696 research outputs found
Electron-beam propagation in a two-dimensional electron gas
A quantum mechanical model based on a Green's function approach has been used
to calculate the transmission probability of electrons traversing a
two-dimensional electron gas injected and detected via mode-selective quantum
point contacts. Two-dimensional scattering potentials, back-scattering, and
temperature effects were included in order to compare the calculated results
with experimentally observed interference patterns. The results yield detailed
information about the distribution, size, and the energetic height of the
scattering potentials.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Coherent electronic transport in a multimode quantum channel with Gaussian-type scatterers
Coherent electron transport through a quantum channel in the presence of a
general extended scattering potential is investigated using a T-matrix
Lippmann-Schwinger approach. The formalism is applied to a quantum wire with
Gaussian type scattering potentials, which can be used to model a single
impurity, a quantum dot or more complicated structures in the wire. The well
known dips in the conductance in the presence of attractive impurities is
reproduced. A resonant transmission peak in the conductance is seen as the
energy of the incident electron coincides with an energy level in the quantum
dot. The conductance through a quantum wire in the presence of an asymmetric
potential are also shown. In the case of a narrow potential parallel to the
wire we find that two dips appear in the same subband which we ascribe to two
quasi bound states originating from the next evanescent mode.Comment: RevTeX with 14 postscript figures include
Contacts and Edge State Equilibration in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
We develop a simple kinetic equation description of edge state dynamics in
the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE), which allows us to examine in detail
equilibration processes between multiple edge modes. As in the integer quantum
Hall effect (IQHE), inter-mode equilibration is a prerequisite for quantization
of the Hall conductance. Two sources for such equilibration are considered:
Edge impurity scattering and equilibration by the electrical contacts. Several
specific models for electrical contacts are introduced and analyzed. For FQHE
states in which edge channels move in both directions, such as , these
models for the electrical contacts {\it do not} equilibrate the edge modes,
resulting in a non-quantized Hall conductance, even in a four-terminal
measurement. Inclusion of edge-impurity scattering, which {\it directly}
transfers charge between channels, is shown to restore the four-terminal
quantized conductance. For specific filling factors, notably and
, the equilibration length due to impurity scattering diverges in the
zero temperature limit, which should lead to a breakdown of quantization for
small samples at low temperatures. Experimental implications are discussed.Comment: 14 pages REVTeX, 6 postscript figures (uuencoded and compressed
Magnetic Quantum Dot: A Magnetic Transmission Barrier and Resonator
We study the ballistic edge-channel transport in quantum wires with a
magnetic quantum dot, which is formed by two different magnetic fields B^* and
B_0 inside and outside the dot, respectively. We find that the electron states
located near the dot and the scattering of edge channels by the dot strongly
depend on whether B^* is parallel or antiparallel to B_0. For parallel fields,
two-terminal conductance as a function of channel energy is quantized except
for resonances, while, for antiparallel fields, it is not quantized and all
channels can be completely reflected in some energy ranges. All these features
are attributed to the characteristic magnetic confinements caused by nonuniform
fields.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter
The role of calcium channels in osteocyte function
Abstract Osteocytic response to stretching, which is potentiated by PTH, is distinct from that of osteoblast to high frequency strain. A MAPK dependent signaling pathway is suggested in the osteoblast response. At least two different types of mechanotransduction pathways are present in bone cells of osteoblastic lineage
Magnetic Properties of 2-Dimensional Dipolar Squares: Boundary Geometry Dependence
By means of the molecular dynamics simulation on gradual cooling processes,
we investigate magnetic properties of classical spin systems only with the
magnetic dipole-dipole interaction, which we call dipolar systems. Focusing on
their finite-size effect, particularly their boundary geometry dependence, we
study two finite dipolar squares cut out from a square lattice with
and , where is an angle between the direction of the lattice axis
and that of the square boundary. Distinctly different results are obtained in
the two dipolar squares. In the square, the ``from-edge-to-interior
freezing'' of spins is observed. Its ground state has a multi-domain structure
whose domains consist of the two among infinitely (continuously) degenerated
Luttinger-Tisza (LT) ground-state orders on a bulk square lattice, i.e., the
