On the attractors of two-dimensional Rayleigh oscillators including noise

We study sustained oscillations in two-dimensional oscillator systems driven by Rayleigh-type negative friction. In particular we investigate the influence of mismatch of the two frequencies. Further we study the influence of external noise and nonlinearity of the conservative forces. Our consideration is restricted to the case that the driving is rather weak and that the forces show only weak deviations from radial symmetry. For this case we provide results for the attractors and the bifurcations of the system. We show that for rational relations of the frequencies the system develops several rotational excitations with right/left symmetry, corresponding to limit cycles in the four-dimensional phase space. The corresponding noisy distributions have the form of hoops or tires in the four-dimensional space. For irrational frequency relations, as well as for increasing strength of driving or noise the periodic excitations are replaced by chaotic oscillations.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Radiation hardness of CMS pixel barrel modules

Pixel detectors are used in the innermost part of the multi purpose experiments at LHC and are therefore exposed to the highest fluences of ionising radiation, which in this part of the detectors consists mainly of charged pions. The radiation hardness of all detector components has thoroughly been tested up to the fluences expected at the LHC. In case of an LHC upgrade, the fluence will be much higher and it is not yet clear how long the present pixel modules will stay operative in such a harsh environment. The aim of this study was to establish such a limit as a benchmark for other possible detector concepts considered for the upgrade. As the sensors and the readout chip are the parts most sensitive to radiation damage, samples consisting of a small pixel sensor bump-bonded to a CMS-readout chip (PSI46V2.1) have been irradiated with positive 200 MeV pions at PSI up to 6E14 Neq and with 21 GeV protons at CERN up to 5E15 Neq. After irradiation the response of the system to beta particles from a Sr-90 source was measured to characterise the charge collection efficiency of the sensor. Radiation induced changes in the readout chip were also measured. The results show that the present pixel modules can be expected to be still operational after a fluence of 2.8E15 Neq. Samples irradiated up to 5E15 Neq still see the beta particles. However, further tests are needed to confirm whether a stable operation with high particle detection efficiency is possible after such a high fluence.Comment: Contribution to the 11th European Symposium on Semiconductor Detectors June 7-11, 2009 Wildbad Kreuth, German

Phylogeography of the crown-of-thorns starfish in the Indian Ocean

Background: Understanding the limits and population dynamics of closely related sibling species in the marine realm is particularly relevant in organisms that require management. The crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci, recently shown to be a species complex of at least four closely related species, is a coral predator infamous for its outbreaks that have devastated reefs throughout much of its Indo-Pacific distribution. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this first Indian Ocean-wide genetic study of a marine organism we investigated the genetic structure and inferred the paleohistory of the two Indian Ocean sister-species of Acanthaster planci using mitochondrial DNA sequence analyses. We suggest that the first of two main diversification events led to the formation of a Southern and Northern Indian Ocean sister-species in the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene. The second led to the formation of two internal clades within each species around the onset of the last interglacial. The subsequent demographic history of the two lineages strongly differed, the Southern Indian Ocean sister-species showing a signature of recent population expansion and hardly any regional structure, whereas the Northern Indian Ocean sister-species apparently maintained a constant size with highly differentiated regional groupings that were asymmetrically connected by gene flow. Conclusions/Significance: Past and present surface circulation patterns in conjunction with ocean primary productivity were identified as the processes most likely to have shaped the genetic structure between and within the two Indian Ocean lineages. This knowledge will help to understand the biological or ecological differences of the two sibling species and therefore aid in developing strategies to manage population outbreaks of this coral predator in the Indian Ocean

Algebras stratified for all linear orders

In this paper we describe several characterizations of basic finite-dimensional $k$-algebras $A$ stratified for all linear orders, and classify their graded algebras as tensor algebras satisfying some extra property. We also discuss whether for a given preorder $\preccurlyeq$, $\mathcal{F} (_{\preccurlyeq} \Delta)$, the category of $A$-modules with $_{\preccurlyeq} \Delta$-filtrations, is closed under cokernels of monomorphisms, and classify quasi-hereditary algebras satisfying this property.Comment: Final version accepted by Alg. Repn. Theor

Koszul dual 2-functors and extension algebras of simple modules for GL2GL_2

Let p be a prime number. We compute the Yoneda extension algebra of $GL_2$ over an algebraically closed field of characteristic p by developing a theory of Koszul duality for a certain class of 2-functors, one of which controls the category of rational representations of $GL_2$ over such a field.Comment: 39 pages, title changed in second version, to appear in Selecta Math. (N.S.

