggia-Rose dynamical
action. For a short ranged correlated random potential the equations are solved
analytically in the limit of large times using certain assumptions concerning
the asymptotic behavior. Two possible dynamical behaviors are identified
depending upon the time separation- a stationary regime and an aging regime. In
the stationary regime time translation invariance holds and so is the
fluctuation dissipation theorem. The aging regime which occurs for large time
separations of the two-time correlation functions is characterized by history
dependence and the breakdown of certain equilibrium relations. The large time
limit of the equations yields equations among the order parameters that are
similar to the equations obtained in the statics using replicas. In particular
the aging solution corresponds to the broken replica solution. But there is a
difference in one equation that leads to important consequences for the
solution. The stationary regime corresponds to the motion of the polymer inside
a local minimum of the random potential, whereas in the aging regime the
polymer hops between different minima. As a byproduct we also solve exactly the
dynamics of a chain in a random potential with quadratic correlations.Comment: 21 pages, RevTeX
Replica field theory for a polymer in random media
In this paper we revisit the problem of a (non self-avoiding) polymer chain
in a random medium which was previously investigated by Edwards and Muthukumar
(EM). As noticed by Cates and Ball (CB) there is a discrepancy between the
predictions of the replica calculation of EM and the expectation that in an
infinite medium the quenched and annealed results should coincide (for a chain
that is free to move) and a long polymer should always collapse. CB argued that
only in a finite volume one might see a ``localization transition'' (or
crossover) from a stretched to a collapsed chain in three spatial dimensions.
Here we carry out the replica calculation in the presence of an additional
confining harmonic potential that mimics the effect of a finite volume. Using a
variational scheme with five variational parameters we derive analytically for
d<4 the result R~(g |ln \mu|)^{-1/(4-d)} ~(g lnV)^{-1/(4-d)}, where R is the
radius of gyration, g is the strength of the disorder, \mu is the spring
constant associated with the confining potential and V is the associated
effective volume of the system. Thus the EM result is recovered with their
constant replaced by ln(V) as argued by CB. We see that in the strict infinite
volume limit the polymer always collapses, but for finite volume a transition
from a stretched to a collapsed form might be observed as a function of the
strength of the disorder. For d<2 and for large
V>V'~exp[g^(2/(2-d))L^((4-d)/(2-d))] the annealed results are recovered and
R~(Lg)^(1/(d-2)), where L is the length of the polymer. Hence the polymer also
collapses in the large L limit. The 1-step replica symmetry breaking solution
is crucial for obtaining the above results.Comment: Revtex, 32 page
Localization of a polymer in random media: Relation to the localization of a quantum particle
In this paper we consider in detail the connection between the problem of a
polymer in a random medium and that of a quantum particle in a random
potential. We are interested in a system of finite volume where the polymer is
known to be {\it localized} inside a low minimum of the potential. We show how
the end-to-end distance of a polymer which is free to move can be obtained from
the density of states of the quantum particle using extreme value statistics.
We give a physical interpretation to the recently discovered one-step
replica-symmetry-breaking solution for the polymer (Phys. Rev. E{\bf 61}, 1729
(2000)) in terms of the statistics of localized tail states. Numerical
solutions of the variational equations for chains of different length are
performed and compared with quenched averages computed directly by using the
eigenfunctions and eigenenergies of the Schr\"odinger equation for a particle
in a one-dimensional random potential. The quantities investigated are the
radius of gyration of a free gaussian chain, its mean square distance from the
origin and the end-to-end distance of a tethered chain. The probability
distribution for the position of the chain is also investigated. The glassiness
of the system is explained and is estimated from the variance of the measured
quantities.Comment: RevTex, 44 pages, 13 figure
Langevin Dynamics of the vortex matter two-stage melting transition in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O in the presence of straight and of tilted columnar defects
In this paper we use London Langevin molecular dynamics simulations to
investigate the vortex matter melting transition in the highly anisotropic
high-temperature superconductor material Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O in the
presence of low concentration of columnar defects (CDs). We reproduce with
further details our previous results obtained by using Multilevel Monte Carlo
simulations that showed that the melting of the nanocrystalline vortex matter
occurs in two stages: a first stage melting into nanoliquid vortex matter and a
second stage delocalization transition into a homogeneous liquid. Furthermore,
we report on new dynamical measurements in the presence of a current that
