Electric Dipolar Susceptibility of the Anderson-Holstein Model

The temperature dependence of electric dipolar susceptibility \chi_P is discussed on the basis of the Anderson-Holstein model with the use of a numerical renormalization group (NRG) technique. Note that P is related with phonon Green's function D. In order to obtain correct temperature dependence of P at low temperatures, we propose a method to evaluate P through the Dyson equation from charge susceptibility \chi_c calculated by the NRG, in contrast to the direct NRG calculation of D. We find that the irreducible charge susceptibility estimated from \chi_c agree with the perturbation calculation, suggesting that our method works well.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Cytosolic recognition of flagellin by mouse macrophages restricts Legionella pneumophila infection.

To restrict infection by Legionella pneumophila, mouse macrophages require Naip5, a member of the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain leucine-rich repeat family of pattern recognition receptors, which detect cytoplasmic microbial products. We report that mouse macrophages restricted L. pneumophila replication and initiated a proinflammatory program of cell death when flagellin contaminated their cytosol. Nuclear condensation, membrane permeability, and interleukin-1beta secretion were triggered by type IV secretion-competent bacteria that encode flagellin. The macrophage response to L. pneumophila was independent of Toll-like receptor signaling but correlated with Naip5 function and required caspase 1 activity. The L. pneumophila type IV secretion system provided only pore-forming activity because listeriolysin O of Listeria monocytogenes could substitute for its contribution. Flagellin monomers appeared to trigger the macrophage response from perforated phagosomes: once heated to disassemble filaments, flagellin triggered cell death but native flagellar preparations did not. Flagellin made L. pneumophila vulnerable to innate immune mechanisms because Naip5+ macrophages restricted the growth of virulent microbes, but flagellin mutants replicated freely. Likewise, after intratracheal inoculation of Naip5+ mice, the yield of L. pneumophila in the lungs declined, whereas the burden of flagellin mutants increased. Accordingly, macrophages respond to cytosolic flagellin by a mechanism that requires Naip5 and caspase 1 to restrict bacterial replication and release proinflammatory cytokines that control L. pneumophila infection

Superconductor-insulator transition in nanowires and nanowire arrays

Superconducting nanowires are the dual elements to Josephson junctions, with quantum phase-slip processes replacing the tunneling of Cooper pairs. When the quantum phase-slip amplitude ES is much smaller than the inductive energy EL, the nanowire responds as a superconducting inductor. When the inductive energy is small, the response is capacitive. The crossover at low temperatures as a function of ES/EL is discussed and compared with earlier experimental results. For one-dimensional and two-dimensional arrays of nanowires quantum phase transitions are expected as a function of ES/EL. They can be tuned by a homogeneous magnetic frustration.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figure

Heavy-Electron Formation and Bipolaronic Transition in the Anharmonic Holstein Model

The emergence of the bipolaronic phase and the formation of the heavy-electron state in the anharmonic Holstein model are investigated using the dynamical mean-field theory in combination with the exact diagonalization method. For a weak anharmonicity, it is confirmed that the first-order polaron-bipolaron transition occurs from the observation of a discontinuity in the behavior of several physical quantities. When the anharmonicity is gradually increased, the polaron-bipolaron transition temperature is reduced as well as the critical values of the electron-phonon coupling constant for polaron-bipolaron transition. For a strong anharmonicity, the polaron-bipolaron transition eventually changes to a crossover behavior. The effect of anharmonicity on the formation of the heavy-electron state near the polaron-bipolaron transition and the crossover region is discussed in detail.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure

Bringing Machine-Learning Enhanced Quantum Chemistry and Microwave Spectroscopy to Conformational Landscape Exploration: the Paradigmatic Case of 4-Fluoro-Threonine

A combined experimental and theoretical study has been carried out on 4-fluoro-threonine, the only naturally occurring fluorinated amino acid. Fluorination of the methyl group significantly increases the conformational complexity with respect to the parent amino acid threonine. The conformational landscape has been characterized in great detail, with special attention given to the inter-conversion pathways between different conformers. This led to the identification of 13 stable low-energy minima. The equilibrium population of so many conformers produces a very complicated and congested rotational spectrum that could be assigned through a strategy that combines several levels of quantum chemical calculations with the principles of machine learning. Twelve conformers out of 13 could be experimentally characterized. The results obtained from the analysis of the intra-molecular interactions can be exploited to accurately model fluorine-substitution effects in biomolecules

