Chiral primary cubic interactions from pp-wave supergravity

We explicitly construct cubic interaction light-cone Hamiltonian for the chiral primary system involving the metric fields and the self-dual four-form fields in the IIB pp-wave supergravity. The background fields representing pp-waves exhibit SO(4)*SO(4)*Z_2 invariance. It turns out that the interaction Hamiltonian is precisely the same as that for the dilaton-axion system, except for the fact that the chiral primary system fields have the opposite parity to that of the dilaton-axion fields under the Z_2 transformation that exchanges two SO(4)'s.Comment: 14 pages, A few comments are adde

Gauge Symmetry Enhancement and Radiatively Induced Mass in the Large N Nonlinear Sigma Model

We consider a hybrid of nonlinear sigma models in which two complex projective spaces are coupled with each other under a duality. We study the large N effective action in 1+1 dimensions. We find that some of the dynamically generated gauge bosons acquire radiatively induced masses which, however, vanish along the self-dual points where the two couplings characterizing each complex projective space coincide. These points correspond to the target space of the Grassmann manifold along which the gauge symmetry is enhanced, and the theory favors the non-Abelian ultraviolet fixed point.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX, typos are corrected, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Duality and Enhanced Gauge Symmetry in 2+1 Dimensions

We investigate the enlarged CP(N) model in 2+1 dimensions. This is a hybrid of two CP(N) models coupled with each other in a dual symmetric fashion, and it exhibits the gauge symmetry enhancement and radiative induction of the finite off-diagonal gauge boson mass as in the 1+1 dimensional case. We solve the mass gap equations and study the fixed point structure in the large-N limit. We find an interacting ultraviolet fixed point which is in contrast with the 1+1 dimensional case. We also compute the large-N effective gauge action explicitly.Comment: 26 pags, latex, 5 .eps figures, typos corrected. To appear in J. Phys.

Gratings with an aperiodic basis: single-mode emission in multi-wavelength lasers

We propose a new class of gratings having multiple spatial frequencies. Their design relies on the use of small aperiodic grating sequences as unit cells whose repetition forms a superlattice. The superlattice provides well-defined Fourier components, while the choice of the unit cell structure enables the selection, modulation or suppression of certain Fourier components. Using these gratings to provide distributed feedback in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers, we demonstrate simultaneous lasing on multiple well-defined and isolated longitudinal modes, each one having a sidemode suppression ratio of about 20 dB.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (MURI 67N-1069926)Harvard University (Nanoscale Systems and Engineering Center)United States. Air Force (‘Deterministic Aperiodic Structures for Onchip Nanophotonic and Nanoplasmonic Device Applications’ under award no. FA9550-10-1- 0019)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF CAREER Award ECCS-0846651)Georgia Institute of Technology (Steve W. Chaddick Endowed Chair of OptoElectronics

Erratic Dislocations within Funnel Defects in AlN Templates for AlGaNEpitaxial Layer Growth

We report our transmission electron microscopy observations of erraticdislocation behavior within funnel-like defects in the top of AlN templates filled withAlGaN from an overlying epitaxial layer. This dislocation behavior is observed inmaterial where phase separation is also observed. Several bare AlN templates wereexamined to determine the formation mechanism of the funnels. Our results suggest that they are formed prior to epitaxial layer deposition due to the presence of impuritiesduring template re-growth. We discuss the erratic dislocation behavior in relation to thepresence of the phase-separated material and the possible effects of these defects on the optoelectronic properties

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels: smart state of-the-art platforms for cardiac tissue engineering

