Influence of the Coulomb potential on above-threshold ionization: a quantum-orbit analysis beyond the strong-field approximation

We perform a detailed analysis of how the interplay between the residual binding potential and a strong laser field influences above-threshold ionization (ATI), employing a semi-analytical, Coulomb-corrected strong-field approximation (SFA) in which the Coulomb potential is incorporated in the electron propagation in the continuum. We find that the Coulomb interaction lifts the degeneracy of some SFA trajectories, and we identify a set of orbits which, for high enough photoelectron energies, may be associated with rescattering. Furthermore, by performing a direct comparison with the standard SFA, we show that several features in the ATI spectra can be traced back to the influence of the Coulomb potential on different electron trajectories. These features include a decrease in the contrast, a shift towards lower energies in the interference substructure, and an overall increase in the photoelectron yield. All features encountered exhibit a very good agreement with the \emph{ab initio} solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Understanding stellar activity-induced radial velocity jitter using simultaneous K2 photometry and HARPS RV measurements

One of the best ways to improve our understanding of the stellar activity-induced signal in radial velocity (RV) measurements is through simultaneous high-precision photometric and RV observations. This is of prime importance to mitigate the RV signal induced by stellar activity and therefore unveil the presence of low-mass exoplanets. The K2 Campaign 7 and 8 field-of-views were located in the southern hemisphere, and provided a unique opportunity to gather unprecedented simultaneous high precision photometric observation with K2 and high-precision RV measurements with the HARPS spectrograph to study the relationship between photometric variability and RV jitter. We observed nine stars with different levels of activity; from quiet to very active. We probe the presence of any meaningful relation between measured RV jitter and the simultaneous photometric variation, and also other activity indicators (e.g. BIS, FWHM, $logR'_{HK}$, and F8), by evaluating the strength and significance of the correlation between RVs and each indicator. We found that for the case of very active stars, strong and significant correlations exist between almost all the observables and measured RVs; however, for lower activity levels the correlations become random. Except for the F8 which its strong correlation with RV jitter persists over a wide range of stellar activity level, and thus our result suggests that F8 might be a powerful proxy for activity induced RV jitter. Moreover, we examine the capability of two state-of-the-art modeling techniques, namely the FF' method and SOAP2.0, in accurately predicting the RV jitter amplitude using the simultaneous photometric observation. We found that for the very active stars both techniques can reasonably well predict the amplitude of the RV jitter, however, at lower activity levels the FF' method underpredicts the RV jitter amplitude.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&

Time evolution of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems

We provide time-evolution operators, gauge transformations and a perturbative treatment for non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems, which are explicitly time-dependent. We determine various new equivalence pairs for Hermitian and non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, which are therefore pseudo-Hermitian and in addition in some cases also invariant under PT-symmetry. In particular, for the harmonic oscillator perturbed by a cubic non-Hermitian term, we evaluate explicitly various transition amplitudes, for the situation when these systems are exposed to a monochromatic linearly polarized electric field.Comment: 25 pages Latex, 1 eps figure, references adde

Holographic detection of parity in atomic and molecular orbitals

We introduce a concise methodology to detect the parity of atomic and molecular orbitals based on photoelectron holography, which is more general than the existing schemes. It fully accounts for the Coulomb distortions of electron trajectories, does not require sculpted fields to retrieve phase information and, in principle, is applicable to a broad range of electron momenta. By comparatively measuring the differential photoelectron spectra from strong-field ionization of N 2 molecules and their companion atoms of Ar, some photoelectron holography patterns are found to be dephased for both targets. This is well reproduced by the full-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation and the Coulomb quantum-orbit strong-field approximation (CQSFA) simulation. Using the CQSFA, we trace back our observations to different parities of the 3 p orbital of Ar and the highest-occupied molecular orbital of N 2 via interfering Coulomb-distorted quantum orbits carrying different initial phases. This method could in principle be used to extract bound-state phases from any holographic structure, with a wide range of potential applications in recollision physics and spectroscopy

Fermion localization on asymmetric two-field thick branes

In this paper we investigate the localization of fermions on asymmetric thick branes generated by two scalars $\phi$ and $\chi$. In order to trap fermions on the asymmetric branes with kink-like warp factors, the couplings with the background scalars $\eta\bar{\Psi}F(\chi,\phi)\Psi$ are introduced, where $F(\chi,\phi)$ is a function of $\phi$ and $\chi$. We find that the coupling $\eta\bar{\Psi}\chi\phi\Psi$ do not support the localization of 4-dimensional fermions on the branes. While, for the case $\eta\bar{\Psi}\chi\Psi+\eta'\bar{\Psi}\phi\Psi$, which is the kink-fermion coupling corresponding to one-scalar-generated brane scenarios, the zero mode of left-handed fermions could be trapped on the branes under some conditions.Comment: v2: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted by CQ

The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXV. The interesting case of HD41248: stellar activity, no planets?

The search for planets orbiting metal-poor stars is of uttermost importance for our understanding of the planet formation models. However, no dedicated searches have been conducted so far for very low mass planets orbiting such objects. Only a few cases of low mass planets orbiting metal-poor stars are thus known. Amongst these, HD41248 is a metal-poor, solar-type star on which a resonant pair of super-Earth like planets has In the present paper we present a new planet search program that is using the HARPS spectrograph to search for Neptunes and Super-Earths orbiting a sample of metal-poor FGK dwarfs. We then present a detailed analysis of an additional 162 radial velocity measurements of HD41248, obtained within this program, with the goal of confirming the existence of the proposed planetary system. We analyzed the precise radial velocities, obtained with the HARPS spectrograph, together with several stellar activity diagnostics and line profile indicators. A careful analysis shows no evidence for the planetary system previously announced. One of the signals, with a period of about 25 days, is shown to be related to the rotational period of the star, and is clearly seen in some of the activity proxies. The remaining signal (P~18 days) could not be convincingly retrieved in the new data set. We discuss possible causes for the complex (evolving) signals observed in the data of HD41248, proposing that they may be explained by the appearance and disappearance of active regions on the surface of a star with strong differential rotation, or by a combination of the sparse data sampling and active region evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Oral tolerance to cancer can be abrogated by T regulatory cell inhibition

Oral administration of tumour cells induces an immune hypo-responsiveness known as oral tolerance. We have previously shown that oral tolerance to a cancer is tumour antigen specific, non-cross-reactive and confers a tumour growth advantage. We investigated the utilisation of regulatory T cell (Treg) depletion on oral tolerance to a cancer and its ability to control tumour growth. Balb/C mice were gavage fed homogenised tumour tissue – JBS fibrosarcoma (to induce oral tolerance to a cancer), or PBS as control. Growth of subcutaneous JBS tumours were measured; splenic tissue excised and flow cytometry used to quantify and compare systemic Tregs and T effector (Teff) cell populations. Prior to and/or following tumour feeding, mice were intraperitoneally administered anti-CD25, to inactivate systemic Tregs, or given isotype antibody as a control. Mice which were orally tolerised prior to subcutaneous tumour induction, displayed significantly higher systemic Treg levels (14% vs 6%) and faster tumour growth rates than controls (p<0.05). Complete regression of tumours were only seen after Treg inactivation and occurred in all groups - this was not inhibited by tumour feeding. The cure rates for Treg inactivation were 60% during tolerisation, 75% during tumour growth and 100% during inactivation for both tolerisation and tumour growth. Depletion of Tregs gave rise to an increased number of Teff cells. Treg depletion post-tolerisation and post-tumour induction led to the complete regression of all tumours on tumour bearing mice. Oral administration of tumour tissue, confers a tumour growth advantage and is accompanied by an increase in systemic Treg levels. The administration of anti-CD25 Ab decreased Treg numbers and caused an increase in Teffs. Most notably Treg cell inhibition overcame established oral tolerance with consequent tumor regression, especially relevant to foregut cancers where oral tolerance is likely to be induced by the shedding of tumour tissue into the gut

Pushed traveling fronts in monostable equations with monotone delayed reaction

We study the existence and uniqueness of wavefronts to the scalar reaction-diffusion equations $u_{t}(t,x) = \Delta u(t,x) - u(t,x) + g(u(t-h,x)),$ with monotone delayed reaction term $g: \R_+ \to \R_+$ and $h >0$. We are mostly interested in the situation when the graph of $g$ is not dominated by its tangent line at zero, i.e. when the condition $g(x) \leq g'(0)x,$ $x \geq 0$, is not satisfied. It is well known that, in such a case, a special type of rapidly decreasing wavefronts (pushed fronts) can appear in non-delayed equations (i.e. with $h=0$). One of our main goals here is to establish a similar result for $h>0$. We prove the existence of the minimal speed of propagation, the uniqueness of wavefronts (up to a translation) and describe their asymptotics at $-\infty$. We also present a new uniqueness result for a class of nonlocal lattice equations.Comment: 17 pages, submitte