322 research outputs found
Control of electron spin and orbital resonance in quantum dots through spin-orbit interactions
Influence of resonant oscillating electromagnetic field on a single electron
in coupled lateral quantum dots in the presence of phonon-induced relaxation
and decoherence is investigated. Using symmetry arguments it is shown that spin
and orbital resonance can be efficiently controlled by spin-orbit interactions.
The control is possible due to the strong sensitivity of Rabi frequency to the
dot configuration (orientation of the dot and a static magnetic field) as a
result of the anisotropy of the spin-orbit interactions. The so called easy
passage configuration is shown to be particularly suitable for magnetic
manipulation of spin qubits, ensuring long spin relaxation time and protecting
the spin qubit from electric field disturbances accompanying on-chip
manipulations.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; v2: introduction and conclusions broadened,
moderate structure and content change
Orbital and spin relaxation in single and coupled quantum dots
Phonon-induced orbital and spin relaxation rates of single electron states in
lateral single and double quantum dots are obtained numerically for realistic
materials parameters. The rates are calculated as a function of magnetic field
and interdot coupling, at various field and quantum dot orientations. It is
found that orbital relaxation is due to deformation potential phonons at low
magnetic fields, while piezoelectric phonons dominate the relaxation at high
fields. Spin relaxation, which is dominated by piezoelectric phonons, in single
quantum dots is highly anisotropic due to the interplay of the Bychkov-Rashba
and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings. Orbital relaxation in double dots varies
strongly with the interdot coupling due to the cyclotron effects on the
tunneling energy. Spin relaxation in double dots has an additional anisotropy
due to anisotropic spin hot spots which otherwise cause giant enhancement of
the rate at useful magnetic fields and interdot couplings. Conditions for the
absence of the spin hot spots in in-plane magnetic fields (easy passages) and
perpendicular magnetic fields (weak passages) are formulated analytically for
different growth directions of the underlying heterostructure. It is shown that
easy passages disappear (spin hot spots reappear) if the double dot system
loses symmetry by an xy-like perturbation.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
Spin properties of single electron states in coupled quantum dots
Spin properties of single electron states in laterally coupled quantum dots
in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field are studied by exact
numerical diagonalization. Dresselhaus (linear and cubic) and Bychkov-Rashba
spin-orbit couplings are included in a realistic model of confined dots based
on GaAs. Group theoretical classification of quantum states with and without
spin orbit coupling is provided. Spin-orbit effects on the g-factor are rather
weak. It is shown that the frequency of coherent oscillations (tunneling
amplitude) in coupled dots is largely unaffected by spin-orbit effects due to
symmetry requirements. The leading contributions to the frequency involves the
cubic term of the Dresselhaus coupling. Spin-orbit coupling in the presence of
magnetic field leads to a spin-dependent tunneling amplitude, and thus to the
possibility of spin to charge conversion, namely spatial separation of spin by
coherent oscillations in a uniform magnetic field. It is also shown that spin
hot spots exist in coupled GaAs dots already at moderate magnetic fields, and
that spin hot spots at zero magnetic field are due to the cubic Dresselhaus
term only.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure
May car washing represent a risk for Legionella infection?
Background. Legionella is a ubiquitous Gram-negative bacterium naturally found in aquatic environments. It can pose a health problem when it grows and spreads in man-made water systems. Legionella pneumophila is the most common cause of Legionnaires\u2019 disease nowadays, a community-acquired pneumonia with pulmonary symptoms and chest radiography no different from any other form of infectious pneumonia. Legionella monitoring is important for public health reasons, including the identification of unusual environmental sources of Legionella.
Methods. We report two cases of Legionnaires\u2019 disease associated with two different car wash installations in the province of Vicenza, in the Veneto region, northeastern Italy. Patients were not employees of the car wash installations, but users of the service. In both cases, Legionella antigen was detected in urine using the Alere BinaxNOW\uae Legionella Urinary Antigen, and Legionella antibodies were detected in serum using SERION ELISA classic Legionella pneumophila 1-7 IgG and IgM. Water samples were also analyzed as part of the surveillance program for Legionella prevention and control in compliance with the Italian guidelines.
Results. Both patients had clinical symptoms and chest radiography compatible with pneumonia, and only one of them had diabetes as a risk factor. Legionella urinary antigen and serological test on serum samples were positive for Legionella in both patients, even if much slighter in the case A due to the retrospective serological investigation performed a year later the episode and after the second clinical case occurred in the same district. The environmental investigations highlighted two different car wash plants as potential source of infection. A certified company using shock hyperchlorination was asked to disinfect the two plants and, subsequently, control samples resulted negative for Legionella pneumophila.
