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H. Rieger

Publications and source records attributed to H. Rieger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Migration of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in 3D Collagen Matrices

To fulfill their killing functions, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) need to migrate to search for their target cells in complex biological microenvironments, a key component of which is extracellular matrix (ECM). The mechanisms underlying CTL's navigation are not well understood so far. Here we use a collagen assay as a model for the ECM and analyze the migration trajectories of primary human CTLs in collagen matrices with different concentrations. We observe different migration patterns for individual T cells. Three different motility types can be distinguished: slow, fast and mixed motilities. Slow CTLs remain nearly stationary within the collagen matrix and show slightly anti-persistent motility, while the fast ones move quickly and persistent (i.e. with not too large turning angles). The dynamics of the mixed type consists of periods of slow and fast motions; both states are persistent, but they have different persistencies. The dynamics can be well described by a two-state persistent random walk model. We extract the parameters of the model by analyzing experimental data. The mean square displacements predicted by the model and those measured experimentally are in very good agreement, without any fitting parameter. Potential reasons for the observed two-state motility are discussed. T cells dig the collagen during their migration and form channels, which facilitate the movement of other CTLs in the collagen network.

physics.bio-ph

Bosons in a two-dimensional bichromatic quasiperiodic potential: Analysis of the disorder in the Bose-Hubbard parameters and phase diagrams

Experimental realizations of disorder in optical lattices generate a distribution of the Bose-Hubbard (BH) parameters, like on-site potentials, hopping strengths, and interaction energies. We analyze this distribution for bosons in a bichromatic quasi-periodic potential by determining the generalized Wannier functions and calculating the corresponding BH parameters. Using a local mean-field cluster analysis, we study the effect of the corresponding disorder on the phase diagrams. We find a substantial amount of disorder in the hopping strengths, which produces strong deviations from the phase diagram of the disordered BH model with solely random on-site potentials.

cond-mat.quant-gas

Domain walls and chaos in the disordered SOS model

Domain walls, optimal droplets and disorder chaos at zero temperature are studied numerically for the solid-on-solid model on a random substrate. It is shown that the ensemble of random curves represented by the domain walls obeys Schramm's left passage formula with kappa=4 whereas their fractal dimension is d_s=1.25, and therefore is NOT described by "Stochastic-Loewner-Evolution" (SLE). Optimal droplets with a lateral size between L and 2L have the same fractal dimension as domain walls but an energy that saturates at a value of order O(1) for L->infinity such that arbitrarily large excitations exist which cost only a small amount of energy. Finally it is demonstrated that the sensitivity of the ground state to small changes of order delta in the disorder is subtle: beyond a cross-over length scale L_delta ~ 1/delta the correlations of the perturbed ground state with the unperturbed ground state, rescaled by the roughness, are suppressed and approach zero logarithmically.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Flow correlated percolation during vascular network formation in tumors

A theoretical model based on the molecular interactions between a growing tumor and a dynamically evolving blood vessel network describes the transformation of the regular vasculature in normal tissues into a highly inhomogeneous tumor specific capillary network. The emerging morphology, characterized by the compartmentalization of the tumor into several regions differing in vessel density, diameter and necrosis, is in accordance with experimental data for human melanoma. Vessel collapse due to a combination of severely reduced blood flow and solid stress exerted by the tumor, leads to a correlated percolation process that is driven towards criticality by the mechanism of hydrodynamic vessel stabilization.

q-bio.TO

Vascular network remodeling via vessel cooption, regression and growth in tumors

The transformation of the regular vasculature in normal tissue into a highly inhomogeneous tumor specific capillary network is described by a theoretical model incorporating tumor growth, vessel cooption, neo-vascularization, vessel collapse and cell death. Compartmentalization of the tumor into several regions differing in vessel density, diameter and in necrosis is observed for a wide range of parameters in agreement with the vessel morphology found in human melanoma. In accord with data for human melanoma the model predicts, that microvascular density (MVD, regarded as an important diagnostic tool in cancer treatment, does not necessarily determine the tempo of tumor progression. Instead it is suggested, that the MVD of the original tissue as well as the metabolic demand of the individual tumor cell plays the major role in the initial stages of tumor growth.

