3,626 research outputs found
Cell Adhesion: A surprising cohesive force
When an experimentalist or a biological mechanism applies an external force onto a cell chemically sticking to its substrate, a reacting "suction" force, due to the slow penetration of the surrounding fluid between the cell and the substrate, opposes to the dissociation. This force can overcome other known adhesive forces when the process is sufficiently violent (typically 10^5^ pN). Its maximal contribution to the total adhesive energy of the cell can then be estimated to 2 10^-3^ J/m2. The physical origin of this effect is quite simple, and it may be compared with that leaning a "suction-cup" against a bathroom wall. We address the consequences of this effect on (i) the separation energy, (ii) the motion of the fluid surrounding the cell, more especially, on the pumping of the fluid by moving cells, and (iii) the inhibition of cell motion
The periodic sl(2|1) alternating spin chain and its continuum limit as a bulk Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory at c=0
The periodic sl(2|1) alternating spin chain encodes (some of) the properties
of hulls of percolation clusters, and is described in the continuum limit by a
logarithmic conformal field theory (LCFT) at central charge c=0. This theory
corresponds to the strong coupling regime of a sigma model on the complex
projective superspace , and the spectrum of critical exponents can be
obtained exactly. In this paper we push the analysis further, and determine the
main representation theoretic (logarithmic) features of this continuum limit by
extending to the periodic case the approach of [N. Read and H. Saleur, Nucl.
Phys. B 777 316 (2007)]. We first focus on determining the representation
theory of the finite size spin chain with respect to the algebra of local
energy densities provided by a representation of the affine Temperley-Lieb
algebra at fugacity one. We then analyze how these algebraic properties carry
over to the continuum limit to deduce the structure of the space of states as a
representation over the product of left and right Virasoro algebras. Our main
result is the full structure of the vacuum module of the theory, which exhibits
Jordan cells of arbitrary rank for the Hamiltonian.Comment: 69pp, 8 fig
Weak in Space, Log in Time Improvement of the Lady{\v{z}}enskaja-Prodi-Serrin Criteria
In this article we present a Lady{\v{z}}enskaja-Prodi-Serrin Criteria for
regularity of solutions for the Navier-Stokes equation in three dimensions
which incorporates weak norms in the space variables and log improvement
in the time variable.Comment: 14 pages, to appea
Critical properties of joint spin and Fortuin-Kasteleyn observables in the two-dimensional Potts model
The two-dimensional Potts model can be studied either in terms of the
original Q-component spins, or in the geometrical reformulation via
Fortuin-Kasteleyn (FK) clusters. While the FK representation makes sense for
arbitrary real values of Q by construction, it was only shown very recently
that the spin representation can be promoted to the same level of generality.
In this paper we show how to define the Potts model in terms of observables
that simultaneously keep track of the spin and FK degrees of freedom. This is
first done algebraically in terms of a transfer matrix that couples three
different representations of a partition algebra. Using this, one can study
correlation functions involving any given number of propagating spin clusters
with prescribed colours, each of which contains any given number of distinct FK
clusters. For 0 <= Q <= 4 the corresponding critical exponents are all of the
Kac form h_{r,s}, with integer indices r,s that we determine exactly both in
the bulk and in the boundary versions of the problem. In particular, we find
that the set of points where an FK cluster touches the hull of its surrounding
spin cluster has fractal dimension d_{2,1} = 2 - 2 h_{2,1}. If one constrains
this set to points where the neighbouring spin cluster extends to infinity, we
show that the dimension becomes d_{1,3} = 2 - 2 h_{1,3}. Our results are
supported by extensive transfer matrix and Monte Carlo computations.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
Logarithmic observables in critical percolation
Although it has long been known that the proper quantum field theory
description of critical percolation involves a logarithmic conformal field
theory (LCFT), no direct consequence of this has been observed so far.
Representing critical bond percolation as the Q = 1 limit of the Q-state Potts
model, and analyzing the underlying S_Q symmetry of the Potts spins, we
identify a class of simple observables whose two-point functions scale
logarithmically for Q = 1. The logarithm originates from the mixing of the
energy operator with a logarithmic partner that we identify as the field that
creates two propagating clusters. In d=2 dimensions this agrees with general
LCFT results, and in particular the universal prefactor of the logarithm can be
computed exactly. We confirm its numerical value by extensive Monte-Carlo
simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. V2: as publishe
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