374 research outputs found
Fermi-edge singularities in linear and non-linear ultrafast spectroscopy
We discuss Fermi-edge singularity effects on the linear and nonlinear
transient response of an electron gas in a doped semiconductor. We use a
bosonization scheme to describe the low energy excitations, which allows to
compute the time and temperature dependence of the response functions. Coherent
control of the energy absorption at resonance is analyzed in the linear regime.
It is shown that a phase-shift appears in the coherent control oscillations,
which is not present in the excitonic case. The nonlinear response is
calculated analytically and used to predict that four wave-mixing experiments
would present a Fermi-edge singularity when the exciting energy is varied. A
new dephasing mechanism is predicted in doped samples that depends linearly on
temperature and is produced by the low-energy bosonic excitations in the
conduction band.Comment: long version; 9 pages, 4 figure
Ultrafast Coulomb-induced dynamics of 2D magnetoexcitons
We study theoretically the ultrafast nonlinear optical response of quantum
well excitons in a perpendicular magnetic field. We show that for
magnetoexcitons confined to the lowest Landau levels, the third-order
four-wave-mixing (FWM) polarization is dominated by the exciton-exciton
interaction effects. For repulsive interactions, we identify two regimes in the
time-evolution of the optical polarization characterized by exponential and
{\em power law} decay of the FWM signal. We describe these regimes by deriving
an analytical solution for the memory kernel of the two-exciton wave-function
in strong magnetic field. For strong exciton-exciton interactions, the decay of
the FWM signal is governed by an antibound resonance with an
interaction-dependent decay rate. For weak interactions, the continuum of
exciton-exciton scattering states leads to a long tail of the time-integrated
FWM signal for negative time delays, which is described by the product of a
power law and a logarithmic factor. By combining this analytic solution with
numerical calculations, we study the crossover between the exponential and
non-exponential regimes as a function of magnetic field. For attractive
exciton-exciton interaction, we show that the time-evolution of the FWM signal
is dominated by the biexcitonic effects.Comment: 41 pages with 11 fig
Succinct Data Structures for Families of Interval Graphs
We consider the problem of designing succinct data structures for interval
graphs with vertices while supporting degree, adjacency, neighborhood and
shortest path queries in optimal time in the -bit word RAM
model. The degree query reports the number of incident edges to a given vertex
in constant time, the adjacency query returns true if there is an edge between
two vertices in constant time, the neighborhood query reports the set of all
adjacent vertices in time proportional to the degree of the queried vertex, and
the shortest path query returns a shortest path in time proportional to its
length, thus the running times of these queries are optimal. Towards showing
succinctness, we first show that at least bits
are necessary to represent any unlabeled interval graph with vertices,
answering an open problem of Yang and Pippenger [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 2017].
This is augmented by a data structure of size bits while
supporting not only the aforementioned queries optimally but also capable of
executing various combinatorial algorithms (like proper coloring, maximum
independent set etc.) on the input interval graph efficiently. Finally, we
extend our ideas to other variants of interval graphs, for example, proper/unit
interval graphs, k-proper and k-improper interval graphs, and circular-arc
graphs, and design succinct/compact data structures for these graph classes as
well along with supporting queries on them efficiently
Reconstruction of cellular variability from spatiotemporal patterns of Dictyostelium discoideum
Variability in cell properties can be an important driving mechanism behind spatiotemporal patterns in biological systems, as the degree of cell-to-cell differences determines the capacity of cells to locally synchronize and, consequently, form patterns on a larger spatial scale. In principle, certain features of spatial patterns emerging with time may be regulated by variability or, more specifically, by certain constellations of cell-to-cell differences. Similarly, measuring variability in a system (i.e. the spatial distribution of cell-cell differences) may help predict properties of later-stage patterns
Quantum kinetics and thermalization in a particle bath model
We study the dynamics of relaxation and thermalization in an exactly solvable
model of a particle interacting with a harmonic oscillator bath. Our goal is to
understand the effects of non-Markovian processes on the relaxational dynamics
and to compare the exact evolution of the distribution function with
approximate Markovian and Non-Markovian quantum kinetics. There are two
different cases that are studied in detail: i) a quasiparticle (resonance) when
the renormalized frequency of the particle is above the frequency threshold of
the bath and ii) a stable renormalized `particle' state below this threshold.
