Probing transport and slow relaxation in the mass-imbalanced Fermi-Hubbard model

Constraints in the dynamics of quantum many-body systems can dramatically alter transport properties and relaxation time scales even in the absence of static disorder. Here, we report on the observation of such constrained dynamics arising from the distinct mobility of two species in the one-dimensional mass-imbalanced Fermi-Hubbard model, realized with ultracold ytterbium atoms in a state-dependent optical lattice. By displacing the trap potential and monitoring the dynamical response of the system, we identify suppressed transport and slow relaxation with a strong dependence on the mass imbalance and interspecies interaction strength, suggesting eventual thermalization for long times. Our observations are supported by numerical simulations and pave the way to study metastability arising from dynamical constraints in other quantum many-body systems

A stochastic model for heart rate fluctuations

Normal human heart rate shows complex fluctuations in time, which is natural, since heart rate is controlled by a large number of different feedback control loops. These unpredictable fluctuations have been shown to display fractal dynamics, long-term correlations, and 1/f noise. These characterizations are statistical and they have been widely studied and used, but much less is known about the detailed time evolution (dynamics) of the heart rate control mechanism. Here we show that a simple one-dimensional Langevin-type stochastic difference equation can accurately model the heart rate fluctuations in a time scale from minutes to hours. The model consists of a deterministic nonlinear part and a stochastic part typical to Gaussian noise, and both parts can be directly determined from the measured heart rate data. Studies of 27 healthy subjects reveal that in most cases the deterministic part has a form typically seen in bistable systems: there are two stable fixed points and one unstable one.Comment: 8 pages in PDF, Revtex style. Added more dat

A quantitative comparison of different methods to detect cardiorespiratory coordination during night-time sleep

BACKGROUND: The univariate approaches used to analyze heart rate variability have recently been extended by several bivariate approaches with respect to cardiorespiratory coordination. Some approaches are explicitly based on mathematical models which investigate the synchronization between weakly coupled complex systems. Others use an heuristic approach, i.e. characteristic features of both time series, to develop appropriate bivariate methods. OBJECTIVE: In this study six different methods used to analyze cardiorespiratory coordination have been quantitatively compared with respect to their performance (no. of sequences with cardiorespiratory coordination, no. of heart beats coordinated with respiration). Five of these approaches have been suggested in the recent literature whereas one method originates from older studies. RESULTS: The methods were applied to the simultaneous recordings of an electrocardiogram and a respiratory trace of 20 healthy subjects during night-time sleep from 0:00 to 6:00. The best temporal resolution and the highest number of coordinated heart beats were obtained with the analysis of 'Phase Recurrences'. Apart from the oldest method, all methods showed similar qualitative results although the quantities varied between the different approaches. In contrast, the oldest method detected considerably fewer coordinated heart beats since it only used part of the maximum amount of information available in each recording. CONCLUSIONS: The method of 'Phase Recurrences' should be the method of choice for the detection of cardiorespiratory coordination since it offers the best temporal resolution and the highest number of coordinated sequences and heart beats. Excluding the oldest method, the results of the heuristic approaches may also be interpreted in terms of the mathematical models

How close to the O (6) symmetry is the nucleus 124Xe?

Excited states in 124Xe have been studied via the 12C(124Xe, 124Xe*) Coulomb excitation reaction. Their population cross-sections relative to the 21+ state have been determined from the γ-ray yields observed with Gammasphere. More than twenty absolute E2 strengths for seven off-yrast, low-spin states of 124Xe have been deduced for the first time. The absolute B (E 2) values indicate pronounced O (5) symmetry, even for the off-yrast states with high O (5) quantum number τ, while the O (6) symmetry is substantially broken

Evolution of the mixed-symmetry 21,ms+ quadrupole-phonon excitation from spherical to γ-soft Xe nuclei

