915 research outputs found
Importance of second-order piezoelectric effects in zincblende semiconductors
We show that the piezoelectric effect that describes the emergence of an
electric field in response to a crystal deformation in III-V semiconductors
such as GaAs and InAs has strong contributions from second-order effects that
have been neglected so far. We calculate the second-order piezoelectric tensors
using density functional theory and obtain the piezoelectric field for
[111]-oriented InGaAs quantum wells of realistic dimensions and
concentration . We find that the linear and the quadratic piezoelectric
coefficients have the opposite effect on the field, and for large strains the
quadratic terms even dominate. Thus, the piezoelectric field turns out to be a
rare example of a physical quantity for which the first- and second-order
contributions are of comparable magnitude.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Impairment of adrenocortical function associated with increased plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 6 concentrations in African trypanosomiasis
Dynamics of Bloch Oscillations in Disordered Lattice Potentials
We present a detailed analysis of the dynamics of Bloch oscillations of
Bose-Einstein condensates in disordered lattice potentials. Due to the disorder
and the interparticle interactions these oscillations undergo a dephasing,
reflected in a damping of the center of mass oscillations, which should be
observable under realistic experimental conditions. The interplay between
interactions and disorder is far from trivial, ranging from an
interaction-enhanced damping due to modulational instability for strong
interactions, to an interaction-reduced damping due to a dynamical screening of
the disorder potential
Spontaneous breaking of spatial and spin symmetry in spinor condensates
Parametric amplification of quantum fluctuations constitutes a fundamental
mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking. In our experiments, a spinor
condensate acts as a parametric amplifier of spin modes, resulting in a twofold
spontaneous breaking of spatial and spin symmetry in the amplified clouds. Our
experiments permit a precise analysis of the amplification in specific spatial
Bessel-like modes, allowing for the detailed understanding of the double
symmetry breaking. On resonances that create vortex-antivortex superpositions,
we show that the cylindrical spatial symmetry is spontaneously broken, but
phase squeezing prevents spin-symmetry breaking. If, however, nondegenerate
spin modes contribute to the amplification, quantum interferences lead to
spin-dependent density profiles and hence spontaneously-formed patterns in the
longitudinal magnetization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Extended coherence time on the clock transition of optically trapped Rubidium
Optically trapped ensembles are of crucial importance for frequency
measurements and quantum memories, but generally suffer from strong dephasing
due to inhomogeneous density and light shifts. We demonstrate a drastic
increase of the coherence time to 21 s on the magnetic field insensitive clock
transition of Rb-87 by applying the recently discovered spin self-rephasing.
This result confirms the general nature of this new mechanism and thus shows
its applicability in atom clocks and quantum memories. A systematic
investigation of all relevant frequency shifts and noise contributions yields a
stability of 2.4E-11 x tau^(-1/2), where tau is the integration time in
seconds. Based on a set of technical improvements, the presented frequency
standard is predicted to rival the stability of microwave fountain clocks in a
potentially much more compact setup.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Double polarization hysteresis loop induced by the domain pinning by defect dipoles in HoMnO3 epitaxial thin films
We report on antiferroelectriclike double polarization hysteresis loops in
multiferroic HoMnO3 thin films below the ferroelectric Curie temperature. This
intriguing phenomenon is attributed to the domain pinning by defect dipoles
which were introduced unintentionally during film growth process. Electron
paramagnetic resonance suggests the existence of Fe1+ defects in thin films and
first principles calculations reveal that the defect dipoles would be composed
of oxygen vacancy and Fe1+ defect. We discuss migration of charged point
defects during film growth process and formation of defect dipoles along
ferroelectric polarization direction, based on the site preference of point
defects. Due to a high-temperature low-symmetry structure of HoMnO3, aging is
not required to form the defect dipoles in contrast to other ferroelectrics
(e.g., BaTiO3).Comment: 4 figure
Circulating steroid hormone variations throughout different stages of prostate cancer
Steroid hormones play a central role in the maintenance and progression of prostate cancer. The androgen receptor is the primary driver of tumor cell proliferation and is activated by the androgens testosterone and 5α-dihydrotestosterone. Inhibition of this pathway through medical or surgical castration improves survival in the majority of advanced prostate cancer patients. However, conversion of adrenal androgen precursors and alternative steroidogenic pathways have been found to contribute to tumor progression and resistance to treatment. The emergence of highly accurate detection methods allows us to study steroidogenic mechanisms in more detail, even after treatment with potent steroidogenic inhibitors such as the CYP17A1 inhibitor abiraterone. A clear overview of steroid hormone levels in patients throughout the local, metastatic and castration-resistant stages of prostate cancer and treatment modalities is key toward a better understanding of their role in tumor progression and treatment resistance. In this review, we summarize the currently available data on steroid hormones that have been implicated in the various stages of prostate cancer. Additionally, this review addresses the implications of these findings, highlights important studies in this field and identifies current gaps in literature
Width of Sunspot Generating Zone and Reconstruction of Butterfly Diagram
Based on the extended Greenwich-NOAA/USAF catalogue of sunspot groups it is
demonstrated that the parameters describing the latitudinal width of the
sunspot generating zone (SGZ) are closely related to the current level of solar
activity, and the growth of the activity leads to the expansion of SGZ. The
ratio of the sunspot number to the width of SGZ shows saturation at a certain
level of the sunspot number, and above this level the increase of the activity
takes place mostly due to the expansion of SGZ. It is shown that the mean
latitudes of sunspots can be reconstructed from the amplitudes of solar
activity. Using the obtained relations and the group sunspot numbers by Hoyt
and Schatten (1998), the latitude distribution of sunspot groups ("the Maunder
butterfly diagram") for the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries is
reconstructed and compared with historical sunspot observations.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures; accepted by Solar Physics; the final
publication will be available at www.springerlink.co
Dropping cold quantum gases on Earth over long times and large distances
We describe the non-relativistic time evolution of an ultra-cold degenerate
quantum gas (bosons/fermions) falling in Earth's gravity during long times (10
sec) and over large distances (100 m). This models a drop tower experiment that
is currently performed by the QUANTUS collaboration at ZARM (Bremen, Germany).
Starting from the classical mechanics of the drop capsule and a single particle
trapped within, we develop the quantum field theoretical description for this
experimental situation in an inertial frame, the corotating frame of the Earth,
as well as the comoving frame of the drop capsule. Suitable transformations
eliminate non-inertial forces, provided all external potentials (trap, gravity)
can be approximated with a second order Taylor expansion around the
instantaneous trap center. This is an excellent assumption and the harmonic
potential theorem applies. As an application, we study the quantum dynamics of
a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate in the Gross-Pitaevskii mean-field
approximation. Due to the instantaneous transformation to the rest-frame of the
superfluid wave packet, the long-distance drop (100m) can be studied easily on
a numerical grid.Comment: 18 pages latex, 5 eps figures, submitte
- âŠ