The influence of the boundary resistivity on the proximity effect

We apply the theory of Takahashi and Tachiki in order to explain theoretically the dependence of the upper critical magnetic field of a S/N multilayer on the temperature. This problem has been already investigated in the literature, but with a use of an unphysical scaling parameter for the coherence length. We show explicitely that, in order to describe the data, such an unphysical parameter is unnecessary if one takes into account the boundary resisitivity of the S/N interface. We obtain a very good agreement with the experiments for the multilayer systems Nb/Cu and V/Ag, with various layer thicknesses.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Kinks in the Hartree approximation

The topological defects of the lambda phi^4 theory, kink and antikink, are studied in the Hartree approximation. This allows us to discuss quantum effects on the defects in both stationary and dynamical systems. The kink mass is calculated for a number of parameters, and compared to classical, one loop and Monte Carlo results known from the literature. We discuss the thermalization of the system after a kink antikink collision. A classical result, the existence of a critical speed, is rederived and shown for the first time in the quantum theory. We also use kink antikink collisions as a very simple toy model for heavy ion collisions and discuss the differences and similarities, for example in the pressure. Finally, using the Hartree Ensemble Approximation allows us to study kink antikink nucleation starting from a thermal (Bose Einstein) distribution. In general our results indicate that on a qualitative level there are few differences with the classical results, but on a quantitative level there are some import ones.Comment: 20 pages REVTeX 4, 17 Figures. Uses amsmath.sty and subfigure.sty. Final version, fixed typo in published versio

Far-from-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics

The theory of real-time quantum many-body dynamics as put forward in Ref. [arXiv:0710.4627] is evaluated in detail. The formulation is based on a generating functional of correlation functions where the Keldysh contour is closed at a given time. Extending the Keldysh contour from this time to a later time leads to a dynamic flow of the generating functional. This flow describes the dynamics of the system and has an explicit causal structure. In the present work it is evaluated within a vertex expansion of the effective action leading to time evolution equations for Green functions. These equations are applicable for strongly interacting systems as well as for studying the late-time behaviour of nonequilibrium time evolution. For the specific case of a bosonic N-component phi^4 theory with contact interactions an s-channel truncation is identified to yield equations identical to those derived from the 2PI effective action in next-to-leading order of a 1/N expansion. The presented approach allows to directly obtain non-perturbative dynamic equations beyond the widely used 2PI approximations.Comment: 20 pp., 6 figs; submitted version with added references and typos corrected

Theory of proximity effect in superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures

We present a microscopic theory of proximity effect in the ferromagnet/superconductor/ferromagnet (F/S/F) nanostructures where S is s-wave low-T_c superconductor and F's are layers of 3d transition ferromagnetic metal. Our approach is based on the solution of Gor'kov equations for the normal and anomalous Green's functions together with a self-consistent evaluation of the superconducting order parameter. We take into account the elastic spin-conserving scattering of the electrons assuming s-wave scattering in the S layer and s-d scattering in the F layers. In accordance with the previous quasiclassical theories, we found that due to exchange field in the ferromagnet the anomalous Green's function F(z) exhibits the damping oscillations in the F-layer as a function of distance z from the S/F interface. In the given model a half of period of oscillations is determined by the length \xi_m^0 = \pi v_F/E_ex, where v_F is the Fermi velocity and E_ex is the exchange field, while damping is governed by the length l_0 = (1/l_{\uparrow} + 1/l_{\downarrow})^{-1} with l_{\uparrow} and l_{\downarrow} being spin-dependent mean free paths in the ferromagnet. The superconducting transition temperature T_c(d_F) of the F/S/F trilayer shows the damping oscillations as a function of the F-layer thickness d_F with period \xi_F = \pi/\sqrt{m E_ex}, where m is the effective electron mass. We show that strong spin-conserving scattering either in the superconductor or in the ferromagnet significantly suppresses these oscillations. The calculated T_c(d_F) dependences are compared with existing experimental data for Fe/Nb/Fe trilayers and Nb/Co multilayers.Comment: 13 pages, REVTeX4, 8 PS-figures; improved version, submitted to PR

Transport Properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma -- A Lattice QCD Perspective

