17,022 research outputs found
Quantum Statistical Calculations and Symplectic Corrector Algorithms
The quantum partition function at finite temperature requires computing the
trace of the imaginary time propagator. For numerical and Monte Carlo
calculations, the propagator is usually split into its kinetic and potential
parts. A higher order splitting will result in a higher order convergent
algorithm. At imaginary time, the kinetic energy propagator is usually the
diffusion Greens function. Since diffusion cannot be simulated backward in
time, the splitting must maintain the positivity of all intermediate time
steps. However, since the trace is invariant under similarity transformations
of the propagator, one can use this freedom to "correct" the split propagator
to higher order. This use of similarity transforms classically give rises to
symplectic corrector algorithms. The split propagator is the symplectic kernel
and the similarity transformation is the corrector. This work proves a
generalization of the Sheng-Suzuki theorem: no positive time step propagators
with only kinetic and potential operators can be corrected beyond second order.
Second order forward propagators can have fourth order traces only with the
inclusion of an additional commutator. We give detailed derivations of four
forward correctable second order propagators and their minimal correctors.Comment: 9 pages, no figure, corrected typos, mostly missing right bracket
Genome-wide analysis of barrett's adenocarcinoma. a first step towards identifying patients at risk and developing therapeutic paths
BACKGROUND: Barrett's esophagus metaplasia is the key precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to find a subset of markers that may allow the identification of patients at risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma, and to determine genes differentially expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS:Laser capture microdissection technique was applied to procure cells from defined regions. Genome-wide RNA profiling was performed on esophageal adenocarcinoma (n = 21), Barrett's esophagus (n = 20), esophageal squamous carcinoma (n = 9) and healthy esophageal biopsies (n = 18) using the Affymetrix Human Genome U133plus 2.0 array. Microarray results were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in a second and independent cohort and by immunohistochemistry of two putative markers in a third independent cohort. RESULTS:Through unsupervised hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis, samples were separated into four distinct groups that match perfectly with histology. Many genes down-regulated in esophageal cancers belong to the epidermal differentiation complex or the related GO-group "cornified envelope" of terminally differentiated keratinocytes. Similarly, retinol metabolism was strongly down-regulated. Genes showing strong overexpression in esophageal carcinomas belong to the GO groups extracellular region /matrix such as MMP1, CTHRC1, and INHBA. According to an analysis of genes strongly up-regulated in both esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus, REG4 might be of particular interest as an early marker for esophageal adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS:Our study provides high quality data, which could serve for identification of potential biomarkers of Barrett's esophagus at risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma progression
Progressive ataxia with oculo-palatal tremor and optic atrophy
The final publication is available at Springer via doi: 10.​1007/​s00415-013-7136-
Finite-Wavevector Electromagnetic Response of Fractional Quantized Hall States
A fractional quantized Hall state with filling fraction can
be modeled as an integer quantized Hall state of transformed fermions,
interacting with a Chern-Simons field. The electromagnetic response function
for these states at arbitrary frequency and wavevector can be calculated using
a semiclassical approximation or the Random Phase Approximation (RPA). However,
such calculations do not properly take into account the large effective mass
renormalization which is present in the Chern-Simons theory. We show how the
mass renormalization can be incorporated in a calculation of the response
function within a Landau Fermi liquid theory approach such that Kohn's theorem
and the -sum rules are properly satisfied. We present results of such
calculations.Comment: 19 pages (REVTeX 3.0), 5 figures available on request; HU-CMT-93S0
Generalised Chern-Simons Theory of Composite Fermions in Bilayer Hall Systems
We present a field theory of Jain's composite fermion model as generalised to
the bilayer quantum Hall systems. We define operators which create composite
fermions and write the Hamiltonian exactly in terms of these operators. This is
seen to be a complexified version of the familiar Chern Simons theory. In the
mean-field approximation, the composite fermions feel a modified effective
magnetic field exactly as happens in usual Chern Simons theories, and plateaus
are predicted at the same values of filling factors as Lopez and Fradkin and
Halperin . But unlike normal Chern Simons theories, we obtain all features of
the first-quantised wavefunctions including its phase, modulus and correct
gaussian factors at the mean field level. The familiar Jain relations for
monolayers and the Halperin wavefunction for bilayers come out as special
cases.Comment: Revtex file; 20 pages after processing; no figure
Electromagnetic characteristics and effective gauge theory of double-layer quantum Hall systems
The electromagnetic characteristics of double-layer quantum Hall systems are
studied, with projection to the lowest Landau level taken into account and
intra-Landau-level collective excitations treated in the single-mode
approximation. It is pointed out that dipole-active excitations, both
elementary and collective, govern the long-wavelength features of quantum Hall
systems. In particular, the presence of the dipole-active interlayer
out-of-phase collective excitations, inherent to double-layer systems, modifies
the leading O(k) and O(k^{2}) long-wavelength characteristics (i.e., the
transport properties and characteristic scale) of the double-layer quantum Hall
states substantially. We apply bosonization techniques and construct from such
electromagnetic characteristics an effective theory, which consists of three
vector fields representing the three dipole-active modes, one interlayer
collective mode and two inter-Landau-level cyclotron modes. This effective
theory properly incorporates the spectrum of collective excitations on the
right scale of the Coulomb energy and, in addition, accommodates the favorable
transport properties of the standard Chern-Simons theories.Comment: 10 pages, Revtex, sec. II slightly shortened, to appear in Phys. Rev.
