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A new approach to achieve sub-pixel spatial resolution in a pnCCD detector with 75 x 75 mu m(2) pixel size is proposed for X-ray applications in single photon counting mode. The approach considers the energy dependence of the charge cloud created by a single photon and its split probabilities between neighboring pixels of the detector based on a rectangular model for the charge cloud density. For cases where the charge of this cloud becomes distributed over three or four pixels the center position of photon impact can be reconstructed with a precision better than 2 mu m. The predicted charge cloud sizes are tested at selected X-ray fluorescence lines emitting energies between 6.4 keV and 17.4 keV and forming charge clouds with size (rms) varying between 8 mu m and 10 mu m respectively. The 2 mu m enhanced spatial resolution of the pnCCD is verified by means of an x-ray transmission experiment throughout an optical grating.
A deep observation campaign carried out by the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) on Centaurus A enabled the discovery of gamma-rays from the blazar 1ES 1312-423, 2 degrees away from the radio galaxy. With a differential flux at 1 TeV of phi(1 TeV) = (1.9 +/- 0.6(stat) +/- 0.4(sys)) x 10(-13) cm(-2) s(-1) TeV-1 corresponding to 0.5 per cent of the Crab nebula differential flux and a spectral index Gamma = 2.9 +/- 0.5(stat) +/- 0.2(sys), 1ES 1312-423 is one of the faintest sources ever detected in the very high energy (E > 100 GeV) extragalactic sky. A careful analysis using three and a half years of Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) data allows the discovery at high energies (E > 100 MeV) of a hard spectrum (Gamma = 1.4 +/- 0.4(stat) +/- 0.2(sys)) source coincident with 1ES 1312-423. Radio, optical, UV and X-ray observations complete the spectral energy distribution of this blazar, now covering 16 decades in energy. The emission is successfully fitted with a synchrotron self-Compton model for the non-thermal component, combined with a blackbody spectrum for the optical emission from the host galaxy.
Discovery of high and very high-energy emission from the BL Lacertae object SHBL J001355.9-185406
(2013)
The detection of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac object (HBL) SHBL J001355.9-185406 (z = 0.095) at high (HE; 100 MeV < E < 300 GeV) and very high-energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is reported. Dedicated observations were performed with the H. E. S. S. telescopes, leading to a detection at the 5.5 sigma significance level. The measured flux above 310 GeV is (8.3 +/- 1.7(stat) +/- 1.7(sys)) x 10(-13) photons cm(-2) s(-1) (about 0.6% of that of the Crab Nebula), and the power-law spectrum has a photon index of Gamma = 3.4 +/- 0.5(stat) +/- 0.2(sys). Using 3.5 years of publicly available Fermi-LAT data, a faint counterpart has been detected in the LAT data at the 5.5 sigma significance level, with an integrated flux above 300 MeV of (9.3 +/- 3.4(stat) +/- 0.8(sys)) x 10(-10) photons cm(-2) s(-1) and a photon index of Gamma = 1.96 +/- 0.20(stat) +/- 0.08(sys). X-ray observations with Swift-XRT allow the synchrotron peak energy in vF(v) representation to be located at similar to 1.0 keV. The broadband spectral energy distribution is modelled with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model and the optical data by a black-body emission describing the thermal emission of the host galaxy. The derived parameters are typical of HBLs detected at VHE, with a particle-dominated jet.
The quasar PKS 1510-089 (z = 0.361) was observed with the H.E.S.S. array of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes during high states in the optical and GeV bands, to search for very high energy (VHE, defined as E >= 0.1 TeV) emission. VHE gamma-rays were detected with a statistical significance of 9.2 standard deviations in 15.8 h of H. E. S. S. data taken during March and April 2009. A VHE integral flux of I(0.15 TeV < E < 1.0TeV) = (1.0 +/- 0.2(stat) +/- 0.2(sys)) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) is measured. The best-fit power law to the VHE data has a photon index of G = 5.4 +/- 0.7(stat) +/- 0.3(sys). The GeV and optical light curves show pronounced variability during the period of H.E.S.S. observations. However, there is insufficient evidence to claim statistically significant variability in the VHE data. Because of its relatively high redshift, the VHE flux from PKS 1510-089 should suffer considerable attenuation in the intergalactic space due to the extragalactic background light (EBL). Hence, the measured gamma-ray spectrum is used to derive upper limits on the opacity due to EBL, which are found to be comparable with the previously derived limits from relatively-nearby BL Lac objects. Unlike typical VHE-detected blazars where the broadband spectrum is dominated by nonthermal radiation at all wavelengths, the quasar PKS 1510-089 has a bright thermal component in the optical to UV frequency band. Among all VHE detected blazars, PKS 1510-089 has the most luminous broad line region. The detection of VHE emission from this quasar indicates a low level of gamma - gamma absorption on the internal optical to UV photon field.
Gamma-ray line signatures can be expected in the very-high-energy (E-gamma > 100 GeV) domain due to self-annihilation or decay of dark matter (DM) particles in space. Such a signal would be readily distinguishable from astrophysical gamma-ray sources that in most cases produce continuous spectra that span over several orders of magnitude in energy. Using data collected with the H. E. S. S. gamma-ray instrument, upper limits on linelike emission are obtained in the energy range between similar to 500 GeV and similar to 25 TeV for the central part of the Milky Way halo and for extragalactic observations, complementing recent limits obtained with the Fermi-LAT instrument at lower energies. No statistically significant signal could be found. For monochromatic gamma-ray line emission, flux limits of (2 x 10(-7)-2 x 10(-5)) m(-2)s(-1)sr(-1) and (1 x 10(-8)- 2 x 10(-6)) m(-2)s(-1)sr(-1) are obtained for the central part of the Milky Way halo and extragalactic observations, respectively. For a DM particle mass of 1 TeV, limits on the velocity- averaged DM annihilation cross section <sigma upsilon >(chi chi ->gamma gamma) reach similar to 10(-27)cm(3)s(-1), based on the Einasto parametrization of the Galactic DM halo density profile. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.041301
HESS observations of the binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 around the 2010/2011 periastron passage
(2013)
Aims. We present very high energy (VHE; E > 100 GeV) data from the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 taken around its periastron passage on 15th of December 2010 with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H. E. S. S.) of Cherenkov Telescopes. We aim to search for a possible TeV counterpart of the GeV flare detected by the Fermi LAT. In addition, we aim to study the current periastron passage in the context of previous observations taken at similar orbital phases, testing the repetitive behaviour of the source.
Methods. Observations at VHEs were conducted with H.E.S.S. from 9th to 16th of January 2011. The total dataset amounts to similar to 6 h of observing time. The data taken around the 2004 periastron passage were also re-analysed with the current analysis techniques in order to extend the energy spectrum above 3 TeV to fully compare observation results from 2004 and 2011.
Results. The source is detected in the 2011 data at a significance level of 11.5 sigma revealing an averaged integral flux above 1 TeV of (1.01 +/- 0.18(stat) +/- 0.20(sys)) x 10(-12) cm(-2) s(-1). The differential energy spectrum follows a power-law shape with a spectral index Gamma = 2.92 +/- 0.30(stat) +/- 0.20(sys) and a flux normalisation at 1 TeV of N-0 = (1.95 +/- 0.32(stat) +/- 0.39(sys)) x 10(-12) TeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1). The measured light curve does not show any evidence for variability of the source on the daily scale. The re-analysis of the 2004 data yields results compatible with the published ones. The differential energy spectrum measured up to similar to 10 TeV is consistent with a power law with a spectral index Gamma = 2.81 +/- 0.10(stat) +/- 0.20(sys) and a flux normalisation at 1 TeV of N-0 = (1.29 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.26(sys)) x 10(-12) TeV-1 cm(-2) s(-1).
Conclusions. The measured integral flux and the spectral shape of the 2011 data are compatible with the results obtained around previous periastron passages. The absence of variability in the H.E.S.S. data indicates that the GeV flare observed by Fermi LAT in the time period covered also by H.E.S.S. observations originates in a different physical scenario than the TeV emission. Moreover, the comparison of the new results to the results from the 2004 observations made at a similar orbital phase provides a stronger evidence of the repetitive behaviour of the source.
Axionlike particles (ALPs) are hypothetical light (sub-eV) bosons predicted in some extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics. In astrophysical environments comprising high-energy gamma rays and turbulent magnetic fields, the existence of ALPs can modify the energy spectrum of the gamma rays for a sufficiently large coupling between ALPs and photons. This modification would take the form of an irregular behavior of the energy spectrum in a limited energy range. Data from the H. E. S. S. observations of the distant BL Lac object PKS 2155 - 304 (z = 0.116) are used to derive upper limits at the 95% C. L. on the strength of the ALP coupling to photons, g(gamma a) < 2.1 x 10(-11) GeV-1 for an ALP mass between 15 and 60 neV. The results depend on assumptions on the magnetic field around the source, which are chosen conservatively. The derived constraints apply to both light pseudoscalar and scalar bosons that couple to the electromagnetic field.
Introducing the CTA concept
(2013)
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a new observatory for very high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. CTA has ambitions science goals, for which it is necessary to achieve full-sky coverage, to improve the sensitivity by about an order of magnitude, to span about four decades of energy, from a few tens of GeV to above 100 TeV with enhanced angular and energy resolutions over existing VHE gamma-ray observatories. An international collaboration has formed with more than 1000 members from 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. In 2010 the CTA Consortium completed a Design Study and started a three-year Preparatory Phase which leads to production readiness of CTA in 2014. In this paper we introduce the science goals and the concept of CTA, and provide an overview of the project.
We report on the VERITAS observations of the high-frequency peaked BL Lac object 1ES 1959+650 in the period 2007-2011. This source is detected at TeV energies by VERITAS at 16.4 standard deviation (sigma) significance in 7.6 hr of observation in a low flux state. A multiwavelength spectral energy distribution (SED) is constructed from contemporaneous data from VERITAS, Fermi-LAT, RXTE PCA, and Swift UVOT. Swift XRT data is not included in the SED due to a lack of simultaneous observations with VERITAS. In contrast to the orphan gamma-ray flare exhibited by this source in 2002, the X-ray flux of the source is found to vary by an order of magnitude, while other energy regimes exhibit less variable emission. A quasi-equilibrium synchrotron self-Compton model with an additional external radiation field is used to describe three SEDs corresponding to the lowest, highest, and average X-ray states. The variation in the X-ray spectrum is modeled by changing the electron injection spectral index, with minor adjustments of the kinetic luminosity in electrons. This scenario produces small-scale flux variability of the order of less than or similar to 2 in the high energy (E > 1MeV) and very high energy (E > 100 GeV) gamma-ray regimes, which is corroborated by the Fermi-LAT, VERITAS, and Whipple 10 m telescope light curves.
