536 research outputs found
Real-space imaging of a topological protected edge state with ultracold atoms in an amplitude-chirped optical lattice
Topological states of matter, as quantum Hall systems or topological
insulators, cannot be distinguished from ordinary matter by local measurements
in the bulk of the material. Instead, global measurements are required,
revealing topological invariants as the Chern number. At the heart of
topological materials are topologically protected edge states that occur at the
intersection between regions of different topological order. Ultracold atomic
gases in optical lattices are promising new platforms for topological states of
matter, though the observation of edge states has so far been restricted in
these systems to the state space imposed by the internal atomic structure. Here
we report on the observation of an edge state between two topological distinct
phases of an atomic physics system in real space using optical microscopy. An
interface between two spatial regions of different topological order is
realized in a one-dimensional optical lattice of spatially chirped amplitude.
To reach this, a magnetic field gradient causes a spatial variation of the
Raman detuning in an atomic rubidium three- level system and a corresponding
spatial variation of the coupling between momentum eigenstates. This novel
experimental technique realizes a cold atom system described by a Dirac
equation with an inhomogeneous mass term closely related to the SSH-model. The
observed edge state is characterized by measuring the overlap to various
initial states, revealing that this topological state has singlet nature in
contrast to the other system eigenstates, which occur pairwise. We also
determine the size of the energy gap to the adjacent eigenstate doublet. Our
findings hold prospects for the spectroscopy of surface states in topological
matter and for the quantum simulation of interacting Dirac systems
Measuring telomere length and telomere dynamics in evolutionary biology and ecology
Telomeres play a fundamental role in the protection of chromosomal DNA and in the regulation of cellular senescence. Recent work in human epidemiology and evolutionary ecology suggests adult telomere length (TL) may reflect past physiological stress and predict subsequent morbidity and mortality, independent of chronological age.
Several different methods have been developed to measure TL, each offering its own technical challenges. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the advantages and drawbacks of each method for researchers, with a particular focus on issues that are likely to face ecologists and evolutionary biologists collecting samples in the field or in organisms that may never have been studied in this context before.
We discuss the key issues to consider and wherever possible try to provide current consensus view regarding best practice with regard to sample collection and storage, DNA extraction and storage, and the five main methods currently available to measure TL.
Decisions regarding which tissues to sample, how to store them, how to extract DNA, and which TL measurement method to use cannot be prescribed, and are dependent on the biological question addressed and the constraints imposed by the study system. What is essential for future studies of telomere dynamics in evolution and ecology is that researchers publish full details of their methods and the quality control thresholds they employ
Generating higher order Codazzi tensors by functions
We study higher order Codazzi tensors on constant curvature spaces and show how they can be generated by functions. We give applications in Riemannian geometry and hypersurface theory; in particular we characterize ellipsoids in terms of second order spherical harmonics
An internet of old things as an augmented memory system
The interdisciplinary Tales of Things and electronic Memory (TOTeM) project investigates new contexts for augmenting things with stories in the emerging culture of the Internet of Things (IoT). Tales of Things is a tagging system which, based on two-dimensional barcodes (also called Quick Response or QR codes) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, enables the capturing and sharing of object stories and the physical linking to objects via read and writable tags. Within the context of our study, it has functioned as a technology probe which we employed with the aim to stimulate discussion and identify desire lines that point to novel design opportunities for the engagement with personal and social memories linked to everyday objects. In this paper, we discuss results from fieldwork with different community groups in the course of which seemingly any object could form the basis of a meaningful story and act as entry point into rich inherent 'networks of meaning'. Such networks of meaning are often solely accessible for the owner of an object and are at risk of getting lost as time goes by. We discuss the different discourses that are inherent in these object stories and provide avenues for making these memories and meaning networks accessible and shareable. This paper critically reflects on Tales of Things as an example of an augmented memory system and discusses possible wider implications for the design of related systems. © 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited
Nucleon mass and pion-nucleon sigma term from a chiral analysis of lattice QCD data
The pion mass dependence of the nucleon mass within the covariant SU(2) baryon chiral perturbation theory both without and with explicit Delta(1232) degrees of freedom up to order p(4) is investigated. By fitting to a comprehensive set of lattice QCD data in 2 and 2 + 1 flavors from several collaborations, for pion masses M-pi < 420 MeV, we obtain low energy constants of natural size that are compatible with pion-nucleon scattering data. Our results are consistent with the rather linear pion mass dependence showed by lattice QCD. In the 2 flavor case we have also performed simultaneous fits to nucleon mass and sigma(pi N) data. As a result of our analysis, which encompasses the study of finite volume corrections and discretization effects, we report a value of sigma(pi N) = 41(5)(4) MeV in the 2 flavor case and sigma(pi N) = 52(3)(8) MeV for 2 + 1 flavors, where the inclusion of the Delta(1232) resonance changes the results by around 9 MeV. In the 2 flavor case we are able to set independently the scale for lattice QCD data, given by a Sommer scale of r(0) = 0.493(23) fm
Spectrum of Illness in International Migrants Seen at GeoSentinel Clinics in 1997-2009, Part 2: Migrants Resettled Internationally and Evaluated for Specific Health Concerns
Of 7629 migrants, one third were infected with tuberculosis (22% active, 10% latent), one quarter with a variety of parasites (malaria 7%, schistosomes 6%, Strongyloides 5%, miscellaneous 5%), and 17% with chronic viral hepatitis (12% hepatitis B, 5% hepatitis C
Dynamical mean-field study of ferromagnetism in the periodic Anderson model
The ferromagnetic phase diagram of the periodic Anderson model is calculated
using dynamical mean-field theory in combination with the modified perturbation
theory. Concentrating on the intermediate valence regime, the phase boundaries
are established as function of the total electron density, the position of the
atomic level and the hybridization strength. The main contribution to the
magnetic moment stems from the f-electrons. The conduction band polarization
is, depending on the system parameters either parallel or antiparallel to the
f-magnetization. By investigating the densities of states, one observes that
the change of sign of the conduction band polarization is closely connected to
the hybridization gap, which is only apparent in the case of almost complete
polarization of the f-electrons. Finite-temperature calculations are also
performed, the Curie temperature as function of electron density and f-level
position are determined. In the intermediate-valence regime, the phase
transitions are found to be of second order.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
Kondo screening and exhaustion in the periodic Anderson model
We investigate the paramagnetic periodic Anderson model using the dynamical
mean-field theory in combination with the modified perturbation theory which
interpolates between the weak and strong coupling limits. For the symmetric
PAM, the ground state is always a singlet state. However, as function of the
hybridization strength, a crossover from collective to local Kondo screening is
found. Reducing the number of conduction electrons, the local Kondo singlets
remain stable. The unpaired f-electrons dominate the physics of the system. For
very low conduction electron densities, a large increase of the effective mass
of the quasiparticles is visible, which is interpreted as the approach of the
Mott-Hubbard transition.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
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