Spontaneous breaking of time reversal symmetry in strongly interacting two dimensional electron layers in silicon and germanium

We report experimental evidence of a remarkable spontaneous time reversal symmetry breaking in two dimensional electron systems formed by atomically confined doping of phosphorus (P) atoms inside bulk crystalline silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge). Weak localization corrections to the conductivity and the universal conductance fluctuations were both found to decrease rapidly with decreasing doping in the Si:P and Ge:P $\delta-$layers, suggesting an effect driven by Coulomb interactions. In-plane magnetotransport measurements indicate the presence of intrinsic local spin fluctuations at low doping, providing a microscopic mechanism for spontaneous lifting of the time reversal symmetry. Our experiments suggest the emergence of a new many-body quantum state when two dimensional electrons are confined to narrow half-filled impurity bands

Kill one or kill the many: Interplay between mitophagy and apoptosis

Mitochondria are key players of cellular metabolism, Ca2+ homeostasis, and apoptosis. The functionality of mitochondria is tightly regulated, and dysfunctional mitochondria are removed via mitophagy, a specialized form of autophagy that is compromised in hereditary forms of Parkinson's disease. Through mitophagy, cells are able to cope with mitochondrial stress until the damage becomes too great, which leads to the activation of proapoptotic BCL-2 family proteins located on the outer mitochondrial membrane. Active pro-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins facilitate the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) into the cytosol, committing the cell to apoptosis by activating a cascade of cysteinyl-aspartate specific proteases (caspases). We are only beginning to understand how the choice between mitophagy and the activation of caspases is determined on the mitochondrial surface. Intriguingly in neurons, caspase activation also plays a non-apoptotic role in synaptic plasticity. Here we review the current knowledge on the interplay between mitophagy and caspase activation with a special focus on the central nervous system

Spectral Properties of the Chalker-Coddington Network

We numerically investigate the spectral statistics of pseudo-energies for the unitary network operator U of the Chalker--Coddington network. The shape of the level spacing distribution as well the scaling of its moments is compared to known results for quantum Hall systems. We also discuss the influence of multifractality on the tail of the spacing distribution.Comment: JPSJ-style, 7 pages, 4 Postscript figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Localization in non-chiral network models for two-dimensional disordered wave mechanical systems

Scattering theoretical network models for general coherent wave mechanical systems with quenched disorder are investigated. We focus on universality classes for two dimensional systems with no preferred orientation: Systems of spinless waves undergoing scattering events with broken or unbroken time reversal symmetry and systems of spin 1/2 waves with time reversal symmetric scattering. The phase diagram in the parameter space of scattering strengths is determined. The model breaking time reversal symmetry contains the critical point of quantum Hall systems but, like the model with unbroken time reversal symmetry, only one attractive fixed point, namely that of strong localization. Multifractal exponents and quasi-one-dimensional localization lengths are calculated numerically and found to be related by conformal invariance. Furthermore, they agree quantitatively with theoretical predictions. For non-vanishing spin scattering strength the spin 1/2 systems show localization-delocalization transitions.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX, 4 figures (postscript

Wave-packet dynamics at the mobility edge in two- and three-dimensional systems

We study the time evolution of wave packets at the mobility edge of disordered non-interacting electrons in two and three spatial dimensions. The results of numerical calculations are found to agree with the predictions of scaling theory. In particular, we find that the $k$-th moment of the probability density $(t)$ scales like $t^{k/d}$ in $d$ dimensions. The return probability $P(r=0,t)$ scales like $t^{-D_2/d}$, with the generalized dimension of the participation ratio $D_2$. For long times and short distances the probability density of the wave packet shows power law scaling $P(r,t)\propto t^{-D_2/d}r^{D_2-d}$. The numerical calculations were performed on network models defined by a unitary time evolution operator providing an efficient model for the study of the wave packet dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 4 figures included, published versio

Coulomb drag between ballistic one-dimensional electron systems

The presence of pronounced electronic correlations in one-dimensional systems strongly enhances Coulomb coupling and is expected to result in distinctive features in the Coulomb drag between them that are absent in the drag between two-dimensional systems. We review recent Fermi and Luttinger liquid theories of Coulomb drag between ballistic one-dimensional electron systems, and give a brief summary of the experimental work reported so far on one-dimensional drag. Both the Fermi liquid (FL) and the Luttinger liquid (LL) theory predict a maximum of the drag resistance R_D when the one-dimensional subbands of the two quantum wires are aligned and the Fermi wave vector k_F is small, and also an exponential decay of R_D with increasing inter-wire separation, both features confirmed by experimental observations. A crucial difference between the two theoretical models emerges in the temperature dependence of the drag effect. Whereas the FL theory predicts a linear temperature dependence, the LL theory promises a rich and varied dependence on temperature depending on the relative magnitudes of the energy and length scales of the systems. At higher temperatures, the drag should show a power-law dependence on temperature, R_D \~ T^x, experimentally confirmed in a narrow temperature range, where x is determined by the Luttinger liquid parameters. The spin degree of freedom plays an important role in the LL theory in predicting the features of the drag effect and is crucial for the interpretation of experimental results.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, to appear in Semiconductor Science and Technolog

From quantum graphs to quantum random walks

We give a short overview over recent developments on quantum graphs and outline the connection between general quantum graphs and so-called quantum random walks.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Spectral Properties of Three Dimensional Layered Quantum Hall Systems

We investigate the spectral statistics of a network model for a three dimensional layered quantum Hall system numerically. The scaling of the quantity $J_0={1/2}$ is used to determine the critical exponent $\nu$ for several interlayer coupling strengths. Furthermore, we determine the level spacing distribution $P(s)$ as well as the spectral compressibility $\chi$ at criticality. We show that the tail of $P(s)$ decays as $\exp(-\kappa s)$ with $\kappa=1/(2\chi)$ and also numerically verify the equation $\chi=(d-D_2)/(2d)$, where $D_2$ is the correlation dimension and $d=3$ the spatial dimension.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Spectral Compressibility at the Metal-Insulator Transition of the Quantum Hall Effect

The spectral properties of a disordered electronic system at the metal-insulator transition point are investigated numerically. A recently derived relation between the anomalous diffusion exponent $\eta$ and the spectral compressibility $\chi$ at the mobility edge, $\chi=\eta/2d$, is confirmed for the integer quantum Hall delocalization transition. Our calculations are performed within the framework of an unitary network-model and represent a new method to investigate spectral properties of disordered systems.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures, Postscript, strongly revised version to be published in PR

Electron scattering in multi-wall carbon-nanotubes

We analyze two scattering mechanisms that might cause intrinsic electronic resistivity in multi-wall carbon nanotubes: scattering by dopant impurities, and scattering by inter-tube electron-electron interaction. We find that for typically doped multi-wall tubes backward scattering at dopants is by far the dominating effect.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.