Which Way Was I Going? Contextual Retrieval Supports the Disambiguation of Well Learned Overlapping Navigational Routes

Groundbreaking research in animals has demonstrated that the hippocampus contains neurons that distinguish betweenoverlapping navigational trajectories. These hippocampal neurons respond selectively to the context of specific episodes despite interference from overlapping memory representations. The present study used functional magnetic resonanceimaging in humans to examine the role of the hippocampus and related structures when participants need to retrievecontextual information to navigate well learned spatial sequences that share common elements. Participants were trained outside the scanner to navigate through 12 virtual mazes from a ground-level first-person perspective. Six of the 12 mazes shared overlapping components. Overlapping mazes began and ended at distinct locations, but converged in the middle to share some hallways with another maze. Non-overlapping mazes did not share any hallways with any other maze. Successful navigation through the overlapping hallways required the retrieval of contextual information relevant to thecurrent navigational episode. Results revealed greater activation during the successful navigation of the overlapping mazes compared with the non-overlapping mazes in regions typically associated with spatial and episodic memory, including thehippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex. When combined with previous research, the current findings suggest that an anatomically integrated system including the hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortexis critical for the contextually dependent retrieval of well learned overlapping navigational routes

Hippocampus and retrosplenial cortex combine path integration signals for successful navigation

The current study used fMRI in humans to examine goal-directed navigation in an open field environment. We designed a task that required participants to encode survey-level spatial information and subsequently navigate to a goal location in either first person, third person, or survey perspectives. Critically, no distinguishing landmarks or goal location markers were present in the environment, thereby requiring participants to rely on path integration mechanisms for successful navigation. We focused our analysis on mechanisms related to navigation and mechanisms tracking linear distance to the goal location. Successful navigation required translation of encoded survey-level map information for orientation and implementation of a planned route to the goal. Our results demonstrate that successful first and third person navigation trials recruited the anterior hippocampus more than trials when the goal location was not successfully reached. When examining only successful trials, the retrosplenial and posterior parietal cortices were recruited for goal-directed navigation in both first person and third person perspectives. Unique to first person perspective navigation, the hippocampus was recruited to path integrate self-motion cues with location computations toward the goal location. Last, our results demonstrate that the hippocampus supports goal-directed navigation by actively tracking proximity to the goal throughout navigation. When using path integration mechanisms in first person and third person perspective navigation, the posterior hippocampus was more strongly recruited as participants approach the goal. These findings provide critical insight into the neural mechanisms by which we are able to use map-level representations of our environment to reach our navigational goals

Dual Instantons

We show how to map the Belavin-Polyakov instantons of the O(3)-nonlinear $\sigma-$model to a dual theory where they then appear as nontopological solitons. They are stationary points of the Euclidean action in the dual theory, and moreover, the dual action and the O(3)-nonlinear $\sigma-$model action agree on shell.Comment: 13 page

The Poincare' coset models ISO(d-1,1)/R^n and T-duality

We generalize a family of Lagrangians with values in the Poincar\'e group ISO(d-1,1), which contain the description of spinning strings in flat (d-1)+1 dimensions, by including symmetric terms in the world-sheet coordinates. Then, by promoting a subgroup H=R^n, n less than or equal to d, which acts invariantly from the left on the element of ISO(d-1,1), to a gauge symmetry of the action, we obtain a family of sigma-models. They describe bosonic strings moving in (generally) curved, and in some cases degenerate, space-times with an axion field. Further, the space-times of the effective theory admit in general T-dual geometries. We give explicit results for two non degenerate cases.Comment: LaTeX, 24 pages, no figure

Order parameter phase locking as a cause of a zero bias peak in the differential tunneling conductance of bilayers with electron-hole pairing

