Canonical density matrix perturbation theory

Density matrix perturbation theory [Niklasson and Challacombe, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 193001 (2004)] is generalized to canonical (NVT) free energy ensembles in tight-binding, Hartree-Fock or Kohn-Sham density functional theory. The canonical density matrix perturbation theory can be used to calculate temperature dependent response properties from the coupled perturbed self-consistent field equations as in density functional perturbation theory. The method is well suited to take advantage of sparse matrix algebra to achieve linear scaling complexity in the computational cost as a function of system size for sufficiently large non-metallic materials and metals at high temperatures.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure

Length-thermal Stress Relations For Composite Bridges

Computer-assisted analysis was used to study the relation among uniform, linear, and nonlinear stress components thermally induced in a composite bridge section for hypothetical parameters of varying span lengths, number of spans, and support conditions, as well as for actual bridges. The results were verified by conventional methods of analysis. The following was concluded for prismatic (constant) sections: (1) For constant proportionality of span lengths, each of the three thermal stress components is independent of span length; (2) variation of the proportionality of span lengths affects only the linear stress component; (3) support reactions and deflections caused by thermal loading are length dependent, but the induced moments and stresses are independent of length; (4) as the number of spans increases, the (thermally induced) moment magnitudes tend to converge; (5) the magnitude of reactions, for constant proportionality of span lengths, varies inversely with span length; and (6) for total end fixity, no exterior or interior vertical support reactions are thermally induced. © ASCE

Semi-classical buckling of stiff polymers

A quantitative theory of the buckling of a worm like chain based on a semi-classical approximation of the partition function is presented. The contribution of thermal fluctuations to the force-extension relation that allows to go beyond the classical Euler buckling is derived in the linear and non-linear regime as well. It is shown that the thermal fluctuations in the nonlinear buckling regime increase the end-to-end distance of the semiflexible rod if it is confined to 2 dimensions as opposed to the 3 dimensional case. Our approach allows a complete physical understanding of buckling in D=2 and in D=3 below and above the Euler transition.Comment: Revtex, 17 pages, 4 figure

Future changes in tropical cyclone activity in the North Indian Ocean projected by high-resolution MRI-AGCMs

Open Access at publisher's web site: http://www.springerlink.com/content/b682734237171631

The Future of Value-Based Payment

A decade of innovation and experimentation has failed to transform the health care system to one that pays for value rather than volume. It is now time to reconsider how value-based payment models can generate substantial savings and improve quality and health equity. Experts from the University of Pennsylvania, with input from a national panel of experts, reviewed the effectiveness of past payment reforms implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and made recommendations about how to accelerate and complete the nation’s transformation to value-based payment. This brief summarizes recommendations that provide a path toward widespread adoption and success of alternative payment models, producing better health outcomes for all Americans, reducing wasteful spending, improving health equity, and more effectively stewarding taxpayer funds to support other national priorities

The Littlest Higgs

We present an economical theory of natural electroweak symmetry breaking, generalizing an approach based on deconstruction. This theory is the smallest extension of the Standard Model to date that stabilizes the electroweak scale with a naturally light Higgs and weakly coupled new physics at TeV energies. The Higgs is one of a set of pseudo Goldstone bosons in an $SU(5)/SO(5)$ nonlinear sigma model. The symmetry breaking scale $f$ is around a TeV, with the cutoff \Lambda \lsim 4\pi f \sim 10 TeV. A single electroweak doublet, the ``little Higgs'', is automatically much lighter than the other pseudo Goldstone bosons. The quartic self-coupling for the little Higgs is generated by the gauge and Yukawa interactions with a natural size $O(g^2,\lambda_t^2)$, while the top Yukawa coupling generates a negative mass squared triggering electroweak symmetry breaking. Beneath the TeV scale the effective theory is simply the minimal Standard Model. The new particle content at TeV energies consists of one set of spin one bosons with the same quantum numbers as the electroweak gauge bosons, an electroweak singlet quark with charge 2/3, and an electroweak triplet scalar. One loop quadratically divergent corrections to the Higgs mass are cancelled by interactions with these additional particles.Comment: 15 pages. References added. Corrected typos in the discussion of the top Yukawa couplin

Optimized broad-histogram simulations for strong first-order phase transitions: Droplet transitions in the large-Q Potts model

The numerical simulation of strongly first-order phase transitions has remained a notoriously difficult problem even for classical systems due to the exponentially suppressed (thermal) equilibration in the vicinity of such a transition. In the absence of efficient update techniques, a common approach to improve equilibration in Monte Carlo simulations is to broaden the sampled statistical ensemble beyond the bimodal distribution of the canonical ensemble. Here we show how a recently developed feedback algorithm can systematically optimize such broad-histogram ensembles and significantly speed up equilibration in comparison with other extended ensemble techniques such as flat-histogram, multicanonical or Wang-Landau sampling. As a prototypical example of a strong first-order transition we simulate the two-dimensional Potts model with up to Q=250 different states on large systems. The optimized histogram develops a distinct multipeak structure, thereby resolving entropic barriers and their associated phase transitions in the phase coexistence region such as droplet nucleation and annihilation or droplet-strip transitions for systems with periodic boundary conditions. We characterize the efficiency of the optimized histogram sampling by measuring round-trip times tau(N,Q) across the phase transition for samples of size N spins. While we find power-law scaling of tau vs. N for small Q \lesssim 50 and N \lesssim 40^2, we observe a crossover to exponential scaling for larger Q. These results demonstrate that despite the ensemble optimization broad-histogram simulations cannot fully eliminate the supercritical slowing down at strongly first-order transitions.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure