7,070 research outputs found
Meanfield treatment of Bragg scattering from a Bose-Einstein condensate
A unified semiclassical treatment of Bragg scattering from Bose-Einstein
condensates is presented. The formalism is based on the Gross-Pitaevskii
equation driven by classical light fields far detuned from atomic resonance. An
approximate analytic solution is obtained and provides quantitative
understanding of the atomic momentum state oscillations, as well as a simple
expression for the momentum linewidth of the scattering process. The validity
regime of the analytic solution is derived, and tested by three dimensional
cylindrically symmetric numerical simulations.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Minor changes made to documen
Identification of novel antimicrobial resistance genes from microbiota on retail spinach
BackgroundDrug resistance genes and their mobile genetic elements are frequently identified from environmental saprophytic organisms. It is widely accepted that the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry selects for drug resistant microorganisms, which are then spread from the farm environment to humans through the consumption of contaminated food products. We wished to identify novel drug resistance genes from microbial communities on retail food products. Here, we chose to study the microbial communities on retail spinach because it is commonly eaten raw and has previously been associated with outbreaks of bacterial infections.ResultsWe created metagenomic plasmid libraries from microbiota isolated from retail spinach samples. We identified five unique plasmids that increased resistance to antimicrobial drugs in the E. coli host. These plasmids were identified in E. coli that grew on plates that contained ampicillin (pAMP), aztreonam (pAZT), ciprofloxacin (pCIP), trimethoprim (pTRM), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (pSXT). We identified open reading frames with similarity to known classes of drug resistance genes in the DNA inserts of all 5 plasmids. These drug resistance genes conferred resistance to fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins, and trimethoprim, which are classes of antimicrobial drugs frequently used to treat human Gram negative bacterial infections. These results show that novel drug resistance genes are found in microbiota on retail produce items.ConclusionsHere we show that microbiota of retail spinach contains DNA sequences previously unidentified as conferring antibiotic resistance. Many of these novel sequences show similarity to genes found in species of bacteria, which have previously been identified as commensal or saprophytic bacteria found on plants. We showed that these resistance genes are capable of conferring clinically relevant levels of resistance to antimicrobial agents. Food saprophytes may serve as an important reservoir for new drug-resistance determinants in human pathogens
Influence of External Fields and Environment on the Dynamics of Phase Qubit-Resonator System
We analyze the dynamics of a qubit-resonator system coupled with a thermal
bath and external electromagnetic fields. Using the evolution equations for the
set of Heisenberg operators, that describe the whole system, we derive an
expression for the resonator field, accounting for the resonator-drive,-bath,
and -qubit interaction. The renormalization of the resonator frequency, caused
by the qubit-resonator interaction, is accounted for. Using solutions for the
resonator field, we derive the equation describing qubit dynamics. The
influence of the qubit evolution during the measurement time on the fidelity of
a single-shot measurement is studied. The relation between the fidelity and
measurement time is shown explicitly. Also, an expression describing relaxation
of the superposition qubit state towards its stationary value is derived. The
possibility of controlling this state, by varying the amplitude and frequency
of drive, is shown.Comment: 15 page
Quantum dynamics in single spin measurement
We study the quantum dynamics of a model for the single-spin measurement in
magnetic-resonance force microscopy. We consider an oscillating driven
cantilever coupled with the magnetic moment of the sample. Then, the cantilever
is damped through an external bath and its readout is provided by a radiation
field. Conditions for reliable measurements will be discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Dynamical Stability and Quantum Chaos of Ions in a Linear Trap
The realization of a paradigm chaotic system, namely the harmonically driven
oscillator, in the quantum domain using cold trapped ions driven by lasers is
theoretically investigated. The simplest characteristics of regular and chaotic
dynamics are calculated. The possibilities of experimental realization are
discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev
The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion
This paper is motivated by the suggestion [W. Zurek, Physica Scripta, T76,
186 (1998)] that the chaotic tumbling of the satellite Hyperion would become
non-classical within 20 years, but for the effects of environmental
decoherence. The dynamics of quantum and classical probability distributions
are compared for a satellite rotating perpendicular to its orbital plane,
driven by the gravitational gradient. The model is studied with and without
environmental decoherence. Without decoherence, the maximum quantum-classical
(QC) differences in its average angular momentum scale as hbar^{2/3} for
chaotic states, and as hbar^2 for non-chaotic states, leading to negligible QC
differences for a macroscopic object like Hyperion. The quantum probability
distributions do not approach their classical limit smoothly, having an
extremely fine oscillatory structure superimposed on the smooth classical
background. For a macroscopic object, this oscillatory structure is too fine to
be resolved by any realistic measurement. Either a small amount of smoothing
(due to the finite resolution of the apparatus) or a very small amount of
environmental decoherence is sufficient ensure the classical limit. Under
decoherence, the QC differences in the probability distributions scale as
(hbar^2/D)^{1/6}, where D is the momentum diffusion parameter. We conclude that
decoherence is not essential to explain the classical behavior of macroscopic
bodies.Comment: 17 pages, 24 figure
Electromagnetic Transition in Waveguide with Application to Lasers
The electromagnetic transition of two-level atomic systems in a waveguide is
calculated. Compared with the result in free space, the spontaneous emission
rate decrease because the phase space is smaller, and meanwhile, some resonance
appears in some cases. Moreover, the influence of non-uniform electromagnetic
field in a waveguide on absorption and stimulated emission is considered.
Applying the results to lasers, a method to enhance the laser power is
proposed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Large magnetothermal conductivity of HoMnO_3 single crystals and its relation to the magnetic-field induced transitions of magnetic structure
We study the low-temperature heat transport of HoMnO_3 single crystals to
probe the magnetic structures and their transitions induced by magnetic field.
It is found that the low-T thermal conductivity (\kappa) shows very strong
magnetic-field dependence, with the strongest suppression of nearly 90% and the
biggest increase of 20 times of \kappa compared to its zero-field value. In
particular, some ``dip"-like features show up in \kappa(H) isotherms for field
along both the ab plane and the c axis. These behaviors are found to shed new
light on the complex H-T phase diagram and the field-induced re-orientations of
Mn^{3+} and Ho^{3+} spin structures. The results also demonstrate a significant
spin-phonon coupling in this multiferroic compound.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Fluctuation superconductivity limited noise in a transition-edge sensor
In order to investigate the origin of the until now unaccounted excess noise
and to minimize the uncontrollable phenomena at the transition in X-ray
microcalorimeters we have developed superconducting transition-edge sensors
into an edgeless geometry, the so-called Corbino disk (CorTES), with
superconducting contacts in the centre and at the outer perimeter. The measured
rms current noise and its spectral density can be modeled as resistance noise
resulting from fluctuations near the equilibrium superconductor-normal metal
boundaryComment: 9 pages, 4 figures.; Corrections to text and equations; replaced the
affected figures. Added reference [12
On the transport and thermodynamic properties of quasi-two-dimensional purple bronzes AMoO (A=Na, K)
We report a comparative study of the specific heat, electrical resistivity
and thermal conductivity of the quasi-two-dimensional purple bronzes
NaMoO and KMoO, with special emphasis on
the behavior near their respective charge-density-wave transition temperatures
. The contrasting behavior of both the transport and the thermodynamic
properties near is argued to arise predominantly from the different
levels of intrinsic disorder in the two systems. A significant proportion of
the enhancement of the thermal conductivity above in
NaMoO, and to a lesser extent in KMoO, is
attributed to the emergence of phason excitations.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Physical Review
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