Topological Insulators and Metals in Atomic Optical Lattices

We propose the realization of topological quantum states with cold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. We discuss an experimental setup that generates a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice in the presence of a light-induced periodic vector potential, which represents a realization of the Haldane model with cold atoms. We determine theoretically the conditions necessary for observing the topological states and show that two of the key conditions are: 1) the realization of sharp boundaries and 2) the minimization of any smoothly varying component of the confining potential. We argue that, unlike their condensed matter counterparts, cold atom topological quantum states can be i) "seen", by mapping out the characteristic chiral edge states, and ii) controlled, by controlling the periodic vector potential and the properties of the confining potential.Comment: 4+ pages, 5 color figure

Field evaluation of biolarvicides in Surat city, India

Background & objectives : Two bacterial larvicide (bio-larvicide) formulations— Bacticide® and VectoBac® containing viable endospores and delta endotoxin of Bacillus thuringiensis var israelensisH-14 were evaluated in 2001 for their mosquito larvicidal efficacy under the operational conditions ofurban malaria control programme in Surat city, India.Methods : Larvicides were applied at the recommended dose in selected breeding habitats of Anopheles(An. stephensi), Aedes (Ae. aegypti) and Culex (Cx. quinquefasciatus) and reductions in thedensities of III and IV instars were compared with that of untreated matched controls.Results : At the construction sites in cemented tanks/chambers VectoBac produced reduction in thedensity of III and IV instar larvae of An. stephensi (98–100%) and Ae. aegypti (100%) in the first weekof application whereas Bacticide produced 71–100% reduction in An. stephensi and 100% in Ae.aegypti. Re-application of VectoBac on Day 10 caused better control up to Day 20 when comparedwith Bacticide. In stagnant water pools, VectoBac produced 27.6–85.3% reduction in the larvae of An.subpictus and 18.5–83.8% in those of Cx. quinquefasciatus whereas Bacticide produced 23.3–30.3%and 39–97.2% reduction in An. subpictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus larval densities in the first weekpost application, respectively. Bacticide application gave better impact on Cx. quinquefasciatuslarvae in the second week after re-application as compared to VectoBac. In storm water drains, Vecto-Bac caused respectively 6.2–100% and 6.4–97.6% reduction in An. subpictus and Cx. quinquefasciatuslarvae in the first week of application whereas Bacticide produced 100% and 13.3–98.8% reductionin An. subpictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus larval densities, respectively.Interpretation & conclusion : Both the formulations were equally effective on An. subpictus and Cx.quinquefasciatus larvae after a second application. The results showed that application of thesebiolarvicides would be required at 7–10 day intervals. The health workers engaged in the applicationof biolarvicides reported a better ease of handling and application of the liquid formulation (VectoBac)than the wettable powder formulation (Bacticide)

Hall of Mirrors Scattering from an Impurity in a Quantum Wire

This paper develops a scattering theory to examine how point impurities affect transport through quantum wires. While some of our new results apply specifically to hard-walled wires, others--for example, an effective optical theorem for two-dimensional waveguides--are more general. We apply the method of images to the hard-walled guide, explicitly showing how scattering from an impurity affects the wire's conductance. We express the effective cross section of a confined scatterer entirely in terms of the empty waveguide's Green's function, suggesting a way in which to use semiclassical methods to understand transport properties of smooth wires. In addition to predicting some new phenomena, our approach provides a simple physical picture for previously observed effects such as conductance dips and confinement-induced resonances.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review B. Minor additions to text, added reference

Front Propagation of Spatio-temporal Chaos

We study the dynamics of the front separating a spatio-temporally chaotic region from a stable steady region using a simple model applicable to periodically forced systems. In particular, we investigate both the coarsening of the front induced by the inherent `noise' of the chaotic region, and the long wavelength dynamics causing the front to develop cusps

