367 research outputs found
1st National ring trial on detection of antibodies to trichinella in pigs
Regulation (EC) 2075/2005 ensures official inspection of food of animal origin with specific rules on official controls for Trichinella in meat. Regarding certification of Trichinella-free farms, this regulation recommends serological methods for monitoring. The aim of the ring trial was to evaluate a new ELISA regarding test accuracy and practical usage. The participants of the ring trial tested 22 sera prepared by the German National Reference Laboratory for Trichinellosis and additionally 22 field samples from their own sample collection using the commercial ELISA kit. This ELISA demonstrated a very good diagnostic sensitivity and robustness in the ring trial
Observation of an Efimov resonance in an ultracold mixture of atoms and weakly bound dimers
We discuss our recent observation of an atom-dimer Efimov resonance in an
ultracold mixture of Cs atoms and Cs_2 Feshbach molecules [Nature Phys. 5, 227
(2009)]. We review our experimental procedure and present additional data
involving a non-universal g-wave dimer state, to contrast our previous results
on the universal s-wave dimer. We resolve a seeming discrepancy when
quantitatively comparing our experimental findings with theoretical results
from effective field theory.Comment: Conference Proceeding ICPEAC 2009 Kalamazoo, to appear in Journal of
Physics: Conference Serie
Observation of an Efimov resonance in an ultracold mixture of atoms and weakly bound dimers
We discuss our recent observation of an atom-dimer Efimov resonance in an
ultracold mixture of Cs atoms and Cs_2 Feshbach molecules [Nature Phys. 5, 227
(2009)]. We review our experimental procedure and present additional data
involving a non-universal g-wave dimer state, to contrast our previous results
on the universal s-wave dimer. We resolve a seeming discrepancy when
quantitatively comparing our experimental findings with theoretical results
from effective field theory.Comment: Conference Proceeding ICPEAC 2009 Kalamazoo, to appear in Journal of
Physics: Conference Serie
Observation of an Efimov resonance in an ultracold mixture of atoms and weakly bound dimers
We discuss our recent observation of an atom-dimer Efimov resonance in an
ultracold mixture of Cs atoms and Cs_2 Feshbach molecules [Nature Phys. 5, 227
(2009)]. We review our experimental procedure and present additional data
involving a non-universal g-wave dimer state, to contrast our previous results
on the universal s-wave dimer. We resolve a seeming discrepancy when
quantitatively comparing our experimental findings with theoretical results
from effective field theory.Comment: Conference Proceeding ICPEAC 2009 Kalamazoo, to appear in Journal of
Physics: Conference Serie
Anti-HEV seroprevalence and rate of viremia in a German cohort of dogs, cats, and horses
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 infections in Germany are mainly transmitted zoonotically through the consumption of swine meat. Furthermore, there is evidence that pets might come into contact with HEV, but the relevance of companion animals as possible sources of HEV transmission in Germany still needs to be defined. A monitoring study was therefore carried out on dogs, cats, and horses from Germany. In total 365 serum samples from pets (124 dogs, 119 cats, and 122 horses) were tested for HEV by PCR and for anti-HEV antibodies by a commercial ELISA. The HEV seroprevalence determined by the sero-assay varied significantly between dogs (10%), cats (6%), and horses (2%). Liver injury-related enzymes, alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) showed no differences between HEV-positive or negative animals. None of the pet serum samples tested positive for PCR. This serological study suggests that dogs and cats are significantly exposed to HEV in Germany, while horses are of minor relevance
On the modification of the Efimov spectrum in a finite cubic box
Three particles with large scattering length display a universal spectrum of
three-body bound states called "Efimov trimers''. We calculate the modification
of the Efimov trimers of three identical bosons in a finite cubic box and
compute the dependence of their energies on the box size using effective field
theory. Previous calculations for positive scattering length that were
perturbative in the finite volume energy shift are extended to arbitrarily
large shifts and negative scattering lengths. The renormalization of the
effective field theory in the finite volume is explicitly verified. Moreover,
we investigate the effects of partial wave mixing and study the behavior of
shallow trimers near the dimer energy. Finally, we provide numerical evidence
for universal scaling of the finite volume corrections.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, published versio
Feynman path-integral treatment of the BEC-impurity polaron
The description of an impurity atom in a Bose-Einstein condensate can be cast
in the form of Frohlich's polaron Hamiltonian, where the Bogoliubov excitations
play the role of the phonons. An expression for the corresponding polaronic
coupling strength is derived, relating the coupling strength to the scattering
lengths, the trap size and the number of Bose condensed atoms. This allows to
identify several approaches to reach the strong-coupling limit for the quantum
gas polarons, whereas this limit was hitherto experimentally inaccessible in
solids. We apply Feynman's path-integral method to calculate for all coupling
strengths the polaronic shift in the free energy and the increase in the
effective mass. The effect of temperature on these quantities is included in
the description. We find similarities to the acoustic polaron results and
indications of a transition between free polarons and self-trapped polarons.
The prospects, based on the current theory, of investigating the polaron
physics with ultracold gases are discussed for lithium atoms in a sodium
condensate.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure
Observation of an Efimov spectrum in an atomic system
In 1970 V. Efimov predicted a puzzling quantum-mechanical effect that is
still of great interest today. He found that three particles subjected to a
resonant pairwise interaction can join into an infinite number of loosely bound
states even though each particle pair cannot bind. Interestingly, the
properties of these aggregates, such as the peculiar geometric scaling of their
energy spectrum, are universal, i.e. independent of the microscopic details of
their components. Despite an extensive search in many different physical
systems, including atoms, molecules and nuclei, the characteristic spectrum of
Efimov trimer states still eludes observation. Here we report on the discovery
of two bound trimer states of potassium atoms very close to the Efimov
scenario, which we reveal by studying three-particle collisions in an ultracold
gas. Our observation provides the first evidence of an Efimov spectrum and
allows a direct test of its scaling behaviour, shedding new light onto the
physics of few-body systems.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Efimov Trimers near the Zero-crossing of a Feshbach Resonance
Near a Feshbach resonance, the two-body scattering length can assume any
value. When it approaches zero, the next-order term given by the effective
range is known to diverge. We consider the question of whether this divergence
(and the vanishing of the scattering length) is accompanied by an anomalous
solution of the three-boson Schr\"odinger equation similar to the one found at
infinite scattering length by Efimov. Within a simple zero-range model, we find
no such solutions, and conclude that higher-order terms do not support Efimov
physics.Comment: 8 pages, no figures, final versio
Destabilization of dark states and optical spectroscopy in Zeeman-degenerate atomic systems
We present a general discussion of the techniques of destabilizing dark
states in laser-driven atoms with either a magnetic field or modulated laser
polarization. We show that the photon scattering rate is maximized at a
particular evolution rate of the dark state. We also find that the atomic
resonance curve is significantly broadened when the evolution rate is far from
this optimum value. These results are illustrated with detailed examples of
destabilizing dark states in some commonly-trapped ions and supported by
insights derived from numerical calculations and simple theoretical models.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure
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