Universal Properties in Low Dimensional Fermionic Systems and Bosonization

We analyze the universal transport behavior in 1D and 2D fermionic systems by following the unified framework provided by bosonization. The role played by the adiabatic transition between interacting and noninteracting regions is emphasized.Comment: 2 pages, RevTex, contribution for the Proceedings of the XVIII Autumn School `Topology of Strongly Correlated Systems', Lisbon, Portugal, October, 200

Microscopic model of a phononic refrigerator

We analyze a simple microscopic model to pump heat from a cold to a hot reservoir in a nanomechanical system. The model consists of a one-dimensional chain of masses and springs coupled to a back gate through which a time-dependent perturbation is applied. The action of the gate is to modulate the coupling of the masses to a substrate via additional springs that introduce a moving phononic barrier. We solve the problem numerically using non-equilibrium Green function techniques. For low driving frequencies and for sharp traveling barriers, we show that this microscopic model realizes a phonon refrigerator.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

RKKY Interactions in Graphene: Dependence on Disorder and Gate Voltage

We report the dependence of Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida\,(RKKY) interaction on nonmagmetic disorder and gate voltage in grapheme. First the semiclassical method is employed to reserve the expression for RKKY interaction in clean graphene. Due to the pseudogap at Dirac point, the RKKY coupling in undoped grapheme is found to be proportional to $1/R^3$. Next, we investigate how the RKKY interaction depends on nonmagnetic disorder strength and gate voltage by studying numerically the Anderson tight-binding model on a honeycomb lattice. We observe that the RKKY interaction along the armchair direction is more robust to nonmagnetic disorder than in other directions. This effect can be explained semiclassically: The presence of multiple shortest paths between two lattice sites in the armchair directions is found to be responsible for the reduceddisorder sensitivity. We also present the distribution of the RKKY interaction for the zigzag and armchair directions. We identify three different shapes of the distributions which are repeated periodically along the zigzag direction, while only one kind, and more narrow distribution, is observed along the armchair direction. Moreover, we find that the distribution of amplitudes of the RKKY interaction crosses over from a non-Gaussian shape with very long tails to a completely log-normal distribution when increasing the nonmagnetic disorder strength. The width of the log-normal distribution is found to linearly increase with the strength of disorder, in agreement with analytical predictions. At finite gate voltage near the Dirac point, Friedel oscillation appears in addition to the oscillation from the interference between two Dirac points. This results in a beating pattern. We study how these beating patterns are effected by the nonmagnetic disorder in doped graphene

Periodic orbit analysis of an elastodynamic resonator using shape deformation

We report the first definitive experimental observation of periodic orbits (POs) in the spectral properties of an elastodynamic system. The Fourier transform of the density of flexural modes show peaks that correspond to stable and unstable POs of a clover shaped quartz plate. We change the shape of the plate and find that the peaks corresponding to the POs that hit only the unperturbed sides are unchanged proving the correspondence. However, an exact match to the length of the main POs could be made only after a small rescaling of the experimental results. Statistical analysis of the level dynamics also shows the effect of the stable POs.Comment: submitted to Europhysics Letter

Unified description of the dc conductivity of monolayer and bilayer graphene at finite densities based on resonant scatterers

We show that a coherent picture of the dc conductivity of monolayer and bilayer graphene at finite electronic densities emerges upon considering that strong short-range potentials are the main source of scattering in these two systems. The origin of the strong short-range potentials may lie in adsorbed hydrocarbons at the surface of graphene. The equivalence among results based on the partial-wave description of scattering, the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, and the T-matrix approach is established. Scattering due to resonant impurities close to the neutrality point is investigated via a numerical computation of the Kubo formula using a kernel polynomial method. We find that relevant adsorbate species originate impurity bands in monolayer and bilayer graphene close to the Dirac point. In the midgap region, a plateau of minimum conductivity of about $e^2/h$ (per layer) is induced by the resonant disorder. In bilayer graphene, a large adsorbate concentration can develop an energy gap between midgap and high-energy states. As a consequence, the conductivity plateau is supressed near the edges and a "conductivity gap" takes place. Finally, a scattering formalism for electrons in biased bilayer graphene, taking into account the degeneracy of the spectrum, is developed and the dc conductivity of that system is studied.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures. published version: appendixes improved, references added, abstract and title slightly changed, plus other minor revision