q-bio.TO

Recent Progress in Spin Glasses

We review recent findings on spin glass models. Both the equilibrium properties and the dynamic properties are covered. We focus on progress in theoretical, in particular numerical, studies, while its relationship to real magnetic materials is also mentioned.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Anomalous percolation and quantum criticality in diluted rare-earth nickelates

A microscopic model for the diluted spin-mixed compounds (R_xY_(1-x))_2BaNiO_5 (R=magnetic rare-earth) is studied using Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC). The ordering temperature is shown to be a universal function of the impurity concentration x and the intrinsic Ni-chain correlation length. An effective model for the critical modes is derived. The possibility of a quantum critical point driven by the rare earth-concentration and the existence of a Griffiths phase in the high dilution limit is investigated. Several possible experimental approaches to verify the results are put forward.

cond-mat.str-el

Low-energy fixed points of random Heisenberg models

The effect of quenched disorder on the low-energy and low-temperature properties of various two- and three-dimensional Heisenberg models is studied by a numerical strong disorder renormalization group method. For strong enough disorder we have identified two relevant fixed points, in which the gap exponent, omega, describing the low-energy tail of the gap distribution, P(Delta) ~ Delta^omega is independent of disorder, the strength of couplings and the value of the spin. The dynamical behavior of non-frustrated random antiferromagnetic models is controlled by a singlet-like fixed point, whereas for frustrated models the fixed point corresponds to a large spin formation and the gap exponent is given by omega ~ 0. Another type of universality classes is observed at quantum critical points and in dimerized phases but no infinite randomness behavior is found, in contrast to one-dimensional models.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Comment on "Disorder Induced Quantum Phase Transition in Random-Exchange Spin-1/2 Chains"

We reconsider the random bond antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain for weak disorder and demonstrate the existence of crossover length scale x_W that diverges with decreasing strength of the disorder. Recent DMRG calculations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 127202 (2002); cond-mat/0111027] claimed to have found evidence for a non-universal behavior in this model and found no indications of a universal infinite randomness fixed point (IRFP) scenario. We show that these data are not in the asymptotic regime since the system sizes that have been considered are of the same order of magnitude or much smaller than the crossover length x_W. We give a scaling form for the xx-spin-correlation function that takes this crossover length into account and that is compatible with the IRFP scenario and a random singlet phase.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Critical behavior of the frustrated antiferromagnetic six-state clock model on a triangular lattice

We study the anti-ferromagnetic six-state clock model with nearest neighbor interactions on a triangular lattice with extensive Monte-Carlo simulations. We find clear indications of two phase transitions at two different temperatures: Below $T_I$ a chirality order sets in and by a thorough finite size scaling analysis of the specific heat and the chirality correlation length we show that this transition is in the Ising universality class (with a non-vanishing chirality order parameter below $T_I$). At $T_{KT}(<T_I)$ the spin-spin correlation length as well as the spin susceptibility diverges according to a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) form and spin correlations decay algebraically below $T_{KT}$. We compare our results to recent x-ray diffraction experiments on the orientational ordering of CF$_3$Br monolayers physisorbed on graphite. We argue that the six-state clock model describes the universal feature of the phase transition in the experimental system and that the orientational ordering belongs to the KT universality class.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Strongly disordered spin ladders

The effect of quenched disorder on the low-energy properties of various antiferromagnetic spin ladder models is studied by a numerical strong disorder renormalization group method and by density matrix renormalization. For strong enough disorder the originally gapped phases with finite topological or dimer order become gapless. In these quantum Griffiths phases the scaling of the energy, as well as the singularities in the dynamical quantities are characterized by a finite dynamical exponent, z, which varies with the strength of disorder. At the phase boundaries, separating topologically distinct Griffiths phases the singular behavior of the disordered ladders is generally controlled by an infinite randomness fixed point.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Aging and memory effects in beta-hydrochinone-clathrate

