Topological characterization of chiral models through their long time dynamics

We study chiral models in one spatial dimension, both static and periodically driven. We demonstrate that their topological properties may be read out through the long time limit of a bulk observable, the mean chiral displacement. The derivation of this result is done in terms of spectral projectors, allowing for a detailed understanding of the physics. We show that the proposed detection converges rapidly and it can be implemented in a wide class of chiral systems. Furthermore, it can measure arbitrary winding numbers and topological boundaries, it applies to all non-interacting systems, independently of their quantum statistics, and it requires no additional elements, such as external fields, nor filled bands

CARACTERIZAÇÃO DA VARIAÇÃO DO LENÇOL FREÁTICO NAS ÁREAS DE MINERAÇÃO DE "XISTO" (FOLHELHO PIROBETUMINOSO) EM SÃO MATEUS DO SUL-PR

O estudo objetivou, principalmente, definir a abrangência do impacto exercido pela mineração do folhelho pirobetuminoso ou "xisto", no rebaixamento do lençol freático em terrenos naturais, na área da PETROBRÁS-SIX, em São Mateus do Sul, Estado do Paraná. Foram também analisadas as alterações que ocorrem no quimismo da água e a nova posição do nível do lençol freático nos terrenos reabilitados, após a mineração. A lavra é efetuada a céu aberto, ocorrendo portanto uma drástica alteração na paisagem local, onde a cava atinge cerca de 30 metros de profundidade. A jazida do minério apresenta duas camadas distintas de folhelho, separadas por uma camada intermediária considerada estéril. Denominadas de camada superior e camada inferior, as duas apresentam, respectivamente, espessuras médias de 6 e 3 metros e teores de óleo de 6 a 8% e 10 a 12%. Para possibilitar o estudo do lençol freático nos terrenos naturais, ainda não minerados, diversos piezômetros foram implantados. O monitoramento do nível de água nos piezômetros foi realizado diariamente pela PETROBRÁS-SIX, no período de 1995 a 1996, simultaneamente ao avanço e aproximação da mina. Os dados assim obtidos foram fornecidos mensalmente, acompanhados das informações de pluviometria e temperatura. Com estes dados foram elaborados mapas de potenciometria máxima, média e mínima para a área de estudo, assim como gráficos relacionando o nível de água nos piezômetros com a precipitação, com a distância à frente de lavra e com as detonações. A análise dos resultados mostra que a principal causa das oscilações do lençol freático são as variações sazonais. A mina também exerce influência no abaixamento do nível de água, porém isto somente ocorre quando a frente de lavra aproxima-se dos piezômetros a uma distância inferior a 70 metros. Aos 65 metros de distância, observa-se uma inversão de fluxo na direção da mina. Por ocasião de uma detonação, foi constatada a secagem dos piezômetros mais próximos. Ao ser estudado o freático nas áreas reabilitadas, foram utilizados dados obtidos de piezômetros instalados na antiga Mina UPI e em terrenos mais recentes. Nestes locais, o abaixamento do nível de água é irreversível e o lençol assume uma nova posição, próxima ao piso da antiga mina. Para a verificação das características físico-químicas das águas do sistema SIX, amostras foram coletadas e analisadas nos laboratórios da PETROBRÁS-SIX e UFPR. Dado o conteúdo piritoso do folhelho, as águas que ocorrem na área já apresentam naturalmente um certo grau de acidez. Porém, nas áreas reabilitadas esta característica é ampliada, somando-se ao excessivo teor de sais dissolvidos, porque o fracionamento do material retortado que preenche a cava da mina favorece os processos de dissolução e lixiviação. Assim, dois grupos distintos podem ser caracterizados: um representado pelas águas que percolam as áreas reabilitadas e o outro representado pelas águas das áreas ainda não atingidas pela mineração. O primeiro grupo, com alta salinidade, apresenta natureza cálcica. O segundo grupo, com baixa salinidade, apresenta características sódio-magnesianas

Two-dimensional topological quantum walks in the momentum space of structured light

Quantum walks are powerful tools for quantum applications and for designing topological systems. Although they are simulated in a variety of platforms, genuine two-dimensional realizations are still challenging. Here we present an innovative approach to the photonic simulation of a quantum walk in two dimensions, where walker positions are encoded in the transverse wavevector components of a single light beam. The desired dynamics is obtained by means of a sequence of liquid-crystal devices, which apply polarization-dependent transverse "kicks" to the photons in the beam. We engineer our quantum walk so that it realizes a periodically-driven Chern insulator, and we probe its topological features by detecting the anomalous displacement of the photonic wavepacket under the effect of a constant force. Our compact, versatile platform offers exciting prospects for the photonic simulation of two-dimensional quantum dynamics and topological systems.Comment: Published version of the manuscrip

