Observation of Lasing Mediated by Collective Atomic Recoil

We observe the buildup of a frequency-shifted reverse light field in a unidirectionally pumped high-$Q$ optical ring cavity serving as a dipole trap for cold atoms. This effect is enhanced and a steady state is reached, if via an optical molasses an additional friction force is applied to the atoms. We observe the displacement of the atoms accelerated by momentum transfer in the backscattering process and interpret our observations in terms of the collective atomic recoil laser. Numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Conditional regularity of solutions of the three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations and implications for intermittency

Two unusual time-integral conditional regularity results are presented for the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. The ideas are based on $L^{2m}$-norms of the vorticity, denoted by $\Omega_{m}(t)$, and particularly on $D_{m} = \Omega_{m}^{\alpha_{m}}$, where $\alpha_{m} = 2m/(4m-3)$ for $m\geq 1$. The first result, more appropriate for the unforced case, can be stated simply : if there exists an $1\leq m < \infty$ for which the integral condition is satisfied ($Z_{m}=D_{m+1}/D_{m}$) $$\int_{0}^{t}\ln (\frac{1 + Z_{m}}{c_{4,m}}) d\tau \geq 0$$ then no singularity can occur on $[0, t]$. The constant $c_{4,m} \searrow 2$ for large $m$. Secondly, for the forced case, by imposing a critical \textit{lower} bound on $\int_{0}^{t}D_{m} d\tau$, no singularity can occur in $D_{m}(t)$ for \textit{large} initial data. Movement across this critical lower bound shows how solutions can behave intermittently, in analogy with a relaxation oscillator. Potential singularities that drive $\int_{0}^{t}D_{m} d\tau$ over this critical value can be ruled out whereas other types cannot.Comment: A frequency was missing in the definition of D_{m} in (I5) v3. 11 pages, 1 figur

Proportion Regulation in Globally Coupled Nonlinear Systems

As a model of proportion regulation in differentiation process of biological system, globally coupled activator-inhibitor systems are studied. Formation and destabilization of one and two cluster state are predicted analytically. Numerical simulations show that the proportion of units of clusters is chosen within a finite range and it is selected depend on the initial condition.Comment: 11 pages (revtex format) and 5 figures (PostScript)

Vergleichende morphologische und histologische untersuchungen am geruchsorgan der knochenfische

1. Untersucht wurden 18 Knochenfischarten aus 13 Familien.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47539/1/435_2004_Article_BF00429940.pd

The Emerging Scholarly Brain

It is now a commonplace observation that human society is becoming a coherent super-organism, and that the information infrastructure forms its emerging brain. Perhaps, as the underlying technologies are likely to become billions of times more powerful than those we have today, we could say that we are now building the lizard brain for the future organism.Comment: to appear in Future Professional Communication in Astronomy-II (FPCA-II) editors A. Heck and A. Accomazz

Noisy random resistor networks: renormalized field theory for the multifractal moments of the current distribution

We study the multifractal moments of the current distribution in randomly diluted resistor networks near the percolation treshold. When an external current is applied between to terminals $x$ and $x^\prime$ of the network, the $l$th multifractal moment scales as $M_I^{(l)} (x, x^\prime) \sim | x - x^\prime |^{\psi_l /\nu}$, where $\nu$ is the correlation length exponent of the isotropic percolation universality class. By applying our concept of master operators [Europhys. Lett. {\bf 51}, 539 (2000)] we calculate the family of multifractal exponents $\{\psi_l \}$ for $l \geq 0$ to two-loop order. We find that our result is in good agreement with numerical data for three dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, 6 figure

Random field sampling for a simplified model of melt-blowing considering turbulent velocity fluctuations

