Entrainment range affected by the heterogeneity in the amplitude relaxation rate of suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons

Adaption of circadian rhythms in behavioral and physiological activities to the external light–dark cycle is achieved through the main clock, i.e., the suprachiasmatic nucleus(SCN) of the brain in mammals. It has been found that the SCN neurons differ in the amplitude relaxation rate, which represents the rigidity of the neurons to the external amplitude disturbance. Thus far, the appearance of that difference has not been explained. In the present study, an alternative explanation based on the Poincare′ model is given which takes into account the effect of the difference in the entrainment range of the SCN. Both our simulation results and theoretical analyses show that the largest entrainment range is obtained with suitable difference in the case that only a part of SCN neurons are sensitive to the light information. Our findings may give an alternative explanation for the appearance of that difference(heterogeneity) and shed light on the effects of the heterogeneity in the neuronal properties on the collective behaviors of the SCN neurons.     

Modeling of intercellular synchronization in the Drosophila circadian clock

In circadian rhythm generation,intercellular signaling factors are shown to play a crucial role in both sustaining intrinsic cellular rhythmicity and acquiring collective behaviours across a population of circadian neurons.However,the physical mechanism behind their role remains to be fully understood.In this paper,we propose an indirectly coupled multicellular model for the synchronization of Drosophila circadian oscillators combining both intracellular and intercellular dynamics.By simulating different experimental conditions,we find that such an indirect coupling way can synchronize both heterogeneous self-sustained circadian neurons and heterogeneous mutational damped circadian neurons.Moreover,they can also be entrained to ambient light-dark(LD) cycles depending on intercellular signaling.     

The spike timing precision of FitzHugh--Nagumo neuron network coupled by gap junctions

It has been proved recently that the spike timing can play an important role in information transmission, so in this paper we develop a network with N-unit FitzHugh--Nagumo neurons coupled by gap junctions and discuss the dependence of the spike timing precision on synaptic coupling strength, the noise intensity and the size of the neuron ensemble. The calculated results show that the spike timing precision decreases as the noise intensity increases; and the ensemble spike timing precision increases with coupling strength increasing. The electric synapse coupling has a more important effect on the spike timing precision than the chemical synapse coupling.     

Numerical Studies of s-Polarized Surface Plasmon Polaritons at the Interface Associated with Metamaterial

The s-polarized surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） at the interface between dielectric and metamaterial are studied, and the dispersion relations of SPPs are also presented. Using the prism coupling mechanism, we obtain the attenuated total reflection （ATR） spectra in the frequency regime based on the Otto configuration. It is found that the thickness of the dielectric in the configuration and the small damping of the metamaterial affect the coupling strength significantly without changing the coupling frequency. Furthermore, the optimized thickness of the dielectric decreases with a larger damping, and the coefficient F of the metamaterial also determines the coupling frequency and strength.     

Synchronization transition of a coupled system composed of neurons with coexisting behaviors near a Hopf bifurcation

The coexistence of a resting condition and period-1 firing near a subcritical Hopf bifurcation point, lying between the monostable resting condition and period-1 firing, is often observed in neurons of the central nervous systems. Near such a bifurcation point in the Morris-Lecar （ML） model, the attraction domain of the resting condition decreases while that of the coexisting period-1 firing increases as the bifurcation parameter value increases. With the increase of the coupling strength, and parameter and initial value dependent synchronization transition processes from non-synchronization to compete synchronization are simulated in two coupled ML neurons with coexisting behaviors： one neuron chosen as the resting condition and the other the coexisting period-1 firing. The complete synchronization is either a resting condition or period-1 firing dependent on the initial values of period-1 firing when the bifurcation parameter value is small or middle and is period- 1 firing when the parameter value is large. As the bifurcation parameter value increases, the probability of the initial values of a period- 1 firing neuron that lead to complete synchronization of period- 1 firing increases, while that leading to complete synchronization of the resting condition decreases. It shows that the attraction domain of a coexisting behavior is larger, the probability of initial values leading to complete synchronization of this behavior is higher. The bifurcations of the coupled system are investigated and discussed. The results reveal the complex dynamics of synchronization behaviors of the coupled system composed of neurons with the coexisting resting condition and period-1 firing, and are helpful to further identify the dynamics of the spatiotemporal behaviors of the central nervous system.     

