Clock spectroscopy of interacting bosons in deep optical lattices

We report on high-resolution optical spectroscopy of interacting bosonic $^{174}$Yb atoms in deep optical lattices with negligible tunneling. We prepare Mott insulator phases with singly- and doubly-occupied isolated sites and probe the atoms using an ultra-narrow "clock" transition. Atoms in singly-occupied sites undergo long-lived Rabi oscillations. Atoms in doubly-occupied sites are strongly affected by interatomic interactions, and we measure their inelastic decay rates and energy shifts. We deduce from these measurements all relevant collisional parameters involving both clock states, in particular the intra- and inter-state scattering lengths

Non-linear Relaxation of Interacting Bosons Coherently Driven on a Narrow Optical Transition

We study the dynamics of a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of $^{174}$Yb atoms coherently driven on a narrow optical transition. The excitation transfers the BEC to a superposition of states with different internal and momentum quantum numbers. We observe a crossover with decreasing driving strength between a regime of damped oscillations, where coherent driving prevails, and an incoherent regime, where relaxation takes over. Several relaxation mechanisms are involved: inelastic losses involving two excited atoms, leading to a non-exponential decay of populations; Doppler broadening due to the finite momentum width of the BEC and inhomogeneous elastic interactions, both leading to dephasing and to damping of the oscillations. We compare our observations to a two-component Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) model that fully includes these effects. For small or moderate densities, the damping of the oscillations is mostly due to Doppler broadening. In this regime, we find excellent agreement between the model and the experimental results. For higher densities, the role of interactions increases and so does the damping rate of the oscillations. The damping in the GP model is less pronounced than in the experiment, possibly a hint for many-body effects not captured by the mean-field description.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; supplementary material available as ancillary fil

Low-cost technology for the integration of micro- and nanochips into fluidic systems on printed circuit board: fabrication challenges

Nowadays, micro- and nanochips are usually\ud fabricated with Silicon and/or glass. A simple, low-cost and\ud reliable integration packaging method that provides flexibility\ud to the incorporation of electronic and fluidic devices into a\ud system has not been fully developed yet. The use of Printed\ud Circuit Board material as substrate to create dry film resist\ud microfluidic channels is the core technology to provide such an\ud integration method. The feasibility and potential of the\ud proposed packaging method is demonstrated in this wor

A basis for variational calculations in d dimensions

In this paper we derive expressions for matrix elements (\phi_i,H\phi_j) for the Hamiltonian H=-\Delta+\sum_q a(q)r^q in d > 1 dimensions. The basis functions in each angular momentum subspace are of the form phi_i(r)=r^{i+1+(t-d)/2}e^{-r^p/2}, i >= 0, p > 0, t > 0. The matrix elements are given in terms of the Gamma function for all d. The significance of the parameters t and p and scale s are discussed. Applications to a variety of potentials are presented, including potentials with singular repulsive terms of the form b/r^a, a,b > 0, perturbed Coulomb potentials -D/r + B r + Ar^2, and potentials with weak repulsive terms, such as -g r^2 + r^4, g > 0.Comment: 22 page

Synthesis of Tannic Acid nanoparticles

Motivation: Tannic Acid (TA) is a polyphenolic compound with a huge variety of biological activities. Most interestingly, it has anticancer activity through a variety of mechanisms, especially in those cancers that overexpress the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). It has been demonstrated that TA is able to interact with EGFR/Jak2/STAT pathway and inhibit cellular proliferation induced by EGF, triggering apoptosis [1]. The aim of this work is to optimize TA polymeric nanoparticles previously developed by our group [2], with especial focus on diminishing their hydrodynamic diameter. This characteristic is extremely important, so that once the nanoparticle enters the circulatory system, it should be able to cross the vascular walls to reach the target tissue and then release the payload.Methods and results: In this work it has been optimize the size of TA nanoparticles. The new nanoparticles obtained have been characterized by Infrared Spectroscopy, UV-Visible, Raman Spectroscopy, Tyndall Effect, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS).We have been able to diminish by a four-factor the hydrodynamic diameter. In this way, our nanoparticles have a hydrodynamic diameter of just 160nm and a zeta potential of -28mV. In addition, the entrapment efficiency is very high (92.2%), and we have simplified the synthesis procedure by reducing the number of steps and the amount of coating polymer of the nanoparticles.Conclusions: We have optimized the size of TA nanoparticles. These nanoparticles have a suitable size for intravenous administration and extremely high entrapment efficiency. In addition, our synthesis does not require the use of organic solvents and the polymers used to construct the nanoparticle are classified as Generally Recognized As Safe (or GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration

Perturbation expansions for a class of singular potentials

Harrell's modified perturbation theory [Ann. Phys. 105, 379-406 (1977)] is applied and extended to obtain non-power perturbation expansions for a class of singular Hamiltonians H = -D^2 + x^2 + A/x^2 + lambda/x^alpha, (A\geq 0, alpha > 2), known as generalized spiked harmonic oscillators. The perturbation expansions developed here are valid for small values of the coupling lambda > 0, and they extend the results which Harrell obtained for the spiked harmonic oscillator A = 0. Formulas for the the excited-states are also developed.Comment: 23 page

Synthesis of Tannic acid and Gallic acid nanostructures with biomedical applications

Motivation: Tannic acid (TA) and Gallic acid (GA) are natural polyphenolic compounds belonging to the family of tannins, a subset of secondary metabolites that stands out due to their biological activity, including anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiviral activities [1,2]. Our group has developed TA nanoparticles with antitumor activity that can be selectively targeted to tumors, thereby reducing the undesirable side effects associated with chemotherapy [3].In this work we have broadened the scope of these promising nanoparticles by introducing GA in their formulation. Additionally, we have tackled the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on TA and GA. Methods and Results: The obtained nanostructures have been characterized by physicochemical techniques: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Raman Spectroscopy, Tyndall Effect, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), UV-Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy.Our TA/GA nanoparticles have a hydrodynamic diameter of just 202 nm and a zeta potential of -34 mV. This is an improvement over the previously described TA nanoparticles. Their entrapment efficiency is very high (92.4 %). Moreover, we have simplified the synthesis by reducing the amount of coating polymer.In a different approach we have also synthesized MOFs using TA and GA as ligand and different metal cations (Fe2+, Fe3+ or Ni2+). They have different hydrodynamic diameters and shapes, and their crystallinity is being studied by X-Ray Diffraction.Conclusions: TA/GA nanoparticles have been obtained by using polymers Generally Recognized As Safe (or GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration. Their size has been optimized, so they are suitable for intravenous administration. With respect to the MOFs structures synthesized, their potential applications are more diverse (including, for example, catalytic processes) depending on their size, porosity and crystallinity

Simultaneous Optical Model Analyses of Elastic Scattering, Breakup, and Fusion Cross Section Data for the 6^{6}He + 209^{209}Bi System at Near-Coulomb-Barrier Energies

Based on an approach recently proposed by us, simultaneous $\chi^{2}$-analyses are performed for elastic scattering, direct reaction (DR) and fusion cross sections data for the $^{6}$He+$^{209}$Bi system at near-Coulomb-barrier energies to determine the parameters of the polarization potential consisting of DR and fusion parts. We show that the data are well reproduced by the resultant potential, which also satisfies the proper dispersion relation. A discussion is given of the nature of the threshold anomaly seen in the potential