Deriving a multi-subject functional-connectivity atlas to inform connectome estimation

MICCAI 2014 preprintInternational audienceThe estimation of functional connectivity structure from functional neuroimaging data is an important step toward understanding the mechanisms of various brain diseases and building relevant biomarkers. Yet, such inferences have to deal with the low signal-to-noise ratio and the paucity of the data. With at our disposal a steadily growing volume of publicly available neuroimaging data, it is however possible to improve the estimation procedures involved in connectome mapping. In this work, we propose a novel learning scheme for functional connectivity based on sparse Gaussian graphical models that aims at minimizing the bias induced by the regularization used in the estimation, by carefully separating the estimation of the model support from the coefficients. Moreover, our strategy makes it possible to include new data with a limited computational cost. We illustrate the physiological relevance of the learned prior, that can be identified as a functional connectivity atlas, based on an experiment on 46 subjects of the Human Connectome Dataset

Mesoscopic Fluctuations in Quantum Dots in the Kondo Regime

Properties of the Kondo effect in quantum dots depend sensitively on the coupling parameters and so on the realization of the quantum dot -- the Kondo temperature itself becomes a mesoscopic quantity. Assuming chaotic dynamics in the dot, we use random matrix theory to calculate the distribution of both the Kondo temperature and the conductance in the Coulomb blockade regime. We study two experimentally relevant cases: leads with single channels and leads with many channels. In the single-channel case, the distribution of the conductance is very wide as $T_K$ fluctuates on a logarithmic scale. As the number of channels increases, there is a slow crossover to a self-averaging regime.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Flavon exchange effects in models with abelian flavor symmetry

In models with abelian flavor symmetry the small mixing angles and mass ratios of quarks and leptons are typically given by powers of small parameters characterizing the spontaneous breaking of flavor symmetry by "flavon" fields. If the scale of the breaking of flavor symmetry is near the weak scale, flavon exchange can lead to interesting flavor-violating and CP violating effects. These are studied. It is found that d_e, mu -> e + gamma, and mu-e conversion on nuclei can be near present limits. For significant range of parameters mu-e conversion can be the most sensitive way to look for such effects.Comment: 19 pages, 5 Postscript figures, LATE

Fermi liquid theory for the Anderson model out of equilibrium

We study low-energy properties of the Anderson impurity under a finite bias voltage $V$ using the perturbation theory in $U$ of Yamada and Yosida in the nonequilibrium Keldysh diagrammatic formalism, and obtain the Ward identities for the derivative of the self-energy with respect to $V$. The self-energy is calculated exactly up to terms of order $\omega^2$, $T^2$ and $V^2$, and the coefficients are defined with respect to the equilibrium ground state. From these results, the nonlinear response of the current through the impurity has been deduced up to order $V^3$.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Magnetotransport through a strongly interacting quantum dot

We study the effect of a magnetic field on the conductance through a strongly interacting quantum dot by using the finite temperature extension of Wilson's numerical renormalization group method to dynamical quantities. The quantum dot has one active level for transport and is modelled by an Anderson impurity attached to left and right electron reservoirs. Detailed predictions are made for the linear conductance and the spin-resolved conductance as a function of gate voltage, temperature and magnetic field strength. A strongly coupled quantum dot in a magnetic field acts as a spin filter which can be tuned by varying the gate voltage. The largest spin-filtering effect is found in the range of gate voltages corresponding to the mixed valence regime of the Anderson impurity model.Comment: Revised version, to appear in PRB, 4 pages, 4 figure

Fano Resonances in Electronic Transport through a Single Electron Transistor

We have observed asymmetric Fano resonances in the conductance of a single electron transistor resulting from interference between a resonant and a nonresonant path through the system. The resonant component shows all the features typical of quantum dots, but the origin of the non-resonant path is unclear. A unique feature of this experimental system, compared to others that show Fano line shapes, is that changing the voltages on various gates allows one to alter the interference between the two paths.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to PR

Kondo effect in multielectron quantum dots at high magnetic fields

We present a general description of low temperature transport through a quantum dot with any number of electrons at filling factor $1<\nu <2$. We provide a general description of a novel Kondo effect which is turned on by application of an appropriate magnetic field. The spin-flip scattering of carriers by the quantum dot only involves two states of the scatterer which may have a large spin. This process is described by spin-flip Hubbard operators, which change the angular momentum, leading to a Kondo Hamiltonian. We obtain antiferromagnetic exchange couplings depending on tunneling amplitudes and correlation effects. Since Kondo temperature has an exponential dependence on exchange couplings, quantitative variations of the parameters in different regimes have important experimental consequences. In particular, we discuss the {\it chess board} aspect of the experimental conductance when represented in a grey scale as a function of both the magnetic field and the gate potential affecting the quantum dot

Interference and interaction effects in multi-level quantum dots

Using renormalization group techniques, we study spectral and transport properties of a spinless interacting quantum dot consisting of two levels coupled to metallic reservoirs. For strong Coulomb repulsion $U$ and an applied Aharonov-Bohm phase $\phi$, we find a large direct tunnel splitting $|\Delta|\sim (\Gamma/\pi)|\cos(\phi/2)|\ln(U/\omega_c)$ between the levels of the order of the level broadening $\Gamma$. As a consequence we discover a many-body resonance in the spectral density that can be measured via the absorption power. Furthermore, for $\phi=\pi$, we show that the system can be tuned into an effective Anderson model with spin-dependent tunneling.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures included, typos correcte

Resonance Kondo Tunneling through a Double Quantum Dot at Finite Bias

It is shown that the resonance Kondo tunneling through a double quantum dot (DQD) with even occupation and singlet ground state may arise at a strong bias, which compensates the energy of singlet/triplet excitation. Using the renormalization group technique we derive scaling equations and calculate the differential conductance as a function of an auxiliary dc-bias for parallel DQD described by SO(4) symmetry. We analyze the decoherence effects associated with the triplet/singlet relaxation in DQD and discuss the shape of differential conductance line as a function of dc-bias and temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 6 eps figures include