2,030 research outputs found
Transient terahertz spectroscopy of excitons and unbound carriers in quasi two-dimensional electron-hole gases
We report a comprehensive experimental study and detailed model analysis of
the terahertz dielectric response and density kinetics of excitons and unbound
electron-hole pairs in GaAs quantum wells. A compact expression is given, in
absolute units, for the complex-valued terahertz dielectric function of
intra-excitonic transitions between the 1s and higher-energy exciton and
continuum levels. It closely describes the terahertz spectra of resonantly
generated excitons. Exciton ionization and formation are further explored,
where the terahertz response exhibits both intra-excitonic and Drude features.
Utilizing a two-component dielectric function, we derive the underlying exciton
and unbound pair densities. In the ionized state, excellent agreement is found
with the Saha thermodynamic equilibrium, which provides experimental
verification of the two-component analysis and density scaling. During exciton
formation, in turn, the pair kinetics is quantitatively described by a Saha
equilibrium that follows the carrier cooling dynamics. The terahertz-derived
kinetics is, moreover, consistent with time-resolved luminescence measured for
comparison. Our study establishes a basis for tracking pair densities via
transient terahertz spectroscopy of photoexcited quasi-two-dimensional
electron-hole gases.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, final versio
First record of \u3ci\u3eOrsilochides scurrilis\u3c/i\u3e (Stål) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Scutelleridae: Pachycorinae) in the United States, with notes on the biology and distribution of U.S. species of \u3ci\u3eOrsilochides\u3c/i\u3e Kirkaldy
Orsilochides scurrilis (Stål) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Scutelleridae) is reported from the United States for the first time based on a specimen collected in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. A key to separate the U.S. species of Orsilochides Kirkaldy is provided. In addition, host plant records and distribution of the other two species of Orsilochides that occur in the U.S., Orsilochides guttata (Herrich-Schäffer) and Orsilochides stictica (Dallas), are analyzed through a combination of digital photo records and museum specimens
Incorporation of excluded volume correlations into Poisson-Boltzmann theory
We investigate the effect of excluded volume interactions on the electrolyte
distribution around a charged macroion. First, we introduce a criterion for
determining when hard-core effects should be taken into account beyond standard
mean field Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) theory. Next, we demonstrate that several
commonly proposed local density functional approaches for excluded volume
interactions cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, we employ a non-local
excess free energy by using a simple constant weight approach. We compare the
ion distribution and osmotic pressure predicted by this theory with Monte Carlo
simulations. They agree very well for weakly developed correlations and give
the correct layering effect for stronger ones. In all investigated cases our
simple weighted density theory yields more realistic results than the standard
PB approach, whereas all local density theories do not improve on the PB
density profiles but on the contrary, deviate even more from the simulation
results.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
A recurrent neural network with ever changing synapses
A recurrent neural network with noisy input is studied analytically, on the
basis of a Discrete Time Master Equation. The latter is derived from a
biologically realizable learning rule for the weights of the connections. In a
numerical study it is found that the fixed points of the dynamics of the net
are time dependent, implying that the representation in the brain of a fixed
piece of information (e.g., a word to be recognized) is not fixed in time.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, 4 figure
Parity forbidden excitations of Sr2CuO2Cl2 revealed by optical third-harmonic spectroscopy
We present the first study of nonlinear optical third harmonic generation in
the strongly correlated charge-transfer insulator Sr2CuO2Cl2. For fundamental
excitation in the near-infrared, the THG spectrum reveals a strongly resonant
response for photon energies near 0.7 eV. Polarization analysis reveals this
novel resonance to be only partially accounted for by three-photon excitation
to the optical charge-transfer exciton, and indicates that an even-parity
excitation at 2 eV, with a_1g symmetry, participates in the third harmonic
susceptibility.Comment: Requires RevTeX v4.0beta
Multiple-Point and Multiple-Time Correlations Functions in a Hard-Sphere Fluid
A recent mode coupling theory of higher-order correlation functions is tested
on a simple hard-sphere fluid system at intermediate densities. Multi-point and
multi-time correlation functions of the densities of conserved variables are
calculated in the hydrodynamic limit and compared to results obtained from
event-based molecular dynamics simulations. It is demonstrated that the mode
coupling theory results are in excellent agreement with the simulation results
provided that dissipative couplings are included in the vertices appearing in
the theory. In contrast, simplified mode coupling theories in which the
densities obey Gaussian statistics neglect important contributions to both the
multi-point and multi-time correlation functions on all time scales.Comment: Second one in a sequence of two (in the first, the formalism was
developed). 12 pages REVTeX. 5 figures (eps). Submitted to Phys.Rev.