Alström Syndrome: Genetics and Clinical Overview

Alström syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by cone-rod dystrophy, hearing loss, childhood truncal obesity, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, type 2 diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia, short stature in adulthood, cardiomyopathy, and progressive pulmonary, hepatic, and renal dysfunction. Symptoms first appear in infancy and progressive development of multi-organ pathology leads to a reduced life expectancy. Variability in age of onset and severity of clinical symptoms, even within families, is likely due to genetic background

Observation of the topological Anderson insulator in disordered atomic wires

Topology and disorder have deep connections and a rich combined influence on quantum transport. In order to probe these connections, we synthesized one-dimensional chiral symmetric wires with controllable disorder via spectroscopic Hamiltonian engineering, based on the laser-driven coupling of discrete momentum states of ultracold atoms. We characterize the system's topology through measurement of the mean chiral displacement of the bulk density extracted from quench dynamics. We find evidence for the topological Anderson insulator phase, in which the band structure of an otherwise trivial wire is driven topological by the presence of added disorder. In addition, we observed the robustness of topological wires to weak disorder and measured the transition to a trivial phase in the presence of strong disorder. Atomic interactions in this quantum simulation platform will enable future realizations of strongly interacting topological fluids.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; 9 pages of supplementary material

The Alström Syndrome Protein, ALMS1, Interacts with α-Actinin and Components of the Endosome Recycling Pathway

Alström syndrome (ALMS) is a progressive multi-systemic disorder characterized by cone-rod dystrophy, sensorineural hearing loss, childhood obesity, insulin resistance and cardiac, renal, and hepatic dysfunction. The gene responsible for Alström syndrome, ALMS1, is ubiquitously expressed and has multiple splice variants. The protein encoded by this gene has been implicated in ciliary function, cell cycle control, and intracellular transport. To gain better insight into the pathways through which ALMS1 functions, we carried out a yeast two hybrid (Y2H) screen in several mouse tissue libraries to identify ALMS1 interacting partners. The majority of proteins found to interact with the murine carboxy-terminal end (19/32) of ALMS1 were α-actinin isoforms. Interestingly, several of the identified ALMS1 interacting partners (α-actinin 1, α-actinin 4, myosin Vb, rad50 interacting 1 and huntingtin associated protein1A) have been previously associated with endosome recycling and/or centrosome function. We examined dermal fibroblasts from human subjects bearing a disruption in ALMS1 for defects in the endocytic pathway. Fibroblasts from these patients had a lower uptake of transferrin and reduced clearance of transferrin compared to controls. Antibodies directed against ALMS1 N- and C-terminal epitopes label centrosomes and endosomal structures at the cleavage furrow of dividing MDCK cells, respectively, suggesting isoform-specific cellular functions. Our results suggest a role for ALMS1 variants in the recycling endosome pathway and give us new insights into the pathogenesis of a subset of clinical phenotypes associated with ALMS

Distilling the topology of the Hofstadter model through a diffraction experiment

In two and three spatial dimensions, the transverse response experienced by a charged particle on a lattice in a uniform magnetic field is proportional to a topological invariant, the first Chern number, characterizing the energy bands of the underlying Hofstadter Hamiltonian. In four dimensions, the transverse response is also quantized, and controlled by the second Chern number. These remarkable features solely arise from the magnetic translational symmetry. Here we show that the symmetries of the two-, three- and four-dimensional Hofstadter Hamiltonians may be encrypted in optical diffraction gratings, such that simple photonic experiments allow one to extract the first and the second Chern numbers of the whole energy spectra. This result is particularly remarkable in three and four dimensions, where complete topological characterizations have not yet been achieved experimentally. Side-by-side to the theoretical analysis, in this work we present the experimental study of optical gratings analogues of the two- and three-dimensional Hofstadter models

Protection From Clinical Peripheral Sensory Neuropathy in Alström Syndrome in Contrast to Early-Onset Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—Alström syndrome, with type 2 diabetes, and blindness could confer a high risk of foot ulceration. Clinical testing for neuropathy in Alström syndrome and matched young-onset type 2 diabetic subjects was therefore undertaken