14,673 research outputs found
Correlated versus Ferromagnetic State in Repulsively Interacting Two-Component Fermi Gases
Whether a spin-1/2 Fermi gas will become ferromagnetic as the strength of
repulsive interaction increases is a long-standing controversial issue.
Recently this problem is studied experimentally by Jo et al, Science, 325, 1521
(2009) in which the authors claim a ferromagnetic transition is observed. This
work is to point out the results of this experiment can not distinguish whether
the system is in a ferromagnetic state or in a non-magnetic but strongly
short-range correlated state. A conclusive experimental demonstration of
ferromagnetism relies on the observation of ferromagnetic domains.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, published versio
The Evolution of Bias - Generalized
Fry (1996) showed that galaxy bias has the tendency to evolve towards unity,
i.e. in the long run, the galaxy distribution tends to trace that of matter.
Generalizing slightly Fry's reasoning, we show that his conclusion remains
valid in theories of modified gravity (or equivalently, complex clustered dark
energy). This is not surprising: as long as both galaxies and matter are
subject to the same force, dynamics would drive them towards tracing each
other. This holds, for instance, in theories where both galaxies and matter
move on geodesics. This relaxation of bias towards unity is tempered by cosmic
acceleration, however: the bias tends towards unity but does not quite make it,
unless the formation bias were close to unity. Our argument is extended in a
straightforward manner to the case of a stochastic or nonlinear bias. An
important corollary is that dynamical evolution could imprint a scale
dependence on the large scale galaxy bias. This is especially pronounced if
non-standard gravity introduces new scales to the problem: the bias at
different scales relaxes at different rates, the larger scales generally more
slowly and retaining a longer memory of the initial bias. A consistency test of
the current (general relativity + uniform dark energy) paradigm is therefore to
look for departure from a scale independent bias on large scales. A simple way
is to measure the relative bias of different populations of galaxies which are
at different stages of bias relaxation. Lastly, we comment on the possibility
of directly testing the Poisson equation on cosmological scales, as opposed to
indirectly through the growth factor.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. References added. Accepted for publication in
Physical Review
Novel Precursors for Boron Nanotubes: The Competition of Two-Center and Three-Center Bonding in Boron Sheets
We present a new class of boron sheets, composed of triangular and hexagonal
motifs, that are more stable than structures considered to date and thus are
likely to be the precursors of boron nanotubes. We describe a simple and clear
picture of electronic bonding in boron sheets and highlight the importance of
three-center bonding and its competition with two-center bonding, which can
also explain the stability of recently discovered boron fullerenes. Our
findings call for reconsideration of the literature on boron sheets, nanotubes,
and clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Bounds on Cross-sections and Lifetimes for Dark Matter Annihilation and Decay into Charged Leptons from Gamma-ray Observations of Dwarf Galaxies
We provide conservative bounds on the dark matter cross-section and lifetime
from final state radiation produced by annihilation or decay into charged
leptons, either directly or via an intermediate particle . Our analysis
utilizes the experimental gamma-ray flux upper limits from four Milky Way dwarf
satellites: HESS observations of Sagittarius and VERITAS observations of Draco,
Ursa Minor, and Willman 1. Using 90% confidence level lower limits on the
integrals over the dark matter distributions, we find that these constraints
are largely unable to rule out dark matter annihilations or decays as an
explanation of the PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS excesses. However, if there is an
additional Sommerfeld enhancement in dwarfs, which have a velocity dispersion
~10 to 20 times lower than that of the local Galactic halo, then the
cross-sections for dark matter annihilating through 's required to
explain the excesses are very close to the cross-section upper bounds from
Willman 1. Dark matter annihilation directly into 's is also marginally
ruled out by Willman 1 as an explanation of the excesses, and the required
cross-section is only a factor of a few below the upper bound from Draco.
