Contractions of sigma models and integration of massive modes

We show how the integration of massive modes after a spontaneous symmetry breaking in a sigma model can often be interpreted as a contraction, induced by a group contraction, of the target space of the sigma model.Comment: 9 pages. Prepared for the porceedings of the 4-th International Symposium Quantum Theory and Symmetries. Varna, Bulgaria, 15-21 August 200

Ground state properties and excitation spectrum of a two dimensional gas of bosonic dipoles

We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of two-dimensional dipolar Bose gases in the limit of zero temperature. The analysis is mainly focused on the anisotropy effects induced in the homogeneous gas when the polarization angle with respect to the plane is changed. We restrict our study to the regime where the dipolar interaction is strictly repulsive, although the strength of the pair repulsion depends on the vector interparticle distance. Our results show that the effect of the anisotropy in the energy per particle scales with the gas parameter at low densities as expected, and that this scaling is preserved for all polarization angles even at the largest densities considered here. We also evaluate the excitation spectrum of the dipolar Bose gas in the context of the Feynman approximation and compare the results obtained with the Bogoliubov ones. As expected, we find that these two approximations agree at very low densities, while they start to deviate from each other as the density increases. For the largest densities studied, we observe a significant influence of the anisotropy of the dipole-dipole interaction in the excitation spectrum.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Benefits of using a Wendland Kernel for free-surface flows

The aim of this paper Is lo discuss the influence of the selection of the interpolation kernel in the accuracy of the modeling of the internal viscous dissipation in Tree surface Hows, Simulations corresponding to a standing wave* for which an analytic solution available, are presented. Wendland and renormalized Gaussian kernels are considered. The differences in the flow pattern* and Internal dissipation mechanisms are documented for a range of Reynolds numbers. It is shown that the simulations with Wendland kernels replicate the dissipation mechanisms more accurately than those with a renormalized Gaussian kernel. Although some explanations are hinted we have Tailed to clarify which the core structural reasons for Mich differences are

Single-particle vs. pair superfluidity in a bilayer system of dipolar bosons

We consider the ground state of a bilayer system of dipolar bosons, where dipoles are oriented by an external field in the direction perpendicular to the parallel planes. Quantum Monte Carlo methods are used to calculate the ground-state energy, the one-body and two-body density matrix, and the superfluid response as a function of the separation between layers. We find that by decreasing the interlayer distance for fixed value of the strength of the dipolar interaction, the system undergoes a quantum phase transition from a single-particle to a pair superfluid. The single-particle superfluid is characterized by a finite value of both the atomic condensate and the super-counterfluid density. The pair superfluid phase is found to be stable against formation of many-body cluster states and features a gap in the spectrum of elementary excitations.Comment: 4 figure

On the non-slip boundary condition enforcement in SPH methods.

The implementation of boundary conditions is one of the points where the SPH methodology still has some work to do. The aim of the present work is to provide an in-depth analysis of the most representative mirroring techniques used in SPH to enforce boundary conditions (BC) along solid profiles. We specifically refer to dummy particles, ghost particles, and Takeda et al. [1] boundary integrals. A Pouseuille flow has been used as a example to gradually evaluate the accuracy of the different implementations. Our goal is to test the behavior of the second-order differential operator with the proposed boundary extensions when the smoothing length h and other dicretization parameters as dx/h tend simultaneously to zero. First, using a smoothed continuous approximation of the unidirectional Pouseuille problem, the evolution of the velocity profile has been studied focusing on the values of the velocity and the viscous shear at the boundaries, where the exact solution should be approximated as h decreases. Second, to evaluate the impact of the discretization of the problem, an Eulerian SPH discrete version of the former problem has been implemented and similar results have been monitored. Finally, for the sake of completeness, a 2D Lagrangian SPH implementation of the problem has been also studied to compare the consequences of the particle movemen

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing in biofilm-growing bacteria

