32 research outputs found
Evolution of a model quantum system under time periodic forcing: conditions for complete ionization
We analyze the time evolution of a one-dimensional quantum system with an
attractive delta function potential whose strength is subjected to a time
periodic (zero mean) parametric variation . We show that for generic
, which includes the sum of any finite number of harmonics, the
system, started in a bound state will get fully ionized as . This
is irrespective of the magnitude or frequency (resonant or not) of .
There are however exceptional, very non-generic , that do not lead to
full ionization, which include rather simple explicit periodic functions. For
these the system evolves to a nontrivial localized stationary state
which is related to eigenfunctions of the Floquet operator
Decay of a Bound State under a Time-Periodic Perturbation: a Toy Case
We study the time evolution of a three dimensional quantum particle,
initially in a bound state, under the action of a time-periodic zero range
interaction with ``strength'' (\alpha(t)). Under very weak generic conditions
on the Fourier coefficients of (\alpha(t)), we prove complete ionization as (t
\to \infty). We prove also that, under the same conditions, all the states of
the system are scattering states.Comment: LaTeX2e, 15 page
Decay versus survival of a localized state subjected to harmonic forcing: exact results
We investigate the survival probability of a localized 1-d quantum particle
subjected to a time dependent potential of the form with
or . The particle is
initially in a bound state produced by the binding potential . We
prove that this probability goes to zero as for almost all values
of , , and . The decay is initially exponential followed by a
law if is not close to resonances and is small; otherwise
the exponential disappears and Fermi's golden rule fails. For exceptional sets
of parameters and the survival probability never decays to zero,
corresponding to the Floquet operator having a bound state. We show similar
behavior even in the absence of a binding potential: permitting a free particle
to be trapped by harmonically oscillating delta function potential
On the Atomic Photoeffect in Non-relativistic QED
In this paper we present a mathematical analysis of the photoelectric effect
for one-electron atoms in the framework of non-relativistic QED. We treat
photo-ionization as a scattering process where in the remote past an atom in
its ground state is targeted by one or several photons, while in the distant
future the atom is ionized and the electron escapes to spacial infinity. Our
main result shows that the ionization probability, to leading order in the
fine-structure constant, , is correctly given by formal time-dependent
perturbation theory, and, moreover, that the dipole approximation produces an
error of only sub-leading order in . In this sense, the dipole
approximation is rigorously justified.Comment: 25 page
Predicting functional associations from metabolism using bi-partite network algorithms
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Metabolic reconstructions contain detailed information about metabolic enzymes and their reactants and products. These networks can be used to infer functional associations between metabolic enzymes. Many methods are based on the number of metabolites shared by two enzymes, or the shortest path between two enzymes. Metabolite sharing can miss associations between non-consecutive enzymes in a serial pathway, and shortest-path algorithms are sensitive to high-degree metabolites such as water and ATP that create connections between enzymes with little functional similarity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present new, fast methods to infer functional associations in metabolic networks. A local method, the degree-corrected Poisson score, is based only on the metabolites shared by two enzymes, but uses the known metabolite degree distribution. A global method, based on graph diffusion kernels, predicts associations between enzymes that do not share metabolites. Both methods are robust to high-degree metabolites. They out-perform previous methods in predicting shared Gene Ontology (GO) annotations and in predicting experimentally observed synthetic lethal genetic interactions. Including cellular compartment information improves GO annotation predictions but degrades synthetic lethal interaction prediction. These new methods perform nearly as well as computationally demanding methods based on flux balance analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We present fast, accurate methods to predict functional associations from metabolic networks. Biological significance is demonstrated by identifying enzymes whose strong metabolic correlations are missed by conventional annotations in GO, most often enzymes involved in transport vs. synthesis of the same metabolite or other enzyme pairs that share a metabolite but are separated by conventional pathway boundaries. More generally, the methods described here may be valuable for analyzing other types of networks with long-tailed degree distributions and high-degree hubs.</p
Decoupling Environment-Dependent and Independent Genetic Robustness across Bacterial Species
The evolutionary origins of genetic robustness are still under debate: it may arise as a consequence of requirements imposed by varying environmental conditions, due to intrinsic factors such as metabolic requirements, or directly due to an adaptive selection in favor of genes that allow a species to endure genetic perturbations. Stratifying the individual effects of each origin requires one to study the pertaining evolutionary forces across many species under diverse conditions. Here we conduct the first large-scale computational study charting the level of robustness of metabolic networks of hundreds of bacterial species across many simulated growth environments. We provide evidence that variations among species in their level of robustness reflect ecological adaptations. We decouple metabolic robustness into two components and quantify the extents of each: the first, environmental-dependent, is responsible for at least 20% of the non-essential reactions and its extent is associated with the species' lifestyle (specialized/generalist); the second, environmental-independent, is associated (correlation = ∼0.6) with the intrinsic metabolic capacities of a species—higher robustness is observed in fast growers or in organisms with an extensive production of secondary metabolites. Finally, we identify reactions that are uniquely susceptible to perturbations in human pathogens, potentially serving as novel drug-targets