19,474 research outputs found
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 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 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
(). 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
- âŠ