17,423 research outputs found
Entanglement of two qubits mediated by one-dimensional plasmonic waveguides
We investigate qubit-qubit entanglement mediated by plasmons supported by
one-dimensional waveguides. We explore both the situation of spontaneous
formation of entanglement from an unentangled state and the emergence of driven
steady-state entanglement under continuous pumping. In both cases, we show that
large values for the concurrence are attainable for qubit-qubit distances
larger than the operating wavelength by using plasmonic waveguides that are
currently available.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Minor Changes. Journal Reference added.
Highlighted in Physic
Active galactic nuclei synapses: X-ray versus optical classifications using artificial neural networks
(Abridged) Many classes of active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been defined
entirely throughout optical wavelengths while the X-ray spectra have been very
useful to investigate their inner regions. However, optical and X-ray results
show many discrepancies that have not been fully understood yet. The aim of
this paper is to study the "synapses" between the X-ray and optical
classifications.
For the first time, the new EFLUXER task allowed us to analyse broad band
X-ray spectra of emission line nuclei (ELN) without any prior spectral fitting
using artificial neural networks (ANNs). Our sample comprises 162 XMM-Newton/pn
spectra of 90 local ELN in the Palomar sample. It includes starbursts (SB),
transition objects (T2), LINERs (L1.8 and L2), and Seyferts (S1, S1.8, and S2).
The ANNs are 90% efficient at classifying the trained classes S1, S1.8, and
SB. The S1 and S1.8 classes show a wide range of S1- and S1.8-like components.
We suggest that this is related to a large degree of obscuration at X-rays. The
S1, S1.8, S2, L1.8, L2/T2/SB-AGN (SB with indications of AGN), and SB classes
have similar average X-ray spectra within each class, but these average spectra
can be distinguished from class to class. The S2 (L1.8) class is linked to the
S1.8 (S1) class with larger SB-like component than the S1.8 (S1) class. The L2,
T2, and SB-AGN classes conform a class in the X-rays similar to the S2 class
albeit with larger fractions of SB-like component. This SB-like component is
the contribution of the star-formation in the host galaxy, which is large when
the AGN is weak. An AGN-like component seems to be present in the vast majority
of the ELN, attending to the non-negligible fraction of S1-like or S1.8-like
component. This trained ANN could be used to infer optical properties from
X-ray spectra in surveys like eRosita.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. Appendix B only
in the full version of the paper here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3484086/AGNSynapsis_OGM_online.pd
Dark Energy Accretion onto black holes in a cosmic scenario
In this paper we study the accretion of dark energy onto a black hole in the
cases that dark energy is equipped with a positive cosmological constant and
when the space-time is described by a Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. It is
shown that, if confronted with current observational data, the results derived
when no cosmological constant is present are once again obtained in both cases.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
High prevalence of scrapie in a dairy goat herd: tissue distribution of disease-associated PrP and effect of PRNP genotype and age
Following a severe outbreak of clinical scrapie in 2006–2007, a
large dairy goat herd was culled
and 200 animals were selected for post-mortem examinations in order to
ascertain the prevalence of infection,
the effect of age, breed and PRNP genotype on the susceptibility to scrapie,
the tissue distribution of diseaseassociated
PrP (PrP), and the comparative efficiency of different diagnostic methods.
As determined by immunohistochemical (IHC) examinations with Bar224 PrP antibody, the
prevalence of preclinical infection
was very high (72/200; 36.0%), with most infected animals being positive
for PrP in lymphoreticular system
(LRS) tissues (68/72; 94.4%) compared to those that were positive in
brain samples (38/72; 52.8%). The
retropharyngeal lymph node and the palatine tonsil showed the highest
frequency of PrP accumulation (87.3%
and 84.5%, respectively), while the recto-anal mucosa-associated lymphoid
tissue (RAMALT) was positive in
only 30 (41.7%) of the infected goats. However, the efficiency of rectal
and palatine tonsil biopsies taken
shortly before necropsy was similar. The probability of brain and RAMALT
being positive directly
correlated with the spread of PrP within the LRS. The prevalence of
infection was influenced by PRNP
genetics at codon 142 and by the age of the goats: methionine carriers older
than 60 months showed a much
lower prevalence of infection (12/78; 15.4%) than those younger than 60 months (20/42; 47.6%); these last
showed prevalence values similar to isoleucine homozygotes of any age
(40/80; 50.0%). Two of seven goats
with definite signs of scrapie were negative for PrP in brain but positive
in LRS tissues, and one goat showed
biochemical and IHC features of PrP different from all other infected
goats. The results of this study have
implications for surveillance and control policies for scrapie in goats
Polyurethane/acrylic hybrid dispersions containing phosphorus reactive flame retardants as transparent coatings for wood
Phosphorus modified polyurethane/acrylic hybrid dispersions were prepared for flame retardant transparent wood coatings. The polymerisation was carried out in three steps. In the first one, the polyurethane was synthesised using an acrylic monomer as solvent. The second step involved water addition that promoted the phase inversion and lastly, acrylic part was polymerised. The phosphorous compounds were covalently linked to polyurethane using a phosphorylated polyol and to the acrylic phase using an acrylic phosphate. Polymerisation was monitored by FTIR and NMR and the molar mass of the hybrids was measured by AF4 and SEC. The effects of the phosphorus in fire-retardant properties were analysed by thermogravimetry and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry. The introduction of phosphorus did not produce significant changes in the polymerisation process but promoted the cross-linking of the coatings. The coated wood samples maintained the transparency and good properties with the introduction of phosphorus and presented a slight reduction in the Peak Heat Release Rate measured by cone calorimeter. The action of phosphorus as a fire retardant was effective as it gave rise to significant reduction of the CO and CO2 peaks.The funding received from University of the Basque Country (GIU19/077, predoctoral grant of M. Puyadena and postdoctoral grant of M. Cobos) and the Basque Government (IT1313-19, PIBA20/16) is grate-fully acknowledged. Technical and human support provided by SGIker is also sincerely acknowledged (UPV/EHU/ ERDF, EU
Vortex ratchet reversal at fractional matching fields in kagom\'e-like array with symmetric pinning centers
Arrays of Ni nanodots embedded in Nb superconducting films have been
fabricated by sputtering and electron beam lithography techniques. The arrays
are periodic triangular lattices of circular Ni dots arranged in a
kagom\'e-like pattern with broken reflection symmetry. Relevant behaviors are
found in the vortex lattice dynamics : i) At values lower than the first
integer matching field, several fractional matching fields are present when the
vortex lattice moves parallel or perpendicular to the reflection symmetry axis
of the array showing a clear anisotropic character in the magnetoresistance
curves, ii) injecting an ac current perpendicular to the reflection symmetry
axis of the array yields an unidirectional motion of the vortex lattice
(ratchet effect) as a result of the interaction between the whole vortex
lattice and the asymmetric lattice of dots, iii) increasing the input current
amplitudes the ratchet effect changes polarity independently of matching field
values. These experimental results can be explained taking into account the
vortex lattice density.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Biomass-burning smoke heights over the Amazon observed from space
We characterise the vertical distribution of biomass-burning emissions across the Amazon during the biomass-burning season (July–November) with an extensive climatology of smoke plumes derived from MISR and MODIS (2005–2012) and CALIOP (2006–2012) observations. Smoke plume heights exhibit substantial variability, spanning a few hundred metres up to 6 km above the terrain. However, the majority of the smoke is located at altitudes below 2.5 km. About 60 % of smoke plumes are observed in drought years, 40 %–50 % at the peak month of the burning season (September) and 94 % over tropical forest and savanna regions, with respect to the total number of smoke plume observations. At the time of the MISR observations (10:00–11:00 LT), the highest plumes are detected over grassland fires (with an averaged maximum plume height of ∼1100 m) and the lowest plumes occur over tropical forest fires (∼800 m). A similar pattern is found later in the day (14:00–15:00 LT) with CALIOP, although at higher altitudes (2300 m grassland vs. 2000 m tropical forest), as CALIOP typically detects smoke at higher altitudes due to its later overpass time, associated with a deeper planetary boundary layer, possibly more energetic fires, and greater sensitivity to thin aerosol layers. On average, 3 %–20 % of the fires inject smoke into the free troposphere; this percentage tends to increase toward the end of the burning season (November: 15 %–40 %). We find a well-defined seasonal cycle between MISR plume heights, MODIS fire radiative power and atmospheric stability across the main biomes of the Amazon, with higher smoke plumes, more intense fires and reduced atmospheric stability conditions toward the end of the burning season. Lower smoke plume heights are detected during drought (800 m) compared to non-drought (1100 m) conditions, in particular over tropical forest and savanna fires. Drought conditions favour understory fires over tropical forest, which tend to produce smouldering combustion and low smoke injection heights. Droughts also seem to favour deeper boundary layers and the percentage of smoke plumes that reach the free troposphere is lower during these dry conditions. Consistent with previous studies, the MISR mid-visible aerosol optical depth demonstrates that smoke makes a significant contribution to the total aerosol loading over the Amazon, which in combination with lower injection heights in drought periods has important implications for air quality. This work highlights the importance of biome type, fire properties and atmospheric and drought conditions for plume dynamics and smoke loading. In addition, our study demonstrates the value of combining observations of MISR and CALIOP constraints on the vertical distribution of smoke from biomass burning over the Amazon
Attosecond VUV Coherent Control of Molecular Dynamics
High harmonic light sources make it possible to access attosecond
time-scales, thus opening up the prospect of manipulating electronic wave
packets for steering molecular dynamics. However, two decades after the birth
of attosecond physics, the concept of attosecond chemistry has not yet been
realized. This is because excitation and manipulation of molecular orbitals
requires precisely controlled attosecond waveforms in the deep ultraviolet,
which have not yet been synthesized. Here, we present a novel approach using
attosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulse-trains to coherently excite and control the
outcome of a simple chemical reaction in a deuterium molecule in a non-Born
Oppenheimer regime. By controlling the interfering pathways of electron wave
packets in the excited neutral and singly-ionized molecule, we unambiguously
show that we can switch the excited electronic state on attosecond timescales,
coherently guide the nuclear wave packets to dictate the way a neutral molecule
vibrates, and steer and manipulate the ionization and dissociation channels.
Furthermore, through advanced theory, we succeed in rigorously modeling
multi-scale electron and nuclear quantum control in a molecule for the first
time. The observed richness and complexity of the dynamics, even in this very
simplest of molecules, is both remarkable and daunting, and presents intriguing
new possibilities for bridging the gap between attosecond physics and
attochemistry
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