185 research outputs found
Non-Perturbative Renormalization Group for Simple Fluids
We present a new non perturbative renormalization group for classical simple
fluids. The theory is built in the Grand Canonical ensemble and in the
framework of two equivalent scalar field theories as well. The exact mapping
between the three renormalization flows is established rigorously. In the Grand
Canonical ensemble the theory may be seen as an extension of the Hierarchical
Reference Theory (L. Reatto and A. Parola, \textit{Adv. Phys.}, \textbf{44},
211 (1995)) but however does not suffer from its shortcomings at subcritical
temperatures. In the framework of a new canonical field theory of liquid state
developed in that aim our construction identifies with the effective average
action approach developed recently (J. Berges, N. Tetradis, and C. Wetterich,
\textit{Phys. Rep.}, \textbf{363} (2002))
A gentle introduction to the functional renormalization group: the Kondo effect in quantum dots
The functional renormalization group provides an efficient description of the
interplay and competition of correlations on different energy scales in
interacting Fermi systems. An exact hierarchy of flow equations yields the
gradual evolution from a microscopic model Hamiltonian to the effective action
as a function of a continuously decreasing energy cutoff. Practical
implementations rely on suitable truncations of the hierarchy, which capture
nonuniversal properties at higher energy scales in addition to the universal
low-energy asymptotics. As a specific example we study transport properties
through a single-level quantum dot coupled to Fermi liquid leads. In
particular, we focus on the temperature T=0 gate voltage dependence of the
linear conductance. A comparison with exact results shows that the functional
renormalization group approach captures the broad resonance plateau as well as
the emergence of the Kondo scale. It can be easily extended to more complex
setups of quantum dots.Comment: contribution to Les Houches proceedings 2006, Springer styl
Mixed RG Flows and Hydrodynamics at Finite Holographic Screen
We consider quark-gluon plasma with chemical potential and study
renormalization group flows of transport coefficients in the framework of
gauge/gravity duality. We first study them using the flow equations and compare
the results with hydrodynamic results by calculating the Green functions on the
arbitrary slice. Two results match exactly. Transport coefficients at arbitrary
scale is ontained by calculating hydrodynamics Green functions. When either
momentum or charge vanishes, transport coefficients decouple from each other.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Functional renormalization group with a compactly supported smooth regulator function
The functional renormalization group equation with a compactly supported
smooth (CSS) regulator function is considered. It is demonstrated that in an
appropriate limit the CSS regulator recovers the optimized one and it has
derivatives of all orders. The more generalized form of the CSS regulator is
shown to reduce to all major type of regulator functions (exponential,
power-law) in appropriate limits. The CSS regulator function is tested by
studying the critical behavior of the bosonized two-dimensional quantum
electrodynamics in the local potential approximation and the sine-Gordon scalar
theory for d<2 dimensions beyond the local potential approximation. It is shown
that a similar smoothing problem in nuclear physics has already been solved by
introducing the so called Salamon-Vertse potential which can be related to the
CSS regulator.Comment: JHEP style, 11 pages, 2 figures, proofs corrected, accepted for
publication by JHE
Introduction to the functional RG and applications to gauge theories
These lectures contain an introduction to modern renormalization group (RG)
methods as well as functional RG approaches to gauge theories. In the first
lecture, the functional renormalization group is introduced with a focus on the
flow equation for the effective average action. The second lecture is devoted
to a discussion of flow equations and symmetries in general, and flow equations
and gauge symmetries in particular. The third lecture deals with the flow
equation in the background formalism which is particularly convenient for
analytical computations of truncated flows. The fourth lecture concentrates on
the transition from microscopic to macroscopic degrees of freedom; even though
this is discussed here in the language and the context of QCD, the developed
formalism is much more general and will be useful also for other systems.Comment: 60 pages, 14 figures, Lectures held at the 2006 ECT* School
"Renormalization Group and Effective Field Theory Approaches to Many-Body
Systems", Trento, Ital
Strong-coupling expansion and effective hamiltonians
When looking for analytical approaches to treat frustrated quantum magnets,
it is often very useful to start from a limit where the ground state is highly
degenerate. This chapter discusses several ways of deriving {effective
Hamiltonians} around such limits, starting from standard {degenerate
perturbation theory} and proceeding to modern approaches more appropriate for
the derivation of high-order effective Hamiltonians, such as the perturbative
continuous unitary transformations or contractor renormalization. In the course
of this exposition, a number of examples taken from the recent literature are
discussed, including frustrated ladders and other dimer-based Heisenberg models
in a field, as well as the mapping between frustrated Ising models in a
transverse field and quantum dimer models.Comment: To appear as a chapter in "Highly Frustrated Magnetism", Eds. C.
