Sensorimotor maps can be dynamically calibrated using an adaptive-filter model of the cerebellum

Substantial experimental evidence suggests the cerebellum is involved in calibrating sensorimotor maps. Consistent with this involvement is the well-known, but little understood, massive cerebellar projection to maps in the superior colliculus. Map calibration would be a significant new role for the cerebellum given the ubiquity of map representations in the brain, but how it could perform such a task is unclear. Here we investigated a dynamic method for map calibration, based on electrophysiological recordings from the superior colliculus, that used a standard adaptive-filter cerebellar model. The method proved effective for complex distortions of both unimodal and bimodal maps, and also for predictive map-based tracking of moving targets. These results provide the first computational evidence for a novel role for the cerebellum in dynamic sensorimotor map calibration, of potential importance for coordinate alignment during ongoing motor control, and for map calibration in future biomimetic systems. This computational evidence also provides testable experimental predictions concerning the role of the connections between cerebellum and superior colliculus in previously observed dynamic coordinate transformations

Similarity Renormalization Group Evolution of Many-Body Forces in a One-Dimensional Model

A one-dimensional system of bosons with short-range repulsion and mid-range attraction is used as a laboratory to explore the evolution of many-body forces by the Similarity Renormalization Group (SRG). The free-space SRG is implemented for few-body systems in a symmetrized harmonic oscillator basis using a recursive construction analogous to no-core shell model implementations. This approach, which can be directly generalized to three-dimensional nuclei, is fully unitary up to induced A-body forces when applied with an A-particle basis (e.g., A-body bound-state energies are exactly preserved). The oscillator matrix elements for a given A can then be used in larger systems. Errors from omitted induced many-body forces show a hierarchy of decreasing contribution to binding energies. An analysis of individual contributions to the growth of many-body forces demonstrates such a hierarchy and provides an understanding of its origins.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, Changed section on analysis of three-body runnin

Relaxation rates and collision integrals for Bose-Einstein condensates

Near equilibrium, the rate of relaxation to equilibrium and the transport properties of excitations (bogolons) in a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) are determined by three collision integrals, $\mathcal{G}^{12}$, $\mathcal{G}^{22}$, and $\mathcal{G}^{31}$. All three collision integrals conserve momentum and energy during bogolon collisions, but only $\mathcal{G}^{22}$ conserves bogolon number. Previous works have considered the contribution of only two collision integrals, $\mathcal{G}^{22}$ and $\mathcal{G}^{12}$. In this work, we show that the third collision integral $\mathcal{G}^{31}$ makes a significant contribution to the bogolon number relaxation rate and needs to be retained when computing relaxation properties of the BEC. We provide values of relaxation rates in a form that can be applied to a variety of dilute Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Journal of Low Temperature Physics 7/201

Vortex Reconnection as the Dissipative Scattering of Dipoles

We propose a phenomenological model of vortex tube reconnection at high Reynolds numbers. The basic picture is that squeezed vortex lines, formed by stretching in the region of closest approach between filaments, interact like dipoles (monopole-antimonopole pairs) of a confining electrostatic theory. The probability of dipole creation is found from a canonical ensemble spanned by foldings of the vortex tubes, with temperature parameter estimated from the typical energy variation taking place in the reconnection process. Vortex line reshuffling by viscous diffusion is described in terms of directional transitions of the dipoles. The model is used to fit with reasonable accuracy experimental data established long ago on the symmetric collision of vortex rings. We also study along similar lines the asymmetric case, related to the reconnection of non-parallel vortex tubes.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figure

Two-flow magnetohydrodynamical jets around young stellar objects

We present the first-ever simulations of non-ideal magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) stellar winds coupled with disc-driven jets where the resistive and viscous accretion disc is self-consistently described. The transmagnetosonic, collimated MHD outflows are investigated numerically using the VAC code. Our simulations show that the inner outflow is accelerated from the central object hot corona thanks to both the thermal pressure and the Lorentz force. In our framework, the thermal acceleration is sustained by the heating produced by the dissipated magnetic energy due to the turbulence. Conversely, the outflow launched from the resistive accretion disc is mainly accelerated by the magneto-centrifugal force. We also show that when a dense inner stellar wind occurs, the resulting disc-driven jet have a different structure, namely a magnetic structure where poloidal magnetic field lines are more inclined because of the pressure caused by the stellar wind. This modification leads to both an enhanced mass ejection rate in the disc-driven jet and a larger radial extension which is in better agreement with the observations besides being more consistent.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science. Referred proceeding of the fifth Mont Stromlo Symposium Dec. 1-8 2006, Canberra, Australia. 5 pages, 3 figures. For high resolution version of the paper, please click here http://www.apc.univ-paris7.fr/~fcasse/publications.htm

The symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in PuCoGa5_5

The symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in single-crystalline PuCoGa$_5$ ($T_{\rm c} = 18.5$ K) is investigated via zero- and transverse- field muon spin relaxation ($\mu$SR) measurements, probing the possible existence of orbital and/or spin moments (time reversal-symmetry violation TRV) associated with the superconducting phase and the in-plane magnetic-field penetration depth $\lambda(T)$ in the mixed state, respectively. We find no evidence for TRV, and show that the superfluid density, or alternatively, $\Delta\lambda(T) = \lambda(T) - \lambda(0)$, are $\propto T$ for $T/T_{\rm c} \leq 0.5$. Taken together these measurements are consistent with an even-parity (pseudo-spin singlet), d-wave pairing state.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Instabilities in a Two-Component, Species Conserving Condensate

We consider a system of two species of bosons of equal mass, with interactions $U^{a}(|x|)$ and $U^{x}(|x|)$ for bosons of the same and different species respectively. We present a rigorous proof -- valid when the Hamiltonian does not include a species switching term -- showing that, when $U^{x}(|x|)>U^{a}(|x|)$, the ground state is fully "polarized" (consists of atoms of one kind only). In the unpolarized phase the low energy excitation spectrum corresponds to two linearly dispersing modes that are even a nd odd under species exchange. The polarization instability is signaled by the vani shing of the velocity of the odd modes.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Constraints on the pMSSM from LAT Observations of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies

We examine the ability for the Large Area Telescope (LAT) to constrain Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) dark matter through a combined analysis of Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. We examine the Lightest Supersymmetric Particles (LSPs) for a set of ~71k experimentally valid supersymmetric models derived from the phenomenological-MSSM (pMSSM). We find that none of these models can be excluded at 95% confidence by the current analysis; nevertheless, many lie within the predicted reach of future LAT analyses. With two years of data, we find that the LAT is currently most sensitive to light LSPs (m_LSP < 50 GeV) annihilating into tau-pairs and heavier LSPs annihilating into b-bbar. Additionally, we find that future LAT analyses will be able to probe some LSPs that form a sub-dominant component of dark matter. We directly compare the LAT results to direct detection experiments and show the complementarity of these search methods.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, submitted to JCA

The microtubule-based motor Kar3 and plus end–binding protein Bim1 provide structural support for the anaphase spindle

In budding yeast, the mitotic spindle is comprised of 32 kinetochore microtubules (kMTs) and ∼8 interpolar MTs (ipMTs). Upon anaphase onset, kMTs shorten to the pole, whereas ipMTs increase in length. Overlapping MTs are responsible for the maintenance of spindle integrity during anaphase. To dissect the requirements for anaphase spindle stability, we introduced a conditionally functional dicentric chromosome into yeast. When centromeres from the same sister chromatid attach to opposite poles, anaphase spindle elongation is delayed and a DNA breakage-fusion-bridge cycle ensues that is dependent on DNA repair proteins. We find that cell survival after dicentric chromosome activation requires the MT-binding proteins Kar3p, Bim1p, and Ase1p. In their absence, anaphase spindles are prone to collapse and buckle in the presence of a dicentric chromosome. Our analysis reveals the importance of Bim1p in maintaining a stable ipMT overlap zone by promoting polymerization of ipMTs during anaphase, whereas Kar3p contributes to spindle stability by cross-linking spindle MTs

Superconductivity and crystalline electric field effects in the filled skutterudite series Pr(Os1−x_{1-x}Rux_x)4_4Sb12_{12}

X-ray powder diffraction, magnetic susceptibility $\chi(T)$, and electrical resistivity $\rho(T)$ measurements were made on single crystals of the filled skutterudite series Pr(Os$_{1-x}$Ru$_x$)$_4$Sb$_{12}$. One end of the series ($x = 0$) is a heavy fermion superconductor with a superconducting critical temperature $T_{c} = 1.85$ K, while the other end ($x = 1$) is a conventional superconductor with $T_{c} \approx 1$ K. The lattice constant $a$ decreases approximately linearly with increasing Ru concentration $x$. As Ru (Os) is substituted for Os (Ru), $T_{c}$ decreases nearly linearly with substituent concentration and exhibits a minimum with a value of $T_{c} = 0.75$ K at $x = 0.6$, suggesting that the two types of superconductivity compete with one another. Crystalline electric field (CEF) effects in $\chi_\mathrm{dc}(T)$ and $\rho(T)$ due to the splitting of the Pr$^{3+}$ nine-fold degenerate Hund's rule $J = 4$ multiplet are observed throughout the series, with the splitting between the ground state and the first excited state increasing monotonically as $x$ increases. The fits to the $\chi_\mathrm{dc}(T)$ and $\rho(T)$ data are consistent with a $\Gamma_{3}$ doublet ground state for all values of x, although reasonable fits can be obtained for a $\Gamma_{1}$ ground state for $x$ values near the end member compounds ($x = 0$ or $x = 1$).Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.