identifies clearly the irreversibility line and the second stage delocalization
transition. In addition to CDs aligned along the c-axis we also simulate the
case of tilted CDs which are aligned at an angle with respect to the applied
magnetic field. Results for CDs tilted by with respect to c-axis
show that the locations of the melting and delocalization transitions are not
affected by the tilt when the ratio of flux lines to CDs remains constant. On
the other hand we argue that some dynamical properties and in particular the
position of the irreversibility line should be affected.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
Molecular Dynamics of pancake vortices with realistic interactions: Observing the vortex lattice melting transition
In this paper we describe a version of London Langevin molecular dynamics
simulations that allows for investigations of the vortex lattice melting
transition in the highly anisotropic high-temperature superconductor material
BiSrCaCuO. We include the full electromagnetic
interaction as well as the Josephson interaction among pancake vortices. We
also implement periodic boundary conditions in all directions, including the
z-axis along which the magnetic field is applied. We show how to implement flux
cutting and reconnection as an analog to permutations in the multilevel Monte
Carlo scheme and demonstrate that this process leads to flux entanglement that
proliferates in the vortex liquid phase. The first-order melting transition of
the vortex lattice is observed to be in excellent agreement with previous
multilevel Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 4 figure
The Stellar Populations and Evolution of Lyman Break Galaxies
Using deep near-IR and optical observations of the HDF-N from the HST NICMOS
and WFPC2 and from the ground, we examine the spectral energy distributions
(SEDs) of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at 2.0 < z < 3.5. The UV-to-optical
rest-frame SEDs of the galaxies are much bluer than those of present-day spiral
and elliptical galaxies, and are generally similar to those of local starburst
galaxies with modest amounts of reddening. We use stellar population synthesis
models to study the properties of the stars that dominate the light from LBGs.
Under the assumption that the star-formation rate is continuous or decreasing
with time, the best-fitting models provide a lower bound on the LBG mass
estimates. LBGs with ``L*'' UV luminosities are estimated to have minimum
stellar masses ~ 10^10 solar masses, or roughly 1/10th that of a present-day L*
galaxy. By considering the effects of a second component of maximally-old
stars, we set an upper bound on the stellar masses that is ~ 3-8 times the
minimum estimate. We find only loose constraints on the individual galaxy ages,
extinction, metallicities, initial mass functions, and prior star-formation
histories. We find no galaxies whose SEDs are consistent with young (< 10^8
yr), dust-free objects, which suggests that LBGs are not dominated by ``first
generation'' stars, and that such objects are rare at these redshifts. We also
find that the typical ages for the observed star-formation events are
significantly younger than the time interval covered by this redshift range (~
1.5 Gyr). From this, and from the relative absence of candidates for quiescent,
non-star-forming galaxies at these redshifts in the NICMOS data, we suggest
that star formation in LBGs may be recurrent, with short duty cycles and a
timescale between star-formation events of < 1 Gyr. [Abridged]Comment: LaTeX, 37 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
A comparison of the optical properties of radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars
We have made radio observations of 87 optically selected quasars at 5 GHz
with the VLA in order to measure the radio power for these objects and hence
determine how the fraction of radio-loud quasars varies with redshift and
optical luminosity. The sample has been selected from the recently completed
Edinburgh Quasar Survey and covers a redshift range of 0.3 < z < 1.5 and an
optical absolute magnitude range of -26.5 < M_{B} < -23.5 (h, q_{0} = 1/2). We
have also matched up other existing surveys with the FIRST and NVSS radio
catalogues and combined these data so that the optical luminosity-redshift
plane is now far better sampled than previously. We have fitted a model to the
probability of a quasar being radio-loud as a function of absolute magnitude
and redshift and from this model infer the radio-loud and radio-quiet optical
luminosity functions. The radio-loud optical luminosity function is featureless
and flatter than the radio-quiet one. It evolves at a marginally slower rate if
quasars evolve by density evolution, but the difference in the rate of
evolutions of the two different classes is much less than was previously
thought. We show, using Monte-Carlo simulations, that the observed difference
in the shape of the optical luminosity functions can be partly accounted for by
Doppler boosting of the optical continuum of the radio-loud quasars and explain
how this can be tested in the future.Comment: 33 pages, 9 postscript figures, uses the AAS aaspp4 LaTeX style file,
to appear in the 1 February 1999 issue of The Astrophysical Journa
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