Incoherent multi-gap optical solitons in nonlinear photonic lattices

We demonstrate numerically that partially incoherent light can be trapped in the spectral band gaps of a photonic lattice, creating partially incoherent multi-component spatial optical solitons in a self-defocusing nonlinear periodic medium. We find numerically such incoherent multi-gap optical solitons and discuss how to generate them in experiment by interfering incoherent light beams at the input of a nonlinear periodic medium.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Broken Symmetry as a Stabilizing Remnant

The Goldberger-Wise mechanism enables one to stabilize the length of the warped extra dimension employed in Randall-Sundrum models. In this work we generalize this mechanism to models with multiple warped throats sharing a common ultraviolet brane. For independent throats this generalization is straight forward. If the throats possess a discrete interchange symmetry like Z_n the stabilizing dynamics may respect the symmetry, resulting in equal throat lengths, or they may break it. In the latter case the ground state of an initially symmetric configuration is a stabilized asymmetric configuration in which the throat lengths differ. We focus on two- (three-) throat setups with a Z_2 (Z_3) interchange symmetry and present stabilization dynamics suitable for either breaking or maintaining the symmetry. Though admitting more general application, our results are relevant for existing models in the literature, including the two throat model with Kaluza-Klein parity and the three throat model of flavor based on a broken Z_3 symmetry.Comment: 23 pages; v2 minor cosmetic chang

Electron transport through an interacting region: The case of a nonorthogonal basis set

The formula derived by Meir and Wingreen [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 68}, 2512 (1992)] for the electron current through a confined, central region containing interactions is generalized to the case of a nonorthogonal basis set. As in the original work, the present derivation is based on the nonequilibrium Keldysh formalism. By replacing the basis functions of the central region by the corresponding elements of the dual basis, the lead- and central region-subspaces become mutually orthogonal. The current formula is then derived in the new basis, using a generalized version of second quantization and Green's function theory to handle the nonorthogonality within each of the regions. Finally, the appropriate nonorthogonal form of the perturbation series for the Green's function is established for the case of electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions in the central region.Comment: Added references. 8 pages, 1 figur

Spin coherence times of point defects in two-dimensional materials from first principles

The spin coherence times of 69 triplet defect centers in 45 different 2D host materials are calculated using the cluster correlation expansion (CCE) method with parameters of the spin Hamiltonian obtained from density functional theory (DFT). Several of the triplets are found to exhibit extraordinarily large spin coherence times making them interesting for quantum information processing. The dependence of the spin coherence time on various factors, including the hyperfine coupling strength, the dipole-dipole coupling, and the nuclear g-factors, are systematically investigated. The analysis shows that the spin coherence time is insensitive to the atomistic details of the defect center and rather is dictated by the nuclear spin properties of the host material. Symbolic regression is then used to derive a simple expression for spin coherence time, which is validated on a test set of 55 doublet defects unseen by the regression model. The simple expression permits order-of-magnitude estimates of the spin coherence time without expensive first principles calculations

Defect Tolerant Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Localized electronic states formed inside the band gap of a semiconductor due to crystal defects can be detrimental to the material's optoelectronic properties. Semiconductors with lower tendency to form defect induced deep gap states are termed defect tolerant. Here we provide a systematic first principles investigation of defect tolerance in 29 monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) of interest for nanoscale optoelectronics. We find that the TMDs based on group VI and X metals form deep gap states upon creation of a chalcogen (S, Se, Te) vacancy while the TMDs based on group IV metals form only shallow defect levels and are thus predicted to be defect tolerant. Interestingly, all the defect sensitive TMDs have valence and conduction bands with very similar orbital composition. This indicates a bonding/anti-bonding nature of the gap which in turn suggests that dangling bonds will fall inside the gap. These ideas are made quantitative by introducing a descriptor that measures the degree of similarity of the conduction and valence band manifolds. Finally, the study is generalized to non-polar nanoribbons of the TMDs where we find that only the defect sensitive materials form edge states within the band gap

Beta-Lactamase Repressor BlaI Modulates Staphylococcus aureus Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptide Resistance and Virulence.

BlaI is a repressor of BlaZ, the beta-lactamase responsible for penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Through screening a transposon library in S. aureus Newman for susceptibility to cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, we discovered BlaI as a novel cathelicidin resistance factor. Additionally, through integrational mutagenesis in S. aureus Newman and MRSA Sanger 252 strains, we confirmed the role of BlaI in resistance to human and murine cathelidicin and showed that it contributes to virulence in human whole blood and murine infection models. We further demonstrated that BlaI could be a target for innate immune-based antimicrobial therapies; by removing BlaI through subinhibitory concentrations of 6-aminopenicillanic acid, we were able to sensitize S. aureus to LL-37 killing