The out-of-equilibrium low-frequency complex susceptibility of the orientational glass methanol(73%)-beta-hydrochinone-clathrate is studied using temperature-stop protocols in aging experiments . Although the material does not have a sharp glass transition aging effects including rejuvenation and memory are found at low temperatures. However, they turn out to be much weaker, however, than in conventional magnetic spin glasses.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Evidence for Kosterlitz-Thouless type orientational ordering of CF$_3$Br monolayers physisorbed on graphite

Monolayers of the halomethane CF$_3$Br adsorbed on graphite have been investigated by x-ray diffraction. The layers crystallize in a commensurate triangular lattice. On cooling they approach a three-sublattice antiferroelectric pattern of the in-plane components of the dipole moments. The ordering is not consistent with a conventional phase transition, but points to Kosterlitz-Thouless behavior. It is argued that the transition is described by a 6-state clock model on a triangular lattice with antiferromagnetic nearest neighbor interactions which is studied with Monte-Carlo simulations. A finite-size scaling analysis shows that the ordering transition is indeed in the KT universality class.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Random quantum magnets with broad disorder distribution

We study the critical behavior of Ising quantum magnets with broadly distributed random couplings (J), such that $P(\ln J) \sim |\ln J|^{-1-α}$, $α>1$, for large $|\ln J|$ (Lévy flight statistics). For sufficiently broad distributions, $α<α_c$, the critical behavior is controlled by a line of fixed points, where the critical exponents vary with the Lévy index, $α$. In one dimension, with $α_c=2$, we obtaind several exact results through a mapping to surviving Riemann walks. In two dimensions the varying critical exponents have been calculated by a numerical implementation of the Ma-Dasgupta-Hu renormalization group method leading to $α_c \approx 4.5$. Thus in the region $2<α<α_c$, where the central limit theorem holds for $|\ln J|$ the broadness of the distribution is relevant for the 2d quantum Ising model.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Ground states versus low-temperature equilibria in random field Ising chains

We discuss with the aid of random walk arguments and exact numerical computations the magnetization properties of one-dimensional random field chains. The ground state structure is explained in terms of absorbing and non-absorbing random walk excursions. At low temperatures, the magnetization profiles follow those of the ground states except at regions where a local random field fluctuation makes thermal excitations feasible. This follows also from the non-absorbing random walks, and implies that the magnetization length scale is a product of these two scales. It is not simply given by the Imry-Ma-like ground state domain size nor by the scale of the thermal excitations.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Disorder induced roughening transition of many elastic lines in a periodic potential

The competing effect of a periodic pinning potential and random point disorder is studied for arrays of elastic lines or directed polymers. The groundstates are investigated by exact combinatorial optimization. In both two and three dimensions a phase diagram is found with two or three distinct phases: a strictly flat phase if the disorder is bounded and weak, a weakly fluctuating phase for intermediate valleys depths, where the lines roughen individually on a scale smaller than the line-line distance, and a rough phase for strong disorder, where the roughness follows the scaling with pure point disorder. The line wandering in the transverse direction leads in the three-dimensional, rough phase to an entangled state with a complicated topology.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Ground-States of Two Directed Polymers

Joint ground states of two directed polymers in a random medium are investigated. Using exact min-cost flow optimization the true two-line ground-state is compared with the single line ground state plus its first excited state. It is found that these two-line configurations are (for almost all disorder configurations) distinct implying that the true two-line ground-state is non-separable, even with 'worst-possible' initial conditions. The effective interaction energy between the two lines scales with the system size with the scaling exponents 0.39 and 0.21 in 2D and 3D, respectively.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Long range correlations in the non-equilibrium quantum relaxation of a spin chain

We consider the non-stationary quantum relaxation of the Ising spin chain in a transverse field of strength h. Starting from a homogeneously magnetized initial state the system approaches a stationary state by a process possessing quasi long range correlations in time and space, independent of the value of $h$. In particular the system exhibits aging (or lack of time translational invariance on intermediate time scales) although no indications of coarsening are present.

cond-mat.stat-mech