Chaotic Waveguide-Based Resonators for Microlasers

We propose the construction of highly directional emission microlasers using two-dimensional high-index semiconductor waveguides as {\it open} resonators. The prototype waveguide is formed by two collinear leads connected to a cavity of certain shape. The proposed lasing mechanism requires that the shape of the cavity yield mixed chaotic ray dynamics so as to have the appropiate (phase space) resonance islands. These islands allow, via Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, the appearance of quasi bound states (QBS) which, in turn, propitiate the lasing mechanism. The energy values of the QBS are found through the solution of the Helmholtz equation. We use classical ray dynamics to predict the direction and intensity of the lasing produced by such open resonators for typical values of the index of refraction.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Top quark physics in hadron collisions

The top quark is the heaviest elementary particle observed to date. Its large mass makes the top quark an ideal laboratory to test predictions of perturbation theory concerning heavy quark production at hadron colliders. The top quark is also a powerful probe for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. In addition, the top quark mass is a crucial parameter for scrutinizing the Standard Model in electroweak precision tests and for predicting the mass of the yet unobserved Higgs boson. Ten years after the discovery of the top quark at the Fermilab Tevatron top quark physics has entered an era where detailed measurements of top quark properties are undertaken. In this review article an introduction to the phenomenology of top quark production in hadron collisions is given, the lessons learned in Tevatron Run I are summarized, and first Run II results are discussed. A brief outlook to the possibilities of top quark research a the Large Hadron Collider, currently under construction at CERN, is included.Comment: 84 pages, 32 figures, accepted for publication by Reports on Progress in Physic

Classical versus Quantum Structure of the Scattering Probability Matrix. Chaotic wave-guides

The purely classical counterpart of the Scattering Probability Matrix (SPM) $\mid S_{n,m}\mid^2$ of the quantum scattering matrix $S$ is defined for 2D quantum waveguides for an arbitrary number of propagating modes $M$. We compare the quantum and classical structures of $\mid S_{n,m}\mid^2$ for a waveguide with generic Hamiltonian chaos. It is shown that even for a moderate number of channels, knowledge of the classical structure of the SPM allows us to predict the global structure of the quantum one and, hence, understand important quantum transport properties of waveguides in terms of purely classical dynamics. It is also shown that the SPM, being an intensity measure, can give additional dynamical information to that obtained by the Poincar\`{e} maps.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

The activated endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor IRE1 oligomerizes into filaments contained in 30 nm membrane tubes of complex topology

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an intracellular signaling network that adjusts the abundance and protein folding capacity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) according to need. The most conversed branch of the UPR is mediated by the ER‐resident transmembrane kinase/endoribonuclease IRE1. It senses unfolded protein accumulation within the ER and transduces the signal via a non‐conventional mRNA splicing mechanism. In response to direct binding of unfolded proteins in the ER lumen, IRE1 activates by oligomerization and accumulates in dynamic foci. IRE1 foci are not autophagosomes as they did not colocalize with the autophagosomal marker LC3. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments indicate that IRE1 molecules in the foci remain in equilibrium with IRE1 molecules in the surrounding ER network. We determined the structure of IRE1 foci in cells by whole cell correlative light – electron tomography. Our results show that IRE1 oligomers induce membrane deformations, leading to the protrusion of narrow 30 nm ribosome‐free tubes that remain connected to the ER and are twisted into glomeruli of complex topology. The tubes contain two parallel filaments in their lumen, likely representing oligomerized IRE1 ER‐lumenal domains. Taken together, our findings define a previously unrecognized subdomain of the ER membrane and shed new light on the structure and organization of active mammalian IRE1 inside the cell

Hydrodynamics of topological defects in nematic liquid crystals

We show that back-flow, the coupling between the order parameter and the velocity fields, has a significant effect on the motion of defects in nematic liquid crystals. In particular the defect speed can depend strongly on the topological strength in two dimensions and on the sense of rotation of the director about the core in three dimensions.Comment: 4 pages including two figure