1,778 research outputs found
On Traversable Lorentzian Wormholes in the Vacuum Low Energy Effective String Theory in Einstein and Jordan Frames
Three new classes (II-IV) of solutions of the vacuum low energy effective
string theory in four dimensions are derived. Wormhole solutions are
investigated in those solutions including the class I case both in the Einstein
and in the Jordan (string) frame. It turns out that, of the eight classes of
solutions investigated (four in the Einstein frame and four in the
corresponding string frame), massive Lorentzian traversable wormholes exist in
five classes. Nontrivial massless limit exists only in class I Einstein frame
solution while none at all exists in the string frame. An investigation of test
scalar charge motion in the class I solution in the two frames is carried out
by using the Plebanski-Sawicki theorem. A curious consequence is that the
motion around the extremal zero (Keplerian) mass configuration leads, as a
result of scalar-scalar interaction, to a new hypothetical "mass" that confines
test scalar charges in bound orbits, but does not interact with neutral test
particles.Comment: 18 page
Tick holocyclotoxins trigger host paralysis by presynaptic inhibition
Ticks are important vectors of pathogens and secreted neurotoxins with approximately 69 out of 692 tick species having the ability to induce severe toxicoses in their hosts. The Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) is known to be one of the most virulent tick species producing a flaccid paralysis and fatalities caused by a family of neurotoxins known as holocyclotoxins (HTs). The paralysis mechanism of these toxins is temperature dependent and is thought to involve inhibition of acetylcholine levels at the neuromuscular junction. However, the target and mechanism of this inhibition remain uncharacterised. Here, we report that three members of the holocyclotoxin family; HT-1 (GenBank AY766147), HT-3 (GenBank KP096303) and HT-12 (GenBank KP963967) induce muscle paralysis by inhibiting the dependence of transmitter release on extracellular calcium. Previous study was conducted using extracts from tick salivary glands, while the present study is the first to use pure toxins from I. holocyclus. Our findings provide greater insight into the mechanisms by which these toxins act to induce paralysis
Disappearance of Ensemble-Averaged Josephson Current in Dirty SNS Junctions of d-wave Superconductors
We discuss the Josephson current in superconductor / dirty normal conductor /
superconductor junctions, where the superconductors have pairing
symmetry. The low-temperature behavior of the Josephson current depends on the
orientation angle between the crystalline axis and the normal of the junction
interface. We show that the ensemble-averaged Josephson current vanishes when
the orientation angle is and the normal conductor is in the diffusive
transport regime. The -wave pairing symmetry is responsible for
this fact.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Critical-point scaling function for the specific heat of a Ginzburg-Landau superconductor
If the zero-field transition in high temperature superconductors such as
YBa_2Cu_3O_7-\delta is a critical point in the universality class of the
3-dimensional XY model, then the general theory of critical phenomena predicts
the existence of a critical region in which thermodynamic functions have a
characteristic scaling form. We report the first attempt to calculate the
universal scaling function associated with the specific heat, for which
experimental data have become available in recent years. Scaling behaviour is
extracted from a renormalization-group analysis, and the 1/N expansion is
adopted as a means of approximation. The estimated scaling function is
qualitatively similar to that observed experimentally, and also to the
lowest-Landau-level scaling function used by some authors to provide an
alternative interpretation of the same data. Unfortunately, the 1/N expansion
is not sufficiently reliable at small values of N for a quantitative fit to be
feasible.Comment: 20 pages; 4 figure
The phase diagram of quantum systems: Heisenberg antiferromagnets
A novel approach for studying phase transitions in systems with quantum
degrees of freedom is discussed. Starting from the microscopic hamiltonian of a
quantum model, we first derive a set of exact differential equations for the
free energy and the correlation functions describing the effects of
fluctuations on the thermodynamics of the system. These equations reproduce the
full renormalization group structure in the neighborhood of a critical point
keeping, at the same time, full information on the non universal properties of
the model. As a concrete application we investigate the phase diagram of a
Heisenberg antiferromagnet in a staggered external magnetic field. At long
wavelengths the known relationship to the Quantum Non Linear Sigma Model
