Describing many-body localized systems in thermal environments

In this work we formulate an efficient method for the description of fully many-body localized systems in weak contact with thermal environments at temperature T. The key idea is to exploit the representation of the system in terms of quasi-local integrals of motion (l-bits) to efficiently derive the generator for the quantum master equation in Born-Markov approximation. We, moreover, show how to compute the steady state of this equation efficiently by using quantum-jump Monte-Carlo techniques as well as by deriving approximate kinetic equations of motion. As an example, we consider a one-dimensional disordered extended Hubbard model for spinless fermions, for which we derive the l-bit representation approximately by employing a recently proposed method valid in the limit of strong disorder and weak interactions. Coupling the system to a global thermal bath, we study the transport between two leads with different chemical potentials at both of its ends. We find that the temperature-dependent current is captured by an interaction-dependent version of Mott's law for variable range hopping, where transport is enhanced/lowered depending on whether the interactions are attractive or repulsive, respectively. We interpret these results in terms of spatio-energetic correlations between the l-bits

A sub-basin scale dust plume source frequency inventory for southern Africa, 2005-2008

We present a dust plume source inventory for southern Africa. In order to locate and track the local, short-lived plume events, source and frequency data have been derived from Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) thermal infrared composite data (4 km data using 8.7, 10.8, and 12.0 µm) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) visible composite data (0.25 km data utilizing 0.620 – 0.670 µm, 0.545 – 0.565 µm, and 0.459 – 0.479 µm). Between January 2005 and December 2008, a total of 328 distinct daytime dust plumes more than 10 km in length were detected. These plumes were attributed to 101 distinct point sources, consisting largely of ephemeral inland lakes, coastal pans as well as dry river valleys in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. These data also provided sub-basin scale source observations for large basins such as Etosha and Makgadikgadi Pans

The dynamism of salt crust patterns on playas

Playas are common in arid environments and can be major sources of mineral dust that can influence global climate. These landforms typically form crusts that limit evaporation and dust emission, modify surface erosivity and erodibility, and can lead to over prediction or under prediction of (1) dust-emission potential and (2) water and heat fluxes in energy balance modeling. Through terrestrial laser scanning measurements of part of the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana (a Southern Hemisphere playa that emits significant amounts of dust), we show that over weeks, months, and a year, the shapes of these surfaces change considerably (ridge thrusting of >30 mm/week) and can switch among continuous, ridged, and degraded patterns. Ridged pattern development changes the measured aerodynamic roughness of the surface (as much as 3 mm/week). The dynamic nature of these crusted surfaces must be accounted for in dust entrainment and moisture balance formulae to improve regional and global climate models

SQUATS PERFORMED ON AN UNSTABLE SURFACE ELICIT HIGHER TRANSVERSAL FORCE OUTPUT COMPARED TO MORE STABLE SQUATS

Instability resistance training (RT) or exercising within an unstable environment is a popular training modality and frequently used in training, rehabilitation and prevention settings. Yet, due to the reported reduced force output during exercising within unstable condition, instability RT is said to lack the necessary overload to induce meaningful effects. However, empirical evidence of interventions suggests otherwise. The aim of this study was to systematically analyse instability RT vs. stable RT and discuss potential mechanisms. Therefore, we analysed squats within unstable and stable environments and calculated transversal and vertical forces. Greater transversal plane ground reaction forces were observed while performing squats on the unstable surface (p = .013; d = 1.88, CI-95% [0.33, 3.39]). In contrast, vertical force output remained similar for both conditions (p = .764; d = 0.14, CI-95% [-0.77, 1.02])

Tunneling control and localization for Bose-Einstein condensates in a frequency modulated optical lattice

The similarity between matter waves in periodic potential and solid-state physics processes has triggered the interest in quantum simulation using Bose-Fermi ultracold gases in optical lattices. The present work evidences the similarity between electrons moving under the application of oscillating electromagnetic fields and matter waves experiencing an optical lattice modulated by a frequency difference, equivalent to a spatially shaken periodic potential. We demonstrate that the tunneling properties of a Bose-Einstein condensate in shaken periodic potentials can be precisely controlled. We take additional crucial steps towards future applications of this method by proving that the strong shaking of the optical lattice preserves the coherence of the matter wavefunction and that the shaking parameters can be changed adiabatically, even in the presence of interactions. We induce reversibly the quantum phase transition to the Mott insulator in a driven periodic potential.Comment: Laser Physics (in press

AC-induced superfluidity

We argue that a system of ultracold bosonic atoms in a tilted optical lattice can become superfluid in response to resonant AC forcing. Among others, this allows one to prepare a Bose-Einstein condensate in a state associated with a negative effective mass. Our reasoning is backed by both exact numerical simulations for systems consisting of few particles, and by a theoretical approach based on Floquet-Fock states.Comment: Accepted for publication in Europhysics letters, 6 pages, 4 figures, Changes in v2: reference 7 replaced by a more recent on

Pollutant absorption as a possible end-of-life solution for polyphenolic polymers

Tannin- and lignin-furanic foams are natural porous materials that have attracted high interest in the scientific and industrial communities for their high thermal and fire-resistant properties. However, no interesting solutions have been proposed for the management of their end-life as yet. In this study, the phenolic-furanic powders derived from the foams were analyzed for their capacity to remove dierent pollutants like neutral, cationic, and anionic organic molecules from wastewater. It was observed that the macromolecules produced from initially bigger fractions were more suitable to remove methylene blue and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) while contained absorptions were observed for riboflavin. Acidified tannin powders were also prepared to understand the role of the flavonoid in the absorption mechanism. The latter showed outstanding absorption capacity against all of the tested pollutants, highlighting the key-role of the flavonoid fraction and suggesting the limited contribution of the furanic part. All adsorbents were investigated through FT-IR and solid state 13C-NMR. Finally, the powders were successfully regenerated by simple ethanol washing, showing almost complete absorption recovery

Interaction-dependent photon-assisted tunneling in optical lattices: a quantum simulator of strongly-correlated electrons and dynamical gauge fields

We introduce a scheme that combines photon-assisted tunneling by a moving optical lattice with strong Hubbard interactions, and allows for the quantum simulation of paradigmatic quantum many-body models. We show that, in a certain regime, this quantum simulator yields an effective Hubbard Hamiltonian with tunable bond-charge interactions, a model studied in the context of strongly-correlated electrons. In a different regime, we show how to exploit a correlated destruction of tunneling to explore Nagaoka ferromagnetism at finite Hubbard repulsion. By changing the photon-assisted tunneling parameters, we can also obtain a t-J model with independently controllable tunneling t, super-exchange interaction J, and even a Heisenberg-Ising anisotropy. Hence, the full phase diagram of this paradigmatic model becomes accessible to cold-atom experiments, departing from the region t _ J allowed by standard single-band Hubbard Hamiltonians in the strong-repulsion limit. We finally show that, by generalizing the photon-assisted tunneling scheme, the quantum simulator yields models of dynamical Gauge fields, where atoms of a given electronic state dress the tunneling of the atoms with a different internal state, leading to Peierls phases that mimic a dynamical magnetic field