Heavy meson interquark potential

The resolution of Dyson-Schwinger equations leads to the freezing of the QCD running coupling (effective charge) in the infrared, which is best understood as a dynamical generation of a gluon mass function, giving rise to a momentum dependence which is free from infrared divergences. We calculate the interquark potential for heavy mesons by assuming that it is given by a massive One Gluon Exchange potential and compare with phenomenologyical fits inspired by lattice QCD. We apply these potential forms to the description of quarkonia and conclude that, even though some aspects of the confinement mechanism are absent in the Dyson Schwinger formalism, the results for the spectrum are surprisingly accurate. We discuss explanations for this outcome.Comment: 13 pages and 6 figure

The Boltzmann Equation in Classical Yang-Mills Theory

We give a detailed derivation of the Boltzmann equation, and in particular its collision integral, in classical field theory. We first carry this out in a scalar theory with both cubic and quartic interactions and subsequently in a Yang-Mills theory. Our method is not relied on a doubling of the fields, rather it is based on a diagrammatic approach representing the classical solution to the problem.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures; v2: typos corrected, reference added, published in Eur. Phys. J.

Influence of the sample geometry on the vortex matter in superconducting microstructures

The dependence of the vortex penetration and expulsion on the geometry of mesoscopic superconductors is reported. Hall magnetometry measurements were performed on a superconducting Al square and triangle. The stability of the vortex patterns imposed by the sample geometry is discussed. The field-temperature $H-T$ diagram has been reconstructed showing the transitions between states with different vorticity. We have found that the vortex penetration is only weakly affected by the vortex configuration inside the sample while the expulsion is strongly controlled by the stability of the vortex patterns. A qualitative explanation for this observation is given.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Interactive Extraction of High-Frequency Aesthetically-Coherent Colormaps

Color transfer functions (i.e. colormaps) exhibiting a high frequency luminosity component have proven to be useful in the visualization of data where feature detection or iso-contours recognition is essential. Having these colormaps also display a wide range of color and an aesthetically pleasing composition holds the potential to further aid image understanding and analysis. However producing such colormaps in an efficient manner with current colormap creation tools is difficult. We hereby demonstrate an interactive technique for extracting colormaps from artwork and pictures. We show how the rich and careful color design and dynamic luminance range of an existing image can be gracefully captured in a colormap and be utilized effectively in the exploration of complex datasets

(2+1)(2+1)-dd Glueball Spectrum within a Constituent Picture

The quantum numbers and mass hierarchy of the glueballs observed in $(2+1)$-dimensional lattice QCD with gauge group SU($N_c$) are shown to be in agreement with a constituent picture. The agreement is maintained when going from glueballs to gluelumps, and when the gauge group SO($2N_c$) is taken instead of SU($N_c$)

Phase slip phenomena in superconductors: from ordered to chaotic dynamics

We consider flux penetration to a 2D superconducting cylinder. We show that in the low field limit the kinetics is deterministic. In the strong field limit the dynamics becomes stochastic. Surprisingly the inhomogeneity in the cylinder reduces the level of stochasticity because of the predominance of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (main text) and 1 page, 1 figure (supplementary material

Ankylosing Spondylitis: a trade Off of HLA-B27, ERAP, and pathogen interconnections? Focus on Sardinia

The frequency of HLA-B27 in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) is over 85%. There are more than 170 recognized HLA-B27 alleles but the majority of them is not sufficiently represented for genetic association studies. So far only two alleles, the HLA-B*2706 in Asia and the HLA-B*2709 in Sardinia, have not been found to be associated with AS. The highly homogenous genetic structure of the Sardinian population has favored the search of relevant variants for disease-association studies. Moreover, malaria, once endemic in the island, has been shown to have contributed to shape the native population genome affecting the relative allele frequency of relevant genes. In Sardinia, the prevalence of HLA-B*2709, which differs from the strongly AS-associated B*2705 prototype for one amino acid (His/Asp116) in the F pocket of the peptide binding groove, is around 20% of all HLA-B27 alleles. We have previously hypothesized that malaria could have contributed to the establishment of this allele in Sardinia. Based on our recent findings, in this perspective article we speculate that the Endoplasmic Reticulum Amino Peptidases, ERAP1 and 2, associated with AS and involved in antigen presentation, underwent co-selection by malaria. These genes, besides shaping the immunopeptidome of HLA-class I molecules, have other biological functions that could also be involved in the immunosurveillance against malaria