Phase transition in spin systems with various types of fluctuations

Various types ordering processes in systems with large fluctuation are overviewed. Generally, the so-called order–disorder phase transition takes place in competition between the interaction causing the system be ordered and the entropy causing a random disturbance. Nature of the phase transition strongly depends on the type of fluctuation which is determined by the structure of the order parameter of the system. As to the critical property of phase transitions, the concept “universality of the critical phenomena” is well established. However, we still find variety of features of ordering processes. In this article, we study effects of various mechanisms which bring large fluctuation in the system, e.g., continuous symmetry of the spin in low dimensions, contradictions among interactions (frustration), randomness of the lattice, quantum fluctuations, and a long range interaction in off-lattice systems

The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C

Top-down facilitation of visual recognition

Cortical analysis related to visual object recognition is traditionally thought to propagate serially along a bottom-up hierarchy of ventral areas. Recent proposals gradually promote the role of top-down processing in recognition, but how such facilitation is triggered remains a puzzle. We tested a specific model, proposing that low spatial frequencies facilitate visual object recognition by initiating top-down processes projected from orbitofrontal to visual cortex. The present study combined magnetoencephalography, which has superior temporal resolution, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and a behavioral task that yields successful recognition with stimulus repetitions. Object recognition elicited differential activity that developed in the left orbitofrontal cortex 50 ms earlier than it did in recognition-related areas in the temporal cortex. This early orbitofrontal activity was directly modulated by the presence of low spatial frequencies in the image. Taken together, the dynamics we revealed provide strong support for the proposal of how top-down facilitation of object recognition is initiated, and our observations are used to derive predictions for future research