Probing a Bose-Einstein condensate with an atom laser

A pulsed atom laser derived from a Bose-Einstein condensate is used to probe a second target condensate. The target condensate scatters the incident atom laser pulse. From the spatial distribution of scattered atoms, one can infer important properties of the target condensate and its interaction with the probe pulse. As an example, we measure the s-wave scattering length that, in low energy collisions, describes the interaction between the |F = 1,mF = −1> and |F = 2,mF = 0> hyperfine ground states in 87Rb

Approaching the Heisenberg limit in an atom laser

We present experimental and theoretical results showing the improved beam quality and reduced divergence of an atom laser produced by an optical Raman transition, compared to one produced by an rf transition. We show that Raman outcoupling can eliminate the diverging lens effect that the condensate has on the outcoupled atoms. This substantially improves the beam quality of the atom laser, and the improvement may be greater than a factor of 10 for experiments with tight trapping potentials. We show that Raman outcoupling can produce atom lasers whose quality is only limited by the wave function shape of the condensate that produces them, typically a factor of 1.3 above the Heisenberg limit

Investigation and comparison of multi-state and two-state atom laser output-couplers

We investigate the spatial structure and temporal dynamics created in a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) by radio-frequency (RF) atom laser output-couplers using a one-dimensional mean-field model. We compare the behavior of a `pure' two-state atom laser to the multi-level systems demonstrated in laboratories. In particular, we investigate the peak homogeneous output flux, classical fluctuations in the beam and the onset of a bound state which shuts down the atom laser output.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Semiclassical limits to the linewidth of an atom laser

We investigate the linewidth of a quasi-continuous atom laser within a semiclassical framework. In the high flux regime, the lasing mode can exhibit a number of undesirable features such as density fluctuations. We show that the output therefore has a complicated structure that can be somewhat simplified using Raman outcoupling methods and energy-momentum selection rules. In the weak outcoupling limit, we find that the linewidth of an atom laser is instantaneously Fourier limited, but, due to the energy `chirp' associated with the draining of a condensate, the long-term linewidth of an atom laser is equivalent to the chemical potential of the condensate source. We show that correctly sweeping the outcoupling frequency can recover the Fourier-limited linewidth.Comment: 9 Figure

Cubic graphs, their Ehrhart quasi-polynomials, and a scissors congruence phenomenon

The scissors congruence conjecture for the unimodular group is an analogue of Hilbert's third problem, for the equidecomposability of polytopes. Liu and Osser-man studied the Ehrhart quasi-polynomials of polytopes naturally associated to graphs whose vertices have degree one or three. In this paper, we prove the scissors congruence conjecture, posed by Haase and McAllister, for this class of polytopes. The key ingredient in the proofs is the nearest neighbor interchange on graphs and a naturally arising piecewise unimodular transformation

A late Paleocene fauna from shallow-water chemosynthesis-based ecosystems, Spitsbergen, Svalbard

We present a systematic study of late Paleocene macrofauna from methane seep carbonates and associated driftwood in the shallow marine Basilika Formation, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The fauna is composed of 22 taxa, comprising one brachiopod, 14 bivalves, three gastropods, three crustaceans, and one bony fish. The reported fish remains are among the first vertebrate body fossils from the Paleogene of Spitsbergen. One genus is new: the munidid decapod Valamunida Klompmaker and Robins gen. nov. Four new species are described: the terebratulide brachiopod Neoliothyrina nakremi Bitner sp. nov., the protobranch bivalve Yoldiella spitsbergensis Amano sp. nov., the xylophagain bivalve Xylophagella littlei Hryniewicz sp. nov., and the munidid decapod Valamunida haeggi Klompmaker and Robins gen. et sp. nov. New combinations are provided for the mytilid bivalve Inoperna plenicostata, the thyasirid bivalve Rhacothyas spitzbergensis, the ampullinid gastropod Globularia isfjordensis, and the munidid decapod Protomunida spitzbergica. Thirteen taxa are left in open nomenclature. The fauna contains a few last occurrences of Cretaceous survivors into the Paleocene, as well as first occurrences of Cenozoic taxa. It is composed of chemosymbiotic thyasirid bivalves and background species common in the northern Atlantic and Arctic during the Paleocene. Our results provide no evidence for a Paleocene origin of vesicomyid and bathymodiolin bivalves typical for Eocene and younger seep environments; instead, the Paleo cene seeps of the Basilika Formation are more similar to their Late Cretaceous equi valents rich in thyasirids

