No Arabic abstract
We present a system exhibiting giant proximity effects which parallel observations in superfluid helium (Perron et al, Nature Physics V. 6, 499 (2010)) and give a theoretical explanation of these phenomena based on the mesoscopic picture of phase coexistence in finite systems. Our theory is confirmed by MC simulation studies. Our work demonstrates that such action-at-a-distance can occur in classical systems involving simple or complex fluids, such as colloid-polymer mixtures, or ferromagnets.
We examine in detail the theoretical foundations of striking long-range couplings emerging in arrays of fluid cells connected by narrow channels by using a lattice gas (Ising model) description of a system. We present a reexamination of the well known exact determination of the two-point correlation function along the edge of a channel using the transfer matrix technique and a new interpretation is provided. The explicit form of the correlation length is found to grow exponentially with the cross section of the channels at the bulk two-phase coexistence. The aforementioned result is recaptured by a refined version of the Fisher-Privman theory of first order phase transitions in which the Boltzmann factor for a domain wall is decorated with a contribution stemming from the point tension originated at its endpoints. The Boltzmann factor for a domain wall together with the point tension is then identified exactly thanks to two independent analytical techniques, providing a critical test of the Fisher-Privman theory. We then illustrate how to build up the network model from its elementary constituents, the cells and the channels. Moreover, we are able to extract the strength of the coupling between cells and express them in terms of the length and width and coarse grained quantities such as surface and point tensions. We then support our theoretical investigation with a series of corroborating results based on Monte Carlo simulations. We illustrate how the long range ordering occurs and how the latter is signaled by the thermodynamic quantities corresponding to both planar and three-dimensional Ising arrays.
We map the problem of self-avoiding random walks in a Theta solvent with a chemical potential for writhe to the three-dimensional symmetric U(N)-Chern-Simons theory as N goes to 0. We find a new scaling regime of topologically constrained polymers, with critical exponents that depend on the chemical potential for writhe, which gives way to a fluctuation-induced first-order transition.
There is increasing evidence that protein binding to specific sites along DNA can activate the reading out of genetic information without coming into direct physical contact with the gene. There also is evidence that these distant but interacting sites are embedded in a liquid droplet of proteins which condenses out of the surrounding solution. We argue that droplet-mediated interactions can account for crucial features of gene regulation only if the droplet is poised at a non-generic point in its phase diagram. We explore a minimal model that embodies this idea, show that this model has a natural mechanism for self-tuning, and suggest direct experimental tests.
We develop a percolation model motivated by recent experimental studies of gels with active network remodeling by molecular motors. This remodeling was found to lead to a critical state reminiscent of random percolation (RP), but with a cluster distribution inconsistent with RP. Our model not only can account for these experiments, but also exhibits an unusual type of mixed phase transition: We find that the transition is characterized by signatures of criticality, but with a discontinuity in the order parameter.
In science, one observes correlations and invents theoretical models that describe them. In all sciences, besides quantum physics, all correlations are described by either of two mechanisms. Either a first event influences a second one by sending some information encoded in bosons or molecules or other physical carriers, depending on the particular science. Or the correlated events have some common causes in their common past. Interestingly, quantum physics predicts an entirely different kind of cause for some correlations, named entanglement. This new kind of cause reveals itself, e.g., in correlations that violate Bell inequalities (hence cannot be described by common causes) between space-like separated events (hence cannot be described by classical communication). Einstein branded it as spooky action at a distance. A real spooky action at a distance would require a faster than light influence defined in some hypothetical universally privileged reference frame. Here we put stringent experimental bounds on the speed of all such hypothetical influences. We performed a Bell test during more than 24 hours between two villages separated by 18 km and approximately east-west oriented, with the source located precisely in the middle. We continuously observed 2-photon interferences well above the Bell inequality threshold. Taking advantage of the Earths rotation, the configuration of our experiment allowed us to determine, for any hypothetically privileged frame, a lower bound for the speed of this spooky influence. For instance, if such a privileged reference frame exists and is such that the Earths speed in this frame is less than 10^-3 that of the speed of light, then the speed of this spooky influence would have to exceed that of light by at least 4 orders of magnitude.