Weakly coupled s=1/2s = 1/2 quantum spin singlets in Ba3_{3}Cr2_{2}O8_{8}

Using single crystal inelastic neutron scattering with and without application of an external magnetic field and powder neutron diffraction, we have characterized magnetic interactions in Ba$_3$Cr$_2$O$_8$. Even without field, we found that there exist three singlet-to-triplet excitation modes in $(h,h,l)$ scattering plane. Our complete analysis shows that the three modes are due to spatially anisotropic interdimer interactions that are induced by local distortions of the tetrahedron of oxygens surrounding the Jahn-Teller active Cr$^{5+} (3d^1)$. The strong intradimer coupling of $J_0 = 2.38(2)$ meV and weak interdimer interactions ($|J_{\rm inter}| \leq 0.52(2)$ meV) makes Ba$_3$Cr$_2$O$_8$ a good model system for weakly-coupled $s = 1/2$ quantum spin dimers

Dilaton as a Dark Matter Candidate and its Detection

Assuming that the dilaton is the dark matter of the universe, we propose an experiment to detect the relic dilaton using the electromagnetic resonant cavity, based on the dilaton-photon conversion in strong electromagnetic background. We calculate the density of the relic dilaton, and estimate the dilaton mass for which the dilaton becomes the dark matter of the universe. With this we calculate the dilaton detection power in the resonant cavity, and compare it with the axion detection power in similar resonant cavity experiment.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figure

Theta Vectors and Quantum Theta Functions

In this paper, we clarify the relation between Manin's quantum theta function and Schwarz's theta vector in comparison with the kq representation, which is equivalent to the classical theta function, and the corresponding coordinate space wavefunction. We first explain the equivalence relation between the classical theta function and the kq representation in which the translation operators of the phase space are commuting. When the translation operators of the phase space are not commuting, then the kq representation is no more meaningful. We explain why Manin's quantum theta function obtained via algebra (quantum tori) valued inner product of the theta vector is a natural choice for quantum version of the classical theta function (kq representation). We then show that this approach holds for a more general theta vector with constant obtained from a holomorphic connection of constant curvature than the simple Gaussian one used in the Manin's construction. We further discuss the properties of the theta vector and of the quantum theta function, both of which have similar symmetry properties under translation.Comment: LaTeX 21 pages, give more explicit explanations for notions given in the tex

The norovirus NS3 protein is a dynamic lipid- and microtubule-associated protein involved in viral RNA replication

Norovirus (NoV) infections are a significant health burden to society, yet the lack of reliable tissue culture systems has hampered the development of appropriate antiviral therapies. Here we show that the NoV NS3 protein, derived from murine NoV (MNV), is intimately associated with the MNV replication complex and the viral replication intermediate double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). We observed that when expressed individually, MNV NS3 and NS3 encoded by human Norwalk virus (NV) induced the formation of distinct vesicle-like structures that did not colocalize with any particular protein markers to cellular organelles but localized to cellular membranes, in particular those with a high cholesterol content. Both proteins also showed some degree of colocalization with the cytoskeleton marker β-tubulin. Although the distribution of MNV and NV NS3s were similar, NV NS3 displayed a higher level of colocalization with the Golgi apparatus and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). However, we observed that although both proteins colocalized in membranes counterstained with filipin, an indicator of cholesterol content, MNV NS3 displayed a greater association with flotillin and stomatin, proteins known to associate with sphingolipid- and cholesterol-rich microdomains. Utilizing time-lapse epifluorescence microscopy, we observed that the membrane-derived vesicular structures induced by MNV NS3 were highly motile and dynamic in nature, and their movement was dependent on intact microtubules. These results begin to interrogate the functions of NoV proteins during virus replication and highlight the conserved properties of the NoV NS3 proteins among the seven Norovirus genogroups

Constructive Wall-Crossing and Seiberg-Witten

We outline a comprehensive and first-principle solution to the wall-crossing problem in D=4 N=2 Seiberg-Witten theories. We start with a brief review of the multi-centered nature of the typical BPS states and recall how the wall-crossing problem thus becomes really a bound state formation/dissociation problem. Low energy dynamics for arbitrary collections of dyons is derived, from Seiberg-Witten theory, with the proximity to the so-called marginal stability wall playing the role of the small expansion parameter. We find that, surprisingly, the $\mathbb{R}^{3n}$ low energy dynamics of n+1 BPS dyons cannot be consistently reduced to the classical moduli space, \CM, yet the index can be phrased in terms of \CM. We also explain how an equivariant version of this index computes the protected spin character of the underlying field theory, where SO(3)_\CJ isometry of \CM turns out to be the diagonal subgroup of $SU(2)_L$ spatial rotation and $SU(2)_R$ R-symmetry. The so-called rational invariants, previously seen in the Kontsevich-Soibelman formalism of wall-crossing, are shown to emerge naturally from the orbifolding projection due to Bose/Fermi statistics.Comment: 25 pages, conference proceeding contribution for "Progress of Quantum Field Theory and String Theory," Osaka, April 201