Low-lying collective states of Xe130,132 have been investigated by γ-ray spectroscopy following C12(Xe,Xe*)C12 projectile Coulomb excitation. The one-phonon 21,ms+ states have been identified: the 24+ state at 2150 keV with B(M1;24+→21+)=0.15(4)μN2 in Xe130 and the 23+ state at 1985 keV with B(M1;23+→21+)=0.22(6)μN2 in Xe132. The evolution of the one-phonon 21,ms+ states in the even-even stable xenon isotopic chain from the vibrators near N=82 to the γ-soft nuclei toward midshell is discussed

Robust test of E(5) symmetry in Xe128

Low-lying collectively excited states of Xe128 were investigated by γ-ray spectroscopy following the C12(Xe128,Xe128*)C12 projectile Coulomb excitation reaction. Nineteen absolute E2 transition strengths were obtained including the first measurement of the critical B(E2) decays from the second and third Jπ=0+ states. These data are compared with the theoretical predictions of the critical point symmetry E(5) and allow us to conclude that Xe128 is not an E(5) nucleus as previously suggested, leaving Xe130 as the most likely candidate among the Xe isotopes

O(6)-symmetry breaking in the γ-soft nucleus Xe126 and its evolution in the light stable xenon isotopes

Low-lying collective states in Xe126 have been investigated via the C12(Xe126,Xe126*) projectile Coulomb excitation reaction at 399 MeV. The γ decays were detected with the Gammasphere array. Coulomb excitation cross sections relative to the 21+ state were obtained. Twenty-two absolute E2 transition strengths have been deduced. An sd- interacting boson model (IBM-1) fit agrees well with the new experimental data. This makes a quantitative test of O(6)-symmetry breaking in Xe126 possible. The measured absolute B(E2) values indicate a preservation of O(5) symmetry, while the O(6) symmetry is broken. The evolution of O(6)-symmetry breaking and of O(5)-symmetry conservation in the Xe124,126,128 isotopic chain is discussed

Cardiorespiratory Phase-Coupling Is Reduced in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Cardiac and respiratory rhythms reveal transient phases of phase-locking which were proposed to be an important aspect of cardiorespiratory interaction. The aim of this study was to quantify cardio-respiratory phase-locking in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We investigated overnight polysomnography data of 248 subjects with suspected OSA. Cardiorespiratory phase-coupling was computed from the R-R intervals of body surface ECG and respiratory rate, calculated from abdominal and thoracic sensors, using Hilbert transform. A significant reduction in phase-coupling was observed in patients with severe OSA compared to patients with no or mild OSA. Cardiorespiratory phase-coupling was also associated with sleep stages and was significantly reduced during rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep compared to slow-wave (SW) sleep. There was, however, no effect of age and BMI on phase coupling. Our study suggests that the assessment of cardiorespiratory phase coupling may be used as an ECG based screening tool for determining the severity of OSA

Use of statins and the risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate whether the use of statins could be associated with the risk of all-caused dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Major electronic databases were searched until December 27th, 2017 for studies investigating use of statins and incident cognitive decline in adults. Random-effects meta-analyses calculating relative risks (RRs) were conducted to synthesize effect sizes of individual studies. Twenty-five studies met eligibility criteria. Use of statins was significantly associated with a reduced risk of all-caused dementia (k = 16 studies, adjusted RR (aRR) = 0.849, 95% CI = 0.787–0.916, p = 0.000), AD (k = 14, aRR = 0.719, 95% CI = 0.576–0.899, p = 0.004), and MCI (k = 6, aRR = 0.737, 95% CI = 0.556–0.976, p = 0.033), but no meaningful effects on incident VaD (k = 3, aRR = 1.012, 95% CI = 0.620–1.652, p = 0.961). Subgroup analysis suggested that hydrophilic statins were associated with reduced risk of all-caused dementia (aRR = 0.877; CI = 0.818–0.940; p = 0.000) and possibly lower AD risk (aRR = 0.619; CI = 0.383–1.000; p = 0.050). Lipophilic statins were associated with reduced risk of AD (aRR = 0.639; CI = 0.449–0.908; p = 0.013) but not all-caused dementia (aRR = 0.738; CI = 0.475–1.146; p = 0.176). In conclusion, our meta-analysis suggests that the use of statins may reduce the risk of all-type dementia, AD, and MCI, but not of incident VaD