21,243 research outputs found
Dynamics of matter-wave solitons in a ratchet potential
We study the dynamics of bright solitons formed in a Bose-Einstein condensate
with attractive atomic interactions perturbed by a weak bichromatic optical
lattice potential. The lattice depth is a biperiodic function of time with a
zero mean, which realises a flashing ratchet for matter-wave solitons. The
average velocity of a soliton and the directed soliton current induced by the
ratchet depend on the number of atoms in the soliton. We employ this feature to
study collisions between ratchet-driven solitons and find that soliton
transport can be induced through their interactions. In the regime when
matter-wave solitons are narrow compared to the lattice period the ratchet
dynamics is well described by the effective Hamiltonian theory.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Regulation of smooth muscle contraction by monomeric non‐RhoA GTPases
Smooth muscle contraction in the cardiovascular system, airways, prostate and lower urinary tract is involved in the pathophysiology of many diseases, including cardiovascular and obstructive lung disease plus lower urinary tract symptoms, which are associated with high prevalence of morbidity and mortality. This prominent clinical role of smooth muscle tone has led to the molecular mechanisms involved being subjected to extensive research. In general smooth muscle contraction is promoted by three major signalling pathways, including the monomeric GTPase RhoA pathway. However, emerging evidence suggests that monomeric GTPases other than RhoA may be involved in signal transduction in smooth muscle contraction, including Rac GTPases, cell division control protein 42 homologue, adenosine ribosylation factor 6, Ras, Rap1b and Rab GTPases. Here, we review these emerging functions of non‐RhoA GTPases in smooth muscle contraction, which has now become increasingly more evident and constitutes an emerging and innovative research area of high clinical relevance
Interaction between counter-propagating quantum Hall edge channels in the 3D topological insulator BiSbTeSe
The quantum Hall effect is studied in the topological insulator BiSbTeSe.
By employing top- and back-gate electric fields at high magnetic field, the
Landau levels of the Dirac cones in the top and bottom topological surface
states can be tuned independently. When one surface is tuned to the
electron-doped side of the Dirac cone and the other surface to the hole-doped
side, the quantum Hall edge channels are counter-propagating. The opposite edge
mode direction, combined with the opposite helicities of top and bottom
surfaces, allows for scattering between these counter-propagating edge modes.
The total Hall conductance is integer valued only when the scattering is
strong. For weaker interaction, a non-integer quantum Hall effect is expected
and measured
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