76 research outputs found
Finite temperature phase transition for disordered weakly interacting bosons in one dimension
It is commonly accepted that there are no phase transitions in
one-dimensional (1D) systems at a finite temperature, because long-range
correlations are destroyed by thermal fluctuations. Here we demonstrate that
the 1D gas of short-range interacting bosons in the presence of disorder can
undergo a finite temperature phase transition between two distinct states:
fluid and insulator. None of these states has long-range spatial correlations,
but this is a true albeit non-conventional phase transition because transport
properties are singular at the transition point. In the fluid phase the mass
transport is possible, whereas in the insulator phase it is completely blocked
even at finite temperatures. We thus reveal how the interaction between
disordered bosons influences their Anderson localization. This key question,
first raised for electrons in solids, is now crucial for the studies of atomic
bosons where recent experiments have demonstrated Anderson localization in
expanding very dilute quasi-1D clouds.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Quantum biology on the edge of quantum chaos
We give a new explanation for why some biological systems can stay quantum
coherent for long times at room temperatures, one of the fundamental puzzles of
quantum biology. We show that systems with the right level of complexity
between chaos and regularity can increase their coherence time by orders of
magnitude. Systems near Critical Quantum Chaos or Metal-Insulator Transition
(MIT) can have long coherence times and coherent transport at the same time.
The new theory tested in a realistic light harvesting system model can
reproduce the scaling of critical fluctuations reported in recent experiments.
Scaling of return probability in the FMO light harvesting complex shows the
signs of universal return probability decay observed at critical MIT. The
results may open up new possibilities to design low loss energy and information
transport systems in this Poised Realm hovering reversibly between quantum
coherence and classicality
Algebraic charge liquids
High temperature superconductivity emerges in the cuprate compounds upon
changing the electron density of an insulator in which the electron spins are
antiferromagnetically ordered. A key characteristic of the superconductor is
that electrons can be extracted from them at zero energy only if their momenta
take one of four specific values (the `nodal points'). A central enigma has
been the evolution of the zero energy electrons in the metallic state between
the antiferromagnet and the superconductor, and recent experiments yield
apparently contradictory results. The oscillation of the resistance in this
metal as a function of magnetic field indicate that the zero energy electrons
carry momenta which lie on elliptical `Fermi pockets', while ejection of
electrons by high intensity light indicates that the zero energy electrons have
momenta only along arc-like regions. We present a theory of new states of
matter, which we call `algebraic charge liquids', which arise naturally between
the antiferromagnet and the superconductor, and reconcile these observations.
Our theory also explains a puzzling dependence of the density of
superconducting electrons on the total electron density, and makes a number of
unique predictions for future experiments.Comment: 6+8 pages, 2 figures; (v2) Rewritten for broader accessibility; (v3)
corrected numerical error in Eq. (5
Non-Fermi-liquid d-wave metal phase of strongly interacting electrons
Developing a theoretical framework for conducting electronic fluids
qualitatively distinct from those described by Landau's Fermi-liquid theory is
of central importance to many outstanding problems in condensed matter physics.
