5,845 research outputs found
Dissipation enhanced vibrational sensing in an olfactory molecular switch
Motivated by a proposed olfactory mechanism based on a
vibrationally-activated molecular switch, we study electron transport within a
donor-acceptor pair that is coupled to a vibrational mode and embedded in a
surrounding environment. We derive a polaron master equation with which we
study the dynamics of both the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom
beyond previously employed semiclassical (Marcus-Jortner) rate analyses. We
show: (i) that in the absence of explicit dissipation of the vibrational mode,
the semiclassical approach is generally unable to capture the dynamics
predicted by our master equation due to both its assumption of one-way
(exponential) electron transfer from donor to acceptor and its neglect of the
spectral details of the environment; (ii) that by additionally allowing strong
dissipation to act on the odorant vibrational mode we can recover exponential
electron transfer, though typically at a rate that differs from that given by
the Marcus-Jortner expression; (iii) that the ability of the molecular switch
to discriminate between the presence and absence of the odorant, and its
sensitivity to the odorant vibrational frequency, are enhanced significantly in
this strong dissipation regime, when compared to the case without mode
dissipation; and (iv) that details of the environment absent from previous
Marcus-Jortner analyses can also dramatically alter the sensitivity of the
molecular switch, in particular allowing its frequency resolution to be
improved. Our results thus demonstrate the constructive role dissipation can
play in facilitating sensitive and selective operation in molecular switch
devices, as well as the inadequacy of semiclassical rate equations in analysing
such behaviour over a wide range of parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, close to published version, comments welcom
Search for periodicities near 59 s in the COS-B gamma-ray data of 2CG195+04 (Geminga)
The COS-B data relating to five observations in the general direction of Geminga, spanning 6.7 years, were searched for pulsation near 59 s. The SAS-2 indication is not confirmed. An indication of a 59 s pulsation in the gamma ray emission from 2CG195+04 (Geminga) was reported. Early analysis of COS-B data supported the result while later improved statistics did not confirm it. Subsequently, detection of a 59 s pulsation in the emission from the direction of Geminga at ultra high gamma and X-rays was reported. Geminga was identified with the X-ray source 1E0630+128. The final COS-B data on Geminga which was observed five times for a total of 214 days are reported
How do liquids confined at the nanoscale influence adhesion?
Liquids play an important role in adhesion and sliding friction. They behave
as lubricants in human bodies especially in the joints. However, in many
biological attachment systems they acts like adhesives, e.g. facilitating
insects to move on ceilings or vertical walls. Here we use molecular dynamics
to study how liquids confined at the nanoscale influence the adhesion between
solid bodies with smooth and rough surfaces. We show that a monolayer of liquid
may strongly affect the adhesion.Comment: 5 pages, 9 color figures. Some figures are in Postscript Level 3
format. Minimal changes with respect to the previous version. Added doi and
reference to the published article also inside the pape
Antigen depot is not required for alum adjuvanticity
Alum adjuvants have been in continuous clinical use for more than 80 yr. While the prevailing theory has been that depot formation and the associated slow release of antigen and/or inflammation are responsible for alum enhancement of antigen presentation and subsequent T- and B-cell responses, this has never been formally proven. To examine antigen persistence, we used the chimeric fluorescent protein EαGFP, which allows assessment of antigen presentation in situ, using the Y-Ae antibody. We demonstrate that alum and/or CpG adjuvants induced similar uptake of antigen, and in all cases, GFP signal did not persist beyond 24 h in draining lymph node antigen-presenting cells. Antigen presentation was first detectable on B cells within 6–12 h of antigen administration, followed by conventional dendritic cells (DCs) at 12–24 h, then finally plasmacytoid DCs at 48 h or later. Again, alum and/or CpG adjuvants did not have an effect on the magnitude or sequence of this response; furthermore, they induced similar antigen-specific T-cell activation in vivo. Notably, removal of the injection site and associated alum depot, as early as 2 h after administration, had no appreciable effect on antigen-specific T- and B-cell responses. This study clearly rules out a role for depot formation in alum adjuvant activity
Experimental search for evidence of the three-nucleon force and a new analysis method
A research program with the aim of investigating the spin dependence of the
three-nucleon continuum in pd collisions at intermediate energies was carried
out at IUCF using the Polarized INternal Target EXperiments (PINTEX) facility.
In the elastic scattering experiment at 135 and 200 MeV proton beam energies a
total of 15 independent spin observables were obtained. The breakup experiment
was done with a vector and tensor polarized deuteron beam of 270 MeV and an
internal polarized hydrogen gas target. We developed a novel technique for the
analysis of the breakup observables, the sampling method. The new approach
takes into account acceptance and non-uniformities of detection efficiencies
and is suitable for any kinematically complete experiment with three particles
in the final state.Comment: Contribution to the 19th European Few-Body Conference, Groningen Aug.
23-27, 200
Ground-state dispersion and density of states from path-integral Monte Carlo. Application to the lattice polaron
A formula is derived that relates the ground-state dispersion of a many-body
system with the end-to-end distribution of paths with open boundary conditions
in imaginary time. The formula does not involve the energy estimator. It allows
direct measurement of the ground-state dispersion by quantum Monte Carlo
methods without analytical continuation or auxiliary fitting. The formula is
applied to the lattice polaron problem. The exact polaron spectrum and density
of states are calculated for several models in one, two, and three dimensions.
In the adiabatic regime of the Holstein model, the polaron density of states
deviates spectacularly from the free-particle shape.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Variational Density Matrix Method for Warm Condensed Matter and Application to Dense Hydrogen
A new variational principle for optimizing thermal density matrices is
introduced. As a first application, the variational many body density matrix is
written as a determinant of one body density matrices, which are approximated
by Gaussians with the mean, width and amplitude as variational parameters. The
method is illustrated for the particle in an external field problem, the
hydrogen molecule and dense hydrogen where the molecular, the dissociated and
the plasma regime are described. Structural and thermodynamic properties
(energy, equation of state and shock Hugoniot) are presented.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. submitted to Phys. Rev. E, October 199
Measurement of Partial-Wave Contributions in pp --> pp pi^0
We report a measurement of the spin-dependent total cross section ratios
delta_sigma_T/sigma_tot and delta_sigma_L/sigma_tot of the pp --> pp pi^0
reaction between 325 MeV and 400 MeV. The experiment was carried out with a
polarized internal target in a storage ring. Non-vertical beam polarization was
obtained by the use of solenoidal spin rotators. Near threshold, the knowledge
of both spin-dependent total cross sections is sufficient to deduce the
strength of certain participating partial waves, free of any model.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Kosterlitz-Thouless transition of quantum XY model in two dimensions
The two-dimensional XY model is investigated with an extensive
quantum Monte Carlo simulation. The helicity modulus is precisely estimated
through a continuous-time loop algorithm for systems up to
near and below the critical temperature. The critical temperature is estimated
as . The obtained estimates for the helicity modulus
are well fitted by a scaling form derived from the Kosterlitz renormalization
group equation. The validity of the Kosterlitz-Thouless theory for this model
is confirmed.Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables, 6 figure
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