We present the results of a multiwavelength observational campaign on the TeV binary system LS I +61 degrees 303 with the VERITAS telescope array (>200 GeV), Fermi-LAT (0.3-300 GeV), and Swift/XRT (2-10 keV). The data were taken from 2011 December through 2012 January and show a strong detection in all three wavebands. During this period VERITAS obtained 24.9 hr of quality selected livetime data in which LS I +61 degrees 303 was detected at a statistical significance of 11.9 sigma. These TeV observations show evidence for nightly variability in the TeV regime at a post-trial significance of 3.6 sigma. The combination of the simultaneously obtained TeV and X-ray fluxes do not demonstrate any evidence for a correlation between emission in the two bands. For the first time since the launch of the Fermi satellite in 2008, this TeV detection allows the construction of a detailed MeV-TeV spectral energy distribution from LS I +61 degrees 303. This spectrum shows a distinct cutoff in emission near 4 GeV, with emission seen by the VERITAS observations following a simple power-law above 200 GeV. This feature in the spectrum of LS I +61 degrees 303, obtained from overlapping observations with Fermi-LAT and VERITAS, may indicate that there are two distinct populations of accelerated particles producing the GeV and TeV emission.
We report the detection of a new TeV gamma-ray source, VER J0521+211, based on observations made with the VERITAS imaging atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope Array. These observations were motivated by the discovery of a cluster of >30 GeV photons in the first year of Fermi Large Area Telescope observations. VER J0521+211 is relatively bright at TeV energies, with a mean photon flux of (1.93 +/- 0.13(stat) +/- 0.78(sys)) x 10(-11) cm(-2) s(-1) above 0.2 TeV during the period of the VERITAS observations. The source is strongly variable on a daily timescale across all wavebands, from optical to TeV, with a peak flux corresponding to similar to 0.3 times the steady Crab Nebula flux at TeV energies. Follow-up observations in the optical and X-ray bands classify the newly discovered TeV source as a BL Lac-type blazar with uncertain redshift, although recent measurements suggest z = 0.108. VER J0521+211 exhibits all the defining properties of blazars in radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelengths.
We report results from TeV gamma-ray observations of the microquasar Cygnus X-3. The observations were made with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) over a time period from 2007 June 11 to 2011 November 28. VERITAS is most sensitive to gamma rays at energies between 85 GeV and 30 TeV. The effective exposure time amounts to a total of about 44 hr, with the observations covering six distinct radio/X-ray states of the object. No significant TeV gamma-ray emission was detected in any of the states, nor with all observations combined. The lack of a positive signal, especially in the states where GeV gamma rays were detected, places constraints on TeV gamma-ray production in Cygnus X-3. We discuss the implications of the results.
We report on the detection of a very rapid TeV gamma-ray flare from BL Lacertae on 2011 June 28 with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). The flaring activity was observed during a 34.6 minute exposure, when the integral flux above 200 GeV reached (3.4 +/- 0.6) x 10(-6) photons m(-2) s(-1), roughly 125% of the Crab Nebula flux measured by VERITAS. The light curve indicates that the observations missed the rising phase of the flare but covered a significant portion of the decaying phase. The exponential decay time was determined to be 13 +/- 4 minutes, making it one of the most rapid gamma-ray flares seen from a TeV blazar. The gamma-ray spectrum of BL Lacertae during the flare was soft, with a photon index of 3.6 +/- 0.4, which is in agreement with the measurement made previously by MAGIC in a lower flaring state. Contemporaneous radio observations of the source with the Very Long Baseline Array revealed the emergence of a new, superluminal component from the core around the time of the TeV gamma-ray flare, accompanied by changes in the optical polarization angle. Changes in flux also appear to have occurred at optical, UV, and GeV gamma-ray wavelengths at the time of the flare, although they are difficult to quantify precisely due to sparse coverage. A strong flare was seen at radio wavelengths roughly four months later, which might be related to the gamma-ray flaring activities. We discuss the implications of these multiwavelength results.
Intracellular photoactivation of caged cGMP induces myosin II and actin responses in motile cells
(2013)
Cyclic GMP (cGMP) is a ubiquitous second messenger in eukaryotic cells. It is assumed to regulate the association of myosin II with the cytoskeleton of motile cells. When cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum are exposed to chemoattractants or to increased osmotic stress, intracellular cGMP levels rise, preceding the accumulation of myosin II in the cell cortex. To directly investigate the impact of intracellular cGMP on cytoskeletal dynamics in a living cell, we released cGMP inside the cell by laser-induced photo-cleavage of a caged precursor. With this approach, we could directly show in a live cell experiment that an increase in intracellular cGMP indeed induces myosin II to accumulate in the cortex. Unexpectedly, we observed for the first time that also the amount of filamentous actin in the cell cortex increases upon a rise in the cGMP concentration, independently of cAMP receptor activation and signaling. We discuss our results in the light of recent work on the cGMP signaling pathway and suggest possible links between cGMP signaling and the actin system.
Intracellular photoactivation of caged cGMP induces myosin II and actin responses in motile cells
(2013)
Cyclic GMP (cGMP) is a ubiquitous second messenger in eukaryotic cells. It is assumed to regulate the association of myosin II with the cytoskeleton of motile cells. When cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum are exposed to chemoattractants or to increased osmotic stress, intracellular cGMP levels rise, preceding the accumulation of myosin II in the cell cortex. To directly investigate the impact of intracellular cGMP on cytoskeletal dynamics in a living cell, we released cGMP inside the cell by laser-induced photo-cleavage of a caged precursor. With this approach, we could directly show in a live cell experiment that an increase in intracellular cGMP indeed induces myosin II to accumulate in the cortex. Unexpectedly, we observed for the first time that also the amount of filamentous actin in the cell cortex increases upon a rise in the cGMP concentration, independently of cAMP receptor activation and signaling. We discuss our results in the light of recent work on the cGMP signaling pathway and suggest possible links between cGMP signaling and the actin system.
The standard charging process for polymer ferroelectrets, e. g., from polypropylene foams or layered film systems involves the application of high DC fields either to metal electrodes or via a corona discharge. In this often-used process, the DC field triggers the internal breakdown and limits the final charge densities inside the ferroelectret cavities and, thus, the final polarization. Here, an AC + DC charging procedure is proposed and demonstrated in which a high-voltage high-frequency (HV-HF) wave train is applied together with a DC poling voltage. Thus, the internal dielectric-barrier discharges in the ferroelectret cavities are induced by the HV-HF wave train, while the final charge and polarization level is controlled separately through the applied DC voltage. In the new process, the frequency and the amplitude of the HV-HF wave train must be kept within critical boundaries that are closely related to the characteristics of the respective ferroelectrets. The charging method has been tested and investigated on a fluoropolymer-film system with a single well-defined cylindrical cavity. It is found that the internal electrical polarization of the cavity can be easily controlled and increases linearly with the applied DC voltage up to the breakdown voltage of the cavity. In the standard charging method, however, the DC voltage would have to be chosen above the respective breakdown voltage. With the new method, control of the HV-HF wave-train duration prevents a plasma-induced deterioration of the polymer surfaces inside the cavities. It is observed that the frequency of the HV-HF wave train during ferroelectret charging and the temperature applied during poling of ferroelectrics serve an analogous purpose. The analogy and the similarities between the proposed ferroelectret charging method and the poling of ferroelectric materials or dipole electrets at elevated temperatures with subsequent cooling under field are discussed.
Temporal evolution of the re-breakdown voltage in small gaps from nanoseconds to milliseconds
(2013)
A detailed understanding of electric breakdown in dielectrics is of scientific and technological interest. In gaseous dielectrics, a so-called re-breakdown is sometimes observed after extinction of the previous discharge. Although time-dependent re-breakdown voltage is essentially known, its behavior immediately after the previous discharge is not precisely understood. We present an electronic circuit for accurate measurements of the time-dependent re-breakdown voltage in small gaps from tens of nanoseconds to several milliseconds after the previous spark. Results from such experiments are compared with earlier findings, and relevant physical mechanisms such as heating of the gas, decay of the plasma, and ionization of excited atoms and molecules are discussed. It is confirmed that the thermal model is not valid at times below several microseconds.
Under dilute in vitro conditions transcription factors rapidly locate their target sequence on DNA by using the facilitated diffusion mechanism. However, whether this strategy of alternating between three-dimensional bulk diffusion and one-dimensional sliding along the DNA contour is still beneficial in the crowded interior of cells is highly disputed. Here we use a simple model for the bacterial genome inside the cell and present a semi-analytical model for the in vivo target search of transcription factors within the facilitated diffusion framework. Without having to resort to extensive simulations we determine the mean search time of a lac repressor in a living E. coli cell by including parameters deduced from experimental measurements. The results agree very well with experimental findings, and thus the facilitated diffusion picture emerges as a quantitative approach to gene regulation in living bacteria cells. Furthermore we see that the search time is not very sensitive to the parameters characterizing the DNA configuration and that the cell seems to operate very close to optimal conditions for target localization. Local searches as implied by the colocalization mechanism are only found to mildly accelerate the mean search time within our model.
Recent astronomical data strongly suggest that a significant part of the dark matter content of the Local Group and Virgo Supercluster is not incorporated into the galaxy halos and forms diffuse components of these galaxy clusters. A portion of the particles from these components may penetrate the Milky Way and make an extragalactic contribution to the total dark matter containment of our Galaxy. We find that the particles of the diffuse component of the Local Group are apt to contribute similar to 12% to the total dark matter density near Earth. The particles of the extragalactic dark matter stand out because of their high speed (similar to 600 km s(-1)), i.e., they are much faster than the galactic dark matter. In addition, their speed distribution is very narrow (similar to 20 km s(-1)). The particles have an isotropic velocity distribution (perhaps, in contrast to the galactic dark matter). The extragalactic dark matter should provide a significant contribution to the direct detection signal. If the detector is sensitive only to the fast particles (v > 450 km s(-1)), then the signal may even dominate. The density of other possible types of the extragalactic dark matter (for instance, of the diffuse component of the Virgo Supercluster) should be relatively small and comparable with the average dark matter density of the universe. However, these particles can generate anomaly high-energy collisions in direct dark matter detectors.
The heat transport mediated by near-field interactions in networks of plasmonic nanostructures is shown to be analogous to a generalized random walk process. The existence of superdiffusive regimes is demonstrated both in linear ordered chains and in three-dimensional random networks by analyzing the asymptotic behavior of the corresponding probability distribution function. We show that the spread of heat in these networks is described by a type of Levy flight. The presence of such anomalous heat-transport regimes in plasmonic networks opens the way to the design of a new generation of composite materials able to transport heat faster than the normal diffusion process in solids.
We explore the effect of cross-diffusion on pattern formation in the two-variable Oregonator model of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. For high negative cross-diffusion of the activator (the activator being attracted towards regions of increased inhibitor concentration) we find, depending on the values of the parameters, Turing patterns, standing waves, oscillatory Turing patterns, and quasi-standing waves. For the inhibitor, we find that positive cross-diffusion (the inhibitor being repelled by increasing concentrations of the activator) can induce Turing patterns, jumping waves and spatially modulated bulk oscillations. We qualitatively explain the formation of these patterns. With one model we can explain Turing patterns, standing waves and jumping waves, which previously was done with three different models.
