5,340 research outputs found
A Multi-path Interferometer with Ultracold Atoms Trapped in an Optical Lattice
We study an ultra-cold gas of bosons trapped in a one dimensional
-site optical lattice perturbed by a spatially dependent potential , where the unknown coupling strength is to be estimated. We find that
the measurement uncertainty is bounded by .
For a typical case of a linear potential, the sensitivity improves as ,
which is a result of multiple interferences between the sites -- an advantage
of multi-path interferometers over the two-mode setups. Next, we calculate the
estimation sensitivity for a specific measurement where, after the action of
the potential, the particles are released from the lattice and form an
interference pattern. If the parameter is estimated by a least-square fit of
the average density to the interference pattern, the sensitivity still scales
like for linear potentials and can be further improved by preparing a
properly correlated initial state in the lattice.Comment: 11 pages, 3 fugire
Discrete Breathers in a Realistic Coarse-Grained Model of Proteins
We report the results of molecular dynamics simulations of an off-lattice
protein model featuring a physical force-field and amino-acid sequence. We show
that localized modes of nonlinear origin (discrete breathers) emerge naturally
as continuations of a subset of high-frequency normal modes residing at
specific sites dictated by the native fold. In the case of the small
-barrel structure that we consider, localization occurs on the turns
connecting the strands. At high energies, discrete breathers stabilize the
structure by concentrating energy on few sites, while their collapse marks the
onset of large-amplitude fluctuations of the protein. Furthermore, we show how
breathers develop as energy-accumulating centres following perturbations even
at distant locations, thus mediating efficient and irreversible energy
transfers. Remarkably, due to the presence of angular potentials, the breather
induces a local static distortion of the native fold. Altogether, the
combination of this two nonlinear effects may provide a ready means for
remotely controlling local conformational changes in proteins.Comment: Submitted to Physical Biolog
Behaviour of traditional Portuguese timber roof structures
The aim of this paper is to present the results of a structural analysis of common trusses traditionally used in roof construction in Portugal. The study includes the results of a preliminary survey intending to assess the geometry, materials and on site pathologies, as well as a twodimensional linear elastic static and dynamic analysis. The trusses behaviour under symmetric and non-symmetric loads, the king post/tie-beam connection, the stiffness of the joints and the incorrect positioning of the purlins, were some of the structural aspects that have been investigated
Experimental analysis of original and strengthened traditional timber connections
Tests on full-scale unstrengthened connections were performed under monotonic and cyclic loading. Attention has been principally focused on the birdsmouth joint, because of its common use in practice. Different strengthening solutions with metal elements have been evaluated
Modelling of timber joints in traditional structures
Original unstrengthened timber connections and the effects of different strengthening techniques
have been evaluated experimentally with tests on full-scale birdsmouth joints. Experimental results
show that structural response of traditional timber connections under cyclic loading cannot be
represented by common constraint models, like perfect hinges or rigid joints, but should be using
semi-rigid and friction based models. A research program has investigated the behaviour of old
timber joints and examined strengthening criteria. The main parameters affecting the mechanical
behaviour of the connection have been singled out. A synthetic model of cyclic behaviour has been
adapted on the basis of experimental results
The IR-Completion of Gravity: What happens at Hubble Scales?
We have recently proposed an "Ultra-Strong" version of the Equivalence
Principle (EP) that is not satisfied by standard semiclassical gravity. In the
theory that we are conjecturing, the vacuum expectation value of the (bare)
energy momentum tensor is exactly the same as in flat space: quartically
divergent with the cut-off and with no spacetime dependent (subleading) ter ms.
The presence of such terms seems in fact related to some known difficulties,
such as the black hole information loss and the cosmological constant problem.
Since the terms that we want to get rid of are subleading in the high-momentum
expansion, we attempt to explore the conjectured theory by "IR-completing" GR.
We consider a scalar field in a flat FRW Universe and isolate the first
IR-correction to its Fourier modes operators that kills the quadratic (next to
leading) time dependent divergence of the stress energy tensor VEV. Analogously
to other modifications of field operators that have been proposed in the
literature (typically in the UV), the present approach seems to suggest a
breakdown (here, in the IR, at large distances) of the metric manifold
description. We show that corrections to GR are in fact very tiny, become
effective at distances comparable to the inverse curvature and do not contain
any adjustable parameter. Finally, we derive some cosmological implications. By
studying the consistency of the canonical commutation relations, we infer a
correction to the distance between two comoving observers, which grows as the
scale factor only when small compared to the Hubble length, but gets relevant
corrections otherwise. The corrections to cosmological distance measures are
also calculable and, for a spatially flat matter dominated Universe, go in the
direction of an effective positive acceleration.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figures. Final version, references adde
Enhancing interferometric sensitivity by non-classical light from quantum non-demolition measurements in cavity QED
We propose an enhanced optical interferometer based on tailored non-classical
light generated by nonlinear dynamics and projective measurements in a
three-level atom cavity QED system. A coherent state in the cavity becomes
dynamically entangled with two ground states of the atom and is transformed to
a macroscopic superposition state via a projective measurement on the atom. We
show that the resulting highly non-classical state can improve interferometric
precision measurements well beyond the shot-noise limit once combined with a
classical laser pulse at the input of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. For a
practical implementation, we identify an efficient phase shift estimation
scheme based on the counting of photons at the interferometer output. Photon
losses and photon-counting errors deteriorate the interferometer sensitivity,
but we demonstrate that it still can be significantly better than the
shot-noise limit under realistic conditions.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure
Energy transfer in nonlinear network models of proteins
We investigate how nonlinearity and topological disorder affect the energy
relaxation of local kicks in coarse-grained network models of proteins. We find
that nonlinearity promotes long-range, coherent transfer of substantial energy
to specific, functional sites, while depressing transfer to generic locations.
Remarkably, transfer can be mediated by the self-localization of discrete
breathers at distant locations from the kick, acting as efficient
energy-accumulating centers.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
New insight into cataract formation -- enhanced stability through mutual attraction
Small-angle neutron scattering experiments and molecular dynamics simulations
combined with an application of concepts from soft matter physics to complex
protein mixtures provide new insight into the stability of eye lens protein
mixtures. Exploring this colloid-protein analogy we demonstrate that weak
attractions between unlike proteins help to maintain lens transparency in an
extremely sensitive and non-monotonic manner. These results not only represent
an important step towards a better understanding of protein condensation
diseases such as cataract formation, but provide general guidelines for tuning
the stability of colloid mixtures, a topic relevant for soft matter physics and
industrial applications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication on Phys. Rev. Let
Exploring gravitational theories beyond Horndeski
We have recently proposed a new class of gravitational scalar-tensor theories
free from Ostrogradski instabilities, in arXiv:1404.6495. As they generalize
Horndeski theories, or "generalized" galileons, we call them G. These
theories possess a simple formulation when the time hypersurfaces are chosen to
coincide with the uniform scalar field hypersurfaces. We confirm that they
contain only three propagating degrees of freedom by presenting the details of
the Hamiltonian formulation. We examine the coupling between these theories and
matter. Moreover, we investigate how they transform under a disformal
redefinition of the metric. Remarkably, these theories are preserved by
disformal transformations that depend on the scalar field gradient, which also
allow to map subfamilies of G into Horndeski theories.Comment: 33 pages, added comments and corrected typos as in JCAP versio
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