3,259 research outputs found
The hbar Expansion in Quantum Field Theory
We show how expansions in powers of Planck's constant hbar = h/2\pi can give
new insights into perturbative and nonperturbative properties of quantum field
theories. Since hbar is a fundamental parameter, exact Lorentz invariance and
gauge invariance are maintained at each order of the expansion. The physics of
the hbar expansion depends on the scheme; i.e., different expansions are
obtained depending on which quantities (momenta, couplings and masses) are
assumed to be independent of hbar. We show that if the coupling and mass
parameters appearing in the Lagrangian density are taken to be independent of
hbar, then each loop in perturbation theory brings a factor of hbar. In the
case of quantum electrodynamics, this scheme implies that the classical charge
e, as well as the fine structure constant are linear in hbar. The connection
between the number of loops and factors of hbar is more subtle for bound states
since the binding energies and bound-state momenta themselves scale with hbar.
The hbar expansion allows one to identify equal-time relativistic bound states
in QED and QCD which are of lowest order in hbar and transform dynamically
under Lorentz boosts. The possibility to use retarded propagators at the Born
level gives valence-like wave-functions which implicitly describe the sea
constituents of the bound states normally present in its Fock state
representation.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.
Many-Body Dynamics and Exciton Formation Studied by Time-Resolved Photoluminescence
The dynamics of exciton and electron-hole plasma populations is studied via
time-resolved photoluminescence after nonresonant excitation. By comparing the
peak emission at the exciton resonance with the emission of the continuum, it
is possible to experimentally identify regimes where the emission originates
predominantly from exciton and/or plasma populations. The results are supported
by a microscopic theory which allows one to extract the fraction of bright
excitons as a function of time.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Photoluminescence and Terahertz Emission from Femtosecond Laser-Induced Plasma Channels
Luminescence as a mechanism for terahertz emission from femtosecond
laser-induced plasmas is studied. By using a fully microscopic theory, Coulomb
scattering between electrons and ions is shown to lead to luminescence even for
a spatially homogeneous plasma. The spectral features introduced by the rod
geometry of laser-induced plasma channels in air are discussed on the basis of
a generalized mode-function analysis.Comment: 4 pages with 2 figures
Excitonic Photoluminescence in Semiconductor Quantum Wells: Plasma versus Excitons
Time-resolved photoluminescence spectra after nonresonant excitation show a
distinct 1s resonance, independent of the existence of bound excitons. A
microscopic analysis identifies excitonic and electron-hole plasma
contributions. For low temperatures and low densities the excitonic emission is
extremely sensitive to even minute optically active exciton populations making
it possible to extract a phase diagram for incoherent excitonic populations.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Vibration-enhanced quantum transport
In this paper, we study the role of collective vibrational motion in the
phenomenon of electronic energy transfer (EET) along a chain of coupled
electronic dipoles with varying excitation frequencies. Previous experimental
work on EET in conjugated polymer samples has suggested that the common
structural framework of the macromolecule introduces correlations in the energy
gap fluctuations which cause coherent EET. Inspired by these results, we
present a simple model in which a driven nanomechanical resonator mode
modulates the excitation energy of coupled quantum dots and find that this can
indeed lead to an enhancement in the transport of excitations across the
quantum network. Disorder of the on-site energies is a key requirement for this
to occur. We also show that in this solid state system phase information is
partially retained in the transfer process, as experimentally demonstrated in
conjugated polymer samples. Consequently, this mechanism of vibration enhanced
quantum transport might find applications in quantum information transfer of
qubit states or entanglement.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, new material, included references, final
published versio
Influence of Coulomb and Phonon Interaction on the Exciton Formation Dynamics in Semiconductor Heterostructures
A microscopic theory is developed to analyze the dynamics of exciton
formation out of incoherent carriers in semiconductor heterostructures. The
carrier Coulomb and phonon interaction is included consistently. A cluster