Selective ultrafast probing of transient hot chemisorbed and precursor States of CO on Ru(0001)
(2013)
We have studied the femtosecond dynamics following optical laser excitation of CO adsorbed on a Ru surface by monitoring changes in the occupied and unoccupied electronic structure using ultrafast soft x-ray absorption and emission. We recently reported [M. Dell'Angela et al. Science 339, 1302 (2013)] a phonon-mediated transition into a weakly adsorbed precursor state occurring on a time scale of >2 ps prior to desorption. Here we focus on processes within the first picosecond after laser excitation and show that the metal-adsorbate coordination is initially increased due to hot-electron-driven vibrational excitations. This process is faster than, but occurs in parallel with, the transition into the precursor state. With resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy, we probe each of these states selectively and determine the respective transient populations depending on optical laser fluence. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of CO adsorbed on Ru(0001) were performed at 1500 and 3000 K providing insight into the desorption process.
Soft X-ray spectroscopy is one of the best tools to directly address the electronic structure, the driving force of chemical reactions. It enables selective studies on sample surfaces to single out reaction centers in heterogeneous catalytic reactions. With core-hole clock methods, specific dynamics are related to the femtosecond life time of a core-hole. Typically, this method is used with photoemission spectroscopy, but advancements in soft X-ray emission techniques render more specific studies possible. With the advent of bright femtosecond pulsed soft X-ray sources, highly selective pump-probe X-ray emission studies are enabled with temporal resolutions down to tens of femtoseconds. This finally allows to study dynamics in the electronic structure of adsorbed reaction centers on the whole range of relevant time scales - closing the gap between kinetic soft X-ray studies and the atto- to femtosecond core-hole clock techniques.
Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and X-ray emission spectroscopy can be used to probe the energy and dispersion of the elementary low-energy excitations that govern functionality in matter: vibronic, charge, spin and orbital excitations(1-7). A key drawback of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering has been the need for high photon densities to compensate for fluorescence yields of less than a per cent for soft X-rays(8). Sample damage from the dominant non-radiative decays thus limits the materials to which such techniques can be applied and the spectral resolution that can be obtained. A means of improving the yield is therefore highly desirable. Here we demonstrate stimulated X-ray emission for crystalline silicon at photon densities that are easily achievable with free-electron lasers(9). The stimulated radiative decay of core excited species at the expense of non-radiative processes reduces sample damage and permits narrow-bandwidth detection in the directed beam of stimulated radiation. We deduce how stimulated X-ray emission can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude to provide, with high yield and reduced sample damage, a superior probe for low-energy excitations and their dispersion in matter. This is the first step to bringing nonlinear X-ray physics in the condensed phase from theory(10-16) to application.
Dynamics in materials typically involve different degrees of freedom, like charge, lattice, orbital and spin in a complex interplay. Time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) as a highly selective tool can provide unique insight and follow the details of dynamical processes while resolving symmetries, chemical and charge states, momenta, spin configurations, etc. In this paper, we review examples where the intrinsic scattering duration time is used to study femtosecond phenomena. Free-electron lasers access timescales starting in the sub-ps range through pump-probe methods and synchrotrons study the time scales longer than tens of ps. In these examples, time-resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering is applied to solids as well as molecular systems.
Ten ice-sheet models are used to study sensitivity of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to prescribed changes of surface mass balance, sub-ice-shelf melting and basal sliding. Results exhibit a large range in projected contributions to sea-level change. In most cases, the ice volume above flotation lost is linearly dependent on the strength of the forcing. Combinations of forcings can be closely approximated by linearly summing the contributions from single forcing experiments, suggesting that nonlinear feedbacks are modest. Our models indicate that Greenland is more sensitive than Antarctica to likely atmospheric changes in temperature and precipitation, while Antarctica is more sensitive to increased ice-shelf basal melting. An experiment approximating the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's RCP8.5 scenario produces additional first-century contributions to sea level of 22.3 and 8.1 cm from Greenland and Antarctica, respectively, with a range among models of 62 and 14 cm, respectively. By 200 years, projections increase to 53.2 and 26.7 cm, respectively, with ranges of 79 and 43 cm. Linear interpolation of the sensitivity results closely approximates these projections, revealing the relative contributions of the individual forcings on the combined volume change and suggesting that total ice-sheet response to complicated forcings over 200 years can be linearized.
The problem under consideration in the thesis is a two level atom in a photonic crystal and a pumping laser. The photonic crystal provides an environment for the atom, that modifies the decay of the exited state, especially if the atom frequency is close to the band gap. The population inversion is investigated als well as the emission spectrum. The dynamics is analysed in the context of open quantum systems. Due to the multiple reflections in the photonic crystal, the system has a finite memory that inhibits the Markovian approximation. In the Heisenberg picture the equations of motion for the system variables form a infinite hierarchy of integro-differential equations. To get a closed system, approximations like a weak coupling approximation are needed. The thesis starts with a simple photonic crystal that is amenable to analytic calculations: a one-dimensional photonic crystal, that consists of alternating layers. The Bloch modes inside and the vacuum modes outside a finite crystal are linked with a transformation matrix that is interpreted as a transfer matrix. Formulas for the band structure, the reflection from a semi-infinite crystal, and the local density of states in absorbing crystals are found; defect modes and negative refraction are discussed. The quantum optics section of the work starts with the discussion of three problems, that are related to the full resonance fluorescence problem: a pure dephasing model, the driven atom and resonance fluorescence in free space. In the lowest order of the system-environment coupling, the one-time expectation values for the full problem are calculated analytically and the stationary states are discussed for certain cases. For the calculation of the two time correlation functions and spectra, the additional problem of correlations between the two times appears. In the Markovian case, the quantum regression theorem is valid. In the general case, the fluctuation dissipation theorem can be used instead. The two-time correlation functions are calculated by the two different methods. Within the chosen approximations, both methods deliver the same result. Several plots show the dependence of the spectrum on the parameters. Some examples for squeezing spectra are shown with different approximations. A projection operator method is used to establish two kinds of Markovian expansion with and without time convolution. The lowest order is identical with the lowest order of system environment coupling, but higher orders give different results.
Brillouin scattering of visible and hard X-ray photons from optically synthesized phonon wavepackets
(2013)
We monitor how destructive interference of undesired phonon frequency components shapes a quasi-monochromatic hypersound wavepacket spectrum during its local real-time preparation by a nanometric transducer and follow the subsequent decay by nonlinear coupling. We prove each frequency component of an optical supercontinuum probe to be sensitive to one particular phonon wavevector in bulk material and cross-check this by ultrafast x-ray diffraction experiments with direct access to the lattice dynamics. Establishing reliable experimental techniques with direct access to the transient spectrum of the excitation is crucial for the interpretation in strongly nonlinear regimes, such as soliton formation.
The Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) is one of the main drivers of decadal climate variability in the North Atlantic. Here we analyze its dynamics in pre-industrial control simulations of 19 different comprehensive coupled climate models. The analysis is based on a recently proposed description of the SPG dynamics that found the circulation to be potentially bistable due to a positive feedback mechanism including salt transport and enhanced deep convection in the SPG center. We employ a statistical method to identify multiple equilibria in time series that are subject to strong noise and analyze composite fields to assess whether the bistability results from the hypothesized feedback mechanism. Because noise dominates the time series in most models, multiple circulation modes can unambiguously be detected in only six models. Four of these six models confirm that the intensification is caused by the positive feedback mechanism.
Two optically obscured Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars have been recently discovered by means of their infrared (IR) circumstellar shells, which show signatures of interaction with each other. Following the systematics of the WR star catalogues, these stars obtain the names WR 120bb and WR 120bc. In this paper, we present and analyse new near-IR, J-, H- and K-band spectra using the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet model atmosphere code. For that purpose, the atomic data base of the code has been extended in order to include all significant lines in the near-IR bands.
The spectra of both stars are classified as WN9h. As their spectra are very similar the parameters that we obtained by the spectral analyses hardly differ. Despite their late spectral subtype, we found relatively high stellar temperatures of 63 kK. The wind composition is dominated by helium, while hydrogen is depleted to 25 per cent by mass.
Because of their location in the Scutum-Centaurus Arm, WR 120bb and WR 120bc appear highly reddened, A(Ks) approximate to 2 mag. We adopt a common distance of 5.8 kpc to both stars, which complies with the typical absolute K-band magnitude for the WN9h subtype of -6.5 mag, is consistent with their observed extinction based on comparison with other massive stars in the region, and allows for the possibility that their shells are interacting with each other. This leads to luminosities of log(L/L-circle dot) = 5.66 and 5.54 for WR 120bb and WR 120bc, with large uncertainties due to the adopted distance.
The values of the luminosities of WR 120bb and WR 120bc imply that the immediate precursors of both stars were red supergiants (RSG). This implies in turn that the circumstellar shells associated with WR 120bb and WR 120bc were formed by interaction between the WR wind and the dense material shed during the preceding RSG phase.
We model theoretically the electrostatic effects taking place upon DNA hybridization in dense DNA arrays immobilized on a layer of Au nano-particles deposited on the surface of a field-effect-based DNA capacitive biosensor. We consider the influence of separation of a charged analyte from the sensor surface and the salinity of electrolyte solution, in the framework of both linear and nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann theories. The latter predicts a substantially weaker sensor signals due to electrostatic saturation effects that is the main conclusion of this paper. We analyze how different physical parameters of dense DNA brushes affect the magnitude of hybridization signals. The list includes the fraction of DNA charge neutralization, the length and spatial conformations of adsorbed DNA molecules, as well as the discreteness of DNA charges. We also examine the effect of Donnan ionic equilibrium in DNA lattices on the sensor response. The validity of theoretical models is contrasted against recent experimental observations on detection of DNA hybridization via its intrinsic electric charge. The sensitivity of such biochemical sensing devices, their detection limit, and DNA hybridization efficiency are briefly discussed in the end.
We demonstrate the non-ergodicity of a simple Markovian stochastic process with space-dependent diffusion coefficient D(x). For power-law forms D(x) similar or equal to vertical bar x vertical bar(alpha), this process yields anomalous diffusion of the form < x(2)(t)> similar or equal to t(2/(2-alpha)). Interestingly, in both the sub- and superdiffusive regimes we observe weak ergodicity breaking: the scaling of the time-averaged mean-squared displacement <(delta(2)(Delta))over bar> remains linear in the lag time Delta and thus differs from the corresponding ensemble average < x(2)(t)>. We analyse the non-ergodic behaviour of this process in terms of the time-averaged mean- squared displacement (delta(2)) over bar and its random features, i.e. the statistical distribution of (delta(2)) over bar and the ergodicity breaking parameters. The heterogeneous diffusion model represents an alternative approach to non- ergodic, anomalous diffusion that might be particularly relevant for diffusion in heterogeneous media.
We consider diffusion processes with a spatially varying diffusivity giving rise to anomalous diffusion. Such heterogeneous diffusion processes are analysed for the cases of exponential, power-law, and logarithmic dependencies of the diffusion coefficient on the particle position. Combining analytical approaches with stochastic simulations, we show that the functional form of the space-dependent diffusion coefficient and the initial conditions of the diffusing particles are vital for their statistical and ergodic properties. In all three cases a weak ergodicity breaking between the time and ensemble averaged mean squared displacements is observed. We also demonstrate a population splitting of the time averaged traces into fast and slow diffusers for the case of exponential variation of the diffusivity as well as a particle trapping in the case of the logarithmic diffusivity. Our analysis is complemented by the quantitative study of the space coverage, the diffusive spreading of the probability density, as well as the survival probability.
