498 research outputs found
Balanced neural architecture and the idling brain
A signature feature of cortical spike trains is their trial-to-trial variability. This variability is large in the spontaneous state and is reduced when cortex is driven by a stimulus or task. Models of recurrent cortical networks with unstructured, yet balanced, excitation and inhibition generate variability consistent with evoked conditions. However, these models produce spike trains which lack the long timescale fluctuations and large variability exhibited during spontaneous cortical dynamics. We propose that global network architectures which support a large number of stable states (attractor networks) allow balanced networks to capture key features of neural variability in both spontaneous and evoked conditions. We illustrate this using balanced spiking networks with clustered assembly, feedforward chain, and ring structures. By assuming that global network structure is related to stimulus preference, we show that signal correlations are related to the magnitude of correlations in the spontaneous state. Finally, we contrast the impact of stimulation on the trial-to-trial variability in attractor networks with that of strongly coupled spiking networks with chaotic firing rate instabilities, recently investigated by Ostojic (2014). We find that only attractor networks replicate an experimentally observed stimulus-induced quenching of trial-to-trial variability. In total, the comparison of the trial-variable dynamics of single neurons or neuron pairs during spontaneous and evoked activity can be a window into the global structure of balanced cortical networks. © 2014 Doiron and Litwin-Kumar
Solitonic Excitations in Linearly Coherent Channels of Bilayer Quantum Hall Stripes
In some range of interlayer distances, the ground state of the
two-dimensional electron gas at filling factor nu =4N+1 with N=0,1,2,... is a
coherent stripe phase in the Hartree-Fock approximation. This phase has
one-dimensional coherent channels that support charged excitations in the form
of pseudospin solitons. In this work, we compute the transport gap of the
coherent striped phase due to the creation of soliton-antisoliton pairs using a
supercell microscopic unrestricted Hartree-Fock approach. We study this gap as
a function of interlayer distance and tunneling amplitude. Our calculations
confirm that the soliton-antisoliton excitation energy is lower than the
corresponding Hartree-Fock electron-hole pair energy. We compare our results
with estimates of the transport gap obtained from a field-theoretic model valid
in the limit of slowly varying pseudospin textures.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Improved position measurement of nano electromechanical systems using cross correlations
We consider position measurements using the cross-correlated output of two
tunnel junction position detectors. Using a fully quantum treatment, we
calculate the equation of motion for the density matrix of the coupled
detector-detector-mechanical oscillator system. After discussing the presence
of a bound on the peak-to-background ratio in a position measurement using a
single detector, we show how one can use detector cross correlations to
overcome this bound. We analyze two different possible experimental
realizations of the cross correlation measurement and show that in both cases
the maximum cross-correlated output is obtained when using twin detectors and
applying equal bias to each tunnel junction. Furthermore, we show how the
double-detector setup can be exploited to drastically reduce the added
displacement noise of the oscillator.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; v2: new Sec.
Electrical transport through a single-electron transistor strongly coupled to an oscillator
We investigate electrical transport through a single-electron transistor
coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator. Using a combination of a
master-equation approach and a numerical Monte Carlo method, we calculate the
average current and the current noise in the strong-coupling regime, studying
deviations from previously derived analytic results valid in the limit of
weak-coupling. After generalizing the weak-coupling theory to enable the
calculation of higher cumulants of the current, we use our numerical approach
to study how the third cumulant is affected in the strong-coupling regime. In
this case, we find an interesting crossover between a weak-coupling transport
regime where the third cumulant heavily depends on the frequency of the
oscillator to one where it becomes practically independent of this parameter.
Finally, we study the spectrum of the transport noise and show that the two
peaks found in the weak-coupling limit merge on increasing the coupling
strength. Our calculation of the frequency-dependence of the noise also allows
to describe how transport-induced damping of the mechanical oscillations is
affected in the strong-coupling regime.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
External stimulation induces switches between neural oscillations: an illustrative feedback model
International audienc
Transport properties of a superconducting single-electron transistor coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator
We investigate a superconducting single-electron transistor capacitively
coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator and focus on the double Josephson
quasiparticle resonance. The existence of two coherent Cooper pair tunneling
events is shown to lead to pronounced backaction effects. Measuring the current
and the shot noise provides a direct way of gaining information on the state of
the oscillator. In addition to an analytical discussion of the linear-response
regime, we discuss and compare results of higher-order approximation schemes
and a fully numerical solution. We find that cooling of the mechanical
resonator is possible, and that there are driven and bistable oscillator states
at low couplings. Finally, we also discuss the frequency dependence of the
charge noise and the current noise of the superconducting single electron
transistor.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, published in PR
Optical Diagnostics of Switching Arcs Near Current-zero: Speckle Imaging and Interferometry
Optical diagnostics can be used to obtain spatially resolved measurements of the density, temperature, conductivity, and electron density of circuit breaker arcs embedded in transonic flows; these can be used to validate the results of simulations, the accuracy of which can currently be assessed in only a limited way. We compare speckle imaging and an interferometric approach. Both use a pulsed nanosecond laser. The speckle imaging setup does not require a reference beam, but only yields information about the gradient of the refractive index. Its accuracy is sensitive to the alignment of the optical components. Interferometry directly yields high resolution images of the index of refraction, from which the density can be calculated using the Gladstone-Dale relation. By using two laser beams, interferometry provides spatially resolved information about the electron density. Such measurements are a significant step towards more accurate CFD models
Dynamical matrix of two-dimensional electron crystals
In a quantizing magnetic field, the two-dimensional electron (2DEG) gas has a
rich phase diagram with broken translational symmetry phases such as Wigner,
bubble, and stripe crystals. In this paper, we derive a method to get the
dynamical matrix of these crystals from a calculation of the density response
function performed in the Generalized Random Phase Approximation (GRPA). We
discuss the validity of our method by comparing the dynamical matrix calculated
from the GRPA with that obtained from standard elasticity theory with the
elastic coefficients obtained from a calculation of the deformation energy of
the crystal.Comment: Revised version published in Phys. Rev. B. 12 pages with 11
postscripts figure
Anisotropic states of two-dimensional electrons in high magnetic fields
We study the collective states formed by two-dimensional electrons in Landau
levels of index near half-filling. By numerically solving the
self-consistent Hartree-Fock (HF) equations for a set of oblique
two-dimensional lattices, we find that the stripe state is an anisotropic
Wigner crystal (AWC), and determine its precise structure for varying values of
the filling factor. Calculating the elastic energy, we find that the shear
modulus of the AWC is small but finite (nonzero) within the HF approximation.
This implies, in particular, that the long-wavelength magnetophonon mode in the
stripe state vanishes like as in an ordinary Wigner crystal, and not
like as was found in previous studies where the energy of shear
deformations was neglected.Comment: minor corrections; 5 pages, 4 figures; version to be published in
Physical Review Letter
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