1,339 research outputs found
Structural transitions and nonmonotonic relaxation processes in liquid metals
Structural transitions in melts as well as their dynamics are considered. It
is supposed that liquid represents the solution of relatively stable solid-like
locally favored structures (LFS) in the surrounding of disordered normal-liquid
structures. Within the framework of this approach the step changes of liquid Co
viscosity are considered as liquid-liquid transitions. It is supposed that this
sort of transitions represents the cooperative medium-range bond ordering, and
corresponds to the transition of the "Newtonian fluid" to the "structured
fluid". It is shown that relaxation processes with oscillating-like time
behavior (~) of viscosity are possibly close to
this point
Neutrino oscillations in magnetically driven supernova explosions
We investigate neutrino oscillations from core-collapse supernovae that
produce magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) explosions. By calculating numerically the
flavor conversion of neutrinos in the highly non-spherical envelope, we study
how the explosion anisotropy has impacts on the emergent neutrino spectra
through the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect. In the case of the inverted
mass hierarchy with a relatively large theta_(13), we show that survival
probabilities of electron type neutrinos and antineutrinos seen from the
rotational axis of the MHD supernovae (i.e., polar direction), can be
significantly different from those along the equatorial direction. The event
numbers of electron type antineutrinos observed from the polar direction are
predicted to show steepest decrease, reflecting the passage of the
magneto-driven shock to the so-called high-resonance regions. Furthermore we
point out that such a shock effect, depending on the original neutrino spectra,
appears also for the low-resonance regions, which leads to a noticeable
decrease in the electron type neutrino signals. This reflects a unique nature
of the magnetic explosion featuring a very early shock-arrival to the resonance
regions, which is in sharp contrast to the neutrino-driven delayed supernova
models. Our results suggest that the two features in the electron type
antineutrinos and neutrinos signals, if visible to the Super-Kamiokande for a
Galactic supernova, could mark an observational signature of the magnetically
driven explosions, presumably linked to the formation of magnetars and/or
long-duration gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 25 pages, 21 figures, JCAP in pres
Exploring CP Violation through Correlations in B --> pi K, B_d --> pi^+pi^-, B_s --> K^+K^- Observable Space
We investigate allowed regions in observable space of B --> pi K, B_d -->
pi^+pi^- and B_s --> K^+K^- decays, characterizing these modes in the Standard
Model. After a discussion of a new kind of contour plots for the
system, we focus on the mixing- induced and direct CP asymmetries of the decays
B_d --> pi^+pi^- and B_s--> K^+K^-. Using experimental information on the
CP-averaged B_d --> pi^{+/-}K^{+/-} and B_d --> pi^+pi^- branching ratios, the
relevant hadronic penguin parameters can be constrained,implying certain
allowed regions in observable space. In the case of B_d --> pi^+pi^-, an
interesting situation arises now in view of the recent B-factory measurements
of CP violation in this channel, allowing us to obtain new constraints on the
CKM angle gamma as a function of the B^0_d--\bar{B^0_d} mixing phase
phi_d=2beta, which is fixed through A_{CP}^{mix}(B_d --> J/psi K_S) up to a
twofold ambiguity. If we assume that A_{CP}^{mix}(B_d --> pi^+pi^-) is
positive, as indicated by recent Belle data, and that phi_d is in agreement
with the ``indirect'' fits of the unitarity triangle, also the corresponding
values for gamma around 60 degrees can be accommodated. On the other hand, for
the second solution of phi_d, we obtain a gap around gamma ~ 60 degrees. The
allowed region in the space of A_{CP}^{mix}(B_s --> K^+K^-) and
A_{CP}^{dir}(B_s --> K^+K^-) is very constrained in the Standard Model, thereby
providing a narrow target range for run II of the Tevatron and the experiments
of the LHC era.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, 12 figures. More detailed introduction and a few
Comments added, conclusions unchanged. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Genetic variation at MECOM, TERT, JAK2 and HBS1L-MYB predisposes to myeloproliferative neoplasms
Clonal proliferation in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) is driven by somatic mutations in JAK2, CALR or MPL, but the contribution of inherited factors is poorly characterized. Using a three-stage genome-wide association study of 3,437 MPN cases and 10,083 controls, we identify two SNPs with genome-wide significance in JAK2V617F-negative MPN: rs12339666 (JAK2; meta-analysis P=1.27 Ă 10â10) and rs2201862 (MECOM; meta-analysis P=1.96 Ă 10â9). Two additional SNPs, rs2736100 (TERT) and rs9376092 (HBS1L/MYB), achieve genome-wide significance when including JAK2V617F-positive cases. rs9376092 has a stronger effect in JAK2V617F-negative cases with CALR and/or MPL mutations (BreslowâDay P=4.5 Ă 10â7), whereas in JAK2V617F-positive cases rs9376092 associates with essential thrombocythemia (ET) rather than polycythemia vera (allelic Ï2 P=7.3 Ă 10â7). Reduced MYB expression, previously linked to development of an ET-like disease in model systems, associates with rs9376092 in normal myeloid cells. These findings demonstrate that multiple germline variants predispose to MPN and link constitutional differences in MYB expression to disease phenotype
