362 research outputs found
Numerical Portrait of a Relativistic BCS Gapped Superfluid
We present results of numerical simulations of the 3+1 dimensional Nambu -
Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model with a non-zero baryon density enforced via the
introduction of a chemical potential mu not equal to 0. The triviality of the
model with a number of dimensions d>=4 is dealt with by fitting low energy
constants, calculated analytically in the large number of colors (Hartree)
limit, to phenomenological values. Non-perturbative measurements of local order
parameters for superfluidity and their related susceptibilities show that, in
contrast to the 2+1 dimensional model, the ground-state at high chemical
potential and low temperature is that of a traditional BCS superfluid. This
conclusion is supported by the direct observation of a gap in the dispersion
relation for 0.5<=(mu a)<=0.85, which at (mu a)=0.8 is found to be roughly 15%
the size of the vacuum fermion mass. We also present results of an initial
investigation of the stability of the BCS phase against thermal fluctuations.
Finally, we discuss the effect of splitting the Fermi surfaces of the pairing
partners by the introduction of a non-zero isospin chemical potential.Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures, uses axodraw.sty, v2: minor typographical
correction
On the spectral density from instantons in quenched QCD
We investigate the contribution of instantons to the eigenvalue spectrum of
the Dirac operator in quenched QCD. The instanton configurations that we use
have been derived, elsewhere, from cooled SU(3) lattice gauge fields and, for
comparison, we also analyse a random `gas' of instantons. Using a set of
simplifying approximations, we find a non-zero chiral condensate. However we
also find that the spectral density diverges for small eigenvalues, so that the
chiral condensate, at zero quark mass, diverges in quenched QCD. The degree of
divergence decreases with the instanton density, so that it is negligible for
the smallest number of cooling sweeps but becomes substantial for larger number
of cools. We show that the spectral density scales, that finite volume
corrections are small and we see evidence for the screening of topological
charges. However we also find that the spectral density and chiral condensate
vary rapidly with the number of cooling sweeps -- unlike, for example, the
topological susceptibility. Whether the problem lies with the cooling or with
the identification of the topological charges is an open question. This problem
needs to be resolved before one can determine how important is the divergence
we have found for quenched QCD.Comment: 33 pages, 16 figures (RevTex), substantial revisions; to appear in
Phys.Rev.
Chirality Correlation within Dirac Eigenvectors from Domain Wall Fermions
In the dilute instanton gas model of the QCD vacuum, one expects a strong
spatial correlation between chirality and the maxima of the Dirac eigenvectors
with small eigenvalues. Following Horvath, {\it et al.} we examine this
question using lattice gauge theory within the quenched approximation. We
extend the work of those authors by using weaker coupling, , larger
lattices, , and an improved fermion formulation, domain wall fermions. In
contrast with this earlier work, we find a striking correlation between the
magnitude of the chirality density, , and the
normal density, , for the low-lying Dirac eigenvectors.Comment: latex, 25 pages including 12 eps figure
Exclusive processes in position space and the pion distribution amplitude
We suggest to carry out lattice calculations of current correlators in
position space, sandwiched between the vacuum and a hadron state (e.g. pion),
in order to access hadronic light-cone distribution amplitudes (DAs). In this
way the renormalization problem for composite lattice operators is avoided
altogether, and the connection to the DA is done using perturbation theory in
the continuum. As an example, the correlation function of two electromagnetic
currents is calculated to the next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy in
perturbation theory and including the twist-4 corrections. We argue that this
strategy is fully competitive with direct lattice measurements of the moments
of the DA, defined as matrix elements of local operators, and offers new
insight in the space-time picture of hard exclusive reactions.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure
Limits on Cosmological Variation of Strong Interaction and Quark Masses from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic, Laboratory and Oklo Data
Recent data on cosmological variation of the electromagnetic fine structure
constant from distant quasar (QSO) absorption spectra have inspired a more
general discussion of possible variation of other constants. We discuss
variation of strong scale and quark masses. We derive the limits on their
relative change from (i) primordial Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN); (ii)
Oklo natural nuclear reactor, (iii) quasar absorption spectra, and (iv)
laboratory measurements of hyperfine intervals.Comment: 10 pages 2 figurs: second version have several references added and
some new comment
Community structures of actively growing bacteria shift along a north-south transect in the western North Pacific
Bacterial community structures and their activities in the ocean are tightly coupled with organic matter fluxes and thus control ocean biogeochemical cycles. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), halogenated nucleoside and thymidine analogue, has been recently used to monitor actively growing bacteria (AGB) in natural environments. We labelled DNA of proliferating cells in seawater bacterial assemblages with BrdU and determined community structures of the bacteria that were possible key species in mediating biochemical reactions in the ocean. Surface seawater samples were collected along a north-south transect in the North Pacific in October 2003 and subjected to BrdU magnetic beads immunocapture and PCR-DGGE (BUMP-DGGE) analysis. Change of BrdU-incorporated community structures reflected the change of water masses along a north-south transect from subarctic to subtropical gyres in the North Pacific. We identified 25 bands referred to AGB as BrdU-incorporated phylotypes, belonging to Alphaproteobacteria (5 bands), Betaproteobacteria (1 band), Gammaproteobacteria (4 bands), Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group bacteria (5 bands), Gram-positive bacteria (6 bands), and Cyanobacteria (4 bands). BrdU-incorporated phylotypes belonging to Vibrionales, Alteromonadales and Gram-positive bacteria appeared only at sampling stations in a subtropical gyre, while those belonging to Roseobacter-related bacteria and CFB group bacteria appeared at the stations in both subarctic and subtropical gyres. Our result revealed phylogenetic affiliation of AGB and their dynamic change along with north-south environmental gradients in open oceans. Different species of AGB utilize different amount and kinds of substrates, which can affect the change of organic matter fluxes along transect
The check of QCD based on the tau-decay data analysis in the complex q^2-plane
The thorough analysis of the ALEPH data on hadronic tau-decay is performed in
the framework of QCD. The perturbative calculations are performed in 3 and
4-loop approximations. The terms of the operator product expansion (OPE) are
accounted up to dimension D=8. The value of the QCD coupling constant
alpha_s(m_tau^2)=0.355 pm 0.025 was found from hadronic branching ratio R_tau.
The V+A and V spectral function are analyzed using analytical properties of
polarization operators in the whole complex q^2-plane. Borel sum rules in the
complex q^2 plane along the rays, starting from the origin, are used. It was
demonstrated that QCD with OPE terms is in agreement with the data for the
coupling constant close to the lower error edge alpha_s(m_tau^2)=0.330. The
restriction on the value of the gluonic condensate was found
=0.006 pm 0.012 GeV^2. The analytical perturbative QCD was
compared with the data. It is demonstrated to be in strong contradiction with
experiment. The restrictions on the renormalon contribution were found. The
instanton contributions to the polarization operator are analyzed in various
sum rules. In Borel transformation they appear to be small, but not in spectral
moments sum rules.Comment: 24 pages; 1 latex + 13 figure files. V2: misprints are corrected,
uncertainty in alpha_s is explained in more transparent way, acknowledgement
is adde
Mesoscopic models for DNA stretching under force: new results and comparison to experiments
Single molecule experiments on B-DNA stretching have revealed one or two
structural transitions, when increasing the external force. They are
characterized by a sudden increase of DNA contour length and a decrease of the
bending rigidity. It has been proposed that the first transition, at forces of
60--80 pN, is a transition from B to S-DNA, viewed as a stretched duplex DNA,
while the second one, at stronger forces, is a strand peeling resulting in
single stranded DNAs (ssDNA), similar to thermal denaturation. But due to
experimental conditions these two transitions can overlap, for instance for
poly(dA-dT). We derive analytical formula using a coupled discrete worm like
chain-Ising model. Our model takes into account bending rigidity, discreteness
of the chain, linear and non-linear (for ssDNA) bond stretching. In the limit
of zero force, this model simplifies into a coupled model already developed by
us for studying thermal DNA melting, establishing a connexion with previous
fitting parameter values for denaturation profiles. We find that: (i) ssDNA is
fitted, using an analytical formula, over a nanoNewton range with only three
free parameters, the contour length, the bending modulus and the monomer size;
(ii) a surprisingly good fit on this force range is possible only by choosing a
monomer size of 0.2 nm, almost 4 times smaller than the ssDNA nucleobase
length; (iii) mesoscopic models are not able to fit B to ssDNA (or S to ss)
transitions; (iv) an analytical formula for fitting B to S transitions is
derived in the strong force approximation and for long DNAs, which is in
excellent agreement with exact transfer matrix calculations; (v) this formula
fits perfectly well poly(dG-dC) and -DNA force-extension curves with
consistent parameter values; (vi) a coherent picture, where S to ssDNA
transitions are much more sensitive to base-pair sequence than the B to S one,
emerges.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure
Topology and chiral symmetry breaking in SU(N) gauge theories
We study the low-lying eigenmodes of the lattice overlap Dirac operator for
SU(N) gauge theories with N=2,3,4 and 5 colours. We define a fermionic
topological charge from the zero-modes of this operator and show that, as N
grows, any disagreement with the topological charge obtained by cooling the
fields, becomes rapidly less likely. By examining the fields where there is a
disagreement, we are able to show that the Dirac operator does not resolve
instantons below a critical size of about rho = 2.5 a, but resolves the larger,
more physical instantons. We investigate the local chirality of the near-zero
modes and how it changes as we go to larger N. We observe that the local
chirality of these modes, which is prominent for SU(2) and SU(3), becomes
rapidly weaker for larger N and is consistent with disappearing entirely in the
limit of N -> infinity. We find that this is not due to the observed
disappearance of small instantons at larger N.Comment: 41 pages, 12 figures, RevTe
Experimental Study of the Shortest Reset Word of Random Automata
In this paper we describe an approach to finding the shortest reset word of a
finite synchronizing automaton by using a SAT solver. We use this approach to
perform an experimental study of the length of the shortest reset word of a
finite synchronizing automaton. The largest automata we considered had 100
states. The results of the experiments allow us to formulate a hypothesis that
the length of the shortest reset word of a random finite automaton with
states and 2 input letters with high probability is sublinear with respect to
and can be estimated as $1.95 n^{0.55}.
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