Quantum theory of collective strong coupling of molecular vibrations with a microcavity mode

We develop a quantum mechanical formalism to treat the strong coupling between an electromagnetic mode and a vibrational excitation of an ensemble of organic molecules. By employing a Bloch-Redfield-Wangsness approach, we show that the influence of dephasing-type interactions, i.e., elastic collisions with a background bath of phonons, critically depends on the nature of the bath modes. In particular, for long-range phonons corresponding to a common bath, the dynamics of the "bright state" (the collective superposition of molecular vibrations coupling to the cavity mode) is effectively decoupled from other system eigenstates. For the case of independent baths (or short-range phonons), incoherent energy transfer occurs between the bright state and the uncoupled dark states. However, these processes are suppressed when the Rabi splitting is larger than the frequency range of the bath modes, as achieved in a recent experiment [Shalabney et al., Nat. Commun. 6, 5981 (2015)]. In both cases, the dynamics can thus be described through a single collective oscillator coupled to a photonic mode, making this system an ideal candidate to explore cavity optomechanics at room temperature.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Albuquerque

This story is about living in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2017 as a mixed-race woman with Hispanic, European, and Indigenous Mexican and Puebloan ancestry. Albuquerque seeks to understand how marginalized cultures become subsumed and ultimately lost by the dominate culture. As a child of mixed heritage, I am interested in the internalization of this cultural disappearance, and all the subtle yet profound choices my ancestors have made: my grandparents refused to teach Spanish to their children so they would fit in better with the whites, my Indian great grandfather fled Mexico, leaving behind his tribe and culture, never to return. My pueblo ancestry is long lost and never talked about; instead, stories of Spanish conquistadors and rich merchants are the favored family lore. Albuquerque is also a focus on place, and what it means to feel like you and the place you came from are inextricably linked, and when one suffers, so does the other, and when one is parched, baffled, and wounded, so is the other

Hall response of interacting bosonic atoms in strong gauge fields: from condensed to FQH states

Interacting bosonic atoms under strong gauge fields undergo a series of phase transitions that take the cloud from a simple Bose-Einstein condensate all the way to a family of fractional-quantum-Hall-type states [M. Popp, B. Paredes, and J. I. Cirac, Phys. Rev. A 70, 053612 (2004)]. In this work we demonstrate that the Hall response of the atoms can be used to locate the phase transitions and characterize the ground state of the many-body state. Moreover, the same response function reveals within some regions of the parameter space, the structure of the spectrum and the allowed transitions to excited states. We verify numerically these ideas using exact diagonalization for a small number of atoms, and provide an experimental protocol to implement the gauge fields and probe the linear response using a periodically driven optical lattice. Finally, we discuss our theoretical results in relation to recent experiments with condensates in artificial magnetic fields [ L. J. LeBlanc, K. Jimenez-Garcia, R. A. Williams, M. C. Beeler, A. R. Perry, W. D. Phillips, and I. B. Spielman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 10811 (2012)] and we analyze the role played by vortex states in the Hall response.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Temporal study of natural populations of Heterorhabditid and Steinernematid nematodes in horticultural crop soils

La dynamique des populations de nématodes entomopathogènes dans des sols horticoles a été étudiée par des prélèvements mensuels en huit sites de Catalogne (nord-est de l'Espagne) pendant 14 mois. Ces nématodes entomopathogènes ont été détectés dans six des huit sites et ont continué à l'être quels qu'aient été les traitements agricoles pratiqués sur ces sites. Pendant cette étude, les sites ont été labourés, détruisant ainsi l'habitat naturel des nématodes, puis laissés en jachère pendant plusieurs mois, sans que la présence des nématodes n'en paraisse affectée. Cependant, une influence saisonnière peut être observée, la présence des nématodes étant plus faible pendant les mois d'été où la température est élevée. Cette influence saisonnière apparaît également affecter la répartition verticale des nématodes qui migrent vers les couches plus profondes du sol, vraisemblablement pour éviter les effets néfastes de la température et du manque d'humidité. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que les populations naturelles de nématodes entomopathogènes sont capables de persister et de survivre dans le sol pendant de longues périodes en s'adaptant aux conditions fluctuantes et adverses de leur habitat naturel. (Résumé d'auteur