Biomedicine and tissue regeneration have made significant advancements recently, positively affecting the whole healthcare spectrum. This opened the way for them to develop their applications for revitalizing damaged tissues. Thus, their functionality will be restored. Cardiac tissue engineering (CTE) using curative procedures that combine biomolecules, biomimetic scaffolds, and cells plays a critical part in this path. Stimuli-responsive hydrogels (SRHs) are excellent three-dimensional (3D) biomaterials for tissue engineering (TE) and various biomedical applications. They can mimic the intrinsic tissues’ physicochemical, mechanical, and biological characteristics in a variety of ways. They also provide for 3D setup, adequate aqueous conditions, and the mechanical consistency required for cell development. Furthermore, they function as competent delivery platforms for various biomolecules. Many natural and synthetic polymers were used to fabricate these intelligent platforms with innovative enhanced features and specialized capabilities that are appropriate for CTE applications. In the present review, different strategies employed for CTE were outlined. The light was shed on the limitations of the use of conventional hydrogels in CTE. Moreover, diverse types of SRHs, their characteristics, assembly and exploitation for CTE were discussed. To summarize, recent development in the construction of SRHs increases their potential to operate as intelligent, sophisticated systems in the reconstruction of degenerated cardiac tissues

D-instanton derivation of multi-fermion F-terms in supersymmetric QCD

We investigate effects of field theory instantons by considering D-instantons in a suitable D3-brane background. In supersymmetric QCD with SU(N_c) gauge group with N_f=N_c flavors, the moduli space of vacua is deformed by instantons. This effect can be described by the chiral interactions which are called multi-fermion F-terms. We derive these chiral interaction terms as D-instanton effects in the presence of D3-branes. For SU(2), the obtained result agrees with the previous result worked out by Beasley and Witten [hep-th/0409149]. We also explicitly work out those for the case of the symplectic gauge group, and show that they describe the deformation of the moduli space.Comment: 25 page

Pharmacokinetics of quinacrine in the treatment of prion disease

BACKGROUND: Prion diseases are caused by the accumulation of an aberrantly folded isoform of the prion protein, designated PrP(Sc). In a cell-based assay, quinacrine inhibits the conversion of normal host prion protein (PrP(C)) to PrP(Sc )at a half-maximal concentration of 300 nM. While these data suggest that quinacrine may be beneficial in the treatment of prion disease, its penetration into brain tissue has not been extensively studied. If quinacrine penetrates brain tissue in concentrations exceeding that demonstrated for in vitro inhibition of PrP(Sc), it may be useful in the treatment of prion disease. METHODS: Oral quinacrine at doses of 37.5 mg/kg/D and 75 mg/kg/D was administered to mice for 4 consecutive weeks. Plasma and tissue (brain, liver, spleen) samples were taken over 8 weeks: 4 weeks with treatment, and 4 weeks after treatment ended. RESULTS: Quinacrine was demonstrated to penetrate rapidly into brain tissue, achieving concentrations up to 1500 ng/g, which is several-fold greater than that demonstrated to inhibit formation of PrP(Sc )in cell culture. Particularly extensive distribution was observed in spleen (maximum of 100 μg/g) and liver (maximum of 400 μg/g) tissue. CONCLUSIONS: The documented extensive brain tissue penetration is encouraging suggesting quinacrine might be useful in the treatment of prion disease. However, further clarification of the distribution of both intracellular and extracellular unbound quinacrine is needed. The relative importance of free quinacrine in these compartments upon the conversion of normal host prion protein (PrP(C)) to PrP(Sc )will be critical toward its potential benefit

Mid-circuit qubit measurement and rearrangement in a 171^{171}Yb atomic array

Measurement-based quantum error correction relies on the ability to determine the state of a subset of qubits (ancillae) within a processor without revealing or disturbing the state of the remaining qubits. Among neutral-atom based platforms, a scalable, high-fidelity approach to mid-circuit measurement that retains the ancilla qubits in a state suitable for future operations has not yet been demonstrated. In this work, we perform imaging using a narrow-linewidth transition in an array of tweezer-confined $^{171}$Yb atoms to demonstrate nondestructive state-selective and site-selective detection. By applying site-specific light shifts, selected atoms within the array can be hidden from imaging light, which allows a subset of qubits to be measured while causing only percent-level errors on the remaining qubits. As a proof-of-principle demonstration of conditional operations based on the results of the mid-circuit measurements, and of our ability to reuse ancilla qubits, we perform conditional refilling of ancilla sites to correct for occasional atom loss, while maintaining the coherence of data qubits. Looking towards true continuous operation, we demonstrate loading of a magneto-optical trap with a minimal degree of qubit decoherence.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure