160 research outputs found
Path Integral Monte Carlo Simulation of the Low-Density Hydrogen Plasma
Restricted path integral Monte Carlo simulations are used to calculate the
equilibrium properties of hydrogen in the density and temperature range of
and . We test the accuracy of the pair density matrix and
analyze the dependence on the system size, on the time step of the path
integral and on the type of nodal surface. We calculate the equation of state
and compare with other models for hydrogen valid in this regime. Further, we
characterize the state of hydrogen and describe the changes from a plasma to an
atomic and molecular liquid by analyzing the pair correlation functions and
estimating the number of atoms and molecules present.Comment: 12 pages, 21 figures, submitted for Phys. Rev.
Hydrogen-Helium Mixtures at High Pressure
The properties of hydrogen-helium mixtures at high pressure are crucial to
address important questions about the interior of Giant planets e.g. whether
Jupiter has a rocky core and did it emerge via core accretion? Using path
integral Monte Carlo simulations, we study the properties of these mixtures as
a function of temperature, density and composition. The equation of state is
calculated and compared to chemical models. We probe the accuracy of the ideal
mixing approximation commonly used in such models. Finally, we discuss the
structure of the liquid in terms of pair correlation functions.Comment: Proceedings article of the 5th Conference on Cryocrystals and Quantum
Crystals in Wroclaw, Poland, submitted to J. Low. Temp. Phys. (2004
Variational Density Matrix Method for Warm Condensed Matter and Application to Dense Hydrogen
A new variational principle for optimizing thermal density matrices is
introduced. As a first application, the variational many body density matrix is
written as a determinant of one body density matrices, which are approximated
by Gaussians with the mean, width and amplitude as variational parameters. The
method is illustrated for the particle in an external field problem, the
hydrogen molecule and dense hydrogen where the molecular, the dissociated and
the plasma regime are described. Structural and thermodynamic properties
(energy, equation of state and shock Hugoniot) are presented.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. submitted to Phys. Rev. E, October 199
Frontiers of the physics of dense plasmas and planetary interiors: experiments, theory, applications
Recent developments of dynamic x-ray characterization experiments of dense
matter are reviewed, with particular emphasis on conditions relevant to
interiors of terrestrial and gas giant planets. These studies include
characterization of compressed states of matter in light elements by x-ray
scattering and imaging of shocked iron by radiography. Several applications of
this work are examined. These include the structure of massive "Super Earth"
terrestrial planets around other stars, the 40 known extrasolar gas giants with
measured masses and radii, and Jupiter itself, which serves as the benchmark
for giant planets.Comment: Accepted to Physics of Plasmas special issue. Review from
HEDP/HEDLA-08, April 12-15, 200
Mass-Radius Relationships for Solid Exoplanets
We use new interior models of cold planets to investigate the mass-radius
relationships of solid exoplanets, considering planets made primarily of iron,
silicates, water, and carbon compounds. We find that the mass-radius
relationships for cold terrestrial-mass planets of all compositions we
considered follow a generic functional form that is not a simple power law:
for up to , where and are scaled mass and radius
values. This functional form arises because the common building blocks of solid
planets all have equations of state that are well approximated by a modified
polytrope of the form .
