Nonequilibrium charge noise and dephasing from a spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid

We theoretically investigate the charge noise and dephasing in a metallic device in close proximity to a spin incoherent Luttinger liquid with a small but finite current. The frequency dependence of the charge noise exhibits a loss of frequency peaks corresponding to the 2kF part of the density correlations in the electron liquid when the temperature T is increased from values below the magnetic exchange energy J of the electron gas to values above it. The dephasing rate in a nearby metallic nanostructure also shows a crossover for T~J and may exhibit a nonmonotonic temperature dependence. For a range of temperatures the dephasing rate decreases with increasing temperatures. The proposed experiments provide a convenient approach to probe the spin-incoherent Luttinger liquid and should be implementable in a wide variety of systems

Effects of metallic contacts on electron transport through graphene

We report on a first-principles study of the conductance through graphene suspended between Al contacts as a function of junction length, width, and orientation. The charge transfer at the leads and into the freestanding section gives rise to an electron-hole asymmetry in the conductance and in sufficiently long junctions induces two conductance minima at the energies of the Dirac points for suspended and clamped regions, respectively. We obtain the potential profile along a junction caused by doping and provide parameters for effective model calculations of the junction conductance with weakly interacting metallic leads.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. (Fig. 1 became damaged during previous submission process. Fixed now.

Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells (ILC2) Suppress Beneficial Type 1 Immune Responses During Pulmonary Cryptococcosis

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen preferentially causing disease in immunocompromised individuals such as organ-transplant-recipients, patients receiving immunosuppressive medications or, in particular, individuals suffering from HIV infection. Numerous studies clearly indicated that the control of C. neoformans infections is strongly dependent on a prototypic type 1 immune response and classical macrophage activation, whereas type 2-biased immunity and alternative activation of macrophages has been rather implicated in disease progression and detrimental outcomes. However, little is known about regulatory pathways modulating and balancing immune responses during early phases of pulmonary cryptococcosis. Here, we analyzed the role of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) for the control of C. neoformans infection. Using an intranasal infection model with a highly virulent C. neoformans strain, we found that ILC2 numbers were strongly increased in C. neoformans-infected lungs along with induction of a type 2 response. Mice lacking ILC2s due to conditional deficiency of the transcription factor RAR-related orphan receptor alpha (Rora) displayed a massive downregulation of features of type 2 immunity as reflected by reduced levels of the type 2 signature cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 at 14 days post-infection. Moreover, ILC2 deficiency was accompanied with increased type 1 immunity and classical macrophage activation, while the pulmonary numbers of eosinophils and alternatively activated macrophages were reduced in these mice. Importantly, this shift in pulmonary macrophage polarization in ILC2-deficient mice correlated with improved fungal control and prolonged survival of infected mice. Conversely, adoptive transfer of ILC2s was associated with a type 2 bias associated with less efficient anti-fungal immunity in lungs of recipient mice. Collectively, our date indicate a non-redundant role of ILC2 in orchestrating myeloid anti-cryptococcal immune responses toward a disease exacerbating phenotype

Phase Transitions in liquid Helium 3

The phase transitions of liquid Helium 3 are described by truncations of an exact nonperturbative renormalization group equation. The location of the first order transition lines and the jump in the order parameter are computed quantitatively. At the triple point we find indications for partially universal behaviour. We suggest experiments that could help to determine the effective interactions between fermion pairs.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, LaTe