Temperature Effects of Parabolic Linear Bound Potential and Coulomb Bound Potential Quantum Dot Qubit

On the condition of electric-LO phonon strong coupling in a parabolic quantum dot, we obtain the eigenenergy and the eigenfunctions of the ground state and the first-excited state using the variational method of Pekar type. This system in a quantum dot may be employed as a two-level quantum system-qubit. When the electron is in the superposition state of the ground state and the first-excited state, we obtain the time evolution of the electron density. The relations of the probability density of electron on the temperature and the electron-LO-phonon coupling constant and the relations of the period of oscillation on the temperature, the electron-LO-phonon coupling constant, the Coulomb binding parameter and the confinement length are derived. The results show that the probability density of electron oscillates with a period when the electron is in the superposition state of the ground and the first-excited state, and show that there are different laws that the probability density of electron and the period of oscillation change with the temperature and the electron-LO-phonon coupling constant when the temperature is lower or higher. And it is obtained that the period of oscillation decreases with increasing the Coulomb bound potential and increases with increasing the confinement length not only at lower temperatures but also at higher temperatures.     

Steady-state entanglement and heat current of two coupled qubits in two baths without rotating wave approximation

We study the steady-state entanglement and heat current of two coupled qubits, in which two qubits are connected with two independent heat baths(IHBs) or two common heat baths(CHBs). We construct the master equation in the eigenstate representation of two coupled qubits to describe the dynamics of the total system and derive the solutions in the steadystate with stronger coupling regime between two qubits than qubit–baths. We do not make the rotating wave approximation(RWA) for the qubit–qubit interaction, and so we are able to investigate the behaviors of the system in both the strong coupling regime and the weak coupling regime, respectively. In an equilibrium bath, we find that the entanglement decreases with the bath temperature and energy detuning increasing under the strong coupling regime. In the weak coupling regime,the entanglement increases with coupling strength increasing and decreases with the bath temperature and energy detuning increasing. In a nonequilibrium bath, the entanglement without RWA is useful for entanglement at lower temperatures.We also study the heat currents of the two coupled qubits and their variations with the energy detuning, coupling strength and low temperature. In the strong(weak) coupling regime, the heat current increases(decreases) with coupling strength increasing when the temperature of one bath is lower(higher) than the other, and the energy detuning leads to a positive(negative) effect when the temperature is low(high). In the weak coupling regime, the variation trend of heat current is opposite to that of coupling strength for the IHB case and the CHB case.     

Time Delay-Enhanced Synchronization and Regularization in Two Coupled Chaotic Neurons

Complete synchronization of two identical chaotic Morris-Lecar (ML) neurons with time-delay coupling is investigated. It is found that the coupled ML neurons may achieve synchronization by an efficient time delay at a low coupling strength. At the same time, the chaotic motion of the coupled neurons may become a regular periodic one during synchronization by the time-delay coupling, that is, the delay time coupling is able to suppress chaos in the process of synchronization. However, the time delay has the effect on enhancement of synchronization and regularization of coupled neurons only in certain coupling strength ranges. Moreover, synchronization of coupled neurons is achieved by time delay after regularization.     

Spatiotemporal multiple coherence resonances and calcium waves in a coupled hepatocyte system

Spatiotemporal multiple coherence resonances for calcium activities induced by weak Gaussian white noise in coupled hepatocytes are studied. It is shown that bi-resonances in hepatocytes are induced by the interplay and competition between noise and coupling of cells, in other words, the cell in network can be excited either by noise or by its neighbour via gap junction which can transfer calcium ions between cells. Furthermore, the intercellular annular calcium waves induced by noise are observed, in which the wave length decreases with noise intensity augmenting but increases monotonically with coupling strength increasing. And for a fixed noise level, there is an optimal coupling strength that makes the coherence resonance reach maximum.     

