Electromigration of single metal atoms observed by scanning tunneling microscopy

The authors show in this letter that single metal atoms on a Ni(111) surface can be pushed by electromigration forces from a scanning tunneling microscope tip. This repulsive interaction is obsd. over a length scale of 6 nm. While for voltages above -300 mV the atoms are pulled by the microscope tip, the atoms are pushed away below this threshold. This migration is explained by a resonant scattering of strongly correlated electrons. At small voltages chem. forces are pulling the atom, while for larger voltages the at. manipulation is assisted by the tunneling current. [on SciFinder (R)

Effect of initial correlations on short-time decoherence

We study the effect of initial correlations on the short-time decoherence of a particle linearly coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators. We analytically evaluate the attenuation coefficient of a Schroedinger cat state both for a free and a harmonically bound particle, with and without initial thermal correlations between the particle and the bath. While short-time decoherence appears to be independent of the system in the absence of initial correlations, we find on the contrary that, for initial thermal correlations, decoherence becomes system dependent even for times much shorter than the characteristic time of the system. The temperature behavior of this system dependence is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Characteristics of Quantum-Classical Correspondence for Two Interacting Spins

The conditions of quantum-classical correspondence for a system of two interacting spins are investigated. Differences between quantum expectation values and classical Liouville averages are examined for both regular and chaotic dynamics well beyond the short-time regime of narrow states. We find that quantum-classical differences initially grow exponentially with a characteristic exponent consistently larger than the largest Lyapunov exponent. We provide numerical evidence that the time of the break between the quantum and classical predictions scales as log(${\cal J}/ \hbar$), where ${\cal J}$ is a characteristic system action. However, this log break-time rule applies only while the quantum-classical deviations are smaller than order hbar. We find that the quantum observables remain well approximated by classical Liouville averages over long times even for the chaotic motions of a few degree-of-freedom system. To obtain this correspondence it is not necessary to introduce the decoherence effects of a many degree-of-freedom environment.Comment: New introduction, accepted in Phys Rev A (May 2001 issue), 12 latex figures, 3 ps figure

Qubit Disentanglement and Decoherence via Dephasing

We consider whether quantum coherence in the form of mutual entanglement between a pair of qubits is susceptible to decay that may be more rapid than the decay of the coherence of either qubit individually. An instance of potential importance for solid state quantum computing arises if embedded qubits (spins, quantum dots, Cooper pair boxes, etc.) are exposed to global and local noise at the same time. Here we allow separate phase-noisy channels to affect local and non-local measures of system coherence. We find that the time for decay of the qubit entanglement can be significantly shorter than the time for local dephasing of the individual qubits.Comment: REVTeX, 9 pages, 1 figure, v2 with minor changes, reference adde

Decoherence scenarios from micro- to macroscopic superpositions

Environment induced decoherence entails the absence of quantum interference phenomena from the macroworld. The loss of coherence between superposed wave packets depends on their separation. The precise temporal course depends on the relative size of the time scales for decoherence and other processes taking place in the open system and its environment. We use the exactly solvable model of an harmonic oscillator coupled to a bath of oscillators to illustrate various decoherence scenarios: These range from exponential golden-rule decay for microscopic superpositions, system-specific decay for larger separations in a crossover regime, and finally universal interaction-dominated decoherence for ever more macroscopic superpositions.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accompanying paper to quant-ph/020412

Kinks in the discrete sine-Gordon model with Kac-Baker long-range interactions

We study effects of Kac-Baker long-range dispersive interaction (LRI) between particles on kink properties in the discrete sine-Gordon model. We show that the kink width increases indefinitely as the range of LRI grows only in the case of strong interparticle coupling. On the contrary, the kink becomes intrinsically localized if the coupling is under some critical value. Correspondingly, the Peierls-Nabarro barrier vanishes as the range of LRI increases for supercritical values of the coupling but remains finite for subcritical values. We demonstrate that LRI essentially transforms the internal dynamics of the kinks, specifically creating their internal localized and quasilocalized modes. We also show that moving kinks radiate plane waves due to break of the Lorentz invariance by LRI.Comment: 11 pages (LaTeX) and 14 figures (Postscript); submitted to Phys. Rev.

