7,676 research outputs found
Spectral weight redistribution in (LaNiO3)n/(LaMnO3)2 superlattices from optical spectroscopy
We have studied the optical properties of four
(LaNiO)/(LaMnO) superlattices (SL) (=2, 3, 4, 5) on
SrTiO substrates. We have measured the reflectivity at temperatures from 20
K to 400 K, and extracted the optical conductivity through a fitting procedure
based on a Kramers-Kronig consistent Lorentz-Drude model. With increasing
LaNiO thickness, the SLs undergo an insulator-to-metal transition (IMT)
that is accompanied by the transfer of spectral weight from high to low
frequency. The presence of a broad mid-infrared band, however, shows that the
optical conductivity of the (LaNiO)/(LaMnO) SLs is not a linear
combination of the LaMnO and LaNiO conductivities. Our observations
suggest that interfacial charge transfer leads to an IMT due to a change in
valence at the Mn and Ni sites.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. 5 pages, 5 figure
Scale-factor duality in string Bianchi cosmologies
We apply the scale factor duality transformations introduced in the context
of the effective string theory to the anisotropic Bianchi-type models. We find
dual models for all the Bianchi-types [except for types and ] and
construct for each of them its explicit form starting from the exact original
solution of the field equations. It is emphasized that the dual Bianchi class
models require the loss of the initial homogeneity symmetry of the
dilatonic scalar field.Comment: 18 pages, no figure
Nomenclature adjustments and new syntaxa of the arctic, alpine and oro-Mediterranean vegetation
Proposte sintassonomiche e nomenclaturali per la vegetazione della Tundra alpina. Il capitolo riguardante l'alta quota appenninica è il più corposo e propone il nuovo syntaxon Leontopodio-Elynion a livello di alleanza. La grande novità sta nel fatto che questa alleanza è da considerarsi anfi-Adriatica e unsice Appennino e balcani, differenziandosi dall'alleanza già definita da altri per le Alpi. i Pirenei e i Carpazi.During preparation of the European checklist of vegetation units (EuroVegChecklist), it became clear that some earlier described syntaxa need to be typified in order to stabilize nomenclature and some new syntaxa need to be described. Here we propose nomenclature adjustments and formal description of four new alliances
for the Arctic, alpine and oro-Mediterranean vegetation of Europe, Greenland and Anatolia. First, we typify the class Juncetea trifidi. Second, we describe four new alliances, such as the Puccinellion nuttallianae (Low-Arctic salt steppes of Greenland; class Saxifrago tricuspidatae-Calamagrostietea purpurascentis), Dryado octopetalae-
Caricion arctisibiricae (Arctic tundra vegetation of north-eastern European Russia; class Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii), Leontopodio nivalis-Elynion myosuroidis (southern European alpine tundra vegetation; class Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii) and Lagotido uralensis-Caricion ensifoliae (alpine tundra vegetation of the Southern Ural Mountains; class Juncetea trifidi). Two new associations are described within the first two of these alliances. Finally, we present an interpretation of the alliance Muscario-Scillion nivalis
Modeling eating disorders of cognitive impaired people
Millions of people all around the world suffer from eating
disorders, known as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, pica, and others. When eating disorders coexist with other mental health disorders, eating disorders often go undiagnosed and untreated; a low number of sufferers
obtain treatment for the eating disorder. Unfortunately, eating disorders have also the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, upwards of 20%.
This paper focuses on monitoring eating disorders of cognitive impaired people as patients with the Alzheimer’s disease. The proposed approach relies on the application of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies and a new method for the detection of abnormal human behaviors in a controlled environment
Investigating Biological Matter with Theoretical Nuclear Physics Methods
The internal dynamics of strongly interacting systems and that of
biomolecules such as proteins display several important analogies, despite the
huge difference in their characteristic energy and length scales. For example,
in all such systems, collective excitations, cooperative transitions and phase
transitions emerge as the result of the interplay of strong correlations with
quantum or thermal fluctuations. In view of such an observation, some
theoretical methods initially developed in the context of theoretical nuclear
physics have been adapted to investigate the dynamics of biomolecules. In this
talk, we review some of our recent studies performed along this direction. In
particular, we discuss how the path integral formulation of the molecular
dynamics allows to overcome some of the long-standing problems and limitations
which emerge when simulating the protein folding dynamics at the atomistic
level of detail.Comment: Prepared for the proceedings of the "XII Meeting on the Problems of
Theoretical Nuclear Physics" (Cortona11
When flux standards go wild: white dwarfs in the age of Kepler
White dwarf stars have been used as flux standards for decades, thanks to
their staid simplicity. We have empirically tested their photometric stability
by analyzing the light curves of 398 high-probability candidates and
spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs observed during the original Kepler
mission and later with K2 Campaigns 0-8. We find that the vast majority (>97
per cent) of non-pulsating and apparently isolated white dwarfs are stable to
better than 1 per cent in the Kepler bandpass on 1-hr to 10-d timescales,
confirming that these stellar remnants are useful flux standards. From the
cases that do exhibit significant variability, we caution that binarity,
magnetism, and pulsations are three important attributes to rule out when
establishing white dwarfs as flux standards, especially those hotter than
30,000 K.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