Effects of Spike Frequency Adaptation on Synchronization Transitions in Electrically Coupled Neuronal Networks with Scale-Free Connectivity

Effects of spike frequency adaptation （SFA ） on the synchronous behavior of population neurons are investigated in electrically coupled networks with a scale-free property. By a computational approach, we corroborate that pairwise correlations between neurons would decrease if neurons exhibit the feature of SFA, which is similar to previous experimental observations. However, unlike the case of pairwise correlations, population activities of neurons show a rather complex variation mode： compared with those of non-adapted neurons, neurons in the networks having weak-degrees of SFA will impair population synchronizations; while neurons exhibiting strong- degrees of SFA will enhance population synchronizations. Moreover, a variation of coupling strength between neurons will not alter this phenomenon significantly, unless the coupling strength is too weak. Our results suggest that synchronous activity of electrically coupled population neurons is adaptation-dependent, and this adaptive feature may imply some coding strategies of neuronal populations.     

Update of g-2 of the muon and Δα

We update our Standard Model predictions for g-2 of the muon and for the hadronic contributions （5） 2 to the running of the QED coupling, Δαbad^5）（MZ^2）. Particular emphasis is put on recent changes in the hadronic contributions from new data in the 2π channel and from the energy region just below 2 GeV.     

Physical design of a wavelength tunable fully coherent VUV source using a self-seeding free electron laser

In order to meet the requirements of the synchrotron radiation users, a fully coherent VUV free electron laser （FEL） has been preliminarily designed. One important goal of this design is that the radiation wavelength can be easily tuned in a broad range （70 170 nm）. In the light of the users＇ demand and our actual conditions, the self-seeding scheme is adopted for this proposal. Firstly, we attempted to fix the electron energy and only changed the undulator gap to vary the radiation wavelength; however, our analysis implies that this is difficult because of the great difference of the power gain length and FEL efficiency at different wavelengths. Therefore, we have considered dividing the wavelength range into three subareas. In each subarea, a constant electron energy is used and the wavelength tuning is realized only by adjusting the undulator gap. The simulation results show that this scheme has an acceptable performance.     

Single Production of Top Quark via e-γ Collision in Left-Right Twin Higgs Model

In the context of the left-right twin Higgs （LRTH） model, we fist study single production of the standard model （SM） top quark via e-γ collisions. We find that the corrections of the LRTH model to the cross section of the process e-γ→vebt might be observed only for f ≤750 GeV and the heavy top quark mass scale M ≥500 GeV in future high energy linear e^＋e^- collider （LC） experiment with the center-of-mass （CM） energy √s = 500 GeV and a yearly integrated luminosity of ￡ = 100 fb^-1. We also consider single production of the heavy top quark T via e-γ collisions. Our numerical results show that the possible signals of the heavy top quark T might be observed via the decay channel T →Ф^＋b→tbb in future LC experiment with √s = 3 TeV and ￡ = 500 fb^-1.     

Effect of Saddle-Splay Elasticity on Stability of Disclination Rings in Nematic Liquid Crystals

In this paper, the stability of disclination ring in nematie liquid crystals is studied. In the presence of saddle-splay elasticity （characterized by k24） the disclination ring has a universal equilibrium radius. Depending on the values of the saddle-splay constant k24, the universal equilibrium radius is altered. When k24 〉 0.92k （m = 1/2） and k24 〉 0.88k （m =-1/2）, the disclination will be a point rather than a ring, where k is the Frank elastic constant in the one-constant approximation.     

Hadro- and photo-production of η′ in quasi-free proton and neutron processes

The η′ photoproduction process on quasi-free proton and neutron and the reaction NN→ η′NN are investigated within a relativistic effective Lagrangian approach to hadronic interactions. Resonances with spins 1/2 and 3/2 are considered together with the nucleonic and t-channel meson-exchange current contributions. In photoproduction processes, the S11 resonance is found to be responsible for the sharp rise of the cross sections near threshold. In pp → η′pp, it is found that the S11 resonance dominates the total cross section over the entire energy region considered. The spin observables, in particular the beam and target asymmetries, are shown to be very sensitive to the reaction mechanism and will help impose more stringent constraints on the model parameters.     

