Klein tunneling in carbon nanostructures: a free particle dynamics in disguise

The absence of backscattering in metallic nanotubes as well as perfect Klein tunneling in potential barriers in graphene are the prominent electronic characteristics of carbon nanostructures. We show that the phenomena can be explained by a peculiar supersymmetry generated by a first order Hamiltonian and zero order supercharge operators. Like the supersymmetry associated with second order reflectionless finite-gap systems, it relates here the low-energy behavior of the charge carriers with the free particle dynamics.Comment: 4 pages, 1 fig., typos correcte

Supersymmetric quantum mechanics living on topologically nontrivial Riemann surfaces

Supersymmetric quantum mechanics is constructed in a new non-Hermitian representation. Firstly, the map between the partner operators $H^{(\pm)}$ is chosen antilinear. Secondly, both these components of a super-Hamiltonian ${\cal H}$ are defined along certain topologically nontrivial complex curves $r^{(\pm)}(x)$ which spread over several Riemann sheets of the wave function. The non-uniqueness of our choice of the map ${\cal T}$ between "tobogganic" partner curves $r^{(+)}(x)$ and $r^{(-)}(x)$ is emphasized.Comment: 14p

In-situ electric field control of THz non-reciprocal directional dichroism in the multiferroic Ba2_2CoGe2_2O7_7

Non-reciprocal directional dichroism, also called the optical-diode effect, is an appealing functional property inherent to the large class of non-centrosymmetric magnets. However, the in-situ electric control of this phenomenon is challenging as it requires a set of conditions to be fulfilled: Special symmetries of the magnetic ground state, spin-excitations with comparable magnetic- and electric-dipole activity and switchable electric polarization. We demonstrate the isothermal electric switch between domains of Ba$_2$CoGe$_2$O$_7$ possessing opposite magnetoelectric susceptibilities. Combining THz spectroscopy and multiboson spin-wave analysis, we show that unbalancing the population of antiferromagnetic domains generates the non-reciprocal light absorption of spin excitations.Comment: version accepte

Solvability and PT-symmetry in a double-well model with point interactions

We show that and how point interactions offer one of the most suitable guides towards a quantitative analysis of properties of certain specific non-Hermitian (usually called PT-symmetric) quantum-mechanical systems. A double-well model is chosen, an easy solvability of which clarifies the mechanisms of the unavoided level crossing and of the spontaneous PT-symmetry breaking. The latter phenomenon takes place at a certain natural boundary of the domain of the "acceptable" parameters of the model. Within this domain the model mediates a nice and compact explicit illustration of the not entirely standard probabilistic interpretation of the physical bound states in the very recently developed (so called PT symmetric or, in an alternative terminology, pseudo-Hermitian) new, fairly exciting and very quickly developing branch of Quantum Mechanics.Comment: 24 p., written for the special journal issue "Singular Interactions in Quantum Mechanics: Solvable Models". Will be also presented to the int. conference "Pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians in Quantum Physics III" (Instanbul, Koc University, June 20 - 22, 2005) http://home.ku.edu.tr/~amostafazadeh/workshop/workshop.ht

Finite-gap systems, tri-supersymmetry and self-isospectrality

We show that an n-gap periodic quantum system with parity-even smooth potential admits $2^n-1$ isospectral super-extensions. Each is described by a tri-supersymmetry that originates from a higher-order differential operator of the Lax pair and two-term nonsingular decompositions of it; its local part corresponds to a spontaneously partially broken centrally extended nonlinear N=4 supersymmetry. We conjecture that any finite-gap system having antiperiodic singlet states admits a self-isospectral tri-supersymmetric extension with the partner potential to be the original one translated for a half-period. Applying the theory to a broad class of finite-gap elliptic systems described by a two-parametric associated Lame equation, our conjecture is supported by the explicit construction of the self-isospectral tri-supersymmetric pairs. We find that the spontaneously broken tri-supersymmetry of the self-isospectral periodic system is recovered in the infinite period limit.Comment: 40 pages, published versio

Hypergravity effects on glide arc plasma

The behaviour of a special type of electric discharge – the gliding arc plasma – has been investigated in hypergravity (1g –18g) using the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) at ESA/ESTEC. The discharge voltage and current together with the videosignal from a fast camera have been recorded during the experiment. The gliding of the arc is governed by hot gas buoyancy and by consequence, gravity. Increasing the centrifugal acceleration makes the glide arc movement substantially faster. Whereas at 1g the discharge was stationary, at 6g it glided with 7 Hz frequency and at 18g the gliding frequency was 11 Hz. We describe a simple model for the glide arc movement assuming low gas flow velocities, which is compared to our experimental results

Reductions in soil surface albedo as a function of biochar application rate: implications for global radiative forcing

