4,009 research outputs found
Stochastic evolutions in superspace and superconformal field theory
Some stochastic evolutions of conformal maps can be described by SLE and may
be linked to conformal field theory via stochastic differential equations and
singular vectors in highest-weight modules of the Virasoro algebra. Here we
discuss how this may be extended to superconformal maps of N=1 superspace with
links to superconformal field theory and singular vectors of the N=1
superconformal algebra in the Neveu-Schwarz sector.Comment: 13 pages, LaTe
Harmonic Measure and Winding of Conformally Invariant Curves
The exact joint multifractal distribution for the scaling and winding of the
electrostatic potential lines near any conformally invariant scaling curve is
derived in two dimensions. Its spectrum f(alpha,lambda) gives the Hausdorff
dimension of the points where the potential scales with distance as while the curve logarithmically spirals with a rotation angle
phi=lambda ln r. It obeys the scaling law f(\alpha,\lambda)=(1+\lambda^2)
f(\bar \alpha)-b\lambda^2 with \bar \alpha=\alpha/(1+\lambda^2) and
b=(25-c)/{12}$, and where f(\alpha)\equiv f(\alpha,0) is the pure harmonic
measure spectrum, and c the conformal central charge. The results apply to O(N)
and Potts models, as well as to {\rm SLE}_{\kappa}.Comment: 3 figure
Quantitative estimates of discrete harmonic measures
A theorem of Bourgain states that the harmonic measure for a domain in
is supported on a set of Hausdorff dimension strictly less than
\cite{Bourgain}. We apply Bourgain's method to the discrete case, i.e., to the
distribution of the first entrance point of a random walk into a subset of , . By refining the argument, we prove that for all \b>0 there
exists \rho (d,\b)N(d,\b), any , and any | \{y\in\Z^d\colon \nu_{A,x}(y)
\geq n^{-\b} \}| \leq n^{\rho(d,\b)}, where denotes the
probability that is the first entrance point of the simple random walk
starting at into . Furthermore, must converge to as \b \to
\infty.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures. Part (B) of the theorem is ne
Determinantal Correlations of Brownian Paths in the Plane with Nonintersection Condition on their Loop-Erased Parts
As an image of the many-to-one map of loop-erasing operation \LE of random
walks, a self-avoiding walk (SAW) is obtained. The loop-erased random walk
(LERW) model is the statistical ensemble of SAWs such that the weight of each
SAW is given by the total weight of all random walks which are
inverse images of , \{\pi: \LE(\pi)=\zeta \}. We regard the Brownian
paths as the continuum limits of random walks and consider the statistical
ensemble of loop-erased Brownian paths (LEBPs) as the continuum limits of the
LERW model. Following the theory of Fomin on nonintersecting LERWs, we
introduce a nonintersecting system of -tuples of LEBPs in a domain in
the complex plane, where the total weight of nonintersecting LEBPs is given by
Fomin's determinant of an matrix whose entries are boundary
Poisson kernels in . We set a sequence of chambers in a planar domain and
observe the first passage points at which Brownian paths first enter each chamber, under the condition that the loop-erased
parts (\LE(\gamma_1),..., \LE(\gamma_N)) make a system of nonintersecting
LEBPs in the domain in the sense of Fomin. We prove that the correlation
functions of first passage points of the Brownian paths of the present system
are generally given by determinants specified by a continuous function called
the correlation kernel. The correlation kernel is of Eynard-Mehta type, which
has appeared in two-matrix models and time-dependent matrix models studied in
random matrix theory. Conformal covariance of correlation functions is
demonstrated.Comment: v3: REVTeX4, 27 pages, 10 figures, corrections made for publication
in Phys.Rev.
