2,060 research outputs found
Damping of quasiparticles in a Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an optical cavity
We present a general theory for calculating the damping rate of elementary
density wave excitations in a Bose-Einstein condensate strongly coupled to a
single radiation field mode of an optical cavity. Thereby we give a detailed
derivation of the huge resonant enhancement in the Beliaev damping of a density
wave mode, predicted recently by K\'onya et al., Phys.~Rev.~A 89, 051601(R)
(2014). The given density-wave mode constitutes the polariton-like soft mode of
the self-organization phase transition. The resonant enhancement takes place,
both in the normal and ordered phases, outside the critical region. We show
that the large damping rate is accompanied by a significant frequency shift of
this polariton mode. Going beyond the Born-Markov approximation and determining
the poles of the retarded Green's function of the polariton, we reveal a strong
coupling between the polariton and a collective mode in the phonon bath formed
by the other density wave modes
The Dicke model phase transition in the quantum motion of a Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical cavity
We show that the motion of a laser-driven Bose-Einstein condensate in a
high-finesse optical cavity realizes the spin-boson Dicke-model. The quantum
phase transition of the Dicke-model from the normal to the superradiant phase
corresponds to the self-organization of atoms from the homogeneous into a
periodically patterned distribution above a critical driving strength. The
fragility of the ground state due to photon measurement induced back action is
calculated.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Photonic tuning of quasi-particle decay in a superfluid
We show that the damping rate of elementary excitations of hybrid systems
close to a phase transition can undergo a remarkable resonance like enhancement
before mode softening takes place. In particular, we consider the friction of a
collective density wave in a homogeneous superfluid of weakly interacting
bosonic atoms coupled to the electromagnetic field of a single mode optical
resonator. Here the Beliaev damping can thus be controlled by an external laser
drive and be enhanced by several orders of magnitude
Gauss-Bonnet brane-world cosmology without -symmetry
We consider a single 3-brane situated between two bulk spacetimes that posses
the same cosmological constant, but whose metrics do not posses a
-symmetry. On each side of the brane, the bulk is a solution to
Gauss-Bonnet gravity. This asymmetry modifies junction conditions, and so new
terms arise in the Friedmann equation. If these terms become dominant, these
behave cosmological constant at early times for some case, and might remove the
initial singularity for other case. However, we show that these new terms can
not become dominant ones under usual conditions when our brane is outside an
event horizon. We also show that any brane-world scenarios of this type revert
to a -symmetric form at late times, and hence rule out certain proposed
scenarios.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; Minor typos corrected. References added. V3:
Numerical errors are corrected. Fig.1 and Fig.3 are replaced. V4: published
versio
Asymmetric Swiss-cheese brane-worlds
We study a brane-world cosmological scenario with local inhomogeneities
represented by black holes. The brane is asymmetrically embedded into the bulk.
The black strings/cigars penetrating the Friedmann brane generate a
Swiss-cheese type structure. This universe forever expands and decelerates, as
its general relativistic analogue. The evolution of the cosmological fluid
however can proceed along four branches, two allowed to have positive energy
density, one of them having the symmetric embedding limit. On this branch a
future pressure singularity can arise for either (a) a difference in the
cosmological constants of the cosmological and black hole brane regions (b) a
difference in the left and right bulk cosmological constants. While the
behaviour (a) can be avoided by a redefinition of the fluid variables, (b)
establishes a critical value of the asymmetry over which the pressure
singularity occurs. We introduce the pressure singularity censorship which
bounds the degree of asymmetry in the bulk cosmological constant. We also show
as a model independent generic feature that the asymmetry source term due to
the bulk cosmological constant increases in the early universe. In order to
obey the nucleosynthesis constraints, the brane tension should be constrained
therefore both from below and from above. With the maximal degree of asymmetry
obeying the pressure singularity censorship, the higher limit is 10 times the
lower limit. The degree of asymmetry allowed by present cosmological
observations is however much less, pushing the upper limit to infinity.Comment: v2: considerably expanded, 19 pages, 8 figures, many new references.
