Dynamics of the Compact, Ferromagnetic \nu=1 Edge

We consider the edge dynamics of a compact, fully spin polarized state at filling factor $\nu=1$. We show that there are two sets of collective excitations localized near the edge: the much studied, gapless, edge magnetoplasmon but also an additional edge spin wave that splits off below the bulk spin wave continuum. We show that both of these excitations can soften at finite wave-vectors as the potential confining the system is softened, thereby leading to edge reconstruction by spin texture or charge density wave formation. We note that a commonly employed model of the edge confining potential is non-generic in that it systematically underestimates the texturing instability.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, Revte

Short-range correlations and meson exchange currents in photonucleon emission

One-nucleon emission processes induced by photon absorption are studied by considering short-range correlations effects. At energies above the giant resonance region the validity of the direct knock-out model has been tested by comparison with continuum Random Phase Approximation results. Nucleon re-scattering effects have been considered by using an optical potential. The role of the electromagnetic convection, magnetization and meson exchange currents has been investigated as a function of both excitation energy and momentum transfer. The short-range correlation effects have been studied by using various correlation functions. We found that the nucleon photo-emission cross section is rather sensitive to the presence of short-range correlations at large values of nucleon emission angle. In this region, however, the effects of meson exchange currents are even larger than those produced by short-range correlations.Comment: 37 pages, 20 figures in postscript, Text in LaTe

Pre-M Phase-promoting Factor Associates with Annulate Lamellae in Xenopus Oocytes and Egg Extracts

We have used complementary biochemical and in vivo approaches to study the compartmentalization of M phase-promoting factor (MPF) in prophase Xenopus eggs and oocytes. We first examined the distribution of MPF (Cdc2/CyclinB2) and membranous organelles in high-speed extracts of Xenopus eggs made during mitotic prophase. These extracts were found to lack mitochondria, Golgi membranes, and most endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but to contain the bulk of the pre-MPF pool. This pre-MPF could be pelleted by further centrifugation along with components necessary to activate it. On activation, Cdc2/CyclinB2 moved into the soluble fraction. Electron microscopy and Western blot analysis showed that the pre-MPF pellet contained a specific ER subdomain comprising "annulate lamellae" (AL): stacked ER membranes highly enriched in nuclear pores. Colocalization of pre-MPF with AL was demonstrated by anti-CyclinB2 immunofluorescence in prophase oocytes, in which AL are positioned close to the vegetal surface. Green fluorescent protein-CyclinB2 expressed in oocytes also localized at AL. These data suggest that inactive MPF associates with nuclear envelope components just before activation. This association may explain why nuclei and centrosomes stimulate MPF activation and provide a mechanism for targeting of MPF to some of its key substrates

Quantum Vacuum Experiments Using High Intensity Lasers

The quantum vacuum constitutes a fascinating medium of study, in particular since near-future laser facilities will be able to probe the nonlinear nature of this vacuum. There has been a large number of proposed tests of the low-energy, high intensity regime of quantum electrodynamics (QED) where the nonlinear aspects of the electromagnetic vacuum comes into play, and we will here give a short description of some of these. Such studies can shed light, not only on the validity of QED, but also on certain aspects of nonperturbative effects, and thus also give insights for quantum field theories in general.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figur

Carrier relaxation, pseudogap, and superconducting gap in high-Tc cuprates: A Raman scattering study

We describe results of electronic Raman-scattering experiments in differently doped single crystals of Y-123 and Bi-2212. The comparison of AF insulating and metallic samples suggests that at least the low-energy part of the spectra originates predominantly from excitations of free carriers. We therefore propose an analysis of the data in terms of a memory function approach. Dynamical scattering rates and mass-enhancement factors for the carriers are obtained. In B2g symmetry the Raman data compare well to the results obtained from ordinary and optical transport. For underdoped materials the dc scattering rates in B1g symmetry become temperature independent and considerably larger than in B2g symmetry. This increasing anisotropy is accompanied by a loss of spectral weight in B2g symmetry in the range between the superconducting transition at Tc and a characteristic temperature T* of order room temperature which compares well with the pseudogap temperature found in other experiments. The energy range affected by the pseudogap is doping and temperature independent. The integrated spectral loss is approximately 25% in underdoped samples and becomes much weaker towards higher carrier concentration. In underdoped samples, superconductivity related features in the spectra can be observed only in B2g symmetry. The peak frequencies scale with Tc. We do not find a direct relation between the pseudogap and the superconducting gap.Comment: RevTeX, 21 pages, 24 gif figures. For PostScript with embedded eps figures, see http://www.wmi.badw-muenchen.de/~opel/k2.htm