naturally emerges from our approach. By representing the two point function in
an approximate analytical form, we obtain a closed partial differential
equation which is then solved numerically. The results in three dimensions are
in good agreement with available Quantum Monte Carlo simulations and series
expansions. More refined approximations to the general framework presented here
and few applications to other models are briefly discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Vortex dynamics for two-dimensional XY models
Two-dimensional XY models with resistively shunted junction (RSJ) dynamics
and time dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) dynamics are simulated and it is
verified that the vortex response is well described by the Minnhagen
phenomenology for both types of dynamics. Evidence is presented supporting that
the dynamical critical exponent in the low-temperature phase is given by
the scaling prediction (expressed in terms of the Coulomb gas temperature
and the vortex renormalization given by the dielectric constant
) both for RSJ and TDGL
and that the nonlinear IV exponent a is given by a=z+1 in the low-temperature
phase. The results are discussed and compared with the results of other recent
papers and the importance of the boundary conditions is emphasized.Comment: 21 pages including 15 figures, final versio
Hall effect and resistivity in underdoped cuprates
The behaviour of the Hall ratio as a function of temperature is
one of the most intriguing normal state properties of cuprate superconductors.
One feature of all the data is a maximum of in the normal state that
broadens and shifts to temperatures well above with decreasing doping. We
show that a model of preformed pairs-bipolarons provides a selfconsistent
quantitative description of together with in-plane resistivity and
uniform magnetic susceptibility for a wide range of doping.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, the model and fits were refine
Observational Constraints on Teleparallel Dark Energy
We use data from Type Ia Supernovae (SNIa), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
(BAO), and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations to constrain the
recently proposed teleparallel dark energy scenario based on the teleparallel
equivalent of General Relativity, in which one adds a canonical scalar field,
allowing also for a nonminimal coupling with gravity. Using the power-law, the
exponential and the inverse hyperbolic cosine potential ansatzes, we show that
the scenario is compatible with observations. In particular, the data favor a
nonminimal coupling, and although the scalar field is canonical the model can
describe both the quintessence and phantom regimes.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, version accepted by JCA
Lattice QCD Constraints on the Nuclear Equation of State
Based on the quasi-particle description of the QCD medium at finite
temperature and density we formulate the phenomenological model for the
equation of state that exhibits crossover or the first order deconfinement
phase transition. The models are constructed in such a way to be
thermodynamically consistent and to satisfy the properties of the ground state
nuclear matter comply with constraints from intermediate heavy--ion collision
data. Our equations of states show quite reasonable agreement with the recent
lattice findings on temperature and baryon chemical potential dependence of
relevant thermodynamical quantities in the parameter range covering both the
hadronic and quark--gluon sectors. The model predictions on the isentropic
trajectories in the phase diagram are shown to be consistent with the recent
lattice results. Our nuclear equations of states are to be considered as an
input to the dynamical models describing the production and the time evolution
of a thermalized medium created in heavy ion collisions in a broad energy range
from SIS up to LHC.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
Edge effects in a frustrated Josephson junction array with modulated couplings
A square array of Josephson junctions with modulated strength in a magnetic
field with half a flux quantum per plaquette is studied by analytic arguments
and dynamical simulations. The modulation is such that alternate columns of
junctions are of different strength to the rest. Previous work has shown that
this system undergoes an XY followed by an Ising-like vortex lattice
disordering transition at a lower temperature. We argue that resistance
measurements are a possible probe of the vortex lattice disordering transition
as the linear resistance with
at intermediate temperatures due to dissipation at the array
edges for a particular geometry and vanishes for other geometries. Extensive
dynamical simulations are performed which support the qualitative physical
arguments.Comment: 8 pages with figs, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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