C60_{60} in intense femtosecond laser pulses: nonlinear dipole response and ionization

We study the interaction of strong femtosecond laser pulses with the C$_{60}$ molecule employing time-dependent density functional theory with the ionic background treated in a jellium approximation. The laser intensities considered are below the threshold of strong fragmentation but too high for perturbative treatments such as linear response. The nonlinear response of the model to excitations by short pulses of frequencies up to 45eV is presented and analyzed with the help of Kohn-Sham orbital resolved dipole spectra. In femtosecond laser pulses of 800nm wavelength ionization is found to occur multiphoton-like rather than via excitation of a ``giant'' resonance.Comment: 14 pages, including 1 table, 5 figure

Delayed differentiation of epidermal cells walls can underlie pedomorphosis in plants: the case of pedomorphic petals in the hummingbird-pollinated Caiophora hibiscifolia (Loasaceae, subfam. Loasoideae) species

Understanding the relationship between macroevolutionary diversity and variation in organism development is an important goal of evolutionary biology. Variation in the morphology of several plant and animal lineages is attributed to pedomorphosis, a case of heterochrony, where an ancestral juvenile shape is retained in an adult descendant. Pedomorphosis facilitated morphological adaptation in different plant lineages, but its cellular and molecular basis needs further exploration. Plant development differs from animal development in that cells are enclosed by cell walls and do not migrate. Moreover, in many plant lineages, the differentiated epidermis of leaves, and leaf-derived structures, such as petals, limits organ growth. We, therefore, proposed that pedomorphosis in leaves, and in leaf-derived structures, results from delayed differentiation of epidermal cells with respect to reproductive maturity. This idea was explored for petal evolution, given the importance of corolla morphology for angiosperm reproductive success

Inhibition of crown gall induction by Agrobacterium vitis strain F2/5 in grapevine and Ricinus

Biological control measures to prevent or reduce Agrobacterium vitis-caused losses in grapevine cultures are a worldwide increasing challenge. In the present study, tumour development in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) was induced in the sensitive cv. Kerner by infection with Agrobacterium vitis strain K306, carrying the p35Sgus-int plasmid with the gus gene as marker for transformation by the wild-type T-DNA. Pre-inoculation with the non-tumorigenic A. vitis strain F2/5 prevented tumour induction by K306(p35gus-int). Strain M1154, a Tn5 mutant of F2/5 in the luxR-like aviR gene, partially reduced the biocontrol efficiency compared to the wild-type F2/5. GUS-labelling by K306gus was poor in grapevine in contrast to A. tumefaciens 281(p35gus-int)-induced tumours in Arabidopsis, indicating plant species-dependent variable gus expression. To use the more reliable direct mRNA expression assay by RTPCR, a new experimental plant/A. vitis system was established with Ricinus communis as model plant. Ricinus/A. vitis galls were available within one week after K306gus inoculation, reached diameters up to 5 cm, and contained more abundant GUS staining. An additional transformation marker, mRNA expression of the T-DNA-located iaaM oncogene, coding auxin synthesis, was apparent only in tumours induced by the wild-type A. vitis strain K306 in the absence of the gus construct, which is under the control of the strong 35S CaMV promoter. F2/5 pre-inoculation suppressed GUS staining and gus mRNA expression. DAPI staining revealed the loss of vital fluorescent cell nuclei in F2/5-inoculated grapevine tissue and thus inhibition of any successful T-DNA transfer into host cell nuclei. Differentiation of typical circular vessels in globular vascular bundles in M1154-pretreated galls suggests interference with plant auxin metabolism. In conclusion, together with successfully establishing a new experimental model system, Ricinus/A. vitis, pre-treatment of host tissue with the non-pathogenic strain F2/5 resulted in preventing the integration and expression of the oncogenic T-DNA of A. vitis strains by locally necrotizing host cell nuclei.

About possible contribution of intrinsic charm component to inclusive spectra of charmed mesons

We calculate differential energy spectra ($x_F$-distributions) of charmed particles produced in proton-nucleus collisions, assuming the existence of intrinsic heavy quark components in the proton wave function. For the calculation, the recently proposed factorization scheme is used, based on the Color Glass Condensate theory and specially suited for predictions of a production of particles with large rapidities. It is argued that the intrinsic charm component can, if it exists, dominate in a sum of two components, intrinsic + extrinsic, of the inclusive spectrum of charmed particles produced in proton-nucleus collisions at high energies, in the region of medium $x_F$, $0.15 < x_F < 0.7$, and can give noticeable contribution to atmospheric fluxes of prompt muons and neutrinos.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Version published in J. Phys. G

Time-dependent electron transport through a strongly correlated quantum dot: multiple-probe open boundary conditions approach

We present a time-dependent study of electron transport through a strongly correlated quantum dot. The time-dependent current is obtained with the multiple-probe battery method, while adiabatic lattice density functional theory in the Bethe ansatz local-density approximation to the Hubbard model describes the dot electronic structure. We show that for a certain range of voltages the quantum dot can be driven into a dynamical state characterized by regular current oscillations. This is a manifestation of a recently proposed dynamical picture of Coulomb blockade. Furthermore, we investigate how the various approximations to the electron-electron interaction affect the line-shapes of the Coulomb peaks and the I-V characteristics. We show that the presence of the derivative discontinuity in the approximate exchange-correlation potential leads to significantly different results compared to those obtained at the simpler Hartree level of description. In particular, a negative differential conductance (NDC) in the I-V characteristics is observed at large bias voltages and large Coulomb interaction strengths. We demonstrate that such NDC originates from the combined effect of electron-electron interaction in the dot and the finite bandwidth of the electrodes.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Time-dependent density functional theory beyond the adiabatic local density approximation

In the current density functional theory of linear and nonlinear time-dependent phenomena, the treatment of exchange and correlation beyond the level of the adiabatic local density approximation is shown to lead to the appearance of viscoelastic stresses in the electron fluid. Complex and frequency-dependent viscosity/elasticity coefficients are microscopically derived and expressed in terms of properties of the homogeneous electron gas. As a first consequence of this formalism, we provide an explicit formula for the linewidths of collective excitations in electronic systems.Comment: RevTeX, 4 page

Broken Symmetry in Density-Functional Theory: Analysis and Cure

We present a detailed analysis of the broken-symmetry mean-field solutions using a four-electron rectangular quantum dot as a model system. Comparisons of the density-functional theory predictions with the exact ones show that the symmetry breaking results from the single-configuration wave function used in the mean-field approach. As a general cure we present a scheme that systematically incorporates several configurations into the density-functional theory and restores the symmetry. This cure is easily applicable to any density-functional approach.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Collective charge-density excitations of non-circular quantum dots in a magnetic field

Recent photoabsorption measurements have revealed a rich fine structure in the collective charge-density excitation spectrum of few-electron quantum dots in the presence of magnetic fields. We have performed systematic computational studies of the far-infrared density response of quantum dots, using time-dependent density-functional theory in the linear regime and treating the dots as two-dimensional disks. It turns out that the main characteristics observed in the experiment can be understood in terms of the electronic shell structure of the quantum dots. However, new features arise if a breaking of the circular symmetry of the dots is allowed, leading to an improved description of the experimental results.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.