Antiresonance induced by symmetry-broken contacts in quasi-one-dimensional lattices

We report the effect of symmetry-broken contacts on quantum transport in quasi-one-dimensional lattices. In contrast to 1D chains, transport in quasi-one-dimensional lattices, which are made up of a finite number of 1D chain layers, is strongly influenced by contacts. Contact symmetry depends on whether the contacts maintain or break the parity symmetry between the layers. With balanced on-site potential, a flat band can be detected by asymmetric contacts, but not by symmetric contacts. In the case of asymmetric contacts with imbalanced on-site potential, transmission is suppressed at certain energies. We elucidate these energies of transmission suppression related to antiresonance using reduced lattice models and Feynman paths. These results provide a nondestructive measurement of flat band energy which it is difficult to detect.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Reconfiguration of quantum states in PT\mathcal PT-symmetric quasi-one dimensional lattices

We demonstrate mesoscopic transport through quantum states in quasi-1D lattices maintaining the combination of parity and time-reversal symmetries by controlling energy gain and loss. We investigate the phase diagram of the non-Hermitian system where transitions take place between unbroken and broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phases via exceptional points. Quantum transport in the lattice is measured only in the unbroken phases in the energy band-but not in the broken phases. The broken phase allows for spontaneous symmetry-broken states where the cross-stitch lattice is separated into two identical single lattices corresponding to conditionally degenerate eigenstates. These degeneracies show a lift-up in the complex energy plane, caused by the non-Hermiticity with $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Kick-induced rectified current in symmetric nano-electromechanical shuttle

We have studied the rectified current in a geometrically symmetric nano-electromechanical shuttle with periodic kicks and sinusoidal ac bias voltages. The rectified current is exactly zero under the geometrical symmetry which is generated by the electrons transferred from source to drain electrodes through the movable shuttle. We investigate the nonzero rectified currents through the symmetric shuttle with regular motion of which the time-translational symmetry is broken. The motion of the shuttle, moreover, becomes chaotic with the same mechanism of the kicked rotor and generates the scattered current as increasing kick strength. We point out that the time-translational-symmetry breaking of the instantaneous current is an important role of manipulation of the rectified current.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Flat-band localization and self-collimation of light in photonic crystals

We investigate the optical properties of a photonic crystal composed of a quasi-one-dimensional flat-band lattice array through finite-difference time-domain simulations. The photonic bands contain flat bands (FBs) at specific frequencies, which correspond to compact localized states as a consequence of destructive interference. The FBs are shown to be nondispersive along the $\Gamma\rightarrow X$ line, but dispersive along the $\Gamma\rightarrow Y$ line. The FB localization of light in a single direction only results in a self-collimation of light propagation throughout the photonic crystal at the FB frequency.Comment: 18 single-column pages, 7 figures including graphical to

Acinetobacter baumannii invades epithelial cells and outer membrane protein A mediates interactions with epithelial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Acinetobacter baumannii </it>is a nosocomial pathogen of increasing importance, but the pathogenic mechanism of this microorganism has not been fully explored. This study investigated the potential of <it>A. baumannii </it>to invade epithelial cells and determined the role of <it>A. baumannii </it>outer membrane protein A (AbOmpA) in interactions with epithelial cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>A. baumannii </it>invaded epithelial cells by a zipper-like mechanism, which is associated with microfilament- and microtubule-dependent uptake mechanisms. Internalized bacteria were located in the membrane-bound vacuoles. Pretreatment of recombinant AbOmpA significantly inhibited the adherence to and invasion of <it>A. baumannii </it>in epithelial cells. Cell invasion of isogenic AbOmpA^-mutant significantly decreased as compared with wild-type bacteria. In a murine pneumonia model, wild-type bacteria exhibited a severe lung pathology and induced a high bacterial burden in blood, whereas AbOmpA^-mutant was rarely detected in blood.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p><it>A. baumannii </it>adheres to and invades epithelial cells. AbOmpA plays a major role in the interactions with epithelial cells. These findings contribute to the understanding of <it>A. baumannii </it>pathogenesis in the early stage of bacterial infection.</p

Emergent localized states at the interface of a twofold PT\mathcal{PT}-symmetric lattice

We consider the role of non-triviality resulting from a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that conserves twofold PT-symmetry assembled by interconnections between a PT-symmetric lattice and its time reversal partner. Twofold PT-symmetry in the lattice produces additional surface exceptional points that play the role of new critical points, along with the bulk exceptional point. We show that there are two distinct regimes possessing symmetry-protected localized states, of which localization lengths are robust against external gain and loss. The states are demonstrated by numerical calculation of a quasi-1D ladder lattice and a 2D bilayered square lattice.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Admittance and noise in an electrically driven nano-structure: Interplay between quantum coherence and statistics

We investigate the interplay between the quantum coherence and statistics in electrically driven nano-structures. We obtain expression for the admittance and the current noise for a driven nano-capacitor in terms of the Floquet scattering matrix and derive a non-equilibrium fluctuation-dissipation relation. As an interplay between the quantum phase coherence and the many-body correlation, the admittance has peak values whenever the noise power shows a step as a function of near-by gate voltage. Our theory is demonstrated by calculating the admittance and noise of driven double quantum dots