Modified Newton's law, braneworlds, and the gravitational quantum well

Most of the theories involving extra dimensions assume that only the gravitational interaction can propagate in them. In such approaches, called brane world models, the effective, 4-dimensional, Newton's law is modified at short as well as at large distances. Usually, the deformation of Newton's law at large distances is parametrized by a Yukawa potential, which arises mainly from theories with compactified extra dimensions. In many other models however, the extra dimensions are infinite. These approaches lead to a large distance power-law deformation of the gravitational newtonian potential $V_N(r)$, namely $V(r)=(1+k_b/r^b)V_N(r)$, which is less studied in the literature. We investigate here the dynamics of a particle in a gravitational quantum well with such a power-law deformation. The effects of the deformation on the energy spectrum are discussed. We also compare our modified spectrum to the results obtained with the GRANIT experiment, where the effects of the Earth's gravitational field on quantum states of ultra cold neutrons moving above a mirror are studied. This comparison leads to upper bounds on $b$ and $k_b$.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Parity measurement of one- and two-electron double well systems

We outline a scheme to accomplish measurements of a solid state double well system (DWS) with both one and two electrons in non-localised bases. We show that, for a single particle, measuring the local charge distribution at the midpoint of a DWS using an SET as a sensitive electrometer amounts to performing a projective measurement in the parity (symmetric/antisymmetric) eigenbasis. For two-electrons in a DWS, a similar configuration of SET results in close-to-projective measurement in the singlet/triplet basis. We analyse the sensitivity of the scheme to asymmetry in the SET position for some experimentally relevant parameter, and show that it is realisable in experiment.Comment: 18 Pages, to appear in PR

Fringe spacing and phase of interfering matter waves

We experimentally investigate the outcoupling of atoms from Bose-Einstein condensates using two radio-frequency (rf) fields in the presence of gravity. We show that the fringe separation in the resulting interference pattern derives entirely from the energy difference between the two rf fields and not the gravitational potential difference. We subsequently demonstrate how the phase and polarisation of the rf radiation directly control the phase of the matter wave interference and provide a semi-classical interpretation of the results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNAs encoding the cytosolic precursors of subunits GapA and GapB of chloroplast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from pea and spinach

Chloroplast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is composed of two different subunits, GapA and GapB. cDNA clones containing the entire coding sequences of the cytosolic precursors for GapA from pea and for GapB from pea and spinach have been identified, sequenced and the derived amino acid sequences have been compared to the corresponding sequences from tobacco, maize and mustard. These comparisons show that GapB differs from GapA in about 20% of its amino acid residues and by the presence of a flexible and negatively charged C-terminal extension, possibly responsible for the observed association of the enzyme with chloroplast envelopes in vitro. This C-terminal extension (29 or 30 residues) may be susceptible to proteolytic cleavage thereby leading to a conversion of chloroplast GAPDH isoenzyme I into isoenzyme II. Evolutionary rate comparisons at the amino acid sequence level show that chloroplast GapA and GapB evolve roughly two-fold slower than their cytosolic counterpart GapC. GapA and GapB transit peptides evolve about 10 times faster than the corresponding mature subunits. They are relatively long (68 and 83 residues for pea GapA and spinach GapB respectively) and share a similar amino acid framework with other chloroplast transit peptides

Programmed buckling by controlled lateral swelling in a thin elastic sheet

Recent experiments have imposed controlled swelling patterns on thin polymer films, which subsequently buckle into three-dimensional shapes. We develop a solution to the design problem suggested by such systems, namely, if and how one can generate particular three-dimensional shapes from thin elastic sheets by mere imposition of a two-dimensional pattern of locally isotropic growth. Not every shape is possible. Several types of obstruction can arise, some of which depend on the sheet thickness. We provide some examples using the axisymmetric form of the problem, which is analytically tractable.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

The CWKB approach to non-reflecting potential and cosmological implications

We discuss the method of calculating the reflection coefficient using complex trajectory WKB (CWKB) approximation. This enables us to give an interpretation of non-reflecting nature of the potential under certain conditions and clarify some points, reported incorrectly elsewhere [vs:ejp] for the potential $U(x)=-U_0cosh^2(x/a)$. We show that the repeated reflectios between the turning points are essential, which most authors overlooked, in obtaining the non-reflecting c ondition. We find that the considered repeated reflection paths are in conformity with Bogolubov transformation technique. We discuss the implications of the results when applied to the particle production scenario, considering $x$ as a time variable and also stress the cosmological implications of the result with reference to radiation domonated and de Sitter spacetime.Comment: 9 pages, late

Bound states of bosons and fermions in a mixed vector-scalar coupling with unequal shapes for the potentials

The Klein-Gordon and the Dirac equations with vector and scalar potentials are investigated under a more general condition, $V_{v}+V_{s}= \mathrm{constant}$. These intrinsically relativistic and isospectral problems are solved in a case of squared hyperbolic potential functions and bound states for either particles or antiparticles are found. The eigenvalues and eigenfuntions are discussed in some detail and the effective Compton wavelength is revealed to be an important physical quantity. It is revealed that a boson is better localized than a fermion when they have the same mass and are subjected to the same potentials.Comment: 3 figure

Linearized Kompaneetz equation as a relativistic diffusion

We show that Kompaneetz equation describing photon diffusion in an environment of an electron gas, when linearized around its equilibrium distribution, coincides with the relativistic diffusion discussed in recent publications. The model of the relativistic diffusion is related to soluble models of imaginary time quantum mechanics. We suggest some non-linear generalizations of the relativistic diffusion equation and their astrophysical applications (in particular to the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect).Comment: 12 page

The rotating Morse potential model for diatomic molecules in the tridiagonal J-matrix representation: I. Bound states

This is the first in a series of articles in which we study the rotating Morse potential model for diatomic molecules in the tridiagonal J-matrix representation. Here, we compute the bound states energy spectrum by diagonalizing the finite dimensional Hamiltonian matrix of H2, LiH, HCl and CO molecules for arbitrary angular momentum. The calculation was performed using the J-matrix basis that supports a tridiagonal matrix representation for the reference Hamiltonian. Our results for these diatomic molecules have been compared with available numerical data satisfactorily. The proposed method is handy, very efficient, and it enhances accuracy by combining analytic power with a convergent and stable numerical technique.Comment: 18 Pages, 6 Tables, 4 Figure