Splitting of Surface Plasmon Frequencies of Metal Particles in a Nematic Liquid Crystal

We calculate the effective dielectric function for a suspension of small metallic particles immersed in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) host. For a random suspension of such particles in the dilute limit, we calculate the effective dielectric tensor exactly and show that the surface plasmon (SP)resonance of such particles splits into two resonances, polarized parallel and perpendicular to the NLC director. At higher concentrations, we calculate this splitting using a generalized Maxwell-Garnett approximation, which can also be applied to a small metal particle coated with NLC. To confirm the accuracy of the MGA for NLC-coated spheres, we also use the Discrete Dipole Approximation. The calculated splitting is comparable to that observed in recent experiments on NLC-coated small metal particlesComment: 11 pages, 2 figures. To be published in Appl. Phys. Let

Influence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions on magnetic structure of a spin-1/2 deformed kagome lattice antiferromagnet

Motivated by the recent neutron scattering experiment on Rb2Cu3SnF12 [Nat. Phys. 6, 865 (2010)], we investigate the effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in a theoretical model for the magnetic structure of this material. Considering the valence bond solid ground state, which has a 12-site unit cell, we develop the bond operator mean-field theory. It is shown that the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions significantly modify the triplon dispersions around the Gamma point and cause a shift of the spin gap (the minimum triplon gap) position from the K to Gamma point in the first Brilloin zone. The spin gap is also evaluated in exact diagonalization studies on a 24-site cluster. We discuss a magnetic transition induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in the bond operator framework. Moreover, the magnetization process under external magnetic fields is studied within the exact diagonalization and strong coupling expansion approaches. We find that the results of all above approaches are consistent with the experimental findings.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures; typos corrected, and acknowledgements and references adde

Complete BFT Embedding of Massive Theory with One- and Two-form Gauge Fields

We study the constraint structure of the topologically massive theory with one- and two-form fields in the framework of Batalin-Fradkin-Tyutin embedding procedure. Through this analysis we obtain a new type of Wess-Jumino action with novel symmetry, which is originated from the topological coupling term, as well as the St\"uckelberg action related to the explicit gauge breaking mass terms from the original theory.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, references adde

Surface-Enhanced Plasmon Splitting in a Liquid-Crystal-Coated Gold Nanoparticle

We show that, when a gold nanoparticle is coated by a thin layer of nematic liquid crystal, the deformation produced by the nanoparticle surface can enhance the splitting of the nanoparticle surface plasmon. We consider three plausible liquid crystal director configurations in zero electric field: boojum pair (north-south pole configuration), baseball (tetrahedral), and homogeneous. From a calculation using the Discrete Dipole Approximation, we find that the surface plasmon splitting is largest for the boojum pair, intermediate for the homogeneous, and smallest for the baseball configuration. The boojum pair results are in good agreement with experiment. We conclude that the nanoparticle surface has a strong effect on the director orientation, but, surprisingly, that this deformation can actually enhance the surface plasmon splitting.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures To be published in PR

Interactomic analysis of REST/NRSF and implications of its functional links with the transcription suppressor TRIM28 during neuronal differentiation

RE-1 silencing transcription factor (REST) is a transcriptional repressor that regulates gene expression by binding to repressor element 1. However, despite its critical function in physiology, little is known about its interaction proteins. Here we identified 204 REST-interacting proteins using affinity purification and mass spectrometry. The interactome included proteins associated with mRNA processing/splicing, chromatin organization, and transcription. The interactions of these REST-interacting proteins, which included TRIM28, were confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation and immunocytochemistry, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that neuronal differentiation-related GO terms were enriched among target genes that were co-regulated by REST and TRIM28, while the level of CTNND2 was increased by the knockdown of REST and TRIM28. Consistently, the level of CTNND2 increased while those of REST and TRIM28 decreased during neuronal differentiation in the primary neurons, suggesting that CTNND2 expression may be coregulated by both. Furthermore, neurite outgrowth was increased by depletion of REST or TRIM28, implying that reduction of both REST and TRIM28 could promote neuronal differentiation via induction of CTNND2 expression. In conclusion, our study of REST reveals novel interacting proteins which could be a valuable resource for investigating unidentified functions of REST and also suggested functional links between REST and TRIM28 during neuronal development.1121Ysciescopu

