1,660 research outputs found
Dissipation in equations of motion of scalar fields
The methods of non-equilibrium quantum field theory are used to investigate
the possibility of representing dissipation in the equation of motion for the
expectation value of a scalar field by a friction term, such as is commonly
included in phenomenological inflaton equations of motion. A sequence of
approximations is exhibited which reduces the non-equilibrium theory to a set
of local evolution equations. However, the adiabatic solution to these
evolution equations which is needed to obtain a local equation of motion for
the expectation value is not well defined; nor, therefore, is the friction
coefficient. Thus, a non-equilibrium treatment is essential, even for a system
that remains close to thermal equilibrium, and the formalism developed here
provides one means of achieving this numerically.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Nonequilibrium perturbation theory for spin-1/2 fields
A partial resummation of perturbation theory is described for field theories
containing spin-1/2 particles in states that may be far from thermal
equilibrium. This allows the nonequilibrium state to be characterized in terms
of quasiparticles that approximate its true elementary excitations. In
particular, the quasiparticles have dispersion relations that differ from those
of free particles, finite thermal widths and occupation numbers which, in
contrast to those of standard perturbation theory evolve with the changing
nonequilibrium environment. A description of this kind is essential for
estimating the evolution of the system over extended periods of time. In
contrast to the corresponding description of scalar particles, the structure of
nonequilibrium fermion propagators exhibits features which have no counterpart
in the equilibrium theory.Comment: 16 pages; no figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.
Large-N transition temperature for superconducting films in a magnetic field
We consider the -component Ginzburg-Landau model in the large limit,
the system being embedded in an external constant magnetic field and confined
between two parallel planes a distance apart from one another. On physical
grounds, this corresponds to a material in the form of a film in the presence
of an external magnetic field. Using techniques from dimensional and
-function regularization, modified by the external field and the
confinement conditions, we investigate the behavior of the system as a function
of the film thickness . This behavior suggests the existence of a minimal
critical thickness below which superconductivity is suppressed.Comment: Revtex, two column, 4 pages, 2 figure
Critical Casimir Effect in 3He-4He films
Universal aspects of the thermodynamic Casimir effect in wetting films of
3He-4He mixtures near their bulk tricritical point are studied within suitable
models serving as representatives of the corresponding universality class. The
effective forces between the boundaries of such films arising from the
confinement are calculated along isotherms at several fixed concentrations of
3He. Nonsymmetric boundary conditions impose nontrivial concentration profiles
leading to repulsive Casimir forces which exhibit a rich behavior of the
crossover between the tricritical point and the line of critical points. The
theoretical results agree with published experimental data and emphasize the
importance of logarithmic corrections.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the Phys. Rev. Let
Gauge-invariant critical exponents for the Ginzburg-Landau model
The critical behavior of the Ginzburg-Landau model is described in a
manifestly gauge-invariant manner. The gauge-invariant correlation-function
exponent is computed to first order in the and -expansion, and found
to agree with the ordinary exponent obtained in the covariant gauge, with the
parameter in the gauge-fixing term .Comment: 4 pages, no figure
Quantum Rolling Down out of Equilibrium
In a scalar field theory, when the tree level potential admits broken
symmetry ground states, the quantum corrections to the static effective
potential are complex. (The imaginary part is a consequence of an instability
towards phase separation and the static effective potential is not a relevant
quantity for understanding the dynamics). Instead, we study here the equations
of motion obtained from the one loop effective action for slow rollover out of
equilibrium.
