Baryon loading and the Weibel instability in gamma-ray bursts

The dynamics of two counter-streaming electron-positron-ion unmagnetized plasma shells with zero net charge is analyzed in the context of magnetic field generation in GRB internal shocks due to the Weibel instability. The effects of large thermal motion of plasma particles, arbitrary mixture of plasma species and space charge effects are taken into account. We show that, although thermal effects slow down the instability, baryon loading leads to a non-negligible growth rate even for large temperatures and different shell velocities, thus guaranteeing the robustness and the occurrence of the Weibel instability for a wide range of scenarios.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Quantum Group Covariance and the Braided Structure of Deformed Oscillators

The connection between braided Hopf algebra structure and the quantum group covariance of deformed oscillators is constructed explicitly. In this context we provide deformations of the Hopf algebra of functions on SU(1,1). Quantum subgroups and their representations are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages, to be published in JM

A Strategy for Efficiently Collecting Aerosol Condensate Using Silica Fibers: Application to Carbonyl Emissions from E-Cigarettes

Analyzing harmful constituents in e-cigarette aerosols typically involves adopting a methodology used for analyzing tobacco smoke. Cambridge filter pads (CFP) are the basis of numerous protocols for analyzing the various classes of compounds representing 93 harmful and potentially harmful constituents identified in tobacco smoke by the FDA. This paper describes a simplified method for trapping the low volatility components of e-cigarette aerosols using a single trapping procedure followed by physical extraction. The trap is a plug of amorphous silica fibers (0.75 g of 4 μm diameter) within a 10 mL syringe inserted between the e-cigarette mouthpiece and the pump of the vaping machine. The method is evaluated for emissions from three generations of e-cigarette device (Kangertech CE4, EVOD, and Subox Mini-C). On average, the silica wool traps about 94% of the vaporized liquid mass in the three devices and higher levels of condensate is retained before reaching saturation compared with CFP. The condensate is then physically extracted from the silica wool plug using a centrifuge. Condensate is then available for use directly in multiple analytical procedures or toxicological experiments. The method is tested by comparison with published analyses of carbonyls, among the most potent toxicants and carcinogens in e-cigarette emissions. Ranges for HPLC-DAD analyses of carbonyl-DNPH derivatives in a laboratory formulation of e-liquid are formaldehyde (0.182 ± 0.023 to 9.896 ± 0.709 μg puff-1), acetaldehyde (0.059 ± 0.005 to 0.791 ± 0.073 μg puff-1), and propionaldehyde (0.008 ± 0.0001 to 0.033 ± 0.023 μg puff-1); other carbonyls are identified and quantified. Carbonyl concentrations are also consistent with published experiments showing marked increases with variable power settings (10W to 50W). Compared with CFPs, e-cigarette aerosol collection by silica wool requires only one vaping session for multiple analyte groups, traps more condensate per puff, and collects more condensate before saturation

Electromechanical tuning of vertically-coupled photonic crystal nanobeams

We present the design, the fabrication and the characterization of a tunable one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal cavity (PCC) etched on two vertically-coupled GaAs nanobeams. A novel fabrication method which prevents their adhesion under capillary forces is introduced. We discuss a design to increase the flexibility of the structure and we demonstrate a large reversible and controllable electromechanical wavelength tuning (> 15 nm) of the cavity modes.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

A global simulation for laser driven MeV electrons in 50μm50\mu m-diameter fast ignition targets

The results from 2.5-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations for the interaction of a picosecond-long ignition laser pulse with a plasma pellet of 50-$\mu m$ diameter and 40 critical density are presented. The high density pellet is surrounded by an underdense corona and is isolated by a vacuum region from the simulation box boundary. The laser pulse is shown to filament and create density channels on the laser-plasma interface. The density channels increase the laser absorption efficiency and help generate an energetic electron distribution with a large angular spread. The combined distribution of the forward-going energetic electrons and the induced return electrons is marginally unstable to the current filament instability. The ions play an important role in neutralizing the space charges induced by the the temperature disparity between different electron groups. No global coalescing of the current filaments resulted from the instability is observed, consistent with the observed large angular spread of the energetic electrons.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Physics of Plasmas (May 2006