Nucleosynthesis: Stellar and Solar Abundances and Atomic Data
Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large
amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic
halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the
nature of the earliest generations of stars in the Galaxy -- the progenitors of
the halo stars -- responsible for neutron-capture synthesis. Comparisons of
abundance trends can be used to understand the chemical evolution of the Galaxy
and the nature of heavy element nucleosynthesis. In addition age
determinations, based upon long-lived radioactive nuclei abundances, can now be
obtained. These stellar abundance determinations depend critically upon atomic
data. Improved laboratory transition probabilities have been recently obtained
for a number of elements. These new gf values have been used to greatly refine
the abundances of neutron-capture elemental abundances in the solar photosphere
and in very metal-poor Galactic halo stars. The newly determined stellar
abundances are surprisingly consistent with a (relative) Solar System r-process
pattern, and are also consistent with abundance predictions expected from such
neutron-capture nucleosynthesis.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. To appear in the Proceedings of the NASA
Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop in Las Vegas, NV (February 2006
Critical Exponents near a Random Fractal Boundary
The critical behaviour of correlation functions near a boundary is modified
from that in the bulk. When the boundary is smooth this is known to be
characterised by the surface scaling dimension \xt. We consider the case when
the boundary is a random fractal, specifically a self-avoiding walk or the
frontier of a Brownian walk, in two dimensions, and show that the boundary
scaling behaviour of the correlation function is characterised by a set of
multifractal boundary exponents, given exactly by conformal invariance
arguments to be \lambda_n = 1/48 (\sqrt{1+24n\xt}+11)(\sqrt{1+24n\xt}-1).
This result may be interpreted in terms of a scale-dependent distribution of
opening angles of the fractal boundary: on short distance scales these
are sharply peaked around . Similar arguments give the
multifractal exponents for the case of coupling to a quenched random bulk
geometry.Comment: 13 pages. Comments on relation to results in quenched random bulk
added, and on relation to other recent work. Typos correcte
Strong Spherical Asymptotics for Rotor-Router Aggregation and the Divisible Sandpile
The rotor-router model is a deterministic analogue of random walk. It can be
used to define a deterministic growth model analogous to internal DLA. We prove
that the asymptotic shape of this model is a Euclidean ball, in a sense which
is stronger than our earlier work. For the shape consisting of
sites, where is the volume of the unit ball in , we show that
the inradius of the set of occupied sites is at least , while the
outradius is at most for any . For a related
model, the divisible sandpile, we show that the domain of occupied sites is a
Euclidean ball with error in the radius a constant independent of the total
mass. For the classical abelian sandpile model in two dimensions, with particles, we show that the inradius is at least , and the
outradius is at most . This improves on bounds of Le Borgne
and Rossin. Similar bounds apply in higher dimensions.Comment: [v3] Added Theorem 4.1, which generalizes Theorem 1.4 for the abelian
sandpile. [v4] Added references and improved exposition in sections 2 and 4.
[v5] Final version, to appear in Potential Analysi
Projected climate-induced faunal change in the western hemisphere
Climate change is predicted to be one of the greatest drivers of ecological change in the coming century. Increases in temperature over the last century have clearly been linked to shifts in species distributions. Given the magnitude of projected future climatic changes, we can expect even larger range shifts in the coming century. These changes will, in turn, alter ecological communities and the functioning of ecosystems. Despite the seriousness of predicted climate change, the uncertainty in climate-change projections makes it difficult for conservation managers and planners to proactively respond to climate stresses. To address one aspect of this uncertainty, we identified predictions of faunal change for which a high level of consensus was exhibited by different climate models. Specifically, we assessed the potential effects of 30 coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model (AOGCM) future-climate simulations on the geographic ranges of 2954 species of birds, mammals, and amphibians in the Western Hemisphere. Eighty percent of the climate projections based on a relatively low greenhouse-gas emissions scenario result in the local loss of at least 10% of the vertebrate fauna over much of North and South America. The largest changes in fauna are predicted for the tundra, Central America, and the Andes Mountains where, assuming no dispersal constraints, specific areas are likely to experience over 90% turnover, so that faunal distributions in the future will bear little resemblance to those of today
Families of Vicious Walkers
We consider a generalisation of the vicious walker problem in which N random
walkers in R^d are grouped into p families. Using field-theoretic
renormalisation group methods we calculate the asymptotic behaviour of the
probability that no pairs of walkers from different families have met up to
time t. For d>2, this is constant, but for d<2 it decays as a power t^(-alpha),
which we compute to O(epsilon^2) in an expansion in epsilon=2-d. The second
order term depends on the ratios of the diffusivities of the different
families. In two dimensions, we find a logarithmic decay (ln t)^(-alpha'), and
compute alpha' exactly.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. v.2: minor additions and correction
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