17,990 research outputs found
Evidence of sympathetic cooling of Na+ ions by a Na MOT in a hybrid trap
A hybrid ion-neutral trap provides an ideal system to study collisional
dynamics between ions and neutrals. This system provides a general cooling
method that can be applied to optically inaccessible species and can also
potentially cool internal degrees of freedom. The long range polarization
potentials () between ions and neutrals result in large
scattering cross sections at cold temperatures, making the hybrid trap a
favorable system for efficient sympathetic cooling of ions by collisions with
neutral atoms. We present experimental evidence of sympathetic cooling in a
hybrid trap of \ce{Na+} ions, which are closed shell and therefore do not have
a laser induced atomic transition, by equal mass cold Na atoms in a
magneto-optical trap (MOT).Comment: 7 figure
Ion-neutral sympathetic cooling in a hybrid linear rf Paul and magneto-optical trap
Long range polarization forces between ions and neutral atoms result in large
elastic scattering cross sections, e.g., 10^6 a.u. for Na+ on Na or Ca+ on Na
at cold and ultracold temperatures. This suggests that a hybrid ion-neutral
trap should offer a general means for significant sympathetic cooling of atomic
or molecular ions. We present SIMION 7.0 simulation results concerning the
advantages and limitations of sympathetic cooling within a hybrid trap
apparatus, consisting of a linear rf Paul trap concentric with a Na
magneto-optical trap (MOT). This paper explores the impact of various heating
mechanisms on the hybrid system and how parameters related to the MOT, Paul
trap, number of ions, and ion species affect the efficiency of the sympathetic
cooling
Polarizations and Nullcone of Representations of Reductive Groups
The paper starts with the following simple observation. Let V be a representation of a reductive group G, and let f_1,f_2,...,f_n be homogeneous invariant functions. Then the polarizations of f_1,f_2,...,f_n define the nullcone of k 0} h(t) x = 0 for all x in L. This is then applied to many examples. A surprising result is about the group SL(2,C) where almost all representations V have the property that all linear subspaces of the nullcone are annihilated. Again, this has interesting applications to the invariants on several copies. Another result concerns the n-qubits which appear in quantum computing. This is the representation of a product of n copies of on the n-fold tensor product C^2 otimes C^2 otimes ... otimes C^2. Here we show just the opposite, namely that the polarizations never define the nullcone of several copies if n <= 3. (An earlier version of this paper, distributed in 2002, was split into two parts; the first part with the title ``On the nullcone of representations of reductive groups'' is published in Pacific J. Math. {bf 224} (2006), 119--140.
A confirmed location in the Galactic halo for the high-velocity cloud 'chain A'
The high-velocity clouds of atomic hydrogen, discovered about 35 years ago,
have velocities inconsistent with simple Galactic rotation models that
generally fit the stars and gas in the Milky Way disk. Their origins and role
in Galactic evolution remain poorly understood, largely for lack of information
on their distances. The high-velocity clouds might result from gas blown from
the Milky Way disk into the halo by supernovae, in which case they would enrich
the Galaxy with heavy elements as they fall back onto the disk. Alternatively,
they may consist of metal-poor gas -- remnants of the era of galaxy formation,
accreted by the Galaxy and reducing its metal abundance. Or they might be truly
extragalactic objects in the Local Group of galaxies. Here we report a firm
distance bracket for a large high-velocity cloud, Chain A, which places it in
the Milky Way halo (2.5 to 7 kiloparsecs above the Galactic plane), rather than
at an extragalactic distance, and constrains its gas mass to between 10^5 and 2
times 10^6 solar masses.Comment: 8 pages, including 4 postscript figures. Letter to Nature, 8 July
199
Reconnection and acoustic emission of quantized vortices in superfluid by the numerical analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation
We study numerically the reconnection of quantized vortices and the
concurrent acoustic emission by the analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
Two quantized vortices reconnect following the process similar to classical
vortices; they approach, twist themselves locally so that they become
anti-parallel at the closest place, reconnect and leave separately.The
investigation of the motion of the singular lines where the amplitude of the
wave function vanishes in the vortex cores confirms that they follow the above
scenario by reconnecting at a point. This reconnection is not contradictory to
the Kelvin's circulation theorem, because the potential of the superflow field
becomes undefined at the reconnection point. When the locally anti-parallel
part of the vortices becomes closer than the healing length, it moves with the
velocity comparable to the sound velocity, emits the sound waves and leads to
the pair annihilation or reconnection; this phenomena is concerned with the
Cherenkov resonance. The vortices are broken up to smaller vortex loops through
a series of reconnection, eventually disappearing with the acoustic emission.
This may correspond to the final stage of the vortex cascade process proposed
by Feynman. The change in energy components, such as the quantum, the
compressible and incompressible kinetic energy is analyzed for each dynamics.
The propagation of the sound waves not only appears in the profile of the
amplitude of the wave function but also affects the field of its phase,
transforming the quantum energy due to the vortex cores to the kinetic energy
of the phase field.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures, LaTe
Coherent laminar and turbulent motion of toroidal vortex bundles
Motivated by experiments performed in superfluid helium, we study numerically
the motion of toroidal bundles of vortex filaments in an inviscid fluid. We
find that the evolution of these large-scale vortex structures involves the
generalised leapfrogging of the constituent vortex rings. Despite three
dimensional perturbations in the form of Kelvin waves and vortex reconnections,
toroidal vortex bundles retain their coherence over a relatively large distance
(compared to their size), in agreement with experimental observations.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure
Classical and quantum regimes of the superfluid turbulence
We argue that turbulence in superfluids is governed by two dimensionless
parameters. One of them is the intrinsic parameter q which characterizes the
friction forces acting on a vortex moving with respect to the heat bath, with
1/q playing the same role as the Reynolds number Re=UR/\nu in classical
hydrodynamics. It marks the transition between the "laminar" and turbulent
regimes of vortex dynamics. The developed turbulence described by Kolmogorov
cascade occurs when Re >> 1 in classical hydrodynamics, and q << 1 in the
superfluid hydrodynamics. Another parameter of the superfluid turbulence is the
superfluid Reynolds number Re_s=UR/\kappa, which contains the circulation
quantum \kappa characterizing quantized vorticity in superfluids. This
parameter may regulate the crossover or transition between two classes of
superfluid turbulence: (i) the classical regime of Kolmogorov cascade where
vortices are locally polarized and the quantization of vorticity is not
important; and (ii) the quantum Vinen turbulence whose properties are
determined by the quantization of vorticity. The phase diagram of the dynamical
vortex states is suggested.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, version accepted in JETP Letter
Tycho Brahe's supernova: light from centuries past
The light curve of SN 1572 is described in the terms used nowadays to
characterize SNeIa. By assembling the records of the observations done in
1572--74 and evaluating their uncertainties, it is possible to recover the
light curve and the color evolution of this supernova. It is found that, within
the SNe Ia family, the event should have been a SNIa with a normal rate of
decline, its stretch factor being {\it s} 0.9. Visual light curve near
maximum, late--time decline and the color evolution sustain this conclusion.
After correcting for extinction, the luminosity of this supernova is found to
be M --19.58 --5 log (D/3.5 kpc) 0.42.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. submitted to ApJ (Main Journal
VP24-Karyopherin alpha binding affinities differ between Ebolavirus species, nfluencing interferon inhibition and VP24 stability
Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV), Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BDBV), and Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) belong to the same genus but exhibit different virulence properties. VP24 protein, a structural protein present in all family members, blocks interferon (IFN) signaling and likely contributes to virulence. Inhibition of IFN signaling by EBOV VP24 (eVP24) involves its interaction with the NPI-1 subfamily of karyopherin alpha (KPNA) nuclear transporters. Here, we evaluated eVP24, BDBV VP24 (bVP24), and RESTV VP24 (rVP24) interactions with three NPI-1 subfamily KPNAs (KPNA1, KPNA5, and KPNA6). Using purified proteins, we demonstrated that each VP24 binds to each of the three NPI-1 KPNAs. bVP24, however, exhibited approximately 10-fold-lower KPNA binding affinity than either eVP24 or rVP24. Cell-based assays also indicate that bVP24 exhibits decreased KPNA interaction, decreased suppression of IFN induced gene expression, and a decreased half-life in transfected cells compared to eVP24 or rVP24. Amino acid sequence alignments between bVP24 and eVP24 also identified residues within and surrounding the previously defined eVP24-KPNA5 binding interface that decrease eVP24-KPNA affinity or bVP24-KPNA affinity. VP24 mutations that lead to reduced KPNA binding affinity also decrease IFN inhibition and shorten VP24 half-lives. These data identify novel functional differences in VP24-KPNA interaction and reveal a novel impact of the VP24-KPNA interaction on VP24 stability. IMPORTANCE The interaction of Ebola virus (EBOV) VP24 protein with host karyopherin alpha (KPNA) proteins blocks type I interferon (IFN) signaling, which is a central component of the host innate immune response to viral infection. Here, we quantitatively compared the interactions of VP24 proteins from EBOV and two members of the Ebolavirus genus, Bundibugyo virus (BDBV) and Reston virus (RESTV). The data reveal lower binding affinity of the BDBV VP24 (bVP24) for KPNAs and demonstrate that the interaction with KPNA modulates inhibition of IFN signaling and VP24 stability. The effect of KPNA interaction on VP24 stability is a novel functional consequence of this virus-host interaction, and the differences identified between viral species may contribute to differences in pathogenesis
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