Derivation of Hebb's rule
On the basis of the general form for the energy needed to adapt the
connection strengths of a network in which learning takes place, a local
learning rule is found for the changes of the weights. This biologically
realizable learning rule turns out to comply with Hebb's neuro-physiological
postulate, but is not of the form of any of the learning rules proposed in the
literature.
It is shown that, if a finite set of the same patterns is presented over and
over again to the network, the weights of the synapses converge to finite
values.
Furthermore, it is proved that the final values found in this biologically
realizable limit are the same as those found via a mathematical approach to the
problem of finding the weights of a partially connected neural network that can
store a collection of patterns. The mathematical solution is obtained via a
modified version of the so-called method of the pseudo-inverse, and has the
inverse of a reduced correlation matrix, rather than the usual correlation
matrix, as its basic ingredient. Thus, a biological network might realize the
final results of the mathematician by the energetically economic rule for the
adaption of the synapses found in this article.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, 3 figure
Phase transitions in a ferrofluid at magnetic field induced microphase separation
In the presence of a magnetic field applied perpendicular to a thin sample
layer, a suspension of magnetic colloidal particles (ferrofluid) can form
spatially modulated phases with a characteristic length determined by the
competition between dipolar forces and short-range forces opposing density
variations. We introduce models for thin-film ferrofluids in which
magnetization and particle density are viewed as independent variables and in
which the non-magnetic properties of the colloidal particles are described
either by a lattice-gas entropy or by the Carnahan-Starling free energy. Our
description is particularly well suited to the low-particle density regions
studied in many experiments. Within mean-field theory, we find isotropic,
hexagonal and stripe phases, separated in general by first-order phase
boundaries.Comment: 12 pages, RevTex, to appear in PR
Web-based participatory surveillance of infectious diseases: the Influenzanet participatory surveillance experience.
To overcome the limitations of the state-of-the-art influenza surveillance systems in Europe, we established in 2008 a European-wide consortium aimed at introducing an innovative information and communication technology approach for a web-based surveillance system across different European countries, called Influenzanet. The system, based on earlier efforts in The Netherlands and Portugal, works with the participation of the population in each country to collect real-time information on the distribution of influenza-like illness cases through web surveys administered to volunteers reporting their symptoms (or lack of symptoms) every week during the influenza season. Such a large European-wide web-based monitoring infrastructure is intended to rapidly identify public health emergencies, contribute to understanding global trends, inform data-driven forecast models to assess the impact on the population, optimize the allocation of resources, and help in devising mitigation and containment measures. In this article, we describe the scientific and technological issues faced during the development and deployment of a flexible and readily deployable web tool capable of coping with the requirements of different countries for data collection, during either a public health emergency or an ordinary influenza season. Even though the system is based on previous successful experience, the implementation in each new country represented a separate scientific challenge. Only after more than 5 years of development are the existing platforms based on a plug-and-play tool that can be promptly deployed in any country wishing to be part of the Influenzanet network, now composed of The Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, the UK, France, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, and Denmark
Applications of Ultrafast TeraHertz Pulses for Intra-Excitonic Spectroscopy of Quasi-2D Electron–Hole Gases
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