868 research outputs found
Spin injection and perpendicular spin transport in graphite nanostructures
Organic and carbon-based materials are attractive for spintronics because
their small spin-orbit coupling and low hyperfine interaction is expected to
give rise to large spin-relaxation times. However, the corresponding
spin-relaxation length is not necessarily large when transport is via weakly
interacting molecular orbitals. Here we use graphite as a model system and
study spin transport in the direction perpendicular to the weakly bonded
graphene sheets. We achieve injection of highly (75%) spin-polarized electrons
into graphite nanostructures of 300-500 nm across and up to 17 nm thick, and
observe transport without any measurable loss of spin information. Direct
visualization of local spin transport in graphite-based spin-valve sandwiches
also shows spatially uniform and near-unity transmission for electrons at 1.8
eV above the Fermi level
Two path transport measurements on a triple quantum dot
We present an advanced lateral triple quantum dot made by local anodic
oxidation. Three dots are coupled in a starlike geometry with one lead attached
to each dot thus allowing for multiple path transport measurements with two
dots per path. In addition charge detection is implemented using a quantum
point contact. Both in charge measurements as well as in transport we observe
clear signatures of states from each dot. Resonances of two dots can be
established allowing for serial transport via the corresponding path. Quadruple
points with all three dots in resonance are prepared for different electron
numbers and analyzed concerning the interplay of the simultaneously measured
transport along both paths.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Distribution of genetic diversity in wild European populations of prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola): implications for plant genetic resources management
Genetic variation in Lactuca serriola, the closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce, was studied across Europe from the Czech Republic to the United Kingdom, using three molecular marker systems, simple sequence repeat (SSR, microsatellites), AFLP and nucleotide-binding site (NBS) profiling. The ‘functional’ marker system NBS profiling, targeting disease resistance genes of the NBS/LRR family, did not show marked differences in genetic diversity parameters to the other systems. The autogamy of the species resulted in low observed heterozygosity and high population differentiation. Intra-population variation ranged from complete homogeneity to nearly complete heterogeneity. The highest genetic diversity was found in central Europe. The SSR results were compared to SSR variation screened earlier in the lettuce collection of the Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN). In the UK, practically only a single SSR genotype was found. This genotype together with a few other common SSR genotypes comprised a large part of the plants sampled on the continent. Among the ten most frequent SSR genotypes observed, eight were already present in the CGN collection. Overall, the CGN collection appears to already have a fair representation of genetic variation from NW Europe. The results are discussed in relation to sampling strategies for improving genebank collections of crop wild relatives
Modeling association between DNA copy number and gene expression with constrained piecewise linear regression splines
DNA copy number and mRNA expression are widely used data types in cancer
studies, which combined provide more insight than separately. Whereas in
existing literature the form of the relationship between these two types of
markers is fixed a priori, in this paper we model their association. We employ
piecewise linear regression splines (PLRS), which combine good interpretation
with sufficient flexibility to identify any plausible type of relationship. The
specification of the model leads to estimation and model selection in a
constrained, nonstandard setting. We provide methodology for testing the effect
of DNA on mRNA and choosing the appropriate model. Furthermore, we present a
novel approach to obtain reliable confidence bands for constrained PLRS, which
incorporates model uncertainty. The procedures are applied to colorectal and
breast cancer data. Common assumptions are found to be potentially misleading
for biologically relevant genes. More flexible models may bring more insight in
the interaction between the two markers.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/12-AOAS605 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
Non-Markovian dynamics of double quantum dot charge qubits due to acoustic phonons
We investigate the dynamics of a double quantum dot charge qubit which is
coupled to piezoelectric acoustic phonons, appropriate for GaAs
heterostructures. At low temperatures, the phonon bath induces a non-Markovian
dynamical behavior of the oscillations between the two charge states of the
double quantum dot. Upon applying the numerically exact quasiadiabatic
propagator path-integral scheme, the reduced density matrix of the charge qubit
is calculated, thereby avoiding the Born-Markov approximation. This allows a
systematic study of the dependence of the Q-factor on the lattice temperature,
on the size of the quantum dots, as well as on the interdot coupling. We
calculate the Q-factor for a recently realized experimental setup and find that
it is two orders of magnitudes larger than the measured value, indicating that
the decoherence due to phonons is a subordinate mechanism.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, replaced with the version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Hydrogen Fluoride in High-Mass Star-forming Regions
Hydrogen fluoride has been established to be an excellent tracer of molecular
hydrogen in diffuse clouds. In denser environments, however, the HF abundance
has been shown to be approximately two orders of magnitude lower. We present
Herschel/HIFI observations of HF J=1-0 toward two high-mass star formation
sites, NGC6334 I and AFGL 2591. In NGC6334 I the HF line is seen in absorption
in foreground clouds and the source itself, while in AFGL 2591 HF is partially
in emission. We find an HF abundance with respect to H2 of 1.5e-8 in the
diffuse foreground clouds, whereas in the denser parts of NGC6334 I, we derive
a lower limit on the HF abundance of 5e-10. Lower HF abundances in dense clouds
are most likely caused by freeze out of HF molecules onto dust grains in
high-density gas. In AFGL 2591, the view of the hot core is obstructed by
absorption in the massive outflow, in which HF is also very abundant 3.6e-8)
due to the desorption by sputtering. These observations provide further
evidence that the chemistry of interstellar fluorine is controlled by freeze
out onto gas grains.Comment: accepted in Ap
Extreme events in the European renewable power system:Validation of a modeling framework to estimate renewable electricity production and demand from meteorological data
With the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the coming decades will see a transition of Europe's power system, currently mainly based on fossil fuels towards a higher share of renewable sources. Increasing effects of fluctuations in electricity production and demand as a result of meteorological variability might cause compound events with unforeseen impacts. We constructed and validated a modeling framework to examine such extreme impact events on the European power system. This framework includes six modules: i) a reservoir hydropower inflow and ii) dispatch module; iii) a run-of-river hydropower production module; iv) a wind energy production module; v) a photovoltaic solar energy production model; and vi) an electricity demand module. Based on ERA5 reanalysis input data and present-day capacity distributions, we computed electricity production and demand for a set of European countries in the period 2015–2021 and compared results to observed data. The model captures the variability and extremes of wind, photovoltaic and run-of-river production well, with correlations between modelled and observed data for most countries of more than 0.87, 0.68 and 0.65 respectively. The hydropower dispatch module also functions well, with correlations up to 0.82, but struggles to capture reservoir inflows and operating procedures of some countries. A case study into the meteorological drivers of extreme events in Sweden and Spain showed that the meteorological conditions during extreme events selected by the model and extracted from observational data are similar, giving confidence in the application of the modeling framework for (future changes in) extreme event analysis.</p
Entanglement between charge qubits induced by a common dissipative environment
We study entanglement generation between two charge qubits due to the strong
coupling with a common bosonic environment (Ohmic bath). The coupling to the
boson bath is a source of both quantum noise (leading to decoherence) and an
indirect interaction between qubits. As a result, two effects compete as a
function of the coupling strength with the bath: entanglement generation and
charge localization induced by the bath. These two competing effects lead to a
non-monotonic behavior of the concurrence as a function of the coupling
strength with the bath. As an application, we present results for charge qubits
based on double quantum dots.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Spin-polarized transport through weakly coupled double quantum dots in the Coulomb-blockade regime
We analyze cotunneling transport through two quantum dots in series weakly
coupled to external ferromagnetic leads. In the Coulomb blockade regime the
electric current flows due to third-order tunneling, while the second-order
single-barrier processes have indirect impact on the current by changing the
occupation probabilities of the double dot system. We predict a zero-bias
maximum in the differential conductance, whose magnitude is conditioned by the
value of the inter-dot Coulomb interaction. This maximum is present in both
magnetic configurations of the system and results from asymmetry in cotunneling
through different virtual states. Furthermore, we show that tunnel
magnetoresistance exhibits a distinctively different behavior depending on
temperature, being rather independent of the value of inter-dot correlation.
Moreover, we find negative TMR in some range of the bias voltage.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.
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