expansion method is used to systematically truncate the hierarchy problem. By
including all correlations up to the four-point (i.e. two-particle) level, the
fundamental fermionic substructure of excitons is fully included. The analysis
shows that the exciton formation is an intricate process where Coulomb
correlations rapidly build up on a picosecond time scale while phonon dynamics
leads to true exciton formation on a slow nanosecond time scale.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Structural characterization of copper(II) binding to α-Synuclein: Insights into the bioinorganic chemistry of Parkinson's disease
The aggregation of α -synuclein (AS) is characteristic of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative synucleinopathies. We demonstrate here that Cu(II) ions are effective in accelerating AS aggregation at physiologically relevant concentrations without altering the resultant fibrillar structures. By using numerous spectroscopic techniques (absorption, CD, EPR, and NMR), we have located the primary binding for Cu(II) to a specific site in the N terminus, involving His-50 as the anchoring residue and other nitrogen oxygen donor atoms in a square planar or distorted tetragonal geometry. The carboxylate-rich C terminus, originally thought to drive copper binding, is able to coordinate a second Cu(II) equivalent, albeit with a 300-fold reduced affinity. The NMR analysis of AS–Cu(II) complexes reveals the existence of conformational restrictions in the native state of the protein. The metallobiology of Cu(II) in Parkinson’s disease is discussed by a comparative analysis with other Cu(II)-binding proteins involved in neurodegenerative disorders
Correlated errors in Hipparcos parallaxes towards the Pleiades and the Hyades
We show that the errors in the Hipparcos parallaxes towards the Pleiades and
the Hyades open clusters are spatially correlated over angular scales of 2 to 3
deg, with an amplitude of up to 2 mas. This correlation is stronger than
expected based on the analysis of the Hipparcos catalog. We predict the
parallaxes of individual cluster members, pi_pm, from their Hipparcos proper
motions, assuming that all cluster members have the same space velocity. We
compare pi_pm with their Hipparcos parallaxes, pi_Hip, and find that there are
significant spatial correlations in pi_Hip. We derive a distance modulus to the
Pleiades of 5.58 +- 0.18 mag using the radial-velocity gradient method. This
value, agrees very well with the distance modulus of 5.60 +- 0.04 mag
determined using the main-sequence fitting technique, compared with the value
of 5.33 +- 0.06 inferred from the average of the Hipparcos parallaxes of the
Pleiades members. We show that the difference between the main-sequence fitting
distance and the Hipparcos parallax distance can arise from spatially
correlated errors in the Hipparcos parallaxes of individual Pleiades members.
Although the Hipparcos parallax errors towards the Hyades are spatially
correlated in a manner similar to those of the Pleiades, the center of the
Hyades is located on a node of this spatial structure. Therefore, the parallax
errors cancel out when the average distance is estimated, leading to a mean
Hyades distance modulus that agrees with the pre-Hipparcos value. We speculate
that these spatial correlations are also responsible for the discrepant
distances that are inferred using the mean Hipparcos parallaxes to some open
clusters. Finally, we note that our conclusions are based on a purely geometric
method and do not rely on any models of stellar isochrones.Comment: 33 pages including 10 Figures, revised version accepted for
publication in Ap
Composition Dependence of the Structure and Electronic Properties of Liquid Ga-Se Alloys Studied by Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Ab initio molecular dynamics simulation is used to study the structure and
electronic properties of the liquid Ga-Se system at the three compositions
GaSe, GaSe and GaSe, and of the GaSe and GaSe crystals. The
calculated equilibrium structure of GaSe crystal agrees well with available
experimental data. The neutron-weighted liquid structure factors calculated
from the simulations are in reasonable agreement with recent neutron
diffraction measurements. Simulation results for the partial radial
distribution functions show that the liquid structure is closely related to
that of the crystals. A close similarity between solid and liquid is also found
for the electronic density of states and charge density. The calculated
electronic conductivity decreases strongly with increasing Se content, in
accord with experimental measurements.Comment: REVTeX, 8 pages and 12 uuencoded PostScript figures, submitted to
Phys. Rev. B. corresponding author: [email protected]
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