Biochar can be defined as pyrolysed (charred) biomass produced for application to soils with the aim of mitigating global climate change while improving soil functions. Sustainable biochar application to soils has been estimated to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 71–130 Pg CO2-Ce over 100 years, indicating an important potential to mitigate climate change. However, these estimates ignored changes in soil surface reflection by the application of dark-coloured biochar. Through a laboratory experiment we show a strong tendency for soil surface albedo to decrease as a power decay function with increasing biochar application rate, depending on soil moisture content, biochar application method and land use. Surface application of biochar resulted in strong reductions in soil surface albedo even at relatively low application rates. As a first assessment of the implications for climate change mitigation of these biochar–albedo relationships, we applied a first order global energy balance model to compare negative radiative forcings (from avoided CO2 emissions) with positive radiative forcings (from reduced soil surface albedos). For a global-scale biochar application equivalent to 120 t ha−1, we obtained reductions in negative radiative forcings of 5 and 11% for croplands and 11 and 23% for grasslands, when incorporating biochar into the topsoil or applying it to the soil surface, respectively. For a lower global biochar application rate (equivalent to 10 t ha−1), these reductions amounted to 13 and 44% for croplands and 28 and 94% for grasslands. Thus, our findings revealed the importance of including changes in soil surface albedo in studies assessing the net climate change mitigation potential of biochar, and we discuss the urgent need for field studies and more detailed spatiotemporal modelling.We thank L Montanarella (Joint Research Centre) for making this study possible, W Mehl for help with the spectroscopy work and P Drahota for the mineralogy analyses. We thank the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for providing F G A Verheijen with a postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/74108/2010), and further want to acknowledge the financial support of the Czech Science Foundation (under grant No. GA 526/09/1762), and the Marie Curie CIG grant (No. GA 526/09/1762). We thank two anonymous reviewers for strengthening the letter.publishe

Fusarium: more than a node or a foot-shaped basal cell

Recent publications have argued that there are potentially serious consequences for researchers in recognising distinct genera in the terminal fusarioid clade of the family Nectriaceae. Thus, an alternate hypothesis, namely a very broad concept of the genus Fusarium was proposed. In doing so, however, a significant body of data that supports distinct genera in Nectriaceae based on morphology, biology, and phylogeny is disregarded. A DNA phylogeny based on 19 orthologous protein-coding genes was presented to support a very broad concept of Fusarium at the F1 node in Nectriaceae. Here, we demonstrate that re-analyses of this dataset show that all 19 genes support the F3 node that represents Fusarium sensu stricto as defined by F. sambucinum (sexual morph synonym Gibberella pulicaris). The backbone of the phylogeny is resolved by the concatenated alignment, but only six of the 19 genes fully support the F1 node, representing the broad circumscription of Fusarium. Furthermore, a re-analysis of the concatenated dataset revealed alternate topologies in different phylogenetic algorithms, highlighting the deep divergence and unresolved placement of various Nectriaceae lineages proposed as members of Fusarium. Species of Fusarium s. str. are characterised by Gibberella sexual morphs, asexual morphs with thin- or thick-walled macroconidia that have variously shaped apical and basal cells, and trichothecene mycotoxin production, which separates them from other fusarioid genera. Here we show that the Wollenweber concept of Fusarium presently accounts for 20 segregate genera with clear-cut synapomorphic traits, and that fusarioid macroconidia represent a character that has been gained or lost multiple times throughout Nectriaceae. Thus, the very broad circumscription of Fusarium is blurry and without apparent synapomorphies, and does not include all genera with fusarium-like macroconidia, which are spread throughout Nectriaceae (e.g., Cosmosporella, Macroconia, Microcera). In this study four new genera are introduced, along with 18 new species and 16 new combinations. These names convey information about relationships, morphology, and ecological preference that would otherwise be lost in a broader definition of Fusarium. To assist users to correctly identify fusarioid genera and species, we introduce a new online identification database, Fusarioid-ID, accessible at www.fusarium.org. The database comprises partial sequences from multiple genes commonly used to identify fusarioid taxa (act1, CaM, his3, rpb1, rpb2, tef1, tub2, ITS, and LSU). In this paper, we also present a nomenclator of names that have been introduced in Fusarium up to January 2021 as well as their current status, types, and diagnostic DNA barcode data. In this study, researchers from 46 countries, representing taxonomists, plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, and students, strongly support the application and use of a more precisely delimited Fusarium (= Gibberella) concept to accommodate taxa from the robust monophyletic node F3 on the basis of a well-defined and unique combination of morphological and biochemical features. This F3 node includes, among others, species of the F. fujikuroi, F. incarnatum-equiseti, F. oxysporum, and F. sambucinum species complexes, but not species of Bisifusarium [F. dimerum species complex (SC)], Cyanonectria (F. buxicola SC), Geejayessia (F. staphyleae SC), Neocosmospora (F. solani SC) or Rectifusarium (F. ventricosum SC). The present study represents the first step to generating a new online monograph of Fusarium and allied fusarioid genera (www.fusarium.org)