two antiferromagnetically aligned ferromagnetic chains (af-FMC) orders directed
in parallel to the two lattice axes. In the square, on the other
hand, the freezing starts from the interior of the square, and its ground state
is nearly in a single domain with one of the two af-FMC orders. These geometry
effects are argued to originate from the anisotropic nature of the
dipole-dipole interaction which depends on the relative direction of sites in a
real space of the interacting spins.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Journal of Physical Society Japa
Andreev Reflection in Strong Magnetic Fields
We have studied the interplay of Andreev reflection and cyclotron motion of
quasiparticles at a superconductor-normal-metal interface with a strong
magnetic field applied parallel to the interface. Bound states are formed due
to the confinement introduced both by the external magnetic field and the
superconducting gap. These bound states are a coherent superposition of
electron and hole edge excitations similar to those realized in finite
quantum-Hall samples. We find the energy spectrum for these Andreev edge states
and calculate transport properties.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, RevTex, revised to include more detailed
discussion of currents and transpor
Resonance Patterns of an Antidot Cluster: From Classical to Quantum Ballistics
We explain the experimentally observed Aharonov-Bohm (AB) resonance patterns
of an antidot cluster by means of quantum and classical simulations and Feynman
path integral theory. We demonstrate that the observed behavior of the AB
period signals the crossover from a low B regime which can be understood in
terms of electrons following classical orbits to an inherently quantum high B
regime where this classical picture and semiclassical theories based on it do
not apply.Comment: 5 pages revtex + 2 postscript figure
Normalization of Voltage-Sensitive Dye Signal with Functional Activity Measures
In general, signal amplitude in optical imaging is normalized using the
well-established ΔF/F method, where functional activity is divided by
the total fluorescent light flux. This measure is used both directly, as a
measure of population activity, and indirectly, to quantify spatial and
spatiotemporal activity patterns. Despite its ubiquitous use, the stability and
accuracy of this measure has not been validated for voltage-sensitive dye
imaging of mammalian neocortex in vivo. In this report, we find
that this normalization can introduce dynamic biases. In particular, the
ΔF/F is influenced by dye staining quality, and the ratio is also
unstable over the course of experiments. As methods to record and analyze
optical imaging signals become more precise, such biases can have an
increasingly pernicious impact on the accuracy of findings, especially in the
comparison of cytoarchitechtonic areas, in area-of-activation measurements, and
in plasticity or developmental experiments. These dynamic biases of the
ΔF/F method may, to an extent, be mitigated by a novel method of
normalization, ΔF/ΔFepileptiform. This normalization
uses as a reference the measured activity of epileptiform spikes elicited by
global disinhibition with bicuculline methiodide. Since this normalization is
based on a functional measure, i.e. the signal amplitude of
“hypersynchronized” bursts of activity in the cortical
network, it is less influenced by staining of non-functional elements. We
demonstrate that such a functional measure can better represent the amplitude of
population mass action, and discuss alternative functional normalizations based
on the amplitude of synchronized spontaneous sleep-like activity. These findings
demonstrate that the traditional ΔF/F normalization of voltage-sensitive
dye signals can introduce pernicious inaccuracies in the quantification of
neural population activity. They further suggest that normalization-independent
metrics such as waveform propagation patterns, oscillations in single detectors,
and phase relationships between detector pairs may better capture the biological
information which is obtained by high-sensitivity imaging
Geometry-dependent scattering through quantum billiards: Experiment and theory
We present experimental studies of the geometry-specific quantum scattering
in microwave billiards of a given shape. We perform full quantum mechanical
scattering calculations and find an excellent agreement with the experimental
results. We also carry out the semiclassical calculations where the conductance
is given as a sum of all classical trajectories between the leads, each of them
carrying the quantum-mechanical phase. We unambiguously demonstrate that the
characteristic frequencies of the oscillations in the transmission and
reflection amplitudes are related to the length distribution of the classical
trajectories between the leads, whereas the frequencies of the probabilities
can be understood in terms of the length difference distribution in the pairs
of classical trajectories. We also discuss the effect of non-classical "ghost"
trajectories that include classically forbidden reflection off the lead mouths.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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