A variational approach to superfluidity

A variational approach to problems in quantum statistical mechanics is described and it is shown how to determine the best quasi-free approximation to the equilibrium state. The relation between this approximation and the Bogoliubov approximation in superfluidity is discussed.     

Existence theory of the linear equations appearing in the Chapman-Enskog solutions to two kinetic equations for liquids

The linear operators appearing in the Chapman-Enskog solutions to Kirkwood's Fokker-Planck kinetic equation and to Rice and Allnatt's kinetic equation are studied in this article. Existence proofs are given for the linearized Chapman-Enskog equations involving either the Fokker-Planck or the Rice-Allnatt operators. It is shown that the Fokker-Planck and Rice-Allnatt operators, defined in the domain appropriate to kinetic theory, are essentially self-adjoint. It is also shown that the spectrum of either of these operators coincides with the spectrum of the self-adjoint extension of the corresponding operator.Sloan Foundation Fellow 1968–70. Guggenheim Fellow 1969–70.     

Thermoelastic properties of helical protein molecules

The effect of stress on the helix-coil transition in a protein or polypeptide is investigated using the methods of statistical mechanics. A case is treated in which the helical sections are regarded as flexible chains withvery long, freely orienting segments and another in which they are considered to be rigid rods. Thermoelastic relations are derived; and it turns out that, depending upon conditions, stress can induce the helix-coil transition in one or another direction or do nothing at all. The most probable situations either involve stress applied to a molecule initially helical, in which case the helix is stabilized, or stress applied to the coil form, in which case transformation to the helical form is induced. The helical form exhibits a very low modulus of elasticity (which we also compute), and it is speculated that preservation of, or transition to, the helical form under stress aids in the protection of living tissue from disruption when subjected to large applied strain. Real tissues involve highly organized or quasirandom networks of protein chains. The results of this analysis suggest that, insofar as the mechanical properties of the networks are concerned, the chains can be treated as quasiharmonic strings whose configurations (weighted by potential energy) can be enumerated in order to include entropy effects in the calculation of the network modulus.Work performed as part of a 1970 summer study project in connection with the Advanced Research Projects Agency Materials Research Council.     

Critique of multinomial coefficients method for evaluating Tsallis and Rényi entropies

Oikonomou [Th. Oikonomou, Physica A 386 (2007) 119] has published a calculation which purports to show that the Tsallis and Rényi entropies can be obtained from the generalized multinomial coefficients. In this paper, we prove that the method of generalized multinomial coefficients failed to determine the Tsallis entropy at equilibrium. Moreover, it is shown that Oikonomou’s analysis contains mistakes which led to misleading statements related to the Jaynes principle of maximum entropy, the Tsallis and the Rényi statistics.     

Bayesian Influence Assessment in the Growth Curve Model with Unstructured Covariance

From a Bayesian point of view, in this paper we discuss the influence of a subset of observations on the posterior distributions of parameters in a growth curve model with unstructured covariance. The measure used to assess the influence is based on a Bayesian entropy, namely Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD). Several new properties of the Bayesian entropy are studied, and analytically closed forms of the KLD measurement both for the matrix-variate normal distribution and the Wishart distribution are established. In the growth curve model, the KLD measurements for all combinations of the parameters are also studied. For illustration, a practical data set is analyzed using the proposed approach, which shows that the diagnostics measurements are useful in practice.     

β-delayed proton decays of 81Zr and 85Mo

β-delayed proton decays of Tz=1/2 series nuclei 81Zr and 85Mo have been studied in detail by using p-γ coincidence measurement. The β-delayed proton spectra populating the first excited states of the daughter nuclei have been obtained. Half-life of 81Zr has been measured to be 5.3 s±0.5 s and that of 85Mo 3.2 s±0.2 s. By using statistical model calculations and systematic analyses, spins and parities for the ground states of 81Zr and 85Mo have been tentatively assigned to be 3/2- and 1/2-, respectively. Mass excess of 81Zr is -58.3 MeV±0.2 MeV and that of 85Mo -59.1 MeV±0.4 MeV. Combining the measured half-lives with the calculated partial ones yields the branches of β-delayed proton decay for 81Zr and 85Mo of (1.2±0.2)×10-3 and (1.4±0.2)×10-3, respectively.     

Kinetic Theory of Area-Preserving Maps. Application to the Standard Map in the Diffusive Regime

The evolution of the distribution function of a dynamical system governed by a general two-dimensional area-preserving iterative map is studied by the methods of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. A closed, non-Markovian master equation determines the angle-averaged distribution function (the density profile). The complementary, angle-dependent part (the fluctuations) is expressed as a non-Markovian functional of the density profile. Whenever there exist two widely separated intrinsic time scales, the master equation can be markovianized, yielding an asymptotic kinetic equation. The general theory is applied to the standard map in the diffusive regime, i.e., for large stochasticity parameter and large scale length. The non-Markovian master equation can be written and solved analytically in this approximation. The two characteristic time scales are exhibited. This permits the thorough study of the evolution of the density profile, its tendency toward the Markovian approximation, and eventually toward a diffusive Gaussian packet. The evolution of the fluctuations is also described in detail. The various relaxation processes are governed asymptotically by a single diffusion coefficient, which is calculated analytically. This model appears as a testing bench for the study of kinetic equations. The various previous approaches to this problem are reviewed and critically discussed.     

Natural Nonequilibrium States in Quantum Statistical Mechanics

A quantum spin system is discussed where a heat flow between infinite reservoirs takes place in a finite region. A time-dependent force may also be acting. Our analysis is based on a simple technical assumption concerning the time evolution of infinite quantum spin systems. This assumption, physically natural but currently proved for few specific systems only, says that quantum information diffuses in space-time in such a way that the time integral of the commutator of local observables converges: ⁰ _– dt [B, ^t A]<. In this setup one can define a natural nonequilibrium state. In the time-independent case, this nonequilibrium state retains some of the analyticity which characterizes KMS equilibrium states. A linear response formula is also obtained which remains true far from equilibrium. The formalism presented here does not cover situations where (for time-independent forces) the time-translation invariance and uniqueness of the natural nonequilibrium state are broken.     

Equivalence of the Two Results for the Free Energy of the Chiral Potts Model

The free energy of the chiral Potts model has been obtained in two ways. The first used only the star-triangle relation, symmetries, and invariances, and led to a system of equations that implicitly define the free energy, and from which the critical behavior can be obtained The second used the functional relations derived by Bazhanov and Stroganov, solving them to obtain the free energy explicitly as a double integral. Here we obtain, for the first time, a direct verification that the two results are identical at all temperatures.