136 research outputs found
Determination of the interactions in confined macroscopic Wigner islands: theory and experiments
Macroscopic Wigner islands present an interesting complementary approach to
explore the properties of two-dimensional confined particles systems. In this
work, we characterize theoretically and experimentally the interaction between
their basic components, viz., conducting spheres lying on the bottom electrode
of a plane condenser. We show that the interaction energy can be approximately
described by a decaying exponential as well as by a modified Bessel function of
the second kind. In particular, this implies that the interactions in this
system, whose characteristics are easily controllable, are the same as those
between vortices in type-II superconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Poisson approximations for the Ising model
A -dimensional Ising model on a lattice torus is considered. As the size
of the lattice tends to infinity, a Poisson approximation is given for the
distribution of the number of copies in the lattice of any given local
configuration, provided the magnetic field tends to and the
pair potential remains fixed. Using the Stein-Chen method, a bound is given
for the total variation error in the ferromagnetic case.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figur
Single File Diffusion enhancement in a fluctuating modulated 1D channel
We show that the diffusion of a single file of particles moving in a
fluctuating modulated 1D channel is enhanced with respect to the one in a bald
pipe. This effect, induced by the fluctuations of the modulation, is favored by
the incommensurability between the channel potential modulation and the moving
file periodicity. This phenomenon could be of importance in order to optimize
the critical current in superconductors, in particular in the case where mobile
vortices move in 1D channels designed by adapted patterns of pinning sites.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Electron-loss and target ionization cross sections for water vapor by 20-150 keV neutral atomic hydrogen impact
A complete set of cross sections is reported for the ionization of water
molecules by neutral atomic hydrogen impact at velocities of the order of the
Bragg peak. The measured relative cross sections are normalized by comparison
with proton impact results for the same target conditions and previous absolute
data. Event by event coincidence analysis of the product ions and the
projectile enables partial cross sections for target ionization and target plus
projectile ionization to be determined, as well as total cross sections for
electron loss reactions.Comment: To be published in Chemical Physics Letter
On single file and less dense processes
The diffusion process of N hard rods in a 1D interval of length L (--> inf)
is studied using scaling arguments and an asymptotic analysis of the exact
N-particle probability density function (PDF). In the class of such systems,
the universal scaling law of the tagged particle's mean absolute displacement
reads, ~ _{free}/n^mu, where _{free} is the result for a free
particle in the studied system and n is the number of particles in the covered
length. The exponent mu is given by, mu=1/(1+a), where a is associated with the
particles' density law of the system, rho~rho_0*L^(-a), 0<= a <=1. The scaling
law for leads to, ~rho_0^((a-1)/2) (_{free})^((1+a)/2), an
equation that predicts a smooth interpolation between single file diffusion and
free particle diffusion depending on the particles' density law, and holds for
any underlying dynamics. In particular, ~t^((1+a)/2) for normal diffusion,
with a Gaussian PDF in space for any value of a (deduced by a complementary
analysis), and, ~t^((beta(1+a))/2), for anomalous diffusion in which the
system's particles all have the same power-law waiting time PDF for individual
events, psi~t^(-1-beta), 0<beta<1. Our analysis shows that the scaling
~t^(1/2) in a 'standard' single file is a direct result of the fixed
particles' density condition imposed on the system, a=0
Asteroids' physical models from combined dense and sparse photometry and scaling of the YORP effect by the observed obliquity distribution
The larger number of models of asteroid shapes and their rotational states
derived by the lightcurve inversion give us better insight into both the nature
of individual objects and the whole asteroid population. With a larger
statistical sample we can study the physical properties of asteroid
populations, such as main-belt asteroids or individual asteroid families, in
more detail. Shape models can also be used in combination with other types of
observational data (IR, adaptive optics images, stellar occultations), e.g., to
determine sizes and thermal properties. We use all available photometric data