Chromatin domains formed in vivo are characterized by different types of 3D organization of interconnected nucleosomes and architectural proteins. Here, we quantitatively test a hypothesis that the similarities in the structure of chromatin fibers (which we call "structural homology") can affect their mutual electrostatic and protein-mediated bridging interactions. For example, highly repetitive DNA sequences in heterochromatic regions can position nucleosomes so that preferred inter-nucleosomal distances are preserved on the surfaces of neighboring fibers. On the contrary, the segments of chromatin fiber formed on unrelated DNA sequences have different geometrical parameters and lack structural complementarity pivotal for stable association and cohesion. Furthermore, specific functional elements such as insulator regions, transcription start and termination sites, and replication origins are characterized by strong nucleosome ordering that might induce structure-driven iterations of chromatin fibers. We propose that shape-specific protein-bridging interactions facilitate long-range pairing of chromatin fragments, while for closely-juxtaposed fibers electrostatic forces can in addition yield fine-tuned structure-specific recognition and pairing. These pairing effects can account for some features observed for mitotic and inter-phase chromatins.
A detailed description of the characteristics of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is highly demanded, since the resistance against traditional antibiotics is an emerging problem in medicine. They are part of the innate immune system in every organism, and they are very efficient in the protection against bacteria, viruses, fungi and even cancer cells. Their advantage is that their target is the cell membrane, in contrast to antibiotics which disturb the metabolism of the respective cell type. This allows AMPs to be more active and faster. The lack of an efficient therapy for some cancer types and the evolvement of resistance against existing antitumor agents make AMPs promising in cancer therapy besides being an alternative to traditional antibiotics. The aim of this work was the physical-chemical characterization of two fragments of LL-37, a human antimicrobial peptide from the cathelicidin family. The fragments LL-32 and LL-20 exhibited contrary behavior in biological experiments concerning their activity against bacterial cells, human cells and human cancer cells. LL-32 had even a higher activity than LL-37, while LL-20 had almost no effect. The interaction of the two fragments with model membranes was systematically studied in this work to understand their mode of action. Planar lipid films were mainly applied as model systems in combination with IR-spectroscopy and X-ray scattering methods. Circular Dichroism spectroscopy in bulk systems completed the results. In the first approach, the structure of the peptides was determined in aqueous solution and compared to the structure of the peptides at the air/water interface. In bulk, both peptides are in an unstructured conformation. Adsorbed and confined to at the air-water interface, the peptides differ drastically in their surface activity as well as in the secondary structure. While LL-32 transforms into an α-helix lying flat at the water surface, LL-20 stays partly unstructured. This is in good agreement with the high antimicrobial activity of LL-32. In the second approach, experiments with lipid monolayers as biomimetic models for the cell membrane were performed. It could be shown that the peptides fluidize condensed monolayers of negatively charged DPPG which can be related to the thinning of a bacterial cell membrane. An interaction of the peptides with zwitterionic PCs, as models for mammalian cells, was not clearly observed, even though LL-32 is haemolytic. In the third approach, the lipid monolayers were more adapted to the composition of human erythrocyte membranes by incorporating sphingomyelin (SM) into the PC monolayers. Physical-chemical properties of the lipid films were determined and the influence of the peptides on them was studied. It could be shown that the interaction of the more active LL-32 is strongly increased for heterogeneous lipid films containing both gel and fluid phases, while the interaction of LL-20 with the monolayers was unaffected. The results indicate an interaction of LL-32 with the membrane in a detergent-like way. Additionally, the modelling of the peptide interaction with cancer cells was performed by incorporating some negatively charged lipids into the PC/SM monolayers, but the increased charge had no effect on the interaction of LL-32. It was concluded, that the high anti-cancer activity of the peptide originates from the changed fluidity of cell membrane rather than from the increased surface charge. Furthermore, similarities to the physical-chemical properties of melittin, an AMP from the bee venom, were demonstrated.
As the oldest known magnetic material, magnetite (Fe3O4) has fascinated mankind for millennia. As the first oxide in which a relationship between electrical conductivity and fluctuating/localized electronic order was shown(1), magnetite represents a model system for understanding correlated oxides in general. Nevertheless, the exact mechanism of the insulator-metal, or Verwey, transition has long remained inaccessible(2-8). Recently, three- Fe- site lattice distortions called trimeronswere identified as the characteristic building blocks of the low-temperature insulating electronically ordered phase(9). Here we investigate the Verwey transition with pump- probe X- ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, and show how trimerons become mobile across the insulator-metal transition. We find this to be a two- step process. After an initial 300 fs destruction of individual trimerons, phase separation occurs on a 1.5 +/- 0.2 ps timescale to yield residual insulating and metallic regions. This work establishes the speed limit for switching in future oxide electronics(10).
We used the Linac Coherent Light Source free-electron x-ray laser to probe the electronic structure of CO molecules as their chemisorption state on Ru(0001) changes upon exciting the substrate by using a femtosecond optical laser pulse. We observed electronic structure changes that are consistent with a weakening of the CO interaction with the substrate but without notable desorption. A large fraction of the molecules (30%) was trapped in a transient precursor state that would precede desorption. We calculated the free energy of the molecule as a function of the desorption reaction coordinate using density functional theory, including van der Waals interactions. Two distinct adsorption wells-chemisorbed and precursor state separated by an entropy barrier-explain the anomalously high prefactors often observed in desorption of molecules from metals.
Nonrelativistic electrostatic unmagnetized shocks are frequently observed in laboratory plasmas and they are likely to exist in astrophysical plasmas. Their maximum speed, expressed in units of the ion acoustic speed far upstream of the shock, depends only on the electron-to-ion temperature ratio if binary collisions are absent. The formation and evolution of such shocks is examined here for a wide range of shock speeds with particle-in-cell simulations. The initial temperatures of the electrons and the 400 times heavier ions are equal. Shocks form on electron time scales at Mach numbers between 1.7 and 2.2. Shocks with Mach numbers up to 2.5 form after tens of inverse ion plasma frequencies. The density of the shock-reflected ion beam increases and the number of ions crossing the shock thus decreases with an increasing Mach number, causing a slower expansion of the downstream region in its rest frame. The interval occupied by this ion beam is on a positive potential relative to the far upstream. This potential pre-heats the electrons ahead of the shock even in the absence of beam instabilities and decouples the electron temperature in the foreshock ahead of the shock from the one in the far upstream plasma. The effective Mach number of the shock is reduced by this electron heating. This effect can potentially stabilize nonrelativistic electrostatic shocks moving as fast as supernova remnant shocks.
The formation of unmagnetized electrostatic shock-like structures with a high Mach number is examined with one-and two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The structures are generated through the collision of two identical plasma clouds, which consist of equally hot electrons and ions with a mass ratio of 250. The Mach number of the collision speed with respect to the initial ion acoustic speed of the plasma is set to 4.6. This high Mach number delays the formation of such structures by tens of inverse ion plasma frequencies. A pair of stable shock-like structures is observed after this time in the 1D simulation, which gradually evolves into electrostatic shocks. The ion acoustic instability, which can develop in the 2D simulation but not in the 1D one, competes with the nonlinear process that gives rise to these structures. The oblique ion acoustic waves fragment their electric field. The transition layer, across which the bulk of the ions change their speed, widens and their speed change is reduced. Double layer-shock hybrid structures develop.
This thesis rests on two large Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) surveys. The first survey deals with galaxies that host low-level AGNs (LLAGN) and aims at identifying such galaxies by quantifying their variability. While numerous studies have shown that AGNs can be variable at all wavelengths, the nature of the variability is still not well understood. Studying the properties of LLAGNs may help to understand better galaxy evolution, and how AGNs transit between active and inactive states. In this thesis, we develop a method to extract variability properties of AGNs. Using multi-epoch deep photometric observations, we subtract the contribution of the host galaxy at each epoch to extract variability and estimate AGN accretion rates. This pipeline will be a powerful tool in connection with future deep surveys such as PANSTARS. The second study in this thesis describes a survey of X-ray selected AGN hosts at redshifts z>1.5 and compares them to quiescent galaxies. This survey aims at studying environments, sizes and morphologies of star-forming high-redshift AGN hosts in the COSMOS Survey at the epoch of peak AGN activity. Between redshifts 1.5<z<3.8, the COSMOS HST/ACS imaging probes the UV regime, where separating the AGN flux from its host galaxy is very challenging. Nevertheless, we successfully derived the structural properties of 249 AGN hosts using two-dimensional surface-brightness profile fitting with the GALFIT package. This is the largest sample of AGN hosts at redshift z>1.5 to date. We analyzed the evolution of structural parameters of AGN and non-AGN host galaxies with redshift, and compared their disturbance rates to identify the more probable AGN triggering mechanism in the 43.5<log_10 L_X<45 luminosity range. We also conducted mock AGN and quiescent galaxies observations to determine errors and corrections for the derived parameters. We find that the size-absolute magnitude relations of AGN hosts and non-AGN galaxies are very similar, with estimated mean sizes in both samples decreasing by ~50% between redshifts z=1.5 and z=3.5. Morphological classification of both active and quiescent galaxies shows that the majority of the AGN host galaxies are disc-dominated, with disturbance rates that are significantly lower than among the non-AGN galaxies. Such a finding suggests that Major Mergers are probably not responsible for triggering AGN accretion in most of these galaxies. Other secular mechanisms should therefore be responsible.
In most cases tendency to synchrony in networks of oscillatory units increases with the coupling strength. Using the popular Hindmarsh-Rose neuronal model, we demonstrate that even for identical neurons and simple coupling the dynamics can be more complicated. Our numerical analysis for globally coupled systems and oscillator lattices reveals a new scenario of synchrony breaking with the increase of coupling, resulting in a quasiperiodic, modulated synchronous state.
The hypothesis is considered that the present, local Galactic cosmic-ray spectrum is, due to source intermittency, softer than average over time and over the Galaxy. Measurements of muogenic nuclides underground could provide an independent measurement of the time-averaged spectrum. Source intermittency could also account for the surprising low anisotropy reported by the IceCube Collaboration. Predictions for Galactic emission of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) quanta, such as UHE gamma rays and neutrinos, might be higher or lower than previously estimated.
We comprehensively analyze the emergence of anomalous statistics in the context of the random relaxation ( RARE) model [Eliazar and Metzler, J. Chem. Phys. 137, 234106 ( 2012)], a recently introduced versatile model of random relaxations in random environments. The RARE model considers excitations scattered randomly across a metric space around a reaction center. The excitations react randomly with the center, the reaction rates depending on the excitations' distances from this center. Relaxation occurs upon the first reaction between an excitation and the center. Addressing both the relaxation time and the relaxation range, we explore when these random variables display anomalous statistics, namely, heavy tails at zero and at infinity that manifest, respectively, exceptionally high occurrence probabilities of very small and very large outliers. A cohesive set of closed-form analytic results is established, determining precisely when such anomalous statistics emerge.
