547 research outputs found
Criticality and Superfluidity in liquid He-4 under Nonequilibrium Conditions
We review a striking array of recent experiments, and their theoretical
interpretations, on the superfluid transition in He in the presence of a
heat flux, . We define and evaluate a new set of critical point exponents.
The statics and dynamics of the superfluid-normal interface are discussed, with
special attention to the role of gravity. If is in the same direction as
gravity, a self-organized state can arise, in which the entire sample has a
uniform reduced temperature, on either the normal or superfluid side of the
transition. Finally, we review recent theory and experiment regarding the heat
capacity at constant . The excitement that surrounds this field arises from
the fact that advanced thermometry and the future availability of a
microgravity experimental platform aboard the International Space Station will
soon open to experimental exploration decades of reduced temperature that were
previously inaccessible.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, plus harvard.sty style file for references
Accepted for publication in Colloquia section of Reviews of Modern Physic
Liquid 4He near the superfluid transition in the presence of a heat current and gravity
The effects of a heat current and gravity in liquid 4He near the superfluid
transition are investigated for temperatures above and below T_lambda. We
present a renormalization-group calculation based on model F for the Green's
function in a self-consistent approximation which in quantum many-particle
theory is known as the Hartree approximation. The approach can handle a zero
average order parameter above and below T_lambda and includes effects of
vortices. We calculate the thermal conductivity and the specific heat for all
temperatures T and heat currents Q in the critical regime. Furthermore, we
calculate the temperature profile. Below T_lambda we find a second correlation
length which describes the dephasing of the order parameter field due to
vortices. We find dissipation and mutual friction of the superfluid-normal
fluid counterflow and calculate the Gorter-Mellink coefficient A. We compare
our theoretical results with recent experiments.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure
Genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium of two homologous genes to maize D8: Sorghum SbD8 and pearl millet PgD8
BCS-BEC crossover at finite temperature in the broken-symmetry phase
The BCS-BEC crossover is studied in a systematic way in the broken-symmetry
phase between zero temperature and the critical temperature. This study bridges
two regimes where quantum and thermal fluctuations are, respectively,
important. The theory is implemented on physical grounds, by adopting a
fermionic self-energy in the broken-symmetry phase that represents fermions
coupled to superconducting fluctuations in weak coupling and to bosons
described by the Bogoliubov theory in strong coupling. This extension of the
theory beyond mean field proves important at finite temperature, to connect
with the results in the normal phase. The order parameter, the chemical
potential, and the single-particle spectral function are calculated numerically
for a wide range of coupling and temperature. This enables us to assess the
quantitative importance of superconducting fluctuations in the broken-symmetry
phase over the whole BCS-BEC crossover. Our results are relevant to the
possible realizations of this crossover with high-temperature cuprate
superconductors and with ultracold fermionic atoms in a trap.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure
Dobrushin states in the \phi^4_1 model
We consider the van der Waals free energy functional in a bounded interval
with inhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions imposing the two stable phases
at the endpoints. We compute the asymptotic free energy cost, as the length of
the interval diverges, of shifting the interface from the midpoint. We then
discuss the effect of thermal fluctuations by analyzing the \phi^4_1-measure
with Dobrushin boundary conditions. In particular, we obtain a nontrivial limit
in a suitable scaling in which the length of the interval diverges and the
temperature vanishes. The limiting state is not translation invariant and
describes a localized interface. This result can be seen as the probabilistic
counterpart of the variational convergence of the associated excess free
energy.Comment: 34 page
A First-Landau-Level Laughlin/Jain Wave Function for the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
We show that the introduction of a more general closed-shell operator allows
one to extend Laughlin's wave function to account for the richer hierarchies
(1/3, 2/5, 3/7 ...; 1/5, 2/9, 3/13, ..., etc.) found experimentally. The
construction identifies the special hierarchy states with condensates of
correlated electron clusters. This clustering implies a single-particle (ls)j
algebra within the first Landau level (LL) identical to that of multiply filled
LLs in the integer quantum Hall effect. The end result is a simple generalized
wave function that reproduces the results of both Laughlin and Jain, without
reference to higher LLs or projection.Comment: Revtex. In this replacement we show how to generate the Jain wave
function explicitly, by acting with the generalized ls closed-shell operator
discussed in the original version. We also walk the reader through a
classical 1d caricature of this problem so that he/she can better understand
why 2s+1, where s is the spin, should be associated with the number of
electrons associated with the underlying clusters or composites. 11 page
Stability of condensate in superconductors
According to the BCS theory the superconducting condensate develops in a
single quantum mode and no Cooper pairs out of the condensate are assumed. Here
we discuss a mechanism by which the successful mode inhibits condensation in
neighboring modes and suppresses a creation of noncondensed Cooper pairs. It is
shown that condensed and noncondensed Cooper pairs are separated by an energy
gap which is smaller than the superconducting gap but large enough to prevent
nucleation in all other modes and to eliminate effects of noncondensed Cooper
pairs on properties of superconductors. Our result thus justifies basic
assumptions of the BCS theory and confirms that the BCS condensate is stable
with respect to two-particle excitations
Surprising flowering response to photoperiod: Preliminary characterization of West and Central African pearl millet germplasm
Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is considered to be a
short-day species that flowers, or flowers earlier, when
day lengths are short. A few studies with two to six
planting dates and few selected entries have been
conducted in USA (Burton 1965), Senegal (Ramond
1968), and India (Patil et al. 1978, Das 1991). However,
there is no known research on the flowering response of
pearl millet to photoperiod changes over the entire year.
Likewise, knowledge about the photoperiod-sensitivity
in West and Central African pearl millets is insufficient
Model-based comparison of organ at risk protection between VMAT and robustly optimised IMPT plans
The comparison between intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) and volume-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans, based on models of normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP), can support the choice of radiation modality. IMPT irradiation plans for 50 patients with head and neck tumours originally treated with photon therapy have been robustly optimised against density and setup uncertainties. The dose distribution has been calculated with a Monte Carlo (MC) algorithm. The comparison of the plans was based on dose-volume parameters in organs at risk (OARs) and NTCP-calculations for xerostomia, sticky saliva, dysphagia and tube feeding using Langendijk's model-based approach. While the dose distribution in the target volumes is similar, the IMPT plans show better protection of OARs. Therefore, it is not the high dose confirmation that constitutes the advantage of protons, but it is the reduction of the mid-to-low dose levels compared to photons. This work investigates to what extent the advantages of proton radiation are beneficial for the patient's post-therapeutic quality of life (QoL). As a result, approximately one third of the patients examined benefit significantly from proton therapy with regard to possible late side effects. Clinical data is needed to confirm the model-based calculations
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