57 research outputs found
Role of domain walls in the abnormal photovoltaic effect in BiFeO3
Recently, the anomalous photovoltaic (PV) effect in BiFeO3 (BFO) thin
films, which resulted in open circuit voltages (V-oc) considerably
larger than the band gap of the material, has generated a revival of the
entire field of photoferroelectrics. Here, via temperature-dependent PV
studies, we prove that the bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect, which has
been studied in the past for many non-centrosymmetric materials, is at
the origin of the anomalous PV effect in BFO films. Moreover, we show
that irrespective of the measurement geometry, V-oc as high as 50V can
be achieved by controlling the conductivity of domain walls (DW). We
also show that photoconductivity of the DW is markedly higher than in
the bulk of BFO
Analytic results for Gaussian wave packets in four model systems: II. Autocorrelation functions
The autocorrelation function, A(t), measures the overlap (in Hilbert space)
of a time-dependent quantum mechanical wave function, psi(x,t), with its
initial value, psi(x,0). It finds extensive use in the theoretical analysis and
experimental measurement of such phenomena as quantum wave packet revivals. We
evaluate explicit expressions for the autocorrelation function for
time-dependent Gaussian solutions of the Schrodinger equation corresponding to
the cases of a free particle, a particle undergoing uniform acceleration, a
particle in a harmonic oscillator potential, and a system corresponding to an
unstable equilibrium (the so-called `inverted' oscillator.) We emphasize the
importance of momentum-space methods where such calculations are often more
straightforwardly realized, as well as stressing their role in providing
complementary information to results obtained using position-space
wavefunctions.Comment: 18 pages, RevTeX, to appear in Found. Phys. Lett, Vol. 17, Dec. 200
Energy-Sensitive and "Classical-like" Distances Between Quantum States
We introduce the concept of the ``polarized'' distance, which distinguishes
the orthogonal states with different energies. We also give new inequalities
for the known Hilbert-Schmidt distance between neighbouring states and express
this distance in terms of the quasiprobability distributions and the normally
ordered moments. Besides, we discuss the distance problem in the framework of
the recently proposed ``classical-like'' formulation of quantum mechanics,
based on the symplectic tomography scheme. The examples of the Fock, coherent,
``Schroedinger cats,'' squeezed, phase, and thermal states are considered.Comment: 23 pages, LaTex, 2 eps figures, to appear in Physica Script
A Profile Likelihood Analysis of the Constrained MSSM with Genetic Algorithms
The Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) is one of the
simplest and most widely-studied supersymmetric extensions to the standard
model of particle physics. Nevertheless, current data do not sufficiently
constrain the model parameters in a way completely independent of priors,
statistical measures and scanning techniques. We present a new technique for
scanning supersymmetric parameter spaces, optimised for frequentist profile
likelihood analyses and based on Genetic Algorithms. We apply this technique to
the CMSSM, taking into account existing collider and cosmological data in our
global fit. We compare our method to the MultiNest algorithm, an efficient
Bayesian technique, paying particular attention to the best-fit points and
implications for particle masses at the LHC and dark matter searches. Our
global best-fit point lies in the focus point region. We find many
high-likelihood points in both the stau co-annihilation and focus point
regions, including a previously neglected section of the co-annihilation region
at large m_0. We show that there are many high-likelihood points in the CMSSM
parameter space commonly missed by existing scanning techniques, especially at
high masses. This has a significant influence on the derived confidence regions
for parameters and observables, and can dramatically change the entire
statistical inference of such scans.Comment: 47 pages, 8 figures; Fig. 8, Table 7 and more discussions added to
Sec. 3.4.2 in response to referee's comments; accepted for publication in
JHE
Isothermal Microcalorimetry, a New Tool to Monitor Drug Action against Trypanosoma brucei and Plasmodium falciparum
