1,748 research outputs found
Adaptive colour change and background choice behaviour in peppered moth caterpillars is mediated by extraocular photoreception
Light sensing by tissues distinct from the eye occurs in diverse animal groups, enabling circadian control and phototactic behaviour. Extraocular photoreceptors may also facilitate rapid colour change in cephalopods and lizards, but little is known about the sensory system that mediates slow colour change in arthropods. We previously reported that slow colour change in twig-mimicking caterpillars of the peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a response to achromatic and chromatic visual cues. Here we show that the perception of these cues, and the resulting phenotypic responses, does not require ocular vision. Caterpillars with completely obscured ocelli remained capable of enhancing their crypsis by changing colour and choosing to rest on colour-matching twigs. A suite of visual genes, expressed across the larval integument, likely plays a key role in the mechanism. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that extraocular colour sensing can mediate pigment-based colour change and behaviour in an arthropod
Exact solution and interfacial tension of the six-vertex model with anti-periodic boundary conditions
We consider the six-vertex model with anti-periodic boundary conditions
across a finite strip. The row-to-row transfer matrix is diagonalised by the
`commuting transfer matrices' method. {}From the exact solution we obtain an
independent derivation of the interfacial tension of the six-vertex model in
the anti-ferroelectric phase. The nature of the corresponding integrable
boundary condition on the spin chain is also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX with 1 PostScript figur
Grid flexibility and patching techniques
The numerical determination of combustor flowfields is of great value to the combustor designer. An a priori knowledge of the flow behavior can speed the combustor design process and reduce the number of experimental test rigs required to arrive at an optimal design. Even 2-D steady incompressible isothermal flow predictions are of use; many codes of this kind are available, each employing different techniques to surmount the difficulties arising from the nonlinearity of the governing equations and from typically irregular combustor geometries. Mapping techniques (algebraic and elliptic PDE), and adaptive grid methods (both multi-grid and grid embedding) as applied to axisymmetric combustors are discussed
The Reactome BioMart
Reactome is an open source, expert-authored, manually curated and peer-reviewed database of reactions, pathways and biological processes. We provide an intuitive web-based user interface to pathway knowledge and a suite of data analysis tools. The Reactome BioMart provides biologists and bioinformaticians with a single web interface for performing simple or elaborate queries of the Reactome database, aggregating data from different sources and providing an opportunity to integrate experimental and computational results with information relating to biological pathways. Database URL: http://www.reactome.org
Temperley-Lieb Words as Valence-Bond Ground States
Based on the Temperley--Lieb algebra we define a class of one-dimensional
Hamiltonians with nearest and next-nearest neighbour interactions. Using the
regular representation we give ground states of this model as words of the
algebra. Two point correlation functions can be computed employing the
Temperley--Lieb relations. Choosing a spin-1/2 representation of the algebra we
obtain a generalization of the (q-deformed) Majumdar--Ghosh model. The ground
states become valence-bond states.Comment: 9 Pages, LaTeX (with included style files
Breakdown of the Mott insulator: Exact solution of an asymmetric Hubbard model
The breakdown of the Mott insulator is studied when the dissipative tunneling
into the environment is introduced to the system. By exactly solving the
one-dimensional asymmetric Hubbard model, we show how such a breakdown of the
Mott insulator occurs. As the effect of the tunneling is increased, the Hubbard
gap is monotonically decreased and finally disappears, resulting in the
insulator-metal transition. We discuss the origin of this quantum phase
transition in comparison with other non-Hermitian systems recently studied.Comment: 7 pages, revte
Strings Inside Walls in N=1 Super Yang-Mills
We conjecture the existence of strings bounded inside walls in SU
Super Yang-Mills theory. These strings carry quantum number, where
is the greatest common divisor between , the charge of the wall, and
. We provide field-theoretical arguments and string-theoretical evidences,
both from MQCD and from gauge-gravity correspondence. We interpret this result
from the point of view of the low-energy effective action living on the
-wall.Comment: 25 pp. Major changes. In particular, following the recent work
arXiv:0807.1908 we have been able to give a field theoretical proof of the
statement. We have also corrected an important erroneous interpretation in
the previous version regarding the 2+1 effective action; Typo
Digital Quantum Simulation of the Statistical Mechanics of a Frustrated Magnet
Many interesting problems in physics, chemistry, and computer science are
equivalent to problems of interacting spins. However, most of these problems
require computational resources that are out of reach by classical computers. A
promising solution to overcome this challenge is to exploit the laws of quantum
mechanics to perform simulation. Several "analog" quantum simulations of
interacting spin systems have been realized experimentally. However, relying on
adiabatic techniques, these simulations are limited to preparing ground states
only. Here we report the first experimental results on a "digital" quantum
simulation on thermal states; we simulated a three-spin frustrated magnet, a
building block of spin ice, with an NMR quantum information processor, and we
are able to explore the phase diagram of the system at any simulated
temperature and external field. These results serve as a guide for identifying
the challenges for performing quantum simulation on physical systems at finite
temperatures, and pave the way towards large scale experimental simulations of
open quantum systems in condensed matter physics and chemistry.Comment: 7 pages for the main text plus 6 pages for the supplementary
material
A multi-detector array for high energy nuclear e+e- pair spectrosocopy
A multi-detector array has been constructed for the simultaneous measurement
of energy- and angular correlation of electron-positron pairs produced in
internal pair conversion (IPC) of nuclear transitions up to 18 MeV. The
response functions of the individual detectors have been measured with
mono-energetic beams of electrons. Experimental results obtained with 1.6 MeV
protons on targets containing B and F show clear IPC over a wide
angular range. A comparison with GEANT simulations demonstrates that angular
correlations of pairs of transitions in the energy range between 6 and
18 MeV can be determined with sufficient resolution and efficiency to search
for deviations from IPC due to the creation and subsequent decay into
of a hypothetical short-lived neutral boson.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure
Electronic density of states derived from thermodynamic critical field curves for underdoped La-Sr-Cu-O
Thermodynamic critical field curves have been measured for
over the full range of carrier concentrations
where superconductivity occurs in order to determine changes in the normal
state density of states with carrier concentration. There is a substantial
window in the plane where the measurements are possible because the
samples are both thermodynamically reversible and the temperature is low enough
that vortex fluctuations are not important. In this window, the data fit
Hao-Clem rather well, so this model is used to determine and
for each temperature and carrier concentration. Using N(0) and the ratio of the
energy gap to transition temperature, , as fitting
parameters, the curves give over the
whole range of . Values of N(0) remain rather constant in the optimum-doped
and overdoped regime, but drops quickly toward zero in the underdoped regime.
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