BCS-BEC crossover in a relativistic superfluid and its significance to quark matter

The character change of a superfluid state due to the variation of the attractive force is investigated in the relativistic framework with a massive fermion. Two crossovers are found. One is a crossover from the usual BCS state to the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of bound fermion pairs. The other is from the BEC to the relativistic Bose-Einstein condensation (RBEC) of nearly massless bound pairs where antiparticles as well as particles dominate the thermodynamics. Possible realization of the BEC and RBEC states in the quark matter is also pointed out.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, revtex4; (v2) text has been clarified, references updated; (v3) final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Energy-momentum tensor correlation function in Nf=2+1 full QCD at finite temperature

We measure correlation functions of the nonperturbatively renormalized energy-momentum tensor in $N_f=2+1$ full QCD at finite temperature by applying the gradient flow method both to the gauge and quark fields. Our main interest is to study the conservation law of the energy-momentum tensor and to test whether the linear response relation is properly realized for the entropy density. By using the linear response relation we calculate the specific heat from the correlation function. We adopt the nonperturbatively improved Wilson fermion and Iwasaki gauge action at a fine lattice spacing $=0.07$ fm. In this paper the temperature is limited to a single value $T=232$ MeV. The $u$, $d$ quark mass is rather heavy with $m_\pi/m_\rho=0.63$ while the $s$ quark mass is set to approximately its physical value.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures. Talk presented at the 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE 2017), 18-24 June 2017, Granada, Spai

Equation of state in (2+1)-flavor QCD at physical point with improved Wilson fermion action using gradient flow

We study the energy-momentum tensor and the equation of state as well as the chiral condensate in (2+1)-flavor QCD at the physical point applying the method of Makino and Suzuki based on the gradient flow. We adopt a nonperturbatively O(a)-improved Wilson quark action and the renormalization group-improved Iwasaki gauge action. At Lattice 2016, we have presented our preliminary results of our study in (2+1)-flavor QCD at a heavy u, d quark mass point. We now extend the study to the physical point and perform finite-temperature simulations in the range T \simeq 155--544 MeV (Nt = 4--14 including odd Nt's) at a \simeq 0.09 fm. We show our final results of the heavy QCD study and present some preliminary results obtained at the physical point so far.Comment: 8 pages, 15 figures, talk presented at the 35th International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE 2017), 18-24 June 2017, Granada, Spai

Changes in pollinator fauna affect altitudinal variation of floral size in a bumblebee-pollinated herb

Geographic trait variations are often caused by locally different selection regimes. As a steep environmental cline along altitude strongly influences adaptive traits, mountain ecosystems are ideal for exploring adaptive differentiation over short distances. We investigated altitudinal floral size variation of Campanula punctata var. hondoensis in 12 populations in three mountain regions of central Japan to test whether the altitudinal floral size variation was correlated with the size of the local bumblebee pollinator and to assess whether floral size was selected for by pollinator size. We found apparent geographic variations in pollinator assemblages along altitude, which consequently produced a geographic change in pollinator size. Similarly, we found altitudinal changes in floral size, which proved to be correlated with the local pollinator size, but not with altitude itself. Furthermore, pollen removal from flower styles onto bees (plant's male fitness) was strongly influenced by the size match between flower style length and pollinator mouthpart length. These results strongly suggest that C. punctata floral size is under pollinator-mediated selection and that a geographic mosaic of locally adapted C. punctata exists at fine spatial scale.ArticleECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION. 4(17):3395-3407 (2014)journal articl

Class I/II hybrid inhibitory oligodeoxynucleotide exerts Th1 and Th2 double immunosuppression

We designed class I/II hybrid inhibitory oligodeoxynucleotides (iODNs), called iSG, and found that the sequence 5′-TTAGGG-3′, which has a six-base loop head structure, and a 3′-oligo (dG)3–5 tail sequence are important for potent immunosuppressive activity. Interestingly, splenocytes isolated from ovalbumin (OVA)-immunized mice and treated with iSG3 showed suppression of not only interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12p35, IL-12p40, and interferon (IFN) γ mRNA expression, but also IL-4 and IL-13 mRNA expression. Thus, both Th2 and Th1 immune responses can be strongly suppressed by iODNs in splenocytes from allergen-immunized mice, suggesting usefulness in the treatment of diseases induced by over-active immune activation.ArticleFEBS Open Bio. 3:41-45 (2013)journal articl