13,620 research outputs found
Collective excitations and low temperature transport properties of bismuth
We examine the influence of collective excitations on the transport
properties (resistivity, magneto- optical conductivity) for semimetals,
focusing on the case of bismuth. We show, using an RPA approximation, that the
properties of the system are drastically affected by the presence of an
acoustic plasmon mode, consequence of the presence of two types of carriers
(electrons and holes) in this system. We found a crossover temperature T*
separating two different regimes of transport. At high temperatures T > T* we
show that Baber scattering explains quantitatively the DC resistivity
experiments, while at low temperatures T < T* interactions of the carriers with
this collective mode lead to a T^5 behavior of the resistivity. We examine
other consequences of the presence of this mode, and in particular predict a
two plasmon edge feature in the magneto-optical conductivity. We compare our
results with the experimental findings on bismuth. We discuss the limitations
and extensions of our results beyond the RPA approximation, and examine the
case of other semimetals such as graphite or 1T-TiSe_2
Highly erosive glaciers on Mars - the role of water
International audiencePolewards of 30 âą in each hemisphere, the surface of Mars hosts a suite of landforms reminiscent of glacial landscapes on Earth. Amongst these landforms are: 1) Viscous Flow Features (VFF), which resemble glaciers on Earth and are thought to contain large volumes of water ice, 2) martian gullies which are km-scale features resembling water-eroded gullies on Earth and 3) arcuate ridges thought to be moraines from previous glaciations. Gullies have been long-associated with a surface unit originally called "pasted-on terrain" and now often called the "latitude dependant mantle". Arcuate ridges are often found at the base of hillslopes with gullies, but are also found on hillslopes with pasted-on terrain and no gullies. We have found a systematic lowering of the slope of the bedrock exposure located topographically above the pasted-on terrain whether that same slope hosts gullies or not. The lowered bedrock exposures display a different surface texture from bedrock exposed on other parts of the crater wall and from fresh crater walls-it appears fragmented and has reduced relief. Using 1-m-digital elevation models from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) we compared the slopes of eight "eroded" craters and seven unmodified craters. We estimated their age using the crater size-frequency distribution of small craters on their ejecta blankets. From this information we calculated bedrock retreat rates for the eroded craters and found they were up to âŒ103 m Myr-1-equivalent to erosion rates of wet-based glaciers on Earth. This is several orders of magnitude higher than previous estimates of erosion by VFF (10-2-101 m Myr-1), which themselves are roughly equivalent to cold-based glaciers on Earth. Such erosion rates are sufficient to erase previously existing landforms, such as martian gullies. We hypothesise, therefore, that the pasted-on terrain is a glacial deposit, overturning its previous interpretation as an airfall deposit of ice nucleated on dust. We maintain the interpretation of the arcuate ridges as moraines, but further conclude that they are likely the result of glaciotectonic deformation of sub-marginal and proglacial sediment in the presence of sediment pore-water. We do not support the generation of large quantities of glacial meltwater because it would have broken-up and degraded the arcuate ridges and pasted-on terrain an produced a suite of landforms (e.g., hummocky moraine, lacustrine forms, outwash plains, eskers) which are not observed
On the Integrability and Chaos of an N=2 Maxwell-Chern-Simons-Higgs Mechanical Model
We apply different integrability analysis procedures to a reduced (spatially
homogeneous) mechanical system derived from an off-shell non-minimally coupled
N=2 Maxwell-Chern-Simons-Higgs model that presents BPS topological vortex
excitations, numerically obtained with an ansatz adopted in a special -
critical coupling - parametric regime. As a counterpart of the regularity
associated to the static soliton-like solution, we investigate the possibility
of chaotic dynamics in the evolution of the spatially homogeneous reduced
system, descendant from the full N=2 model under consideration. The originally
rich content of symmetries and interactions, N=2 susy and non-minimal coupling,
singles out the proposed model as an interesting framework for the
investigation of the role played by (super-)symmetries and parametric domains
in the triggering/control of chaotic behavior in gauge systems.
After writing down effective Lagrangian and Hamiltonian functions, and
establishing the corresponding canonical Hamilton equations, we apply global
integrability Noether point symmetries and Painleveproperty criteria to both
the general and the critical coupling regimes. As a non-integrable character is
detected by the pair of analytical criteria applied, we perform suitable
numerical simulations, as we seek for chaotic patterns in the system evolution.
