Single-molecule stochastic resonance

Stochastic resonance (SR) is a well known phenomenon in dynamical systems. It consists of the amplification and optimization of the response of a system assisted by stochastic noise. Here we carry out the first experimental study of SR in single DNA hairpins which exhibit cooperatively folding/unfolding transitions under the action of an applied oscillating mechanical force with optical tweezers. By varying the frequency of the force oscillation, we investigated the folding/unfolding kinetics of DNA hairpins in a periodically driven bistable free-energy potential. We measured several SR quantifiers under varied conditions of the experimental setup such as trap stiffness and length of the molecular handles used for single-molecule manipulation. We find that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the spectral density of measured fluctuations in molecular extension of the DNA hairpins is a good quantifier of the SR. The frequency dependence of the SNR exhibits a peak at a frequency value given by the resonance matching condition. Finally, we carried out experiments in short hairpins that show how SR might be useful to enhance the detection of conformational molecular transitions of low SNR.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, supplementary material (http://prx.aps.org/epaps/PRX/v2/i3/e031012/prx-supp.pdf

Comment on "Evidence for the Droplet/Scaling Picture of Spin Glasses"

In a recent letter Moore et al. claim to exhibit evidence for a non-mean-field behavior of the $3d$ Ising spin glass. We show that their claim is insubstantial, and by analyzing in detail the behavior of the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation (MKA) as compared to the behavior of the Edwards-Anderson (EA) spin glass we find further evidence of a mean-field like behavior of the $3d$ spin glass.Comment: 1 page comment including one postscript figur

The Lense-Thirring effect in the Jovian system of the Galilean satellites and its measurability

In this paper we investigate the possibility of measuring the post-Newtonian general relativistic gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring effect in the Jovian system of its Galilean satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in view of recent developments in processing and modelling their optical observations spanning a large time interval (125 years). The present day best observations have an accuracy between several kilometers to few tens of kilometers, which is just the order of magnitude of the Lense-Thirring shifts of the orbits of the Galilean satellites over almost a century. From a comparison between analytical development and numerical integration it turns out that, unfortunately, most of the secular component of the gravitomagnetic signature is removed in the process of fitting the initial conditions. Indeed, an estimation of the magnitude of the Lense-Thirring effect in the ephemerides residuals is given; the resulting residuals have a maximum magnitude of 20 meters only (over 125 years).Comment: Latex, 10 pages, 4 tables, 3 figures, 27 references. Invited paper for a Special Issue of Int. J. Mod. Phys. D on the Lense-Thirring effect, D. Grumiller edito

Self-Averaging in the Three Dimensional Site Diluted Heisenberg Model at the critical point

We study the self-averaging properties of the three dimensional site diluted Heisenberg model. The Harris criterion \cite{critharris} states that disorder is irrelevant since the specific heat critical exponent of the pure model is negative. According with some analytical approaches \cite{harris}, this implies that the susceptibility should be self-averaging at the critical temperature ($R_\chi=0$). We have checked this theoretical prediction for a large range of dilution (including strong dilution) at critically and we have found that the introduction of scaling corrections is crucial in order to obtain self-averageness in this model. Finally we have computed critical exponents and cumulants which compare very well with those of the pure model supporting the Universality predicted by the Harris criterion.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 14 tables. New analysis (scaling corrections in the g2=0 scenario) and new numerical simulations. Title and conclusions chang

High-temperature superconducting fault current microlimiters

High-temperature superconducting microbridges implemented with YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) thin-films are shown to be possible fault current limiters for microelectronic devices with some elements working at temperatures below the superconducting critical temperature and, simultaneously, under very low power conditions (below 1W). This is the case in the important applications of superconductors as SQUID based electronics, and technologies for communication or infrared detectors. In this paper it is shown that the good thermal behavior of these microlimiters allows working in a regime where even relatively small faults induce their transition to highly dissipative states, dramatically increasing their limitation efficiency. The conditions for optimal refrigeration and operation of these microlimiters are also proposed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. LaTeX and EPS file