A number-conserving linear response study of low-velocity ion stopping in a collisional magnetized classical plasma

The results of a theoretical investigation on the low-velocity stopping power of the ions moving in a magnetized collisional plasma are presented. The stopping power for an ion is calculated employing linear response theory using the dielectric function approach. The collisions, which leads to a damping of the excitations in the plasma, is taken into account through a number-conserving relaxation time approximation in the linear response function. In order to highlight the effects of collisions and magnetic field we present a comparison of our analytical and numerical results obtained for a nonzero damping or magnetic field with those for a vanishing damping or magnetic field. It is shown that the collisions remove the anomalous friction obtained previously [Nersisyan et al., Phys. Rev. E 61, 7022 (2000)] for the collisionless magnetized plasmas at low ion velocities. One of major objectives of this study is to compare and contrast our theoretical results with those obtained through a novel diffusion formulation based on Dufty-Berkovsky relation evaluated in magnetized one-component plasma models framed on target ions and electrons.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. E, 17 pages, 4 figure

Modeling the spectrum of V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's Object)

Theoretical spectral energy distributions were computed for a grid of hydrogen-deficient and carbon-rich model atmospheres of T(eff) in the range of 5000-6250 K and log g = 1.0 - 0.0 by the technique of opacity sampling, taking into account continuous, molecular band and atomic line absorption. These energy distributions were compared with the spectrum of V4334 Sgr (Sakurai's object) of April, 1997 in the wavelength interval 300-1000 nm. We show that (1) the shape of the theoretical spectra depends strongly on T(eff) but only very weakly on the hydrogen abundance; (2) the comparison of the observed and computed spectra permits to estimate T(eff) approximately 5500 K for V4334 Sgr in April, 1997, and its interstellar reddening (plus a possible circumstellar contribution) E(B-V) approximately 0.70.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, LaTeX, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Renormalized cluster expansion of the microfield distribution in a strongly coupled two-component plasmas

The electric microfield distribution (MFD) at an impurity ion is studied for two-component (TCP) electron-ion plasmas using molecular dynamics simulation and theoretical models. The particles are treated within classical statistical mechanics using an electron-ion Coulomb potential regularized at distances less than the de Broglie length to take into account quantum-diffraction effects. Corrections to the potential-of-mean-force exponential (PMFEX) approximation recently proposed for MFD in a strongly coupled TCP [Phys. Rev. E 72, 036403 (2005)] are obtained and discussed. This has been done by a generalization of the standard Baranger-Mozer and renormalized cluster expansion techniques originally developed for the one-component plasmas to the TCPs. The results obtained for a neutral point are compared with those from molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the corrections do not help to improve the PMFEX approximation for a TCP with low ionic charge Z. But starting with Z > 5 the PMFEX model is substantially improved and the agreement with numerical simulations is excellent. We have also found that with increasing coupling the PMFEX approximation becomes invalid to predict the MFD at a neutral point while its corrected version agrees satisfactory with the simulations.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review

An ultra-high gain and efficient amplifier based on Raman amplification in plasma

Raman amplification arising from the excitation of a density echelon in plasma could lead to amplifiers that significantly exceed current power limits of conventional laser media. Here we show that 1-100 J pump pulses can amplify picojoule seed pulses to nearly joule level. The extremely high gain also leads to significant amplification of backscattered radiation from "noise", arising from stochastic plasma fluctuations that competes with externally injected seed pulses, which are amplified to similar levels at the highest pump energies. The pump energy is scattered into the seed at an oblique angle with 14 J sr(-1), and net gains of more than eight orders of magnitude. The maximum gain coefficient, of 180 cm(-1), exceeds high-power solid-state amplifying media by orders of magnitude. The observation of a minimum of 640 J sr(-1) directly backscattered from noise, corresponding to approximate to 10% of the pump energy in the observation solid angle, implies potential overall efficiencies greater than 10%. © The Author(s) 20174

Phase transition in Random Circuit Sampling

Quantum computers hold the promise of executing tasks beyond the capability of classical computers. Noise competes with coherent evolution and destroys long-range correlations, making it an outstanding challenge to fully leverage the computation power of near-term quantum processors. We report Random Circuit Sampling (RCS) experiments where we identify distinct phases driven by the interplay between quantum dynamics and noise. Using cross-entropy benchmarking, we observe phase boundaries which can define the computational complexity of noisy quantum evolution. We conclude by presenting an RCS experiment with 70 qubits at 24 cycles. We estimate the computational cost against improved classical methods and demonstrate that our experiment is beyond the capabilities of existing classical supercomputers

WGS-based telomere length analysis in Dutch family trios implicates stronger maternal inheritance and a role for RRM1 gene

Telomere length (TL) regulation is an important factor in ageing, reproduction and cancer development. Genetic, hereditary and environmental factors regulating TL are currently widely investigated, however, their relative contribution to TL variability is still understudied. We have used whole genome sequencing data of 250 family trios from the Genome of the Netherlands project to perform computational measurement of TL and a series of regression and genome-wide association analyses to reveal TL inheritance patterns and associated genetic factors. Our results confirm that TL is a largely heritable trait, primarily with mother’s, and, to a lesser extent, with father’s TL having the strongest influence on the offspring. In this cohort, mother’s, but not father’s age at conception was positively linked to offspring TL. Age-related TL attrition of 40 bp/year had relatively small influence on TL variability. Finally, we have identified TL-associated variations in ribonuclease reductase catalytic subunit M1 (RRM1 gene), which is known to regulate telomere maintenance in yeast. We also highlight the importance of multivariate approach and the limitations of existing tools for the analysis of TL as a polygenic heritable quantitative trait