Finally, we present some Comments on the results and perspectives for further
investigations and forthcoming communications.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
A new twist to an old story: HE 0450-2958, and the ULIRG(optically bright QSO) transition hypothesis
We report on interferometric imaging of the CO J=1--0 and J=3--2 line
emission from the controversial QSO/galaxy pair HE 0450--2958. {\it The
detected CO J=1--0 line emission is found associated with the disturbed
companion galaxy not the luminous QSO,} and implies , which is \ga 30% of the dynamical mass in
its CO-luminous region. Fueled by this large gas reservoir this galaxy is the
site of an intense starburst with , placing
it firmly on the upper gas-rich/star-forming end of Ultra Luminous Infrared
Galaxies (ULIRGs, ). This makes HE 0450--2958 the
first case of extreme starburst and powerful QSO activity, intimately linked
(triggered by a strong interaction) but not coincident. The lack of CO emission
towards the QSO itself renews the controversy regarding its host galaxy by
making a gas-rich spiral (the typical host of Narrow Line Seyfert~1 AGNs) less
likely. Finally, given that HE 0450--2958 and similar IR-warm QSOs are
considered typical ULIRG(optically bright QSO) transition candidates, our
results raise the possibility that some may simply be {\it gas-rich/gas-poor
(e.g. spiral/elliptical) galaxy interactions} which ``activate'' an optically
bright unobscured QSO in the gas-poor galaxy, and a starburst in the gas-rich
one. We argue that such interactions may have gone largely unnoticed even in
the local Universe because the combination of tools necessary to disentagle the
progenitors (high resolution and S/N optical {\it and} CO imaging) became
available only recently.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication by The Astrophysical
Journa
Interplay of size and Landau quantizations in the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations of metallic nanowires
We examine the interplay between size quantization and Landau quantization in
the De Haas-Van Alphen oscillations of clean, metallic nanowires in a
longitudinal magnetic field for `hard' boundary conditions, i.e. those of an
infinite round well, as opposed to the `soft' parabolically confined boundary
conditions previously treated in Alexandrov and Kabanov (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf
95}, 076601 (2005) (AK)). We find that there exist {\em two} fundamental
frequencies as opposed to the one found in bulk systems and the three
frequencies found by AK with soft boundary counditions. In addition, we find
that the additional `magic resonances' of AK may be also observed in the
infinite well case, though they are now damped. We also compare the numerically
generated energy spectrum of the infinite well potential with that of our
analytic approximation, and compare calculations of the oscillatory portions of
the thermodynamic quantities for both models.Comment: Title changed, paper streamlined on suggestion of referrees, typos
corrected, numerical error in figs 2 and 3 corrected and final result
simplified -- two not three frequencies (as in the previous version) are
observed. Abstract altered accordingly. Submitted to Physical Review
Kondo temperature of magnetic impurities at surfaces
Based on the experimental observation, that only the close vicinity of a
magnetic impurity at metal surfaces determines its Kondo behaviour, we
introduce a simple model which explains the Kondo temperatures observed for
cobalt adatoms at the (111) and (100) surfaces of Cu, Ag, and Au. Excellent
agreement between the model and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS)
experiments is demonstrated. The Kondo temperature is shown to depend on the
occupation of the d-level determined by the hybridization between adatom and
substrate with a minimum around single occupancy.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
A peptide mimic of the chemotaxis inhibitory protein of Staphylococcus aureus: towards the development of novel anti-inflammatory compounds
Complement factor C5a is one of the most powerful pro-inflammatory agents involved in recruitment of leukocytes, activation of phagocytes and other inflammatory responses. C5a triggers inflammatory responses by binding to its G-protein-coupled C5a-receptor (C5aR). Excessive or erroneous activation of the C5aR has been implicated in numerous inflammatory diseases. The C5aR is therefore a key target in the development of specific anti-inflammatory compounds. A very potent natural inhibitor of the C5aR is the 121-residue chemotaxis inhibitory protein of Staphylococcus aureus (CHIPS). Although CHIPS effectively blocks C5aR activation by binding tightly to its extra-cellular N terminus, it is not suitable as a potential anti-inflammatory drug due to its immunogenic properties. As a first step in the development of an improved CHIPS mimic, we designed and synthesized a substantially shorter 50-residue adapted peptide, designated CHOPS. This peptide included all residues important for receptor binding as based on the recent structure of CHIPS in complex with the C5aR N terminus. Using isothermal titration calorimetry we demonstrate that CHOPS has micromolar affinity for a model peptide comprising residues 7â28 of the C5aR N terminus including two O-sulfated tyrosine residues at positions 11 and 14. CD and NMR spectroscopy showed that CHOPS is unstructured free in solution. Upon addition of the doubly sulfated model peptide, however, the NMR and CD spectra reveal the formation of structural elements in CHOPS reminiscent of native CHIPS
Statistical properties of random matrix product states
We study the set of random matrix product states (RMPS) introduced in
arXiv:0908.3877 as a tool to explore foundational aspects of quantum
statistical mechanics. In the present work, we provide an accurate numerical
and analytical investigation of the properties of RMPS. We calculate the
average state of the ensemble in the non-homogeneous case, and numerically
check the validity of this result. We also suggest using RMPS as a tool to
approximate properties of general quantum random states. The numerical
simulations presented here support the accuracy and efficiency of this
approximation. These results suggest that any generalized canonical state can
be approximated with high probability by the reduced density matrix of a random
MPS, if the average MPS coincide with the associated microcanonical ensemble.Comment: 12 pages, 17 figures; published versio
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