Irradiating a ferromagnet with a femtosecond laser pulse is known to induce an ultrafast demagnetization within a few hundred femtoseconds. Here we demonstrate that direct laser irradiation is in fact not essential for ultrafast demagnetization, and that electron cascades caused by hot electron currents accomplish it very efficiently. We optically excite a Au/Ni layered structure in which the 30 nm Au capping layer absorbs the incident laser pump pulse and subsequently use the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism technique to probe the femtosecond demagnetization of the adjacent 15 nm Ni layer. A demagnetization effect corresponding to the scenario in which the laser directly excites the Ni film is observed, but with a slight temporal delay. We explain this unexpected observation by means of the demagnetizing effect of a superdiffusive current of non-equilibrium, non-spin-polarized electrons generated in the Au layer.
The multiplicity of stable convection patterns in a rotating spherical fluid shell heated from the inner boundary and driven by a central gravity field is presented. These solution branches that arise as rotating waves (RWs) are traced for varying Rayleigh number while their symmetry, stability, and bifurcations are studied. At increased Rayleigh numbers all the RWs undergo transitions to modulated rotating waves (MRWs) which are classified by their spatiotemporal symmetry. The generation of a third frequency for some of the MRWs is accompanied by a further loss of symmetry. Eventually a variety of MRWs, three-frequency solutions, and chaotic saddles and attractors control the dynamics for higher Rayleigh numbers.
The Magellanic Stream (MS) is a massive and extended tail of multi-phase gas stripped out of the Magellanic Clouds and interacting with the Galactic halo. In this first paper of an ongoing program to study the Stream in absorption, we present a chemical abundance analysis based on HST/COS and VLT/UVES spectra of four active galactic nuclei (RBS 144, NGC 7714, PHL 2525, and HE 0056-3622) lying behind the MS. Two of these sightlines yield good MS metallicity measurements: toward RBS 144 we measure a low MS metallicity of [S/H] = [S II/H I] = -1.13 +/- 0.16 while toward NGC 7714 we measure [O/H] = [O I/H I] = -1.24 +/- 0.20. Taken together with the published MS metallicity toward NGC 7469, these measurements indicate a uniform abundance of approximate to 0.1 solar along the main body of the Stream. This provides strong support to a scenario in which most of the Stream was tidally stripped from the SMC approximate to 1.5-2.5 Gyr ago (a time at which the SMC had a metallicity of approximate to 0.1 solar), as predicted by several N-body simulations. However, in Paper II of this series, we report a much higher metallicity (S/H = 0.5 solar) in the inner Stream toward Fairall 9, a direction sampling a filament of the MS that Nidever et al. claim can be traced kinematically to the Large Magellanic Cloud, not the Small Magellanic Cloud. This shows that the bifurcation of the Stream is evident in its metal enrichment, as well as its spatial extent and kinematics. Finally we measure a similar low metallicity [O/H] = [O I/H I] = -1.03 +/- 0.18 in the v(LSR) = 150 km s(-1) cloud toward HE 0056-3622, which belongs to a population of anomalous velocity clouds near the south Galactic pole. This suggests these clouds are associated with the Stream or more distant structures (possibly the Sculptor Group, which lies in this direction at the same velocity), rather than tracing foreground Galactic material.
Unter geeigneten Wachstumsbedingungen weisen Algenkulturen oft eine größere Produktivität der Zellen auf, als sie bei höheren Pflanzen zu beobachten ist. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii-Zellen sind vergleichsweise klein. So beträgt das Zellvolumen während des vegetativen Zellzyklus etwa 50–3500 µm³. Im Vergleich zu höheren Pflanzen ist in einer Algensuspension die Konzentration der Biomasse allerdings gering. So enthält beispielsweise 1 ml einer üblichen Konzentration zwischen 10E6 und 10E7 Algenzellen. Quantifizierungen von Metaboliten oder Makromolekülen, die zur Modellierung von zellulären Prozessen genutzt werden, werden meist im Zellensemble vorgenommen. Tatsächlich unterliegt jedoch jede Algenzelle einer individuellen Entwicklung, die die Identifizierung charakteristischer allgemeingültiger Systemparameter erschwert. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, biochemisch relevante Messgrößen in-vivo und in-vitro mit Hilfe optischer Verfahren zu identifizieren und zu quantifizieren. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wurde ein Puls-Amplituden-Modulation(PAM)-Fluorimetriemessplatz zur Messung der durch äußere Einflüsse bedingten veränderlichen Chlorophyllfluoreszenz an einzelnen Zellen vorgestellt. Die Verwendung eines kommerziellen Mikroskops, die Implementierung empfindlicher Nachweiselektronik und einer geeignete Immobilisierungsmethode ermöglichten es, ein Signal-zu-Rauschverhältnis zu erreichen, mit dem Fluoreszenzsignale einzelner lebender Chlamydomonas-Zellen gemessen werden konnten. Insbesondere wurden das Zellvolumen und der als Maß für die Effizienz des Photosyntheseapparats bzw. die Zellfitness geltende Chlorophyllfluoreszenzparameter Fv/Fm ermittelt und ein hohes Maß an Heterogenität dieser zellulären Parameter in verschiedenen Entwicklungsstadien der synchronisierten Chlamydomonas-Zellen festgestellt. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit wurden die bildgebende Laser-Scanning-Mikroskopie und anschließende Bilddatenanalyse zur quantitativen Erfassung der wachstumsabhängigen zellulären Parameter angewandt. Ein kommerzielles konfokales Mikroskop wurde um die Möglichkeit der nichtlinearen Mikroskopie erweitert. Diese hat den Vorteil einer lokalisierten Anregung, damit verbunden einer höheren Ortsauflösung und insgesamt geringeren Probenbelastung. Weiterhin besteht neben der Signalgewinnung durch Fluoreszenzanregung die Möglichkeit der Erzeugung der Zweiten Harmonischen (SHG) an biophotonischen Strukturen, wie der zellulären Stärke. Anhand der Verteilungsfunktionen war es möglich mit Hilfe von modelltheoretischen Ansätzen zelluläre Parameter zu ermitteln, die messtechnisch nicht unmittelbar zugänglich sind. Die morphologischen Informationen der Bilddaten ermöglichten die Bestimmung der Zellvolumina und die Volumina subzellularer Strukturen, wie Nuclei, extranucleäre DNA oder Stärkegranula. Weiterhin konnte die Anzahl subzellulärer Strukturen innerhalb einer Zelle bzw. eines Zellverbunds ermittelt werden. Die Analyse der in den Bilddaten enthaltenen Signalintensitäten war Grundlage einer relativen Konzentrationsbestimmung von zellulären Komponenten, wie DNA bzw. Stärke. Mit dem hier vorgestellten Verfahren der nichtlinearen Mikroskopie und nachfolgender Bilddatenanalyse konnte erstmalig die Verteilung des zellulären Stärkegehalts in einer Chlamydomonas-Population während des Wachstums bzw. nach induziertem Stärkeabbau verfolgt werden. Im weiteren Verlauf wurde diese Methode auch auf Gefrierschnitte höherer Pflanzen, wie Arabidopsis thaliana, angewendet. Im Ergebnis wurde gezeigt, dass viele zelluläre Parameter, wie das Volumen, der zelluläre DNA- und Stärkegehalt bzw. die Anzahl der Stärkegranula durch eine Lognormalverteilung, mit wachstumsabhängiger Parametrisierung, beschrieben werden. Zelluläre Parameter, wie Stoffkonzentration und zelluläres Volumen, zeigen keine signifikanten Korrelationen zueinander, woraus geschlussfolgert werden muss, dass es ein hohes Maß an Heterogenität der zellulären Parameter innerhalb der synchronisierten Chlamydomonas-Populationen gibt. Diese Aussage gilt sowohl für die als homogenste Form geltenden Synchronkulturen von Chlamydomonas reinhardtii als auch für die gemessenen zellulären Parameter im intakten Zellverbund höherer Pflanzen. Dieses Ergebnis ist insbesondere für modelltheoretische Betrachtungen von Relevanz, die sich auf empirische Daten bzw. zelluläre Parameter stützen welche im Zellensemble gemessen wurden und somit nicht notwendigerweise den zellulären Status einer einzelnen Zelle repräsentieren.
We study the ergodic properties of superdiffusive, spatiotemporally coupled Levy walk processes. For trajectories of finite duration, we reveal a distinct scatter of the scaling exponents of the time averaged mean squared displacement (delta x(2)) over bar around the ensemble value 3 - alpha (1 < alpha < 2) ranging from ballistic motion to subdiffusion, in strong contrast to the behavior of subdiffusive processes. In addition we find a significant dependence of the average of (delta x(2)) over bar over an ensemble of trajectories as a function of the finite measurement time. This so-called finite-time amplitude depression and the scatter of the scaling exponent is vital in the quantitative evaluation of superdiffusive processes. Comparing the long time average of the second moment with the ensemble mean squared displacement, these only differ by a constant factor, an ultraweak ergodicity breaking.
We investigate a network of influences connected to global mean temperature. Considering various climatic factors known to influence global mean temperature, we evaluate not only the impacts of these factors on temperature but also the directed dependencies among the factors themselves. Based on an existing recurrence-based connectivity measure, we propose a new and more general measure that quantifies the level of dependence between two time series based on joint recurrences at a chosen time delay. The measures estimated in the analysis are tested for statistical significance using twin surrogates. We find, in accordance with earlier studies, the major drivers for global mean temperature to be greenhouse gases, ENSO, volcanic activity, and solar irradiance. We further uncover a feedback between temperature and ENSO. Our results demonstrate the need to involve multiple, delayed interactions within the drivers of temperature in order to develop a more thorough picture of global temperature variations.
Mode structure and polaritonic contributions to the Casimir effect in a magnetodielectric cavity
(2013)
We present a full analysis of the mode spectrum in a cavity formed by two parallel plates, one of which is magnetodielectric (metamaterial) while the other one is metallic, and obtain dispersion relations in closed form. The optical properties of the cavity walls are described in terms of realistic models for effective permittivity and permeability. Surface polaritons, i.e., electromagnetic modes that have at least partly an evanescent character, are shown to dominate the Casimir interaction at small separations. We analyze in detail the s-polarized polaritons, which are a characteristic feature of a magnetodielectric configuration, and discuss their role in the repulsive Casimir force.
We investigate the properties of a recently introduced asymmetric association measure, called inner composition alignment (IOTA), aimed at inferring regulatory links (couplings). We show that the measure can be used to determine the direction of coupling, detect superfluous links, and to account for autoregulation. In addition, the measure can be extended to infer the type of regulation (positive or negative). The capabilities of IOTA to correctly infer couplings together with their directionality are compared against Kendall's rank correlation for time series of different lengths, particularly focussing on biological examples. We demonstrate that an extended version of the measure, bidirectional inner composition alignment (biIOTA), increases the accuracy of the network reconstruction for short time series. Finally, we discuss the applicability of the measure to infer couplings in chaotic systems.
We use archival UV absorption-line data from HST/STIS to statistically analyse the absorption characteristics of the high-velocity clouds (HVCs) in the Galactic halo towards more than 40 extragalactic background sources. We determine absorption covering fractions of low-and intermediate ions (Oi, Cii, Si ii, Mgii, Feii, Si iii, Civ, and Si iv) in the range f(c) = 0.20-0.70. For detailed analysis we concentrate on Si ii absorption components in HVCs, for which we investigate the distribution of column densities, b-values, and radial velocities. Combining information for Si ii and Mg II, and using a geometrical HVC model we investigate the contribution of HVCs to the absorption cross section of strong Mg ii absorbers in the local Universe. We estimate that the Galactic HVCs would contribute on average similar to 52 percent to the total strong Mg ii cross section of the Milky Way, if our Galaxy were to be observed from an exterior vantage point. We further estimate that the mean projected covering fraction of strong Mg ii absorption in the Milky Way halo and disc from an exterior vantage point is < f(c,sMgII)> = 0.31 for a halo radius of R = 61 kpc. These numbers, together with the observed number density of strong Mg ii absorbers at low redshift, indicate that the contribution of infalling gas clouds (i.e., HVC analogues) in the halos of Milky Way-type galaxies to the cross section of strong Mgii absorbers is < 34 percent. These findings are in line with the idea that outflowing gas (e. g., produced by galactic winds) in the halos of more actively star-forming galaxies dominate the absorption-cross section of strong Mgii absorbers in the local Universe.
Threshold reduction and emission enhancement are reported for a gold nanoparticle-based waveguided random laser, exploiting the localized surface plasmon resonance excitation. It was experimentally found that a proper thickness of the spacer layer between the gold nanoparticles and the gain layer enhances the random laser performance. It tunes the coupling between the gain polymer and the gold nanoparticles and avoids the quenching of emission in close contact to the gold nanoparticles which is considered as one of the main sources of loss in the current laser system. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4800776]
Two images, taken by the Cassini spacecraft near Saturn's equinox in 2009 August, show the Earhart propeller casting a 350 km long shadow, offering the opportunity to watch how the ring height, excited by the propeller moonlet, relaxes to an equilibrium state. From the shape of the shadow cast and a model of the azimuthal propeller height relaxation, we determine the exponential cooling constant of this process to be lambda = 0.07 +/- 0.02 km(-1), and thereby determine the collision frequency of the ring particles in the vertically excited region of the propeller to be omega(c)/Omega = 0.9 +/- 0.2.
Context. Theories on the origin of magnetic fields in massive stars remain poorly developed, because the properties of their magnetic field as function of stellar parameters could not yet be investigated. Additional observations are of utmost importance to constrain the conditions that are conducive to magnetic fields and to determine first trends about their occurrence rate and field strength distribution.
Aims. To investigate whether magnetic fields in massive stars are ubiquitous or appear only in stars with a specific spectral classification, certain ages, or in a special environment, we acquired 67 new spectropolarimetric observations for 30 massive stars. Among the observed sample, roughly one third of the stars are probable members of clusters at different ages, whereas the remaining stars are field stars not known to belong to any cluster or association.
Methods. Spectropolarimetric observations were obtained during four different nights using the low-resolution spectropolarimetric mode of FOcal Reducer low dispersion Spectrograph (FORS 2) mounted on the 8-m Antu telescope of the VLT. Furthermore, we present a number of follow-up observations carried out with the high-resolution spectropolarimeters SOFIN mounted at the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) and HARPS mounted at the ESO 3.6 m between 2008 and 2011. To assess the membership in open clusters and associations, we used astrometric catalogues with the highest quality kinematic and photometric data currently available.
Results. The presence of a magnetic field is confirmed in nine stars previously observed with FORS 1/2: HD36879, HD47839, CPD-28 2561, CPD-47 2963, HD93843, HD148937, HD149757, HD328856, and HD164794. New magnetic field detections at a significance level of at least 3 sigma were achieved in five stars: HD92206c, HD93521, HD93632, CPD-46 8221, and HD157857. Among the stars with a detected magnetic field, five stars belong to open clusters with high membership probability. According to previous kinematic studies, five magnetic O-type stars in our sample are candidate runaway stars.
Matrix product states and their continuous analogues are variational classes of states that capture quantum many-body systems or quantum fields with low entanglement; they are at the basis of the density-matrix renormalization group method and continuous variants thereof. In this work we show that, generically, N-point functions of arbitrary operators in discrete and continuous translation invariant matrix product states are completely characterized by the corresponding two- and three-point functions. Aside from having important consequences for the structure of correlations in quantum states with low entanglement, this result provides a new way of reconstructing unknown states from correlation measurements, e. g., for one-dimensional continuous systems of cold atoms. We argue that such a relation of correlation functions may help in devising perturbative approaches to interacting theories.
An increasing number of OB stars have been shown to possess magnetic fields. Although the sample remains small, it is surprising that the magnetic and X-ray properties of these stars appear to be far less correlated than expected. This contradicts model predictions, which generally indicate that the X-rays from magnetic stars are harder and more luminous than their non-magnetic counterparts. Instead, the X-ray properties of magnetic OB stars are quite diverse.
tau Sco is one example where the expectations are better met. This bright main-sequence, early B star has been studied extensively in a variety of wavebands. It has a surface magnetic field of around 500 G, and Zeeman Doppler tomography has revealed an unusual field configuration. Furthermore, tau Sco displays an unusually hard X-ray spectrum, much harder than similar, non-magnetic OB stars. In addition, the profiles of its UV P Cygni wind lines have long been known to possess a peculiar morphology.
Recently, two stars, HD 66665 and HD 63425, whose spectral types and UV wind line profiles are similar to those of tau Sco, have also been determined to be magnetic. In the hope of establishing a magnetic field - X-ray connection for at least a subset of the magnetic stars, we obtained XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera spectra of these two objects. Our results for HD 66665 are somewhat inconclusive. No especially strong hard component is detected; however, the number of source counts is insufficient to rule out hard emission. Longer exposure is needed to assess the nature of the X-rays from this star. On the other hand, we do find that HD 63425 has a substantial hard X-ray component, thereby bolstering its close similarity to tau Sco.
We obtained four pointings of over 100 ks each of the well-studied Wolf-Rayet star WR 6 with the XMM-Newton satellite. With a first paper emphasizing the results of spectral analysis, this follow-up highlights the X-ray variability clearly detected in all four pointings. However, phased light curves fail to confirm obvious cyclic behavior on the well-established 3.766 day period widely found at longer wavelengths. The data are of such quality that we were able to conduct a search for event clustering in the arrival times of X-ray photons. However, we fail to detect any such clustering. One possibility is that X-rays are generated in a stationary shock structure. In this context we favor a corotating interaction region (CIR) and present a phenomenological model for X-rays from a CIR structure. We show that a CIR has the potential to account simultaneously for the X-ray variability and constraints provided by the spectral analysis. Ultimately, the viability of the CIR model will require both intermittent long-term X-ray monitoring of WR 6 and better physical models of CIR X-ray production at large radii in stellar winds.
Aqueous mixtures of a dye-labeled non-ionic thermoresponsive copolymer and a conjugated cationic polyelectrolyte are shown to exhibit characteristic changes in fluorescence properties in response to temperature and to the presence of salts, enabling a double-stimuli responsiveness. In such mixtures at room temperature, i.e., well below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), the emission of the dye is strongly quenched due to energy transfer to the polycation, pointing to supramolecular interactions between the two macromolecules. Increasing the concentration of salts weakens the interpolymer interactions, the extent of which is simultaneously monitored from the change in the relative emission intensity of the components. When the mixture is heated above its LCST, the transfer efficiency is significantly reduced, signaling a structural reorganization process, however, surprisingly only if the mixture contains salt ions. To elucidate the reasons behind such thermo- and ion-sensitive fluorescence characteristics, we investigate the effect of salts of alkali chlorides, in particular of NaCl, on the association behavior of these macromolecules before and after the polymer phase transition by a combination of UV-vis, fluorescence, and H-1 NMR spectroscopy with light scattering and small-angle neutron scattering measurements.
We demonstrate new fluorophore-labelled materials based on acrylamide and on oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) bearing thermoresponsive polymers for sensing purposes and investigate their thermally induced solubility transitions. It is found that the emission properties of the polarity-sensitive (solvatochromic) naphthalimide derivative attached to three different thermoresponsive polymers are highly specific to the exact chemical structure of the macromolecule. While the dye emits very weakly below the LCST when incorporated into poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm) or into a polyacrylate backbone bearing only short OEG side chains, it is strongly emissive in polymethacrylates with longer OEG side chains. Heating of the aqueous solutions above their cloud point provokes an abrupt increase of the fluorescence intensity of the labelled pNIPAm, whereas the emission properties of the dye are rather unaffected as OEG-based polyacrylates and methacrylates undergo phase transition. Correlated with laser light scattering studies, these findings are ascribed to the different degrees of pre-aggregation of the chains at low temperatures and to the extent of dehydration that the phase transition evokes. It is concluded that although the temperature-triggered changes in the macroscopic absorption characteristics, related to large-scale alterations of the polymer chain conformation and aggregation, are well detectable and similar for these LCST-type polymers, the micro-environment provided to the dye within each polymer network differs substantially. Considering sensing applications, this finding is of great importance since the temperature-regulated fluorescence response of the polymer depends more on the macromolecular architecture than the type of reporter fluorophore.
A water soluble fluorescent polymer as a dual colour sensor for temperature and a specific protein
(2013)
We present two thermoresponsive water soluble copolymers prepared via free radical statistical copolymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylates (OEGMAs), respectively, with a solvatochromic 7-(diethylamino)-3-carboxy-coumarin (DEAC)-functionalized monomer. In aqueous solutions, the NIPAm-based copolymer exhibits characteristic changes in its fluorescence profile in response to a change in solution temperature as well as to the presence of a specific protein, namely an anti-DEAC antibody. This polymer emits only weakly at low temperatures, but exhibits a marked fluorescence enhancement accompanied by a change in its emission colour when heated above its cloud point. Such drastic changes in the fluorescence and absorbance spectra are observed also upon injection of the anti-DEAC antibody, attributed to the specific binding of the antibody to DEAC moieties. Importantly, protein binding occurs exclusively when the polymer is in the well hydrated state below the cloud point, enabling a temperature control on the molecular recognition event. On the other hand, heating of the polymer-antibody complexes releases a fraction of the bound antibody. In the presence of the DEAC-functionalized monomer in this mixture, the released antibody competitively binds to the monomer and the antibody-free chains of the polymer undergo a more effective collapse and inter-aggregation. In contrast, the emission properties of the OEGMA-based analogous copolymer are rather insensitive to the thermally induced phase transition or to antibody binding. These opposite behaviours underline the need for a carefully tailored molecular design of responsive polymers aimed at specific applications, such as biosensing.
Hyperbolic chaos of standing wave patterns generated parametrically by a modulated pump source
(2013)
We outline a possibility of hyperbolic chaotic dynamics associated with the expanding circle map for spatial phases of parametrically excited standing wave patterns. The model system is governed by a one-dimensional wave equation with nonlinear dissipation. The phenomenon arises due to the pump modulation providing the alternating excitation of modes with the ratio of characteristic scales 1 : 3. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.040901
Lateral diffusion plays a crucial role in numerous processes that take place in cell membranes, yet it is quite poorly understood in native membranes characterized by, e.g., domain formation and large concentration of proteins. In this article, we use atomistic and coarse-grained simulations to consider how packing of membranes and crowding with proteins affect the lateral dynamics of lipids and membrane proteins. We find that both packing and protein crowding have a profound effect on lateral diffusion, slowing it down. Anomalous diffusion is observed to be an inherent property in both protein-free and protein-rich membranes, and the time scales of anomalous diffusion and the exponent associated with anomalous diffusion are found to strongly depend on packing and crowding. Crowding with proteins also has a striking effect on the decay rate of dynamical correlations associated with lateral single-particle motion, as the transition from anomalous to normal diffusion is found to take place at macroscopic time scales: while in protein-poor conditions normal diffusion is typically observed in hundreds of nanoseconds, in protein-rich conditions the onset of normal diffusion is tens of microseconds, and in the most crowded systems as large as milliseconds. The computational challenge which results from these time scales is not easy to deal with, not even in coarse-grained simulations. We also briefly discuss the physical limits of protein motion. Our results suggest that protein concentration is anything but constant in the plane of cell membranes. Instead, it is strongly dependent on proteins' preference for aggregation.
Fundamental optics such as lenses and prisms work by applying phase shifts of several radians to incoming light, and rapid control of such phase shifts is crucial to telecommunications. However, large, controllable optical phase shifts have remained elusive for isolated quantum systems. We have used a single trapped atomic ion to induce and measure a large optical phase shift of 1.3 +/- 0.1 radians in light scattered by the atom. Spatial interferometry between the scattered light and unscattered illumination light enables us to isolate the phase shift in the scattered component. The phase shift achieves the maximum value allowed by atomic theory over the accessible range of laser frequencies, pointing out new opportunities in microscopy and nanophotonics. Single-atom phase shifts of this magnitude open up new quantum information protocols, in particular long-range quantum phase-shift-keying cryptography. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.113605
Two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) is a standard technique in modern microscopy(1), but is still affected by photodamage to the probe. It has been proposed that TPEF can be enhanced using entangled photons(2,3), but this has proven challenging. Recently, it was shown that some features of entangled photons can be mimicked with thermal light, which finds application in ghost imaging(4), subwavelength lithography(5) and metrology(6). Here, we use true thermal light from a superluminescent diode to demonstrate TPEF that is enhanced compared to coherent light, using two common fluorophores and luminescent quantum dots, which suit applications in imaging and microscopy. We find that the TPEF rate is directly proportional to the measured(7) degree of second-order coherence, as predicted by theory. Our results show that photon bunching in thermal light can be exploited in two-photon microscopy, with the photon statistic providing a new degree of freedom.
Experimental studies of the diffusion of biomolecules within biological cells are routinely confronted with multiple sources of stochasticity, whose identification renders the detailed data analysis of single molecule trajectories quite intricate. Here, we consider subdiffusive continuous time random walks that represent a seminal model for the anomalous diffusion of tracer particles in complex environments. This motion is characterized by multiple trapping events with infinite mean sojourn time. In real physical situations, however, instead of the full immobilization predicted by the continuous time random walk model, the motion of the tracer particle shows additional jiggling, for instance, due to thermal agitation of the environment. We here present and analyze in detail an extension of the continuous time random walk model. Superimposing the multiple trapping behavior with additive Gaussian noise of variable strength, we demonstrate that the resulting process exhibits a rich variety of apparent dynamic regimes. In particular, such noisy continuous time random walks may appear ergodic, while the bare continuous time random walk exhibits weak ergodicity breaking. Detailed knowledge of this behavior will be useful for the truthful physical analysis of experimentally observed subdiffusion.
We report the results of single tracer particle tracking by optical tweezers and video microscopy in micellar solutions. From careful analysis in terms of different stochastic models, we show that the polystyrene tracer beads of size 0.52-2.5 mu m after short-time normal diffusion turn over to perform anomalous diffusion of the form < r(2)(t)> similar or equal to t(alpha) with alpha approximate to 0.3. This free anomalous diffusion is ergodic and consistent with a description in terms of the generalized Langevin equation with a power-law memory kernel. With optical tweezers tracking, we unveil a power-law relaxation over several decades in time to the thermal plateau value under the confinement of the harmonic tweezer potential, as predicted previously (Phys. Rev. E 85 021147 (2012)). After the subdiffusive motion in the millisecond range, the motion becomes faster and turns either back to normal Brownian diffusion or to even faster superdiffusion, depending on the size of the tracer beads.
Crowded field spectroscopy and the search for intermediate-mass black holes in globular clusters
(2013)
Globular clusters are dense and massive star clusters that are an integral part of any major galaxy. Careful studies of their stars, a single cluster may contain several millions of them, have revealed that the ages of many globular clusters are comparable to the age of the Universe. These remarkable ages make them valuable probes for the exploration of structure formation in the early universe or the assembly of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. A topic of current research relates to the question whether globular clusters harbour massive black holes in their centres. These black holes would bridge the gap from stellar mass black holes, that represent the final stage in the evolution of massive stars, to supermassive ones that reside in the centres of galaxies. For this reason, they are referred to as intermediate-mass black holes. The most reliable method to detect and to weigh a black hole is to study the motion of stars inside its sphere of influence. The measurement of Doppler shifts via spectroscopy allows one to carry out such dynamical studies. However, spectroscopic observations in dense stellar fields such as Galactic globular clusters are challenging. As a consequence of diffraction processes in the atmosphere and the finite resolution of a telescope, observed stars have a finite width characterized by the point spread function (PSF), hence they appear blended in crowded stellar fields. Classical spectroscopy does not preserve any spatial information, therefore it is impossible to separate the spectra of blended stars and to measure their velocities. Yet methods have been developed to perform imaging spectroscopy. One of those methods is integral field spectroscopy. In the course of this work, the first systematic study on the potential of integral field spectroscopy in the analysis of dense stellar fields is carried out. To this aim, a method is developed to reconstruct the PSF from the observed data and to use this information to extract the stellar spectra. Based on dedicated simulations, predictions are made on the number of stellar spectra that can be extracted from a given data set and the quality of those spectra. Furthermore, the influence of uncertainties in the recovered PSF on the extracted spectra are quantified. The results clearly show that compared to traditional approaches, this method makes a significantly larger number of stars accessible to a spectroscopic analysis. This systematic study goes hand in hand with the development of a software package to automatize the individual steps of the data analysis. It is applied to data of three Galactic globular clusters, M3, M13, and M92. The data have been observed with the PMAS integral field spectrograph at the Calar Alto observatory with the aim to constrain the presence of intermediate-mass black holes in the centres of the clusters. The application of the new analysis method yields samples of about 80 stars per cluster. These are by far the largest spectroscopic samples that have so far been obtained in the centre of any of the three clusters. In the course of the further analysis, Jeans models are calculated for each cluster that predict the velocity dispersion based on an assumed mass distribution inside the cluster. The comparison to the observed velocities of the stars shows that in none of the three clusters, a massive black hole is required to explain the observed kinematics. Instead, the observations rule out any black hole in M13 with a mass higher than 13000 solar masses at the 99.7% level. For the other two clusters, this limit is at significantly lower masses, namely 2500 solar masses in M3 and 2000 solar masses in M92. In M92, it is possible to lower this limit even further by a combined analysis of the extracted stars and the unresolved stellar component. This component consists of the numerous stars in the cluster that appear unresolved in the integral field data. The final limit of 1300 solar masses is the lowest limit obtained so far for a massive globular cluster.
Ultrafast soft X-ray emission spectroscopy of surface adsorbates using an X-ray free electron laser
(2013)
We report on an experimental system designed to probe chemical reactions on solid surfaces on a sub-picosecond timescale using soft X-ray emission spectroscopy at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) free electron laser (FEL) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We analyzed the O 1s X-ray emission spectra recorded from atomic oxygen adsorbed on a Ru(0001) surface at a synchrotron beamline (SSRL, BL13-2) and an FEL beamline (LCLS, SXR). We have demonstrated conditions that provide negligible amount of FEL induced damage of the sample. In addition we show that the setup is capable of tracking the temporal evolution of electronic structure during a surface reaction of submonolayer quantities of CO molecules desorbing from the surface.
We study subdiffusive overdamped Brownian ratchets periodically rocked by an external zero-mean force in viscoelastic media within the framework of a non-Markovian generalized Langevin equation approach and associated multidimensional Markovian embedding dynamics. Viscoelastic deformations of the medium caused by the transport particle are modeled by a set of auxiliary Brownian quasiparticles elastically coupled to the transport particle and characterized by a hierarchy of relaxation times which obey a fractal scaling. The most slowly relaxing deformations which cannot immediately follow to the moving particle imprint long-range memory about its previous positions and cause subdiffusion and anomalous transport on a sufficiently long time scale. This anomalous behavior is combined with normal diffusion and transport on an initial time scale of overdamped motion. Anomalously slow directed transport in a periodic ratchet potential with broken space inversion symmetry emerges due to a violation of the thermal detailed balance by a zero-mean periodic driving and is optimized with frequency of driving, its amplitude, and temperature. Such optimized anomalous transport can be low dispersive and characterized by a large generalized Peclet number. Moreover, we show that overdamped subdiffusive ratchets can sustain a substantial load and do useful work. The corresponding thermodynamic efficiency decays algebraically in time since the useful work done against a load scales sublinearly with time following to the transport particle position, but the energy pumped by an external force scales with time linearly. Nevertheless, it can be transiently appreciably high and compare well with the thermodynamical efficiency of the normal diffusion overdamped ratchets on sufficiently long temporal and spatial scales.
The structure of the coronal magnetic field prior to eruptive processes and the conditions for the onset of eruption are important issues that can be addressed through studying the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and evolution of nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) models. This paper uses data-constrained NLFFF models of a solar active region (AR) that erupted on 2010 April 8 as initial conditions in MHD simulations. These models, constructed with the techniques of flux rope insertion and magnetofrictional relaxation (MFR), include a stable, an approximately marginally stable, and an unstable configuration. The simulations confirm previous related results of MFR runs, particularly that stable flux rope equilibria represent key features of the observed pre-eruption coronal structure very well, and that there is a limiting value of the axial flux in the rope for the existence of stable NLFFF equilibria. The specific limiting value is located within a tighter range, due to the sharper discrimination between stability and instability by the MHD description. The MHD treatment of the eruptive configuration yields a very good agreement with a number of observed features, like the strongly inclined initial rise path and the close temporal association between the coronal mass ejection and the onset of flare reconnection. Minor differences occur in the velocity of flare ribbon expansion and in the further evolution of the inclination; these can be eliminated through refined simulations. We suggest that the slingshot effect of horizontally bent flux in the source region of eruptions can contribute significantly to the inclination of the rise direction. Finally, we demonstrate that the onset criterion, formulated in terms of a threshold value for the axial flux in the rope, corresponds very well to the threshold of the torus instability in the considered AR.
We discuss the controlled subdiffraction modulations of photosensitive polymer films that are induced by surface plasmon interference in striking contrast to well-known conventional microscopic gratings. The near-field light intensity patterns were generated at the nanoslits fabricated in a silver layer with the photosensitive polymer film placed above. We observed that the topographical modulations can be excited only when the polarization is perpendicular to the nanoslits. Moreover, we have shown that light with certain wavelengths resulted in a characteristic topographical pattern with the periodicity three times smaller than the wavelength of incoming light. A combination of experimental observations with simulations showed that the unique subdiffraction topographical patterns are caused by constructive interference between two counter-propagating surface plasmon waves generated at neighboring nanoslits in the metal layer beneath the photosensitive polymer film. The light intensity distribution was simulated to demonstrate strong dependency upon the slit array periodicity as well as wavelength and polarization of incoming light.
We study the Kuramoto model of globally coupled oscillators with a biharmonic coupling function. We develop an analytic self-consistency approach to find stationary synchronous states in the thermodynamic limit and demonstrate that there is a huge multiplicity of such states, which differ microscopically in the distributions of locked phases. These synchronous regimes already exist prior to the linear instability transition of the fully asynchronous state. In the presence of white Gaussian noise, the multiplicity is lifted, but the dependence of the order parameters on coupling constants remains nontrivial.
We consider a generalization of the Kuramoto model of coupled oscillators to the situation where communities of oscillators having essentially different natural frequencies interact. General equations describing possible resonances between the communities' frequencies are derived. The simplest situation of three resonantly interacting groups is analyzed in detail. We find conditions for the mutual coupling to promote or suppress synchrony in individual populations and present examples where the interaction between communities leads to their synchrony or to a partially asynchronous state or to a chaotic dynamics of order parameters. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.134101
In this paper we report on an opto-mechanical scission of polymer chains within photosensitive diblock-copolymer brushes grafted to flat solid substrates. We employ surface-initiated polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA) and t-butyl methacrylate (tBMA) to grow diblock-copolymer brushes of poly(methylmethacrylate-b-t-butyl methacrylate) following the atom transfer polymerization (ATRP) scheme. After the synthesis, deprotection of the PtBMA block yields poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA). To render PMMA-b-PMAA copolymers photosensitive, cationic azobenzene containing surfactants are attached to the negatively charged outer PMAA block. During irradiation with an ultraviolet (UV) interference pattern, the extent of photoisomerization of the azobenzene groups varies spatially and results in a topography change of the brush, i.e., formation of surface relief gratings (SRG). The SRG formation is accompanied by local rupturing of the polymer chains in areas from which the polymer material recedes. This opto-mechanically induced scission of the polymer chains takes place at the interfaces of the two blocks and depends strongly on the UV irradiation intensity. Our results indicate that this process may be explained by employing classical continuum fracture mechanics, which might be important for tailoring the phenomenon for applying it to poststructuring of polymer brushes.
Recovering interaction of endogenous rhythms from observations is challenging, especially if a mathematical model explaining the behaviour of the system is unknown. The decisive information for successful reconstruction of the dynamics is the sensitivity of an oscillator to external influences, which is quantified by its phase response curve. Here we present a technique that allows the extraction of the phase response curve from a non-invasive observation of a system consisting of two interacting oscillators-in this case heartbeat and respiration-in its natural environment and under free-running conditions. We use this method to obtain the phase-coupling functions describing cardiorespiratory interactions and the phase response curve of 17 healthy humans. We show for the first time the phase at which the cardiac beat is susceptible to respiratory drive and extract the respiratory-related component of heart rate variability. This non-invasive method for the determination of phase response curves of coupled oscillators may find application in many scientific disciplines.
We discuss the effect of triplet synchrony in oscillatory networks. In this state the phases and the frequencies of three coupled oscillators fulfill the conditions of a triplet locking, whereas every pair of systems remains asynchronous. We suggest an easy to compute measure, a triplet synchronization index, which can be used to detect such states from experimental data.
In this paper, we introduce and study systematically, in terms of phase response curves, the effect of dual-pulse excitation on the dynamics of an autonomous oscillator. Specifically, we test the deviations from linear summation of phase advances resulting from two small perturbations. We analytically derive a correction term, which generally appears for oscillators whose intrinsic dimensionality is >1. The nonlinear correction term is found to be proportional to the square of the perturbation. We demonstrate this effect in the Stuart-Landau model and in various higher dimensional neuronal models. This deviation from the superposition principle needs to be taken into account in studies of networks of pulse-coupled oscillators. Further, this deviation could be used in the verification of oscillator models via a dual-pulse excitation.
Bonding of the Ni2+(aq) complex is investigated with an unprecedented combination of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements and ab initio calculations at the Ni L absorption edge. The spectra directly reflect the relative energies of the ligand-field and charge-transfer valence-excited states. They give element-specific access with atomic resolution to the ground-state electronic structure of the complex and allow quantification of ligand-field strength and 3d-3d electron correlation interactions in the Ni2+(aq) complex. The experimentally determined ligand-field strength is 10Dq = 1.1 eV. This and the Racah parameters characterizing 3d-3d Coulomb interactions B = 0.13 eV and C = 0.42 eV as readily derived from the measured energies match very well with the results from UV-vis spectroscopy. Our results demonstrate how L-edge RIXS can be used to complement existing spectroscopic tools for the investigation of bonding in 3d transition-metal coordination compounds in solution. The ab initio RASPT2 calculation is successfully used to simulate the L-edge RIXS spectra.
We study an ensemble of identical noisy phase oscillators with a blinking mean-field coupling, where onecluster and two-cluster synchronous states alternate. In the thermodynamic limit the population is described by a nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation. We show that the dynamics of the order parameters demonstrates hyperbolic chaos. The chaoticity manifests itself in phases of the complex mean field, which obey a strongly chaotic Bernoulli map. Hyperbolicity is confirmed by numerical tests based on the calculations of relevant invariant Lyapunov vectors and Lyapunov exponents. We show how the chaotic dynamics of the phases is slightly smeared by finite-size fluctuations. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.032912
Stochastic processes driven by stationary fractional Gaussian noise, that is, fractional Brownian motion and fractional Langevin-equation motion, are usually considered to be ergodic in the sense that, after an algebraic relaxation, time and ensemble averages of physical observables coincide. Recently it was demonstrated that fractional Brownian motion and fractional Langevin-equation motion under external confinement are transiently nonergodic-time and ensemble averages behave differently-from the moment when the particle starts to sense the confinement. Here we show that these processes also exhibit transient aging, that is, physical observables such as the time-averaged mean-squared displacement depend on the time lag between the initiation of the system at time t = 0 and the start of the measurement at the aging time t(a). In particular, it turns out that for fractional Langevin-equation motion the aging dependence on ta is different between the cases of free and confined motion. We obtain explicit analytical expressions for the aged moments of the particle position as well as the time-averaged mean-squared displacement and present a numerical analysis of this transient aging phenomenon.
In this paper, we report on the properties of nano-slits created in metal thin films using atomic force microscope (AFM) nanolithography (AFM-NL). We demonstrate that instead of expensive diamond AFM tips, it is also possible to use low cost silicon nitride tips. It is shown that depending on the direction of scratching, nano-slits of different widths and depths can be fabricated at constant load force. We elucidate the reasons for this behavior and identify an optimal direction and load force for scratching a gold layer.
At BESSY II a confocal plane grating spectrometer for resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is currently under commissioning. The new endstation operates with a source size of 4 x 1 mu m(2) provided by its dedicated beamline. The RIXS-spectrometer covers an energy range from 50 eV to 1000 eV, providing a resolving power E/Delta E of 5000-15,000. The beamline allows full polarization control and gives a photon flux of up to 7 x 10(14) photons/s/0.1 A/0.1%bandwidth by offering a resolving power E/Delta E of 4000-12,000.
Early detection of possible defects in civil infrastructure is vital to ensuring timely maintenance and extending structure life expectancy. The authors recently proposed a novel method for structural health monitoring based on soft capacitors. The sensor consisted of an off-the-shelf flexible capacitor that could be easily deployed over large surfaces, the main advantages being cost-effectiveness, easy installation, and allowing simple signal processing. In this paper, a capacitive sensor with tailored mechanical and electrical properties is presented, resulting in greatly improved robustness while retaining measurement sensitivity. The sensor is fabricated from a thermoplastic elastomer mixed with titanium dioxide and sandwiched between conductive composite electrodes. Experimental verifications conducted on wood and concrete specimens demonstrate the improved robustness, as well as the ability of the sensing method to diagnose and locate strain.
A detailed investigation of the open circuit voltage (V-OC) of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells comprising three different donor polymers and two different fullerene-based acceptors is presented. Bias amplified charge extraction (BACE) is combined with Kelvin Probe measurements to derive information on the relevant energetics in the blend. On the example of P3HT:PC70BM the influence of composition and preparation conditions on the relevant transport levels will be shown. Moderate upward shifts of the P3HT HOMO depending on crystallinity are observed, but contrarily to common believe, the dependence of V-OC on blend composition and thermal history is found to be largely determined by the change in the PCBM LUMO energy. Following this approach, we quantified the energetic contribution to the V-OC in blends with fluorinated polymers or higher adduct fullerenes.
Aims. We analyze the emission in the 0.3-30 GeV energy range of gamma-ray bursts detected with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We concentrate on bursts that were previously only detected with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor in the keV energy range. These bursts will then be compared to the bursts that were individually detected with the Large Area Telescope at higher energies.
Methods. To estimate the emission of faint GRBs we used nonstandard analysis methods and sum over many GRBs to find an average signal that is significantly above background level. We used a subsample of 99 GRBs listed in the Burst Catalog from the first two years of observation.
Results. Although most are not individually detectable, the bursts not detected by the Large Area Telescope on average emit a significant flux in the energy range from 0.3 GeV to 30 GeV, but their cumulative energy fluence is only 8% of that of all GRBs. Likewise, the GeV-to-MeV flux ratio is less and the GeV-band spectra are softer. We confirm that the GeV-band emission lasts much longer than the emission found in the keV energy range. The average allsky energy flux from GRBs in the GeV band is 6.4 x 10(-4) erg cm(-2) yr(-1) or only similar to 4% of the energy flux of cosmic rays above the ankle at 10(18.6) eV.
Global mean sea level has been steadily rising over the last century, is projected to increase by the end of this century, and will continue to rise beyond the year 2100 unless the current global mean temperature trend is reversed. Inertia in the climate and global carbon system, however, causes the global mean temperature to decline slowly even after greenhouse gas emissions have ceased, raising the question of how much sea-level commitment is expected for different levels of global mean temperature increase above preindustrial levels. Although sea-level rise over the last century has been dominated by ocean warming and loss of glaciers, the sensitivity suggested from records of past sea levels indicates important contributions should also be expected from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Uncertainties in the paleo-reconstructions, however, necessitate additional strategies to better constrain the sea-level commitment. Here we combine paleo-evidence with simulations from physical models to estimate the future sea-level commitment on a multimillennial time scale and compute associated regional sea-level patterns. Oceanic thermal expansion and the Antarctic Ice Sheet contribute quasi-linearly, with 0.4 m degrees C-1 and 1.2 m degrees C-1 of warming, respectively. The saturation of the contribution from glaciers is overcompensated by the nonlinear response of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As a consequence we are committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m degrees C-1 within the next 2,000 y. Considering the lifetime of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, this imposes the need for fundamental adaptation strategies on multicentennial time scales.