226 research outputs found
The stoichiometry of the outer kinetochore is modulated by microtubule-proximal regulatory factors
The kinetochore is a large molecular machine that attaches chromosomes to microtubules and facilitates chromosome segregation. The kinetochore includes submodules that associate with the centromeric DNA and submodules that attach to microtubules. Additional copies of several submodules of the kinetochore are added during anaphase, including the microtubule binding module Ndc80. While the factors governing plasticity are not known, they could include regulation based on microtubuleâkinetochore interactions. We report that Fin1 localizes to the microtubule-proximal edge of the kinetochore cluster during anaphase based on single-particle averaging of super-resolution images. Fin1 is required for the assembly of normal levels of Dam1 and Ndc80 submodules. Levels of Ndc80 further depend on the Dam1 microtubule binding complex. Our results suggest the stoichiometry of outer kinetochore submodules is strongly influenced by factors at the kinetochoreâmicrotubule interface such as Fin1 and Dam1, and phosphorylation by cyclin-dependent kinase. Outer kinetochore stoichiometry is remarkably plastic and responsive to microtubule-proximal regulation
Photoassociation of sodium in a Bose-Einstein condensate
We report on the formation of ultra-cold Na molecules using single-photon
photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate. The photoassociation rate,
linewidth and light shift of the J=1, vibrational level of the
\mterm{A}{1}{+}{u} molecular bound state have been measured. We find that the
photoassociation rate constant increases linearly with intensity, even where it
is predicted that many-body effects might limit the rate. Our observations are
everywhere in good agreement with a two-body theory having no free parameters.Comment: Fixes to the figures and references. Just the normal human stupidity
type stuff, nothing Earth-shatterin
Spectral Analysis of Guanine and Cytosine Fluctuations of Mouse Genomic DNA
We study global fluctuations of the guanine and cytosine base content (GC%)
in mouse genomic DNA using spectral analyses. Power spectra S(f) of GC%
fluctuations in all nineteen autosomal and two sex chromosomes are observed to
have the universal functional form S(f) \sim 1/f^alpha (alpha \approx 1) over
several orders of magnitude in the frequency range 10^-7< f < 10^-5 cycle/base,
corresponding to long-ranging GC% correlations at distances between 100 kb and
10 Mb. S(f) for higher frequencies (f > 10^-5 cycle/base) shows a flattened
power-law function with alpha < 1 across all twenty-one chromosomes. The
substitution of about 38% interspersed repeats does not affect the functional
form of S(f), indicating that these are not predominantly responsible for the
long-ranged multi-scale GC% fluctuations in mammalian genomes. Several
biological implications of the large-scale GC% fluctuation are discussed,
including neutral evolutionary history by DNA duplication, chromosomal bands,
spatial distribution of transcription units (genes), replication timing, and
recombination hot spots.Comment: 15 pages (figures included), 2 figure
Stabilizing an Attractive Bose-Einstein Condensate by Driving a Surface Collective Mode
Bose-Einstein condensates of Li have been limited in number due to
attractive interatomic interactions. Beyond this number, the condensate
undergoes collective collapse. We study theoretically the effect of driving
low-lying collective modes of the condensate by a weak asymmetric sinusoidally
time-dependent field. We find that driving the radial breathing mode further
destabilizes the condensate, while excitation of the quadrupolar surface mode
causes the condensate to become more stable by imparting quasi-angular momentum
to it. We show that a significantly larger number of atoms may occupy the
condensate, which can then be sustained almost indefinitely. All effects are
predicted to be clearly visible in experiments and efforts are under way for
their experimental realization.Comment: 4 ReVTeX pages + 2 postscript figure
Collapsing dynamics of attractive Bose-Einstein condensates
The self-similar collapse of 3D and quasi-2D atom condensates with negative
scattering length is examined. 3D condensates are shown to blow up following
the scenario of {\it weak collapse}: The inner core of the condensate diverges
with an almost zero particle number, while its tail distribution spreads out to
large distances with a constant density profile. For this case, the 3-body
recombination arrests the collapse, but it weakly dissipates the atoms. The
confining trap then reforms the condensate at later times. In contrast, 2D
condensates undergo a {\it strong collapse}: The atoms stay mainly located at
center and recombination sequentially absorbs a significant amount of
particles.Comment: 4 pages, submitted for publicatio
Intermittent implosion and pattern formation of trapped Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive interaction
The collapsing dynamics of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with
attractive interaction are revealed to exhibit two previously unknown
phenomena. During the collapse, BEC undergoes a series of rapid implosions that
occur {\it intermittently} within a very small region. When the sign of the
interaction is suddenly switched from repulsive to attractive, e.g., by the
Feshbach resonance, density fluctuations grow to form various patterns such as
a shell structure.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX, epsf.sty, corrected loss rate
Power laws and collapsing dynamics of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interactions
The critical behavior of collective modes and the collapsing dynamics of
trapped Bose-Einstein condensates with attractive interactions are studied
analytically and numerically. The time scales of these dynamics both below and
above the critical point of the collapse are found to obey power laws with a
single parameter of N/N_c - 1, where N is the number of condensate atoms and
N_c is the critical number. The collapsing condensate eventually undergoes
rapid implosion, which occurs several times intermittently, and then the
implosion turns to an explosion. The release energy of the explosion is found
to be proportional to the square of the interaction strength, inversely
proportional to the three-body recombination rate, and independent of the
number of condensate atoms and the trap frequency.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, 7 figures, epsf.sty, corrected loss rate
Model study on the photoassociation of a pair of trapped atoms into an ultralong-range molecule
Using the method of quantum-defect theory, we calculate the ultralong-range
molecular vibrational states near the dissociation threshold of a diatomic
molecular potential which asymptotically varies as . The properties of
these states are of considerable interest as they can be formed by
photoassociation (PA) of two ground state atoms. The Franck-Condon overlap
integrals between the harmonically trapped atom-pair states and the
ultralong-range molecular vibrational states are estimated and compared with
their values for a pair of untrapped free atoms in the low-energy scattering
state. We find that the binding between a pair of ground-state atoms by a
harmonic trap has significant effect on the Franck-Condon integrals and thus
can be used to influence PA. Trap-induced binding between two ground-state
atoms may facilitate coherent PA dynamics between the two atoms and the
photoassociated diatomic molecule.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. A (September, 2003
Matter-Wave Solitons in an F=1 Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate
Following our previous work [J. Ieda, T. Miyakawa, M. Wadati,
cond-mat/0404569] on a novel integrable model describing soliton dynamics of an
F=1 spinor Bose--Einstein condensate, we discuss in detail the properties of
the multi-component system with spin-exchange interactions. The exact multiple
bright soliton solutions are obtained for the system where the mean-field
interaction is attractive (c_0 < 0) and the spin-exchange interaction is
ferromagnetic (c_2 < 0). A complete classification of the one-soliton solution
with respect to the spin states and an explicit formula of the two-soliton
solution are presented. For solitons in polar state, there exists a variety of
different shaped solutions including twin peaks. We show that a "singlet pair"
density can be used to distinguish those energetically degenerate solitons. We
also analyze collisional effects between solitons in the same or different spin
state(s) by computing the asymptotic forms of their initial and final states.
The result reveals that it is possible to manipulate the spin dynamics by
controlling the parameters of colliding solitons.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.73 No.11
(2004
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