Composite fermions close to the one-half filling of the lowest Landau level revisited

By strictly adhering to the microscopic theory of composite fermions for the Landau-level filling fractions nu_e = p/(2 p + 1), we reproduce, with remarkable accuracy, the surface-acoustic-wave (SAW)-based experimental results by Willett and co-workers concerning two-dimensional electron systems with nu_e close to 1/2. Our results imply that the electron band mass m_b, as distinct from the composite fermion mass m_*, must undergo a substantial increase under the conditions corresponding to nu_e approximately equal to 1/2. In view of the relatively low aerial electronic densities n_e to which the underlying SAW experiments correspond, our finding conforms with the experimental results by Shashkin et al. [Phys. Rev. B 66, 073303 (2002)], concerning two-dimensional electrons in silicon, that signal sharp increase in m_b for n_e decreasing below approximately 2 x 10^{11} cm^{-2}. We further establish that a finite mean-free path l_0 is essential for the observed linearity of the longitudinal conductivity sigma_{xx}(q) as deduced from the SAW velocity shifts.Comment: 5 pages, 2 postscript figure

Quantum Statistical Calculations and Symplectic Corrector Algorithms

The quantum partition function at finite temperature requires computing the trace of the imaginary time propagator. For numerical and Monte Carlo calculations, the propagator is usually split into its kinetic and potential parts. A higher order splitting will result in a higher order convergent algorithm. At imaginary time, the kinetic energy propagator is usually the diffusion Greens function. Since diffusion cannot be simulated backward in time, the splitting must maintain the positivity of all intermediate time steps. However, since the trace is invariant under similarity transformations of the propagator, one can use this freedom to "correct" the split propagator to higher order. This use of similarity transforms classically give rises to symplectic corrector algorithms. The split propagator is the symplectic kernel and the similarity transformation is the corrector. This work proves a generalization of the Sheng-Suzuki theorem: no positive time step propagators with only kinetic and potential operators can be corrected beyond second order. Second order forward propagators can have fourth order traces only with the inclusion of an additional commutator. We give detailed derivations of four forward correctable second order propagators and their minimal correctors.Comment: 9 pages, no figure, corrected typos, mostly missing right bracket

Genome-wide analysis of barrett's adenocarcinoma. a first step towards identifying patients at risk and developing therapeutic paths

BACKGROUND: Barrett's esophagus metaplasia is the key precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study was to find a subset of markers that may allow the identification of patients at risk for esophageal adenocarcinoma, and to determine genes differentially expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS:Laser capture microdissection technique was applied to procure cells from defined regions. Genome-wide RNA profiling was performed on esophageal adenocarcinoma (n = 21), Barrett's esophagus (n = 20), esophageal squamous carcinoma (n = 9) and healthy esophageal biopsies (n = 18) using the Affymetrix Human Genome U133plus 2.0 array. Microarray results were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in a second and independent cohort and by immunohistochemistry of two putative markers in a third independent cohort. RESULTS:Through unsupervised hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis, samples were separated into four distinct groups that match perfectly with histology. Many genes down-regulated in esophageal cancers belong to the epidermal differentiation complex or the related GO-group "cornified envelope" of terminally differentiated keratinocytes. Similarly, retinol metabolism was strongly down-regulated. Genes showing strong overexpression in esophageal carcinomas belong to the GO groups extracellular region /matrix such as MMP1, CTHRC1, and INHBA. According to an analysis of genes strongly up-regulated in both esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus, REG4 might be of particular interest as an early marker for esophageal adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSIONS:Our study provides high quality data, which could serve for identification of potential biomarkers of Barrett's esophagus at risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma progression

Electromagnetic characteristics and effective gauge theory of double-layer quantum Hall systems

The electromagnetic characteristics of double-layer quantum Hall systems are studied, with projection to the lowest Landau level taken into account and intra-Landau-level collective excitations treated in the single-mode approximation. It is pointed out that dipole-active excitations, both elementary and collective, govern the long-wavelength features of quantum Hall systems. In particular, the presence of the dipole-active interlayer out-of-phase collective excitations, inherent to double-layer systems, modifies the leading O(k) and O(k^{2}) long-wavelength characteristics (i.e., the transport properties and characteristic scale) of the double-layer quantum Hall states substantially. We apply bosonization techniques and construct from such electromagnetic characteristics an effective theory, which consists of three vector fields representing the three dipole-active modes, one interlayer collective mode and two inter-Landau-level cyclotron modes. This effective theory properly incorporates the spectrum of collective excitations on the right scale of the Coulomb energy and, in addition, accommodates the favorable transport properties of the standard Chern-Simons theories.Comment: 10 pages, Revtex, sec. II slightly shortened, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Generalised Chern-Simons Theory of Composite Fermions in Bilayer Hall Systems

We present a field theory of Jain's composite fermion model as generalised to the bilayer quantum Hall systems. We define operators which create composite fermions and write the Hamiltonian exactly in terms of these operators. This is seen to be a complexified version of the familiar Chern Simons theory. In the mean-field approximation, the composite fermions feel a modified effective magnetic field exactly as happens in usual Chern Simons theories, and plateaus are predicted at the same values of filling factors as Lopez and Fradkin and Halperin . But unlike normal Chern Simons theories, we obtain all features of the first-quantised wavefunctions including its phase, modulus and correct gaussian factors at the mean field level. The familiar Jain relations for monolayers and the Halperin wavefunction for bilayers come out as special cases.Comment: Revtex file; 20 pages after processing; no figure

