Considerations on the Schmid theorem for triangle singularities

We investigate the Schmid theorem, which states that if one has a tree level mechanism with a particle decaying to two particles and one of them decaying posteriorly to two other particles, the possible triangle singularity developed by the mechanism of elastic rescattering of two of the three decay particles does not change the cross section provided by the tree level. We investigate the process in terms of the width of the unstable particle produced in the first decay and determine the limits of validity and violation of the theorem. One of the conclusions is that the theorem holds in the strict limit of zero width of that resonance, in which case the strength of the triangle diagram becomes negligible compared to the tree level. Another conclusion, on the practical side, is that for realistic values of the width, the triangle singularity can provide a strength comparable or even bigger than the tree level, which indicates that invoking the Schmid theorem to neglect the triangle diagram stemming from elastic rescattering of the tree level should not be done. Even then, we observe that the realistic case keeps some memory of the Schmid theorem, which is visible in a peculiar interference pattern with the tree level.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure

Has Blending Compromised Cepheid-Based Determinations of the Extragalactic Distance Scale?

We examine the suggestion that half of the HST Key Project- and Sandage/Saha-observed galaxies have had their distances systematically underestimated, by 0.1-0.3 mag in the distance modulus, due to the underappreciated influence of stellar profile blending on the WFC chips. The signature of such an effect would be a systematic trend in (i) the Type Ia supernovae corrected peak luminosity and (ii) the Tully-Fisher residuals, with increasing calibrator distance, and (iii) a differential offset between PC and WFC distance moduli, within the same galaxy. The absence of a trend would be expected if blending were negligible (as has been inherently assumed in the analyses of the aforementioned teams). We adopt a functional form for the predicted influence of blending that is consistent with the models of Mochejska et al. and Stanek & Udalski, and demonstrate that the expected correlation with distance predicted by these studies is not supported by the data. We conclude that the Cepheid-based extragalactic distance scale has not been severely compromised by the neglect of blending.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, LaTeX, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters, also available at http://casa.colorado.edu/~bgibson/publications.htm

Gap formation and soft phonon mode in the Holstein model

We investigate electron-phonon coupling in many-electron systems using dynamical mean-field theory in combination with the numerical renormalization group. This non-perturbative method reveals significant precursor effects to the gap formation at intermediate coupling strengths. The emergence of a soft phonon mode and very strong lattice fluctuations can be understood in terms of Kondo-like physics due to the development of a double-well structure in the effective potential for the ions

Metamagnetism of antiferromagnetic XXZ quantum spin chains

The magnetization process of the one-dimensional antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with the Ising-like anisotropic exchange interaction is studied by the exact diagonalization technique. It results in the evidence of the first-order spin flop transition with a finite magnetization jump in the N\'eel ordered phase for $S\geq 1$. It implies that the S=1/2 chain is an exceptional case where the metamagnetic transition becomes second-order due to large quantum fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, with 6 eps figure

Single Impurity Anderson Model with Coulomb Repulsion between Conduction Electrons on the Nearest-Neighbour Ligand Orbital

We study how the Kondo effect is affected by the Coulomb interaction between conduction electrons on the basis of a simplified model. The single impurity Anderson model is extended to include the Coulomb interaction on the nearest-neighbour ligand orbital. The excitation spectra are calculated using the numerical renormalization group method. The effective bandwidth on the ligand orbital, $D^{eff}$, is defined to classify the state. This quantity decreases as the Coulomb interaction increases. In the $D^{eff} > \Delta$ region, the low energy properties are described by the Kondo state, where $\Delta$ is the hybridization width. As $D^{eff}$ decreases in this region, the Kondo temperature $T_{K}$ is enhanced, and its magnitude becomes comparable to $\Delta$ for $D^{eff} \sim \Delta$. In the $D^{eff} < \Delta$ region, the local singlet state between the electrons on the $f$ and ligand orbitals is formed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn Vol. 67 No.