Clustering of vertically constrained passive particles in homogeneous, isotropic turbulence
We analyze the dynamics of small particles vertically confined, by means of a
linear restoring force, to move within a horizontal fluid slab in a
three-dimensional (3D) homogeneous isotropic turbulent velocity field. The
model that we introduce and study is possibly the simplest description for the
dynamics of small aquatic organisms that, due to swimming, active regulation of
their buoyancy, or any other mechanism, maintain themselves in a shallow
horizontal layer below the free surface of oceans or lakes. By varying the
strength of the restoring force, we are able to control the thickness of the
fluid slab in which the particles can move. This allows us to analyze the
statistical features of the system over a wide range of conditions going from a
fully 3D incompressible flow (corresponding to the case of no confinement) to
the extremely confined case corresponding to a two-dimensional slice. The
background 3D turbulent velocity field is evolved by means of fully resolved
direct numerical simulations. Whenever some level of vertical confinement is
present, the particle trajectories deviate from that of fluid tracers and the
particles experience an effectively compressible velocity field. Here, we have
quantified the compressibility, the preferential concentration of the
particles, and the correlation dimension by changing the strength of the
restoring force. The main result is that there exists a particular value of the
force constant, corresponding to a mean slab depth approximately equal to a few
times the Kolmogorov length scale, that maximizes the clustering of the
particles
An Ultra diffuse Galaxy in the NGC 5846 group from the VEGAS survey
Many ultra diffuse galaxies (UDGs) have now been identified in clusters of
galaxies. However, the number of nearby UDGs suitable for detailed follow-up
remain rare. Our aim is to begin to identify UDGs in the environments of nearby
bright early-type galaxies from the VEGAS survey. Here we use a deep g band
image of the NGC 5846 group, taken as part of the VEGAS survey, to search for
UDGs. We found one object with properties of a UDG if it associated with the
NGC 5846 group, which seems likely. The galaxy, we name NGC 5846UDG1, has
an absolute magnitude of M = -14.2, corresponding to a stellar mass of
10 M. It also reveals a system of compact sources which are
likely globular clusters. Based on the number of globular clusters detected we
estimate a halo mass that is greater than 810 M for
UDG1.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Weak ergodicity breaking of receptor motion in living cells stemming from random diffusivity
Molecular transport in living systems regulates numerous processes underlying
biological function. Although many cellular components exhibit anomalous
diffusion, only recently has the subdiffusive motion been associated with
nonergodic behavior. These findings have stimulated new questions for their
implications in statistical mechanics and cell biology. Is nonergodicity a
common strategy shared by living systems? Which physical mechanisms generate
it? What are its implications for biological function? Here, we use single
particle tracking to demonstrate that the motion of DC-SIGN, a receptor with
unique pathogen recognition capabilities, reveals nonergodic subdiffusion on
living cell membranes. In contrast to previous studies, this behavior is
incompatible with transient immobilization and therefore it can not be
interpreted according to continuous time random walk theory. We show that the
receptor undergoes changes of diffusivity, consistent with the current view of
the cell membrane as a highly dynamic and diverse environment. Simulations
based on a model of ordinary random walk in complex media quantitatively
reproduce all our observations, pointing toward diffusion heterogeneity as the
cause of DC-SIGN behavior. By studying different receptor mutants, we further
correlate receptor motion to its molecular structure, thus establishing a
strong link between nonergodicity and biological function. These results
underscore the role of disorder in cell membranes and its connection with
function regulation. Due to its generality, our approach offers a framework to
interpret anomalous transport in other complex media where dynamic
heterogeneity might play a major role, such as those found, e.g., in soft
condensed matter, geology and ecology.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figure
Semiclassical and quantum Liouville theory
We develop a functional integral approach to quantum Liouville field theory
completely independent of the hamiltonian approach. To this end on the sphere
topology we solve the Riemann-Hilbert problem for three singularities of finite
strength and a fourth one infinitesimal, by determining perturbatively the
Poincare' accessory parameters. This provides the semiclassical four point
vertex function with three finite charges and a fourth infinitesimal. Some of
the results are extended to the case of n finite charges and m infinitesimal.
With the same technique we compute the exact Green function on the sphere on
the background of three finite singularities. Turning to the full quantum
problem we address the calculation of the quantum determinant on the background
of three finite charges and of the further perturbative corrections. The zeta
function regularization provides a theory which is not invariant under local
conformal transformations. Instead by employing a regularization suggested in
the case of the pseudosphere by Zamolodchikov and Zamolodchikov we obtain the
correct quantum conformal dimensions from the one loop calculation and we show
explicitly that the two loop corrections do not change such dimensions. We then
apply the method to the case of the pseudosphere with one finite singularity
and compute the exact value for the quantum determinant. Such results are
compared to those of the conformal bootstrap approach finding complete
agreement.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, Contributed to 5th Meeting on Constrained
Dynamics and Quantum Gravity (QG05), Cala Gonone, Sardinia, Italy, 12-16 Sep
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