One-Way Entangled-Photon Autocompensating Quantum Cryptography

A new quantum cryptography implementation is presented that combines one-way operation with an autocompensating feature that has hitherto only been available in implementations that require the signal to make a round trip between the users. Using the concept of advanced waves, it is shown that this new implementation is related to the round-trip implementations in the same way that Ekert's two-particle scheme is related to the original one-particle scheme of Bennett and Brassard. The practical advantages and disadvantages of the proposed implementation are discussed in the context of existing schemes.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure; Minor edits--conclusions unchanged; accepted for publication in Physical Review

Emergence of coherent motion in aggregates of motile coupled maps

In this paper we study the emergence of coherence in collective motion described by a system of interacting motiles endowed with an inner, adaptative, steering mechanism. By means of a nonlinear parametric coupling, the system elements are able to swing along the route to chaos. Thereby, each motile can display different types of behavior, i.e. from ordered to fully erratic motion, accordingly with its surrounding conditions. The appearance of patterns of collective motion is shown to be related to the emergence of interparticle synchronization and the degree of coherence of motion is quantified by means of a graph representation. The effects related to the density of particles and to interparticle distances are explored. It is shown that the higher degrees of coherence and group cohesion are attained when the system elements display a combination of ordered and chaotic behaviors, which emerges from a collective self-organization process.Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication at Chaos, Solitons and Fractal

A novel interaction between ATOH8 and PPP3CB

ATOH8 is a bHLH transcription factor playing roles in a variety of developmental processes such as neurogenesis, differentiation of pancreatic precursor cells, development of kidney and muscle, and differentiation of endothelial cells. PPP3CB belongs to the catalytic subunit of the serine/threonine phosphatase, calcineurin, which can dephosphorylate its substrate proteins to regulate their physiological activities. In our study, we demonstrated that ATOH8 interacts with PPP3CB in vitro with different approaches. We show that the conserved catalytic domain of PPP3CB interacts with both the N-terminus and the bHLH domain of ATOH8. Although the interaction domain of PPP3CB is conserved among all isoforms of calcineurin A, ATOH8 selectively interacts with PPP3CB instead of PPP3CA, probably due to the unique proline-rich region present in the N-terminus of PPP3CB, which controls the specificity of its interaction partners. Furthermore, we show that inhibition of the interaction with calcineurin inhibitor, cyclosporin A (CsA), leads to the retention of ATOH8 to the cytoplasm, suggesting that the interaction renders nuclear localization of ATOH8 which may be critical to control its activity as transcription factor

Statistical Mechanics of Canonical-Dissipative Systems and Applications to Swarm Dynamics

We develop the theory of canonical-dissipative systems, based on the assumption that both the conservative and the dissipative elements of the dynamics are determined by invariants of motion. In this case, known solutions for conservative systems can be used for an extension of the dynamics, which also includes elements such as the take-up/dissipation of energy. This way, a rather complex dynamics can be mapped to an analytically tractable model, while still covering important features of non-equilibrium systems. In our paper, this approach is used to derive a rather general swarm model that considers (a) the energetic conditions of swarming, i.e. for active motion, (b) interactions between the particles based on global couplings. We derive analytical expressions for the non-equilibrium velocity distribution and the mean squared displacement of the swarm. Further, we investigate the influence of different global couplings on the overall behavior of the swarm by means of particle-based computer simulations and compare them with the analytical estimations.Comment: 14 pages incl. 13 figures. v2: misprints in Eq. (40) corrected, ref. updated. For related work see also: http://summa.physik.hu-berlin.de/~frank/active.htm