Transport properties of a thermal medium determine how its conserved charge densities (for instance the electric charge, energy or momentum) evolve as a function of time and eventually relax back to their equilibrium values. Here the transport properties of the quark-gluon plasma are reviewed from a theoretical perspective. The latter play a key role in the description of heavy-ion collisions, and are an important ingredient in constraining particle production processes in the early universe. We place particular emphasis on lattice QCD calculations of conserved current correlators. These Euclidean correlators are related by an integral transform to spectral functions, whose small-frequency form determines the transport properties via Kubo formulae. The universal hydrodynamic predictions for the small-frequency pole structure of spectral functions are summarized. The viability of a quasiparticle description implies the presence of additional characteristic features in the spectral functions. These features are in stark contrast with the functional form that is found in strongly coupled plasmas via the gauge/gravity duality. A central goal is therefore to determine which of these dynamical regimes the quark-gluon plasma is qualitatively closer to as a function of temperature. We review the analysis of lattice correlators in relation to transport properties, and tentatively estimate what computational effort is required to make decisive progress in this field.Comment: 54 pages, 37 figures, review written for EPJA and APPN; one parag. added end of section 3.4, and one at the end of section 3.2.2; some Refs. added, and some other minor change

Transport coefficients and resonances for a meson gas in Chiral Perturbation Theory

We present recent results on a systematic method to calculate transport coefficients for a meson gas (in particular, we analyze a pion gas) at low temperatures in the context of Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT). Our method is based on the study of Feynman diagrams taking into account collisions in the plasma by means of the non-zero particle width. This implies a modification of the standard ChPT power counting scheme. We discuss the importance of unitarity, which allows for an accurate high energy description of scattering amplitudes, generating dynamically the $\rho (770)$ and $f_0(600)$ mesons. Our results are compatible with analyses of kinetic theory, both in the non-relativistic very low-$T$ regime and near the transition. We show the behavior with temperature of the electrical and thermal conductivities as well as of the shear and bulk viscosities. We obtain that bulk viscosity is negligible against shear viscosity, except near the chiral phase transition where the conformal anomaly might induce larger bulk effects. Different asymptotic limits for transport coefficients, large-$N_c$ scaling and some applications to heavy-ion collisions are studied.Comment: Invited talk given at the international workshop Hot Quarks 2008, Estes Park, Colorado, USA, August 18-23 2008. Accepted as a regular article in Eur.Phys.J.C. 18 pages EPJC style, 23 figure

Methods in pharmacology: measurement of cardiac output

Perioperative Medicine: Efficacy, Safety and Outcom

High-spin yrast levels of 38Ar

High-spin states of 38Ar have been studied with the 35Cl(α, pγ)38Ar reaction at Eα = 18 MeV and with the 24Mg(16O, 2pγ)38Ar reaction at E(16O) = 38 and 45 MeV. The 38Ar level scheme is obtained with the former reaction from a proton-γ coincidence measurement. Gamma-gamma coincidence, γ-ray angular distribution and linear polarization experiments have been performed with a Ge(Li)-Na(Tl) Compton suppression spectrometer and a three-crystal Ge(Li) Compton polarimeter. Unambiguous spin-parity assignments of Jπ = 7−, 7+, 8 +, 7−, 9− and 11−to the 38Ar levels at Ex = 7.51, 8.08, 8.57, 8.97, 10.17 and 11.61 MeV, respectively, are obtained. The 8.57 MeV, 8+ level has a mean life below 0.8 ps. Excitation energies, branching ratios, multipole mixing ratios and transition strengths are reported. The experimental results are compared with shell-model calculations

High-spin yrast levels of 38Ar

High-spin states of 38Ar have been studied with the 35Cl(α, pγ)38Ar reaction at Eα = 18 MeV and with the 24Mg(16O, 2pγ)38Ar reaction at E(16O) = 38 and 45 MeV. The 38Ar level scheme is obtained with the former reaction from a proton-γ coincidence measurement. Gamma-gamma coincidence, γ-ray angular distribution and linear polarization experiments have been performed with a Ge(Li)-Na(Tl) Compton suppression spectrometer and a three-crystal Ge(Li) Compton polarimeter. Unambiguous spin-parity assignments of Jπ = 7−, 7+, 8 +, 7−, 9− and 11−to the 38Ar levels at Ex = 7.51, 8.08, 8.57, 8.97, 10.17 and 11.61 MeV, respectively, are obtained. The 8.57 MeV, 8+ level has a mean life below 0.8 ps. Excitation energies, branching ratios, multipole mixing ratios and transition strengths are reported. The experimental results are compared with shell-model calculations