527 research outputs found
c-axis Josephson Tunneling in Twinned YBCO Crystals
Josephson tunneling between YBCO and Pb with the current flowing along the
c-axis of the YBCO is persumed to come from an s-wave component of the
superconductivity of the YBCO. Experiments on multi-twin samples are not
entirely consistent with this hypothesis. The sign change of the s-wave order
parameter across the N_T twin boundaries should give cancelations, resulting in
a small tunneling current. The actual current is larger than this.
We present a theory of this unexpectedly large current based upon a surface
effect: disorder-induced supression of the d-wave component at the (001)
surface leads to s-wave coherence across the twin boundaries and a non-random
tunneling current. We solve the case of an ordered array of d+s and d-s twins,
and estimate that the twin size at which s-wave surface coherence occurs is
consistent with typical sizes observed in experiments. In this picture, there
is a phase difference of between different surfaces of the material. We
propose a corner junction experiment to test this picture.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps figure
Testing spontaneous localization theories with matter-wave interferometry
We propose to test the theory of continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) in
an all-optical time-domain Talbot-Lau interferometer for clusters with masses
exceeding 1000000 amu. By assessing the relevant environmental decoherence
mechanisms, as well as the growing size of the particles relative to the
grating fringes, we argue that it will be feasible to test the quantum
superposition principle in a mass range excluded by recent estimates of the CSL
effect.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; corresponds to published versio
Observation of nonlinear self-trapping of broad beams in defocusing waveguide arrays
We demonstrate experimentally the localization of broad optical beams in periodic arrays of optical waveguides with defocusing nonlinearity. This observation in optics is linked to nonlinear self-trapping of Bose-Einstein-condensed atoms in stationary periodic potentials being associated with the generation of truncated nonlinear Bloch states, existing in the gaps of the linear transmission spectrum. We reveal that unlike gap solitons, these novel localized states can have an arbitrary width defined solely by the size of the input beam while independent of nonlinearity
Transcriptomic signatures of neuronal differentiation and their association with risk genes for autism spectrum and related neuropsychiatric disorders.
Genes for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are also implicated in fragile X syndrome (FXS), intellectual disabilities (ID) or schizophrenia (SCZ), and converge on neuronal function and differentiation. The SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line, the most widely used system to study neurodevelopment, is currently discussed for its applicability to model cortical development. We implemented an optimal neuronal differentiation protocol of this system and evaluated neurodevelopment at the transcriptomic level using the CoNTeXT framework, a machine-learning algorithm based on human post-mortem brain data estimating developmental stage and regional identity of transcriptomic signatures. Our improved model in contrast to currently used SH-SY5Y models does capture early neurodevelopmental processes with high fidelity. We applied regression modelling, dynamic time warping analysis, parallel independent component analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis to identify activated gene sets and networks. Finally, we tested and compared these sets for enrichment of risk genes for neuropsychiatric disorders. We confirm a significant overlap of genes implicated in ASD with FXS, ID and SCZ. However, counterintuitive to this observation, we report that risk genes affect pathways specific for each disorder during early neurodevelopment. Genes implicated in ASD, ID, FXS and SCZ were enriched among the positive regulators, but only ID-implicated genes were also negative regulators of neuronal differentiation. ASD and ID genes were involved in dendritic branching modules, but only ASD risk genes were implicated in histone modification or axonal guidance. Only ID genes were over-represented among cell cycle modules. We conclude that the underlying signatures are disorder-specific and that the shared genetic architecture results in overlaps across disorders such as ID in ASD. Thus, adding developmental network context to genetic analyses will aid differentiating the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders
ARPES in the normal state of the cuprates: comparing the marginal Fermi liquid and spin fluctuation scenarios
We address the issue whether ARPES measurements of the spectral function near the Fermi surface in the normal state of near optimally doped
cuprates can distinguish between the marginal Fermi liquid scenario and the
spin-fluctuation scenario. We argue that the data for momenta near the Fermi
surface are equally well described by both theories, but this agreement is
nearly meaningless as in both cases one has to add to a large constant of yet unknown origin. We show that the data can be
well fitted by keeping only this constant term in the self-energy. To
distinguish between the two scenarios, one has to analyze the data away from
the Fermi surface, when the intrinsic piece in becomes
dominant.Comment: Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letters, Incorrect
interpretation of reference 10 correcte
Concept of an ionizing time-domain matter-wave interferometer
We discuss the concept of an all-optical and ionizing matter-wave
interferometer in the time domain. The proposed setup aims at testing the wave
nature of highly massive clusters and molecules, and it will enable new
precision experiments with a broad class of atoms, using the same laser system.