AUV location detection in an enclosed environment

Normally, experiments are done in a controlled environment so that different systems under test can be isolated. The added benefit is that the sensors used are a lot more accurate under controlled conditions. In the experiments perform on underwater robot localization, this was not the case. The sonar localization equipment use perform flawlessly in open water as it was designed to do, but poorly in an indoor pool. It is believed that the sonar had too much power causing too many reflections in the enclosed space. Unfortunately the experiments are better done in a pool so as to control the elements under test. This paper is the search to improve the equipment\u27s accuracy in an enclosed environment by attempting to reduce the power of the sonar via mechanical means

Minimizing the Cost of Team Exploration

A group of mobile agents is given a task to explore an edge-weighted graph $G$, i.e., every vertex of $G$ has to be visited by at least one agent. There is no centralized unit to coordinate their actions, but they can freely communicate with each other. The goal is to construct a deterministic strategy which allows agents to complete their task optimally. In this paper we are interested in a cost-optimal strategy, where the cost is understood as the total distance traversed by agents coupled with the cost of invoking them. Two graph classes are analyzed, rings and trees, in the off-line and on-line setting, i.e., when a structure of a graph is known and not known to agents in advance. We present algorithms that compute the optimal solutions for a given ring and tree of order $n$, in $O(n)$ time units. For rings in the on-line setting, we give the $2$-competitive algorithm and prove the lower bound of $3/2$ for the competitive ratio for any on-line strategy. For every strategy for trees in the on-line setting, we prove the competitive ratio to be no less than $2$, which can be achieved by the $DFS$ algorithm.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, 5 pseudo-code

Matter Wave Scattering and Guiding by Atomic Arrays

We investigate the possibility that linear arrays of atoms can guide matter waves, much as fiber optics guide light. We model the atomic line as a quasi-1D array of s wave point scatterers embedded in 2D. Our theoretical study reveals how matter wave guiding arises from the interplay of scattering phenomena with bands and conduction along the array. We discuss the conditions under which a straight or curved array of atoms can guide a beam focused at one end of the array.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

The mononuclear metal center of type-I dihydroorotase from aquifex aeolicus

Abstract Background Dihydroorotase (DHO) is a zinc metalloenzyme, although the number of active site zinc ions has been controversial. E. coli DHO was initially thought to have a mononuclear metal center, but the subsequent X-ray structure clearly showed two zinc ions, α and β, at the catalytic site. Aquifex aeolicus DHO, is a dodecamer comprised of six DHO and six aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATC) subunits. The isolated DHO monomer, which lacks catalytic activity, has an intact α-site and conserved β-site ligands, but the geometry of the second metal binding site is completely disrupted. However, the putative β-site is restored when the complex with ATC is formed and DHO activity is regained. Nevertheless, the X-ray structure of the complex revealed a single zinc ion at the active site. The structure of DHO from the pathogenic organism, S. aureus showed that it also has a single active site metal ion. Results Zinc analysis showed that the enzyme has one zinc/DHO subunit and the addition of excess metal ion did not stimulate catalytic activity, nor alter the kinetic parameters. The metal free apoenzyme was inactive, but the full activity was restored upon the addition of one equivalent of Zn2+ or Co2+. Moreover, deletion of the β-site by replacing the His180 and His232 with alanine had no effect on catalysis in the presence or absence of excess zinc. The 2.2 Å structure of the double mutant confirmed that the β-site was eliminated but that the active site remained otherwise intact. Conclusions Thus, kinetically competent A. aeolicus DHO has a mononuclear metal center. In contrast, elimination of the putative second metal binding site in amidohydrolyases with a binuclear metal center, resulted in the abolition of catalytic activity. The number of active site metal ions may be a consideration in the design of inhibitors that selectively target either the mononuclear or binuclear enzymes

Quantum circuits for spin and flavor degrees of freedom of quarks forming nucleons

We discuss the quantum-circuit realization of the state of a nucleon in the scope of simple symmetry groups. Explicit algorithms are presented for the preparation of the state of a neutron or a proton as resulting from the composition of their quark constituents. We estimate the computational resources required for such a simulation and design a photonic network for its implementation. Moreover, we highlight that current work on three-body interactions in lattices of interacting qubits, combined with the measurement-based paradigm for quantum information processing, may also be suitable for the implementation of these nucleonic spin states.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4; Accepted for publication in Quantum Information Processin