Towards absolute calibration of optical tweezers

Aiming at absolute force calibration of optical tweezers, following a critical review of proposed theoretical models, we present and test the results of MDSA (Mie-Debye-Spherical Aberration) theory, an extension of a previous (MD) model, taking account of spherical aberration at the glass/water interface. This first-principles theory is formulated entirely in terms of experimentally accessible parameters (none adjustable). Careful experimental tests of the MDSA theory, undertaken at two laboratories, with very different setups, are described. A detailed description is given of the procedures employed to measure laser beam waist, local beam power at the transparent microspheres trapped by the tweezers, microsphere radius and the trap transverse stiffness, as a function of radius and height in the (inverted microscope) sample chamber. We find generally very good agreement with MDSA theory predictions, for a wide size range, from the Rayleigh domain to large radii, including the values most often employed in practice, and at different chamber heights, both with objective overfilling and underfilling. The results asymptotically approach geometrical optics in the mean over size intervals, as they should, and this already happens for size parameters not much larger than unity. MDSA predictions for the trapping threshold, position of stiffness peak, stiffness variation with height, multiple equilibrium points and `hopping' effects among them are verified. Remaining discrepancies are ascribed to focus degradation, possibly arising from objective aberrations in the infrared, not yet included in MDSA theory.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure

3D-QSARpy: Combining variable selection strategies and machine learning techniques to build QSAR models

Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) is a computer-aided technology in the field of medicinal chemistry that seeks to clarify the relationships between molecular structures and their biological activities. Such technologies allow for the acceleration of the development of new compounds by reducing the costs of drug design. This work presents 3D-QSARpy, a flexible, user-friendly and robust tool, freely available without registration, to support the generation of QSAR 3D models in an automated way. The user only needs to provide aligned molecular structures and the respective dependent variable. The current version was developed using Python with packages such as scikit-learn and includes various techniques of machine learning for regression. The diverse techniques employed by the tool is a differential compared to known methodologies, such as CoMFA and CoMSIA, because it expands the search space of possible solutions, and in this way increases the chances of obtaining relevant models. Additionally, approaches for select variables (dimension reduction) were implemented in the tool. To evaluate its potentials, experiments were carried out to compare results obtained from the proposed 3D-QSARpy tool with the results from already published works. The results demonstrated that 3D-QSARpy is extremely useful in the field due to its expressive results

Atributos químicos das fases sólida e aquosa do solo de sítios de restinga sob diferentes coberturas vegetais no estado de Sergipe.

bitstream/CPATC/19773/1/f_11_2007.pd

The Little-Hopfield model on a Random Graph

We study the Hopfield model on a random graph in scaling regimes where the average number of connections per neuron is a finite number and where the spin dynamics is governed by a synchronous execution of the microscopic update rule (Little-Hopfield model).We solve this model within replica symmetry and by using bifurcation analysis we prove that the spin-glass/paramagnetic and the retrieval/paramagnetictransition lines of our phase diagram are identical to those of sequential dynamics.The first-order retrieval/spin-glass transition line follows by direct evaluation of our observables using population dynamics. Within the accuracy of numerical precision and for sufficiently small values of the connectivity parameter we find that this line coincides with the corresponding sequential one. Comparison with simulation experiments shows excellent agreement.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Replicated Transfer Matrix Analysis of Ising Spin Models on `Small World' Lattices

We calculate equilibrium solutions for Ising spin models on `small world' lattices, which are constructed by super-imposing random and sparse Poissonian graphs with finite average connectivity c onto a one-dimensional ring. The nearest neighbour bonds along the ring are ferromagnetic, whereas those corresponding to the Poisonnian graph are allowed to be random. Our models thus generally contain quenched connectivity and bond disorder. Within the replica formalism, calculating the disorder-averaged free energy requires the diagonalization of replicated transfer matrices. In addition to developing the general replica symmetric theory, we derive phase diagrams and calculate effective field distributions for two specific cases: that of uniform sparse long-range bonds (i.e. `small world' magnets), and that of (+J/-J) random sparse long-range bonds (i.e. `small world' spin-glasses).Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX, IOP macros, eps figure

Twisted bilayer graphene: low-energy physics, electronic and optical properties

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures ---formed by stacking or growing two-dimensional (2D) crystals on top of each other--- have emerged as a new promising route to tailor and engineer the properties of 2D materials. Twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG), a simple vdW structure where the interference between two misaligned graphene lattices leads to the formation of a moir\'e pattern, is a test bed to study the effects of the interaction and misalignment between layers, key players for determining the electronic properties of these stackings. In this chapter, we present in a pedagogical way the general theory used to describe lattice mismatched and misaligned vdW structures. We apply it to the study of tBLG in the limit of small rotations and see how the coupling between the two layers leads both to an angle dependent renormalization of graphene's Fermi velocity and appearance of low-energy van Hove singularities. The optical response of this system is then addressed by computing the optical conductivity and the dispersion relation of tBLG surface plasmon-polaritons

How to determine an effective potential for a variable cosmological term

It is shown that if a variable cosmological term in the present Universe is described by a scalar field with minimal coupling to gravity and with some phenomenological self-interaction potential $V(\varphi)$, then this potential can be unambiguously determined from the following observational data: either from the behaviour of density perturbations in dustlike matter component as a function of redshift (given the Hubble constant additionally), or from the luminosity distance as a function of redshift (given the present density of dustlike matter in terms of the critical one).Comment: Latex, 7 pages, JETP Lett., in press, 199