Decoherence by electromagnetic fluctuations in double-quantum-dot charge qubits

We discuss decoherence due to electromagnetic fluctuations in charge qubits formed by two lateral quantum dots. We use an effective circuit model to evaluate correlations of voltage fluctuations in the qubit setup. These correlations allows us to estimate energy (T1) and phase (T2) relaxation times of the the qubit system. Our theoretical estimate of the quality factor due to dephasing by electromagnetic fluctuations yields values much higher than those found in recent experiments, indicating that other sources of decoherence play a dominant role.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

From Clinical Diagnosis to the Discovery of Multigene Rare Sequence Variants in Pseudoxanthoma elasticum: A Case Report

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare autosomal recessive disease clinically characterised by early cutaneous alterations, and by late clinically relevant ocular, and cardiovascular manifestations. ABCC6 genetic tests are used to confirm clinical PXE diagnosis, but this strategy may be rather challenging when only one ABCC6 pathogenic variant is found. A next-generation sequencing approach focusing on 362 genes related to the calcification process and/or to inherited retinal diseases was performed on a patient with clinical PXE diagnosis (skin papules and laxity, angioid streaks, and atrophy) who was carrier of only one ABCC6 rare sequence variant. Beside ABCC6, several rare sequence variants were detected which can contribute either to the occurrence of calcification (GGCX and SERPINF1 genes) and/or to ophthalmological manifestations (ABCA4, AGBL5, CLUAP1, and KCNV2 genes). This wide-spectrum analysis approach facilitates the identification of rare variants possibly involved in PXE, thus avoiding invasive skin biopsy as well as expensive and time-consuming diagnostic odyssey and allows to broaden and to deepen the knowledge on this complex rare disease and to improve patients' counselling, also with a future perspective of personalised medicine

A case report of pseudoxanthoma elasticum with rare sequence variants in genes related to inherited retinal diseases

A case of a patient with an early and severe visual impairment is described. Due to the occurrence of skin papules a suspect of pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) was posed. PXE is a rare autosomal recessive disease clinically characterized by skin, cardiovascular and ocular manifestations, these last being those that most severely affect patients’ quality of life. A whole exome sequencing approach focusing on 340 genes related to the calcification process and/or to inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) was performed. Rare monoallelic sequence variants in ABCA4, ABCC6, IMPG1, POC1B and RAX2 were found. The presence of calcified elastic fibers was assessed by ultrastructural analysis on a skin biopsy. Diagnosis of PXE was based on clinical, biomolecular and morphological results, although the additional involvement of several IRD genes is important to explain the unexpectedly severe ophthalmological phenotype of the patient also in prognostic and therapeutic perspectives. Data indicate that genetic screening using a wide‐spectrum analysis approach is essential to assist ophthalmologists in improving patient counseling

Phenotypic Features and Genetic Findings in a Cohort of Italian Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum Patients and Update of the Ophthalmologic Evaluation Score

Background: Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a rare ectopic calcification genetic disease mainly caused by ABCC6 rare sequence variants. The clinical phenotype is characterized by typical dermatological, ophthalmological and cardiovascular manifestations, whose frequency and severity are differently reported in the literature. Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 377 PXE patients of Italian origin, clinically evaluated according to the Phenodex Index, who underwent ABCC6 biomolecular analyses. Moreover, 53 PXE patients were further characterized by in-depth ophthalmological examinations. Results: A total of 117 different ABCC6 rare sequence variants were detected as being spread through the whole gene. The severity of the clinical phenotype was dependent on age, but it was not influenced by gender or by the type of sequence variants. In-depth ophthalmological examinations focused on the incidences of coquille d'oeuf, comet lesions, pattern dystrophy-like lesions, optic disk drusen and posterior-pole atrophy. Conclusion: Given the large number of patients analyzed, we were able to better evaluate the occurrence of less frequent alterations (e.g., stroke, myocardial infarction, nephrolithiasis). A more detailed description of ophthalmological abnormalities allowed us to stratify patients and better evaluate disease progression, thus suggesting a further update of the PXE score system