Classical dynamics of the optomechanical modes of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a ring cavity

We consider a cavity optomechanical system consisting of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) interacting with two counterpropagating traveling-wave modes in an optical ring cavity. In contrast to the more familiar case where the condensate is driven by the standing-wave field of a high-$Q$ Fabry-P{\'e}rot cavity we find that both symmetric and antisymmetric collective density side modes of the BEC are mechanically excited by the light field. In the semiclassical, mean-field limit where the light field and the zero-momentum mode of the condensate are treated classically the system is found to exhibit a rich multistable behavior, including the appearance of isolated branches of solutions (isolas). We also present examples of the dynamics of the system as input parameters such as the frequency of the driving lasers are varied

The Intensity Profile of the Solar Supergranulation

We have measured the average radial (cell center to network boundary) profile of the continuum intensity contrast associated with supergranular flows using data from the Precision Solar Photometric Telescope (PSPT) at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO). After removing the contribution of the network flux elements by the application of masks based on Ca II K intensity and averaging over more than 10^5 supergranular cells, we find a ~ 0.1% decrease in red and blue continuum intensity from the supergranular cell centers outward, corresponding to a ~ 1.0 K decrease in brightness temperature across the cells. The radial intensity profile may be caused either by the thermal signal associated with the supergranular flows or a variation in the packing density of unresolved magnetic flux elements. These are not unambiguously distinguished by the observations, and we raise the possibility that the network magnetic fields play an active role in supergranular scale selection by enhancing the radiative cooling of the deep photosphere at the cell boundaries.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Lower bound for the segregation energy in the Falicov-Kimball model

In this work, a lower bound for the ground state energy of the Falicov-Kimball model for intermediate densities is derived. The explicit derivation is important in the proof of the conjecture of segregation of the two kinds of fermions in the Falicov-Kimball model, for sufficiently large interactions. This bound is given by a bulk term, plus a term proportional to the boundary of the region devoid of classical particles. A detailed proof is presented for density n=1/2, where the coefficient 10^(-13) is obtained for the boundary term, in two dimensions. With suitable modifications the method can also be used to obtain a coefficient for all densities.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Hund's rule and metallic ferromagnetism

We study tight-binding models of itinerant electrons in two different bands, with effective on-site interactions expressing Coulomb repulsion and Hund's rule. We prove that, for sufficiently large on-site exchange anisotropy, all ground states show metallic ferromagnetism: They exhibit a macroscopic magnetization, a macroscopic fraction of the electrons is spatially delocalized, and there is no energy gap for kinetic excitations.Comment: 17 page

Radiative emission of solar features in the Ca II K line: comparison of measurements and models

We study the radiative emission of various types of solar features, such as quiet Sun, enhanced network, plage, and bright plage regions, identified on filtergrams taken in the Ca II K line. We analysed fulldisk images obtained with the PSPT, by using three interference filters that sample the Ca II K line with different bandpasses. We studied the dependence of the radiative emission of disk features on the filter bandpass. We also performed a NLTE spectral synthesis of the Ca II K line integrated over the bandpass of PSPT filters. The synthesis was carried out by utilizing both the PRD and CRD with the most recent set of semi empirical atmosphere models in the literature and some earlier atmosphere models. We measured the CLV of intensity values for various solar features identified on PSPT images and compared the results obtained with those derived from the synthesis. We find that CRD calculations derived using the most recent quiet Sun model, on average, reproduce the measured values of the quiet Sun regions slightly more accurately than PRD computations with the same model. This may reflect that the utilized atmospheric model was computed assuming CRD. Calculations with PRD on earlier quiet Sun model atmospheres reproduce measured quantities with a similar accuracy as to that achieved here by applying CRD to the recent model. We also find that the median contrast values measured for most of the identified bright features, disk positions, and filter widths are, on average, a factor 1.9 lower than those derived from PRD simulations performed using the recent bright feature models. The discrepancy between measured and modeled values decreases by 12% after taking into account straylight effects on PSPT images. PRD computations on either the most recent or the earlier atmosphere models of bright features reproduce measurements from plage and bright plage regions with a similar accuracy.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figures, accepted by A&

FAS-dependent cell death in α-synuclein transgenic oligodendrocyte models of multiple system atrophy

Multiple system atrophy is a parkinsonian neurodegenerative disorder. It is cytopathologically characterized by accumulation of the protein p25α in cell bodies of oligodendrocytes followed by accumulation of aggregated α-synuclein in so-called glial cytoplasmic inclusions. p25α is a stimulator of α-synuclein aggregation, and coexpression of α-synuclein and p25α in the oligodendroglial OLN-t40-AS cell line causes α-synuclein aggregate-dependent toxicity. In this study, we investigated whether the FAS system is involved in α-synuclein aggregate dependent degeneration in oligodendrocytes and may play a role in multiple system atrophy. Using rat oligodendroglial OLN-t40-AS cells we demonstrate that the cytotoxicity caused by coexpressing α-synuclein and p25α relies on stimulation of the death domain receptor FAS and caspase-8 activation. Using primary oligodendrocytes derived from PLP-α-synuclein transgenic mice we demonstrate that they exist in a sensitized state expressing pro-apoptotic FAS receptor, which makes them sensitive to FAS ligand-mediated apoptosis. Immunoblot analysis shows an increase in FAS in brain extracts from multiple system atrophy cases. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated enhanced FAS expression in multiple system atrophy brains notably in oligodendrocytes harboring the earliest stages of glial cytoplasmic inclusion formation. Oligodendroglial FAS expression is an early hallmark of oligodendroglial pathology in multiple system atrophy that mechanistically may be coupled to α-synuclein dependent degeneration and thus represent a potential target for protective intervention

Interstellar MHD Turbulence and Star Formation

This chapter reviews the nature of turbulence in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) and its connections to the star formation (SF) process. The ISM is turbulent, magnetized, self-gravitating, and is subject to heating and cooling processes that control its thermodynamic behavior. The turbulence in the warm and hot ionized components of the ISM appears to be trans- or subsonic, and thus to behave nearly incompressibly. However, the neutral warm and cold components are highly compressible, as a consequence of both thermal instability in the atomic gas and of moderately-to-strongly supersonic motions in the roughly isothermal cold atomic and molecular components. Within this context, we discuss: i) the production and statistical distribution of turbulent density fluctuations in both isothermal and polytropic media; ii) the nature of the clumps produced by thermal instability, noting that, contrary to classical ideas, they in general accrete mass from their environment; iii) the density-magnetic field correlation (or lack thereof) in turbulent density fluctuations, as a consequence of the superposition of the different wave modes in the turbulent flow; iv) the evolution of the mass-to-magnetic flux ratio (MFR) in density fluctuations as they are built up by dynamic compressions; v) the formation of cold, dense clouds aided by thermal instability; vi) the expectation that star-forming molecular clouds are likely to be undergoing global gravitational contraction, rather than being near equilibrium, and vii) the regulation of the star formation rate (SFR) in such gravitationally contracting clouds by stellar feedback which, rather than keeping the clouds from collapsing, evaporates and diperses them while they collapse.Comment: 43 pages. Invited chapter for the book "Magnetic Fields in Diffuse Media", edited by Elisabete de Gouveia dal Pino and Alex Lazarian. Revised as per referee's recommendation