Classical dimer model with anisotropic interactions on the square lattice

We discuss phase transitions and the phase diagram of a classical dimer model with anisotropic interactions defined on a square lattice. For the attractive region, the perturbation of the orientational order parameter introduced by the anisotropy causes the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions from a dimer-liquid to columnar phases. According to the discussion by Nomura and Okamoto for a quantum-spin chain system [J. Phys. A 27, 5773 (1994)], we proffer criteria to determine transition points and also universal level-splitting conditions. Subsequently, we perform numerical diagonalization calculations of the nonsymmetric real transfer matrices up to linear dimension specified by L=20 and determine the global phase diagram. For the repulsive region, we find the boundary between the dimer-liquid and the strong repulsion phases. Based on the dispersion relation of the one-string motion, which exhibits a two-fold ``zero-energy flat band'' in the strong repulsion limit, we give an intuitive account for the property of the strong repulsion phase.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Seasonal cycle of precipitation variability in South America on intraseasonal timescales

The seasonal cycle of the intraseasonal (IS) variability of precipitation in South America is described through the analysis of bandpass filtered outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) anomalies. The analysis is discriminated between short (10--30 days) and long (30--90 days) intraseasonal timescales. The seasonal cycle of the 30--90-day IS variability can be well described by the activity of first leading pattern (EOF1) computed separately for the wet season (October--April) and the dry season (May--September). In agreement with previous works, the EOF1 spatial distribution during the wet season is that of a dipole with centers of actions in the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ) and southeastern South America (SESA), while during the dry season, only the last center is discernible. In both seasons, the pattern is highly influenced by the activity of the Madden--Julian Oscillation (MJO). Moreover, EOF1 is related with a tropical zonal-wavenumber-1 structure superposed with coherent wave trains extended along the South Pacific during the wet season, while during the dry season the wavenumber-1 structure is not observed. The 10--30-day IS variability of OLR in South America can be well represented by the activity of the EOF1 computed through considering all seasons together, a dipole but with the stronger center located over SESA. While the convection activity at the tropical band does not seem to influence its activity, there are evidences that the atmospheric variability at subtropical-extratropical regions might have a role. Subpolar wavetrains are observed in the Pacific throughout the year and less intense during DJF, while a path of wave energy dispersion along a subtropical wavetrain also characterizes the other seasons. Further work is needed to identify the sources of the 10--30-day-IS variability in South America

Dynamical response of the nuclear pasta in neutron star crusts

The nuclear pasta -- a novel state of matter having nucleons arranged in a variety of complex shapes -- is expected to be found in the crust of neutron stars and in core-collapse supernovae at subnuclear densities of about $10^{14}$ g/cm$^3$. Due to frustration, a phenomenon that emerges from the competition between short-range nuclear attraction and long-range Coulomb repulsion, the nuclear pasta displays a preponderance of unique low-energy excitations. These excitations could have a strong impact on many transport properties, such as neutrino propagation through stellar environments. The excitation spectrum of the nuclear pasta is computed via a molecular-dynamics simulation involving up to 100,000 nucleons. The dynamic response of the pasta displays a classical plasma oscillation in the 1-2 MeV region. In addition, substantial strength is found at low energies. Yet this low-energy strength is missing from a simple ion model containing a single-representative heavy nucleus. The low-energy strength observed in the dynamic response of the pasta is likely to be a density wave involving the internal degrees of freedom of the clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Phys Rev C in pres

Large igneous provinces track fluctuations in subaerial exposure of continents across the Archean–Proterozoic transition

