Social working memory: neurocognitive networks and directions for future research.

Navigating the social world requires the ability to maintain and manipulate information about people's beliefs, traits, and mental states. We characterize this capacity as social working memory (SWM). To date, very little research has explored this phenomenon, in part because of the assumption that general working memory systems would support working memory for social information. Various lines of research, however, suggest that social cognitive processing relies on a neurocognitive network (i.e., the "mentalizing network") that is functionally distinct from, and considered antagonistic with, the canonical working memory network. Here, we review evidence suggesting that demanding social cognition requires SWM and that both the mentalizing and canonical working memory neurocognitive networks support SWM. The neural data run counter to the common finding of parametric decreases in mentalizing regions as a function of working memory demand and suggest that the mentalizing network can support demanding cognition, when it is demanding social cognition. Implications for individual differences in social cognition and pathologies of social cognition are discussed

Nuclear Reactions Rates Governing the Nucleosynthesis of Ti44

Large excesses of Ca44 in certain presolar graphite and silicon carbide grains give strong evidence for Ti44 production in supernovae. Furthermore, recent detection of the Ti44 gamma-line from the Cas A SNR by CGRO/COMPTEL shows that radioactive Ti44 is produced in supernovae. These make the Ti44 abundance an observable diagnostic of supernovae. Through use of a nuclear reaction network, we have systematically varied reaction rates and groups of reaction rates to experimentally identify those that govern Ti44 abundance in core-collapse supernova nucleosynthesis. We survey the nuclear-rate dependence by repeated calculations of the identical adiabatic expansion, with peak temperature and density chosen to be 5.5xE9 K and 1E7 g/cc, respectively, to approximate the conditions in detailed supernova models. We find that, for equal total numbers of neutrons and protons (eta=0), Ti44 production is most sensitive to the following reaction rates: Ti44(alpha,p)V47, alpha(2alpha,gamma)C12, Ti44(alpha,gamma)Cr48, V45(p,gamma)Cr46. We tabulate the most sensitive reactions in order of their importance to the Ti44 production near the standard values of currently accepted cross-sections, at both reduced reaction rate (0.01X) and at increased reaction rate (100X) relative to their standard values. Although most reactions retain their importance for eta > 0, that of V45(p,gamma)Cr46 drops rapidly for eta >= 0.0004. Other reactions assume greater significance at greater neutron excess: C12(alpha,gamma)O16, Ca40(alpha,gamma)Ti44, Al27(alpha,n)P30, Si30(alpha,n)S33. Because many of these rates are unknown experimentally, our results suggest the most important targets for future cross section measurements governing the value of this observable abundance.Comment: 37 pages, LaTex, 17 figures, 8 table

Product state control of bi-alkali chemical reactions

We consider ultracold, chemically reactive scattering collisions of the diatomic molecules KRb. When two such molecules collide in an ultracold gas, we find that they are energetically forbidden from reacting to form the trimer species K$_2$Rb or Rb$_2$K, hence can only react via the bond-swapping reaction 2KRb $\to$ K$_2$ + Rb$_2$. Moreover, the tiny energy released in this reaction can in principle be set to zero by applying electric or microwave fields, implying a means of controlling the available reaction channels in a chemical reaction.Comment: 4 pages double column, 2 figures, 2 table

Quantum Chinos Game: winning strategies through quantum fluctuations

We apply several quantization schemes to simple versions of the Chinos game. Classically, for two players with one coin each, there is a symmetric stable strategy that allows each player to win half of the times on average. A partial quantization of the game (semiclassical) allows us to find a winning strategy for the second player, but it is unstable w.r.t. the classical strategy. However, in a fully quantum version of the game we find a winning strategy for the first player that is optimal: the symmetric classical situation is broken at the quantum level.Comment: REVTEX4.b4 file, 3 table

Excitations of Few-Boson Systems in 1-D Harmonic and Double Wells

We examine the lowest excitations of one-dimensional few-boson systems trapped in double wells of variable barrier height. Based on a numerically exact multi-configurational method, we follow the whole pathway from the non-interacting to the fermionization limit. It is shown how, in a purely harmonic trap, the initially equidistant, degenerate levels are split up due to interactions, but merge again for strong enough coupling. In a double well, the low-lying spectrum is largely rearranged in the course of fermionization, exhibiting level adhesion and (anti-)crossings. The evolution of the underlying states is explained in analogy to the ground-state behavior. Our discussion is complemented by illuminating the crossover from a single to a double well.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Correlations in Ultracold Trapped Few-Boson Systems: Transition from Condensation to Fermionization

We study the correlation properties of the ground states of few ultracold bosons, trapped in double wells of varying barrier height in one dimension. Extending previous results on the signature of the transition from a Bose-condensed state via fragmentation to the hard-core limit, we provide a deeper understanding of that transition by relating it to the loss of coherence in the one-body density matrix and to the emerging long-range tail in the momentum spectrum. These are accounted for in detail by discussing the natural orbitals and their occupations. Our discussion is complemented by an analysis of the two-body correlation function.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Quantum dynamics of two bosons in an anharmonic trap: Collective vs internal excitations

This work deals with the effects of an anharmonic trap on an interacting two-boson system in one dimension. Our primary focus is on the role of the induced coupling between the center of mass and the relative motion as both anharmonicity and the (repulsive) interaction strength are varied. The ground state reveals a strong localization in the relative coordinate, counteracting the tendency to fragment for stronger repulsion. To explore the quantum dynamics, we study the system's response upon (i) exciting the harmonic ground state by continuously switching on an additional anharmonicity, and (ii) displacing the center of mass, this way triggering collective oscillations. The interplay between collective and internal dynamics materializes in the collapse of oscillations, which are explained in terms of few-mode models.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

AVIRIS data characteristics and their effects on spectral discrimination of rocks exposed in the Drum Mountains, Utah: Results of a preliminary study

Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data collected over a geologically diverse field site and over a nearby calibration site were analyzed and interpreted in efforts to document radiometric and geometric characteristics of AVIRIS, quantify and correct for detrimental sensor phenomena, and evaluate the utility of AVIRIS data for discriminating rock types and identifying their constituent mineralogy. AVIRIS data acquired for these studies exhibit a variety of detrimental artifacts and have lower signal-to-noise ratios than expected in the longer wavelength bands. Artifacts are both inherent in the image data and introduced during ground processing, but most may be corrected by appropriate processing techniques. Poor signal-to-noise characteristics of this AVIRIS data set limited the usefulness of the data for lithologic discrimination and mineral identification. Various data calibration techniques, based on field-acquired spectral measurements, were applied to the AVIRIS data. Major absorption features of hydroxyl-bearing minerals were resolved in the spectra of the calibrated AVIRIS data, and the presence of hydroxyl-bearing minerals at the corresponding ground locations was confirmed by field data