Holographic thermalization with a chemical potential in Gauss-Bonnet gravity

Holographic thermalization is studied in the framework of Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We use the two-point correlation function and expectation value of Wilson loop, which are dual to the renormalized geodesic length and minimal area surface in the bulk, to probe the thermalization. The numeric result shows that larger the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient is, shorter the thermalization time is, and larger the charge is, longer the thermalization time is, which implies that the Gauss-Bonnet coefficient can accelerate the thermalization while the charge has an opposite effect. In addition, we obtain the functions with respect to the thermalization time for both the thermalization probes at a fixed charge and Gauss-Bonnet coefficient, and on the basis of these functions, we obtain the thermalization velocity, which shows that the thermalization process is non-monotonic. At the middle and later periods of the thermalization process, we find that there is a phase transition point, which divides the thermalization into an acceleration phase and a deceleration phase. We also study the effect of the charge and Gauss-Bonnet coefficient on the phase transition point.Comment: 23 pages, many figures,footnote 4 is modified. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1305.484

Holographic thermalization in noncommutative geometry

Gravitational collapse of a shell of dust in noncommutative geometry is probed by the renormalized geodesic length, which is dual to probe the thermalization by the two-point correlation function in the dual conformal field theory. We find that larger the noncommutative parameter is, longer the thermalization time is, which implies that the large noncommutative parameter delays the thermalization process. We also investigate how the noncommutative parameter affects the thermalization velocity and thermalization acceleration.Comment: some materials have been delete

Synthetic Topological Degeneracy by Anyon Condensation

Topological degeneracy is the degeneracy of the ground states in a many-body system in the large-system-size limit. Topological degeneracy cannot be lifted by any local perturbation of the Hamiltonian. The topological degeneracies on closed manifolds have been used to discover/define topological order in many-body systems, which contain excitations with fractional statistics. In this paper, we study a new type of topological degeneracy induced by condensing anyons along a line in 2D topological ordered states. Such topological degeneracy can be viewed as carried by each end of the line-defect, which is a generalization of Majorana zero-modes. The topological degeneracy can be used as a quantum memory. The ends of line-defects carry projective non-Abelian statistics, and braiding them allow us to perform fault tolerant quantum computations.Comment: 4 pages + references + 3 pages of supplementary material, 2 figures. reference update

Imaging Neural Activity in the Primary Somatosensory Cortex Using Thy1-GCaMP6s Transgenic Mice

The mammalian brain exhibits marked symmetry across the sagittal plane. However, detailed description of neural dynamics in symmetric brain regions in adult mammalian animals remains elusive. In this study, we describe an experimental procedure for measuring calcium dynamics through dual optical windows above bilateral primary somatosensory corticies (S1) in Thy1-GCaMP6s transgenic mice using 2-photon (2P) microscopy. This method enables recordings and quantifications of neural activity in bilateral mouse brain regions one at a time in the same experiment for a prolonged period in vivo. Key aspects of this method, which can be completed within an hour, include minimally invasive surgery procedures for creating dual optical windows, and the use of 2P imaging. Although we only demonstrate the technique in the S1 area, the method can be applied to other regions of the living brain facilitating the elucidation of structural and functional complexities of brain neural networks

Probing nuclear symmetry energy at high densities using pion, kaon, eta and photon productions in heavy-ion collisions

The high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy is among the most uncertain properties of dense neutron-rich matter. Its accurate determination has significant ramifications in understanding not only the reaction dynamics of heavy-ion reactions especially those induced by radioactive beams but also many interesting phenomena in astrophysics, such as the explosion mechanism of supernova and the properties of neutron stars. The heavy-ion physics community has devoted much effort during the last few years to constrain the high-density symmetry using various probes. In particular, the pion-/pion+ ratio has been most extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. All models have consistently predicted qualitatively that the pion-/pion+ ratio is a sensitive probe of the high-density symmetry energy especially with beam energies near the pion production threshold. However, the predicted values of the pion-/pion+ ratio are still quite model dependent mostly because of the complexity of modeling pion production and reabsorption dynamics in heavy-ion collisions, leading to currently still controversial conclusions regarding the high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy from comparing various model calculations with available experimental data. As more pion-/pion+ data become available and a deeper understanding about the pion dynamics in heavy-ion reactions is obtained, more penetrating probes, such as the kaon+/kaon0 ratio, eta meson and high energy photons are also being investigated or planned at several facilities. Here, we review some of our recent contributions to the community effort of constraining the high-density behavior of nuclear symmetry energy in heavy-ion collisions. In addition, the status of some worldwide experiments for studying the high-density symmetry energy, including the HIRFL-CSR external target experiment (CEE) are briefly introduced.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, Contribution to the Topical Issue on Nuclear Symmetry Energy in EPJA Special Volum