A model for orientation effects in electron‐transfer reactions

A method for solving the single‐particle Schrödinger equation with an oblate spheroidal potential of finite depth is presented. The wave functions are then used to calculate the matrix element T_BA which appears in theories of nonadiabatic electron transfer. The results illustrate the effects of mutual orientation and separation of the two centers on TBA. Trends in these results are discussed in terms of geometrical and nodal structure effects. Analytical expressions related to T_BA for states of spherical wells are presented and used to analyze the nodal structure effects for T_BA for the spheroidal wells

Full counting statistics of spin transfer through ultrasmall quantum dots

We analyze the spin-resolved full counting statistics of electron transfer through an ultrasmall quantum dot coupled to metallic electrodes. Modelling the setup by the Anderson Hamiltonian, we explicitly take into account the onsite Coulomb repulsion $U$. We calculate the cumulant generating function for the probability to transfer a certain number of electrons with a preselected spin orientation during a fixed time interval. With the cumulant generating function at hand we are then able to calculate the spin current correlations which are of outmost importance in the emerging field of spintronics. We confirm the existing results for the charge statistics and report the discovery of the new type of correlation between the spin-up and -down polarized electrons flows, which has a potential to become a powerful new instrument for the investigation of the Kondo effect in nanostructures.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Renormalization group study of the four-body problem

We perform a renormalization group analysis of the non-relativistic four-boson problem by means of a simple model with pointlike three- and four-body interactions. We investigate in particular the unitarity point where the scattering length is infinite and all energies are at the atom threshold. We find that the four-body problem behaves truly universally, independent of any four-body parameter. Our findings confirm the recent conjectures of Platter et al. and von Stecher et al. that the four-body problem is universal, now also from a renormalization group perspective. We calculate the corresponding relations between the four- and three-body bound states, as well as the full bound state spectrum and comment on the influence of effective range corrections.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; v2: revised and published versio

Approximating parabolas as natural bounds of Heisenberg spectra: Reply on the comment of O. Waldmann

O. Waldmann has shown that some spin systems, which fulfill the condition of a weakly homogeneous coupling matrix, have a spectrum whose minimal or maximal energies are rather poorly approximated by a quadratic dependence on the total spin quantum number. We comment on this observation and provide the new argument that, under certain conditions, the approximating parabolas appear as natural bounds of the spectrum generated by spin coherent states.Comment: 2 pages, accepted for Europhysics Letter

Exhibiting cross-diffusion-induced patterns for reaction-diffusion systems on evolving domains and surfaces

The aim of this manuscript is to present for the first time the application of the finite element method for solving reaction-diffusion systems with cross-diffusion on continuously evolving domains and surfaces. Furthermore we present pattern formation generated by the reaction-diffusion systemwith cross-diffusion on evolving domains and surfaces. A two-component reaction-diffusion system with linear cross-diffusion in both u and v is presented. The finite element method is based on the approximation of the domain or surface by a triangulated domain or surface consisting of a union of triangles. For surfaces, the vertices of the triangulation lie on the continuous surface. A finite element space of functions is then defined by taking the continuous functions which are linear affine on each simplex of the triangulated domain or surface. To demonstrate the role of cross-diffusion to the theory of pattern formation, we compute patterns with model kinetic parameter values that belong only to the cross-diffusion parameter space; these do not belong to the standard parameter space for classical reaction-diffusion systems. Numerical results exhibited show the robustness, flexibility, versatility, and generality of our methodology; the methodology can deal with complicated evolution laws of the domain and surface, and these include uniform isotropic and anisotropic growth profiles as well as those profiles driven by chemical concentrations residing in the domain or on the surface

Intracapillary leucocyte accumulation as a novel antihaemorrhagic mechanism in acute pancreatitis in mice

Background: Pancreatic infiltration by leucocytes represents a hallmark in acute pancreatitis. Although leucocytes play an active role in the pathophysiology of this disease, the relation between leucocyte activation, microvascular injury and haemorrhage has not been adequately addressed.Methods: We investigated intrapancreatic leucocyte migration, leucocyte extravasation and pancreatic microperfusion in different models of oedematous and necrotising acute pancreatitis in lys-EGFP-ki mice using fluorescent imaging and time-lapse intravital microscopy.Results: In contrast to the current paradigm of leucocyte recruitment, the initial event of leucocyte activation in acute pancreatitis was represented through a dose- and time-dependent occlusion of pancreatic capillaries by intraluminally migrating leucocytes. Intracapillary leucocyte accumulation (ILA) resulted in dense filling of almost all capillaries close to the area of inflammation and preceded transvenular leucocyte extravasation. ILA was also initiated by isolated exposure of the pancreas to interleukin 8 or fMLP, demonstrating the causal role of chemotactic stimuli in the induction of ILA. The onset of intracapillary leucocyte accumulation was strongly inhibited in LFA-1-/- and ICAM-1-/- mice, but not in Mac-1-/- mice. Moreover, prevention of intracapillary leucocyte accumulation led to the development of massive capillary haemorrhages and transformed mild pancreatitis into lethal haemorrhagic disease.Conclusions: ILA represents a novel protective and potentially lifesaving mechanism of haemostasis in acute pancreatitis. This process depends on expression of LFA-1 and ICAM-1 and precedes the classical steps of the leucocyte recruitment cascade