238 research outputs found
The filter-house of the larvacean Oikopleura dioica. A complex extracellular architecture : from fiber production to rudimentary state to inflated house
While cellulose is the most abundant macromolecule in the biosphere, most animals are unable to produce cellulose with the exception of tunicates. Some tunicates have evolved the ability to secrete a complex house containing cellulosic fibers, yet little is known about the early stages of the house building process. Here, we investigate the rudimentary house of Oikopleura dioica for the first time using complementary light and electron microscopic techniques. In addition, we digitally modelled the arrangement of chambers, nets, and filters of the functional, expanded house in three dimensions based on life-video-imaging. Combining 3D-reconstructions based on serial histological semithin-sections, confocal laser scanning microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and focused ion beam (FIB)-SEM, we were able to elucidate the arrangement of structural components, including cellulosic fibers, of the rudimentary house with a focus on the food concentration filter. We developed a model for the arrangement of folded structures in the house rudiment and show it is a precisely preformed structure with identifiable components intricately correlated with specific cells. Moreover, we demonstrate that structural details of the apical surfaces of Nasse cells provide the exact locations and shapes to produce the fibers of the house and interact amongst each other, with Giant Fol cells, and with the fibers to arrange them in the precise positions necessary for expansion of the house rudiment into the functional state. The presented data and hypotheses advance our knowledge about the interrelation of structure and function on different biological levels and prompt investigations into this astonishing biological object
Multifractality of wavefunctions at the quantum Hall transition revisited
We investigate numerically the statistics of wavefunction amplitudes
at the integer quantum Hall transition. It is demonstrated that
in the limit of a large system size the distribution function of is
log-normal, so that the multifractal spectrum is exactly parabolic.
Our findings lend strong support to a recent conjecture for a critical theory
of the quantum Hall transition.Comment: 4 pages Late
Nonchiral Edge States at the Chiral Metal Insulator Transition in Disordered Quantum Hall Wires
The quantum phase diagram of disordered wires in a strong magnetic field is
studied as a function of wire width and energy. The two-terminal conductance
shows zero-temperature discontinuous transitions between exactly integer
plateau values and zero. In the vicinity of this transition, the chiral
metal-insulator transition (CMIT), states are identified that are
superpositions of edge states with opposite chirality. The bulk contribution of
such states is found to decrease with increasing wire width. Based on exact
diagonalization results for the eigenstates and their participation ratios, we
conclude that these states are characteristic for the CMIT, have the appearance
of nonchiral edges states, and are thereby distinguishable from other states in
the quantum Hall wire, namely, extended edge states, two-dimensionally (2D)
localized, quasi-1D localized, and 2D critical states.Comment: replaced with revised versio
Characterization of the Local Density of States Fluctuations near the Integer Quantum Hall Transition in a Quantum Dot Array
We present a calculation for the second moment of the local density of states
in a model of a two-dimensional quantum dot array near the quantum Hall
transition. The quantum dot array model is a realistic adaptation of the
lattice model for the quantum Hall transition in the two-dimensional electron
gas in an external magnetic field proposed by Ludwig, Fisher, Shankar and
Grinstein. We make use of a Dirac fermion representation for the Green
functions in the presence of fluctuations for the quantum dot energy levels. A
saddle-point approximation yields non-perturbative results for the first and
second moments of the local density of states, showing interesting fluctuation
behaviour near the quantum Hall transition. To our knowledge we discuss here
one of the first analytic characterizations of chaotic behaviour for a
two-dimensional mesoscopic structure. The connection with possible experimental
investigations of the local density of states in the quantum dot array
structures (by means of NMR Knight-shift or single-electron-tunneling
techniques) and our work is also established.Comment: 11 LaTeX pages, 1 postscript figure, to appear in Phys.Rev.
