Vortex-line solitons in a periodically modulated Bose gas

We study the nonlinear excitations of a vortex-line in a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a one-dimensional optical lattice. We find that the classical Euler dynamics of the vortex results in a description of the vortex line in terms of a (discrete) one-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation, which allows for both bright and gray soliton solutions. We discuss these solutions in detail and predict that it is possible to create vortex-line solitons with current experimental capabilities.Comment: minor changes, updated/corrected references, 4 pages, 3 figure

Stationary quantum Markov process for the Wigner function

As a stochastic model for quantum mechanics we present a stationary quantum Markov process for the time evolution of the Wigner function on a lattice phase space Z_N x Z_N with N odd. By introducing a phase factor extension to the phase space, each particle can be treated independently. This is an improvement on earlier methods that require the whole distribution function to determine the evolution of a constituent particle. The process has branching and vanishing points, though a finite time interval can be maintained between the branchings. The procedure to perform a simulation using the process is presented.Comment: 12 pages, no figures; replaced with version accepted for publication in J. Phys. A, title changed, an example adde

A Monte Carlo Approach to Measure the Robustness of Boolean Networks

Emergence of robustness in biological networks is a paramount feature of evolving organisms, but a study of this property in vivo, for any level of representation such as Genetic, Metabolic, or Neuronal Networks, is a very hard challenge. In the case of Genetic Networks, mathematical models have been used in this context to provide insights on their robustness, but even in relatively simple formulations, such as Boolean Networks (BN), it might not be feasible to compute some measures for large system sizes. We describe in this work a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the size of the largest basin of attraction of a BN, which is intrinsically associated with its robustness, that can be used regardless the network size. We show the stability of our method through finite-size analysis and validate it with a full search on small networks.Comment: on 1st International Workshop on Robustness and Stability of Biological Systems and Computational Solutions (WRSBS

Single Crystal Growth and Characterization of the Iron-Based Superconductor KFe2As2 Synthesized by KAs Flux Method

Centimeter sized platelet single crystals of KFe2As2 were grown using a self-flux method. An encapsulation technique using commercial stainless steel container allowed the stable crystal growth lasting for more than 2 weeks. Ternary K-Fe-As systems with various starting compositions were examined to determine the optimal growth conditions. Employment of KAs flux led to the growth of large single crystals with the typical size of as large as 15 mm x 10 mm x 0.4 mm. The grown crystals exhibit sharp superconducting transition at 3.4 K with the transition width 0.2 K, as well as the very large residual resistivity ratio exceeding 450, evidencing the good sample quality.Comment: 4 pages, 6 Postscript figure

Radial Correlations between two quarks

In nuclear many-body problems the short-range correlation between two nucleons is well described by the corresponding correlation in the {two}-body problem. Therefore, as a first step in any attempt at an analogous description of many-quark systems, it is necessary to know the two-quark correlation. With this in mind, we study the light quark distribution in a heavy-light meson with a static heavy quark. The charge and matter radial distributions of these heavy-light mesons are measured on a lattice with a light quark mass about that of the strange quark. Both distributions can be well fitted upto r approx 0.7 fm with the exponential form w_i^2(r), where w_i(r)=A exp(-r/r_i). For the charge(c) and matter(m) distributions r_c approx 0.32(2) fm and r_m \approx 0.24(2) fm. We also discuss the normalisation of the total charge (defined to be unity in the continuum limit) and matter integrated over all space, finding 1.30(5) and 0.4(1) respectively for a lattice spacing approx 0.17 fm.Comment: 8 pages, 3 ps figure

Noncommutative Vortex Solitons

We consider the noncommutative Abelian-Higgs theory and investigate general static vortex configurations including recently found exact multi-vortex solutions. In particular, we prove that the self-dual BPS solutions cease to exist once the noncommutativity scale exceeds a critical value. We then study the fluctuation spectra about the static configuration and show that the exact non BPS solutions are unstable below the critical value. We have identified the tachyonic degrees as well as massless moduli degrees. We then discuss the physical meaning of the moduli degrees and construct exact time-dependent vortex configurations where each vortex moves independently. We finally give the moduli description of the vortices and show that the matrix nature of moduli coordinates naturally emerges.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, typos corrected, a comment on the soliton size is adde

The Environment of ``E+A'' Galaxies

The violent star formation history of ``E+A'' galaxies and their detection almost exclusively in distant clusters is frequently used to link them to the ``Butcher-Oemler effect'' and to argue that cluster environment influences galaxy evolution. From 11113 spectra in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey, we have obtained a unique sample of 21 nearby ``E+A" galaxies. Surprisingly, a large fraction (about 75%) of these ``E+A''s lie in the field. Therefore, interactions with the cluster environment, in the form of the ICM or cluster potential, are not essential for ``E+A'' formation. If one mechanism is responsible for ``E+A''s, their existence in the field and the tidal features in at least 5 of the 21 argue that galaxy-galaxy interactions and mergers are that mechanism. The most likely environments for such interactions are poor groups, which have lower velocity dispersions than clusters and higher galaxy densities than the field. In hierarchical models, groups fall into clusters in greater numbers at intermediate redshifts than they do today. Thus, the Butcher-Oemler effect may reflect the typical evolution of galaxies in groups and in the field rather than the influence of clusters on star formation in galaxies. This abstract is abridged.Comment: 39 uuencoded, compressed pages (except Fig 1), complete preprint at ftp://ociw.edu/pub/aiz/eplusa.ps, ApJ, submitte