627 research outputs found
Collapse of an Instanton
We construct a two parameter family of collapsing solutions to the 4+1
Yang-Mills equations and derive the dynamical law of the collapse. Our
arguments indicate that this family of solutions is stable. The latter fact is
also supported by numerical simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur
Quantum lump dynamics on the two-sphere
It is well known that the low-energy classical dynamics of solitons of
Bogomol'nyi type is well approximated by geodesic motion in M_n, the moduli
space of static n-solitons. There is an obvious quantization of this dynamics
wherein the wavefunction evolves according to the Hamiltonian H_0 equal to
(half) the Laplacian on M_n. Born-Oppenheimer reduction of analogous mechanical
systems suggests, however, that this simple Hamiltonian should receive
corrections including k, the scalar curvature of M_n, and C, the n-soliton
Casimir energy, which are usually difficult to compute, and whose effect on the
energy spectrum is unknown. This paper analyzes the spectra of H_0 and two
corrections to it suggested by work of Moss and Shiiki, namely H_1=H_0+k/4 and
H_2=H_1+C, in the simple but nontrivial case of a single CP^1 lump moving on
the two-sphere. Here M_1=TSO(3), a noncompact kaehler 6-manifold invariant
under an SO(3)xSO(3) action, whose geometry is well understood. The symmetry
gives rise to two conserved angular momenta, spin and isospin. A hidden
isometry of M_1 is found which implies that all three energy spectra are
symmetric under spin-isospin interchange. The Casimir energy is found exactly
on the zero section of TSO(3), and approximated numerically on the rest of M_1.
The lowest 19 eigenvalues of H_i are found for i=0,1,2, and their spin-isospin
and parity compared. The curvature corrections in H_1 lead to a qualitatively
unchanged low-level spectrum while the Casimir energy in H_2 leads to
significant changes. The scaling behaviour of the spectra under changes in the
radii of the domain and target spheres is analyzed, and it is found that the
disparity between the spectra of H_1 and H_2 is reduced when the target sphere
is made smaller.Comment: 35 pages, 3 figure
The geodesic approximation for lump dynamics and coercivity of the Hessian for harmonic maps
The most fruitful approach to studying low energy soliton dynamics in field
theories of Bogomol'nyi type is the geodesic approximation of Manton. In the
case of vortices and monopoles, Stuart has obtained rigorous estimates of the
errors in this approximation, and hence proved that it is valid in the low
speed regime. His method employs energy estimates which rely on a key
coercivity property of the Hessian of the energy functional of the theory under
consideration. In this paper we prove an analogous coercivity property for the
Hessian of the energy functional of a general sigma model with compact K\"ahler
domain and target. We go on to prove a continuity property for our result, and
show that, for the CP^1 model on S^2, the Hessian fails to be globally coercive
in the degree 1 sector. We present numerical evidence which suggests that the
Hessian is globally coercive in a certain equivariance class of the degree n
sector for n>1. We also prove that, within the geodesic approximation, a single
CP^1 lump moving on S^2 does not generically travel on a great circle.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure; typos corrected, references added, expanded
discussion of the main function spac
Topologically non-trivial valley states in bilayer graphene quantum point contacts
We present measurements of quantized conductance in electrostatically induced
quantum point contacts in bilayer graphene. The application of a perpendicular
magnetic field leads to an intricate pattern of lifted and restored
degeneracies with increasing field: at zero magnetic field the degeneracy of
quantized one-dimensional subbands is four, because of a twofold spin and a
twofold valley degeneracy. By switching on the magnetic field, the valley
degeneracy is lifted. Due to the Berry curvature states from different valleys
split linearly in magnetic field. In the quantum Hall regime fourfold
degenerate conductance plateaus reemerge. During the adiabatic transition to
the quantum Hall regime, levels from one valley shift by two in quantum number
with respect to the other valley, forming an interweaving pattern that can be
reproduced by numerical calculations
Strain control of hybridization between dark and localized excitons in a 2D semiconductor
The interface between a ferro- or ferrimagnetic insulator and a normal metal can support spin currents polarized collinear with and perpendicular to the magnetization direction. The flow of angular momentum perpendicular to the magnetization direction (âtransverseâ spin current) takes place via spin torque and spin pumping. The flow of angular momentum collinear with the magnetization (âlongitudinalâ spin current) requires the excitation of magnons. In this article we extend the existing theory of longitudinal spin transport [Bender and Tserkovnyak, Phys. Rev. B 91, 140402(R) (2015)] in the zero-frequency weak-coupling limit in two directions: We calculate the longitudinal spin conductance nonperturbatively (but in the low-frequency limit) and at finite frequency (but in the limit of low interface transparency). For the paradigmatic spintronic material system YIG|Pt, we find that nonperturbative effects lead to a longitudinal spin conductance that is ca. 40% smaller than the perturbative limit, whereas finite-frequency corrections are relevant at low temperatures âČ100K only, when only few magnon modes are thermally occupied
Strain control of hybridization between dark and localized excitons in a 2D semiconductor
Mechanical strain is a powerful tuning knob for excitons, Coulomb-bound
electron-hole complexes dominating optical properties of two-dimensional
semiconductors. While the strain response of bright free excitons is broadly
understood, the behavior of dark free excitons (long-lived excitations that
generally do not couple to light due to spin and momentum conservation) or
localized excitons related to defects remains mostly unexplored. Here, we
develop a technique capable of straining pristine suspended WSe2 kept at
cryogenic temperatures up to 3\% to study the strain behavior of these fragile
many-body states. We find that under the application of strain, dark and
localized excitons in monolayer WSe2 - a prototypical 2D semiconductor - are
brought into energetic resonance, forming a new hybrid state that inherits the
