5,137 research outputs found
Disagreement percolation for the hard-sphere model
Disagreement percolation connects a Gibbs lattice gas and i.i.d. site
percolation on the same lattice such that non-percolation implies uniqueness of
the Gibbs measure. This work generalises disagreement percolation to the
hard-sphere model and the Boolean model. Non-percolation of the Boolean model
implies the uniqueness of the Gibbs measure and exponential decay of pair
correlations and finite volume errors. Hence, lower bounds on the critical
intensity for percolation of the Boolean model imply lower bounds on the
critical activity for a (potential) phase transition. These lower bounds
improve upon known bounds obtained by cluster expansion techniques. The proof
uses a novel dependent thinning from a Poisson point process to the hard-sphere
model, with the thinning probability related to a derivative of the free
energy
Kinetochore alignment within the metaphase plate is regulated by centromere stiffness and microtubule depolymerases
During mitosis in most eukaryotic cells, chromosomes align and form a metaphase plate halfway between the spindle poles, about which they exhibit oscillatory movement. These movements are accompanied by changes in the distance between sister kinetochores, commonly referred to as breathing. We developed a live cell imaging assay combined with computational image analysis to quantify the properties and dynamics of sister kinetochores in three dimensions. We show that baseline oscillation and breathing speeds in late prometaphase and metaphase are set by microtubule depolymerases, whereas oscillation and breathing periods depend on the stiffness of the mechanical linkage between sisters. Metaphase plates become thinner as cells progress toward anaphase as a result of reduced oscillation speed at a relatively constant oscillation period. The progressive slowdown of oscillation speed and its coupling to plate thickness depend nonlinearly on the stiffness of the mechanical linkage between sisters. We propose that metaphase plate formation and thinning require tight control of the state of the mechanical linkage between sisters mediated by centromeric chromatin and cohesion
A low-loss, broadband antenna for efficient photon collection from a coherent spin in diamond
We report the creation of a low-loss, broadband optical antenna giving highly
directed output from a coherent single spin in the solid-state. The device, the
first solid-state realization of a dielectric antenna, is engineered for
individual nitrogen vacancy (NV) electronic spins in diamond. We demonstrate a
directionality close to 10. The photonic structure preserves the high spin
coherence of single crystal diamond (T2>100us). The single photon count rate
approaches a MHz facilitating efficient spin readout. We thus demonstrate a key
enabling technology for quantum applications such as high-sensitivity
magnetometry and long-distance spin entanglement.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures and supplementary information (5 pages, 8
figures). Comments welcome. Further information under
http://www.quantum-sensing.physik.unibas.c
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