Generic replica symmetric field-theory for short range Ising spin glasses

Symmetry considerations and a direct, Hubbard-Stratonovich type, derivation are used to construct a replica field-theory relevant to the study of the spin glass transition of short range models in a magnetic field. A mean-field treatment reveals that two different types of transitions exist, whenever the replica number n is kept larger than zero. The Sherrington-Kirkpatrick critical point in zero magnetic field between the paramagnet and replica magnet (a replica symmetric phase with a nonzero spin glass order parameter) separates from the de Almeida-Thouless line, along which replica symmetry breaking occurs. We argue that for studying the de Almeida-Thouless transition around the upper critical dimension d = 6, it is necessary to use the generic cubic model with all the three bare masses and eight cubic couplings. The critical role n may play is also emphasized. To make perturbative calculations feasible, a new representation of the cubic interaction is introduced. To illustrate the method, we compute the masses in one-loop order. Some technical details and a list of vertex rules are presented to help future renormalisation-group calculations. Received 9 October 2001     

A dynamical test of phase transition order: New things in old places or old wine in new bottles

We first discuss nonlinear aspects of phase transition theory applied to a particular liquid crystal phase transition. A simple derivation is given to show how two coupled Goldstone modes (one appearing as gauge fluctuations of the ordered phase) can force a phase transition, against all expectations, to take place discontinuously (theory of Halperin, Lubensky, and Ma)-but the discontinuity may be immeasurably small. Then, we describe a new dynamical test of phase transition order, developed by Cladiset al., that turns out to be more sensitive than x-ray diffraction and adiabatic calorimetry. Quantitative data found by this new method are in excellent agreement with the measurements of adiabatic calorimetry and x-ray diffraction as well as expectations implicit in the predictions of HLM.This is the text of an after-banquet talk given at the CNLS Workshop on the Dynamics of Concentrated Systems.     

Time delay as a key to apoptosis induction in the p53 network

A feedback mechanism that involves the proteins p53 and mdm2, induces cell death as a controlled response to severe DNA damage. A minimal model for this mechanism demonstrates that the response may be dynamic and connected with the time needed to translate the mdm2 protein. The response takes place if the dissociation constant k between p53 and mdm2 varies from its normal value. Although it is widely believed that it is an increase in k that triggers the response, we show that the experimental behaviour is better described by a decrease in the dissociation constant. The response is quite robust upon changes in the parameters of the system, as required by any control mechanism, except for few weak points, which could be connected with the onset of cancer. Received 8 May 2002 / Received in final form 9 July 2002 Published online 17 September 2002     

ω-meson photoproduction on nucleons in the near-threshold region

The European Physical Journal A - The ω-meson photoproduction, γ + p→p + ω, is studied in the framework of a model, containing π-meson exchange in t-channel and...     

Development of a Simulation Model for Solid Objects Suspended in a Fluctuating Fluid

We introduce a new scheme for the future application of Real-coded Lattice Gas (RLG) to the numerical simulation of suspended solid objects in a fluctuating fluid environment. The reproduction of Brownian motion for a single solid object is verified through the Gaussian distribution of its displacements. The effectiveness of the solid–solid interaction model is also confirmed in an N-body simulation.     

Ultraslow phonon-assisted collapse of tubular image states

We predict ultraslow collapse of “tubular image states” (TIS) on material surfaces. TIS are bound Rydberg-like electronic states formed at large distances (∼30 nm) from the surfaces of suspended circularly-symmetric nanowires, such as metallic C nanotubes. The states are formed in potential wells, resulting from a combination of the TIS-electron attraction to image charges in the nanotube and its centrifugal repulsion, caused by spinning around the tube. We demonstrate that TIS can collapse on the tube surface by passing their angular momentum l to circularly polarized flexural phonons excited in the tube. Our analysis shows that for highly detached TIS with l ? 6 the relaxation lifetimes are of the order of 10 ns-1 μs, while for l < 6 these lifetimes are reduced by several orders of magnitude.     

Noise-assisted mound coarsening in epitaxial growth

Two types of mechanisms are proposed for mound coarsening during unstable epitaxial growth: stochastic, due to deposition noise, and deterministic, due to mass currents driven by surface energy differences. Both yield the relation H=(RWL)² between the typical mound height W, mound size L, and the film thickness H. An analysis of simulations and experimental data shows that the parameter R saturates to a value which discriminates sharply between stochastic () and deterministic () coarsening. We derive a scaling relation between the coarsening exponent 1/z and the mound-height exponent which, for a saturated mound slope, yields . Received: 11 November 1997 / Revised in final form: 28 November 1997 / Accepted: 28 November 1997     

Novel pattern formation in the collapse process of floating monolayer at the air-water interface

We have observed a remarkable two-armed spiral in the collapse process of a floating monolayer at the air-water interface by phase contrast microscopy. This demonstrates that the floating monolayer as a form of soft condensed matter reorganizes itself due to a certain kind of macroscopic or collective behavior of molecules as it collapses. This pattern formation is caused by the breakdown of a critical dynamical balance between the deformation of solid domain and the applied surface pressure. The fragility as well as the flexibility of the floating monolayer can be associated with the observed pattern growth. There are also observed interesting, periodically arranged collections of molecules in numerous collapsed regions. Received: 8 July 1997 / Accepted: 4 November 1997     

MO analysis of macroscopic supercurrent flow in MgB 2

We present results from an extended magneto-optical (MO) analysis of two samples cut from high-density pellets of MgB₂. The first sample was studied in order to show that no matter how large the sample is and despite the bulk granularity, the material enters into a critical state in a crystal-like fashion. The second sample was chosen for the quantitative analysis. A numerical approach based on an inverted 2D Biot-Savart model was used to calculate the current paths across the homogeneous polycrystalline bulk, as well as in the vicinity and across some morphological defects. Local current densities in the homogeneous part were estimated as a function of the applied magnetic field at different temperatures, in three regimes: below full penetration, at full penetration and above full penetration, respectively. A hypothesis of interpretation of the apparent absence of magnetic granularity inside the polycrystalline microstructure is presented. It is related to a critical state likely reached by a network of strongly coupled Josephson junctions. Received 31 May 2001 and Received in final form 5 December 2001