273 research outputs found
Two-dimensional Bloch electrons in perpendicular magnetic fields: an exact calculation of the Hofstadter butterfly spectrum
The problem of two-dimensional, independent electrons subject to a periodic
potential and a uniform perpendicular magnetic field unveils surprisingly rich
physics, as epitomized by the fractal energy spectrum known as Hofstadter's
Butterfly. It has hitherto been addressed using various approximations rooted
in either the strong potential or the strong field limiting cases. Here we
report calculations of the full spectrum of the single-particle Schr\"{o}dinger
equation without further approximations. Our method is exact, up to numerical
precision, for any combination of potential and uniform field strength. We
first study a situation that corresponds to the strong potential limit, and
compare the exact results to the predictions of a Hofstadter-like model. We
then go on to analyze the evolution of the fractal spectrum from a Landau-like
nearly-free electron system to the Hofstadter tight-binding limit by tuning the
amplitude of the modulation potential
Stability of the shell structure in 2D quantum dots
We study the effects of external impurities on the shell structure in
semiconductor quantum dots by using a fast response-function method for solving
the Kohn-Sham equations. We perform statistics of the addition energies up to
20 interacting electrons. The results show that the shell structure is
generally preserved even if effects of high disorder are clear. The Coulomb
interaction and the variation in ground-state spins have a strong effect on the
addition-energy distributions, which in the noninteracting single-electron
picture correspond to level statistics showing mixtures of Poisson and Wigner
forms.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Geometric and impurity effects on quantum rings in magnetic fields
We investigate the effects of impurities and changing ring geometry on the
energetics of quantum rings under different magnetic field strengths. We show
that as the magnetic field and/or the electron number are/is increased, both
the quasiperiodic Aharonov-Bohm oscillations and various magnetic phases become
insensitive to whether the ring is circular or square in shape. This is in
qualitative agreement with experiments. However, we also find that the
Aharonov-Bohm oscillation can be greatly phase-shifted by only a few impurities
and can be completely obliterated by a high level of impurity density. In the
many-electron calculations we use a recently developed fourth-order imaginary
time projection algorithm that can exactly compute the density matrix of a
free-electron in a uniform magnetic field.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, to appear in PR
Any order imaginary time propagation method for solving the Schrodinger equation
The eigenvalue-function pair of the 3D Schr\"odinger equation can be
efficiently computed by use of high order, imaginary time propagators. Due to
the diffusion character of the kinetic energy operator in imaginary time,
algorithms developed so far are at most fourth-order. In this work, we show
that for a grid based algorithm, imaginary time propagation of any even order
can be devised on the basis of multi-product splitting. The effectiveness of
these algorithms, up to the 12 order, is demonstrated by computing
all 120 eigenstates of a model C molecule to very high precisions. The
algorithms are particularly useful when implemented on parallel computer
architectures.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
A H2O2-producing glyoxal oxidase is required for filamentous growth and pathogenicity in Ustilago maydis
In vitro interactions of Alternaria mycotoxins, an emerging class of food contaminants, with the gut microbiota: a bidirectional relationship
The human gut microbiota plays an important role in the maintenance of human health. Factors able to modify its composition might predispose the host to the development of pathologies. Among the various xenobiotics introduced through the diet, Alternaria mycotoxins are speculated to represent a threat for human health. However, limited data are currently available about the bidirectional relation between gut microbiota and Alternaria mycotoxins. In the present work, we investigated the in vitro effects of different concentrations of a complex extract of Alternaria mycotoxins (CE; containing eleven mycotoxins; e.g. 0.153 µM alternariol and 2.3 µM altersetin, at the maximum CE concentration tested) on human gut bacterial strains, as well as the ability of the latter to metabolize or adsorb these compounds. Results from the minimum inhibitory concentration assay showed the scarce ability of CE to inhibit the growth of the tested strains. However, the growth kinetics of most of the strains were negatively affected by exposure to the various CE concentrations, mainly at the highest dose (50 µg/mL). The CE was also found to antagonize the formation of biofilms, already at concentrations of 0.5 µg/mL. LC–MS/MS data analysis of the mycotoxin concentrations found in bacterial pellets and supernatants after 24 h incubation showed the ability of bacterial strains to adsorb some Alternaria mycotoxins, especially the key toxins alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, and altersetin. The tendency of these mycotoxins to accumulate within bacterial pellets, especially in those of Gram-negative strains, was found to be directly related to their lipophilicity
Value of tissue harmonic imaging (THI) and contrast harmonic imaging (CHI) in detection and characterisation of breast tumours
The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which tissue harmonic imaging (THI), speckle reduction imaging (SRI), spatial compounding (SC) and contrast can improve detection and differentiation of breast tumours. We examined 38 patients (14 benign, 24 malignant tumours) with different combinations of THI, SRI and SC. The effect on delineation, margin, tissue differentiation and posttumoral phenomena was evaluated with a three-point score. Additionally, 1oo not palpable tumours (diameters: 4–15 mm) were examined by contrast harmonic imaging (CHI) with power Doppler. After bolus injection (0.5 ml Optison), vascularisation and enhancement were observed for 20 min. The best combination for detection of margin, infiltration, echo pattern and posterior lesion boundary was the combination of SRI level 2 with SC low. THI was helpful for lesions OF more than 1 cm depth. In native Power Doppler, vessels were found in 54 of 100 lesions. Within 5 min after contrast medium (CM) injection, marginal and penetrating vessels increased in benign and malignant tumours and central vessels mostly in carcinomas (p<0.05). A diffuse CM accumulation was observed up to 20 min after injection in malignant tumours only (p<0.05). THI, SRI and SC improved delineation and tissue differentiation. Second-generation contrast agent allowed detection of tumour vascularisation with prolonged enhancement
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