Innovative concepts of Integrated Solar Combined Cycles (ISCC) using a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is one of the most promising ways for electricity production of the upcoming years with high penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar-photovoltaics. This is due to the fact that CSP when coupled to Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system enables large, inexpensive and flexible energy dispatch, which contributes to energy grid stabilization. At the same time, TES allows for steady operation of the power block by reducing undesirable fluctuations due to weather transient conditions and increasing the number of hours that the power block operates at design conditions 1. Despite the abovementioned advantages of CSP systems, a step further is needed for increase overall system efficiency and decrease CO2 emissions. Several studies have been performed considering high efficiency plant layouts such as combined cycle. For the latter, several works have been investigated about solar integration of combined cycle using parabolic trough and solar tower technologies. In both cases, solar energy was used for water/steam preheating and evaporation steps of the Rankine cycle in combination with the exhaust gases of fossil-fuel gas turbine engine. However, no research has been performed considering ISCC coupled with a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). In this research, two innovative layouts of ISCC power plants will be analyzed. First considers a ISCC based on solar tower and second a ISCC with a parabolic trough collector field coupled to the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG). The objective of this research is analyze the energy behavior of both layouts, selecting the best ISCC scheme to be coupled with a SOFC. The simulations will be performed using Thermoflex software. In both layouts, a SOFC is introduced before the combustion chamber at the topping cycle, and a Rankine cycle (bottoming cycle) with 2 pressures is considered.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Size effect in the ionization energy of PAH clusters

We report the first experimental measurement of the near-threshold photo-ionization spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon clusters made of pyrene C16H10 and coronene C24H12, obtained using imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectrometry with a VUV synchrotron beamline. The experimental results of the ionization energy are confronted to calculated ones obtained from simulations using dedicated electronic structure treatment for large ionized molecular clusters. Experiment and theory consistently find a decrease of the ionization energy with cluster size. The inclusion of temperature effects in the simulations leads to a lowering of this energy and to a quantitative agreement with the experiment. In the case of pyrene, both theory and experiment show a discontinuity in the IE trend for the hexamer

The development of the truffle beetle Leiodes cinnamomeus at low temperature, a determining factor for the susceptibility of adults and larvae to entomopathogenic nematodes

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABThe European truffle beetle Leiodes cinnamomeus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Leiodidae) is the most important pest in black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) plantations. Adults and larvae feed on truffles during the cold months of autumn and winter, while during spring and summer larvae are in diapause. This study aims to test the susceptibility of L. cinnamomeus adults and larvae to different entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) species at various temperatures under laboratory conditions. Different populations of Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema feltiae were applied against adults and mycophagous larvae at 20 °C, 10 °C and 10-15 °C (10 °C during 18 h and 15 °C during 6 h a day), while Heterorhabditis bacteriophora was only applied against diapause larvae at 25 °C. S. carpocapsae caused 100% mortality of adults three days after application at 20 °C. At 10 °C, adults were not susceptible to any EPN species seven days after treatment, while at 10-15 °C S. carpocapsae was the most virulent species (76.6-96.6% mortality). In the case of larvae, all EPN species were infective at 20 °C (43.3-83.3% mortality), despite differences among some populations. At 10 °C, only two populations of S. feltiae caused higher mortality of larvae (50-53.3%) than control seven days after treatment. H. bacteriophora caused 100% mortality against diapause larvae five days after application at 25 °C. Soil temperature was measured in a truffle plantation for each hour every day from September 2021 to April 2022 at 20 cm depth. From September to mid-October it was registered a temperature above 15 °C for more than 20 h a day. Temperatures were generally below 10 °C from November to March. An appropriate timing of field applications should be considered due to the short periods of time when temperature is optimal for each EPN species tested

Brain, cognitive, and physical disability correlates of decreased quality of life in patients with Huntington’s disease

Q2Q1Pacientes con enfermedad de HuntingtonPurpose: Following a case–control design, as a primary objective, this study aimed to explore the relationship between quality of life (QoL) scores and gray matter (GM) volumes in patients with Huntington’s disease (HD). As a secondary objective, we assessed the relationship between QoL scores and other important behavioral, clinical and demographical variables in patients with HD and HD patients’ caregivers. Methods: We recruited 75 participants (25 HD patients, 25 caregivers, and 25 controls) and assessed their QoL using the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Participants were also assessed with general cognitive functioning tests and clinical scales. In addition, we acquired MRI scans from all participants. Results: Our results showed that patients exhibited significantly lower scores in all four QoL domains (physical health, psychological wellbeing, social relationships, and relationship with the environment) compared to caregivers and controls. Caregivers showed lower scores than controls in the physical health and the environmental domains. In HD patients, lower scores in QoL domains were associated with lower GM volumes, mainly in the precuneus and the cerebellum. Moreover, in HD patients, physical disability and GM volume reduction were significant predictors of QoL decrease in all domains. For caregivers, years of formal education was the most important predictor of QoL. Conclusions: HD patients exhibit greater GM volume loss as well as lower QoL scores compared to caregivers and controls. However, caregivers displayed lower scores in QoL scores than controls, with years of education being a significant predictor. Our results reflect a first attempt to investigate the relationships among QoL, GM volumes, and other important factors in an HD and HD caregiver sample.https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9422-3579Revista Internacional - IndexadaA1N