456 research outputs found
A quantum evaporation effect
A small momentum transfer to a particle interacting with a steep potential
barrier gives rise to a quantum evaporation effect which increases the
transmission appreciably. This effect results from the unexpectedly large
population of quantum states with energies above the height of the barrier. Its
characteristic properties are studied and an example of physical system in
which it may be observed is given.Comment: 7 pages + 3 figure
Infinite average lifetime of an unstable bright state in the green fluorescent protein
The time evolution of the fluorescence intensity emitted by well-defined
ensembles of Green Fluorescent Proteins has been studied by using a standard
confocal microscope. In contrast with previous results obtained in single
molecule experiments, the photo-bleaching of the ensemble is well described by
a model based on Levy statistics. Moreover, this simple theoretical model
allows us to obtain information about the energy-scales involved in the aging
process.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Broad distribution effects in sums of lognormal random variables
The lognormal distribution describing, e.g., exponentials of Gaussian random
variables is one of the most common statistical distributions in physics. It
can exhibit features of broad distributions that imply qualitative departure
from the usual statistical scaling associated to narrow distributions.
Approximate formulae are derived for the typical sums of lognormal random
variables. The validity of these formulae is numerically checked and the
physical consequences, e.g., for the current flowing through small tunnel
junctions, are pointed out.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Minor changes + Gini coefficient and 4 refs.
adde
Fractional dynamics in the L\'evy quantum kicked rotor
We investigate the quantum kicked rotor in resonance subjected to momentum
measurements with a L\'evy waiting time distribution. We find that the system
has a sub-ballistic behavior. We obtain an analytical expression for the
exponent of the power law of the variance as a function of the characteristic
parameter of the L\'evy distribution and connect this anomalous diffusion with
a fractional dynamics
From laser cooling to aging: a unified Levy flight description
Intriguing phenomena such as subrecoil laser cooling of atoms, or aging
phenomenon in glasses, have in common that the systems considered do not reach
a steady-state during the experiments, although the experimental time scales
are very large compared to the microscopic ones. We revisit some standard
models describing these phenomena, and reformulate them in a unified framework
in terms of lifetimes of the microscopic states of the system. A universal
dynamical mechanism emerges, leading to a generic time-dependent distribution
of lifetimes, independently of the physical situation considered.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in American Journal of
Physic
Crossover Time in Relative Fluctuations Characterizes the Longest Relaxation Time of Entangled Polymers
In entangled polymer systems, there are several characteristic time scales,
such as the entanglement time and the disengagement time. In molecular
simulations, the longest relaxation time (the disengagement time) can be
determined by the mean square displacement (MSD) of a segment or by the shear
relaxation modulus. Here, we propose the relative fluctuation analysis method,
which is originally developed for characterizing large fluctuations, to
determine the longest relaxation time from the center of mass trajectories of
polymer chains (the time-averaged MSDs). Applying the method to simulation data
of entangled polymers (by the slip-spring model and the simple reptation
model), we provide a clear evidence that the longest relaxation time is
estimated as the crossover time in the relative fluctuations.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, to appear in J. Chem. Phy
Fractal time random walk and subrecoil laser cooling considered as renewal processes with infinite mean waiting times
There exist important stochastic physical processes involving infinite mean
waiting times. The mean divergence has dramatic consequences on the process
dynamics. Fractal time random walks, a diffusion process, and subrecoil laser
cooling, a concentration process, are two such processes that look
qualitatively dissimilar. Yet, a unifying treatment of these two processes,
which is the topic of this pedagogic paper, can be developed by combining
renewal theory with the generalized central limit theorem. This approach
enables to derive without technical difficulties the key physical properties
and it emphasizes the role of the behaviour of sums with infinite means.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of Cargese Summer
School on "Chaotic dynamics and transport in classical and quantum systems
Stochastic Ergodicity Breaking: a Random Walk Approach
The continuous time random walk (CTRW) model exhibits a non-ergodic phase
when the average waiting time diverges. Using an analytical approach for the
non-biased and the uniformly biased CTRWs, and numerical simulations for the
CTRW in a potential field, we obtain the non-ergodic properties of the random
walk which show strong deviations from Boltzmann--Gibbs theory. We derive the
distribution function of occupation times in a bounded region of space which,
in the ergodic phase recovers the Boltzmann--Gibbs theory, while in the
non-ergodic phase yields a generalized non-ergodic statistical law.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Quantum coherence generated by interference-induced state selectiveness
The relations between quantum coherence and quantum interference are
discussed. A general method for generation of quantum coherence through
interference-induced state selection is introduced and then applied to `simple'
atomic systems under two-photon transitions, with applications in quantum
optics and laser cooling.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Journal of Modern Optics'
special issue on quantum interferenc
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