Using dark modes for high-fidelity optomechanical quantum state transfer

In a recent publication [Y.D. Wang and A.A. Clerk, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 153603 (2012)], we demonstrated that one can use interference to significantly increase the fidelity of state transfer between two electromagnetic cavities coupled to a common mechanical resonator over a naive sequential-transfer scheme based on two swap operations. This involved making use of a delocalized electromagnetic mode which is decoupled from the mechanical resonator, a so-called "mechanically-dark" mode. Here, we demonstrate the existence of a new "hybrid" state transfer scheme which incorporates the best elements of the dark-mode scheme (protection against mechanical dissipation) and the double-swap scheme (fast operation time). Importantly, this new scheme also does not require the mechanical resonator to be prepared initially in its ground state. We also provide additional details on the previously-described interference-enhanced transfer schemes, and provide an enhanced discussion of how the interference physics here is intimately related to the optomechanical analogue of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). We also compare the various transfer schemes over a wide range of relevant experimental parameters, producing a "phase diagram" showing the the optimal transfer scheme for different points in parameter space.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figures NJP 14 (Focus issue on Optomechanics

Agent-Based Modeling of Intracellular Transport

We develop an agent-based model of the motion and pattern formation of vesicles. These intracellular particles can be found in four different modes of (undirected and directed) motion and can fuse with other vesicles. While the size of vesicles follows a log-normal distribution that changes over time due to fusion processes, their spatial distribution gives rise to distinct patterns. Their occurrence depends on the concentration of proteins which are synthesized based on the transcriptional activities of some genes. Hence, differences in these spatio-temporal vesicle patterns allow indirect conclusions about the (unknown) impact of these genes. By means of agent-based computer simulations we are able to reproduce such patterns on real temporal and spatial scales. Our modeling approach is based on Brownian agents with an internal degree of freedom, $\theta$, that represents the different modes of motion. Conditions inside the cell are modeled by an effective potential that differs for agents dependent on their value $\theta$. Agent's motion in this effective potential is modeled by an overdampted Langevin equation, changes of $\theta$ are modeled as stochastic transitions with values obtained from experiments, and fusion events are modeled as space-dependent stochastic transitions. Our results for the spatio-temporal vesicle patterns can be used for a statistical comparison with experiments. We also derive hypotheses of how the silencing of some genes may affect the intracellular transport, and point to generalizations of the model

Ionized Absorbers in AGN: the Role of Collisional Ionization and Time-Evolving Photoionization

In this paper we explore collisional ionization and time-evolving photoionization in the, X-ray discovered, ionized absorbers in Seyfert galaxies. These absorbers show temporal changes inconsistent with simple equilibrium models. We develop a simple code to follow the temporal evolution of non-equilibrium photoionized gas. As a result several effects appear that are easily observable; and which, in fact, may explain otherwise paradoxical behavior. Specifically we find that: 1) In many important astrophysical conditions pure collisional and photoionization equilibria can be distinguished with moderate spectral resolution observations, due to a strong absorption structure between 1 and 3 keV. 2) In time-evolving non-equilibrium photoionization models the response of the ionization state of the gas to sudden changes of the ionizing continuum is smoothed and delayed at low gas densities, even when the luminosity increases. 3) If the changes of the ionizing luminosity are not instantaneous, and the electron density is low enough (the limit depends on the average ionization state of the gas), the ionization state of the gas can continue to increase while the source luminosity decreases, so a maximum in the ionization state of a given element may occur during a minimum of the ionizing intensity (the opposite of the prediction of equilibrium models). 4) Different ions of different elements reach their equilibrium configuration on different time-scales. These properties are similar to those seen in several ionized absorbers in AGN, properties which had hitherto been puzzling. We applied these models to a high S/N ROSAT PSPC observation of the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051.Comment: 36 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on Apj, in pres