18,531 research outputs found
Anomalous transport in the crowded world of biological cells
A ubiquitous observation in cell biology is that diffusion of macromolecules
and organelles is anomalous, and a description simply based on the conventional
diffusion equation with diffusion constants measured in dilute solution fails.
This is commonly attributed to macromolecular crowding in the interior of cells
and in cellular membranes, summarising their densely packed and heterogeneous
structures. The most familiar phenomenon is a power-law increase of the MSD,
but there are other manifestations like strongly reduced and time-dependent
diffusion coefficients, persistent correlations, non-gaussian distributions of
the displacements, heterogeneous diffusion, and immobile particles. After a
general introduction to the statistical description of slow, anomalous
transport, we summarise some widely used theoretical models: gaussian models
like FBM and Langevin equations for visco-elastic media, the CTRW model, and
the Lorentz model describing obstructed transport in a heterogeneous
environment. Emphasis is put on the spatio-temporal properties of the transport
in terms of 2-point correlation functions, dynamic scaling behaviour, and how
the models are distinguished by their propagators even for identical MSDs.
Then, we review the theory underlying common experimental techniques in the
presence of anomalous transport: single-particle tracking, FCS, and FRAP. We
report on the large body of recent experimental evidence for anomalous
transport in crowded biological media: in cyto- and nucleoplasm as well as in
cellular membranes, complemented by in vitro experiments where model systems
mimic physiological crowding conditions. Finally, computer simulations play an
important role in testing the theoretical models and corroborating the
experimental findings. The review is completed by a synthesis of the
theoretical and experimental progress identifying open questions for future
investigation.Comment: review article, to appear in Rep. Prog. Phy
Slow and fast single photons from a quantum dot interacting with the excited state hyperfine structure of the Cesium D1-line
Hybrid interfaces between distinct quantum systems play a major role in the implementation of quantum networks. Quantum states have to be stored in memories to synchronize the photon arrival times for entanglement swapping by projective measurements in quantum repeaters or for entanglement purification. Here, we analyze the distortion of a single-photon wave packet propagating through a dispersive and absorptive medium with high spectral resolution. Single photons are generated from a single In(Ga)As quantum dot with its excitonic transition precisely set relative to the Cesium D1 transition. The delay of spectral components of the single-photon wave packet with almost Fourier-limited width is investigated in detail with a 200 MHz narrow-band monolithic Fabry-Pérot resonator. Reflecting the excited state hyperfine structure of Cesium, “slow light” and “fast light” behavior is observed. As a step towards room-temperature alkali vapor memories, quantum dot photons are delayed for 5 ns by strong dispersion between the two 1.17 GHz hyperfine-split excited state transitions. Based on optical pumping on the hyperfine-split ground states, we propose a simple, all-optically controllable delay for synchronization of heralded narrow-band photons in a quantum network.DFG, 43659573, SFB 787: Halbleiter - Nanophotonik: Materialien, Modelle, BauelementeEC/H2020/679183/EU/Entanglement distribution via Semiconductor-Piezoelectric Quantum-Dot Relays/SPQRe
Big Data in Critical Infrastructures Security Monitoring: Challenges and Opportunities
Critical Infrastructures (CIs), such as smart power grids, transport systems,
and financial infrastructures, are more and more vulnerable to cyber threats,
due to the adoption of commodity computing facilities. Despite the use of
several monitoring tools, recent attacks have proven that current defensive
mechanisms for CIs are not effective enough against most advanced threats. In
this paper we explore the idea of a framework leveraging multiple data sources
to improve protection capabilities of CIs. Challenges and opportunities are
discussed along three main research directions: i) use of distinct and
heterogeneous data sources, ii) monitoring with adaptive granularity, and iii)
attack modeling and runtime combination of multiple data analysis techniques.Comment: EDCC-2014, BIG4CIP-201
Gravitational Radiation from Newborn Magnetars
There is growing evidence that two classes of high-energy sources, the Soft
Gamma Repeaters and the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars contain slowly spinning
``magnetars'', i.e. neutron stars whose emission is powered by the release of
energy from their extremely strong magnetic fields (>10^15 G. We show here that
the enormous energy liberated in the 2004 December 27 giant flare from
SGR1806-20 (~5 10^46 erg), together with the likely recurrence time of such
events, requires an internal field strength of > 10^16 G. Toroidal magnetic
fields of this strength are within an order of magnitude of the maximum fields
that can be generated in the core of differentially-rotating neutron stars
immediately after their formation, if their initial spin period is of a few
milliseconds. A substantial deformation of the neutron star is induced by these
magnetic fields and, provided the deformation axis is offset from the spin
axis, a newborn fast-spinning magnetar would radiate for a few weeks a strong
gravitational wave signal the frequency of which (0.5-2 kHz range) decreases in
time. The signal from a newborn magnetar with internal field > 10^16.5 G could
be detected with Advanced LIGO-class detectors up to the distance of the Virgo
cluster (characteristic amplitude h_c about 10^-21). Magnetars are expected to
form in Virgo at a rate approx. 1/yr. If a fraction of these have sufficiently
high internal magnetic field, then newborn magnetars constitute a promising new
class of gravitational wave emitters.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJ Letter
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