5,602 research outputs found
A survey of spinning test particle orbits in Kerr spacetime
We investigate the dynamics of the Papapetrou equations in Kerr spacetime.
These equations provide a model for the motion of a relativistic spinning test
particle orbiting a rotating (Kerr) black hole. We perform a thorough parameter
space search for signs of chaotic dynamics by calculating the Lyapunov
exponents for a large variety of initial conditions. We find that the
Papapetrou equations admit many chaotic solutions, with the strongest chaos
occurring in the case of eccentric orbits with pericenters close to the limit
of stability against plunge into a maximally spinning Kerr black hole. Despite
the presence of these chaotic solutions, we show that physically realistic
solutions to the Papapetrou equations are not chaotic; in all cases, the
chaotic solutions either do not correspond to realistic astrophysical systems,
or involve a breakdown of the test-particle approximation leading to the
Papapetrou equations (or both). As a result, the gravitational radiation from
bodies spiraling into much more massive black holes (as detectable, for
example, by LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) should not exhibit
any signs of chaos.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. D. Follow-up to gr-qc/0210042. Figures are
low-resolution in order to satisfy archive size constraints; a
high-resolution version is available at http://www.michaelhartl.com/papers
Error threshold in the evolution of diploid organisms
The effects of error propagation in the reproduction of diploid organisms are
studied within the populational genetics framework of the quasispecies model.
The dependence of the error threshold on the dominance parameter is fully
investigated. In particular, it is shown that dominance can protect the
wild-type alleles from the error catastrophe. The analysis is restricted to a
diploid analogue of the single-peaked landscape.Comment: 9 pages, 4 Postscript figures. Submitted to J. Phy. A: Mat. and Ge
The roles of \u3ci\u3ecis\u3c/i\u3e- and \u3ci\u3etrans\u3c/i\u3e-regulation in the evolution of regulatory incompatibilities and sexually dimorphic gene expression
Evolutionary changes in gene expression underlie many aspects of phenotypic diversity within and among species. Understanding the genetic basis for evolved changes in gene expression is therefore an important component of a comprehensive understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypic evolution. Using interspecific introgression hybrids, we examined the genetic basis for divergence in genome-wide patterns of gene expression between Drosophila simulans and Drosophila mauritiana. We find that cis-regulatory and trans-regulatory divergences differ significantly in patterns of genetic architecture and evolution. The effects of cis-regulatory divergence are approximately additive in heterozygotes, quantitatively different between males and females, and well predicted by expression differences between the two parental species. In contrast, the effects of trans-regulatory divergence are associated with largely dominant introgressed alleles, have similar effects in the two sexes, and generate expression levels in hybrids outside the range of expression in both parental species. Although the effects of introgressed trans-regulatory alleles are similar in males and females, expression levels of the genes they regulate are sexually dimorphic between the parental D. simulans and D. mauritiana strains, suggesting that purespecies genotypes carry unlinked modifier alleles that increase sexual dimorphism in expression. Our results suggest that independent effects of cis-regulatory substitutions in males and females may favor their role in the evolution of sexually dimorphic phenotypes, and that trans-regulatory divergence is an important source of regulatory incompatibilities
SORLA-mediated trafficking of TrkB enhances the response of neurons to BDNF
Stimulation of neurons with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) results in robust induction of SORLA, an intracellular sorting receptor of the VPS10P domain receptor gene family. However, the relevance of SORLA for BDNF-induced neuronal responses has not previously been investigated. We now demonstrate that SORLA is a sorting factor for the tropomyosin-related kinase receptor B (TrkB) that facilitates trafficking of this BDNF receptor between synaptic plasma membranes, post-synaptic densities, and cell soma, a step critical for neuronal signal transduction. Loss of SORLA expression results in impaired neuritic transport of TrkB and in blunted response to BDNF in primary neurons; and it aggravates neuromotoric deficits caused by low BDNF activity in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. Thus, our studies revealed a key role for SORLA in mediating BDNF trophic signaling by regulating the intracellular location of TrkB
Temporal and dimensional effects in evolutionary graph theory
The spread in time of a mutation through a population is studied analytically
and computationally in fully-connected networks and on spatial lattices. The
time, t_*, for a favourable mutation to dominate scales with population size N
as N^{(D+1)/D} in D-dimensional hypercubic lattices and as N ln N in
fully-connected graphs. It is shown that the surface of the interface between
mutants and non-mutants is crucial in predicting the dynamics of the system.
Network topology has a significant effect on the equilibrium fitness of a
simple population model incorporating multiple mutations and sexual
reproduction. Includes supplementary information.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Replaced after final round of peer revie
Replica symmetry breaking in an adiabatic spin-glass model of adaptive evolution
We study evolutionary canalization using a spin-glass model with replica
theory, where spins and their interactions are dynamic variables whose
configurations correspond to phenotypes and genotypes, respectively. The spins
are updated under temperature T_S, and the genotypes evolve under temperature
T_J, according to the evolutionary fitness. It is found that adaptation occurs
at T_S < T_S^{RS}, and a replica symmetric phase emerges at T_S^{RSB} < T_S <
T_S^{RS}. The replica symmetric phase implies canalization, and replica
symmetry breaking at lower temperatures indicates loss of robustness.Comment: 5pages, 2 figure
General-Relativistic Curvature of Pulsar Vortex Structure
The motion of a neutron superfluid condensate in a pulsar is studied. Several
theorems of general-relativistic hydrodynamics are proved for a superfluid. The
average density distribution of vortex lines in pulsars and their
general-relativistic curvature are derived.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure
A Population Genetic Approach to the Quasispecies Model
A population genetics formulation of Eigen's molecular quasispecies model is
proposed and several simple replication landscapes are investigated
analytically. Our results show a remarcable similarity to those obtained with
the original kinetics formulation of the quasispecies model. However, due to
the simplicity of our approach, the space of the parameters that define the
model can be explored. In particular, for the simgle-sharp-peak landscape our
analysis yelds some interesting predictions such as the existence of a maximum
peak height and a mini- mum molecule length for the onset of the error
threshold transition.Comment: 16 pages, 4 Postscript figures. Submited to Phy. Rev.
Stability of circular orbits of spinning particles in Schwarzschild-like space-times
Circular orbits of spinning test particles and their stability in
Schwarzschild-like backgrounds are investigated. For these space-times the
equations of motion admit solutions representing circular orbits with particles
spins being constant and normal to the plane of orbits. For the de Sitter
background the orbits are always stable with particle velocity and momentum
being co-linear along them. The world-line deviation equations for particles of
the same spin-to-mass ratios are solved and the resulting deviation vectors are
used to study the stability of orbits. It is shown that the orbits are stable
against radial perturbations. The general criterion for stability against
normal perturbations is obtained. Explicit calculations are performed in the
case of the Schwarzschild space-time leading to the conclusion that the orbits
are stable.Comment: eps figures, submitted to General Relativity and Gravitatio
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