Power calculation for gravitational radiation: oversimplification and the importance of time scale

A simplified formula for gravitational-radiation power is examined. It is shown to give completely erroneous answers in three situations, making it useless even for rough estimates. It is emphasized that short timescales, as well as fast speeds, make classical approximations to relativistic calculations untenable.Comment: Three pages, no figures, accepted for publication in Astronomische Nachrichte

Parametric down-conversion from a wave-equations approach: geometry and absolute brightness

Using the approach of coupled wave equations, we consider spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) in the narrow-band regime and its relationship to classical nonlinear processes such as sum-frequency generation. We find simple expressions in terms of mode overlap integrals for the absolute pair production rate into single spatial modes, and simple relationships between the efficiencies of the classical and quantum processes. The results, obtained with Green function techniques, are not specific to any geometry or nonlinear crystal. The theory is applied to both degenerate and non-degenerate SPDC. We also find a time-domain expression for the correlation function between filtered signal and idler fields.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

Mesoscopic continuous and discrete channels for quantum information transfer

We study the possibility of realizing perfect quantum state transfer in mesoscopic devices. We discuss the case of the Fano-Anderson model extended to two impurities. For a channel with an infinite number of degrees of freedom, we obtain coherent behavior in the case of strong coupling or in weak coupling off-resonance. For a finite number of degrees of freedom, coherent behavior is associated to weak coupling and resonance conditions

Properties of short-range and long-range correlation energy density functionals from electron-electron coalescence

The combination of density functional theory with other approaches to the many-electron problem through the separation of the electron-electron interaction into a short-range and a long-range contribution is a promising method, which is raising more and more interest in recent years. In this work some properties of the corresponding correlation energy functionals are derived by studying the electron-electron coalescence condition for a modified (long-range-only) interaction. A general relation for the on-top (zero electron-electron distance) pair density is derived, and its usefulness is discussed with some examples. For the special case of the uniform electron gas, a simple parameterization of the on-top pair density for a long-range only interaction is presented and supported by calculations within the ``extended Overhauser model''. The results of this work can be used to build self-interaction corrected short-range correlation energy functionals.Comment: revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Quality and quality changes during refrigerated storage in diploid and triploid oysters from Orbetello Lagoon (Italy)

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical and nutritional characteristics and quality decay during storage of diploid and triploid Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) reared in Orbetello Lagoon (Grosseto, Italy), a site subject to high variations in environmental parameters. Specimens of diploid (D) and triploid (T) oysters of commercial size and similar age were sampled from an oyster farm (Soc. Coop. GIGAS) in autumn 2005 and in winter, spring and summer 2006. At each sampling date, D (n=60) and T (n=60) oysters were individually weighed, divided into 4 lots, stored under refrigerated conditions (+4°C), and analysed at different times after harvest (1, 3, 7 and 10 days). Oysters were individually weighed again at the different times, measured for maximum length, width and thickness, and opened. The weight of the soft part and shell and the volume of intervalvar liquor were recorded. pH of soft part, gill and mantle colour (CIE L*, a* and b*, Minolta Chromameter) and chemical characteris..

Energy Density Functionals From the Strong-Coupling Limit Applied to the Anions of the He Isoelectronic Series

Anions and radicals are important for many applications including environmental chemistry, semiconductors, and charge transfer, but are poorly described by the available approximate energy density functionals. Here we test an approximate exchange-correlation functional based on the exact strong-coupling limit of the Hohenberg-Kohn functional on the prototypical case of the He isoelectronic series with varying nuclear charge $Z<2$, which includes weakly bound negative ions and a quantum phase transition at a critical value of $Z$, representing a big challenge for density functional theory. We use accurate wavefunction calculations to validate our results, comparing energies and Kohn-Sham potentials, thus also providing useful reference data close to and at the quantum phase transition. We show that our functional is able to bind H$^-$ and to capture in general the physics of loosely bound anions, with a tendency to strongly overbind that can be proven mathematically. We also include corrections based on the uniform electron gas which improve the results.Comment: Accepted for the JCP Special Topic Issue "Advances in DFT Methodology

Pan-cancer and single-cell modelling of genomic alterations through gene expression

Cancer is a disease often characterized by the presence of multiple genomic alterations, which trigger altered transcriptional patterns and gene expression, which in turn sustain the processes of tumorigenesis, tumor progression, and tumor maintenance. The links between genomic alterations and gene expression profiles can be utilized as the basis to build specific molecular tumorigenic relationships. In this study, we perform pan-cancer predictions of the presence of single somatic mutations and copy number variations using machine learning approaches on gene expression profiles. We show that gene expression can be used to predict genomic alterations in every tumor type, where some alterations are more predictable than others. We propose gene aggregation as a tool to improve the accuracy of alteration prediction models from gene expression profiles. Ultimately, we show how this principle can be beneficial in intrinsically noisy datasets, such as those based on single-cell sequencing