AbstractBiofilms are organized bacterial communities embedded in an extracellular polymeric matrix attached to living or abiotic surfaces. The development of biofilms is currently recognized as one of the most relevant drivers of persistent infections. Among them, chronic respiratory infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis patients is probably the most intensively studied. The lack of correlation between conventional susceptibility test results and therapeutic success in chronic infections is probably a consequence of the use of planktonically growing instead of biofilm-growing bacteria. Therefore, several in vitro models to evaluate antimicrobial activity on biofilms have been implemented over the last decade. Microtitre plate-based assays, the Calgary device, substratum suspending reactors and the flow cell system are some of the most used in vitro biofilm models for susceptibility studies. Likewise, new pharmacodynamic parameters, including minimal biofilm inhibitory concentration, minimal biofilm-eradication concentration, biofilm bactericidal concentration, and biofilm-prevention concentration, have been defined in recent years to quantify antibiotic activity in biofilms. Using these parameters, several studies have shown very significant quantitative and qualitative differences for the effects of most antibiotics when acting on planktonic or biofilm bacteria. Nevertheless, standardization of the procedures, parameters and breakpoints, by official agencies, is needed before they are implemented in clinical microbiology laboratories for routine susceptibility testing. Research efforts should also be directed to obtaining a deeper understanding of biofilm resistance mechanisms, the evaluation of optimal pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic models for biofilm growth, and correlation with clinical outcome

Special geometry for arbitrary signatures

In this paper we generalize special geometry to arbitrary signatures in target space. We formulate the definitions in a precise mathematical setting and give a translation to the coordinate formalism used in physics. For the projective case, we first discuss in detail projective Kaehler manifolds, appearing in N=1 supergravity. We develop a new point of view based on the intrinsic construction of the line bundle. The topological properties are then derived and the Levi-Civita connection in the projective manifold is obtained as a particular projection of a Levi-Civita connection in a `mother' manifold with one extra complex dimension. The origin of this approach is in the superconformal formalism of physics, which is also explained in detail. Finally, we specialize these results to projective special Kaehler manifolds and provide explicit examples with different choices of signature.Comment: LaTeX, 83 pages; v2: typos corrected, version to be published in Handbook of pseudo-Riemannian Geometry and Supersymmetry, IRMA Lectures in Mathematics and Theoretical Physic

Approach to an obstetric prognosis scale: The modified SOFA scale

Background: Severe obstetric morbidity constitutes a serious problem worldwide; however, an effective obstetrical prognosis scale is still missing.Objective: To propose a modified Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score (SOFA) score based on time before reaching specialized medical attention.Method: This was an ambispective, descriptive study, including all women treated at the Obstetrical Intensive Care Unit (OICU) of the “Mónica Pretelini Sáenz” Maternal-Perinatal Hospital (HMPMPS), Toluca, Mexico, from June 2009 to June 2013. The patient’s SOFA score and clinical evolution were registered daily. A modified obstetrical SOFA scale was constructed adjusting the value of 180 instead of 200 in the punctuation column of 3 for the PaO2/FiO2 ratio and adding a file of disease evolution time with sepsis prior to reaching specialized medical attention.Results: Two hundred thirty two patients, with an average age (SD) of 26.42 (±7.54) years, mean gestational age of 33 (±7.5) weeks were included in the study; 118 suffered from pre-eclampsia, 56 obstetric haemorrhages, 41 eclampsia (25 preceded by pre-eclampsia) and 23, sepsis. ROC curves showed a higher area under the curve (AUC) for the modified SOFA (0.868; p<0.001) than SOFA (0.796; p=0.003), in the prediction of maternal mortality.Conclusions: The SOFA score, taking into account a lower value for the Kirby index and a threshold time of 12-h with sepsis before getting specialized medical attention, shows a good predictive value for maternal death and could be considered for evaluating the severity of complicated obstetrical patients.Funding: None declaredKeywords: Intensive Care Units, maternal mortality, Sequential Organ Failur