We considering the case in which a scalar field theory undergoes a rapid
phase transition from to . We find that, for slow rollover
initial conditions (the field near the maximum of the tree level potential),
the process of phase separation controlled by unstable long-wavelength
fluctuations introduces dramatic corrections to the dynamical evolution of the
field. We find that these effects slow the rollover even furtherComment: 33 pages, Latex,LPTHE-PAR 92-33 PITT 92-0
Student conceptions about energy transformations: progression from general chemistry to biochemistry
Students commencing studies in biochemistry must transfer and build on concepts they learned in chemistry and biology classes. It is well established, however, that students have difficulties in transferring critical concepts from general chemistry courses; one key concept is “energy.” Most previous work on students’ conception of energy has focused on their understanding of energy in the context of physics (including the idea of “work”) and/or their understanding of energy in classical physical and inorganic chemistry contexts (particularly Gibbs Free Energy changes, the second law of thermodynamics, and equilibrium under standard conditions within a closed system). For biochemistry, students must go beyond those basic thermodynamics concepts of work, standard energy changes, and closed systems, and instead they must consider what energy flow, use, and transformation mean in living, open, and dynamic systems. In this study we explored students’ concepts about free energy and flow in biological chemical reactions and metabolic pathways by surveys and in-depth interviews. We worked with students in general chemistry classes and biochemistry courses in both an Australian and a US tertiary institution. We address three primary questions (i) What are the most common alternative conceptions held by students when they explain energy-related phenomena in biochemistry?, (ii) What information do students transfer from introductory chemistry and biology when they are asked to consider energy in a biological reaction or reaction pathway?, and (iii) How do students at varying levels of competence articulate their understandings of energy in pathways and biological reactions? The answers to these questions are used to build a preliminary learning progression for understanding “energy” in biochemistry. We also propose crucial elements of content knowledge that instructors could apply to help students better grasp this threshold concept in biochemistry
Critical properties of the topological Ginzburg-Landau model
We consider a Ginzburg-Landau model for superconductivity with a Chern-Simons
term added. The flow diagram contains two charged fixed points corresponding to
the tricritical and infrared stable fixed points. The topological coupling
controls the fixed point structure and eventually the region of first order
transitions disappears. We compute the critical exponents as a function of the
topological coupling. We obtain that the value of the exponent does not
vary very much from the XY value, . This shows that the
Chern-Simons term does not affect considerably the XY scaling of
superconductors. We discuss briefly the possible phenomenological applications
of this model.Comment: RevTex, 7 pages, 8 figure
Online learning in chemistry: Design, development, accessibility, and evaluation
Online learning has played an integral role in delivering large-cohort chemistry courses in undergraduate degree programs. This study includes describing how a first-year chemistry course transitioned from traditional face-to-face teaching to blended learning using the Resource-Based Learning framework (Hannafin & Hill, 2007; Reyes et al., 2022a). Using this framework, different types of online learning resources were curated to deliver chemistry content. A variety of learning activities were also developed to enhance these resources guided by Laurillard’s Conversational Framework (Laurillard, 2002). Considering that accessibility is a critical aspect to improve students’ learning experience, the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework was integrated into the learning design of first-year chemistry (Rose & Meyer, 2002; Reyes et al., 2022b). The perceived utility of online learning resources enhanced with UDL-based features was evaluated through students’ responses to surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Furthermore, learning analytics using temporal, sequence, and process mining analytical techniques were employed on students’ trace data to evaluate course learning design and to understand students’ engagement with learning resources and activities included in the course. Results of this study show the importance of careful development and implementation of learning design of the online learning component of chemistry courses, to enhance the students’ learning experiences.
REFERENCES
Hannafin, M. J., & Hill, J. (2007). Resource-based learning. In M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. van Merrienboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology. Erlbaum.
Laurillard, D. (2002). Rethinking university teaching: A conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies (2nd ed.). RoutledgeFalmer.
Reyes, C.T., Kyne, S. H., Lawrie, G. A., & Thompson, C. D. (2022a). Implementing blended first-year chemistry in a developing country using online resources. Online Learning, 26(1), 174–202. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v26i1.2508
Reyes, C.T., Lawrie, G. A., Thompson, C. D., & Kyne, S. H. (2022b). “Every little thing that could possibly be provided helps”: analysis of online first-year chemistry resources using the universal design for learning framework. Chemistry Education Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1rp00171j
Rose D. H. & Meyer A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal Design for Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Relaxation and Kinetics in Scalar Field Theories
A new approach to the dynamics of relaxation and kinetics of thermalization
in a scalar field theory is presented that incorporates the relevant time
scales through the resummation of hard thermal loops. An alternative derivation
of the kinetic equations for the ``quasiparticle'' distribution functions is
obtained that allows a clear understanding of the different ``coarse graining''
approximations usually involved in a kinetic description. This method leads to
a systematic perturbative expansion to obtain the kinetic equations including
hard-thermal loop resummation and to an improvement including renormalization,
off-shell effects and contributions that change chemical equilibrium on short
time scales. As a byproduct of these methods we establish the relation between
the relaxation time scale in the linearized equation of motion of the
quasiparticles and the thermalization time scale of the quasiparticle
distribution function in the ``relaxation time approximation''. Hard thermal
loop resummation dramatically modifies the scattering rate for long wavelength
modes as compared to the usual (semi) classical estimate. Relaxation and
kinetics are studied both in the unbroken and broken symmetry phases of the
theory. The broken symmetry phase also provides the setting to obtain the
contribution to the kinetic equations from processes that involve decay of a
heavy scalar into light scalar particles in the medium.Comment: 28 pages, revtex 3.0, two figures available upon reques
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