of asteroids to derive their physical models by the lightcurve inversion method
and compare the observed pole latitude distributions of all asteroids with
known convex shape models with the simulated pole latitude distributions. We
used classical dense photometric lightcurves from several sources and
sparse-in-time photometry from the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff,
Catalina Sky Survey, and La Palma surveys (IAU codes 689, 703, 950) in the
lightcurve inversion method to determine asteroid convex models and their
rotational states. We also extended a simple dynamical model for the spin
evolution of asteroids used in our previous paper. We present 119 new asteroid
models derived from combined dense and sparse-in-time photometry. We discuss
the reliability of asteroid shape models derived only from Catalina Sky Survey
data (IAU code 703) and present 20 such models. By using different values for a
scaling parameter cYORP (corresponds to the magnitude of the YORP momentum) in
the dynamical model for the spin evolution and by comparing synthetics and
observed pole-latitude distributions, we were able to constrain the typical
values of the cYORP parameter as between 0.05 and 0.6.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, January 15, 201
Geodesics and the competition interface for the corner growth model
We study the directed last-passage percolation model on the planar square lattice with nearest-neighbor steps and general i.i.d. weights on the vertices, out- side of the class of exactly solvable models. Stationary cocycles are constructed for this percolation model from queueing fixed points. These cocycles serve as bound- ary conditions for stationary last-passage percolation, solve variational formulas that characterize limit shapes, and yield existence of Busemann functions in directions where the shape has some regularity. In a sequel to this paper the cocycles are used to prove results about semi-infinite geodesics and the competition interface
The TP53 Arg72Pro and MDM2 309G>T polymorphisms are not associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers
Background: The TP53 pathway, in which TP53 and its negative regulator MDM2 are the central elements, has an important role in carcinogenesis, particularly in BRCA1- and BRCA2-mediated carcinogenesis. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the promoter region of MDM2 (309T>G, rs2279744) and a coding SNP of TP53 (Arg72Pro, rs1042522) have been shown to be of functional significance. Methods: To investigate whether these SNPs modify breast cancer risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, we pooled genotype data on the TP53 Arg72Pro SNP in 7011 mutation carriers and on the MDM2 309T>G SNP in 2222 mutation carriers from the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA). Data were analysed using a Cox proportional hazards model within a retrospective likelihood framework. Results: No association was found between these SNPs and breast cancer risk for BRCA1 (TP53: per-allele hazard ratio (HR)=1.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.93â1.10, Ptrend=0.77; MDM2: HR=0.96, 95%CI: 0.84â1.09, Ptrend=0.54) or for BRCA2 mutation carriers (TP53: HR=0.99, 95%CI: 0.87â1.12, Ptrend=0.83; MDM2: HR=0.98, 95%CI: 0.80â1.21, Ptrend=0.88). We also evaluated the potential combined effects of both SNPs on breast cancer risk, however, none of their combined genotypes showed any evidence of association. Conclusion: There was no evidence that TP53 Arg72Pro or MDM2 309T>G, either singly or in combination, influence breast cancer risk in BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers. O M Sinilnikova1,2, A C Antoniou3, J Simard4, S Healey5, M LĂ©onĂ©1, D Sinnett6,7, A B Spurdle5, J Beesley5, X Chen5, kConFab8, M H Greene9, J T Loud9, F Lejbkowicz10, G Rennert10, S Dishon10, I L Andrulis11,12, OCGN11, S M Domchek13, K L Nathanson13, S Manoukian14, P Radice15,16, I Konstantopoulou17, I Blanco18, A L Laborde19, M DurĂĄn20, A Osorio21, J Benitez21, U Hamann22, F B L Hogervorst23, T A M van Os24, H J P Gille25, HEBON23, S Peock3, M Cook3, C Luccarini26, D G Evans27, F Lalloo27, R Eeles28, G Pichert29, R Davidson30, T Cole31, J Cook32, J Paterson33, C Brewer34, EMBRACE3, D J Hughes35, I Coupier36,37, S Giraud1, F Coulet38, C Colas38, F Soubrier38, E Rouleau39, I BiĂšche39, R Lidereau39, L Demange40, C Nogues40, H T Lynch41, GEMO1,2,42, R K Schmutzler43, B Versmold43, C Engel44, A Meindl45, N Arnold46, C Sutter47, H Deissler48, D Schaefer49, U G Froster50, GC-HBOC43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50, K AittomĂ€ki51, H Nevanlinna52, L McGuffog3, D F Easton3, G Chenevix-Trench5 and D Stoppa-Lyonnet42 on behalf of the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/
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