Quantum entanglement in strong-field ionization

We investigate the time-evolution of quantum entanglement between an electron, liberated by a strong few-cycle laser pulse, and its parent ion-core. Since the standard procedure is numerically prohibitive in this case, we propose a novel way to quantify the quantum correlation in such a system: we use the reduced density matrices of the directional subspaces along the polarization of the laser pulse and along the transverse directions as building blocks for an approximate entanglement entropy. We present our results, based on accurate numerical simulations, in terms of several of these entropies, for selected values of the peak electric field strength and the carrier-envelope phase difference of the laser pulse. The time evolution of the mutual entropy of the electron and the ion-core motion along the direction of the laser polarization is similar to our earlier results based on a simple one-dimensional model. However, taking into account also the dynamics perpendicular to the laser polarization reveals a surprisingly different entanglement dynamics above the laser intensity range corresponding to pure tunneling: the quantum entanglement decreases with time in the over-the-barrier ionization regime

Reproduction affects immune defenses in the guinea pig even under ad libitum food

Reproduction is one of the costliest processes in the life of an animal. Life history theory assumes that when resources are limiting allocation to reproduction will reduce allocation to other essential processes thereby inducing costs of reproduction. The immune system is vital for survival. If reproduction reduces investment in immune function, this could increase the risk of disease, morbidity and mortality. We here test in the guinea pig, if even under ad libitum food conditions, pregnancy and lactation reduce the activity of the adaptive and innate immune system compared to the reaction of non-reproducing animals. In response to a challenge with keyhole limpet haemocyanin the antibody-mediated adaptive immunity during (pregnancy and) lactation was reduced. Pregnant and lactating females showed higher levels of bacterial killing activity, an integrated measure of innate immunity, than non-reproducing females. However, two major effectors of the innate immunity, the natural antibody and the complement of pregnant and lactating females showed lower levels than in non-reproducing females. Pregnant and lactating females did not differ significantly in the expressed levels of innate immunity. Our results indicate that changes in the immune response during reproduction are physiological adjustments to predictable allocation problems, because they happen even under ad libitum food availability

Predictors and immunological correlates of sublethal mercury exposure in vampire bats

Mercury (Hg) is a pervasive heavy metal that often enters the environment from anthropogenic sources such as gold mining and agriculture. Chronic exposure to Hg can impair immune function, reducing the ability of animals to resist or recover from infections. How Hg influences immunity and susceptibility remains unknown for bats, which appear immunologically distinct from other mammals and are reservoir hosts of many pathogens of importance to human and animal health. We here quantify total Hg (THg) in hair collected from common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus), which feed on blood and are the main reservoir hosts of rabies virus in Latin America. We examine how diet, sampling site and year, and bat demography influence THg and test the consequences of this variation for eight immune measures. In two populations from Belize, THg concentrations in bats were best explained by an interaction between long-term diet inferred from stable isotopes and year. Bats that foraged more consistently on domestic animals exhibited higher THg. However, relationships between diet and THg were evident only in 2015 but not in 2014, which could reflect recent environmental perturbations associated with agriculture. THg concentrations were low relative to values previously observed in other bat species but still correlated with bat immunity. Bats with higher THg had more neutrophils, weaker bacterial killing ability and impaired innate immunity. These patterns suggest that temporal variation in Hg exposure may impair bat innate immunity and increase susceptibility to pathogens such as bacteria. Unexpected associations between low-level Hg exposure and immune function underscore the need to better understand the environmental sources of Hg exposure in bats and the consequences for bat immunity and susceptibility

Density-based one-dimensional model potentials for strong-field simulations in He\text{He}, H2+\text{H}_{2}^{+} and H2\text{H}_{2}

We present results on the accurate one-dimensional (1D) modeling of simple atomic and molecular systems excited by strong laser fields. We use atomic model potentials that we derive from the corrections proposed earlier using the reduced ground state density of a three-dimensional (3D) single-active electron atom. The correction involves a change of the asymptotics of the 1D Coulomb model potentials while maintaining the correct ground state energy. We present three different applications of this method: we construct correct 1D models of the hydrogen molecular ion, the helium atom and the hydrogen molecule using improved parameters of existing soft-core Coulomb potential forms. We test these 1D models by comparing the corresponding numerical simulation results with their 3D counterparts in typical strong-field physics scenarios with near- and mid-infrared laser pulses, having peak intensities in the $10^{14}-10^{15}\,\mathrm{W/cm}^2$ range, and we find an impressively increased accuracy in the dynamics of the most important atomic quantities on the time scale of the excitation. We also present the high-order harmonic spectra of the He atom, computed using our 1D atomic model potentials. They show a very good match with the structure and phase obtained from the 3D simulations in an experimentally important range of excitation amplitudes