16 research outputs found
Effects of atomic interactions on Quantum Accelerator Modes
We consider the influence of the inclusion of interatomic interactions on the
delta-kicked accelerator model. Our analysis concerns in particular quantum
accelerator modes, namely quantum ballistic transport near quantal resonances.
The atomic interaction is modelled by a Gross-Pitaevskii cubic nonlinearity,
and we address both attractive (focusing) and repulsive (defocusing) cases. The
most remarkable effect is enhancement or damping of the accelerator modes,
depending on the sign of the nonlinear parameter. We provide arguments showing
that the effect persists beyond mean-field description, and lies within the
experimentally accessible parameter range.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure
Quantum Accelerator Modes near Higher-Order Resonances
Quantum Accelerator Modes have been experimentally observed, and
theoretically explained, in the dynamics of kicked cold atoms in the presence
of gravity, when the kicking period is close to a half-integer multiple of the
Talbot time. We generalize the theory to the case when the kicking period is
sufficiently close to any rational multiple of the Talbot time, and thus
predict new rich families of experimentally observable Quantum Accelerator
Modes.Comment: Inaccurate reference [12] has been amende
Delocalized and Resonant Quantum Transport in Nonlinear Generalizations of the Kicked Rotor Model
We analyze the effects of a nonlinear cubic perturbation on the delta-Kicked
Rotor. We consider two different models, in which the nonlinear term acts
either in the position or in the momentum representation. We numerically
investigate the modifications induced by the nonlinearity in the quantum
transport in both localized and resonant regimes and a comparison between the
results for the two models is presented. Analyzing the momentum distributions
and the increase of the mean square momentum, we find that the quantum
resonances asymptotically are very stable with respect to the nonlinear
perturbation of the rotor's phase evolution. For an intermittent time regime,
the nonlinearity even enhances the resonant quantum transport, leading to
superballistic motion.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Decay of Quantum Accelerator Modes
Experimentally observable Quantum Accelerator Modes are used as a test case
for the study of some general aspects of quantum decay from classical stable
islands immersed in a chaotic sea. The modes are shown to correspond to
metastable states, analogous to the Wannier-Stark resonances. Different regimes
of tunneling, marked by different quantitative dependence of the lifetimes on
1/hbar, are identified, depending on the resolution of KAM substructures that
is achieved on the scale of hbar. The theory of Resonance Assisted Tunneling
introduced by Brodier, Schlagheck, and Ullmo [9], is revisited, and found to
well describe decay whenever applicable.Comment: 16 pages, 11 encapsulated postscript figures (figures with a better
resolution are available upon request to the authors); added reference for
section
Stable Quantum Resonances in Atom Optics
A theory for stabilization of quantum resonances by a mechanism similar to
one leading to classical resonances in nonlinear systems is presented. It
explains recent surprising experimental results, obtained for cold Cesium atoms
when driven in the presence of gravity, and leads to further predictions. The
theory makes use of invariance properties of the system, that are similar to
those of solids, allowing for separation into independent kicked rotor
problems. The analysis relies on a fictitious classical limit where the small
parameter is {\em not} Planck's constant, but rather the detuning from the
frequency that is resonant in absence of gravity.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Arnol'd Tongues and Quantum Accelerator Modes
The stable periodic orbits of an area-preserving map on the 2-torus, which is
formally a variant of the Standard Map, have been shown to explain the quantum
accelerator modes that were discovered in experiments with laser-cooled atoms.
We show that their parametric dependence exhibits Arnol'd-like tongues and
perform a perturbative analysis of such structures. We thus explain the
arithmetical organisation of the accelerator modes and discuss experimental
implications thereof.Comment: 20 pages, 6 encapsulated postscript figure
Nonlinearity effects in the kicked oscillator
The quantum kicked oscillator is known to display a remarkable richness of
dynamical behaviour, from ballistic spreading to dynamical localization. Here
we investigate the effects of a Gross Pitaevskii nonlinearity on quantum
motion, and provide evidence that the qualitative features depend strongly on
the parameters of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Effects of a nonlinear perturbation on dynamical tunneling in cold atoms
We perform a numerical analysis of the effects of a nonlinear perturbation on
the quantum dynamics of two models describing non-interacting cold atoms in a
standing wave of light with a periodical modulated amplitude . One model
is the driven pendulum, considered in ref.\cite{raiz1}, and the other is a
variant of the well-known Kicked Rotator Model. In absence of the nonlinear
perturbation, the system is invariant under some discrete symmetries and
quantum dynamical tunnelling between symmetric classical islands is found. The
presence of nonlinearity destroys tunnelling, breaking the symmetries of the
system. Finally, further consequences of nonlinearity in the kicked rotator
case are considered.Comment: 10 pages, 15 figure
Evidence of Distinct Tumour-Propagating Cell Populations with Different Properties in Primary Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Increasing evidence that a number of malignancies are characterised by tumour cell heterogeneity has recently been published, but there is still a lack of data concerning liver cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate and characterise tumour-propagating cell (TPC) compartments within human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).After long-term culture, we identified three morphologically different tumour cell populations in a single HCC specimen, and extensively characterised them by means of flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, karyotyping and microarray analyses, single cell cloning, and xenotransplantation in NOD/SCID/IL2Rγ/⁻ mice.The primary cell populations (hcc-1, -2 and -3) and two clones generated by means of limiting dilutions from hcc-1 (clone-1/7 and -1/8) differently expressed a number of tumour-associated stem cell markers, including EpCAM, CD49f, CD44, CD133, CD56, Thy-1, ALDH and CK19, and also showed different doubling times, drug resistance and tumorigenic potential. Moreover, we found that ALDH expression, in combination with CD44 or Thy-1 negativity or CD56 positivity identified subpopulations with a higher clonogenic potential within hcc-1, hcc-2 and hcc-3 primary cell populations, respectively. Karyotyping revealed the clonal evolution of the cell populations and clones within the primary tumour. Importantly, the primary tumour cell population with the greatest tumorigenic potential and drug resistance showed more chromosomal alterations than the others and contained clones with epithelial and mesenchymal features.Individual HCCs can harbor different self-renewing tumorigenic cell types expressing a variety of morphological and phenotypical markers, karyotypic evolution and different gene expression profiles. This suggests that the models of hepatic carcinogenesis should take into account TPC heterogeneity due to intratumour clonal evolution