Quantum Diffusion in Separable d-Dimensional Quasiperiodic Tilings

We study the electronic transport in quasiperiodic separable tight-binding models in one, two, and three dimensions. First, we investigate a one-dimensional quasiperiodic chain, in which the atoms are coupled by weak and strong bonds aligned according to the Fibonacci chain. The associated d-dimensional quasiperiodic tilings are constructed from the product of d such chains, which yields either the square/cubic Fibonacci tiling or the labyrinth tiling. We study the scaling behavior of the mean square displacement and the return probability of wave packets with respect to time. We also discuss results of renormalization group approaches and lower bounds for the scaling exponent of the width of the wave packet.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, conference proceedings Aperiodic 2012 (Cairns

Determination of the laser-induced damage threshold of polymer optical fibers

Investigating the properties of manufactured polymer optical fibers is essential to determine proper areas of application. Using pulsed laser radiation, especially with respect to laser activity in optical fibers, the maximum acceptable transmittable energy without inducing damage is of particular interest. Therefore, this work is related to laser-induced damage in polymer optical fibers at a wavelength of 532 nm and a pulse duration of 7.3 ns. In particular, the influence of the coupling condition on the transmittable pulse energy and the damage behavior applying an R-on-1 test procedure are analyzed in this study. The obtained results give information about the long-Term behavior and will be used to optimize the manufacturing process. © COPYRIGHT SPI

Wave Functions, Quantum Diffusion, and Scaling Exponents in Golden-Mean Quasiperiodic Tilings

We study the properties of wave functions and the wave-packet dynamics in quasiperiodic tight-binding models in one, two, and three dimensions. The atoms in the one-dimensional quasiperiodic chains are coupled by weak and strong bonds aligned according to the Fibonacci sequence. The associated d-dimensional quasiperiodic tilings are constructed from the direct product of d such chains, which yields either the hypercubic tiling or the labyrinth tiling. This approach allows us to consider rather large systems numerically. We show that the wave functions of the system are multifractal and that their properties can be related to the structure of the system in the regime of strong quasiperiodic modulation by a renormalization group (RG) approach. We also study the dynamics of wave packets to get information about the electronic transport properties. In particular, we investigate the scaling behaviour of the return probability of the wave packet with time. Applying again the RG approach we show that in the regime of strong quasiperiodic modulation the return probability is governed by the underlying quasiperiodic structure. Further, we also discuss lower bounds for the scaling exponent of the width of the wave packet and propose a modified lower bound for the absolute continuous regime.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figure

On the Representation Theory of an Algebra of Braids and Ties

We consider the algebra ${\cal E}_n(u)$ introduced by F. Aicardi and J. Juyumaya as an abstraction of the Yokonuma-Hecke algebra. We construct a tensor space representation for ${\cal E}_n(u)$ and show that this is faithful. We use it to give a basis for ${\cal E}_n(u)$ and to classify its irreducible representations.Comment: 24 pages. Final version. To appear in Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics

Genetic partitioning of interleukin-6 signalling in mice dissociates Stat3 from Smad3-mediated lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease that is unresponsive to current therapies and characterized by excessive collagen deposition and subsequent fibrosis. While inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, are elevated in IPF, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this disease are incompletely understood, although the development of fibrosis is believed to depend on canonical transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling. We examined bleomycin-induced inflammation and fibrosis in mice carrying a mutation in the shared IL-6 family receptor gp130. Using genetic complementation, we directly correlate the extent of IL-6-mediated, excessive Stat3 activity with inflammatory infiltrates in the lung and the severity of fibrosis in corresponding gp130757F mice. The extent of fibrosis was attenuated in B lymphocyte-deficient gp130757F;µMT−/− compound mutant mice, but fibrosis still occurred in their Smad3−/− counterparts consistent with the capacity of excessive Stat3 activity to induce collagen 1α1 gene transcription independently of canonical TGF-β/Smad3 signalling. These findings are of therapeutic relevance, since we confirmed abundant STAT3 activation in fibrotic lungs from IPF patients and showed that genetic reduction of Stat3 protected mice from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis