Chaotic inflation in supergravity with Heisenberg symmetry

We propose the introduction of a Heisenberg symmetry of the Kähler potential to solve the problems with chaotic inflation in supergravity, as a viable alternative to the use of shift symmetry. The slope of the inflaton potential emerges from a small Heisenberg symmetry breaking term in the superpotential. The modulus field of the Heisenberg symmetry is stabilized and made heavy with the help of the large vacuum energy density during inflation. The observable predictions are indistinguishable from those of typical chaotic inflation models, however the form of the inflationary superpotential considered here may be interpreted in terms of sneutrino inflation arising from certain classes of string theory.     

Patterns of lepton-flavour violation motivated by decoupling and sneutrino inflation

We present predictions for flavour-violating charged-lepton decays induced by the seesaw mechanism implemented within the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM) with universal input soft supersymmetry breaking terms. We assume that one heavy singlet neutrino almost decouples from the seesaw mechanism, as suggested by the pattern of light neutrino masses and mixing angles. This is suggested independently by sneutrino inflation with a low reheating temperature, T_RH10⁷ GeV, so as to avoid overproducing gravitinos. This requirement further fixes the mass of the weakly-coupled sneutrino, whose decays may lead to leptogenesis. We find that BR(μ→eγ)10⁻¹³ but BR(τ→μγ)10⁻⁹ in the bulk of the acceptable parameter space, apart from a few isolated points. The ratio BR(μ→eγ)/BR(τ→eγ) depends on only one complex parameter, and is particularly interesting to compare with experiment.     

Transitional zones of meaning and semantics in music and language: Reply to comments on “Towards a neural basis of processing musical semantics”

Processing of meaning is critical for language perception, and therefore the majority of research on meaning processing has focused on the semantic, lexical, conceptual, and propositional processing of language. However, music is another a means of communication, and meaning also emerges from the interpretation of musical information. This article provides a framework for the investigation of the processing of musical meaning, and reviews neuroscience studies investigating this issue. These studies reveal two neural correlates of meaning processing, the N400 and the N5 (which are both components of the event-related electric brain potential). Here I argue that the N400 can be elicited by musical stimuli due to the processing of extra-musical meaning, whereas the N5 can be elicited due to the processing of intra-musical meaning. Notably, whereas the N400 can be elicited by both linguistic and musical stimuli, the N5 has so far only been observed for the processing of meaning in music. Thus, knowledge about both the N400 and the N5 can advance our understanding of how the human brain processes meaning information.     

Particle ratios from a chiral SU(3) model

The measured particle ratios in central heavy-ion collisions are investigated within a chemical and thermal equilibrium chiral SU(3) σ?ω approach. Contrary to the commonly adopted non-interacting gas calculations, the chiral SU(3) model predicts modified effective hadron masses and effective chemical potentials in the medium and a transition to a chirally restored phase at high temperatures or chemical potentials. the influence of three different types of phase transitions is investigated. We show that the deduced freeze-out values considerably depend on the underlying model while the quality of the fit is approximately the same.     

Real-Time Detection of Polymerase Activity Using Supercritical Angle Fluorescence

We investigated the incorporation efficiencies of different fluorescently labelled dNTPs with polymerases by complementary strand synthesis. For this reason single stranded DNA was immobilized on a coverslip and the increase of fluorescence due to the synthesis of the corresponding strand with tagged dNTPs was detected with a supercritical angle fluorescence biosensor in real-time. By comparison of the observed signal intensities it was possible to conclude that the system Cy5-dCTP-Klenow (exonuclease free) fragment gives the best incorporation yield of the investigated enzymes and dNTPs.     

Ultrafast all-optical modulation on a silicon chip

We experimentally demonstrate ultrafast all-optical modulation using a micrometer-sized silicon photonic integrated device. The device transmission is strongly modulated by photoexcited carriers generated by low-energy pump pulses. A p-i-n junction is integrated on the structure to permit control of the generated carrier lifetimes. When the junction is reverse biased, carriers are extracted from the device in a time as short as 50 ps, permitting greater than 5 Gbit/s modulation of optical signals on a silicon chip.     

Mineralogical analysis of auriferous ores from the El Diamante mine, Colombia

X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectrometry (MS), secondary ions mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and laser-ablation microprobe–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LAM–ICP–MS) were used to study mineral samples of Colombian auriferous ores collected from the “El Diamante” mine, located in the municipality of Guachavez-Nariño, in Colombia. The samples were prepared as polished thin sections and polished sections. From XRD data, quartz, sphalerite and pyrite were detected and their respective cell parameters were estimated. From MS analyses, pyrite, arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite were identified; their respective hyperfine parameters and respective texture were deduced. Multiple regions of approximately 200 × 200 μm in each sample were analyzed with SIMS; the occurrence of “invisible gold” associated mainly with pyrite and secondarily with arsenopyrite could thus be assigned. It was also found that pyrite is of the arsenious type. Spots from 30 to 40 μm in diameter were analyzed with LAM–ICP–MS for pyrite, arsenopyrite and sphalerite; Au is “homogeneously” distributed inside the structure of the arsenious pyrite and the arsenopyrite (not as inclusions); the chemical composition indicates similarities of this “invisible gold”, forming a solid solution with arsenious pyrite and arsenopyrite. One hundred nineteen and 62 ppm of ‘invisible gold’ was quantified in 21 spots analyzed on pyrite and in 14 spots on arsenopyrite, respectively.     

The Gram Matrix of a PT-Symmetric Quantum System

The eigenstates of a diagonalizable PT-symmetric Hamiltonian satisfy unconventional completeness and orthonormality relations. These relations reflect the properties of a pair of bi-orthonormal bases associated with non-hermitean diagonalizable operators. In a similar vein, such a dual pair of bases is shown to possess, in the presence of PT symmetry, a Gram matrix of a particular structure: its inverse is obtained by simply swapping the signs of some its matrix elements.     

Three-dimensional characterization of the effective second-order nonlinearity in periodically poled crystals

A novel technique for characterization of the second-order nonlinearity in nonlinear crystals is presented. It utilizes group-velocity walk-off between femtosecond pulses in type II SHG to achieve three-dimensional resolution of the nonlinearity. The longitudinal and transversal spatial resolution can be set independently. The technique is especially useful for characterizing quasi-phase-matched nonlinear crystals, and it is demonstrated in potassium titanyl phosphate.