Progressive ataxia with oculo-palatal tremor and optic atrophy

The final publication is available at Springer via doi: 10.​1007/​s00415-013-7136-

Proteomic responses to elevated ocean temperature in ovaries of the ascidian \u3cem\u3eCiona intestinalis\u3c/em\u3e

Ciona intestinalis, a common sea squirt, exhibits lower reproductive success at the upper extreme of the water temperatures it experiences in coastal New England. In order to understand the changes in protein expression associated with elevated temperatures, and possible response to global temperature change, we reared C. intestinalis from embryos to adults at 18°C (a temperature at which they reproduce normally at our collection site in Rhode Island) and 22°C (the upper end of the local temperature range). We then dissected ovaries from animals at each temperature, extracted protein, and measured proteomic levels using shotgun mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). 1532 proteins were detected at a 1% false discovery rate present in both temperature groups by our LC-MS/MS method. 62 of those proteins are considered up- or down-regulated according to our statistical criteria. Principal component analysis shows a clear distinction in protein expression pattern between the control (18°C) group and high temperature (22°C) group. Similar to previous studies, cytoskeletal and chaperone proteins are upregulated in the high temperature group. Unexpectedly, we find evidence that proteolysis is downregulated at the higher temperature. We propose a working model for the high temperature response in C. intestinalis ovaries whereby increased temperature induces upregulation of signal transduction pathways involving PTPN11 and CrkL, and activating coordinated changes in the proteome especially in large lipid transport proteins, cellular stress responses, cytoskeleton, and downregulation of energy metabolism

Atmospheric ammonia and its impacts on regional air quality over the megacity of Shanghai, China

Atmospheric ammonia (NH 3) has great environmental implications due to its important role in ecosystem and global nitrogen cycle, as well as contribution to secondary particle formation. Here, we report long-term continuous measurements of NH 3 at different locations (i.e. urban, industrial and rural) in Shanghai, China, which provide an unprecedented portrait of temporal and spatial characteristics of atmospheric NH 3 in and around this megacity. In addition to point emission sources, air masses originated from or that have passed over ammonia rich areas, e.g. rural and industrial sites, increase the observed NH 3 concentrations inside the urban area of Shanghai. Remarkable high-frequency NH 3 variations were measured at the industrial site, indicating instantaneous nearby industrial emission peaks. Additionally, we observed strong positive exponential correlations between NH 4 + /(NH 4 + +NH 3) and sulfate-nitrate-ammonium (SNA) aerosols, PM 2.5 mass concentrations, implying a considerable contribution of gas-to-particle conversion of ammonia to SNA aerosol formation. Lower temperature and higher humidity conditions were found to favor the conversion of gaseous ammonia to particle ammonium, particularly in autumn. Although NH 3 is currently not included in China s emission control policies of air pollution precursors, our results highlight the urgency and importance of monitoring gaseous ammonia and improving its emission inventory in and around Shanghai.Peer Reviewe

Finite-Wavevector Electromagnetic Response of Fractional Quantized Hall States

A fractional quantized Hall state with filling fraction $\nu = p/(2mp+1)$ can be modeled as an integer quantized Hall state of transformed fermions, interacting with a Chern-Simons field. The electromagnetic response function for these states at arbitrary frequency and wavevector can be calculated using a semiclassical approximation or the Random Phase Approximation (RPA). However, such calculations do not properly take into account the large effective mass renormalization which is present in the Chern-Simons theory. We show how the mass renormalization can be incorporated in a calculation of the response function within a Landau Fermi liquid theory approach such that Kohn's theorem and the $f$-sum rules are properly satisfied. We present results of such calculations.Comment: 19 pages (REVTeX 3.0), 5 figures available on request; HU-CMT-93S0

The Energy Density in the Maxwell-Chern-Simons Theory

A two-dimensional nonrelativistic fermion system coupled to both electromagnetic gauge fields and Chern-Simons gauge fields is analysed. Polarization tensors relevant in the quantum Hall effect and anyon superconductivity are obtained as simple closed integrals and are evaluated numerically for all momenta and frequencies. The correction to the energy density is evaluated in the random phase approximation (RPA), by summing an infinite series of ring diagrams. It is found that the correction has significant dependence on the particle number density. In the context of anyon superconductivity, the energy density relative to the mean field value is minimized at a hole concentration per lattice plaquette (0.05 \sim 0.06) (p_c a/\hbar)^2 where p_c and a are the momentum cutoff and lattice constant, respectively. At the minimum the correction is about -5 % \sim -25 %, depending on the ratio (2m \omega_c)/(p_c^2) where \omega_c is the frequency cutoff. In the Jain-Fradkin-Lopez picture of the fractional quantum Hall effect the RPA correction to the energy density is very large. It diverges logarithmically as the cutoff is removed, implying that corrections beyond RPA become important at large momentum and frequency.Comment: 19 pages (plain Tex), 12 figures not included, UMN-TH-1246/9