The time evolution of the occupation number for the particle is evaluated
exactly using different approaches that yield to complementary insights. The
exact solution allows us to investigate the concept of the formation time of a
quasiparticle and to study the difference between the relaxation of the
distribution of bare particles and that of quasiparticles. We derive a
non-Markovian quantum kinetic equation which resums the perturbative series and
includes off-shell effects. A Markovian approximation that includes off-shell
contributions and the usual Boltzmann equation (energy conserving) are obtained
from the quantum kinetic equation in the limit of wide separation of time
scales upon different coarse-graining assumptions. The relaxational dynamics
predicted by the non-Markovian, Markovian and Boltzmann approximations are
compared to the exact result. The Boltzmann approach is seen to fail in the
case of wide resonances and when threshold and renormalization effects are
important.Comment: 39 pages, RevTex, 14 figures (13 eps figures
Lithic technological responses to Late Pleistocene glacial cycling at Pinnacle Point Site 5-6, South Africa
There are multiple hypotheses for human responses to glacial cycling in the Late Pleistocene, including changes in population size, interconnectedness, and mobility. Lithic technological analysis informs us of human responses to environmental change because lithic assemblage characteristics are a reflection of raw material transport, reduction, and discard behaviors that depend on hunter-gatherer social and economic decisions. Pinnacle Point Site 5-6 (PP5-6), Western Cape, South Africa is an ideal locality for examining the influence of glacial cycling on early modern human behaviors because it preserves a long sequence spanning marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 4, and 3 and is associated with robust records of paleoenvironmental change. The analysis presented here addresses the question, what, if any, lithic assemblage traits at PP5-6 represent changing behavioral responses to the MIS 5-4-3 interglacial-glacial cycle? It statistically evaluates changes in 93 traits with no a priori assumptions about which traits may significantly associate with MIS. In contrast to other studies that claim that there is little relationship between broad-scale patterns of climate change and lithic technology, we identified the following characteristics that are associated with MIS 4: increased use of quartz, increased evidence for outcrop sources of quartzite and silcrete, increased evidence for earlier stages of reduction in silcrete, evidence for increased flaking efficiency in all raw material types, and changes in tool types and function for silcrete. Based on these results, we suggest that foragers responded to MIS 4 glacial environmental conditions at PP5-6 with increased population or group sizes, 'place provisioning', longer and/or more intense site occupations, and decreased residential mobility. Several other traits, including silcrete frequency, do not exhibit an association with MIS. Backed pieces, once they appear in the PP5-6 record during MIS 4, persist through MIS 3. Changing paleoenvironments explain some, but not all temporal technological variability at PP5-6.Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada; NORAM; American-Scandinavian Foundation; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [SFRH/BPD/73598/2010]; IGERT [DGE 0801634]; Hyde Family Foundations; Institute of Human Origins; National Science Foundation [BCS-9912465, BCS-0130713, BCS-0524087, BCS-1138073]; John Templeton Foundation to the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State Universit
Children's acceptance of milk with xylitol or sorbitol for dental caries prevention
BACKGROUND: Xylitol, a polyol sugar, has been shown to reduce dental caries when mixed with food or chewing gum. This study examines the taste acceptability of xylitol in milk as a first step toward measuring the effectiveness of xylitol in milk for the reduction of dental caries in a public health program. METHODS: Three different types of milk (Ultra High Temperature (UHT), powder and evaporated) were tested for acceptability by 75 Peruvian children (25 per milk group, ages 4 to 7 years). Each group evaluated xylitol and sorbitol in one type of milk. In the first phase, each child was presented with a tray of four plastic cups containing 50 ml of milk with 0.021 g/ml xylitol, 0.042 g/ml xylitol, 0.042 g/ml sorbitol or no sugar. Each child was asked to taste the samples in a self-selected order. After tasting each sample, the child placed the milk cup in front of one of three cartoon faces (smile, frown or neutral) representing the child's response to the taste of each sample. In the second phase, the child was asked to rank order the milk samples within each category (smile, frown or neutral). Ranks within categories were then combined to obtain a rank ordering for all the test samples. RESULTS: The ranking from best to worst for the samples across categories (UHT, powder, evaporated) was xylitol (0.0.042 g/ml), sorbitol (0.042 g/ml), xylitol (0.021 g/ml) and milk alone (Friedman's ANOVA). Xylitol and sorbitol were preferred over milk alone, and xylitol (0.042 g/ml) was preferred to sorbitol (0.042 g/ml)(p < .05 sign test). CONCLUSION: Milk sweetened with xylitol is well accepted by Peruvian children ages 4–7 years
Echocardiographic AV-interval optimization in patients with reduced left ventricular function
BACKGROUND: Ritter's method is a tool used to optimize AV delay in DDD pacemaker patients with normal left ventricular function only. The goal of our study was to evaluate Ritter's method in AV delay-interval optimization in patients with reduced left ventricular function. METHODS: Patients with implanted DDD pacemakers and AVB III° were assigned to one of two groups according to ejection fraction (EF): Group 1 (EF > 35%) and Group 2 (EF < 35%). AV delay optimization was performed by means of radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) and application of Ritter's method. RESULTS: For each of the patients examined, we succeeded in defining an optimal AV interval by means of both RNV and Ritter's method. The optimal AV delay determined by RNV correlated well with the delay found by Ritter's method, especially among those patients with reduced EF. The intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.8965 in Group 1 and 0.9228 in Group 2. The optimal AV interval in Group 1 was 190 ± 28.5 ms, and 180 ± 35 ms in Group 2. CONCLUSION: Ritter's method is also effective for optimization of AV intervals among patients with reduced left ventricular function (EF < 35%). The results obtained by RNV correlate well with those from Ritter's method. Individual programming of the AV interval is fundamentally essential in all cases
Thermal desorption of CH4 retained in CO2 ice
CO2 ices are known to exist in different astrophysical environments. In spite
of this, its physical properties (structure, density, refractive index) have
not been as widely studied as those of water ice. It would be of great value to
study the adsorption properties of this ice in conditions related to
astrophysical environments. In this paper, we explore the possibility that CO2
traps relevant molecules in astrophysical environments at temperatures higher
than expected from their characteristic sublimation point. To fulfil this aim
we have carried out desorption experiments under High Vacuum conditions based
on a Quartz Crystal Microbalance and additionally monitored with a Quadrupole
Mass Spectrometer. From our results, the presence of CH4 in the solid phase
above the sublimation temperature in some astrophysical scenarios could be
explained by the presence of several retaining mechanisms related to the
structure of CO2 ice.Comment: 8 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
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