772 research outputs found
Dynamics of Inner Galactic Disks: The Striking Case of M100
We investigate gas dynamics in the presence of a double inner Lindblad
resonance within a barred disk galaxy. Using an example of a prominent spiral,
M100, we reproduce the basic central morphology, including four dominant
regions of star formation corresponding to the compression maxima in the gas.
These active star forming sites delineate an inner boundary (so-called nuclear
ring) of a rather broad oval detected in the near infrared. We find that
inclusion of self-gravitational effects in the gas is necessary in order to
understand its behavior in the vicinity of the resonances and its subsequent
evolution. The self-gravity of the gas is also crucial to estimate the effect
of a massive nuclear ring on periodic orbits in the stellar bar.Comment: 11 pages, postscript, compressed, uuencoded. Paper and 4 figures
available at ftp://pa.uky.edu/shlosman/nobel or at
http://www.pa.uky.edu/~shlosman/ . Invited talk at the Centennial Nobel
Symposium on "Barred Galaxies and Circumnuclear Activity," A.Sandquist et al.
(Eds.), Springer-Verlag, in pres
DBD plasma microbubble reactor for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass [poster]
DBD plasma microbubble reactor for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass [poster
Patterns of Interactions in Complex Social Networks Based on Coloured Motifs Analysis
Coloured network motifs are small subgraphs that enable to discover and interpret the patterns of interaction within the complex networks. The analysis of three-nodes motifs where the colour of the node reflects its high – white node or low – black node centrality in the social network is presented in the paper. The importance of the vertices is assessed by utilizing two measures: degree prestige and degree centrality. The distribution of motifs in these two cases is compared to mine the interconnection patterns between nodes. The analysis is performed on the social network derived from email communication
DBD plasma microbubble reactor for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass [poster]
DBD plasma microbubble reactor for pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass [poster
Multi-parameter Entanglement in Quantum Interferometry
The role of multi-parameter entanglement in quantum interference from
collinear type-II spontaneous parametric down-conversion is explored using a
variety of aperture shapes and sizes, in regimes of both ultrafast and
continuous-wave pumping. We have developed and experimentally verified a theory
of down-conversion which considers a quantum state that can be concurrently
entangled in frequency, wavevector, and polarization. In particular, we
demonstrate deviations from the familiar triangular interference dip, such as
asymmetry and peaking. These findings improve our capacity to control the
quantum state produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion, and should
prove useful to those pursuing the many proposed applications of down-converted
light.Comment: submitted to Physical Review
Dynamics of earthquake nucleation process represented by the Burridge-Knopoff model
Dynamics of earthquake nucleation process is studied on the basis of the
one-dimensional Burridge-Knopoff (BK) model obeying the rate- and
state-dependent friction (RSF) law. We investigate the properties of the model
at each stage of the nucleation process, including the quasi-static initial
phase, the unstable acceleration phase and the high-speed rupture phase or a
mainshock. Two kinds of nucleation lengths L_sc and L_c are identified and
investigated. The nucleation length L_sc and the initial phase exist only for a
weak frictional instability regime, while the nucleation length L_c and the
acceleration phase exist for both weak and strong instability regimes. Both
L_sc and L_c are found to be determined by the model parameters, the frictional
weakening parameter and the elastic stiffness parameter, hardly dependent on
the size of an ensuing mainshock. The sliding velocity is extremely slow in the
initial phase up to L_sc, of order the pulling speed of the plate, while it
reaches a detectable level at a certain stage of the acceleration phase. The
continuum limits of the results are discussed. The continuum limit of the BK
model lies in the weak frictional instability regime so that a mature
homogeneous fault under the RSF law always accompanies the quasi-static
nucleation process. Duration times of each stage of the nucleation process are
examined. The relation to the elastic continuum model and implications to real
seismicity are discussed.Comment: Title changed. Changes mainly in abstract and in section 1. To appear
in European Physical Journal
Quantum Convolutional Coding with Shared Entanglement: General Structure
We present a general theory of entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional
coding. The codes have a convolutional or memory structure, they assume that
the sender and receiver share noiseless entanglement prior to quantum
communication, and they are not restricted to possess the
Calderbank-Shor-Steane structure as in previous work. We provide two
significant advances for quantum convolutional coding theory. We first show how
