201 research outputs found
Extension of nano-confined DNA: quantitative comparison between experiment and theory
The extension of DNA confined to nanochannels has been studied intensively
and in detail. Yet quantitative comparisons between experiments and model
calculations are difficult because most theoretical predictions involve
undetermined prefactors, and because the model parameters (contour length, Kuhn
length, effective width) are difficult to compute reliably, leading to
substantial uncertainties. Here we use a recent asymptotically exact theory for
the DNA extension in the "extended de Gennes regime" that allows us to compare
experimental results with theory. For this purpose we performed new
experiments, measuring the mean DNA extension and its standard deviation while
varying the channel geometry, dye intercalation ratio, and ionic buffer
strength. The experimental results agree very well with theory at high ionic
strengths, indicating that the model parameters are reliable. At low ionic
strengths the agreement is less good. We discuss possible reasons. Our approach
allows, in principle, to measure the Kuhn length and effective width of a
single DNA molecule and more generally of semiflexible polymers in solution.Comment: Revised version, 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, supplementary materia
A microfluidic device for the study of the orientational dynamics of microrods
We describe a microfluidic device for studying the orientational dynamics of
microrods. The device enables us to experimentally investigate the tumbling of
microrods immersed in the shear flow in a microfluidic channel with a depth of
400 mu and a width of 2.5 mm. The orientational dynamics was recorded using a
20 X microscopic objective and a CCD camera. The microrods were produced by
shearing microdroplets of photocurable epoxy resin. We show different examples
of empirically observed tumbling. On the one hand we find that short stretches
of the experimentally determined time series are well described by fits to
solutions of Jeffery's approximate equation of motion [Jeffery, Proc. R. Soc.
London. 102 (1922), 161-179]. On the other hand we find that the empirically
observed trajectories drift between different solutions of Jeffery's equation.
We discuss possible causes of this orbit drift.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Magnetic Dipole Absorption of Radiation in Small Conducting Particles
We give a theoretical treatment of magnetic dipole absorption of
electromagnetic radiation in small conducting particles, at photon energies
which are large compared to the single particle level spacing, and small
compared to the plasma frequency. We discuss both diffusive and ballistic
electron dynamics for particles of arbitrary shape.
The conductivity becomes non-local when the frequency is smaller than the
frequency \omega_c characterising the transit of electrons from one side of the
particle to the other, but in the diffusive case \omega_c plays no role in
determining the absorption coefficient. In the ballistic case, the absorption
coefficient is proportional to \omega^2 for \omega << \omega_c, but is a
decreasing function of \omega for \omega >> \omega_c.Comment: 25 pages of plain TeX, 2 postscipt figure
Caustics in turbulent aerosols
Networks of caustics can occur in the distribution of particles suspended in
a randomly moving gas. These can facilitate coagulation of particles by
bringing them into close proximity, even in cases where the trajectories do not
coalesce. We show that the long-time morphology of these caustic patterns is
determined by the Lyapunov exponents lambda_1, lambda_2 of the suspended
particles, as well as the rate J at which particles encounter caustics. We
develop a theory determining the quantities J, lambda_1, lambda_2 from the
statistical properties of the gas flow, in the limit of short correlation
times.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Orientational correlations in confined DNA
We study how the orientational correlations of DNA confined to nanochannels
depend on the channel diameter D by means of Monte Carlo simulations and a
mean-field theory. This theory describes DNA conformations in the
experimentally relevant regime where the Flory-de Gennes theory does not apply.
We show how local correlations determine the dependence of the end-to-end
distance of the DNA molecule upon D. Tapered nanochannels provide the necessary
resolution in D to study experimentally how the extension of confined DNA
molecules depends upon D. Our experimental and theoretical results are in
qualitative agreement.Comment: Revised version including supplemental material, 7 pages, 8 figure
Understanding of the phase transformation from fullerite to amorphous carbon at the microscopic level
We have studied the shock-induced phase transition from fullerite to a dense
amorphous carbon phase by tight-binding molecular dynamics. For increasing
hydrostatic pressures P, the C60-cages are found to polymerise at P<10 GPa, to
break at P~40 GPa and to slowly collapse further at P>60 GPa. By contrast, in
the presence of additional shear stresses, the cages are destroyed at much
lower pressures (P<30 GPa). We explain this fact in terms of a continuum model,
the snap-through instability of a spherical shell. Surprisingly, the relaxed
high-density structures display no intermediate-range order.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Fingerprints of Random Flows?
We consider the patterns formed by small rod-like objects advected by a
random flow in two dimensions. An exact solution indicates that their direction
field is non-singular. However, we find from simulations that the direction
field of the rods does appear to exhibit singularities. First, ` scar lines'
emerge where the rods abruptly change direction by . Later, these scar
lines become so narrow that they ` heal over' and disappear, but their ends
remain as point singularities, which are of the same type as those seen in
fingerprints. We give a theoretical explanation for these observations.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure
Collective versus single-particle effects in the optical spectra of finite electronic quantum systems
We study optical spectra of finite electronic quantum systems at frequencies
smaller than the plasma frequency using a quasi-classical approach. This
approach includes collective effects and enables us to analyze how the nature
of the (single-particle) electron dynamics influences the optical spectra in
finite electronic quantum systems. We derive an analytical expression for the
low-frequency absorption coefficient of electro-magnetic radiation in a finite
quantum system with ballistic electron dynamics and specular reflection at the
boundaries: a two-dimensional electron gas confined to a strip of width a (the
approach can be applied to systems of any shape and electron dynamics --
diffusive or ballistic, regular or irregular motion). By comparing with results
of numerical computations using the random-phase approximation we show that our
analytical approach provides a qualitative and quantitative understanding of
the optical spectrum.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Ergodic properties of a model for turbulent dispersion of inertial particles
We study a simple stochastic differential equation that models the dispersion
of close heavy particles moving in a turbulent flow. In one and two dimensions,
the model is closely related to the one-dimensional stationary Schroedinger
equation in a random delta-correlated potential. The ergodic properties of the
dispersion process are investigated by proving that its generator is
hypoelliptic and using control theory
Semiclassical form factor for spectral and matrix element fluctuations of multi-dimensional chaotic systems
We present a semiclassical calculation of the generalized form factor which
characterizes the fluctuations of matrix elements of the quantum operators in
the eigenbasis of the Hamiltonian of a chaotic system. Our approach is based on
some recently developed techniques for the spectral form factor of systems with
hyperbolic and ergodic underlying classical dynamics and f=2 degrees of
freedom, that allow us to go beyond the diagonal approximation. First we extend
these techniques to systems with f>2. Then we use these results to calculate
the generalized form factor. We show that the dependence on the rescaled time
in units of the Heisenberg time is universal for both the spectral and the
generalized form factor. Furthermore, we derive a relation between the
generalized form factor and the classical time-correlation function of the Weyl
symbols of the quantum operators.Comment: some typos corrected and few minor changes made; final version in PR
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