Finally, we make predictions for the gamma-ray flux expected from the dwarf
galaxy Segue 1 for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We find that for a
sizeable fraction of the parameter space in which dark matter annihilation into
charged leptons explains the PAMELA excess, Fermi has good prospects for
detecting a gamma-ray signal from Segue 1 after one year of observation.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. References added. Final published versio
SU(3) Quantum Interferometry with single-photon input pulses
We develop a framework for solving the action of a three-channel passive
optical interferometer on single-photon pulse inputs to each channel using
SU(3) group-theoretic methods, which can be readily generalized to higher-order
photon-coincidence experiments. We show that features of the coincidence plots
vs relative time delays of photons yield information about permanents,
immanants, and determinants of the interferometer SU(3) matrix
A new criteria for zero quantum discord
We propose a new criterion to judge zero quantum discord for arbitrary
bipartite states. A bipartite quantum state has zero quantum discord if and
only if all blocks of its density matrix are normal matrices and commute with
each other. Given a bipartite state with zero quantum discord, how to find out
the set of local projectors, which do not disturb the whole state after being
imposed on one subsystem, is also presented. A class of two-qubit X-state is
used to test the criterion, and an experimental scheme is proposed to realize
it. Consequently, we prove that the positive operator-valued measurement can
not extinguish the quantum correlation of a bipartite state with nonzero
quantum discord.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur
Isolation site influences virulence phenotype of serotype 14 Streptococcus pneumoniae strains belonging to multilocus sequence type 15
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a diverse species causing invasive as well as localized infections that result in massive global morbidity and mortality. Strains vary markedly in pathogenic potential, but the molecular basis is obscured by the diversity and plasticity of the pneumococcal genome. We have previously reported that S. pneumoniae serotype 3 isolates belonging to the same multilocus sequence type (MLST) differed markedly in in vitro and in vivo phenotypes, in accordance with the clinical site of isolation, suggesting stable niche adaptation within a clonal lineage. In the present study, we have extended our analysis to serotype 14 clinical isolates from cases of sepsis or otitis media that belong to the same MLST (ST15). In a murine intranasal challenge model, five ST15 isolates (three from blood and two from ears) colonized the nasopharynx to similar extents. However, blood and ear isolates exhibited significant differences in bacterial loads in other host niches (lungs, ear, and brain) at both 24 and 72 h postchallenge. In spite of these differences, blood and ear isolates were present in the lungs at similar levels at 6 h postchallenge, suggesting that early immune responses may underpin the distinct virulence phenotypes. Transcriptional analysis of lung tissue from mice infected for 6 h with blood isolates versus ear isolates revealed 8 differentially expressed genes. Two of these were exclusively expressed in response to infection with the ear isolate. These results suggest a link between the differential capacities to elicit early innate immune responses and the distinct virulence phenotypes of clonally related S. pneumoniae strains
CD4+ T-cell responses to Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1 in Chinese populations are highly focused on novel C-terminal domain-derived epitopes
Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1, the one viral protein uniformly expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), represents a prime target for T-cell-based immunotherapy. However, little is known about the EBNA1 epitopes, particularly CD4 epitopes, presented by HLA alleles in Chinese people, the group at highest risk for NPC. We analyzed the CD4 T-cell responses to EBNA1 in 78 healthy Chinese donors and found marked focusing on a small number of epitopes in the EBNA1 C-terminal region, including a DP5- restricted epitope that was recognized by almost half of the donors tested and elicited responses able to recognize EBNA1-expressing, DP5-positive target cells
Constraining the Nature of X-ray Cavities in Clusters and Galaxies
We present results from an extensive survey of 64 cavities in the X-ray halos
of clusters, groups and normal elliptical galaxies. We show that the evolution
of the size of the cavities as they rise in the X-ray atmosphere is
inconsistent with the standard model of adiabatic expansion of purely
hydrodynamic models. We also note that the majority of the observed bubbles
should have already been shredded apart by Rayleigh-Taylor and
Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities if they were of purely hydrodynamic nature.
Instead we find that the data agrees much better with a model where the
cavities are magnetically dominated and inflated by a current-dominated
magneto-hydrodynamic jet model, recently developed by Li et al. (2006) and
Nakamura et al. (2006). We conduct complex Monte-Carlo simulations of the
cavity detection process including incompleteness effects to reproduce the
cavity sample's characteristics. We find that the current-dominated model
agrees within 1sigma, whereas the other models can be excluded at >5sigma
confidence. To bring hydrodynamic models into better agreement, cavities would
have to be continuously inflated. However, these assessments are dependent on
our correct understanding of the detectability of cavities in X-ray
atmospheres, and will await confirmation when automated cavity detection tools
become available in the future. Our results have considerable impact on the
energy budget associated with active galactic nucleus feedback.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, emulateapj, accepted for publication in ApJ,
responded to referee's comments and added a new model, conclusions unchange
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