Geological observations and numerical models imply that Archean continents were mostly submarine. In contrast, approximately one third of modern earth's surface area consists of subaerial continental crust. To temporally constrain changes in the subaerial exposure of continents, we evaluate the eruptive environment (submarine vs subaerial) of 3.4–2.0 Ga continental large igneous provinces (LIPs). Our results indicate that up until 2.4 Ga LIPs predominantly erupted onto submerged continents. This period of low freeboard was punctuated by local subaerial eruptions at 2.8–2.7 Ga and 2.5 Ga. From 2.4 Ga–2.2 Ga, extensive subaerial continental volcanism is recorded in six different cratons, supporting widespread subaerial continents at this time. An increase in exposed continental crust significantly impacts atmospheric and oceanic geochemical cycles and the supply of nutrients for marine bioproductivity. Thus, the 2.4–2.2 Ga high-freeboard conditions may have triggered the earliest global glaciation event and the first significant rise of atmospheric oxygen

Accelerating Cardiac Bidomain Simulations Using Graphics Processing Units

Anatomically realistic and biophysically detailed multiscale computer models of the heart are playing an increasingly important role in advancing our understanding of integrated cardiac function in health and disease. Such detailed simulations, however, are computationally vastly demanding, which is a limiting factor for a wider adoption of in-silico modeling. While current trends in high-performance computing (HPC) hardware promise to alleviate this problem, exploiting the potential of such architectures remains challenging since strongly scalable algorithms are necessitated to reduce execution times. Alternatively, acceleration technologies such as graphics processing units (GPUs) are being considered. While the potential of GPUs has been demonstrated in various applications, benefits in the context of bidomain simulations where large sparse linear systems have to be solved in parallel with advanced numerical techniques are less clear. In this study, the feasibility of multi-GPU bidomain simulations is demonstrated by running strong scalability benchmarks using a state-of-the-art model of rabbit ventricles. The model is spatially discretized using the finite element methods (FEM) on fully unstructured grids. The GPU code is directly derived from a large pre-existing code, the Cardiac Arrhythmia Research Package (CARP), with very minor perturbation of the code base. Overall, bidomain simulations were sped up by a factor of 11.8 to 16.3 in benchmarks running on 6-20 GPUs compared to the same number of CPU cores. To match the fastest GPU simulation which engaged 20 GPUs, 476 CPU cores were required on a national supercomputing facility

The harmonic oscillator on Riemannian and Lorentzian configuration spaces of constant curvature

The harmonic oscillator as a distinguished dynamical system can be defined not only on the Euclidean plane but also on the sphere and on the hyperbolic plane, and more generally on any configuration space with constant curvature and with a metric of any signature, either Riemannian (definite positive) or Lorentzian (indefinite). In this paper we study the main properties of these `curved' harmonic oscillators simultaneously on any such configuration space, using a Cayley-Klein (CK) type approach, with two free parameters \ki, \kii which altogether correspond to the possible values for curvature and signature type: the generic Riemannian and Lorentzian spaces of constant curvature (sphere ${\bf S}^2$, hyperbolic plane ${\bf H}^2$, AntiDeSitter sphere {\bf AdS}^{\unomasuno} and DeSitter sphere {\bf dS}^{\unomasuno}) appear in this family, with the Euclidean and Minkowski spaces as flat limits. We solve the equations of motion for the `curved' harmonic oscillator and obtain explicit expressions for the orbits by using three different methods: first by direct integration, second by obtaining the general CK version of the Binet's equation and third, as a consequence of its superintegrable character. The orbits are conics with centre at the potential origin in any CK space, thereby extending this well known Euclidean property to any constant curvature configuration space. The final part of the article, that has a more geometric character, presents those results of the theory of conics on spaces of constant curvature which are pertinent.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure

Two-dimensional periodic frustrated Ising models in a transverse field

We investigate the interplay of classical degeneracy and quantum dynamics in a range of periodic frustrated transverse field Ising systems at zero temperature. We find that such dynamics can lead to unusual ordered phases and phase transitions, or to a quantum spin liquid (cooperative paramagnetic) phase as in the triangular and kagome lattice antiferromagnets, respectively. For the latter, we further predict passage to a bond-ordered phase followed by a critical phase as the field is tilted. These systems also provide exact realizations of quantum dimer models introduced in studies of high temperature superconductivity.Comment: Revised introduction; numerical error in hexagonal section correcte