The propagating particles are illuminated by three pulses of a standing
ultraviolet laser beam, which detaches an electron via efficient single
photon-absorption. Optical gratings may have periods as small as 80 nm, leading
to wide diffraction angles for cold atoms and to compact setups even for very
massive clusters. Accounting for the coherent and the incoherent parts of the
particle-light interaction, we show that the combined effect of phase and
amplitude modulation of the matter waves gives rise to a Talbot-Lau-like
interference effect with a characteristic dependence on the pulse delay time.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
Automatic Filters for the Detection of Coherent Structure in Spatiotemporal Systems
Most current methods for identifying coherent structures in
spatially-extended systems rely on prior information about the form which those
structures take. Here we present two new approaches to automatically filter the
changing configurations of spatial dynamical systems and extract coherent
structures. One, local sensitivity filtering, is a modification of the local
Lyapunov exponent approach suitable to cellular automata and other discrete
spatial systems. The other, local statistical complexity filtering, calculates
the amount of information needed for optimal prediction of the system's
behavior in the vicinity of a given point. By examining the changing
spatiotemporal distributions of these quantities, we can find the coherent
structures in a variety of pattern-forming cellular automata, without needing
to guess or postulate the form of that structure. We apply both filters to
elementary and cyclical cellular automata (ECA and CCA) and find that they
readily identify particles, domains and other more complicated structures. We
compare the results from ECA with earlier ones based upon the theory of formal
languages, and the results from CCA with a more traditional approach based on
an order parameter and free energy. While sensitivity and statistical
complexity are equally adept at uncovering structure, they are based on
different system properties (dynamical and probabilistic, respectively), and
provide complementary information.Comment: 16 pages, 21 figures. Figures considerably compressed to fit arxiv
requirements; write first author for higher-resolution version
First order superconducting transition near a ferromagnetic quantum critical point
We address the issue of how triplet superconductivity emerges in an
electronic system near a ferromagnetic quantum critical point (FQCP). Previous
studies found that the superconducting transition is of second order, and Tc is
strongly reduced near the FQCP due to pair-breaking effects from thermal spin
fluctuations. In contrast, we demonstrate that near the FQCP, the system avoids
pair-breaking effects by undergoing a first order transition at a much larger
Tc. A second order superconducting transition emerges only at some distance
from the FQCP.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Singularities in the optical response of cuprates
We argue that the detailed analysis of the optical response in cuprate
superconductors allows one to verify the magnetic scenario of superconductivity
in cuprates, as for strong coupling charge carriers to antiferromagnetic spin
fluctuations, the second derivative of optical conductivity should contain
detectable singularities at , , and
, where is the amplitude of the
superconducting gap, and is the resonance energy of spin
fluctuations measured in neutron scattering. We argue that there is a good
chance that these singularities have already been detected in the experiments
on optimally doped .Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Kinetic Energy, Condensation Energy, Optical Sum Rule and Pairing Mechanism in High-Tc Cuprates
The mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity is investigated with interests on
the microscopic aspects of the condensation energy. The theoretical analysis is
performed on the basis of the FLEX approximation which is a microscopic
description of the spin-fluctuation-induced-superconductivity. Most of phase
transitions in strongly correlated electron system arise from the correlation
energy which is copmetitive to the kinetic energy. However, we show that the
kinetic energy cooperatively induces the superconductivity in the underdoped
region. This unusual decrease of kinetic energy below T_c is induced by the
feedback effect. The feedback effect induces the magnetic resonance mode as
well as the kink in the electronic dispersion, and alters the properties of
quasi-particles, such as mass renormalization and lifetime. The crossover from
BCS behavior to this unusual behavior occurs for hole dopings. On the other
hand, the decrease of kinetic energy below T_c does not occur in the
electron-doped region. We discuss the relation to the recent obserbation of the
violation of optical sum rule
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