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Asymmetry in Gas Kinematics and its links to Stellar Mass and Star Formation
We study the properties of kinematically disturbed galaxies in the SAMI
Galaxy Survey using a quantitative criterion, based on kinemetry (Krajnovic et
al.). The approach, similar to the application of kinemetry by Shapiro et al.
uses ionised gas kinematics, probed by H{\alpha} emission. By this method
23+/-7% of our 360-galaxy sub-sample of the SAMI Galaxy Survey are
kinematically asymmetric. Visual classifications agree with our kinemetric
results for 90% of asymmetric and 95% of normal galaxies. We find stellar mass
and kinematic asymmetry are inversely correlated and that kinematic asymmetry
is both more frequent and stronger in low-mass galaxies. This builds on
previous studies that found high fractions of kinematic asymmetry in low mass
galaxies using a variety of different methods. Concentration of star forma-
tion and kinematic disturbance are found to be correlated, confirming results
found in previous work. This effect is stronger for high mass galaxies (log(M*)
> 10) and indicates that kinematic disturbance is linked to centrally
concentrated star formation. Comparison of the inner (within 0.5Re) and outer
H{\alpha} equivalent widths of asymmetric and normal galaxies shows a small but
significant increase in inner equivalent width for asymmetric galaxies.Comment: 29 pages, 21 figure
The Chandra X-ray Survey of Planetary Nebulae (ChanPlaNS): Probing Binarity, Magnetic Fields, and Wind Collisions
We present an overview of the initial results from the Chandra Planetary
Nebula Survey (ChanPlaNS), the first systematic (volume-limited) Chandra X-ray
Observatory survey of planetary nebulae (PNe) in the solar neighborhood. The
first phase of ChanPlaNS targeted 21 mostly high-excitation PNe within ~1.5 kpc
of Earth, yielding 4 detections of diffuse X-ray emission and 9 detections of
X-ray-luminous point sources at the central stars (CSPNe) of these objects.
Combining these results with those obtained from Chandra archival data for all
(14) other PNe within ~1.5 kpc that have been observed to date, we find an
overall X-ray detection rate of ~70%. Roughly 50% of the PNe observed by
Chandra harbor X-ray-luminous CSPNe, while soft, diffuse X-ray emission tracing
shocks formed by energetic wind collisions is detected in ~30%; five objects
display both diffuse and point-like emission components. The presence of X-ray
sources appears correlated with PN density structure, in that molecule-poor,
elliptical nebulae are more likely to display X-ray emission (either point-like
or diffuse) than molecule-rich, bipolar or Ring-like nebulae. All but one of
the X-ray point sources detected at CSPNe display X-ray spectra that are harder
than expected from hot (~100 kK) central star photospheres, possibly indicating
a high frequency of binary companions to CSPNe. Other potential explanations
include self-shocking winds or PN mass fallback. Most PNe detected as diffuse
X-ray sources are elliptical nebulae that display a nested shell/halo structure
and bright ansae; the diffuse X-ray emission regions are confined within inner,
sharp-rimmed shells. All sample PNe that display diffuse X-ray emission have
inner shell dynamical ages <~5x10^3 yr, placing firm constraints on the
timescale for strong shocks due to wind interactions in PNe.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures; submitted to the Astronomical Journa
Signals of Bose Einstein condensation and Fermi quenching in the decay of hot nuclear systems
We report experimental signals of Bose-Einstein condensation in the decay of
hot Ca projectile-like sources produced in mid-peripheral collisions at
sub-Fermi energies. The experimental setup, constituted by the coupling of the
INDRA 4 detector array to the forward angle VAMOS magnetic spectrometer,
allowed us to reconstruct the mass, charge and excitation energy of the
decaying hot projectile-like sources. Furthermore, by means of quantum
fluctuation analysis techniques, temperatures and mean volumes per particle "as
seen by" bosons and fermions separately are correlated to the excitation energy
of the reconstructed system. The obtained results are consistent with the
production of dilute mixed (bosons/fermions) systems, where bosons experience a
smaller volume as compared to the surrounding fermionic gas. Our findings
recall similar phenomena observed in the study of boson condensates in atomic
traps.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (december 2014
New Herbig-Haro Objects and Giant Outflows in Orion
We present the results of a photographic and CCD imaging survey for
Herbig-Haro (HH) objects in the L1630 and L1641 giant molecular clouds in
Orion. The new HH flows were initially identified from a deep H-alpha film from
the recently commissioned AAO/UKST H-alpha Survey of the southern sky. Our
scanned H-alpha and broad band R images highlight both the improved resolution
of the H-alpha survey and the excellent contrast of the H-alpha flux with
respect to the broad band R. Comparative IVN survey images allow us to
distinguish between emission and reflection nebulosity. Our CCD H-alpha, [SII],
continuum and I band images confirm the presence of a parsec-scale HH flow
associated with the Ori I-2 cometary globule and several parsec-scale strings
of HH emission centred on the L1641-N infrared cluster. Several smaller
outflows display one-sided jets. Our results indicate that for declinations
south of -6 degrees in L1641, parsec-scale flows appear to be the major force
in the large-scale movement of optical dust and molecular gas.Comment: 14 pages, Latex using MN style, 21 figures in JPEG format. Higher
resolution figures available from S.L. Mader. Accepted by MNRAS. Email
contact for higher resolution images: [email protected]
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