22 research outputs found
Visualization of the spatial and spectral signals of orb-weaving spiders, Nephila pilipes, through the eyes of a honeybee
It is well known that the honeybee has good color vision. However, the spectral range in which the bee can see is different from that of the human eye. To study how bees view their world of colors, one has to see through the eyes of the bee, not the eyes of a human. A conventional way to examine the color signals that animals can detect is to measure the surface reflectance spectra and compute the quantum catches of each photoreceptor type based on its known spectral sensitivity. Color signal and color contrast are then determined from the loci of these quantum catches in the color space. While the point-by-point measurements of the reflectance spectra using a standard spectrometer have yielded a significant amount of data for analyzing color signals, the lack of spatial information and low sampling efficiency constrain their applications. Using a special filter coating technique, a set of filters with transmission spectra that were closely matched to the bee's sensitivity spectra of three photoreceptor types (UV, blue, and green) was custom made. By placing these filters in front of a UV/VIS-sensitive CCD camera and acquiring images sequentially, we could collect images of a bee's receptor with only three shots. This allowed a direct visualization of how bees view their world in a pseudo-color RGB display. With this imaging system, spatial and spectral signals of the orb-weaving spider, Nephila pilipes, were recorded, and color contrast images corresponding to the bee's spatial resolution were constructed and analyzed. The result not only confirmed that the color markings of N. pilipes are of high chromatic contrast to the eyes of a bee, but it also indicated that the spatial arrangement of these markings resemble flower patterns which may attract bees to visit them. Thus, it is likely that the orb-weaving spider (N. pilipes) deploys a similar strategy to that of the Australian crab spider (Thomisus spectabilis) to exploit the bee's pre-existing preference for flowers with color patterning
Frequency down conversion through Bose condensation of light
We propose an experimental set up allowing to convert an input light of
wavelengths about into an output light of a lower frequency. The
basic principle of operating relies on the nonlinear optical properties
exhibited by a microcavity filled with glass. The light inside this material
behaves like a 2D interacting Bose gas susceptible to thermalise and create a
quasi-condensate. Extension of this setup to a photonic bandgap material (fiber
grating) allows the light to behave like a 3D Bose gas leading, after
thermalisation, to the formation of a Bose condensate. Theoretical estimations
show that a conversion of into is achieved with an input
pulse of about with a peak power of , using a fiber grating
containing an integrated cavity of size about .Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure
Identification of the bulk pairing symmetry in high-temperature superconductors: Evidence for an extended s-wave with eight line nodes
we identify the intrinsic bulk pairing symmetry for both electron and
hole-doped cuprates from the existing bulk- and nearly bulk-sensitive
experimental results such as magnetic penetration depth, Raman scattering,
single-particle tunneling, Andreev reflection, nonlinear Meissner effect,
neutron scattering, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy. These experiments consistently show that the
dominant bulk pairing symmetry in hole-doped cuprates is of extended s-wave
with eight line nodes, and of anisotropic s-wave in electron-doped cuprates.
The proposed pairing symmetries do not contradict some surface- and
phase-sensitive experiments which show a predominant d-wave pairing symmetry at
the degraded surfaces. We also quantitatively explain the phase-sensitive
experiments along the c-axis for both Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+y} and
YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y}.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Geometric phases for generalized squeezed coherent states
A simple technique is used to obtain a general formula for the Berry phase
(and the corresponding Hannay angle) for an arbitrary Hamiltonian with an
equally-spaced spectrum and appropriate ladder operators connecting the
eigenstates. The formalism is first applied to a general deformation of the
oscillator involving both squeezing and displacement. Earlier results are shown
to emerge as special cases. The analysis is then extended to multiphoton
squeezed coherent states and the corresponding anholonomies deduced.Comment: 15 page
Thermal Conductivity Tensor in YBaCuO: Effects of a Planar Magnetic Field
We have measured the thermal conductivity tensor of a twinned
YBaCuO single crystal as a function of angle between
the magnetic field applied parallel to the CuO planes and the heat current
direction, at different magnetic fields and at T=13.8 K. Clear fourfold and
twofold variations in the field-angle dependence of and
were respectively recorded in accordance with the d-wave pairing
symmetry of the order parameter. The oscillation amplitude of the transverse
thermal conductivity was found to be larger than the
longitudinal one in the range of magnetic field studied here
(). From our data we obtain quantities that are free
from non-electronic contributions and they allow us a comparison of the
experimental results with current models for the quasiparticle transport in the
mixed state.Comment: 9 Figures, Phys. Rev. B(in press
Kinetic energy driven superconductivity in doped cuprates
Within the t-J model, the mechanism of superconductivity in doped cuprates is
studied based on the partial charge-spin separation fermion-spin theory. It is
shown that dressed holons interact occurring directly through the kinetic
energy by exchanging dressed spinon excitations, leading to a net attractive
force between dressed holons, then the electron Cooper pairs originating from
the dressed holon pairing state are due to the charge-spin recombination, and
their condensation reveals the superconducting ground-state. The electron
superconducting transition temperature is determined by the dressed holon pair
transition temperature, and is proportional to the concentration of doped holes
in the underdoped regime. With the common form of the electron Cooper pair, we
also show that there is a coexistence of the electron Cooper pair and
antiferromagnetic short-range correlation, and hence the antiferromagnetic
short-range fluctuation can persist into the superconducting state. Our results
are qualitatively consistent with experiments.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, two figures are included, corrected typo
Optical symmetries and anisotropic transport in high-Tc superconductors
A simple symmetry analysis of in-plane and out-of-plane transport in a family
of high temperature superconductors is presented. It is shown that generalized
scaling relations exist between the low frequency electronic Raman response and
the low frequency in-plane and out-of-plane conductivities in both the normal
and superconducting states of the cuprates. Specifically, for both the normal
and superconducting state, the temperature dependence of the low frequency
Raman slope scales with the axis conductivity, while the
Raman slope scales with the in-plane conductivity. Comparison with experiments
in the normal state of Bi-2212 and Y-123 imply that the nodal transport is
largely doping independent and metallic, while transport near the BZ axes is
governed by a quantum critical point near doping holes per
CuO plaquette. Important differences for La-214 are discussed. It is also
shown that the axis conductivity rise for is a consequence of
partial conservation of in-plane momentum for out-of-plane transport.Comment: 16 pages, 8 Figures (3 pages added, new discussion on pseudogap and
charge ordering in La214
The Relationship Between R&D Investment and Firm Profitability Under a Three-Stage Sigmoid Curve Model: Evidence From an Emerging Economy
The relationship between investment in research and development (R&D) and firm performance has been the subject of numerous academic investigations, but the findings of these investigations have varied greatly, with research revealing a number of different patterns in the R&D-performance relationship. This inconsistency may be partly attributable to the failure of the commonly used linear modeling method to capture the full dynamics of the R&D-performance relationship. Based on the sigmoid (S) curve paradigm, as well as on other economic foundations, this study proposes the use of a three-stage S-curve model to help reconcile the disparities in the literature. This S-curve model shows that the relationship between R&D intensity and firm profitability is nonlinear, with the slope negative at low levels (stage 1), positive at medium levels (stage 2), and negative again at high levels of R&D investment (stage 3). Empirical evidence from a sample of 377 publicly listed Taiwanese high-tech manufacturing firms and 179 nonhigh-tech firms, examined during the period between 2000 and 2007, confirmed our proposed model. This study not only establishes a relationship pattern that differs from that shown in past studies, but also has important managerial implications for R&D managers and important policy implications for governments