2,608 research outputs found
Unified decoupling scheme for exchange and anisotropy contributions and temperature-dependent spectral properties of anisotropic spin systems
We compute the temperature-dependent spin-wave spectrum and the magnetization
for a spin system using the unified decoupling procedure for the high-order
Green's functions for the exchange coupling and anisotropy, both in the
classical and quantum case. Our approach allows us to establish a clear
crossover between quantum-mechanical and classical methods by developing the
classical analog of the quantum Green's function technique. The results are
compared with the classical spectral density method and numerical modeling
based on the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation and the Monte Carlo technique.
As far as the critical temperature is concerned, there is a full agreement
between the classical Green's functions technique and the classical spectral
density method. However, the former method turns out to be more straightforward
and more convenient than the latter because it avoids any \emph{a priori}
assumptions about the system's spectral density. The temperature-dependent
exchange stiffness as a function of magnetization is investigated within
different approaches
Chronic consumption of probiotics, oats and apples have differential effects on postprandial bile acid profile and cardiometabolic disease risk markers compared to an isocaloric control (cornflakes): a randomized trial
Background: Dietary components that impact the gut microbiota may beneficially affect cardiometabolic health, possibly by altered bile acid metabolism. However, impacts of these foods on postprandial bile acids, gut microbiota, and cardiometabolic risk markers are unclear. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the chronic effects of probiotics, oats, and apples on postprandial bile acids, gut microbiota, and cardiometabolic health biomarkers. Methods Using an acute within chronic parallel design, 61 volunteers (mean ± SD: age 52 ± 12 y; BMI 24.8 ± 3.4 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to consume 40 g cornflakes (control), 40 g oats or 2 Renetta Canada apples each with 2 placebo capsules per day or 40 g cornflakes with 2 Lactobacillus reuteri capsules (>5 × 109 CFU) per day, for 8 wk. Fasting and postprandial serum/plasma bile acids and cardiometabolic health biomarkers, fecal bile acids, and gut microbiota composition were determined. Results: At week 0, oats and apples significantly decreased postprandial serum insulin [area under the curve (AUC): 25.6 (17.4, 33.8) and 23.4 (15.4, 31.4) vs. 42.0 (33.7, 50.2) pmol/L × min and incremental AUC (iAUC): 17.8 (11.6, 24.0) and 13.7 (7.7, 19.8) vs. 29.6 (23.3, 35.8) pmol/L × min] and C-peptide responses [AUC: 599 (514, 684) and 550 (467, 632) vs. 750 (665, 835) ng/mL × min], whereas non-esterified fatty acids were increased [AUC 135 (117, 153) vs. 86.3 (67.9, 105) and iAUC 96.2 (78.8, 114) vs. 60 (42.1, 77.9) mmol/L × min] after the apples vs. control (P ≤ 0.05). Postprandial unconjugated [AUC: predicted means (95% CI) 1469 (1101, 1837) vs. 363 (−28, 754) μmol/L × min and iAUC: 923 (682, 1165) vs. 22.0 (−235, 279) μmol/L × min)] and hydrophobic [iAUC: 1210 (911, 1510) vs. 487 (168, 806) μmol/L × min] bile acid responses were increased after 8 wk probiotic intervention vs. control (P ≤ 0.049). None of the interventions modulated the gut microbiota. Conclusions: These results support beneficial effects of apples and oats on postprandial glycemia and the ability of the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri to modulate postprandial plasma bile acid profiles compared with control (cornflakes), with no relationship evident between circulating bile acids and cardiometabolic health biomarker
Damping Rates and Mean Free Paths of Soft Fermion Collective Excitations in a Hot Fermion-Gauge-Scalar Theory
We study the transport coefficients, damping rates and mean free paths of
soft fermion collective excitations in a hot fermion-gauge-scalar plasma with
the goal of understanding the main physical mechanisms that determine transport
of chirality in scenarios of non-local electroweak baryogenesis. The focus is
on identifying the different transport coefficients for the different branches
of soft collective excitations of the fermion spectrum. These branches
correspond to collective excitations with opposite ratios of chirality to
helicity and different dispersion relations. By combining results from the hard
thermal loop (HTL) resummation program with a novel mechanism of fermion
damping through heavy scalar decay, we obtain a robust description of the
different damping rates and mean free paths for the soft collective excitations
to leading order in HTL and lowest order in the Yukawa coupling. The space-time
evolution of wave packets of collective excitations unambiguously reveals the
respective mean free paths. We find that whereas both the gauge and scalar
contribution to the damping rates are different for the different branches, the
difference of mean free paths for both branches is mainly determined by the
decay of the heavy scalar into a hard fermion and a soft collective excitation.
