7,295 research outputs found
Quantum Antiferromagnetism in Quasicrystals
The antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model is studied on a two-dimensional
bipartite quasiperiodic lattice. The distribution of local staggered magnetic
moments is determined on finite square approximants with up to 1393 sites,
using the Stochastic Series Expansion Quantum Monte Carlo method. A non-trivial
inhomogeneous ground state is found. For a given local coordination number, the
values of the magnetic moments are spread out, reflecting the fact that no two
sites in a quasicrystal are identical. A hierarchical structure in the values
of the moments is observed which arises from the self-similarity of the
quasiperiodic lattice. Furthermore, the computed spin structure factor shows
antiferromagnetic modulations that can be measured in neutron scattering and
nuclear magnetic resonance experiments.
This generic model is a first step towards understanding magnetic
quasicrystals such as the recently discovered Zn-Mg-Ho icosahedral structure.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages with 5 figure
Direct contact and authoritarianism as moderators between extended contact and reduced prejudice: Lower threat and greater trust as mediators
Using a representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 1238), we investigated the moderating influence of direct contact and authoritarianism on the potential of extended contact to reduce prejudice. As expected, direct contact and authoritarianism moderated the effect of extended contact on prejudice. Moreover, the third-order moderation effect was also significant, revealing that extended contact has the strongest effect among high authoritarians with low levels of direct contact. We identified trust and perceived threat as the mediating processes underlying these moderation effects. The present study thus attests to the theoretical and practical relevance of reducing prejudice via extended contact. The discussion focuses on the role of extended contact in relation to direct contact and authoritarianism as well as on the importance of trust in intergroup contexts
Manifestation of spin-charge separation in the dynamic dielectric response of one--dimensional Sr2CuO3
We have determined the dynamical dielectric response of a one-dimensional,
correlated insulator by carrying out electron energy-loss spectroscopy on
Sr2CuO3 single crystals. The observed momentum and energy dependence of the
low-energy features, which correspond to collective transitions across the gap,
are well described by an extended one-band Hubbard model with moderate nearest
neighbor Coulomb interaction strength. An exciton-like peak appears with
increasing momentum transfer. These observations provide experimental evidence
for spin-charge separation in the relevant excitations of this compound, as
theoretically expected for the one-dimensional Hubbard model.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages+2 figures, to appear in PRL (July 13
Comparing families of dynamic causal models
Mathematical models of scientific data can be formally compared using Bayesian model evidence. Previous applications in the biological sciences have mainly focussed on model selection in which one first selects the model with the highest evidence and then makes inferences based on the parameters of that model. This “best model” approach is very useful but can become brittle if there are a large number of models to compare, and if different subjects use different models. To overcome this shortcoming we propose the combination of two further approaches: (i) family level inference and (ii) Bayesian model averaging within families. Family level inference removes uncertainty about aspects of model structure other than the characteristic of interest. For example: What are the inputs to the system? Is processing serial or parallel? Is it linear or nonlinear? Is it mediated by a single, crucial connection? We apply Bayesian model averaging within families to provide inferences about parameters that are independent of further assumptions about model structure. We illustrate the methods using Dynamic Causal Models of brain imaging data
Pulsatory Patterns in Active Fluids
We show that pulsatory patterns arise in thin active films in which two chemical species regulate active stress. The regulating species diffuse within the film and are advected by self-generated flows resulting from active stress gradients. Spontaneous pulsatory patterns emerge when the following conditions are met: (i) the fast-diffusing species up-regulates and the slow-diffusing species down-regulates active stress, or (ii) the active stress up-regulator turns over faster compared to the active stress down-regulator. Our study, motivated by pulsatory patterns in the actomyosin cortex in cells and tissues, provides a simple generic mechanism for oscillatory patterns in active fluids
Short-term outcome after posterior versus lateral surgical approach for total hip arthroplasty - a randomized clinical trial*
