4,373 research outputs found
Might EPR particles communicate through a wormhole?
We consider the two-particle wave function of an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen
system, given by a two dimensional relativistic scalar field model. The Bohm-de
Broglie interpretation is applied and the quantum potential is viewed as
modifying the Minkowski geometry. In this way an effective metric, which is
analogous to a black hole metric in some limited region, is obtained in one
case and a particular metric with singularities appears in the other case,
opening the possibility, following Holland, of interpreting the EPR
correlations as being originated by an effective wormhole geometry, through
which the physical signals can propagate.Comment: Corrected version, to appears in EP
Microwave-induced excess quasiparticles in superconducting resonators measured through correlated conductivity fluctuations
We have measured the number of quasiparticles and their lifetime in aluminium
superconducting microwave resonators. The number of excess quasiparticles below
160 mK decreases from 72 to 17 m with a 6 dB decrease of the
microwave power. The quasiparticle lifetime increases accordingly from 1.4 to
3.5 ms. These properties of the superconductor were measured through the
spectrum of correlated fluctuations in the quasiparticle system and condensate
of the superconductor, which show up in the resonator amplitude and phase
respectively. Because uncorrelated noise sources vanish, fluctuations in the
superconductor can be studied with a sensitivity close to the vacuum noise
Sulfoxide Synthase versus Cysteine Dioxygenase Reactivity in a Nonheme Iron Enzyme
The sulfoxide synthase EgtB represents a unique family of nonheme iron enzymes that catalyze the formation of a C-S bond between N-α-trimethyl histidine and γ-glutamyl cysteine, which is the key step in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine, an important amino acid related to aging. A controversy has arisen regarding its catalytic mechanism related to the function of the active-site Tyr377 residue. The biosynthesis of ergothioneine in EgtB shows structural similarities to cysteine dioxygenase which transfers two oxygen atoms to the thiolate group of cysteine. The question, therefore, is how do EgtB enzymes catalyze the C-S bond-formation reaction, while also preventing a dioxygenation of its cysteinate substrate? In this work we present a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics study into the mechanism of sulfoxide synthase enzymes as compared to cysteine dioxygenase enzymes and present pathways for both reaction channels in EgtB. We show that EgtB contains a conserved tyrosine residue that reacts via proton-coupled electron transfer with the iron(III)-superoxo species and creates an iron(III)-hydroperoxo intermediate, thereby preventing the possible thiolate dioxygenation side reaction. The nucleophilic C-S bond-formation step happens subsequently concomitant to relay of the proton of the iron(II)-hydroperoxo back to Tyr377. This is the rate-determining step in the reaction cycle and is followed by hydrogen-atom transfer from the CE1-H group of trimethyl histidine substrate to iron(II)-superoxo. In the final step, a quick and almost barrierless sulfoxidation leads to the sulfoxide product complexes. The work highlights a unique machinery and active-site setup of the enzyme that drives the sulfoxide synthase reaction
Short communications: Bat-hunting behaviour of the Dark Chanting Goshawk Melierax metabates
No abstrac
Number fluctuations of sparse quasiparticles in a superconductor
We have directly measured quasiparticle number fluctuations in a thin film
superconducting Al resonator in thermal equilibrium. The spectrum of these
fluctuations provides a measure of both the density and the lifetime of the
quasiparticles. We observe that the quasiparticle density decreases
exponentially with decreasing temperature, as theoretically predicted, but
saturates below 160 mK to 25-55 per cubic micron. We show that this saturation
is consistent with the measured saturation in the quasiparticle lifetime, which
also explains similar observations in qubit decoherence times
Modified Chaplygin Traversable Wormholes
The modified Chaplygin gas (MCG) is a strong candidate for the unified model
of dark matter and dark energy. The equation of state of this modified model is
valid from the radiation era to the CDM model. In early epoch (when
was large), dark matter had the dominant role while at later stages
(when is small), the MCG model behaves as dark energy. In this work, we
have found exact solution of static spherically symmetric Einstein equations
describing a wormhole for an inhomogeneous distribution of modified Chaplygin
gas. For existence of wormhole solution, there are some restrictions relating
the parameters in the equation of state for MCG and the throat radius of the
wormhole. Physical properties and characteristics of these modified Chaplygin
wormholes are analyzed in details.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
Cosmological scaling solutions of minimally coupled scalar fields in three dimensions
We examine Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models in three spacetime dimensions.
The matter content of the models is composed of a perfect fluid, with a
-law equation of state, and a homogeneous scalar field minimally
coupled to gravity with a self-interacting potential whose energy density
red-shifts as , where a denotes the scale factor. Cosmological
solutions are presented for different range of values of and .
The potential required to agree with the above red-shift for the scalar field
energy density is also calculated.Comment: LaTeX2e, 11 pages, 4 figures. To be published in Classical and
Quantum Gravit
Anomalous response of superconducting titanium nitride resonators to terahertz radiation
We present an experimental study of KIDs fabricated of atomic layer deposited
TiN films, and characterized at radiation frequencies of ~GHz. The
responsivity to radiation is measured and found to increase with increasing
radiation powers, opposite to what is expected from theory and observed for
hybrid niobium titanium nitride / aluminium (NbTiN/Al) and all-aluminium
(all-Al) KIDs. The noise is found to be independent of the level of the
radiation power. The noise equivalent power (NEP) improves with higher
radiation powers, also opposite to what is observed and well understood for
hybrid NbTiN/Al and all-Al KIDs. We suggest that an inhomogeneous state of
these disordered superconductors should be used to explain these observations
Rotating traversable wormholes
The general form of a stationary, axially symmetric traversable wormhole is
discussed. This provides an explicit class of rotating wormholes that
generalize the static, spherically symmetric ones first considered by Morris
and Thorne. In agreement with general analyses, it is verified that such a
wormhole generically violates the null energy condition at the throat. However,
for suitable model wormholes, there can be classes of geodesics falling through
it which do not encounter any energy-condition-violating matter. The possible
presence of an ergoregion surrounding the throat is also noted.Comment: 15 pages, harvmac; 1 figure in PicTeX; minor changes; to appear in
Phys. Rev.
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