Pressure singularity censorship introduced, strict limits on the possible
degree of asymmetry derived. v3: model independent analysis shows that the
asymmetry bounds the brane tension from above. Limits on the maximal tension
set. Version published in JCA
Double-Stranded RNA Attenuates the Barrier Function of Human Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells
Circulating RNA may result from excessive cell damage or acute viral infection and can interact with vascular endothelial cells. Despite the obvious clinical implications associated with the presence of circulating RNA, its pathological effects on endothelial cells and the governing molecular mechanisms are still not fully elucidated. We analyzed the effects of double stranded RNA on primary human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (hPAECs). The effect of natural and synthetic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) on hPAECs was investigated using trans-endothelial electric resistance, molecule trafficking, calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis, gene expression and proliferation studies. Furthermore, the morphology and mechanical changes of the cells caused by synthetic dsRNA was followed by in-situ atomic force microscopy, by vascular-endothelial cadherin and F-actin staining. Our results indicated that exposure of hPAECs to synthetic dsRNA led to functional deficits. This was reflected by morphological and mechanical changes and an increase in the permeability of the endothelial monolayer. hPAECs treated with synthetic dsRNA accumulated in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Additionally, the proliferation rate of the cells in the presence of synthetic dsRNA was significantly decreased. Furthermore, we found that natural and synthetic dsRNA modulated Ca2+ signaling in hPAECs by inhibiting the sarco-endoplasmic Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) which is involved in the regulation of the intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and thus cell growth. Even upon synthetic dsRNA stimulation silencing of SERCA3 preserved the endothelial monolayer integrity. Our data identify novel mechanisms by which dsRNA can disrupt endothelial barrier function and these may be relevant in inflammatory processes
Structure based inhibitor design targeting glycogen phosphorylase b. Virtual screening, synthesis, biochemical and biological assessment of novel N-acyl-β-d-glucopyranosylamines
Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is a validated target for the development of new type 2 diabetes treatments. Exploiting the Zinc docking database, we report the in silico screening of 1888 β- D-glucopyranose-NH-CO-R putative GP inhibitors differing only in their R groups. CombiGlide and GOLD docking programs with different scoring functions were employed with the best performing methods combined in a “consensus scoring” approach to ranking of ligand binding affinities for the active site. Six selected candidates from the screening were then synthesized and their inhibitory potency was assessed both in vitro and ex vivo. Their inhibition constants’ values, in vitro, ranged from 5 to 377 µM while two of them were effective at causing inactivation of GP in rat hepatocytes at low µM concentrations. The crystal structures of GP in complex with the inhibitors were defined and provided the structural basis for their inhibitory potency and data for further structure based design of more potent inhibitors
Fe/Co Alloys for the Catalytic Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Single- and Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs). 1. The CNT−Fe/Co−MgO System
Mg0.90FexCoyO (x + y ) 0.1) solid solutions were synthesized by the ureic combustion route. Upon reduction at 1000 °C in H2-CH4 of these powders, Fe/Co alloy nanoparticles are formed, which are involved in the formation of carbon nanotubes, which are mostly single and double walled, with an average diameter close to 2.5 nm. Characterizations of the materials are performed using 57Fe Mo¨ssbauer spectroscopy and electron microscopy, and a well-established macroscopic method, based on specific-surface-area measurements, was applied to quantify the carbon quality and the nanotubes quantity. A detailed investigation of the Fe/Co alloys’ formation and composition is reported. An increasing fraction of Co2+ ions hinders the dissolution of iron in the MgO lattice and favors the formation of MgFe2O4-like particles in the oxide powders. Upon reduction, these particles form R-Fe/Co particles with a size and composition (close to Fe0.50Co0.50) adequate for the increased production of carbon nanotubes. However, larger particles are also produced resulting in the formation of undesirable carbon species. The highest CNT quantity and carbon quality are eventually obtained upon reduction of the iron-free Mg0.90Co0.10O solid solution, in the absence of clusters of metal ions in the starting material. Introduction Catalyti
A glossary for research on human crowd dynamics
This article presents a glossary of terms that are frequently used in research on human crowds. This topic is inherently multidisciplinary as it includes work in and across computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, psychology and social science, for example. We do not view the glossary presented here as a collection of finalised and formal definitions. Instead, we suggest it is a snapshot of current views and the starting point of an ongoing process that we hope will be useful in providing some guidance on the use of terminology to develop a mutual understanding across disciplines.
The glossary was developed collaboratively during a multidisciplinary meeting. We deliberately allow several definitions of terms, to reflect the confluence of disciplines in the field. This also reflects the fact not all contributors necessarily agree with all definitions in this glossary
Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at TeV with the ATLAS detector
This paper presents measurements of the and cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a
function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were
collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with
the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity
of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements
varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the
1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured
with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with
predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various
parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between
them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables,
submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at
https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13
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