8,001 research outputs found
Electron Fabry-Perot interferometer with two entangled magnetic impurities
We consider a one-dimensional (1D) wire along which single conduction
electrons can propagate in the presence of two spin-1/2 magnetic impurities.
The electron may be scattered by each impurity via a contact-exchange
interaction and thus a spin-flip generally occurs at each scattering event.
Adopting a quantum waveguide theory approach, we derive the stationary states
of the system at all orders in the electron-impurity exchange coupling
constant. This allows us to investigate electron transmission for arbitrary
initial states of the two impurity spins. We show that for suitable electron
wave vectors, the triplet and singlet maximally entangled spin states of the
impurities can respectively largely inhibit the electron transport or make the
wire completely transparent for any electron spin state. In the latter case, a
resonance condition can always be found, representing an anomalous behaviour
compared to typical decoherence induced by magnetic impurities. We provide an
explanation for these phenomena in terms of the Hamiltonian symmetries.
Finally, a scheme to generate maximally entangled spin states of the two
impurities via electron scattering is proposed.Comment: 19 page
Fabrication of antenna-coupled KID array for Cosmic Microwave Background detection
Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) have become an attractive alternative to
traditional bolometers in the sub-mm and mm observing community due to their
innate frequency multiplexing capabilities and simple lithographic processes.
These advantages make KIDs a viable option for the detectors
needed for the upcoming Cosmic Microwave Background - Stage 4 (CMB-S4)
experiment. We have fabricated antenna-coupled MKID array in the 150GHz band
optimized for CMB detection. Our design uses a twin slot antenna coupled to
inverted microstrip made from a superconducting Nb/Al bilayer and SiN,
which is then coupled to an Al KID grown on high resistivity Si. We present the
fabrication process and measurements of SiN microstrip resonators.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Journal of Low Temperature Physic
Transverse self-modulation of ultra-relativistic lepton beams in the plasma wakefield accelerator
The transverse self-modulation of ultra-relativistic, long lepton bunches in
high-density plasmas is explored through full-scale particle-in-cell
simulations. We demonstrate that long SLAC-type electron and positron bunches
can become strongly self-modulated over centimeter distances, leading to wake
excitation in the blowout regime with accelerating fields in excess of 20 GV/m.
We show that particles energy variations exceeding 10 GeV can occur in
meter-long plasmas. We find that the self-modulation of positively and
negatively charged bunches differ when the blowout is reached. Seeding the
self-modulation instability suppresses the competing hosing instability. This
work reveals that a proof-of-principle experiment to test the physics of bunch
self-modulation can be performed with available lepton bunches and with
existing experimental apparatus and diagnostics.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Physics of Plasma
All-optical trapping and acceleration of heavy particles
A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles
in vacuum is proposed, in which two counterpropagating lasers with variable
frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, thus
allowing for trapping and acceleration of heavy particles, such as ions or
muons. Fine control over the energy distribution and the total charge of the
beam is obtained via tuning of the frequency variation. The acceleration scheme
is described with a one-dimensional theory, providing the general conditions
for trapping and scaling laws for the relevant features of the particle beam.
Two-dimensional, electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations confirm the
validity and the robustness of the physical mechanism.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to appear in New Journal of Physic
Effect of Static Disorder in an Electron Fabry-Perot Interferometer with Two Quantum Scattering Centers
In a recent paper -- F. Ciccarello \emph{et al.}, New J. Phys. \textbf{8},
214 (2006) -- we have demonstrated that the electron transmission properties of
a one-dimensional (1D) wire with two identical embedded spin-1/2 impurities can
be significantly affected by entanglement between the spins of the scattering
centers. Such effect is of particular interest in the control of transmission
of quantum information in nanostructures and can be used as a detection scheme
of maximally entangled states of two localized spins. In this letter, we relax
the constraint that the two magnetic impurities are equal and investigate how
the main results presented in the above paper are affected by a static disorder
in the exchange coupling constants of the impurities. Good robustness against
deviation from impurity symmetry is found for both the entanglement dependent
transmission and the maximally entangled states generation scheme.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Entanglement Controlled Single-Electron Transmittivity
We consider a system consisting of single electrons moving along a 1D wire in
the presence of two magnetic impurities. Such system shows strong analogies
with a Fabry - Perot interferometer in which the impurities play the role of
two mirrors with a quantum degree of freedom: the spin. We have analysed the
electron transmittivity of the wire in the presence of entanglement between the
impurity spins. The main result of our analysis is that, for suitable values of
the electron momentum, there are two maximally entangled state of the impurity
spins the first of which makes the wire transparent whatever the electron spin
state while the other strongly inhibits the electron transmittivity. Such
predicted striking effect is experimentally observable with present day
technology.Comment: Published version (6 figures
Preconception telomere length as a novel maternal biomarker to assess the risk of spina bifida in the offspring
Background: Periconception interactions between maternal conditions and environmental and genetic factors are involved in the pathogenesis and prevention of neural tube defects (NTD), such as spina bifida. These factors have in common that they can impair the oxidative pathway, resulting in excessive (chronic) oxidative stress and inflammation. Methods: Review of the literature concerning underlying mechanisms and biomarkers of aging particularly during reproduction. A number of molecular markers for biological aging have been identified, including telomere length (TL). Excessive telomere shortening is an index of senescence, causes genomic instability and is associated with a higher risk of age-related diseases. Furthermore, TL shortening is associated with the similar environmental and lifestyle exposures associated with NTD risk. Results: Embryonic mice deficient in the telomerase gene show shorter TL and failure of closure of the neural tube as the main defect, suggesting that this developmental process is among the most sensitive to telomere loss and chromosomal instability. Conclusions: From this background, we hypothesize that preconceptional long term exposure to harmful environmental and lifestyle risk factors accelerates a woman's aging process, which can be measured
ExprAlign - the identification of ESTs in non-model species by alignment of cDNA microarray expression profiles
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sequence identification of ESTs from non-model species offers distinct challenges particularly when these species have duplicated genomes and when they are phylogenetically distant from sequenced model organisms. For the common carp, an environmental model of aquacultural interest, large numbers of ESTs remained unidentified using BLAST sequence alignment. We have used the expression profiles from large-scale microarray experiments to suggest gene identities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Expression profiles from ~700 cDNA microarrays describing responses of 7 major tissues to multiple environmental stressors were used to define a co-expression landscape. This was based on the Pearsons correlation coefficient relating each gene with all other genes, from which a network description provided clusters of highly correlated genes as 'mountains'. We show that these contain genes with known identities and genes with unknown identities, and that the correlation constitutes evidence of identity in the latter. This procedure has suggested identities to 522 of 2701 unknown carp ESTs sequences. We also discriminate several common carp genes and gene isoforms that were not discriminated by BLAST sequence alignment alone. Precision in identification was substantially improved by use of data from multiple tissues and treatments.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The detailed analysis of co-expression landscapes is a sensitive technique for suggesting an identity for the large number of BLAST unidentified cDNAs generated in EST projects. It is capable of detecting even subtle changes in expression profiles, and thereby of distinguishing genes with a common BLAST identity into different identities. It benefits from the use of multiple treatments or contrasts, and from the large-scale microarray data.</p
- …