627 research outputs found
Role of mitochondria in Parkinson disease
The cause of the selective degeneration of nigrostriatal neurons in Parkinson disease (PD) has remained largely unknown. Exceptions include rare missense mutations in the alpha-synuclein gene on chromosome 4, a potentially pathogenic mutation affecting the ubiquitin pathway, and mutations in the parkin gene on chromosome 6. However, unlike classical PD, the latter syndrome is not associated with the formation of typical Lewy bodies. In contrast, a biochemical defect of complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain has been described in a relatively large group of confirmed PD cases. Recent cybrid studies indicate that the complex I defect in PD has a genetic cause and that it may arise from mutations in the mitochondrial DNA, Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial genome supports the view that mitochondrial point mutations are involved in PD pathogenesis. However, although mitochondria function as regulators in several known forms of cell death, their exact involvement in PD has remained unresolved. This is of relevance because classical apoptosis does not appear to play a major role in the degeneration of the parkinsonian nigra
Quantum Manipulations of Small Josephson Junctions
Low-capacitance Josephson junction arrays in the parameter range where single
charges can be controlled are suggested as possible physical realizations of
the elements which have been considered in the context of quantum computers. We
discuss single and multiple quantum bit systems. The systems are controlled by
applied gate voltages, which also allow the necessary manipulation of the
quantum states. We estimate that the phase coherence time is sufficiently long
for experimental demonstration of the principles of quantum computation.Comment: RevTex, 15 pages,4 postscript figures, uuencoded, submitted to Phys.
Rev. Lett., estimates of the experimental parameters correcte
Tunable coupling of superconducting qubits
We study an LC-circuit implemented using a current-biased Josephson junction
(CBJJ) as a tunable coupler for superconducting qubits. By modulating the bias
current, the junction can be tuned in and out of resonance and entangled with
the qubits coupled to it. One can thus implement two-qubit operations by
mediating entanglement. We consider the examples of CBJJ and charge--phase
qubits. A simple recoupling scheme leads to a generalization to arbitrary qubit
designs.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 3 figure
Linear scaling between momentum and spin scattering in graphene
Spin transport in graphene carries the potential of a long spin diffusion
length at room temperature. However, extrinsic relaxation processes limit the
current experimental values to 1-2 um. We present Hanle spin precession
measurements in gated lateral spin valve devices in the low to high (up to
10^13 cm^-2) carrier density range of graphene. A linear scaling between the
spin diffusion length and the diffusion coefficient is observed. We measure
nearly identical spin- and charge diffusion coefficients indicating that
electron-electron interactions are relatively weak and transport is limited by
impurity potential scattering. When extrapolated to the maximum carrier
mobilities of 2x10^5 cm^2/Vs, our results predict that a considerable increase
in the spin diffusion length should be possible
Hamiltonian and Linear-Space Structure for Damped Oscillators: I. General Theory
The phase space of damped linear oscillators is endowed with a bilinear
map under which the evolution operator is symmetric. This analog of
self-adjointness allows properties familiar from conservative systems to be
recovered, e.g., eigenvectors are "orthogonal" under the bilinear map and obey
sum rules, initial-value problems are readily solved and perturbation theory
applies to the_complex_ eigenvalues. These concepts are conveniently
represented in a biorthogonal basis.Comment: REVTeX4, 10pp., 1 PS figure. N.B.: `Alec' is my first name, `Maassen
van den Brink' my family name. v2: extensive streamlinin
Charge Transport Processes in a Superconducting Single-Electron Transistor Coupled to a Microstrip Transmission Line
We have investigated charge transport processes in a superconducting
single-electron transistor (S-SET) fabricated in close proximity to a
two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. The
macroscopic bonding pads of the S-SET along with the 2DEG form a microstrip
transmission line. We observe a variety of current-carrying cycles in the S-SET
which we attribute to simultaneous tunneling of Cooper pairs and emission of
photons into the microstrip. We find good agreement between these experimental
results and simulations including both photon emission and photon-assisted
tunneling due to the electromagnetic environment.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX
A Pathwise Ergodic Theorem for Quantum Trajectories
If the time evolution of an open quantum system approaches equilibrium in the
time mean, then on any single trajectory of any of its unravelings the time
averaged state approaches the same equilibrium state with probability 1. In the
case of multiple equilibrium states the quantum trajectory converges in the
mean to a random choice from these states.Comment: 8 page
Random matrix theory for CPA: Generalization of Wegner's --orbital model
We introduce a generalization of Wegner's -orbital model for the
description of randomly disordered systems by replacing his ensemble of
Gaussian random matrices by an ensemble of randomly rotated matrices. We
calculate the one- and two-particle Green's functions and the conductivity
exactly in the limit . Our solution solves the CPA-equation of the
-Anderson model for arbitrarily distributed disorder. We show how the
Lloyd model is included in our model.Comment: 3 pages, Rev-Te
Quantum limited sensitivity of SET-based displacement detectors
We consider a model of a quantum-mechanical resonator capacitively coupled to
a single electron transistor (SET). The tunnel current in the SET is modulated
by the vibrations of the resonator, and thus the system operates as a
displacement detector. We analyze the effect of the back-action noise of charge
fluctuations in the SET onto the dynamics of the resonator and evaluate the
displacement sensitivity of the system. The relation between the "classical"
and "quantum" parts of the SET charge noise and their effect on the measured
system are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps fig
Interfacial tension and nucleation in mixtures of colloids and long ideal polymer coils
Mixtures of ideal polymers with hard spheres whose diameters are smaller than
the radius of gyration of the polymer, exhibit extensive immiscibility. The
interfacial tension between demixed phases of these mixtures is estimated, as
is the barrier to nucleation. The barrier is found to scale linearly with the
radius of the polymer, causing it to become large for large polymers. Thus for
large polymers nucleation is suppressed and phase separation proceeds via
spinodal decomposition, as it does in polymer blends.Comment: 4 pages (v2 includes discussion of the scaling of the interfacial
tension along the coexistence curve and its relation to the Ginzburg
criterion
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