In melt-blowing very thin liquid fiber jets are spun due to high-velocity air streams. In literature there is a clear, unsolved discrepancy between the measured and computed jet attenuation. In this paper we will verify numerically that the turbulent velocity fluctuations causing a random aerodynamic drag on the fiber jets -- that has been neglected so far -- are the crucial effect to close this gap. For this purpose, we model the velocity fluctuations as vector Gaussian random fields on top of a k-epsilon turbulence description and develop an efficient sampling procedure. Taking advantage of the special covariance structure the effort of the sampling is linear in the discretization and makes the realization possible

The early bee catches the flower - circadian rhythmicity influences learning performance in honey bees, Apis mellifera

Circadian rhythmicity plays an important role for many aspects of honey bees’ lives. However, the question whether it also affects learning and memory remained unanswered. To address this question, we studied the effect of circadian timing on olfactory learning and memory in honey bees Apis mellifera using the olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension reflex paradigm. Bees were differentially conditioned to odours and tested for their odour learning at four different “Zeitgeber” time points. We show that learning behaviour is influenced by circadian timing. Honey bees perform best in the morning compared to the other times of day. Additionally, we found influences of the light condition bees were trained at on the olfactory learning. This circadian-mediated learning is independent from feeding times bees were entrained to, indicating an inherited and not acquired mechanism. We hypothesise that a co-evolutionary mechanism between the honey bee as a pollinator and plants might be the driving force for the evolution of the time-dependent learning abilities of bees

The psychophysics of uneconomical choice: non-linear reward evaluation by a nectar feeder

Uneconomical choices by humans or animals that evaluate reward options challenge the expectation that decision-makers always maximize the return currency. One possible explanation for such deviations from optimality is that the ability to sense differences in physical value between available alternatives is constrained by the sensory and cognitive processes for encoding profitability. In this study, we investigated the capacity of a nectarivorous bat species (Glossophaga commissarisi) to discriminate between sugar solutions with different concentrations. We conducted a two-alternative free-choice experiment on a population of wild electronically tagged bats foraging at an array of computer-automated artificial flowers that recorded individual choices. We used a Bayesian approach to fit individual psychometric functions, relating the strength of preferring the higher concentration option to the intensity of the presented stimulus. Psychometric analysis revealed that discrimination ability increases non-linearly with respect to intensity. We combined this result with a previous psychometric analysis of volume perception. Our theoretical analysis of choice for rewards that vary in two quality dimensions revealed regions of parameter combinations where uneconomic choice is expected. Discrimination ability may be constrained by non-linear perceptual and cognitive encoding processes that result in uneconomical choice

Dumb and Lazy? A Comparison of Color Learning and Memory Retrieval in Drones and Workers of the Buff-Tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, by Means of PER Conditioning

More than 100 years ago, Karl von Frisch showed that honeybee workers learn and discriminate colors. Since then, many studies confirmed the color learning capabilities of females from various hymenopteran species. Yet, little is known about visual learning and memory in males despite the fact that in most bee species males must take care of their own needs and must find rewarding flowers to obtain food. Here we used the proboscis extension response (PER) paradigm to study the color learning capacities of workers and drones of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris. Light stimuli were paired with sucrose reward delivered to the insects’ antennae and inducing a reflexive extension of the proboscis. We evaluated color learning (i.e. conditioned PER to color stimuli) in absolute and differential conditioning protocols and mid-term memory retention was measured two hours after conditioning. Different monochromatic light stimuli in combination with neutral density filters were used to ensure that the bumblebees could only use chromatic and not achromatic (e.g. brightness) information. Furthermore, we tested if bees were able to transfer the learned information from the PER conditioning to a novel discrimination task in a Y-maze. Both workers and drones were capable of learning and discriminating between monochromatic light stimuli and retrieved the learned stimulus after two hours. Drones performed as well as workers during conditioning and in the memory test, but failed in the transfer test in contrast to workers. Our data clearly show that bumblebees can learn to associate a color stimulus with a sugar reward in PER conditioning and that both workers and drones reach similar acquisition and mid-term retention performances. Additionally, we provide evidence that only workers transfer the learned information from a Pavlovian to an operant situation