Lacroix, P. Mendels, F. Mil
Differentiated Human Midbrain-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells Express Excitatory Strychnine-Sensitive Glycine Receptors Containing α2β Subunits
BACKGROUND: Human fetal midbrain-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) may deliver a tissue source for drug screening and regenerative cell therapy to treat Parkinson's disease. While glutamate and GABA(A) receptors play an important role in neurogenesis, the involvement of glycine receptors during human neurogenesis and dopaminergic differentiation as well as their molecular and functional characteristics in NPCs are largely unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we investigated NPCs in respect to their glycine receptor function and subunit expression using electrophysiology, calcium imaging, immunocytochemistry, and quantitative real-time PCR. Whole-cell recordings demonstrate the ability of NPCs to express functional strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors after differentiation for 3 weeks in vitro. Pharmacological and molecular analyses indicate a predominance of glycine receptor heteromers containing α2β subunits. Intracellular calcium measurements of differentiated NPCs suggest that glycine evokes depolarisations mediated by strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors and not by D-serine-sensitive excitatory glycine receptors. Culturing NPCs with additional glycine, the glycine-receptor antagonist strychnine, or the Na(+)-K(+)-Cl(-) co-transporter 1 (NKCC1)-inhibitor bumetanide did not significantly influence cell proliferation and differentiation in vitro. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These data indicate that NPCs derived from human fetal midbrain tissue acquire essential glycine receptor properties during neuronal maturation. However, glycine receptors seem to have a limited functional impact on neurogenesis and dopaminergic differentiation of NPCs in vitro
Phase Structure and Compactness
In order to study the influence of compactness on low-energy properties, we
compare the phase structures of the compact and non-compact two-dimensional
multi-frequency sine-Gordon models. It is shown that the high-energy scaling of
the compact and non-compact models coincides, but their low-energy behaviors
differ. The critical frequency at which the sine-Gordon model
undergoes a topological phase transition is found to be unaffected by the
compactness of the field since it is determined by high-energy scaling laws.
However, the compact two-frequency sine-Gordon model has first and second order
phase transitions determined by the low-energy scaling: we show that these are
absent in the non-compact model.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, minor changes, final version, accepted for
publication in JHE
Ultracold atomic gases in optical lattices: mimicking condensed matter physics and beyond
We review recent developments in the physics of ultracold atomic and
molecular gases in optical lattices. Such systems are nearly perfect
realisations of various kinds of Hubbard models, and as such may very well
serve to mimic condensed matter phenomena. We show how these systems may be
employed as quantum simulators to answer some challenging open questions of
condensed matter, and even high energy physics. After a short presentation of
the models and the methods of treatment of such systems, we discuss in detail,
which challenges of condensed matter physics can be addressed with (i)
disordered ultracold lattice gases, (ii) frustrated ultracold gases, (iii)
spinor lattice gases, (iv) lattice gases in "artificial" magnetic fields, and,
last but not least, (v) quantum information processing in lattice gases. For
completeness, also some recent progress related to the above topics with
trapped cold gases will be discussed.Comment: Review article. v2: published version, 135 pages, 34 figure
On the Renormalization of Theories of a Scalar Chiral Superfield
An exact renormalization group for theories of a scalar chiral superfield is
formulated, directly in four dimensional Euclidean space. By constructing a
projector which isolates the superpotential from the full Wilsonian effective
action, it is shown that the nonperturbative nonrenormalization theorem
follows, quite simply, from the flow equation. Next, it is argued that there do
not exist any physically acceptable non-trivial fixed points. Finally, the
Wess-Zumino model is considered, as a low energy effective theory. Following an
evaluation of the one and two loop beta-function coefficients, to illustrate
the ease of use of the formalism, it is shown that the beta-function in the
massless case does not receive any nonperturbative power corrections.Comment: 52 pages, 4 figures; v2: 57 pages - refs added and some minor
corrections/clarifications made; v3: published in JHEP - some further
clarifications mad
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