One such problem is that, above the transition temperature and near optimal
doping, high-transition-temperature copper-oxide superconductors exhibit
`strange metal' behaviour that is inconsistent with being a traditional Landau
Fermi liquid. Indeed, a microscopic theory of a strange-metal quantum phase
could shed new light on the interesting low-temperature behaviour in the
pseudogap regime and on the d-wave superconductor itself. Here we present a
theory for a specific example of a strange metal---the 'd-wave metal'. Using
variational wavefunctions, gauge theoretic arguments, and ultimately
large-scale density matrix renormalization group calculations, we show that
this remarkable quantum phase is the ground state of a reasonable microscopic
Hamiltonian---the usual t-J model with electron kinetic energy and two-spin
exchange supplemented with a frustrated electron `ring-exchange' term,
which we here examine extensively on the square lattice two-leg ladder. These
findings constitute an explicit theoretical example of a genuine
non-Fermi-liquid metal existing as the ground state of a realistic model.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures: 6 pages, 7 figures of main text + 16 pages, 5
figures of Supplementary Information; this is approximately the version
published in Nature, minus various subedits in the main tex
Quantum and Classical Ballistic Transport in Constricted Two-Dimensional Electron Gases
Wetensch. publicatieFaculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappe
Gender differences in first episode psychotic mania
Background : The aim of this paper was to delineate the impact of gender on premorbid history, onset, and 18 month outcomes of first episode psychotic mania (FEPM) patients. Methods : Medical file audit assessment of 118 (male = 71; female = 47) patients with FEPM aged 15 to 29 years was undertaken on clinical and functional measures. Results : Males with FEPM had increased likelihood of substance use (OR = 13.41, p < .001) and forensic issues (OR = 4.71, p = .008), whereas females were more likely to have history of sexual abuse trauma (OR = 7.12, p = .001). At service entry, males were more likely to be using substances, especially cannabis (OR = 2.15, p = .047), had more severe illness (OR = 1.72, p = .037), and poorer functioning (OR = 0.96, p = .045). During treatment males were more likely to decrease substance use (OR = 5.34, p = .008) and were more likely to be living with family (OR = 4.30, p = .009). There were no gender differences in age of onset, psychopathology or functioning at discharge. Conclusions : Clinically meaningful gender differences in FEPM were driven by risk factors possibly associated with poor outcome. For males, substance use might be associated with poorer clinical presentation and functioning. In females with FEPM, the impact of sexual trauma on illness course warrants further consideration
Discovery of Pod Shatter-Resistant Associated SNPs by Deep Sequencing of a Representative Library Followed by Bulk Segregant Analysis in Rapeseed
Background: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are an important class of genetic marker for target gene mapping. As of yet, there is no rapid and effective method to identify SNPs linked with agronomic traits in rapeseed and other crop species. Methodology/Principal Findings: We demonstrate a novel method for identifying SNP markers in rapeseed by deep sequencing a representative library and performing bulk segregant analysis. With this method, SNPs associated with rapeseed pod shatter-resistance were discovered. Firstly, a reduced representation of the rapeseed genome was used. Genomic fragments ranging from 450–550 bp were prepared from the susceptible bulk (ten F2 plants with the silique shattering resistance index, SSRI,0.10) and the resistance bulk (ten F2 plants with SSRI.0.90), and also Solexa sequencingproduced 90 bp reads. Approximately 50 million of these sequence reads were assembled into contigs to a depth of 20-fold coverage. Secondly, 60,396 ‘simple SNPs ’ were identified, and the statistical significance was evaluated using Fisher’s exact test. There were 70 associated SNPs whose –log10p value over 16 were selected to be further analyzed. The distribution of these SNPs appeared a tight cluster, which consisted of 14 associated SNPs within a 396 kb region on chromosome A09. Our evidence indicates that this region contains a major quantitative trait locus (QTL). Finally, two associated SNPs from this region were mapped on a major QTL region
Genomic sister-disorders of neurodevelopment: an evolutionary approach
Genomic sister-disorders are defined here as diseases mediated by duplications versus deletions of the same region. Such disorders can provide unique information concerning the genomic underpinnings of human neurodevelopment because effects of diametric variation in gene copy number on cognitive and behavioral phenotypes can be inferred. We describe evidence from the literature on deletions versus duplications for the regions underlying the best-known human neurogenetic sister-disorders, including Williams syndrome, Velocardiofacial syndrome, and Smith–Magenis syndrome, as well as the X-chromosomal conditions Klinefelter and Turner syndromes. These data suggest that diametric copy-number alterations can, like diametric alterations to imprinted genes, generate contrasting phenotypes associated with autistic-spectrum and psychotic-spectrum conditions. Genomically based perturbations to the development of the human social brain are thus apparently mediated to a notable degree by effects of variation in gene copy number. We also conducted the first analyses of positive selection for genes in the regions affected by these disorders. We found evidence consistent with adaptive evolution of protein-coding genes, or selective sweeps, for three of the four sets of sister-syndromes analyzed. These studies of selection facilitate identification of candidate genes for the phenotypes observed and lend a novel evolutionary dimension to the analysis of human cognitive architecture and neurogenetic disorders
Genetic Diversity Analysis with 454 Pyrosequencing and Genomic Reduction Confirmed the Eastern and Western Division in the Cultivated Barley Gene Pool
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