We argue that these mechanisms are robust and are therefore relevant for
non-local scenarios of baryogenesis either in the Standard Model or extensions
thereof.Comment: REVTeX, 19 pages, 4 eps figures, published versio
Speculations on Primordial Magnetic Helicity
We speculate that above or just below the electroweak phase transition
magnetic fields are generated which have a net helicity (otherwise said, a
Chern-Simons term) of order of magnitude , where is the
baryon or lepton number today. (To be more precise requires much more knowledge
of B,L-generating mechanisms than we currently have.) Electromagnetic helicity
generation is associated (indirectly) with the generation of electroweak
Chern-Simons number through B+L anomalies. This helicity, which in the early
universe is some 30 orders of magnitude greater than what would be expected
from fluctuations alone in the absence of B+L violation, should be reasonably
well-conserved through the evolution of the universe to around the times of
matter dominance and decoupling, because the early universe is an excellent
conductor. Possible consequences include early structure formation; macroscopic
manifestations of CP violation in the cosmic magnetic field (measurable at
least in principle, if not in practice); and an inverse-cascade dynamo
mechanism in which magnetic fields and helicity are unstable to transfer to
larger and larger spatial scales. We give a quasi-linear treatment of the
general-relativistic MHD inverse cascade instability, finding substantial
growth for helicity of the assumed magnitude out to scales , where is roughly the B+L to photon ratio and
is the magnetic correlation length. We also elaborate further on an
earlier proposal of the author for generation of magnetic fields above the EW
phase transition.Comment: Latex, 23 page
Super Calabi-Yau's and Special Lagrangians
We apply mirror symmetry to the super Calabi-Yau manifold CP^{(n|n+1)} and
show that the mirror can be recast in a form which depends only on the
superdimension and which is reminiscent of a generalized conifold. We discuss
its geometrical properties in comparison to the familiar conifold geometry. In
the second part of the paper examples of special-Lagrangian submanifolds are
constructed for a class of super Calabi-Yau's. We finally comment on their
infinitesimal deformations.Comment: 20 pages, no figures, latex; v2: references added; v3: minor
clarifications added, version published in JHE
Kinetics of the long-range spherical model
The kinetic spherical model with long-range interactions is studied after a
quench to or to . For the two-time response and correlation
functions of the order-parameter as well as for composite fields such as the
energy density, the ageing exponents and the corresponding scaling functions
are derived. The results are compared to the predictions which follow from
local scale-invariance.Comment: added "fluctuation-dissipation ratios"; fixed typo
Correlating the nanostructure and electronic properties of InAs nanowires
The electronic properties and nanostructure of InAs nanowires are correlated
by creating multiple field effect transistors (FETs) on nanowires grown to have
low and high defect density segments. 4.2 K carrier mobilities are ~4X larger
in the nominally defect-free segments of the wire. We also find that dark field
optical intensity is correlated with the mobility, suggesting a simple route
for selecting wires with a low defect density. At low temperatures, FETs
fabricated on high defect density segments of InAs nanowires showed transport
properties consistent with single electron charging, even on devices with low
resistance ohmic contacts. The charging energies obtained suggest quantum dot
formation at defects in the wires. These results reinforce the importance of
controlling the defect density in order to produce high quality electrical and
optical devices using InAs nanowires.Comment: Related papers at http://pettagroup.princeton.ed
Extended Scaling in High Dimensions
We apply and test the recently proposed "extended scaling" scheme in an
analysis of the magnetic susceptibility of Ising systems above the upper
critical dimension. The data are obtained by Monte Carlo simulations using both
the conventional Wolff cluster algorithm and the Prokof'ev-Svistunov worm
algorithm. As already observed for other models, extended scaling is shown to
extend the high-temperature critical scaling regime over a range of
temperatures much wider than that achieved conventionally. It allows for an
accurate determination of leading and sub-leading scaling indices, critical
temperatures and amplitudes of the confluent corrections.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures. Improved version to appear in JSTA
Social Preferences and the Efficiency of Bilateral Exchange
Under what conditions do social preferences, such as altruism or a concern for fair outcomes, generate efficient trade? I analyze theoretically a simple bilateral exchange game: Each player sequentially takes an action that reduces his own material payoff but increases the other player’s. Each player’s preferences may depend on both his/her own material payoff and the other player’s. I identify necessary conditions and sufficient conditions on the players’ preferences for the outcome of their interaction to be Pareto efficient. The results have implications for interpreting the rotten kid theorem, gift exchange in the laboratory, and gift exchange in the field
Membrane Instantons and de Sitter Vacua
We investigate membrane instanton effects in type IIA strings compactified on
rigid Calabi-Yau manifolds. These effects contribute to the low-energy
effective action of the universal hypermultiplet. In the absence of additional
fivebrane instantons, the quaternionic geometry of this hypermultiplet is
determined by solutions of the three-dimensional Toda equation. We construct
solutions describing membrane instantons, and find perfect agreement with the
string theory prediction. In the context of flux compactifications we discuss
how membrane instantons contribute to the scalar potential and the
stabilization of moduli. Finally, we demonstrate the existence of meta-stable
de Sitter vacua.Comment: v3: minor clarifications, JHEP version, 38 page
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