In n-p bilayer systems an exotic phase-coherent state emerges due to Coulomb pairing of n-layer electrons with p-layer holes. Unlike Josephson junctions, the order parameter phase may be locked by matrix elements of interlayer tunneling in n-p bilayers. Here we show how the phase locking phenomenon specifies the response of the electron-hole condensate to interlayer voltages. In the absence of an applied magnetic field, the phase is steady-state (locked) at low interlayer voltages, V<V_c, however the phase increases monotonically with time (is unlocked) at V>V_c. The change in the system dynamics at V=V_c gives rise to a peak in the differential tunneling conductance. The peak width V_c is proportional to the absolute value of the tunneling matrix element |T_{12}|, but its height does not depend on |T_{12}|; thus the peak is sharp for small |T_{12}|. A sufficiently strong in-plane magnetic field reduces considerably the peak height. The present results are in qualitative agreement with the zero bias peak behavior that has recently been observed in bilayer quantum Hall ferromagnets with spontaneous interlayer phase coherence.Comment: 6 pages, extended version, phenomenological derivation of the main equation is added, references are adde

Coulomb drag at \nu = 1/2: Composite fermion pairing fluctuations

We consider the Coulomb drag between two two-dimensional electron layers at filling factor \nu = 1/2 each, using a strong coupling approach within the composite fermion picture. Due to an attractive interlayer interaction, composite fermions are expected to form a paired state below a critical temperature T_c. We find that above T_c pairing fluctuations make the longitudinal transresistivity \rho_D increase with decreasing temperature. The pairing mechanism we study is very sensitive to density variations in the two layers, and to an applied current. We discuss possible relation to an experiment by Lilly et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 1714 (1998)].Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages, 1 figur

Phases of Chiral Gauge Theories

We discuss the behavior of two non-supersymmetric chiral SU(N) gauge theories, involving fermions in the symmetric and antisymmetric two-index tensor representations respectively. In addition to global anomaly matching, we employ a recently proposed inequality constraint on the number of effective low energy (massless) degrees of freedom of a theory, based on the thermodynamic free energy. Several possible zero temperature phases are consistent with the constraints. A simple picture for the phase structure emerges if these theories choose the phase, consistent with global anomaly matching, that minimizes the massless degree of freedom count defined through the free energy. This idea suggests that confinement with the preservation of the global symmetries through the formation of massless composite fermions is in general not preferred. While our discussion is restricted mainly to bilinear condensate formation, higher dimensional condensates are considered for one case. We conclude by commenting briefly on two related supersymmetric chiral theories.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, ReVTeX, improved forma

Theory Challenges of the Accelerating Universe

The accelerating expansion of the universe presents an exciting, fundamental challenge to the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. I highlight some of the outstanding challenges in both developing theoretical models and interpreting without bias the observational results from precision cosmology experiments in the next decade that will return data to help reveal the nature of the new physics. Examples given focus on distinguishing a new component of energy from a new law of gravity, and the effect of early dark energy on baryon acoustic oscillations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; minor changes to match J. Phys. A versio

Two-dimensional tetramer-cuprate Na5RbCu4(AsO4)4Cl2: phase transitions and AFMorder as seen by 87Rb NMR

We report the Rb nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) results in a recently synthesized Na5RbCu4(AsO4)Cl2. This complex novel two-dimensional (2D) cuprate is an unique magnetic material, which contains layers of coupled Cu4O4 tetramers. In zero applied magnetic field, it orders antiferromagnetically via a second-order low-entropy phase transition at TN = 15(1) K. We characterise the ordered state by 87Rb NMR, and suggest for it a noncollinear rather than collinear arrangement of spins. We discuss the properties of Rb nuclear site and point out the new structural phase transition(s) around 74 K and 110 K.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of SCES'05, Vienna 200

Infrared absorption and Raman scattering on coupled plasmon--phonon modes in superlattices

We consider theoretically a superlattice formed by thin conducting layers separated spatially between insulating layers. The dispersion of two coupled phonon-plasmon modes of the system is analyzed by using Maxwell's equations, with the influence of retardation included. Both transmission for the finite plate as well as absorption for the semi-infinite superlattice in the infrared are calculated. Reflectance minima are determined by the longitudinal and transverse phonon frequencies in the insulating layers and by the density-state singularities of the coupled modes. We evaluate also the Raman cross section from the semi-infinite superlattice.Comment: 20 pages,14 figure