We find that highly detailed planet interior models, including temperature
structure and phase changes, are not necessary to derive solid exoplanet bulk
composition from mass and radius measurements. For solid exoplanets with no
substantial atmosphere we have also found that: with 5% fractional uncertainty
in planet mass and radius it is possible to distinguish among planets composed
predominantly of iron or silicates or water ice but not more detailed
compositions; with ~5% uncertainty water ice planets with
water by mass may be identified; the minimum plausible planet size for a given
mass is that of a pure iron planet; and carbon planet mass-radius relationships
overlap with those of silicate and water planets due to similar zero-pressure
densities and equations of state. We propose a definition of "super Earths''
based on the clear distinction in radii between planets with significant gas
envelopes and those without.Comment: ApJ, in press, 33 pages including 16 figure
The Equation of State and the Hugoniot of Laser Shock-Compressed Deuterium
The equation of state and the shock Hugoniot of deuterium are calculated
using a first-principles approach, for the conditions of the recent shock
experiments. We use density functional theory within a classical mapping of the
quantum fluids [ Phys. Rev. Letters, {\bf 84}, 959 (2000) ]. The calculated
Hugoniot is close to the Path-Integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) result. We also
consider the {\it quasi-equilibrium} two-temperature case where the Deuterons
are hotter than the electrons; the resulting quasi-equilibrium Hugoniot mimics
the laser-shock data. The increased compressibility arises from hot
pairs occuring close to the zero of the electron chemical potential.Comment: Four pages; One Revtex manuscript, two postscipt figures; submitted
to PR
Path integral Monte Carlo simulation of charged particles in traps
This chapter is devoted to the computation of equilibrium (thermodynamic)
properties of quantum systems. In particular, we will be interested in the
situation where the interaction between particles is so strong that it cannot
be treated as a small perturbation. For weakly coupled systems many efficient
theoretical and computational techniques do exist. However, for strongly
interacting systems such as nonideal gases or plasmas, strongly correlated
electrons and so on, perturbation methods fail and alternative approaches are
needed. Among them, an extremely successful one is the Monte Carlo (MC) method
which we are going to consider in this chapter.Comment: 18 pages, based on talks on Hareaus school on computational methods,
Greifswald, September 200
Analysis of path integrals at low temperature : Box formula, occupation time and ergodic approximation
We study the low temperature behaviour of path integrals for a simple
one-dimensional model. Starting from the Feynman-Kac formula, we derive a new
functional representation of the density matrix at finite temperature, in terms
of the occupation times of Brownian motions constrained to stay within boxes
with finite sizes. From that representation, we infer a kind of ergodic
approximation, which only involves double ordinary integrals. As shown by its
applications to different confining potentials, the ergodic approximation turns
out to be quite efficient, especially in the low-temperature regime where other
usual approximations fail
Structural Phase Transition at High Temperatures in Solid Molecular Hydrogen and Deuterium
We study the effect of temperature up to 1000K on the structure of dense
molecular para-hydrogen and ortho-deuterium, using the path-integral Monte
Carlo method. We find a structural phase transition from orientationally
disordered hexagonal close packed (hcp) to an orthorhombic structure of Cmca
symmetry before melting. The transition is basically induced by thermal
fluctuations, but quantum fluctuations of protons (deuterons) are important in
determining the transition temperature through effectively hardening the
intermolecular interaction. We estimate the phase line between hcp and Cmca
phases as well as the melting line of the Cmca solid.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; accepted in Phys. Rev.
Cyclic dermal BMP signalling regulates stem cell activation during hair regeneration
In the age of stem cell engineering it is critical to understand how stem cell activity is regulated during regeneration. Hairs are mini-organs that undergo cyclic regeneration throughout adult life1, and are an important model for organ regeneration. Hair stem cells located in the follicle bulge2 are regulated by the surrounding microenvironment, or niche3. The activation of such stem cells is cyclic, involving periodic -catenin activity4, 5, 6, 7. In the adult mouse, regeneration occurs in waves in a follicle population, implying coordination among adjacent follicles and the extrafollicular environment. Here we show that unexpected periodic expression of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (Bmp2) and Bmp4 in the dermis regulates this process. This BMP cycle is out of phase with the WNT/-catenin cycle, thus dividing the conventional telogen into new functional phases: one refractory and the other competent for hair regeneration, characterized by high and low BMP signalling, respectively. Overexpression of noggin, a BMP antagonist, in mouse skin resulted in a markedly shortened refractory phase and faster propagation of the regenerative wave. Transplantation of skin from this mutant onto a wild-type host showed that follicles in donor and host can affect their cycling behaviours mutually, with the outcome depending on the equilibrium of BMP activity in the dermis. Administration of BMP4 protein caused the competent region to become refractory. These results show that BMPs may be the long-sought 'chalone' inhibitors of hair growth postulated by classical experiments. Taken together, results presented in this study provide an example of hierarchical regulation of local organ stem cell homeostasis by the inter-organ macroenvironment. The expression of Bmp2 in subcutaneous adipocytes indicates physiological integration between these two thermo-regulatory organs. Our findings have practical importance for studies using mouse skin as a model for carcinogenesis, intra-cutaneous drug delivery and stem cell engineering studies, because they highlight the acute need to differentiate supportive versus inhibitory regions in the host skin
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