Perturbative expansions from Monte Carlo simulations at weak coupling: Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy

Perturbative coefficients for Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy are extracted from Monte Carlo simulations at weak coupling. The lattice volumes and couplings are chosen to ensure that the lattice momenta are all perturbative. Twisted boundary conditions are used to eliminate the effects of lattice zero modes and to suppress nonperturbative finite-volume effects due to Z(3) phases. Simulations of the Wilson gluon action are done with both periodic and twisted boundary conditions, and over a wide range of lattice volumes (from $3^4$ to $16^4$) and couplings (from $\beta \approx 9$ to $\beta \approx 60$). A high precision comparison is made between the simulation data and results from finite-volume lattice perturbation theory. The Monte Carlo results are shown to be in excellent agreement with perturbation theory through second order. New results for third-order coefficients for a number of Wilson loops and the static-quark self-energy are reported.Comment: 36 pages, 15 figures, REVTEX documen

Interactions of Cyclic Hydrocarbons with Biological Membranes

Many cyclic hydrocarbons, e.g. aromatics, cycloalkanes, and terpenes, are toxic to microorganisms. The primary site of the toxic action is probably the cytoplasmic membrane, but the mechanism of the toxicity is still poorly understood. The effects of cyclic hydrocarbons were studied in liposomes prepared from Escherichia coli phospholipids. The membrane-buffer partition coefficients of the cyclic hydrocarbons revealed that these lipophilic compounds preferentially reside in the membrane. The partition coefficients closely correlated with the partition coefficients of these compounds in a standard octanol-water system. The accumulation of hydro carbon molecules resulted in swelling of the membrane bilayer, as assessed by the release of fluorescence self-quenching of fluorescent fatty acid and phospholipid analogs. Parallel to the expansion of the membrane, an increase in membrane fluidity was observed. These effects on the integrity of the membrane caused an increased passive flux of protons and carboxyfluorescein. In cytochrome c oxidase containing proteoliposomes, both components of the proton motive force, the pH gradient and the electrical potential, were dissipated with increasing concentrations of cyclic hydrocarbons. The dissipating effect was primarily the result of an increased permeability of the membrane for protons (ions). At higher concentrations, cytochrome c oxidase was also inactivated. The effective concentrations of the different cyclic hydrocarbons correlated with their partition coefficients between the membrane and aqueous phase. The impairment of microbial activity by the cyclic hydrocarbons most likely results from hydrophobic interaction with the membrane, which affects the functioning of the membrane and membrane-embedded proteins

Gluon confinement criterion in QCD

We fix exactly and uniquely the infrared structure of the full gluon propagator in QCD, not solving explicitly the corresponding dynamical equation of motion. By construction, this structure is an infinite sum over all possible severe (i.e., more singular than $1/q^2$) infrared singularities. It reflects the zero momentum modes enhancement effect in the true QCD vacuum, which is due to the self-interaction of massless gluons. It existence automatically exhibits a characteristic mass (the so-called mass gap). It is responsible for the scale of nonperturbative dynamics in the true QCD ground state. The theory of distributions, complemented by the dimensional regularization method, allows one to put the severe infrared singularities under the firm mathematical control. By an infrared renormalization of a mass gap only, the infrared structure of the full gluon propagator is exactly reduced to the simplest severe infrared singularity, the famous $(q^2)^{-2}$. Thus we have exactly established the interaction between quarks (concerning its pure gluon (i.e., nonlinear) contribution) up to its unimportant perturbative part. This also makes it possible for the first time to formulate the gluon confinement criterion and intrinsically nonperturbative phase in QCD in a manifestly gauge-invariant ways.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, no tables. Typos corrected and the clarification is intoduced. Shorten version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Emergence of life:Physical chemistry changes the paradigm

Origin of life research has been slow to advance not only because of its complex evolutionary nature (Franklin Harold: In Search of Cell History, 2014) but also because of the lack of agreement on fundamental concepts, including the question of 'what is life?'. To re-energize the research and define a new experimental paradigm, we advance four premises to better understand the physicochemical complexities of life's emergence: (1) Chemical and Darwinian (biological) evolutions are distinct, but become continuous with the appearance of heredity. (2) Earth's chemical evolution is driven by energies of cycling (diurnal) disequilibria and by energies of hydrothermal vents. (3) Earth's overall chemical complexity must be high at the origin of life for a subset of (complex) chemicals to phase separate and evolve into living states. (4) Macromolecular crowding in aqueous electrolytes under confined conditions enables evolution of molecular recognition and cellular self-organization. We discuss these premises in relation to current 'constructive' (non-evolutionary) paradigm of origins research - the process of complexification of chemical matter 'from the simple to the complex'. This paradigm artificially avoids planetary chemical complexity and the natural tendency of molecular compositions toward maximum disorder embodied in the second law of thermodynamics. Our four premises suggest an empirical program of experiments involving complex chemical compositions under cycling gradients of temperature, water activity and electromagnetic radiation.</p

Suavizando los histogramas

Knowledge of the ionic strength in cells is required to understand the in vivo biochemistry of the charged biomacromolecules. Here, we present the first sensors to determine the ionic strength in living cells, by designing protein probes based on Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). These probes allow observation of spatiotemporal changes in the ionic strength on the single-cell level

Effects of the Membrane Action of Tetralin on the Functional and Structural Properties of Artificial and Bacterial Membranes

Tetralin is toxic to bacterial cells at concentrations below 100-mu-mol/liter. To assess the inhibitory action of tetralin on bacterial membranes, a membrane model system, consisting of proteoliposomes in which beef heart cytochrome c oxidase was reconstituted as the proton motive force-generating mechanism, and several gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria were studied. Because of its hydrophobicity, tetralin partitioned into lipid membranes preferentially (lipid/buffer partition coefficient of tetralin is approximately 1,100). The excessive accumulation of tetralin caused expansion of the membrane and impairment of different membrane functions. Studies with proteoliposomes and intact cells indicated that tetralin makes the membrane permeable for ions (protons) and inhibits the respiratory enzymes, which leads to a partial dissipation of the pH gradient and electrical potential. The effect of tetralin on the components of the proton motive force as well as disruption of protein-lipid interaction(s) could lead to impairment of various metabolic functions and to low growth rates. The data offer an explanation for the difficulty in isolating and cultivating microorganisms in media containing tetralin or other lipophilic compounds