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>Currently, total hip replacement (THR) is most commonly performed via a posterior or a direct lateral approach, but the impact of the latter on the invention's outcome has yet not been quantified.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the short-term outcome of cementless THR using the both approaches in a prospective, randomized controlled trial. 60 patients with unilateral osteoarthritis were included. Outcome assessment was performed one day before surgery and one week, four weeks, six weeks and 12 weeks after surgery, respectively, using the Harris Hip score as primary objective.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found no significant difference in the intraindividual Harris Hip Score improvement at the pre-and three months post-operative assessments between both treatment groups (p = 0.115). However, Harris Hip scores and most functional and psychometric secondary endpoints showed a consistent tendency of a slightly better three months result in patients implanted via the posterior approach. In contrast a significant shorter operating time of the direct lateral approach was recorded (67 minutes versus 76 minutes, p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In our opinion this slightly better short-term functional outcome after posterior approach is not clinical relevant. However, to make definitive conclusions all clinical relevant factors (i.e. mid- to long-term function, satisfaction, complication rates and long-term survival) have to be taken into account. <it>Level of evidence: </it>I - therapeutic</p
Disorder-enhanced phase coherence in trapped bosons on optical lattices
The consequences of disorder on interacting bosons trapped in optical
lattices are investigated by quantum Monte Carlo simulations. At small to
moderate strengths of potential disorder a unique effect is observed: if there
is a Mott plateau at the center of the trap in the clean limit, phase coherence
{\it increases} as a result of disorder. The localization effects due to
correlation and disorder compete against each other, resulting in a partial
delocalization of the particles in the Mott region, which in turn leads to
increased phase coherence. In the absence of a Mott plateau, this effect is
absent. A detailed analysis of the uniform system without a trap shows that the
disordered states participate in a Bose glass phase.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Foundations of the Wald Space for Phylogenetic Trees
Evolutionary relationships between species are represented by phylogenetic
trees, but these relationships are subject to uncertainty due to the random
nature of evolution. A geometry for the space of phylogenetic trees is
necessary in order to properly quantify this uncertainty during the statistical
analysis of collections of possible evolutionary trees inferred from biological
data. Recently, the wald space has been introduced: a length space for trees
which is a certain subset of the manifold of symmetric positive definite
matrices. In this work, the wald space is introduced formally and its topology
and structure is studied in detail. In particular, we show that wald space has
the topology of a disjoint union of open cubes, it is contractible, and by
careful characterization of cube boundaries, we demonstrate that wald space is
a Whitney stratified space of type (A). Imposing the metric induced by the
affine invariant metric on symmetric positive definite matrices, we prove that
wald space is a geodesic Riemann stratified space. A new numerical method is
proposed and investigated for construction of geodesics, computation of
Fr\'echet means and calculation of curvature in wald space. This work is
intended to serve as a mathematical foundation for further geometric and
statistical research on this space.Comment: 42 pages, 15 figure
Dynamic Exponent of t-J and t-J-W Model
Drude weight of optical conductivity is calculated at zero temperature by
exact diagonalization for the two-dimensional t-J model with the two-particle
term, . For the ordinary t-J model with =0, the scaling of the Drude
weight for small doping concentration is
obtained, which indicates anomalous dynamic exponent =4 of the Mott
transition. When is switched on, the dynamic exponent recovers its
conventional value =2. This corresponds to an incoherent-to-coherent
transition associated with the switching of the two-particle transfer.Comment: LaTeX, JPSJ-style, 4 pages, 5 eps files, to appear in J. Phys. Soc.
Jpn. vol.67, No.6 (1998
Physical Conditions and Star Formation Activity in the Intragroup Medium of Stephan's Quintet
New multi-band observations of the famous compact group of galaxies Stephan's
Quintet (SQ) are presented and analyzed. These include far infrared (FIR)
images at 60 and 100 (ISOPHOT C-100 camera), radio continuum
images at 1.4 GHz (VLA B-array) and 4.86 GHz (VLA C-array), and long-slit
optical spectrographs (Palomar telescope). With these new data, we aim
to learn more about the X-ray/radio ridge in the middle of the intragroup
medium (IGM) and the IGM starburst SQ-A, both are likely to be caused by the
high speed collision ( km s) between the intruder galaxy NGC
7318b ( km s) and the IGM ( km s).Comment: 31 pages text, 17 figures. Accepted by ApJ. A PS file including all
figures can be found in
http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/cxu/preprints/sq/apj_sq.ps.g
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