Decoherence of molecular wave packets in an anharmonic potential

The time evolution of anharmonic molecular wave packets is investigated under the influence of the environment consisting of harmonic oscillators. These oscillators represent photon or phonon modes and assumed to be in thermal equilibrium. Our model explicitly incorporates the fact that in the case of a nonequidistant spectrum the rates of the environment induced transitions are different for each transition. The nonunitary time evolution is visualized by the aid of the Wigner function related to the vibrational state of the molecule. The time scale of decoherence is much shorter than that of dissipation, and gives rise to states which are mixtures of localized states along the phase space orbit of the corresponding classical particle. This behavior is to a large extent independent of the coupling strength, the temperature of the environment and also of the initial state.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Swiss clinical practice guidelines on field cancerization of the skin.

Actinic keratosis (AK) affects millions of people worldwide, and its prevalence continues to increase. AK lesions are caused by chronic ultraviolet radiation exposure, and the presence of two or more AK lesions along with photodamage should raise the consideration of a diagnosis of field cancerization. Effective treatment of individual lesions as well as field cancerization is essential for good long-term outcomes. The Swiss Registry of Actinic Keratosis Treatment (REAKT) Working Group has developed clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of field cancerization in patients who present with AK. These guidelines are intended to serve as a resource for physicians as to the most appropriate treatment and management of AK and field cancerization based on current evidence and the combined practical experience of the authors. Treatment of AK and field cancerization should be driven by consideration of relevant patient, disease, and treatment factors, and appropriate treatment decisions will differ from patient to patient. Prevention measures and screening recommendations are discussed, and special considerations related to management of immunocompromised patients are provided

Quenched Spin Tunneling and Diabolical Points in Magnetic Molecules: II. Asymmetric Configurations

The perfect quenching of spin tunneling first predicted for a model with biaxial symmetry, and recently observed in the magnetic molecule Fe_8, is further studied using the discrete phase integral (or Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin) method. The analysis of the previous paper is extended to the case where the magnetic field has both hard and easy components, so that the Hamiltonian has no obvious symmetry. Herring's formula is now inapplicable, so the problem is solved by finding the wavefunction and using connection formulas at every turning point. A general formula for the energy surface in the vicinity of the diabolo is obtained in this way. This formula gives the tunneling apmplitude between two wells unrelated by symmetry in terms of a small number of action integrals, and appears to be generally valid, even for problems where the recursion contains more than five terms. Explicit results are obtained for the diabolical points in the model for Fe_8. These results exactly parallel the experimental observations. It is found that the leading semiclassical results for the diabolical points appear to be exact, and the points themselves lie on a perfect centered rectangular lattice in the magnetic field space. A variety of evidence in favor of this perfect lattice hypothesis is presented.Comment: Revtex; 4 ps figures; follow up to cond-mat/000311

A new analysis of the GJ581 extrasolar planetary system

We have done a new analysis of the available observations for the GJ581 exoplanetary system. Today this system is controversial due to choices that can be done in the orbital determination. The main ones are the ocurrence of aliases and the additional bodies - the planets f and g - announced in Vogt et al. 2010. Any dynamical study of exoplanets requires the good knowledge of the orbital elements and the investigations involving the planet g are particularly interesting, since this body would lie in the Habitable Zone (HZ) of the star GJ581. This region,for this system, is very attractive of the dynamical point of view due to several resonances of two and three bodies present there. In this work, we investigate the conditions under which the planet g may exist. We stress the fact that the planet g is intimately related with the orbital elements of the planet d; more precisely, we conclude that it is not possible to disconnect its existence from the determination of the eccentricity of the planet d. Concerning the planet f, we have found one solution with period $\approx 450$ days, but we are judicious about any affirmation concernig this body because its signal is in the threshold of detection and the high period is in a spectral region where the ocorruence of aliases is very common. Besides, we outline some dynamical features of the habitable zone with the dynamical map and point out the role played by some resonances laying there.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure