Negative-dimensional integration revisited

Feynman diagrams are the best tool we have to study perturbative quantum field theory. For this very reason the development of any new technique that allows us to compute Feynman integrals is welcome. By the middle of the 1980s, Halliday and Ricotta suggested the possibility of using negative-dimensional integrals to tackle the problem. The aim of this work is to revisit the technique as such and check on its possibilities. For this purpose, we take a box diagram integral contributing to the photon-photon scattering amplitude in quantum electrodynamics using the negative-dimensional integration method. Our approach enables us to quickly reproduce the known results as well as six other solutions as yet unknown in the literature. These six new solutions arise quite naturally in the context of negative-dimensional integration method, revealing a promising technique to handle Feynman integrals.

Validity of Feynman's prescription of disregarding the Pauli principle in intermediate states

Regarding the Pauli principle in quantum field theory and in many-body quantum mechanics, Feynman advocated that Pauli's exclusion principle can be completely ignored in intermediate states of perturbation theory. He observed that all virtual processes (of the same order) that violate the Pauli principle cancel out. Feynman accordingly introduced a prescription, which is to disregard the Pauli principle in all intermediate processes. This ingenious trick is of crucial importance in the Feynman diagram technique. We show, however, an example in which Feynman's prescription fails. This casts doubts on the general validity of Feynman's prescription. [S1050-2947(99)04604-1].

q-Analog of the gap equation for cuprates

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Dynamics of quasi-one-dimensional bright and vortex solitons of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate with repulsive atomic interaction

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Spin-orbit coupling in the superconducting phase and DDW states of high-T-c cuprates

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Localization of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in a bichromatic optical lattice

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Scaling and universality in two dimensions: three-body bound states with short-ranged interactions

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Multistable behavior above synchronization in a locally coupled Kuramoto model

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Localization of a Bose-Fermi mixture in a bichromatic optical lattice

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Triangular-lattice anisotropic dimerized Heisenberg antiferromagnet: Stability and excitations of the quantum paramagnetic phase

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Divergent diagrams of folds and simultaneous conjugacy of involutions

In this work we show that the smooth classification of divergent diagrams of folds (f(1),..., f(s)) : (R-n, 0) -> (R-n x(...)xR(n), 0) can be reduced to the classification of the s-tuples (p(1)., W) of associated involutions. We apply the result to obtain normal forms when s <= n and {p(1),...,p(s)} is a transversal set of linear involutions. A complete description is given when s = 2 and n >= 2. We also present a brief discussion on applications of our results to the study of discontinuous vector fields and discrete reversible dynamical systems.

Hydro(radio)chemical relationships in the giant Guarani aquifer, Brazil

This investigation was carried out within the Parana sedimentary basin and involved the sampling of 78 pumped tubular wells for evaluating the hydrochemistry and radioactivity due to the nuclides (238)U, (234)U, (222)Ra, (226)Ra, and (228)Ra in the Brazilian part of Guarani aquifer. Several significant correlations were found involving the geostatic pressure, for instance, specific flow rate, CO(3)(2-), SO(4)(2-) temperature, dissolved O(2), free CO(2), pH, redox potential Eh, conductivity, Na, HCO(3)-, CO(3)(2-) , SI(calcite), Cl(-), F(-), SO(4)(2-), and B. Carbonates precipitation was evidenced by inverse correlation between CO(3)(2-) and Ca, Mg, Sr, and Ba, whereas Na exhibited an opposite trend, dissolving rather than precipitating with increasing CO(3)(2-) concentration. An inverse correlation between 3 and K was found, possibly related to the increasing tendency of K to recombine with the thickness of the clayey layers. HCO(3)-played an important role on Na, Ca, Mg, and Sr dissolution. The dissolved U content and (234)U/(238)U activity ratio data were plotted on a two-dimensional diagram that was successfully utilized on identifying an unreported zone of U accumulation, though not necessarily of economic size and grade. The variability in chemical and radionuclides data indicated an important influence of the underlying Paleozoic sediments in the composition of waters from Guarani aquifer. The available data allowed estimate the groundwater residence time by two U-isotopes disequilibrium methods. Values of 45-61 ka were initially calculated, depending on the adopted porosity (15-20%), but a longer residence time (- 640 ka) was also estimated, which is more compatible with the hydraulic conductivity data in Guarani aquifer and groundwater flow velocity occurring at Milk River aquifer, Alberta, Canada. Such time range agrees with previously reported (14)C ages exceeding 30 ka BP at the more central parts of the Parana sedimentary basin. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Occurrence and geochemistry of metamafic rocks from the Forquilha Eclogite Zone, central Ceara (NE Brazil): geodynamic implications

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Redução da susceptibilidade à deformação piroplástica das argilas do Pólo Cerâmico de Santa Gertrudes através da adição de matérias-primas

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Relationship between structural features and in vitro release of doxorubicin from biocompatible anionic microemulsion

In this work structural features of anionic microemulsions, containing the pharmaceutical biocompatible components soya phosphatidylcholine (SPC), eumulgin HRE 40 (EU) and sodium oleate (SO) as surfactant, cholesterol (CHO) as oil phase and aqueous buffer were studied. Microemulsions were formulated with and without the antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX). The various microstructures characterized in the pseudo-temary phase diagram were analyzed by polarized light microscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as by their ability to incorporate and release DOX. The experimental results demonstrated a correlation between the composition, the structural features and drug delivery. It was found that at higher cholesterol contents, the crystallization of CHO polymorph phases changed the mobility of DOX molecules. Droplets were formed with short-range spatial correlation from a microemulsion (ME) with a low surfactant:oil ratio. More ordered structures with lamellar arrangements formed by the increasing of the CHO proportions in the formulation may be due to CHO crystallization. The in vitro release of DOX showed that the presence of a high content of crystalline CHO prolongs the release of DOX from ME. The retention of DOX in the internal oil phase of the ME may modulate the drug release for a prolonged time. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of ME as a drug-delivery system. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.