Lymphocytic infiltration in stage II microsatellite stable colorectal tumors: A retrospective prognosis biomarker analysis

Background: Identifying stage II patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) at higher risk of progression is a clinical priority in order to optimize the advantages of adjuvant chemotherapy while avoiding unnecessary toxicity. Recently, the intensity and the quality of the host immune response in the tumor microenvironment have been reported to have an important role in tumorigenesis and an inverse association with tumor progression. This association is well established in microsatellite instable CRC. In this work, we aim to assess the usefulness of measures of T-cell infiltration as prognostic biomarkers in 640 stage II, CRC tumors, 582 of them confirmed microsatellite stable. Methods and findings: We measured both the quantity and clonality index of T cells by means of T-cell receptor (TCR) immunosequencing in a discovery dataset (95 patients with colon cancer diagnosed at stage II and microsatellite stable, median age 67, 30% women) and replicated the results in 3 additional series of stage II patients from 2 countries. Series 1 and 2 were recruited in Barcelona, Spain and included 112 fresh frozen (FF, median age 69, 44% women) and 163 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE, median age 67, 39% women) samples, respectively. Series 3 included 270 FFPE samples from patients recruited in Haifa, Northern Israel, as part of a large case-control study of CRC (median age 73, 46% women). Median follow-up time was 81.1 months. Cox regression models were fitted to evaluate the prognostic value of T-cell abundance and Simpson clonality of TCR variants adjusting by sex, age, tumor location, and stage (IIA and IIB). In the discovery dataset, higher TCR abundance was associated with better prognosis (hazard ratio [HR] for ≥Q1 = 0.25, 95% CI 0.10-0.63, P = 0.003). A functional analysis of gene expression on these tumors revealed enrichment in pathways related to immune response. Higher values of clonality index (lower diversity) were not associated with worse disease-free survival, though the HR for ≥Q3 was 2.32 (95% CI 0.90-5.97, P = 0.08). These results were replicated in an independent FF dataset (TCR abundance: HR = 0.30, 95% CI 0.12-0.72, P = 0.007; clonality: HR = 3.32, 95% CI 1.38-7.94, P = 0.007). Also, the association with prognosis was tested in 2 independent FFPE datasets. The same association was observed with TCR abundance (HR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.18-0.93, P = 0.03 and HR = 0.56, 95% CI 0.31-1, P = 0.042, respectively, for each FFPE dataset). However, the clonality index was associated with prognosis only in the FFPE dataset from Israel (HR = 2.45, 95% CI 1.39-4.32, P = 0.002). Finally, a combined analysis combining all microsatellite stable (MSS) samples demonstrated a clear prognosis value both for TCR abundance (HR = 0.39, 95% CI 0.26-0.57, P = 1.3e-06) and the clonality index (HR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.44-3.15, P = 0.0002). These associations were also observed when variables were considered continuous in the models (HR per log2 of TCR abundance = 0.85, 95% CI 0.78-0.93, P = 0.0002; HR per log2 or clonality index = 1.16, 95% CI 1.03-1.31, P = 0.016). Limitations: This is a retrospective study, and samples had been preserved with different methods. Validation series lack complete information about microsatellite instability (MSI) status and pathology assessment. The Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer (MECC) study had information about overall survival instead of progression-free survival. Conclusion: Results from this study demonstrate that tumor lymphocytes, assessed by TCR repertoire quantification based on a sequencing method, are an independent prognostic factor in microsatellite stable stage II CRC

Mesogalathea ardua sp. nov., a new species of squat lobster (Decapoda, Galatheidae) from the Upper Jurassic olistolith at Velika Strmica (Dolenjska, Slovenia)

A new species of squat lobster, Mesogalathea ardua sp. nov., is described on the basis of newly collected dorsal carapaces from an Upper Jurassic reefal limestone olistolith at Velika Strmica. The fossiliferous olistolith is situated within Upper Cretaceous flysch-type deposits, but originally formed within the central parastromatoporoid zone of a Jurassic reef complex. Mesogalathea ardua sp. nov. represents the first formal description of a Jurassic squat lobster from Slovenia and extends the known palaeobiogeographical distribution of galatheoid anomurans