Bound States of the Klein-Gordon Equation for Woods-Saxon Potential With Position Dependent Mass

The effective mass Klein-Gordon equation in one dimension for the Woods-Saxon potential is solved by using the Nikiforov-Uvarov method. Energy eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions are computed. Results are also given for the constant mass case.Comment: 13 page

Diffusive transport in networks built of containers and tubes

We developed analytical and numerical methods to study a transport of non-interacting particles in large networks consisting of M d-dimensional containers C_1,...,C_M with radii R_i linked together by tubes of length l_{ij} and radii a_{ij} where i,j=1,2,...,M. Tubes may join directly with each other forming junctions. It is possible that some links are absent. Instead of solving the diffusion equation for the full problem we formulated an approach that is computationally more efficient. We derived a set of rate equations that govern the time dependence of the number of particles in each container N_1(t),N_2(t),...,N_M(t). In such a way the complicated transport problem is reduced to a set of M first order integro-differential equations in time, which can be solved efficiently by the algorithm presented here. The workings of the method have been demonstrated on a couple of examples: networks involving three, four and seven containers, and one network with a three-point junction. Already simple networks with relatively few containers exhibit interesting transport behavior. For example, we showed that it is possible to adjust the geometry of the networks so that the particle concentration varies in time in a wave-like manner. Such behavior deviates from simple exponential growth and decay occurring in the two container system.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, REVTEX4; new figure added, reduced emphasis on graph theory, additional discussion added (computational cost, one dimensional tubes

Amplitude Modulation and Relaxation-Oscillation of Counterpropagating Rolls within a Broken-Symmetry Laser-Induced Electroconvection Strip

We report a liquid-crystal pattern-formation experiment in which we break the lateral (translational) symmetry of a nematic medium with a laser-induced thermal gradient. The work is motivated by an improved measurement (reported here) of the temperature dependence of the electroconvection threshold voltage in planar-nematic 4-methoxybenzylidene-4-butylaniline (MBBA). In contrast with other broken-symmetry-pattern studies that report a uniform drift, we observe a strip of counterpropagating rolls that collide at a sink point, and a strong temporally periodic amplitude modulation within a width of 3-4 rolls about the sink point. The time dependence of the amplitude at a fixed position is periodic but displays a nonsinusoidal relaxation-oscillation profile. After reporting experimental results based on spacetime contours and wavenumber profiles, along with a measurement of the change in the drift frequency with applied voltage at a fixed control parameter, we propose some potential guidelines for a theoretical model based on saddle-point solutions for Eckhaus-unstable states and coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equations. Published in PRE 73, 036317 (2006).Comment: Published in Physical Review E in March 200

Coarse-grained model of entropic allostery

Many signaling functions in molecular biology require proteins to bind to substrates such as DNA in response to environmental signals such as the simultaneous binding to a small molecule. Examples are repressor proteins which may transmit information via a conformational change in response to the ligand binding. An alternative entropic mechanism of "allostery" suggests that the inducer ligand changes the intramolecular vibrational entropy, not just the mean static structure. We present a quantitative, coarse-grained model of entropic allostery, which suggests design rules for internal cohesive potentials in proteins employing this effect. It also addresses the issue of how the signal information to bind or unbind is transmitted through the protein. The model may be applicable to a wide range of repressors and also to signaling in trans-membrane proteins

“Surfing in the cell” - an investigative game for teaching cytoskeleton concepts for undergraduate students

The educational role of games becomes evident as students are more active, able to take decisions, solve problems and react to the results of their own decisions. The educative board game Discovering the Cell is based on problem-solving learning. This game challenges students to collect, discuss and interpret clues in order to decipher a question. In this work we evaluated the game as a tool for teaching health sciences undergraduate students from Rio de Janeiro. In a questionnaire-based analysis, students demonstrated great acceptance for this strategy and the majority of them were able to solve the Case tested, as well as applying the learned content to answer a related question. Taken together, our results indicate the acceptance and suitability of the game as an alternative strategy to help teaching cell and molecular biology to undergraduate students

Uncertainties in stellar evolution models: convective overshoot

In spite of the great effort made in the last decades to improve our understanding of stellar evolution, significant uncertainties remain due to our poor knowledge of some complex physical processes that require an empirical calibration, such as the efficiency of the interior mixing related to convective overshoot. Here we review the impact of convective overshoot on the evolution of stars during the main Hydrogen and Helium burning phases.Comment: Proc. of the workshop "Asteroseismology of stellar populations in the Milky Way" (Sesto, 22-26 July 2013), Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, (eds. A. Miglio, L. Girardi, P. Eggenberger, J. Montalban

Causal Relativistic Fluid Dynamics

We derive causal relativistic fluid dynamical equations from the relaxation model of kinetic theory as in a procedure previously applied in the case of non-relativistic rarefied gases. By treating space and time on an equal footing and avoiding the iterative steps of the conventional Chapman-Enskog --- CE---method, we are able to derive causal equations in the first order of the expansion in terms of the mean flight time of the particles. This is in contrast to what is found using the CE approach. We illustrate the general results with the example of a gas of identical ultrarelativistic particles such as photons under the assumptions of homogeneity and isotropy. When we couple the fluid dynamical equations to Einstein's equation we find, in addition to the geometry-driven expanding solution of the FRW model, a second, matter-driven nonequilibrium solution to the equations. In only the second solution, entropy is produced at a significant rate.Comment: 23 pages (CQG, in press