321 research outputs found
Very low shot noise in carbon nanotubes
We have performed noise measurements on suspended ropes of single wall carbon
nanotubes (SWNT) between 1 and 300 K for different values of dc current through
the ropes. We find that the shot noise is suppressed by more than a factor 100
compared to the full shot noise 2eI. We have also measured an individual SWNT
and found a level of noise which is smaller than the minimum expected. Another
finding is the very low level of 1/f noise, which is significantly lower than
previous observations. We propose two possible interpretations for this strong
shot noise reduction: i) Transport within a rope takes place through a few
nearly ballistic tubes within a rope and possibly involves non integer
effective charges. ii) A substantial fraction of the tubes conduct with a
strong reduction of effective charge (by more than a factor 50).Comment: Submitted to Eur. Phys. J. B (Jan. 2002) Higher resolution pictures
are posted on http://www.lps.u-psud.fr/Collectif/gr_07/publications.htm
Fast Witness Extraction Using a Decision Oracle
The gist of many (NP-)hard combinatorial problems is to decide whether a
universe of elements contains a witness consisting of elements that
match some prescribed pattern. For some of these problems there are known
advanced algebra-based FPT algorithms which solve the decision problem but do
not return the witness. We investigate techniques for turning such a
YES/NO-decision oracle into an algorithm for extracting a single witness, with
an objective to obtain practical scalability for large values of . By
relying on techniques from combinatorial group testing, we demonstrate that a
witness may be extracted with queries to either a deterministic or
a randomized set inclusion oracle with one-sided probability of error.
Furthermore, we demonstrate through implementation and experiments that the
algebra-based FPT algorithms are practical, in particular in the setting of the
-path problem. Also discussed are engineering issues such as optimizing
finite field arithmetic.Comment: Journal version, 16 pages. Extended abstract presented at ESA'1
Superconductivity in Ropes of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes
We report measurements on ropes of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWNT) in
low-resistance contact to non-superconducting (normal) metallic pads, at low
voltage and at temperatures down to 70 mK. In one sample, we find a two order
of magnitude resistance drop below 0.55 K, which is destroyed by a magnetic
field of the order of 1T, or by a d.c. current greater than 2.5 microA. These
features strongly suggest the existence of superconductivity in ropes of SWNT.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
Encrypt-to-self:Securely outsourcing storage
We put forward a symmetric encryption primitive tailored towards a specific application: outsourced storage. The setting assumes a memory-bounded computing device that inflates the amount of volatile or permanent memory available to it by letting other (untrusted) devices hold encryptions of information that they return on request. For instance, web servers typically hold for each of the client connections they manage a multitude of data, ranging from user preferences to technical information like database credentials. If the amount of data per session is considerable, busy servers sooner or later run out of memory. One admissible solution to this is to let the server encrypt the session data to itself and to let the client store the ciphertext, with the agreement that the client reproduce the ciphertext in each subsequent request (e.g., via a cookie) so that the session data can be recovered when required. In this article we develop the cryptographic mechanism that should be used to achieve confidential and authentic data storage in the encrypt-to-self setting, i.e., where encryptor and decryptor coincide and constitute the only entity holding keys. We argue that standard authenticated encryption represents only a suboptimal solution for preserving confidentiality, as much as message authentication codes are suboptimal for preserving authenticity. The crucial observation is that such schemes instantaneously give up on all security promises the moment the key is compromised. In contrast, data protected with our new primitive remains fully integrity protected and unmalleable. In the course of this paper we develop a formal model for encrypt-to-self systems, show that it solves the outsourced storage problem, propose surprisingly efficient provably secure constructions, and report on our implementations
Anomalous Behavior near T_c and Synchronization of Andreev Reflection in Two-Dimensional Arrays of SNS Junctions
We have investigated low-temperature transport properties of two-dimensional
arrays of superconductor--normal-metal--superconductor (SNS) junctions. It has
been found that in two-dimensional arrays of SNS junctions (i) a change in the
energy spectrum within an interval of the order of the Thouless energy is
observed even when the thermal broadening far exceeds the Thouless energy for a
single SNS junction; (ii) the manifestation of the subharmonic energy gap
structure (SGS) with high harmonic numbers is possible even if the energy
relaxation length is smaller than that required for the realization of a
multiple Andreev reflection in a single SNS junction. These results point to
the synchronization of a great number of SNS junctions. A mechanism of the SGS
origin in two-dimensional arrays of SNS junctions, involving the processes of
conventional and crossed Andreev reflection, is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Hydrodynamic Synchronisation of Model Microswimmers
We define a model microswimmer with a variable cycle time, thus allowing the
possibility of phase locking driven by hydrodynamic interactions between
swimmers. We find that, for extensile or contractile swimmers, phase locking
does occur, with the relative phase of the two swimmers being, in general,
close to 0 or pi, depending on their relative position and orientation. We show
that, as expected on grounds of symmetry, self T-dual swimmers, which are
time-reversal covariant, do not phase-lock. We also discuss the phase behaviour
of a line of tethered swimmers, or pumps. These show oscillations in their
relative phases reminiscent of the metachronal waves of cilia.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
Bubbles, clusters and denaturation in genomic DNA: modeling, parametrization, efficient computation
The paper uses mesoscopic, non-linear lattice dynamics based
(Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois, PBD) modeling to describe thermal properties of DNA
below and near the denaturation temperature. Computationally efficient notation
is introduced for the relevant statistical mechanics. Computed melting profiles
of long and short heterogeneous sequences are presented, using a recently
introduced reparametrization of the PBD model, and critically discussed. The
statistics of extended open bubbles and bound clusters is formulated and
results are presented for selected examples.Comment: to appear in a special issue of the Journal of Nonlinear Mathematical
Physics (ed. G. Gaeta
A Look at the Generalized Heron Problem through the Lens of Majorization-Minimization
In a recent issue of this journal, Mordukhovich et al.\ pose and solve an
interesting non-differentiable generalization of the Heron problem in the
framework of modern convex analysis. In the generalized Heron problem one is
given closed convex sets in \Real^d equipped with its Euclidean norm
and asked to find the point in the last set such that the sum of the distances
to the first sets is minimal. In later work the authors generalize the
Heron problem even further, relax its convexity assumptions, study its
theoretical properties, and pursue subgradient algorithms for solving the
convex case. Here, we revisit the original problem solely from the numerical
perspective. By exploiting the majorization-minimization (MM) principle of
computational statistics and rudimentary techniques from differential calculus,
we are able to construct a very fast algorithm for solving the Euclidean
version of the generalized Heron problem.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure
Generic flow profiles induced by a beating cilium
We describe a multipole expansion for the low Reynolds number fluid flows
generated by a localized source embedded in a plane with a no-slip boundary
condition. It contains 3 independent terms that fall quadratically with the
distance and 6 terms that fall with the third power. Within this framework we
discuss the flows induced by a beating cilium described in different ways: a
small particle circling on an elliptical trajectory, a thin rod and a general
ciliary beating pattern. We identify the flow modes present based on the
symmetry properties of the ciliary beat.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to appear in EPJ
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