to "expand" a given set of quantum convolutional generators. This expansion
step acts as a preprocessor for a polynomial symplectic Gram-Schmidt
orthogonalization procedure that simplifies the commutation relations of the
expanded generators to be the same as those of entangled Bell states (ebits)
and ancilla qubits. The above two steps produce a set of generators with
equivalent error-correcting properties to those of the original generators. We
then demonstrate how to perform online encoding and decoding for a stream of
information qubits, halves of ebits, and ancilla qubits. The upshot of our
theory is that the quantum code designer can engineer quantum convolutional
codes with desirable error-correcting properties without having to worry about
the commutation relations of these generators.Comment: 23 pages, replaced with final published versio
NMR and NQR Fluctuation Effects in Layered Superconductors
We study the effect of thermal fluctuations of the s-wave order parameter of
a quasi two dimensional superconductor on the nuclear spin relaxation rate near
the transition temperature Tc. We consider both the effects of the amplitude
fluctuations and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase fluctuations
in weakly coupled layered superconductors. In the treatment of the amplitude
fluctuations we employ the Gaussian approximation and evaluate the longitudinal
relaxation rate 1/T1 for a clean s-wave superconductor, with and without pair
breaking effects, using the static pair fluctuation propagator D. The increase
in 1/T1 due to pair breaking in D is overcompensated by the decrease arising
from the single particle Green's functions. The result is a strong effect on
1/T1 for even a small amount of pair breaking. The phase fluctuations are
described in terms of dynamical BKT excitations in the form of pancake
vortex-antivortex (VA) pairs. We calculate the effect of the magnetic field
fluctuations caused by the translational motion of VA excitations on 1/T1 and
on the transverse relaxation rate 1/T2 on both sides of the BKT transitation
temperature T(BKT)<Tc. The results for the NQR relaxation rates depend strongly
on the diffusion constant that governs the motion of free and bound vortices as
well as the annihilation of VA pairs. We discuss the relaxation rates for real
multilayer systems where the diffusion constant can be small and thus increase
the lifetime of a VA pair, leading to an enhancement of the rates. We also
discuss in some detail the experimental feasibility of observing the effects of
amplitude fluctuations in layered s-wave superconductors such as the
dichalcogenides and the effects of phase fluctuations in s- or d-wave
superconductors such as the layered cuprates.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figure
Entangled-Photon Generation from Parametric Down-Conversion in Media with Inhomogeneous Nonlinearity
We develop and experimentally verify a theory of Type-II spontaneous
parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in media with inhomogeneous distributions of
second-order nonlinearity. As a special case, we explore interference effects
from SPDC generated in a cascade of two bulk crystals separated by an air gap.
The polarization quantum-interference pattern is found to vary strongly with
the spacing between the two crystals. This is found to be a cooperative effect
due to two mechanisms: the chromatic dispersion of the medium separating the
crystals and spatiotemporal effects which arise from the inclusion of
transverse wave vectors. These effects provide two concomitant avenues for
controlling the quantum state generated in SPDC. We expect these results to be
of interest for the development of quantum technologies and the generation of
SPDC in periodically varying nonlinear materials.Comment: submitted to Physical Review
Possible origins of macroscopic left-right asymmetry in organisms
I consider the microscopic mechanisms by which a particular left-right (L/R)
asymmetry is generated at the organism level from the microscopic handedness of
cytoskeletal molecules. In light of a fundamental symmetry principle, the
typical pattern-formation mechanisms of diffusion plus regulation cannot
implement the "right-hand rule"; at the microscopic level, the cell's
cytoskeleton of chiral filaments seems always to be involved, usually in
collective states driven by polymerization forces or molecular motors. It seems
particularly easy for handedness to emerge in a shear or rotation in the
background of an effectively two-dimensional system, such as the cell membrane
or a layer of cells, as this requires no pre-existing axis apart from the layer
normal. I detail a scenario involving actin/myosin layers in snails and in C.
elegans, and also one about the microtubule layer in plant cells. I also survey
the other examples that I am aware of, such as the emergence of handedness such
as the emergence of handedness in neurons, in eukaryote cell motility, and in
non-flagellated bacteria.Comment: 42 pages, 6 figures, resubmitted to J. Stat. Phys. special issue.
Major rewrite, rearranged sections/subsections, new Fig 3 + 6, new physics in
Sec 2.4 and 3.4.1, added Sec 5 and subsections of Sec
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