1,355 research outputs found
Liquid Transport Due to Light Scattering
Using experiments and theory, we show that light scattering by
inhomogeneities in the index of refraction of a fluid can drive a large-scale
flow. The experiment uses a near-critical, phase-separated liquid, which
experiences large fluctuations in its index of refraction. A laser beam
traversing the liquid produces a large-scale deformation of the interface and
can cause a liquid jet to form. We demonstrate that the deformation is produced
by a scattering-induced flow by obtaining good agreements between the measured
deformations and those calculated assuming this mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters v2: Edited
based on comments from referee
Quantum criticality around metal-insulator transitions of strongly correlated electrons
Quantum criticality of metal-insulator transitions in correlated electron
systems is shownto belong to an unconventional universality class with
violation of Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson(GLW) scheme formulated for symmetry
breaking transitions. This unconventionality arises from an emergent character
of the quantum critical point, which appears at the marginal point between the
Ising-type symmetry breaking at nonzero temperatures and the topological
transition of the Fermi surface at zero temperature. We show that Hartree-Fock
approximations of an extended Hubbard model on square latticesare capable of
such metal-insulator transitions with unusual criticality under a preexisting
symmetry breaking. The obtained universality is consistent with the scaling
theory formulated for Mott transition and with a number of numerical results
beyond the mean-field level, implying that the preexisting symmetry breaking is
not necessarily required for the emergence of this unconventional universality.
Examinations of fluctuation effects indicate that the obtained critical
exponents remain essentially exact beyond the mean-field level. Detailed
analyses on the criticality, containing diverging carrier density fluctuations
around the marginal quantum critical point, are presented from microscopic
calculations and reveal the nature as quantum critical "opalescence". Analyses
on crossovers between GLW type at nonzero temperature and topological type at
zero temperature show that the critical exponents observed in (V,Cr)2O3 and
kappa-ET-type organic conductor provide us with evidences for the existence of
the present marginal quantum criticality.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figure
Foundations for Relativistic Quantum Theory I: Feynman's Operator Calculus and the Dyson Conjectures
In this paper, we provide a representation theory for the Feynman operator
calculus. This allows us to solve the general initial-value problem and
construct the Dyson series. We show that the series is asymptotic, thus proving
Dyson's second conjecture for QED. In addition, we show that the expansion may
be considered exact to any finite order by producing the remainder term. This
implies that every nonperturbative solution has a perturbative expansion. Using
a physical analysis of information from experiment versus that implied by our
models, we reformulate our theory as a sum over paths. This allows us to relate
our theory to Feynman's path integral, and to prove Dyson's first conjecture
that the divergences are in part due to a violation of Heisenberg's uncertainly
relations
Generic Continuous Spectrum for Ergodic Schr"odinger Operators
We consider discrete Schr"odinger operators on the line with potentials
generated by a minimal homeomorphism on a compact metric space and a continuous
sampling function. We introduce the concepts of topological and metric
repetition property. Assuming that the underlying dynamical system satisfies
one of these repetition properties, we show using Gordon's Lemma that for a
generic continuous sampling function, the associated Schr"odinger operators
have no eigenvalues in a topological or metric sense, respectively. We present
a number of applications, particularly to shifts and skew-shifts on the torus.Comment: 14 page
An agent-based intelligent tutoring system for nurse education
This report describes the development of a teaching environment that uses agents to support learning. An Intelligent Tutoring System will be described, that guides students during learning. This system is meant for nurse education in the first place, but it is generic in the sense that the core is separated from the exercise modules and user interfaces. This means that the system can also be used for other (non-nursing) exercises. Exercises can be provided to the system in the form of XML data-files. A user interface can be text-based or 2D, but it can also be a 3D virtual reality environment. An application of the teaching environment for nurse training is described
Shuffling cards, factoring numbers, and the quantum baker's map
It is pointed out that an exactly solvable permutation operator, viewed as
the quantization of cyclic shifts, is useful in constructing a basis in which
to study the quantum baker's map, a paradigm system of quantum chaos. In the
basis of this operator the eigenfunctions of the quantum baker's map are
compressed by factors of around five or more. We show explicitly its connection
to an operator that is closely related to the usual quantum baker's map. This
permutation operator has interesting connections to the art of shuffling cards
as well as to the quantum factoring algorithm of Shor via the quantum order
finding one. Hence we point out that this well-known quantum algorithm makes
crucial use of a quantum chaotic operator, or at least one that is close to the
quantization of the left-shift, a closeness that we also explore
quantitatively.Comment: 12 pgs. Substantially elaborated version, including a new route to
the quantum bakers map. To appear in J. Phys.
Determination of an optimal response cut-off able to predict progression-free survival in patients with well-differentiated advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours treated with sunitinib: an alternative to the current RECIST-defined response.
BACKGROUND: Sunitinib prolongs progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (pNET). Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)-defined partial responses (PR; classically defined as â©ľ30% size decrease from baseline) are infrequent.
METHODS: Individual data of pNET patients from the phase II [NCT00056693] and pivotal phase III [NCT00428597] trials of sunitinib were analysed in this investigator-initiated, post hoc study. The primary objective was to determine the optimal RECIST (v.1.0) response cut-off value to identify patients who were progression-free at 11 months (median PFS in phase III trial); and the most informative time-point (highest area under the curve (AUC) by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and logistic regression) for prediction of benefit (PFS) from sunitinib.
RESULTS: Data for 237 patients (85 placebo; 152 sunitinib (n=66.50 mg \u274-weeks on/2-weeks off\u27 schedule; n=86 \u2737.5 mg continuous daily dosing (CDD)\u27)) and 788 scans were analysed. The median PFS for sunitinib and placebo were 9.3 months (95% CI 7.6-12.2) and 5.4 months (95% CI 3.5-6.01), respectively (hazard ratio (HR) 0.43 (95% CI 0.29-0.62); P
CONCLUSIONS: A 10% reduction within marker lesions identifies pNET patients benefiting from sunitinib treatment with implications for maintenance of dose intensity and future trial design
Basic Understanding of Condensed Phases of Matter via Packing Models
Packing problems have been a source of fascination for millenia and their
study has produced a rich literature that spans numerous disciplines.
Investigations of hard-particle packing models have provided basic insights
into the structure and bulk properties of condensed phases of matter, including
low-temperature states (e.g., molecular and colloidal liquids, crystals and
glasses), multiphase heterogeneous media, granular media, and biological
systems. The densest packings are of great interest in pure mathematics,
including discrete geometry and number theory. This perspective reviews
pertinent theoretical and computational literature concerning the equilibrium,
metastable and nonequilibrium packings of hard-particle packings in various
Euclidean space dimensions. In the case of jammed packings, emphasis will be
placed on the "geometric-structure" approach, which provides a powerful and
unified means to quantitatively characterize individual packings via jamming
categories and "order" maps. It incorporates extremal jammed states, including
the densest packings, maximally random jammed states, and lowest-density jammed
structures. Packings of identical spheres, spheres with a size distribution,
and nonspherical particles are also surveyed. We close this review by
identifying challenges and open questions for future research.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures, Invited "Perspective" submitted to the Journal
of Chemical Physics. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1008.298
Probing Ion-Ion and Electron-Ion Correlations in Liquid Metals within the Quantum Hypernetted Chain Approximation
We use the Quantum Hypernetted Chain Approximation (QHNC) to calculate the
ion-ion and electron-ion correlations for liquid metallic Li, Be, Na, Mg, Al,
K, Ca, and Ga. We discuss trends in electron-ion structure factors and radial
distribution functions, and also calculate the free-atom and metallic-atom
form-factors, focusing on how bonding effects affect the interpretation of
X-ray scattering experiments, especially experimental measurements of the
ion-ion structure factor in the liquid metallic phase.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages, 7 figure
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