6,501 research outputs found
Resonant Fibonacci Quantum Well Structures
We propose a resonant one-dimensional quasicrystal, namely, a multiple
quantum well (MQW) structure satisfying the Fibonacci-chain rule with the
golden ratio between the long and short inter-well distances. The resonant
Bragg condition is generalized from the periodic to Fibonacci MQWs. A
dispersion equation for exciton-polaritons is derived in the two-wave
approximation, the effective allowed and forbidden bands are found. The
reflection spectra from the proposed structures are calculated as a function of
the well number and detuning from the Bragg condition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Chiral Quasicrystalline Order and Dodecahedral Geometry in Exceptional Families of Viruses
On the example of exceptional families of viruses we i) show the existence of
a completely new type of matter organization in nanoparticles, in which the
regions with a chiral pentagonal quasicrystalline order of protein positions
are arranged in a structure commensurate with the spherical topology and
dodecahedral geometry, ii) generalize the classical theory of quasicrystals
(QCs) to explain this organization, and iii) establish the relation between
local chiral QC order and nonzero curvature of the dodecahedral capsid faces.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Neutrinos from Accreting Neutron Stars
The magnetospheres of accreting neutron stars develop electrostatic gaps with
huge potential drops. Protons and ions, accelerated in these gaps along the
dipolar magnetic field lines to energies greater than 100 TeV, can impact onto
a surrounding accretion disc. A proton-induced cascade so develops, and
-emission is produced from charged pion decays. Using GEANT4, a computer
code that tracks particles produced in high energy collisions, we have
calculated the resulting -spectrum with extensive disc shower simulations.
We show that the -spectrum produced out of the proton beam is a power law.
We use this result to propose accretion-powered X-ray binaries (with highly
magnetized neutron stars) as a new population of point-like -sources for
km-scale detectors, such as ICECUBE. As a particular example we discuss the
case of A0535+26. We show that ICECUBE should find A0535+26 to be a periodic
-source: one for which the formation and loss of its accretion disc can be
fully detected. Finally, we briefly comment on the possibility that smaller
telescopes, like AMANDA, could also detect A0535+26 by folding observations
with the orbital period.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Updates to match accepted version in Astrophys.
Norine, the knowledgebase dedicated to nonribosomal peptides, is now open to crowdsourcing
International audienceSince its creation in 2006, Norine remains the unique knowledgebase dedicated to non-ribosomal pep-tides (NRPs). These secondary metabolites, produced by bacteria and fungi, harbor diverse interesting biological activities (such as antibiotic, anti-tumor, siderophore or surfactant) directly related to the diversity of their structures. The Norine team goal is to collect the NRPs and provide tools to analyze them efficiently. We have developed a user-friendly interface and dedicated tools to provide a complete bioinformatics platform. The knowledgebase gathers abundant and valuable annotations on more than 1100 NRPs. To increase the quantity of described NRPs and improve the quality of associated annotations , we are now opening Norine to crowdsourc-ing. We believe that contributors from the scientific community are the best experts to annotate the NRPs they work on. We have developed MyNorine to facilitate the submission of new NRPs or modifications of stored ones. This article presents MyNorine and other novelties of Norine interface released since the first publication. Norine is freely accessible from the following URL: http://bioinfo.lifl.fr/NRP
Continuum elastic sphere vibrations as a model for low-lying optical modes in icosahedral quasicrystals
The nearly dispersionless, so-called "optical" vibrational modes observed by
inelastic neutron scattering from icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn and Zn-Mg-Y
quasicrystals are found to correspond well to modes of a continuum elastic
sphere that has the same diameter as the corresponding icosahedral basic units
of the quasicrystal. When the sphere is considered as free, most of the
experimentally found modes can be accounted for, in both systems. Taking into
account the mechanical connection between the clusters and the remainder of the
quasicrystal allows a complete assignment of all optical modes in the case of
Al-Pd-Mn. This approach provides support to the relevance of clusters in the
vibrational properties of quasicrystals.Comment: 9 pages without figure
The variability behavior of CoRoT M-giant Stars
For 6 years the Convection, Rotation, and Planetary Transits (CoRoT) space
mission has acquired photometric data from more than one hundred thousand point
sources towards and directly opposite from the inner and outer regions of the
Galaxy. The high temporal resolution of the CoRoT data combined with the wide
time span of the observations has enabled the study of short and long time
variations in unprecedented detail. From the initial sample of 2534 stars
classified as M-giants in the CoRoT databasis, we selected 1428 targets that
exhibit well defined variability, using visual inspection. The variability
period and amplitude of C1 stars (stars having Teff < 4200 K) were computed
using Lomb-Scargle and harmonic fit methods. The trends found in the V-I vs J-K
color-color diagram are in agreement with standard empirical calibrations for
M-giants. The sources located towards the inner regions of the Galaxy are
distributed throughout the diagram while the majority of the stars towards the
outer regions of the Galaxy are spread between the calibrations of M-giants and
the predicted position for Carbon stars. The stars classified as supergiants
follow a different sequence from the one found for giant stars. We also
performed a KS test of the period and amplitude of stars towards the inner and
outer regions of the Galaxy. We obtained a low probability that the two samples
come from the same parent distribution. The observed behavior of the
period-amplitude and period-Teff diagrams are, in general, in agreement with
those found for Kepler sources and ground based photometry, with pulsation
being the dominant cause responsible for the observed modulation. We also
conclude that short-time variations on M-Giant stars do not exist orare very
rare and the few cases we found are possibly related to biases or background
stars.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure
Modelling quasicrystals at positive temperature
We consider a two-dimensional lattice model of equilibrium statistical
mechanics, using nearest neighbor interactions based on the matching conditions
for an aperiodic set of 16 Wang tiles. This model has uncountably many ground
state configurations, all of which are nonperiodic. The question addressed in
this paper is whether nonperiodicity persists at low but positive temperature.
We present arguments, mostly numerical, that this is indeed the case. In
particular, we define an appropriate order parameter, prove that it is
identically zero at high temperatures, and show by Monte Carlo simulation that
it is nonzero at low temperatures
Sound modes broadening for Fibonacci one dimensional quasicrystals
We investigate vibrational excitation broadening in one dimensional Fibonacci
model of quasicrystals (QCs). The chain is constructed from particles with two
masses following the Fibonacci inflation rule. The eigenmode spectrum depends
crucially on the mass ratio. We calculate the eigenstates and eigenfunctions.
All calculations performed self-consistently within the regular expansion over
the three wave coupling constant. The approach can be extended to three
dimensional systems. We find that in the intermediate range of mode coupling
constants, three-wave broadening for the both types of systems (1D Fibonacci
and 3D QCs) depends universally on frequency. Our general qualitative
conclusion is that for a system with a non-simple elementary cell phonon
spectrum broadening is always larger than for a system with a primitive cell
(provided all other characteristics are the same).Comment: 2o pages, 15 figure
Discovery of a binary icosahedral quasicrystal in ScZn
We report the discovery of a new binary icosahedral phase in a Sc-Zn alloy
obtained through solution-growth, producing millimeter-sized, facetted, single
grain, quasicrystals that exhibit different growth morphologies, pentagonal
dodecahedra and rhombic triacontahedra, under only marginally different growth
conditions. These two morphologies manifest different degrees of
quasicrystalline order, or phason strain. The discovery of i-ScZn
suggests that a reexamination of binary phase diagrams at compositions close to
crystalline approximant structures may reveal other, new binary
quasicrystalline phases.Comment: Incorrect spelling in author list resolve
Role of phason-defects on the conductance of a 1-d quasicrystal
We have studied the influence of a particular kind of phason-defect on the
Landauer resistance of a Fibonacci chain. Depending on parameters, we sometimes
find the resistance to decrease upon introduction of defect or temperature, a
behavior that also appears in real quasicrystalline materials. We demonstrate
essential differences between a standard tight-binding model and a full
continuous model. In the continuous case, we study the conductance in relation
to the underlying chaotic map and its invariant. Close to conducting points,
where the invariant vanishes, and in the majority of cases studied, the
resistance is found to decrease upon introduction of a defect. Subtle
interference effects between a sudden phason-change in the structure and the
phase of the wavefunction are also found, and these give rise to resistive
behaviors that produce exceedingly simple and regular patterns.Comment: 12 pages, special macros jnl.tex,reforder.tex, eqnorder.tex. arXiv
admin note: original tex thoroughly broken, figures missing. Modified so that
tex compiles, original renamed .tex.orig in source
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