properties of the constituent species. The characteristics of the hybridized
state, including an order-of-magnitude enhanced light/matter coupling,
avoided-crossing energy shifts, and strain tunability of many-body
interactions, are all supported by first-principles calculations. The
hybridized exciton reported here may play a critical role in the operation of
single quantum emitters based on WSe2. Furthermore, the techniques we developed
may be used to fingerprint unidentified excitonic statesComment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Cardiac Involvement in Fabry Disease: JACC Review Topic of the Week
Fabry disease (FD) is a rare X-linked inherited lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficient α-galactosidase A activity that leads to an accumulation of globotriasylceramide (Gb3) in affected tissues, including the heart. Cardiovascular involvement usually manifests as left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis, heart failure, and arrhythmias, which limit quality of life and represent the most common causes of death. Following the introduction of enzyme replacement therapy, early diagnosis and treatment have become essential to slow disease progression and prevent major cardiac complications. Recent advances in the understanding of FD pathophysiology suggest that in addition to Gb3 accumulation, other mechanisms contribute to the development of Fabry cardiomyopathy. Progress in imaging techniques have improved diagnosis and staging of FD-related cardiac disease, suggesting a central role for myocardial inflammation and setting the stage for further research. In addition, with the recent approval of oral chaperone therapy and new treatment developments, the FD-specific treatment landscape is rapidly evolving
Experimental Tests of Neutron Shielding for the ATLAS Forward Region
Experimental tests devoted to the optimization of the neutron shielding for the ATLAS forward region were performed at the CERN-PS with a 4 GeV/c proton beam. Spectra of fast neutrons, slow neutrons and gamma rays escaping a block of iron (404080 cm) shielded with different types of neutron and gamma shields (pure polyethylene - PE, borated polyethylene - BPE, lithium filled polyethylene - LiPE, lead, iron) were measured by means of plastic scintillators, a Bonner spectrometer, a HPGe detector and a slow neutron detector. Effectiveness of different types of shielding agaisnt neutrons and -rays were compared. The idea of a segmented outer layer shielding (iron, BPE, iron, LiPE) for the ATLAS Forward Region was also tested
Intracellular changes in Ca2+, K+ and pH after sperm motility activation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla): Preliminary results
[EN] Although it is widely accepted that osmolality and ion fluxes are the main factors triggering sperm motility in fish, a complex universal mechanism for sperm motility activation does not exist in fish, and studies of marine fish species are even more scarce. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to estimate the intracellular variations in the main ions involved in sperm activation for the first time in European eel, in order to provide additional new data about this little-known process.
It was observed that levels of intracellular Ca2+ and K+ sperm ions increased significantly 30 s after the hyperosmotic shock compared to baseline levels, and remained at this level until 120 s post-activation. In contrast, the intracellular pH remained constant during the first 30 s, and decreased gradually at 60 and 120 s post-activation. Our data agree with the current main theory for explaining motility activation in marine fish, in which internal fluctuations of Ca2+ and K+ seem to participate in sperm activation. In addition, fluorescent images showed that both Ca2+ and K+ were concentrated in the apical area of the sperm head, which corresponds to the location of the eel sperm mitochondria, suggesting this organelle plays an important role in sperm motility activation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Funded from the European Community's 7th Framework Programme under the Theme 2 "Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology", grant agreement no 245257 (Pro-Eel) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN; AGL2010-16009). Victor Gallego has a predoctoral grant (MICINN; BES-2009-020310) and has been granted a fellowship (EEBB-I-12-05858) of the Spanish Personnel Research Training Programme to carry out this study in the Universidad de Leon (Leon, Spain). Ilaria Mazzeo had a predoctoral grant from GVA. David S. Penaranda has a contract co-financed by MICINN and UPV (PTA2011-4948-I). F. Martinez-Pastor was supported by the Ramon y Cajal program (RYC-2008-02560, MICINN).Gallego Albiach, V.; MartĂnez Pastor, F.; Mazzeo, I.; Peñaranda, D.; Herraez, P.; Asturiano Nemesio, JF.; PĂ©rez Igualada, LM. (2014). Intracellular changes in Ca2+, K+ and pH after sperm motility activation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla): Preliminary results. Aquaculture. 418:155-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2013.10.022S15515841
How to Get the Most out of Your Curation Effort
Large-scale annotation efforts typically involve several experts who may disagree with each other. We propose an approach for modeling disagreements among experts that allows providing each annotation with a confidence value (i.e., the posterior probability that it is correct). Our approach allows computing certainty-level for individual annotations, given annotator-specific parameters estimated from data. We developed two probabilistic models for performing this analysis, compared these models using computer simulation, and tested each model's actual performance, based on a large data set generated by human annotators specifically for this study. We show that even in the worst-case scenario, when all annotators disagree, our approach allows us to significantly increase the probability of choosing the correct annotation. Along with this publication we make publicly available a corpus of 10,000 sentences annotated according to several cardinal dimensions that we have introduced in earlier work. The 10,000 sentences were all 3-fold annotated by a group of eight experts, while a 1,000-sentence subset was further 5-fold annotated by five new experts. While the presented data represent a specialized curation task, our modeling approach is general; most data annotation studies could benefit from our methodology
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