Isothermal microcalorimetry is an established tool to measure heat flow of physical, chemical or biological processes. The metabolism of viable cells produces heat, and if sufficient cells are present, their heat production can be assessed by this method. In this study, we investigated the heat flow of two medically important protozoans, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Plasmodium falciparum. Heat flow signals obtained for these pathogens allowed us to monitor parasite growth on a real-time basis as the signals correlated with the number of viable cells. To showcase the potential of microcalorimetry for measuring drug action on pathogenic organisms, we tested the method with three antitrypanosomal drugs, melarsoprol, suramin and pentamidine and three antiplasmodial drugs, chloroquine, artemether and dihydroartemisinin, each at two concentrations on the respective parasite. With the real time measurement, inhibition was observed immediately by a reduced heat flow compared to that in untreated control samples. The onset of drug action, the degree of inhibition and the time to death of the parasite culture could conveniently be monitored over several days. Microcalorimetry is a valuable element to be added to the toolbox for drug discovery for protozoal diseases such as human African trypanosomiasis and malaria. The method could probably be adapted to other protozoan parasites, especially those growing extracellularly
Caffeine Reduces 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 2 Expression in Human Trophoblast Cells through the Adenosine A2B Receptor
Maternal caffeine consumption is associated with reduced fetal growth, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Since there is evidence that decreased placental 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2) is linked to fetal growth restriction, we hypothesized that caffeine may inhibit fetal growth partly through down regulating placental 11β-HSD2. As a first step in examining this hypothesis, we studied the effects of caffeine on placental 11β-HSD2 activity and expression using our established primary human trophoblast cells as an in vitro model system. Given that maternal serum concentrations of paraxanthine (the primary metabolite of caffeine) were greater in women who gave birth to small-for-gestational age infants than to appropriately grown infants, we also studied the effects of paraxanthine. Our main findings were: (1) both caffeine and paraxanthine decreased placental 11β-HSD2 activity, protein and mRNA in a concentration-dependent manner; (2) this inhibitory effect was mediated by the adenosine A2B receptor, since siRNA-mediated knockdown of this receptor prevented caffeine- and paraxanthine-induced inhibition of placental 11β-HSD2; and (3) forskolin (an activator of adenyl cyclase and a known stimulator of 11β-HSD2) abrogated the inhibitory effects of both caffeine and paraxanthine, which provides evidence for a functional link between exposure to caffeine and paraxanthine, decreased intracellular levels of cAMP and reduced placental 11β-HSD2. Taken together, these findings reveal that placental 11β-HSD2 is a novel molecular target through which caffeine may adversely affect fetal growth. They also uncover a previously unappreciated role for the adenosine A2B receptor signaling in regulating placental 11β-HSD2, and consequently fetal development
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Absence of day-night asymmetry of 862 keV Be-7 solar neutrino rate in Borexino and MSW oscillation parameters
We report on a search for the day-night asymmetry of the Be-7 solar neutrino
rate measured by Borexino at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS),
Italy. The measured value, Adn=0.001 +- 0.012 (stat) +- 0.007 (syst), shows the
absence of a significant asymmetry. This result alone rejects the so-called LOW
solution at more than 8.5 sigma. Combined with the other solar neutrino data,
it isolates the Large Mixing Angle (LMA) -- MSW solution at DeltaChi2 > 190
without relying on the assumption of CPT symmetry in the neutrino sector. We
also show that including the day-night asymmetry, data from Borexino alone
restricts the MSW neutrino oscillations to the LMA solution at 90% confidence
level.Comment: 5 figures, published on Phys. Lett
Photoproduction of J/psi and of high mass e+e- in ultra-peripheral Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
We present the first measurement of photoproduction of J/psi and of
two-photon production of high-mass e+e- pairs in electromagnetic (or
ultra-peripheral) nucleus-nucleus interactions, using Au+Au data at sqrt(s_NN)
= 200 GeV. The events are tagged with forward neutrons emitted following
Coulomb excitation of one or both Au^{star} nuclei. The event sample consists
of 28 events with m_{e+e-} > 2 GeV/c^2 with zero like-sign background. The
measured cross sections at midrapidity of d\sigma / dy (J/psi + Xn, y=0) = 76
+/- 33 (stat) +/- 11 (syst) micro b and d^2\sigma/dm dy (e^+e^- + Xn, y=0) = 86
+/- 23 (stat) +/- 16 (syst) micro b/(GeV/c^2) for m_{e+e-} \in [2.0,2.8]
GeV/c^2 are consistent with various theoretical predictions.Comment: 345 authors from 52 institutions, 20 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables.
Submitted to Physics Letters B. Plain text data tables for the points plotted
in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be)
publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives
We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe
Nonlocal photovoltaic response function for the interpretation of hologram writing in ferroelectric crystals
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