High-T_{c} Superconductors with AF Order: Limitations on Spin-Fluctuation Pairing Mechanism

The very intriguing antagonistic interplay of antiferromagnetism (AF) and superconductivity (SC), recently discovered in high-temperature superconductors, is studied in the framework of a microscopic theory. We explain the surprisingly large increase of the magnetic Bragg peak intensity $I_{Q}$ at $Q\sim (\pi ,\pi)$ in the magnetic field $H\ll H_{c2}$ at low temperatures $0<T\ll T_{c},T_{AF}$ in $La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}$. Good agreement with experimental results is found. The theory predicts large anisotropy of the relative intensity $R_{Q}(H)=(I_{Q}(H)-I_{Q}(0))/I_{Q}(0)$%, i.e. $R_{Q}(H\parallel c-axis)\gg R_{Q}(H\perp c-axis)$. The quantum (T=0) phase diagram at H=0 is constructed. The theory also predicts: (i) the magnetic field induced AF order in the SC state; (ii) small value for the spin-fluctuation coupling constant $g<(0.025-0.05)$ $eV$. The latter gives very small SC critical temperature $T_{c}(\ll 40$ $K)$, thus questioning the spin-fluctuation mechanism of pairing in HTS oxides.Comment: Linguistic changes, improved readabilty, changed titl

Hitchhiking Through the Cytoplasm

We propose an alternative mechanism for intracellular cargo transport which results from motor induced longitudinal fluctuations of cytoskeletal microtubules (MT). The longitudinal fluctuations combined with transient cargo binding to the MTs lead to long range transport even for cargos and vesicles having no molecular motors on them. The proposed transport mechanism, which we call ``hitchhiking'', provides a consistent explanation for the broadly observed yet still mysterious phenomenon of bidirectional transport along MTs. We show that cells exploiting the hitchhiking mechanism can effectively up- and down-regulate the transport of different vesicles by tuning their binding kinetics to characteristic MT oscillation frequencies

A Solvable Model for Polymorphic Dynamics of Biofilaments

We investigate an analytically tractable toy model for thermally induced polymorphic dynamics of cooperatively rearranging biofilaments - like microtubules. The proposed 4 -block model, which can be seen as a coarse-grained approximation of the full polymorphic tube model, permits a complete analytical treatment of all thermodynamic properties including correlation functions and angular fourier mode distributions. Due to its mathematical tractability the model straightforwardly leads to some physical insights in recently discussed phenomena like the "length dependent persistence length". We show that a polymorphic filament can disguise itself as a classical worm like chain on small and on large scales and yet display distinct anomalous tell-tale features indicating an inner switching dynamics on intermediate length scales

Why Microtubules run in Circles - Mechanical Hysteresis of the Tubulin Lattice

The fate of every eukaryotic cell subtly relies on the exceptional mechanical properties of microtubules. Despite significant efforts, understanding their unusual mechanics remains elusive. One persistent, unresolved mystery is the formation of long-lived arcs and rings, e.g. in kinesin-driven gliding assays. To elucidate their physical origin we develop a model of the inner workings of the microtubule's lattice, based on recent experimental evidence for a conformational switch of the tubulin dimer. We show that the microtubule lattice itself coexists in discrete polymorphic states. Curved states can be induced via a mechanical hysteresis involving torques and forces typical of few molecular motors acting in unison. This lattice switch renders microtubules not only virtually unbreakable under typical cellular forces, but moreover provides them with a tunable response integrating mechanical and chemical stimuli.Comment: 5 pages, 4 Movies in the Supplemen

Statics and dynamics of charge fluctuations in the t-J model

The equation for the charge vertex $\gamma$ of the $t-J$ model is derived and solved in leading order of an 1/N expansion, working directly in terms of Hubbard operators. Various quantities which depend crucially on $\gamma$ are then calculated, such as the life time and the transport life time of electrons due to a charge coupling to other degrees of freedom and the charge-charge correlation function. Our results show that the static screening of charges and the dynamics of charge fluctuations depend only weakly on $J$ and are mainly determined by the constraint of having no double occupancies of sites.Comment: 10 latex pages, 4 figures as post-script file

Crunching Biofilament Rings

We discuss a curious example for the collective mechanical behavior of coupled non-linear monomer units entrapped in a circular filament. Within a simple model we elucidate how multistability of monomer units and exponentially large degeneracy of the filament's ground state emerge as a collective feature of the closed filament. Surprisingly, increasing the monomer frustration, i.e., the bending prestrain within the circular filament, leads to a conformational softening of the system. The phenomenon, that we term polymorphic crunching, is discussed and applied to a possible scenario for membrane tube deformation by switchable dynamin or FtsZ filaments. We find an important role of cooperative inter-unit interaction for efficient ring induced membrane fission

Optical Properties of Heavy Fermion Systems with SDW Order

The dynamical conductivity $\sigma (\omega)$, reflectivity $R(\omega)$, and tunneling density of states $N(\omega)$ of strongly correlated systems (like heavy fermions) with a spin-density wave (SDW) magnetic order are studied as a function of impurity scattering rate and temperature. The theory is generalized to include strong coupling effects in the SDW order. The results are discussed in the light of optical experiments on heavy-fermion SDW materials. With some modifications the proposed theory is applicable also to heavy fermions with localized antiferromagnetic (LAF) order.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Charge fluctuations and electron-phonon interaction in the finite-UU Hubbard model

In this paper we employ a gaussian expansion within the finite-$U$ slave-bosons formalism to investigate the momentum structure of the electron-phonon vertex function in the Hubbard model as function of $U$ and $n$. The suppression of large momentum scattering and the onset a small-${\bf q}$ peak structure, parametrized by a cut-off $q_c$, are shown to be essentially ruled by the band narrowing factor $Z_{\rm MF}$ due to the electronic correlation. A phase diagram of $Z_{\rm MF}$ and $q_c$ in the whole $U$-$n$ space is presented. Our results are in more than qualitative agreement with a recent numerical analysis and permit to understand some anomalous features of the Quantum Monte Carlo data.Comment: 4 pages, eps figures include

Reshaping and Enzymatic Activity allow Viruses to move through the Mucus

Filamentous viruses like influenza and torovirus often display systematic bends and arcs of mysterious physical origin. We propose that such viruses undergo an instability from a cylindrically symmetric to a toroidally curved state. This "toro-elastic" state emerges via a spontaneous symmetry breaking under prestress, induced via short range spike protein interactions and magnified by the filament's surface topography. Once surface stresses become sufficiently large, the filament buckles and the toroidal, curved state constitutes a soft mode that can propagate through the filament's material frame around a "mexican-hat" potential. In the mucus of our airways, glycan chains are omnipresent that influenza's spike proteins can bind to and cut. We show that when coupled to such a non-equilibrium chemical reaction, the curved toro-elastic state can attain a spontaneous rotation for sufficiently strong enzymatic activity, leading to a whole body reshaping propulsion similar to -- but different from -- eukaryotic flagella and spirochetes.Comment: 6 pages, Supplementary Info (PDF file in the source file