488 research outputs found

    Photoconductance Quantization in a Single-Photon Detector

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    We have made a single-photon detector that relies on photoconductive gain in a narrow electron channel in an AlGaAs/GaAs 2-dimensional electron gas. Given that the electron channel is 1-dimensional, the photo-induced conductance has plateaus at multiples of the quantum conductance 2e2^{2}/h. Super-imposed on these broad conductance plateaus are many sharp, small, conductance steps associated with single-photon absorption events that produce individual photo-carriers. This type of photoconductive detector could measure a single photon, while safely storing and protecting the spin degree of freedom of its photo-carrier. This function is valuable for a quantum repeater that would allow very long distance teleportation of quantum information.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

    Electron transport across a quantum wire in the presence of electron leakage to a substrate

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    We investigate electron transport through a mono-atomic wire which is tunnel coupled to two electrodes and also to the underlying substrate. The setup is modeled by a tight-binding Hamiltonian and can be realized with a scanning tunnel microscope (STM). The transmission of the wire is obtained from the corresponding Green's function. If the wire is scanned by the contacting STM tip, the conductance as a function of the tip position exhibits oscillations which may change significantly upon increasing the number of wire atoms. Our numerical studies reveal that the conductance depends strongly on whether or not the substrate electrons are localized. As a further ubiquitous feature, we observe the formation of charge oscillations.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

    Molecular transport calculations with Wannier functions

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    We present a scheme for calculating coherent electron transport in atomic-scale contacts. The method combines a formally exact Green's function formalism with a mean-field description of the electronic structure based on the Kohn-Sham scheme of density functional theory. We use an accurate plane-wave electronic structure method to calculate the eigenstates which are subsequently transformed into a set of localized Wannier functions (WFs). The WFs provide a highly efficient basis set which at the same time is well suited for analysis due to the chemical information contained in the WFs. The method is applied to a hydrogen molecule in an infinite Pt wire and a benzene-dithiol (BDT) molecule between Au(111) surfaces. We show that the transmission function of BDT in a wide energy window around the Fermi level can be completely accounted for by only two molecular orbitals.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Chemical Physic

    Virtually abelian K\"ahler and projective groups

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    We characterise the virtually abelian groups which are fundamental groups of compact K\"ahler manifolds and of smooth projective varieties. We show that a virtually abelian group is K\"ahler if and only if it is projective. In particular, this allows to describe the K\"ahler condition for such groups in terms of integral symplectic representations

    IRF4 and BATF are critical for CD8(+) T-cell function following infection with LCMV.

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    CD8(+) T-cell functions are critical for preventing chronic viral infections by eliminating infected cells. For healthy immune responses, beneficial destruction of infected cells must be balanced against immunopathology resulting from collateral damage to tissues. These processes are regulated by factors controlling CD8(+) T-cell function, which are still incompletely understood. Here, we show that the interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) and its cooperating binding partner B-cell-activating transcription factor (BATF) are necessary for sustained CD8(+) T-cell effector function. Although Irf4(-/-) CD8(+) T cells were initially capable of proliferation, IRF4 deficiency resulted in limited CD8(+) T-cell responses after infection with the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Consequently, Irf4(-/-) mice established chronic infections, but were protected from fatal immunopathology. Absence of BATF also resulted in reduced CD8(+) T-cell function, limited immunopathology, and promotion of viral persistence. These data identify the transcription factors IRF4 and BATF as major regulators of antiviral cytotoxic T-cell immunity

    Variant supercurrents and Noether procedure

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    Consistent supercurrent multiplets are naturally associated with linearized off-shell supergravity models. In arXiv:1002.4932 we presented the hierarchy of such supercurrents which correspond to all the models for linearized 4D N = 1 supergravity classified a few years ago. Here we analyze the correspondence between the most general supercurrent given in arXiv:1002.4932 and the one obtained eight years ago in hep-th/0110131 using the superfield Noether procedure. We apply the Noether procedure to the general N = 1 supersymmetric nonlinear sigma-model and show that it naturally leads to the so-called S-multiplet, revitalized in arXiv:1002.2228.Comment: 6 page

    Non-Equilibrium Electron Transport in Two-Dimensional Nano-Structures Modeled by Green's Functions and the Finite-Element Method

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    We use the effective-mass approximation and the density-functional theory with the local-density approximation for modeling two-dimensional nano-structures connected phase-coherently to two infinite leads. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function method the electron density and the current are calculated under a bias voltage. The problem of solving for the Green's functions numerically is formulated using the finite-element method (FEM). The Green's functions have non-reflecting open boundary conditions to take care of the infinite size of the system. We show how these boundary conditions are formulated in the FEM. The scheme is tested by calculating transmission probabilities for simple model potentials. The potential of the scheme is demonstrated by determining non-linear current-voltage behaviors of resonant tunneling structures.Comment: 13 pages,15 figure

    Tannakian duality for Anderson-Drinfeld motives and algebraic independence of Carlitz logarithms

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    We develop a theory of Tannakian Galois groups for t-motives and relate this to the theory of Frobenius semilinear difference equations. We show that the transcendence degree of the period matrix associated to a given t-motive is equal to the dimension of its Galois group. Using this result we prove that Carlitz logarithms of algebraic functions that are linearly independent over the rational function field are algebraically independent.Comment: 39 page

    On the Relationship between the Uniqueness of the Moonshine Module and Monstrous Moonshine

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    We consider the relationship between the conjectured uniqueness of the Moonshine Module, V{\cal V}^\natural, and Monstrous Moonshine, the genus zero property of the modular invariance group for each Monster group Thompson series. We first discuss a family of possible ZnZ_n meromorphic orbifold constructions of V{\cal V}^\natural based on automorphisms of the Leech lattice compactified bosonic string. We reproduce the Thompson series for all 51 non-Fricke classes of the Monster group MM together with a new relationship between the centralisers of these classes and 51 corresponding Conway group centralisers (generalising a well-known relationship for 5 such classes). Assuming that V{\cal V}^\natural is unique, we then consider meromorphic orbifoldings of V{\cal V}^\natural and show that Monstrous Moonshine holds if and only if the only meromorphic orbifoldings of V{\cal V}^\natural give V{\cal V}^\natural itself or the Leech theory. This constraint on the meromorphic orbifoldings of V{\cal V}^\natural therefore relates Monstrous Moonshine to the uniqueness of V{\cal V}^\natural in a new way.Comment: 53 pages, PlainTex, DIAS-STP-93-0
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