Band twisting and resilience to disorder in long-range topological superconductors

Planar topological superconductors with power-law-decaying pairing display different kinds of topological phase transitions where quasiparticles dubbed nonlocal-massive Dirac fermions emerge. These exotic particles form through long-range interactions between distant Majorana modes at the boundary of the system. We show how these propagating-massive Dirac fermions neither mix with bulk states nor Anderson-localize up to large amounts of static disorder despite being finite energy. Analyzing the density of states (DOS) and the band spectrum of the long-range topological superconductor, we identify the formation of an edge gap and a surprising double peak structure in the DOS which can be linked to a twisting of energy bands with nontrivial topology. Our findings are amenable to experimental verification in the near future using atom arrays on conventional superconductors, planar Josephson junctions on two-dimensional electron gases, and Floquet driving of topological superconductors.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Fate of the Quasi-condensed State for Bias-driven Hard-Core Bosons in one Dimension

Bosons in one dimension display a phenomenon called quasi-condensation, where correlations decay in a powerlaw fashion. We study the fate of quasi-condensation in the non-equilibrium steady-state of a chain of hard-core bosons coupled to macroscopic leads which are held at different chemical potentials. It is found that a finite bias destroys the quasi-condensed state and the critical scaling function of the quasi-condensed fraction, near the zero bias transition, is determined. Associated critical exponents are determined and numerically verified. Away from equilibrium, the system exhibits exponentially decaying correlations that are characterized by a bias-dependent correlation length that diverges in equilibrium. In addition, power-law corrections are found, which are characterized by an exponent that depends on the chain-leads coupling and is non-analytic at zero bias. This exactly-solvable nonequilibrium strongly-interacting system has the remarkable property that, the near-equilibrium state at infinitesimal bias, cannot be obtained within linear response. These results aid in unraveling the intricate properties spawned by strong interactions once liberated from equilibrium constraints.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

A global Carleman estimate in a transmission wave equation and application to a one-measurement inverse problem

We consider a transmission wave equation in two embedded domains in $R^2$, where the speed is $a1 > 0$ in the inner domain and $a2 > 0$ in the outer domain. We prove a global Carleman inequality for this problem under the hypothesis that the inner domain is strictly convex and $a1 > a2$ . As a consequence of this inequality, uniqueness and Lip- schitz stability are obtained for the inverse problem of retrieving a stationary potential for the wave equation with Dirichlet data and discontinuous principal coefficient from a single time-dependent Neumann boundary measurement

First Human Model of In Vitro Candida albicans Persistence within Granuloma for the Reliable Study of Host-Fungi Interactions

BACKGROUND: The balance between human innate immune system and Candida albicans virulence signaling mechanisms ultimately dictates the outcome of fungal invasiveness and its pathology. To better understand the pathophysiology and to identify fungal virulence-associated factors in the context of persistence in humans, complex models are indispensable. Although fungal virulence factors have been extensively studied in vitro and in vivo using different immune cell subsets and cell lines, it is unclear how C. albicans survives inside complex tissue granulomas. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: We developed an original model of in vitro human granuloma, reproducing the natural granulomatous response to C. albicans. Persistent granulomas were obtained when the ratio of phagocytes to fungi was high. This in vitro fungal granuloma mimics natural granulomas, with infected macrophages surrounded by helper and cytotoxic T lymphocytes. A small proportion of granulomas exhibited C. albicans hyphae. Histological and time-lapse analysis showed that C. albicans blastoconidia were located within the granulomas before hyphae formation. Using staining techniques, fungal load calculations, as well as confocal and scanning electron microscopy, we describe the kinetics of fungal granuloma formation. We provide the first direct evidence that C. albicans are not eliminated by immunocompetent cells inside in vitro human granulomas. In fact, after an initial candicidal period, the remaining yeast proliferate and persist under very complex immune responses. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Using an original in vitro model of human fungal granuloma, we herein present the evidence that C. albicans persist and grow into immunocompetent granulomatous structures. These results will guide us towards a better understanding of fungal invasiveness and, henceforth, will also help in the development of better strategies for its control in human physiological conditions