Resonant scattering in a strong magnetic field: exact density of states
We study the structure of 2D electronic states in a strong magnetic field in
the presence of a large number of resonant scatterers. For an electron in the
lowest Landau level, we derive the exact density of states by mapping the
problem onto a zero-dimensional field-theoretical model. We demonstrate that
the interplay between resonant and non-resonant scattering leads to a
non-analytic energy dependence of the electron Green function. In particular,
for strong resonant scattering the density of states develops a gap in a finite
energy interval. The shape of the Landau level is shown to be very sensitive to
the distribution of resonant scatterers.Comment: 12 pages + 3 fig
Circulation Statistics in Three-Dimensional Turbulent Flows
We study the large limit of the loop-dependent characteristic
functional , related
to the probability density function (PDF) of the circulation around a closed
contour . The analysis is carried out in the framework of the
Martin-Siggia-Rose field theory formulation of the turbulence problem, by means
of the saddle-point technique. Axisymmetric instantons, labelled by the
component of the strain field -- a partially annealed variable in
our formalism -- are obtained for a circular loop in the plane, with
radius defined in the inertial range. Fluctuations of the velocity field around
the saddle-point solutions are relevant, leading to the lorentzian asymptotic
behavior . The
subleading correction and the asymmetry between right and left PDF tails due to
parity breaking mechanisms are also investigated.Comment: Computations are discussed in a more detailed way; accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Metal-insulator transitions in anisotropic 2d systems
Several phenomena related to the critical behaviour of non-interacting
electrons in a disordered 2d tight-binding system with a magnetic field are
studied. Localization lengths, critical exponents and density of states are
computed using transfer matrix techniques. Scaling functions of isotropic
systems are recovered once the dimension of the system in each direction is
chosen proportional to the localization length. It is also found that the
critical point is independent of the propagation direction, and that the
critical exponents for the localization length for both propagating directions
are equal to that of the isotropic system (approximately 7/3). We also
calculate the critical value of the scaling function for both the isotropic and
the anisotropic system. It is found that the isotropic value equals the
geometric mean of the two anisotropic values. Detailed numerical studies of the
density of states for the isotropic system reveals that for an appreciable
amount of disorder the critical energy is off the band center.Comment: 6 pages RevTeX, 6 figures included, submitted to Physical Review
Localized states in strong magnetic field: resonant scattering and the Dicke effect
We study the energy spectrum of a system of localized states coupled to a 2D
electron gas in strong magnetic field. If the energy levels of localized states
are close to the electron energy in the plane, the system exhibits a kind of
collective behavior analogous to the Dicke effect in optics. The latter
manifests itself in ``trapping'' of electronic states by localized states. At
the same time, the electronic density of states develops a gap near the
resonance. The gap and the trapping of states appear to be complementary and
reflect an intimate relation between the resonant scattering and the Dicke
effect. We reveal this relation by presenting the exact solution of the problem
for the lowest Landau level. In particular, we show that in the absence of
disorder the system undergoes a phase transition at some critical concentration
of localized states.Comment: 28 pages + 9 fig
Turbulence in the Solar Atmosphere: Manifestations and Diagnostics via Solar Image Processing
Intermittent magnetohydrodynamical turbulence is most likely at work in the
magnetized solar atmosphere. As a result, an array of scaling and multi-scaling
image-processing techniques can be used to measure the expected
self-organization of solar magnetic fields. While these techniques advance our
understanding of the physical system at work, it is unclear whether they can be
used to predict solar eruptions, thus obtaining a practical significance for
space weather. We address part of this problem by focusing on solar active
regions and by investigating the usefulness of scaling and multi-scaling
image-processing techniques in solar flare prediction. Since solar flares
exhibit spatial and temporal intermittency, we suggest that they are the
products of instabilities subject to a critical threshold in a turbulent
magnetic configuration. The identification of this threshold in scaling and
multi-scaling spectra would then contribute meaningfully to the prediction of
solar flares. We find that the fractal dimension of solar magnetic fields and
their multi-fractal spectrum of generalized correlation dimensions do not have
significant predictive ability. The respective multi-fractal structure
functions and their inertial-range scaling exponents, however, probably provide
some statistical distinguishing features between flaring and non-flaring active
regions. More importantly, the temporal evolution of the above scaling
exponents in flaring active regions probably shows a distinct behavior starting
a few hours prior to a flare and therefore this temporal behavior may be
practically useful in flare prediction. The results of this study need to be
validated by more comprehensive works over a large number of solar active
regions.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure
Effect of Oscillating Landau Bandwidth on the Integer Quantum Hall Effect in a Unidirectional Lateral Superlattice
We have measured activation gaps for odd-integer quantum Hall states in a
unidirectional lateral superlattice (ULSL) -- a two-dimensional electron gas
(2DEG) subjected to a unidirectional periodic modulation of the electrostatic
potential. By comparing the activation gaps with those simultaneously measured
in the adjacent section of the same 2DEG sample without modulation, we find
that the gaps are reduced in the ULSL by an amount corresponding to the width
acquired by the Landau levels through the introduction of the modulation. The
decrement of the activation gap varies with the magnetic field following the
variation of the Landau bandwidth due to the commensurability effect. Notably,
the decrement vanishes at the flat band conditions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, minor revisio
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