Molecular transistor coupled to phonons and Luttinger-liquid leads

We study the effects of electron-phonon interactions on the transport properties of a molecular quantum dot coupled to two Luttinger-liquid leads. In particular, we investigate the effects on the steady state current and DC noise characteristics. We consider both equilibrated and unequilibrated on-dot phonons. The density matrix formalism is applied in the high temperature approximation and the resulting semi-classical rate equation is numerically solved for various strengths of electron-electron interactions in the leads and electron-phonon coupling. The current and the noise are in general smeared out and suppressed due to intralead electron interaction. On the other hand, the Fano factor, which measures the noise normalized by the current, is more enhanced as the intralead interaction becomes stronger. As the electron-phonon coupling becomes greater than order one, the Fano factor exhibits super-Poissonian behaviour.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure

BRST Quantization of the Proca Model based on the BFT and the BFV Formalism

The BRST quantization of the Abelian Proca model is performed using the Batalin-Fradkin-Tyutin and the Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky formalism. First, the BFT Hamiltonian method is applied in order to systematically convert a second class constraint system of the model into an effectively first class one by introducing new fields. In finding the involutive Hamiltonian we adopt a new approach which is more simpler than the usual one. We also show that in our model the Dirac brackets of the phase space variables in the original second class constraint system are exactly the same as the Poisson brackets of the corresponding modified fields in the extended phase space due to the linear character of the constraints comparing the Dirac or Faddeev-Jackiw formalisms. Then, according to the BFV formalism we obtain that the desired resulting Lagrangian preserving BRST symmetry in the standard local gauge fixing procedure naturally includes the St\"uckelberg scalar related to the explicit gauge symmetry breaking effect due to the presence of the mass term. We also analyze the nonstandard nonlocal gauge fixing procedure.Comment: 29 pages, plain Latex, To be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Thermodynamics and evaporation of the noncommutative black hole

We investigate the thermodynamics of the noncommutative black hole whose static picture is similar to that of the nonsingular black hole known as the de Sitter-Schwarzschild black hole. It turns out that the final remnant of extremal black hole is a thermodynamically stable object. We describe the evaporation process of this black hole by using the noncommutativity-corrected Vaidya metric. It is found that there exists a close relationship between thermodynamic approach and evaporation process.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, added references, to appear in JHE

The Construct and Predictive Validity of Psychosocial Correlates of Television Viewing

Background: Many studies have examined the consequences of prolonged television viewing, but few studies have examined the psychological states that contribute to this behavior. In this study, we evaluated the construct and predictive validity of psychosocial correlates of television viewing in a population of African American (AA) breast cancer survivors (BCS). Methods: AA BCS (N = 342, Mean age = 54 years) completed measures of decisional balance, self-efficacy, family support, and time spent watching television online. Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) was used to examine the construct and predictive validity as well as the differential item functioning of the instruments among population subgroups. Results: The construct validity of the measures was supported among subgroups. The scales were measuring the construct similarly among the education and body size groups, but not among age groups. Subsequent analysis indicated that pros (β = -0.19, P \u3c 0.05), cons (β = 0.18, P \u3c 0.05), and self-efficacy (β = -0.16, P \u3c 0.05) were significantly associated with time spent watching television. Conclusions: Minor modifications may be needed to support the validity and reliability of the decisional balance and self-efficacy subscales among older survivors. More studies are needed to modify these measures to establish sufficient levels of construct and predictive validity in this population

Weak Localization Effect in Superconductors by Radiation Damage

Large reductions of the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ and the accompanying loss of the thermal electrical resistivity (electron-phonon interaction) due to radiation damage have been observed for several A15 compounds, Chevrel phase and Ternary superconductors, and $\rm{NbSe_{2}}$ in the high fluence regime. We examine these behaviors based on the recent theory of weak localization effect in superconductors. We find a good fitting to the experimental data. In particular, weak localization correction to the phonon-mediated interaction is derived from the density correlation function. It is shown that weak localization has a strong influence on both the phonon-mediated interaction and the electron-phonon interaction, which leads to the universal correlation of $T_{c}$ and resistance ratio.Comment: 16 pages plus 3 figures, revtex, 76 references, For more information, Plesse see http://www.fen.bilkent.edu.tr/~yjki