69 research outputs found
Interplay of quantum and classical fluctuations near quantum critical points
For a system near a quantum critical point (QCP), above its lower critical
dimension , there is in general a critical line of second order phase
transitions that separates the broken symmetry phase at finite temperatures
from the disordered phase. The phase transitions along this line are governed
by thermal critical exponents that are different from those associated with the
quantum critical point. We point out that, if the effective dimension of the
QCP, ( is the Euclidean dimension of the system and the
dynamic quantum critical exponent) is above its upper critical dimension ,
there is an intermingle of classical (thermal) and quantum critical
fluctuations near the QCP. This is due to the breakdown of the generalized
scaling relation between the shift exponent of the critical
line and the crossover exponent , for by a \textit{dangerous
irrelevant interaction}. This phenomenon has clear experimental consequences,
like the suppression of the amplitude of classical critical fluctuations near
the line of finite temperature phase transitions as the critical temperature is
reduced approaching the QCP.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Brazilian Journal of Physic
Large N and Bosonization in Three Dimensions
Bosonization is normally thought of as a purely two-dimensional phenomenon,
and generic field theories with fermions in D>2 are not expected be describable
by local bosonic actions, except in some special cases. We point out that 3D
SU(N) gauge theories on R^{1,1} x S^{1}_{L} with adjoint fermions can be
bosonized in the large N limit. The key feature of such theories is that they
enjoy large N volume independence for arbitrary circle size L. A consequence of
this is a large N equivalence between these 3D gauge theories and certain 2D
gauge theories, which matches a set of correlation functions in the 3D theories
to corresponding observables in the 2D theories. As an example, we focus on a
3D SU(N) gauge theory with one flavor of adjoint Majorana fermions and derive
the large-N equivalent 2D gauge theory. The extra dimension is encoded in the
color degrees of freedom of the 2D theory. We then apply the technique of
non-Abelian bosonization to the 2D theory to obtain an equivalent local theory
written purely in terms of bosonic variables. Hence the bosonized version of
the large N three-dimensional theory turns out to live in two dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, 2 tables. v2 minor revisions, references adde
Nonperturbative aspects of ABJM theory
Using the matrix model which calculates the exact free energy of ABJM theory
on S^3 we study non-perturbative effects in the large N expansion of this
model, i.e., in the genus expansion of type IIA string theory on AdS4xCP^3. We
propose a general prescription to extract spacetime instanton actions from
general matrix models, in terms of period integrals of the spectral curve, and
we use it to determine them explicitly in the ABJM matrix model, as exact
functions of the 't Hooft coupling. We confirm numerically that these
instantons control the asymptotic growth of the genus expansion. Furthermore,
we find that the dominant instanton action at strong coupling determined in
this way exactly matches the action of an Euclidean D2-brane instanton wrapping
RP^3.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures. v2: small corrections, final version published
in JHE
Prodigious submarine landslides during the inception and early growth of volcanic islands
Volcanic island inception applies large stresses as the ocean crust domes in response to magma ascension and is loaded by eruption of lavas. There is currently limited information on when volcanic islands are initiated on the seafloor, and no information regarding the seafloor instabilities island inception may cause. The deep sea Madeira Abyssal Plain contains a 43 million year history of turbidites among which many originate from mass movements in the Canary Islands. Here, we investigate the composition and timing of a distinctive group of
turbidites that we suggest represent a new unique record of large-volume submarine landslides triggered during the inception, submarine shield growth, and final subaerial emergence of the Canary Islands. These slides are predominantly multi-stage and yet represent among the largest mass movements on the Earth’s surface up to three or more-times larger than subaerial Canary Islands flank collapses. Thus whilst these deposits provide invaluable information on ocean island geodynamics they also represent a significant, and as yet unaccounted, marine geohazard
Direct Integration and Non-Perturbative Effects in Matrix Models
We show how direct integration can be used to solve the closed amplitudes of
multi-cut matrix models with polynomial potentials. In the case of the cubic
matrix model, we give explicit expressions for the ring of non-holomorphic
modular objects that are needed to express all closed matrix model amplitudes.
This allows us to integrate the holomorphic anomaly equation up to holomorphic
modular terms that we fix by the gap condition up to genus four. There is an
one-dimensional submanifold of the moduli space in which the spectral curve
becomes the Seiberg--Witten curve and the ring reduces to the non-holomorphic
modular ring of the group . On that submanifold, the gap conditions
completely fix the holomorphic ambiguity and the model can be solved explicitly
to very high genus. We use these results to make precision tests of the
connection between the large order behavior of the 1/N expansion and
non-perturbative effects due to instantons. Finally, we argue that a full
understanding of the large genus asymptotics in the multi-cut case requires a
new class of non-perturbative sectors in the matrix model.Comment: 51 pages, 8 figure
The power of perturbation theory
We study quantum mechanical systems with a discrete spectrum. We show that the asymptotic series associated to certain paths of steepest-descent (Lefschetz thimbles) are Borel resummable to the full result. Using a geometrical approach based on the PicardLefschetz theory we characterize the conditions under which perturbative expansions lead to exact results. Even when such conditions are not met, we explain how to define a different perturbative expansion that reproduces the full answer without the need of transseries, i.e. non-perturbative effects, such as real (or complex) instantons. Applications to several quantum mechanical systems are presented
Significant discharge of CO2 from hydrothermalism associated with the submarine volcano of El Hierro Island
The residual hydrothermalism associated with submarine volcanoes, following an eruption event, plays
an important role in the supply of CO2 to the ocean. The emitted CO2 increases the acidity of seawater.