Simple 1,3-diamines and their application as ligands in ruthenium(ii) catalysts for asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aryl ketones

In this research work simple unsymmetrical 1,3-diamines were studied. The synthesis of the diamines started from non-commercial available compounds. S-5a and S, S-5c were obtained by biocatalysis with non conventional yeast, Rhodotorula rubra MIM 147, with excellent 99% e.e. and d.e. up to 90%. Different approaches of synthesis were applied to the same backbone to study both the steric and electronic effects of the ligands. The reactivity of the corresponding ruthenium complexes was evaluated in the asymmetric hydrogen transfer reduction of acetophenone as a standard substrate and of other different aryl ketones, highlighting the flexibility of the six membered chelating ring. A screening of the reaction conditions indicated aqueous media in the presence of HCOONa as a hydrogen donor to be the best system for overcoming the lack of stereocontrol thus allowing us to obtain 56% e.e. in the reduction of acetophenone with the complex in which the ligand was diamine 1, revealed as the best in terms of reactivity and stereoselectivity also in the reduction of the other different aryl ketones, in particular for alpha-tetralone, i (63% e.e.)

Strong-Coupling Theory of Rattling-Induced Superconductivity

In order to clarify the mechanism of the enhancement of superconducting transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ due to anharmonic local oscillation of a guest ion in a cage composed of host atoms, i.e., {\it rattling}, we analyze the anharmonic Holstein model by applying the Migdal-Eliashberg theory. From the evaluation of the normal-state electron-phonon coupling constant, it is found that the strong coupling state is developed, when the bottom of a potential for the guest ion becomes wide and flat. Then, $T_{\rm c}$ is enhanced with the increase of the anharmonicity in the potential, although $T_{\rm c}$ is rather decreased when the potential becomes a double-well type due to very strong anharmonicity. From these results, we propose a scenario of anharmonicity-controlled strong-coupling tendency for superconductivity induced by rattling. We briefly discuss possible relevance of the present scenario with superconductivity in $\beta$-pyrochlore oxides.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Electromagnetic properties of graphene junctions

A resonant chiral tunneling (CT) across a graphene junction (GJ) induced by an external electromagnetic field (EF) is studied. Modulation of the electron and hole wavefunction phases $\varphi$ by the external EF during the CT processes strongly impacts the CT directional diagram. Therefore the a.c. transport characteristics of GJs depend on the EF polarization and frequency considerably. The GJ shows great promises for various nanoelectronic applications working in the THz diapason.Comment: 4 pages 3 figure

Weak Decay of Lambda Hypernuclei

In this review we discuss the present status of strange nuclear physics, with special attention to the weak decay of Lambda hypernuclei. The models proposed for the evaluation of the Lambda decay widths are summarized and their results are compared with the data. Despite the recent intensive investigations, the main open problem remains a sound theoretical interpretation of the large experimental values of the ratio G_n/G_p. Although recent works offer a step forward in the solution of the puzzle, further efforts must be invested in order to understand the detailed dynamics of the non-mesonic decay. Even if, by means of single nucleon spectra measurements, the error bars on G_n/G_p have been considerably reduced very recently at KEK, a clean extraction of G_n/G_p is needed. What is missing at present, but planned for the next future, are measurements of 1) nucleon energy spectra in double coincidence and 2) nucleon angular correlations: such observations allow to disentangle the nucleons produced in one- and two-body induced decays and lead to a direct determination of G_n/G_p. For the asymmetric non-mesonic decay of polarized hypernuclei the situation is even more puzzling. Indeed, strong inconsistencies appear already among data. A recent experiment obtained a positive intrinsic Lambda asymmetry parameter, a_{Lambda}, for 5_{Lambda}He. This is in complete disagreement with a previous measurement, which obtained a large and negative a_{Lambda} for p-shell hypernuclei, and with theory, which predicts a negative value moderately dependent on nuclear structure effects. Also in this case, improved experiments establishing with certainty the sign and magnitude of a_{Lambda} for s- and p-shell hypernuclei will provide a guidance for a deeper understanding of hypernuclear dynamics and decay mechanisms.Comment: 129 pages, 21 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rep