Quantifying Adhesion Mechanisms and Dynamics of Human Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cells
Using planar lipid membranes with precisely defined concentrations of specific ligands, we have determined the binding strength between human hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and the bone marrow niche. The relative significance of HSC adhesion to the surrogate niche models via SDF1α-CXCR4 or N-cadherin axes was quantified by (a) the fraction of adherent cells, (b) the area of tight adhesion, and (c) the critical pressure for cell detachment. We have demonstrated that the binding of HSC to the niche model is a cooperative process, and the adhesion mediated by the CXCR4- SDF1α axis is stronger than that by homophilic N-cadherin binding. The statistical image analysis of stochastic morphological dynamics unraveled that HSC dissipated energy by undergoing oscillatory deformation. The combination of an in vitro niche model and novel physical tools has enabled us to quantitatively determine the relative significance of binding mechanisms between normal HSC versus leukemia blasts to the bone marrow niche
Influence of length and conformation of saccharide head groups on the mechanics of glycolipid membranes: Unraveled by off-specular neutron scattering
Nucleation of a sodium droplet on C60
We investigate theoretically the progressive coating of C60 by several sodium
atoms. Density functional calculations using a nonlocal functional are
performed for NaC60 and Na2C60 in various configurations. These data are used
to construct an empirical atomistic model in order to treat larger sizes in a
statistical and dynamical context. Fluctuating charges are incorporated to
account for charge transfer between sodium and carbon atoms. By performing
systematic global optimization in the size range 1<=n<=30, we find that Na_nC60
is homogeneously coated at small sizes, and that a growing droplet is formed
above n=>8. The separate effects of single ionization and thermalization are
also considered, as well as the changes due to a strong external electric
field. The present results are discussed in the light of various experimental
data.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
The Race Between Stars and Quasars in Reionizing Cosmic Hydrogen
The cosmological background of ionizing radiation has been dominated by
quasars once the Universe aged by ~2 billion years. At earlier times (redshifts
z>3), the observed abundance of bright quasars declined sharply, implying that
cosmic hydrogen was reionized by stars instead. Here, we explain the physical
origin of the transition between the dominance of stars and quasars as a
generic feature of structure formation in the concordance LCDM cosmology. At
early times, the fraction of baryons in galaxies grows faster than the maximum
(Eddington-limited) growth rate possible for quasars. As a result, quasars were
not able to catch up with the rapid early growth of stellar mass in their host
galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Accepted for publication in JCA
Three-body structure of low-lying 18Ne states
We investigate to what extent 18Ne can be descibed as a three-body system
made of an inert 16O-core and two protons. We compare to experimental data and
occasionally to shell model results. We obtain three-body wave functions with
the hyperspherical adiabatic expansion method. We study the spectrum of 18Ne,
the structure of the different states and the predominant transition strengths.
Two 0+, two 2+, and one 4+ bound states are found where they are all known
experimentally. Also one 3+ close to threshold is found and several negative
parity states, 1-, 3-, 0-, 2-, most of them bound with respect to the 16O
excited 3- state. The structures are extracted as partial wave components, as
spatial sizes of matter and charge, and as probability distributions.
Electromagnetic decay rates are calculated for these states. The dominating
decay mode for the bound states is E2 and occasionally also M1.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures (version to appear in EPJA
(1+1)-Dirac particle with position-dependent mass in complexified Lorentz scalar interactions: effectively PT-symmetric
The effect of the built-in supersymmetric quantum mechanical language on the
spectrum of the (1+1)-Dirac equation, with position-dependent mass (PDM) and
complexified Lorentz scalar interactions, is re-emphasized. The signature of
the "quasi-parity" on the Dirac particles' spectra is also studied. A Dirac
particle with PDM and complexified scalar interactions of the form S(z)=S(x-ib)
(an inversely linear plus linear, leading to a PT-symmetric oscillator model),
and S(x)=S_{r}(x)+iS_{i}(x) (a PT-symmetric Scarf II model) are considered.
Moreover, a first-order intertwining differential operator and an
-weak-pseudo-Hermiticity generator are presented and a complexified
PT-symmetric periodic-type model is used as an illustrative example.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, revise
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