Conclusions. Any water source producing aerosols should be considered at risk for the transmission of Legionella bacteria, including car wash installations frequently used by a large number of customers and where poor maintenance probably creates favorable conditions for Legionella overgrowth and spreading. Additional research is needed to ascertain optimal strategies for Legionella monitoring and control, but environmental surveillance, paying careful attention to possible unconventional sources, should remain an important component of any Legionnaires\u2019 disease prevention program. Additionally, all available diagnostic methods would be recommended for the confirmation of all cases even in the event of non-serogroup 1 Legionella pneumophila infection, probably underestimated at this time
Description and Status of the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array
The North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) is a network LMA detectors that detects and maps lightning using VHF radiation (TV Channel 5) in a region centered about Huntsville, Alabama that includes North Alabama, Central Tennessee and parts of Georgia and Mississippi. The North Alabama LMA has been in operation since late 2001, and has been providing real time data to regional National Weather Service (NSF) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) since mid 2003 through the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) center. Data from this network (as well as other from other LMA systems) are now being used to create proxy Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) data sets for GOES-R risk reduction and algorithm development activities. In addition, since spring 2009 data are provided to the Storm Prediction Center in support of Hazardous Weather Testbed and GOES-R Proving Ground activities during the Spring Program. Description, status and plans will be discussed
Quantum states and linear response in dc and electromagnetic fields for charge current and spin polarization of electrons at Bi/Si interface with giant spin-orbit coupling
An expansion of the nearly free-electron model constructed by Frantzeskakis,
Pons and Grioni [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 82}, 085440 (2010)] describing quantum
states at Bi/Si(111) interface with giant spin-orbit coupling is developed and
applied for the band structure and spin polarization calculation, as well as
for the linear response analysis for charge current and induced spin caused by
dc field and by electromagnetic radiation. It is found that the large
spin-orbit coupling in this system may allow resolving the spin-dependent
properties even at room temperature and at realistic collision rate. The
geometry of the atomic lattice combined with spin-orbit coupling leads to an
anisotropic response both for current and spin components related to the
orientation of the external field. The in-plane dc electric field produces only
the in-plane components of spin in the sample while both the in-plane and
out-of-plane spin components can be excited by normally propagating
electromagnetic wave with different polarizations.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Selection for Replicases in Protocells
PMCID: PMC3649988This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Computing, Design, Art: Reflections on an Innovative Moment in History
The paper is concerned with the role of art and design in the history and philosophy of computing. It offers insights arising from research into a period in the 1960s and 70s, particularly in the UK, when computing became more available to artists and designers, focusing on John Lansdown (1929-1999) and Bruce Archer (1922-2005) in London. Models of computing interacted with conceptualisations of art, design and related creative activities in important ways
Lightning Jump Algorithm Development for the GOESR Geostationary Lightning Mapper
Current work on the lightning jump algorithm to be used in GOESR Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM)'s data stream is multifaceted due to the intricate interplay between the storm tracking, GLM proxy data, and the performance of the lightning jump itself. This work outlines the progress of the last year, where analysis and performance of the lightning jump algorithm with automated storm tracking and GLM proxy data were assessed using over 700 storms from North Alabama. The cases analyzed coincide with previous semiobjective work performed using total lightning mapping array (LMA) measurements in Schultz et al. (2011). Analysis shows that key components of the algorithm (flash rate and sigma thresholds) have the greatest influence on the performance of the algorithm when validating using severe storm reports. Automated objective analysis using the GLM proxy data has shown probability of detection (POD) values around 60% with false alarm rates (FAR) around 73% using similar methodology to Schultz et al. (2011). However, when applying verification methods similar to those employed by the National Weather Service, POD values increase slightly (69%) and FAR values decrease (63%). The relationship between storm tracking and lightning jump has also been tested in a realtime framework at NSSL. This system includes fully automated tracking by radar alone, realtime LMA and radar observations and the lightning jump. Results indicate that the POD is strong at 65%. However, the FAR is significantly higher than in Schultz et al. (2011) (5080% depending on various tracking/lightning jump parameters) when using storm reports for verification. Given known issues with Storm Data, the performance of the realtime jump algorithm is also being tested with high density radar and surface observations from the NSSL Severe Hazards Analysis & Verification Experiment (SHAVE)
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