2,844 research outputs found
Susceptibility Amplitude Ratios Near a Lifshitz Point
The susceptibility amplitude ratio in the neighborhood of a uniaxial Lifshitz
point is calculated at one-loop level using field-theoretic and
-expansion methods. We use the Schwinger parametrization of the
propagator in order to split the quadratic and quartic part of the momenta, as
well as a new special symmetry point suitable for renormalization purposes. For
a cubic lattice (d = 3), we find the result .Comment: 7 pages, late
A new picture of the Lifshitz critical behavior
New field theoretic renormalization group methods are developed to describe
in a unified fashion the critical exponents of an m-fold Lifshitz point at the
two-loop order in the anisotropic (m not equal to d) and isotropic (m=d close
to 8) situations. The general theory is illustrated for the N-vector phi^4
model describing a d-dimensional system. A new regularization and
renormalization procedure is presented for both types of Lifshitz behavior. The
anisotropic cases are formulated with two independent renormalization group
transformations. The description of the isotropic behavior requires only one
type of renormalization group transformation. We point out the conceptual
advantages implicit in this picture and show how this framework is related to
other previous renormalization group treatments for the Lifshitz problem. The
Feynman diagrams of arbitrary loop-order can be performed analytically provided
these integrals are considered to be homogeneous functions of the external
momenta scales. The anisotropic universality class (N,d,m) reduces easily to
the Ising-like (N,d) when m=0. We show that the isotropic universality class
(N,m) when m is close to 8 cannot be obtained from the anisotropic one in the
limit d --> m near 8. The exponents for the uniaxial case d=3, N=m=1 are in
good agreement with recent Monte Carlo simulations for the ANNNI model.Comment: 48 pages, no figures, two typos fixe
Activation profile of pro-inflammatory cytokines in acute cardiac overload
INTRODUCTION:Pro-inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in ventricular remodeling during heart failure progression. In the present study, we investigated the effects of acute volume and RV pressure overload on biventricular hemodynamics and myocardial gene expression of IL-6 and TNF-alpha.METHODS:Male Wistar rats (n = 45) instrumented with RV and LV tip micromanometers were randomly assigned to one of three protocols: i) acute RV pressure overload (PrOv) induced by pulmonary trunk banding in order to double RV peak systolic pressure, for 120 or 360 min; ii) acute volume overload (VolOv) induced by dextran40 infusion (5 ml/h), for 120 or 360 min; iii) Sham. Free wall samples from the RV and LV were collected for mRNA quantification.RESULTS:In the RV, acute overload induced IL-6 and TNF-alpha gene expression, higher in VolOv (IL-6: + 669.7 +/- 263.4%; TNF-alpha: + 5149.9 +/- 1099.0%; 360 min) than in PrOv (IL-6: + 64.9 +/- 44.2%; TNF-alpha: + 628.1 +/- 229.3%; 360 min). In PrOv, TNF-alpha mRNA levels in the LV were increased, in the absence of ventricular overload. IL-6 and TNF-alpha mRNA levels did not correlate in the LV, while in the RV a positive correlation was found (r = 0.574; p < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS:Acute cardiac overload induces overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. This gene activation is not uniform, being higher in volume overload and involving both load-dependent and load-independent mechanisms
Microscopic description of the phase separation process in AlxGayIn1-x-yN quaternary alloys
Ab initio total energy electronic structure calculations are combined with Monte Carlo simulations to study the thermodynamic properties of AlxGayIn1-x-yN quaternary alloys. We provide a microscopic description of the phase separation process by analyzing the thermodynamic behavior of the different atoms with respect to the temperature and cation contents. We obtained, at growth temperatures, the range of compositions for the stable and unstable phases. The presence of Al in InGaN is proven to "catalyze" the phase separation process for the formation of the In-rich phase. Based on our results, we propose that the ultraviolet emission currently seen in samples containing AlInGaN quaternaries arises from the matrix of a random alloy, in which composition fluctuations toward InGaN- and AlGaN-like alloys formation may be present, and that a coexisting emission in the green-blue region results from the In-rich segregated clusters.70
Susceptibility amplitude ratio for generic competing systems
We calculate the susceptibility amplitude ratio near a generic higher
character Lifshitz point up to one-loop order. We employ a renormalization
group treatment with independent scaling transformations associated to the
various inequivalent subspaces in the anisotropic case in order to compute the
ratio above and below the critical temperature and demonstrate its
universality. Furthermore, the isotropic results with only one type of
competition axes have also been shown to be universal. We describe how the
simpler situations of -axial Lifshitz points as well as ordinary
(noncompeting) systems can be retrieved from the present framework.Comment: 20 pages, no figure
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