Nucleotidylylation of the VPg protein of a human norovirus by its proteinase-polymerase precursor protein

AbstractCaliciviruses have a positive strand RNA genome covalently-linked at the 5'-end to a small protein, VPg. This study examined the biochemical modification of VPg by the ProPol form of the polymerase of human norovirus strain MD145 (GII.4). Recombinant norovirus VPg was shown to be nucleotidylylated in the presence of Mn2+ by MD145 ProPol. Phosphodiesterase I treatment of the nucleotidylylated VPg released the incorporated UMP, which was consistent with linkage of RNA to VPg via a phosphodiester bond. Mutagenesis analysis of VPg identified Tyrosine 27 as the target amino acid for this linkage, and suggested that VPg conformation was important for the reaction. Nucleotidylylation was inefficient in the presence of Mg2+; however the addition of full- and subgenomic-length MD145 RNA transcripts led to a marked enhancement of the nucleotidylylation efficiency in the presence of this divalent cation. Furthermore, evidence was found for the presence of an RNA element near the 3'-end of the polyadenylated genome that enhanced the efficiency of nucleotidylylation in the presence of Mg2+

Dynamic origin of azimuthal modes splitting in vortex-state magnetic dots

A spin wave theory explaining experimentally observed frequency splitting of dynamical excitations with azimuthal symmetry of a magnetic dot in a vortex ground state is developed. It is shown that this splitting is a result of the dipolar hybridization of three spin wave modes of a dot having azimuthal indices |m|=1: two high-frequency azimuthal excitation modes of the in-plane part of the vortex with indices m = +/-1 and a low-frequency m= +1 gyrotropic mode describing the translational motion of the vortex core. The analytically calculated magnitude of the frequency splitting is proportional to the ratio of the dot thickness to its radius and quantitatively agrees with the results of time resolved Kerr experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Transfverter: Imbuing Transformer-Like Properties in an Interlink Converter for Robust Control of a Hybrid AC–DC Microgrid

In a hybrid ac-dc microgrid, stiff voltage sources may appear in either the dc or ac subgrids which gives rise to multiple operation modes as power dispatch changes. This creates a challenge for designing the interlink converter between the ac and dc subgrids since the different modes require different interlink controls. To solve this problem, this paper proposes the concept of a transfverter inspired by how transformers link ac grids. Like a transformer, a transfverter can react to the presence of stiff voltage sources on either the dc or ac side and reflect the “stiffness” and voltage stabilizing capability to the other side. A back-to-back converter with droop control is used as the underlying technology to implement this concept. A novel optimization method called model bank synthesis is proposed to find control parameters for the interlink converter that offer the best controller performance across the different microgrid modes without requiring mode-changing of the controller. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is validated through both simulation and experiments

Stable expression of a Norwalk virus RNA replicon in a human hepatoma cell line

AbstractNorwalk virus (NV) is a prototype strain of the genus Norovirus in the family Caliciviridae. The human noroviruses have emerged as major agents of acute gastroenteritis in all age groups, but there are no vaccines or antiviral agents partly due to the absence of a cell culture system. We report the generation of cells expressing self-replicating NV RNA (NV replicon) following transfection of NV RNA bearing an engineered neomycin resistance gene into cell lines of human (Huh-7) or hamster (BHK21) origin. Expression of replicon RNA was significantly reduced in the presence of interferon (IFN)-α in a dose-dependent manner in the NV replicon-bearing cells, suggesting a role for innate immunity in the control of human norovirus replication. This stable NV replicon system should lead to new insights into norovirus replication, virus–host interactions, and approaches for the treatment of norovirus disease

Phase field analysis of eutectic breakdown.

In this paper an isotropic multi-phase-field model is extended to include the effects of anisotropy and the spontaneous nucleation of an absent phase. This model is derived and compared against a published single phase model. Results from this model are compared against results from other multi-phase models, additionally this model is used to examine the break down of a regular two dimensional eutectic into a single phase dendritic front