The submarine volcano of El Hierro, in its degasification stage, provided an excellent opportunity to
study the effect of volcanic CO2 on the seawater carbonate system, the global carbon flux, and local
ocean acidification. A detailed survey of the volcanic edifice was carried out using seven CTD-pH-ORP
tow-yo studies, localizing the redox and acidic changes, which were used to obtain surface maps of
anomalies. In order to investigate the temporal variability of the system, two CTD-pH-ORP yo-yo
studies were conducted that included discrete sampling for carbonate system parameters. Meridional
tow-yos were used to calculate the amount of volcanic CO2 added to the water column for each
surveyed section. The inputs of CO2 along multiple sections combined with measurements of oceanic
currents produced an estimated volcanic CO2 flux = 6.0 105 ± 1.1 105 kg d−1 which is ~0.1% of global
volcanic CO2 flux. Finally, the CO2 emitted by El Hierro increases the acidity above the volcano by ~20%.En prens
Phenotypic Screen of Early-Developing Larvae of the Blood Fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, using RNA Interference
RNA interference (RNAi) represents the only method currently available for manipulating gene-specific expression in Schistosoma spp., although application of this technology as a functional genomic profiling tool has yet to be explored. In the present study 32 genes, including antioxidants, transcription factors, cell signaling molecules and metabolic enzymes, were selected to determine if gene knockdown by RNAi was associated with morphologically definable phenotypic changes in early intramolluscan larval development. Transcript selection was based on their high expression in in vitro cultured S. mansoni primary sporocysts and/or their potential involvement in developmental processes. Miracidia were allowed to transform to sporocysts in the presence of synthesized double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and cultivated for 7 days, during which time developing larvae were closely observed for phenotypic changes including failure/delay in transformation, loss of motility, altered growth and death. Of the phenotypes evaluated, only one was consistently detected; namely a reduction in sporocyst size based on length measurements. The size-reducing phenotype was observed in 11 of the 33 (33%) dsRNA treatment groups, and of these 11 phenotype-associated genes (superoxide dismutase, Smad1, RHO2, Smad2, Cav2A, ring box, GST26, calcineurin B, Smad4, lactate dehydrogenase and EF1α), only 6 demonstrated a significant and consistent knockdown of specific transcript expression. Unexpectedly one phenotype-linked gene, superoxide dismutase (SOD), was highly induced (∼1600-fold) upon dsRNA exposure. Variation in dsRNA-mediated silencing effects also was evident in the group of sporocysts that lacked any definable phenotype. Out of 22 nonphenotype-expressing dsRNA treatments (myosin, PKCB, HEXBP, calcium channel, Sma2, RHO1, PKC receptor, DHHC, PepcK, calreticulin, calpain, Smeg, 14.3.3, K5, SPO1, SmZF1, fibrillarin, GST28, GPx, TPx1, TPx2 and TPx2/TPx1), 12 were assessed for the transcript levels. Of those, 6 genes exhibited consistent reductions in steady-state transcript levels, while expression level for the rest remained unchanged. Results demonstrate that the efficacy of dsRNA-treatment in producing consistent phenotypic changes and/or altered gene expression levels in S. mansoni sporocysts is highly dependent on the selected gene (or the specific dsRNA sequence used) and the timing of evaluation after treatment. Although RNAi holds great promise as a functional genomics tool for larval schistosomes, our finding of potential off-target or nonspecific effects of some dsRNA treatments and variable efficiencies in specific gene knockdown indicate a critical need for gene-specific testing and optimization as an essential part of experimental design, execution and data interpretation
High Content Screening Identifies Decaprenyl-Phosphoribose 2′ Epimerase as a Target for Intracellular Antimycobacterial Inhibitors
A critical feature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of human tuberculosis (TB), is its ability to survive and multiply within macrophages, making these host cells an ideal niche for persisting microbes. Killing the intracellular tubercle bacilli is a key requirement for efficient tuberculosis treatment, yet identifying potent inhibitors has been hampered by labor-intensive techniques and lack of validated targets. Here, we present the development of a phenotypic cell-based assay that uses automated confocal fluorescence microscopy for high throughput screening of chemicals that interfere with the replication of M. tuberculosis within macrophages. Screening a library of 57,000 small molecules led to the identification of 135 active compounds with potent intracellular anti-mycobacterial efficacy and no host cell toxicity. Among these, the dinitrobenzamide derivatives (DNB) showed high activity against M. tuberculosis, including extensively drug resistant (XDR) strains. More importantly, we demonstrate that incubation of M. tuberculosis with DNB inhibited the formation of both lipoarabinomannan and arabinogalactan, attributable to the inhibition of decaprenyl-phospho-arabinose synthesis catalyzed by the decaprenyl-phosphoribose 2′ epimerase DprE1/DprE2. Inhibition of this new target will likely contribute to new therapeutic solutions against emerging XDR-TB. Beyond validating the high throughput/content screening approach, our results open new avenues for finding the next generation of antimicrobials
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