Prof John Cardy FRS

Abstract:

The mean area of two-dimensional unpressurized vesicles, or self-avoiding loops of fixed length N, behaves for large N as A0N3/2, while their mean square radius of gyration behaves as R02N3/2. The amplitude ratio A0/R02 is computed exactly and found to equal 4π/5. The physics of the pressurized case, in both the inflated and collapsed phases, may be usefully related to that of a complex O(n) field theory coupled to a U(1) gauge field, in the limit n→0. © 1994 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We study reaction zones in three different versions of the A+B0 system. For a steady state formed by opposing currents of A and B particles we derive scaling behavior via renormalization group analysis. By use of a previously developed analogy, these results are extended to the time-dependent case of an initially segregated system. We also consider an initially mixed system, which forms reaction zones for dimension d<4. In this case an extension of the steady-state analogy gives scaling results characterized by new exponents. © 1994 The American Physical Society.