13,963 research outputs found
Meta-Potentiation: Neuro-Astroglial Interactions Supporting Perceptual Consciousness
Conscious perceptual processing involves the sequential activation of cortical networks at several brain locations, and the onset of oscillatory synchrony affecting the same neuronal population. How do the earlier activated circuits sustain their excitation to synchronize with the later ones? We call such a sustaining process "meta-potentiation", and propose that it depends on neuro-astroglial interactions. In our proposed model, attentional cholinergic and stimulus-related glutamatergic inputs to astroglia elicit the release of astroglial glutamate to bind with neuronal NMDA receptors containing the NR2B subunit. Once calcium channels are open, slow inward currents activate the CaM/CaMKII complex to phosphorylate AMPA receptors in a population of neurons connected with the astrocyte, thus amplifying the local excitatory pattern to participate in a larger synchronized assembly that supports consciousness
Gribov ambiguities at the Landau -- maximal Abelian interpolating gauge
In a previous work, we presented a new method to account for the Gribov
ambiguities in non-Abelian gauge theories. The method consists on the
introduction of an extra constraint which directly eliminates the infinitesimal
Gribov copies without the usual geometric approach. Such strategy allows to
treat gauges with non-hermitian Faddeev-Popov operator. In this work, we apply
this method to a gauge which interpolates among the Landau and maximal Abelian
gauges. The result is a local and power counting renormalizable action, free of
infinitesimal Gribov copies. Moreover, the interpolating tree-level gluon
propagator is derived.Comment: Several changes: figures removed, typos corrected and discussions
included. 24 pages, to appear in EPJ
On the elimination of infinitesimal Gribov ambiguities in non-Abelian gauge theories
An alternative method to account for the Gribov ambiguities in gauge theories
is presented. It is shown that, to eliminate Gribov ambiguities, at
infinitesimal level, it is required to break the BRST symmetry in a soft
manner. This can be done by introducing a suitable extra constraint that
eliminates the infinitesimal Gribov copies. It is shown that the present
approach is consistent with the well established known cases in the literature,
i.e., the Landau and maximal Abelian gauges. The method is valid for gauges
depending exclusively on the gauge field and is restricted to classical level.
However, occasionally, we deal with quantum aspects of the technique, which are
used to improve the results.Comment: 29 pp. No figures. Discussions added. Final version to appear in EPJ
Anisotropy and nonlinearity in superlattices
This paper uses analytical expressions for the nonlinear optical absorption of superlattices by treating them as anisotropic media. The controllable system shows that the nonlinearities increase with anisotropy suggesting that strongly anisotropic materials such as those used for solar cells may also be useful for nonlinear optical applications
Simulations of mid infrared emission of InAsN semiconductors
This paper delivers an approximation to the complex many body problem of luminescence in semiconductors to the case of mid infrared luminescence of dilute nitrides. The results are compared with recent experimental data for InAsN semiconductors
Simulation of Transport and Gain in Quantum Cascade Lasers
Quantum cascade lasers can be modeled within a hierarchy of different
approaches: Standard rate equations for the electron densities in the levels,
semiclassical Boltzmann equation for the microscopic distribution functions,
and quantum kinetics including the coherent evolution between the states. Here
we present a quantum transport approach based on nonequilibrium Green
functions. This allows for quantitative simulations of the transport and
optical gain of the device. The division of the current density in two terms
shows that semiclassical transitions are likely to dominate the transport for
the prototype device of Sirtori et al. but not for a recent THz-laser with only
a few layers per period. The many particle effects are extremely dependent on
the design of the heterostructure, and for the case considered here, inclusion
of electron-electron interaction at the Hartree Fock level, provides a sizable
change in absorption but imparts only a minor shift of the gain peak.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures included, to appear in in "Advances in Solid
State Physics", ed. by B. Kramer (Springer 2003
Consciousness and Cosmos: Building an Ontological Framework
Contemporary theories of consciousness are based on widely different concepts of its nature, most or all of which probably embody aspects of the truth about it. Starting with a concept of consciousness indicated by the phrase âthe feeling of what happensâ (the title of a book by Antonio DamĂĄsio), we attempt to build a framework capable of supporting and resolving divergent views. We picture consciousness in terms of Reality experiencing itself from the perspective of cognitive agents. Each conscious experience is regarded as composed of momentary feeling events that are combined by recognition and evaluation into extended conscious episodes that bind cognitive contents with a wide range of apparent durations (0.1 secs to 2 or more secs, for us humans, depending on circumstances and context). Three necessary conditions for the existence of consciousness are identified: a) a ground of Reality, envisaged as an universal field of potentiality encompassing all possible manifestations, whether material or 'mental'; b) a transitional zone, leading to; c) a manifest world with its fundamental divisions into material, 'informational' and quale-endowed aspects. We explore ideas about the nature of these necessary conditions, how they may relate to one another and whether our suggestions have empirical implications
Tunable quantum dots in bilayer graphene
We demonstrate theoretically that quantum dots in bilayers of graphene can be
realized. A position-dependent doping breaks the equivalence between the upper
and lower layer and lifts the degeneracy of the positive and negative momentum
states of the dot. Numerical results show the simultaneous presence of electron
and hole confined states for certain doping profiles and a remarkable angular
momentum dependence of the quantum dot spectrum which is in sharp contrast with
that for conventional semiconductor quantum dots. We predict that the optical
spectrum will consist of a series of non-equidistant peaks.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in Nano Letter
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