An analysis of undulator optimization in self-seeding free electron lasers

A simple analysis is given for the optimum length of undulator in a self-seeding free electron laser （FEL）. The obtained relations show the correlation between the undulator length and the system parameters. The power required for the seeding in the second part of the undulator and the overall efficiency of monochromatizating the seeding determine the length of the first part of the undulator; the magnitude of seeding power dominates the length of the second part of the undulator; the whole length of the undulator in a self-seeding FEL is determined by the overall efficiency for getting coherent seed, and is about half as long again as that of SASE, not including the dispersion section. The requirement of the dispersion section strength is also analyzed.     

De Haas-van Alphen Effect of Free Electron Gas Revisited

The free electron gas in a uniform magnetic field at low temperature is restudied. The grand partition function previously obtained by Landau＇s quantitative calculation contains three parts, which are all approximate. An improved calculation is presented, in which two of the three parts are obtained in exact forms. A simple remedy for Landau and Lifshitz＇s qualitative calculation in the textbook is also given, which turns the qualitative result into the same one as obtained by the improved quantitative calculation. The chemical potential is solved approximately and the thermodynamic quantities are caiculated explicitly in both a weak field and a strong field. The thermodynamic quantities in a strong field obtained here contain both non-oscillating and oscillating corrections to the corresponding results derived from Landau＇s grand partition function. In particular, Landau＇s grand partition function is not sufficiently accurate to yield our nonzero results for the specific heat and the entropy. An error in the Laplace-transform method for the problem is corrected. The results previously obtained by this method are also improved.     

Double Symplectic Eigenfunction Expansion Method of Free Vibration of Rectangular Thin Plates

The free vibration problem of rectangular thin plates is rewritten as a new upper triangular matrix differential system. For the associated operator matrix, we find that the two diagonal block operators are Hamiltonian. Moreover, the existence and completeness of normed symplectic orthogonal eigenfunction systems of these two block operators are demonstrated. Based on the completeness, the general solution of the free vibration of rectangular thin plates is given by double symplectie eigenfunction expansion method.     

First-Principles Calculations of Atomic and Electronic Properties of T1 and In on Si（111）

The atomic and electronic structures of T1 and In on Si（111） surfaces are investigated using the firstprinciples total energy calculations. Total energy optimizations show that the energetically favored structure is 1/3 ML T1 adsorbed at the T4 sites on Si（111） surfaces. The adsorption energy difference of one T1 adatom between （√3 × √3） and （1 × 1） is less than that of each In adatom. The DOS indicates that TI 6p and Si 3p electrons play a very important role in the formation of the surface states. It is concluded that the bonding of TI adatoms on Si（111） surfaces is mainly polar covalent, which is weaker than that of In on Si（111）. So T1 atom is more easy to be migrated than In atom in the same external electric field and the structures of T1 on Si（111） is prone to switch between （√3 × √3） and （1 × 1）.     

Study on the pre-chopper in CSNS LEBT

Physical designing of the pre-chopper in CSNS LEBT is carried out, which includes the deflecting voltage, the length and the width of the deflecting plates, and the gap between the deflecting plates. The most outstanding feature of the design is that both the gap and the width vary with the beam envelope size. So both the requried deflecting voltage and the loaded capacitance are lowered. In order to avoid destruction of the space charge neutralization by the pre-chopper in the whole LEBT, an electron-trapping electrode is arranged to confine the electrostatic field of the pre-chopper to the local area. To examine the reliability of the pre-chopping design in CSNS LEBT, a similar pre-chopping design in ADS RFQ LEBT is set up and an experiment on the pre-chopper is prepared. 3-dimensional simulations are carried out to determine the loaded capacitance and the applied voltage of the electron-trapping electrode.