10,842 research outputs found
Vortex Nucleation Induced Phonon Radiation from a Moving Electron Bubble in Superfluid 4He
We construct an efficient zero-temperature semi-local density functional to
dynamically simulate an electron bubble passing through superfluid 4He under
various pressures and electric fields up to nanosecond timescale. Our simulated
drift velocity can be quantitatively compared to experiments particularly when
pressure approaches zero. We find that the high-speed bubble experiences
remarkable expansion and deformation before vortex nucleation occurs.
Accompanied by vortex-ring shedding, drastic surface vibration is generated
leading to intense phonon radiation into the liquid. The amount of energy
dissipated by these phonons is found to be greater than the amount carried away
solely by the vortex rings. These results may enrich our understanding about
the vortex nucleation induced energy dissipation in this fascinating system.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Bi(111) thin film with insulating interior but metallic surfaces
The electrical conductance of molecular beam epitaxial Bi on BaF2(111) was
measured as a function of both film thickness (4-540 nm) and temperature (5-300
K). Unlike bulk Bi as a prototype semimetal, the Bi thin films up to 90 nm are
found to be insulating in the interiors but metallic on the surfaces. This
result has not only resolved unambiguously the long controversy about the
existence of semimetal-semiconductor transition in Bi thin film but also
provided a straightforward interpretation for the long-puzzled temperature
dependence of the resistivity of Bi thin films, which in turn might suggest
some potential applications in spintronics
Common Space of Spin and Spacetime
Given Lorentz invariance in Minkowski spacetime, we investigate a common
space of spin and spacetime. To obtain a finite spinor representation of the
non-compact homogeneous Lorentz group including Lorentz boosts, we introduce an
indefinite inner product space (IIPS) with a normalized positive probability.
In this IIPS, the common momentum and common variable of a massive fermion turn
out to be ``doubly strict plus-operators''. Due to this nice property, it is
straightforward to show an uncertainty relation between fermion mass and proper
time. Also in IIPS, the newly-defined Lagrangian operators are self-adjoint,
and the fermion field equations are derivable from the Lagrangians. Finally,
the nonlinear QED equations and Lagrangians are presented as an example.Comment: 17 pages, a reference corrected, final version published on
Foundations of Physics Letters in June of 2005, as a personal tribute to
Einstein and Dira
The superheated Melting of Grain Boundary
Based on a model of the melting of Grain Boundary (GB), we discuss the
possibility of the existence of superheated GB state. A Molecular Dynamics
simulation presented here shows that the superheated GB state can realized in
the high symmetric tilt GB. Whether the sizes of liquid nuclei exceed a
critical size determined the superheating grain boundary melting or not. Our
results also indicate that the increase of melting point due to pressure is
smaller than the superheating due to nucleation mechanism.Comment: Accepted by PRB, 7 pages and 5 figure
Coulomb Stress Change Sensitivity due to Variability in Mainshock Source Models and Receiving Fault Parameters: A Case Study of the 2010–2011 Christchurch, New Zealand, Earthquakes
Strong aftershocks following major earthquakes present significant challenges for infrastructure recovery as well as for emergency rescue efforts. A tragic instance of this is the 22 February 2011 Mw 6.3 Christchurch aftershock in New Zealand, which caused more than 100 deaths while the 2010 Mw 7.1 Canterbury mainshock did not cause a single fatality (Figure 1). Therefore, substantial efforts have been directed toward understanding the generation mechanisms of aftershocks as well as mitigating hazards due to aftershocks. Among these efforts are the prediction of strong aftershocks, earthquake early warning, and aftershock probability assessment. Zhang et al. (1999) reported a successful case of strong aftershock prediction with precursory data such as changes in seismicity pattern, variation of b-value, and geomagnetic anomalies. However, official reports of such successful predictions in geophysical journals are extremely rare, implying that deterministic prediction of potentially damaging aftershocks is not necessarily more scientifically feasible than prediction of mainshocks
Stability of multi-electron bubbles in liquid helium
The stability of multi-electron bubbles in liquid helium is investigated
theoretically. We find that multi-electron bubbles are unstable against fission
whenever the pressure is positive. It is shown that for moving bubbles the
Bernoulli effect can result in a range of pressures over which the bubbles are
stable.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Regulation of nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling and function of Family with sequence similarity 13, member A (Fam13a), by B56-containing PP2As and Akt
Recent genome-wide association studies reveal that the FAM13A gene is associated with human lung function and a variety of lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung cancer, and pulmonary fibrosis. The biological functions of Fam13a, however, have not been studied. In an effort to identify novel substrates of B56-containing PP2As, we found that B56-containing PP2As and Akt act antagonistically to control reversible phosphorylation of Fam13a on Ser-322. We show that Ser-322 phosphorylation acts as a molecular switch to control the subcellular distribution of Fam13a. Fam13a shuttles between the nucleus and cytoplasm. When Ser-322 is phosphorylated by Akt, the binding between Fam13a and 14-3-3 is enhanced, leading to cytoplasmic sequestration of Fam13a. B56-containing PP2As dephosphorylate phospho-Ser-322 and promote nuclear localization of Fam13a. We generated Fam13a-knockout mice. Fam13a-mutant mice are viable and healthy, indicating that Fam13a is dispensable for embryonic development and physiological functions in adult animals. Intriguingly, Fam13a has the ability to activate the Wnt pathway. Although Wnt signaling remains largely normal in Fam13a-knockout lungs, depletion of Fam13a in human lung cancer cells causes an obvious reduction in Wnt signaling activity. Our work provides important clues to elucidating the mechanism by which Fam13a may contribute to human lung diseases
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Selection and environmental adaptation along a path to speciation in the Tibetan frog Nanorana parkeri.
Tibetan frogs, Nanorana parkeri, are differentiated genetically but not morphologically along geographical and elevational gradients in a challenging environment, presenting a unique opportunity to investigate processes leading to speciation. Analyses of whole genomes of 63 frogs reveal population structuring and historical demography, characterized by highly restricted gene flow in a narrow geographic zone lying between matrilines West (W) and East (E). A population found only along a single tributary of the Yalu Zangbu River has the mitogenome only of E, whereas nuclear genes of W comprise 89-95% of the nuclear genome. Selection accounts for 579 broadly scattered, highly divergent regions (HDRs) of the genome, which involve 365 genes. These genes fall into 51 gene ontology (GO) functional classes, 14 of which are likely to be important in driving reproductive isolation. GO enrichment analyses of E reveal many overrepresented functional categories associated with adaptation to high elevations, including blood circulation, response to hypoxia, and UV radiation. Four genes, including DNAJC8 in the brain, TNNC1 and ADORA1 in the heart, and LAMB3 in the lung, differ in levels of expression between low- and high-elevation populations. High-altitude adaptation plays an important role in maintaining and driving continuing divergence and reproductive isolation. Use of total genomes enabled recognition of selection and adaptation in and between populations, as well as documentation of evolution along a stepped cline toward speciation
Quantization of Dirac fields in static spacetime
On a static spacetime, the solutions of the Dirac equation are generated by a
time-independent Hamiltonian. We study this Hamiltonian and characterize the
split into positive and negative energy. We use it to find explicit expressions
for advanced and retarded fundamental solutions and for the propagator.
Finally, we use a fermion Fock space based on the positive/negative energy
split to define a Dirac quantum field operator whose commutator is the
propagator.Comment: LaTex2e, 17 page
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