Excitation of radial collective modes in a quantum dot: Beyond linear response

The recent results on the linear breathing mode of the excitation spectrum of a quantum dot obtained by McDonald et. al [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111 , 256801 (2013)] are extended to the nonlinear regime. To accomplish this and analyze the results the response of five different models of two interacting electrons in a quantum dot to an external short lived radial excitation that is strong enough to excite the system well beyond the linear response regime is compared. The models considered describe the Coulomb interaction between the electrons in different ways ranging from mean‐field approaches to configuration interaction (CI) models, where the two‐electron Hamiltonian is diagonalized in a large truncated Fock space. The radially symmetric excitation is selected in order to severely put to test the different approaches to describe the interaction and correlations of an electron system in a nonequilibrium state. As can be expected for the case of only two electrons none of the mean‐field models can in full details reproduce the results obtained by the CI model. Nonetheless, some linear and nonlinear characteristics are reproduced reasonably well. All the models show activation of an increasing number of collective modes as the strength of the excitation is increased. By varying slightly the confinement potential of the dot it was observed how sensitive the properties of the excitation spectrum are to the Coulomb interaction and its correlation effects. In order to approach closer the question of nonlinearity one of the mean‐field models has been solved directly in a nonlinear fashion without resorting to iterations.     

Entanglement Thresholds for Random Induced States

For a random quantum state on obtained by partial tracing a random pure state on , we consider the question whether it is typically separable or typically entangled. For this problem, we show the existence of a sharp threshold of order roughly . More precisely, for any and for d large enough, such a random state is entangled with very large probability when , and separable with very large probability when . One consequence of this result is as follows: for a system of N identical particles in a random pure state, there is a threshold such that two subsystems of k particles each typically share entanglement if k > k₀, and typically do not share entanglement if k < k₀. Our methods also work for multipartite systems and for “unbalanced” systems such as , . The arguments rely on random matrices, classical convexity, high‐dimensional probability, and geometry of Banach spaces; some of the auxiliary results may be of reference value. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Darboux theory of integrability in the sparse case

Darboux's theorem and Jouanolou's theorem deal with the existence of first integrals and rational first integrals of a polynomial vector field. These results are given in terms of the degree of the polynomial vector field. Here we show that we can get the same kind of results if we consider the size of a Newton polytope associated to the vector field. Furthermore, we show that in this context the bound is optimal.     

Combination of dynamic time warping and multivariate analysis for the comparison of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograms: application to plant extracts

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC) is now recognized as the preferred technique for the detailed analysis and characterization of complex mixtures of volatile compounds. However, for comparison purposes, taking into account all the information contained in the chromatogram is far from trivial. In this paper, it is shown that the combination of peak alignment by dynamic time warping and multivariate analysis facilitated the comparison of complex chromatograms of tobacco extracts. The comparison is shown to be efficient enough to provide a clear discrimination among three types of tobacco. A tentative interpretation of loadings is presented in order to give access to the compounds which differ from one sample to another. Once located, mass spectrometry was used to identify markers of tobacco type.     

Influence of surface energy distribution on neuritogenesis

PC12 cells are a useful model to study neuronal differentiation, as they can undergo terminal differentiation, typically when treated with nerve growth factor (NGF). In this study we investigated the influence of surface energy distribution on PC12 cell differentiation, by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and immunofluorescence. Glass surfaces were modified by chemisorption: an aminosilane, n-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]ethylendiamine (C₈H₂₂N₂O₃Si; EDA), was grafted by polycondensation. AFM analysis of substrate topography showed the presence of aggregates suggesting that the adsorption is heterogeneous, and generates local gradients in energy of adhesion. PC12 cells cultured on these modified glass surfaces developed neurites in absence of NGF treatment. In contrast, PC12 cells did not grow neurites when cultured in the absence of NGF on a relatively smooth surface such as poly-l-lysine substrate, where amine distribution is rather homogeneous. These results suggest that surface energy distribution, through cell–substrate interactions, triggers mechanisms that will drive PC12 cells to differentiate and to initiate neuritogenesis. We were able to create a controlled physical nano-structuration with local variations in surface energy that allowed the study of these parameters on neuritogenesis.     

Iron Polyoxometalate Single‐Molecule Magnets

Iron sandwich on a tungstate bun : Two new polyoxotungstates with paramagnetic iron(III) heteroatoms (see structure, W blue, Fe yellow, O red) possess S=15/2 and S=5 ground states. Both compounds are single‐molecule magnets, and the hexairon species shows large hysteresis (see picture) and quantum tunneling effects at low temperature. Electrochemical studies indicate that these species are stable in solution for a wide range of pH values.

     

Isomery of [Re6S6Br8] and [Re6S5Br9] Units in a Rhenium Cluster Thiobromide: Experimental and Theoretical Approaches

The rhenium cluster thiobromide Cs_1.95(1)Re₆S_5.82(3)Br_8.19(3), belonging to the solid solution Cs₂Re₆S₆Br₈–CsRe₆S₅Br₉, crystallizes in the trigonal system (P31c, a = 10.001(5) Å and c = 14.676(5) Å). It is built up from [Re₆L ₈ ⁱ ]Br ₆ ^a cluster units in which sulphur and bromine are randomly distributed on inner position (Lⁱ). From the structural refinement performed using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, the isomers of the [Re₆Sⁱ ₆Br ₂ ⁱ ] and [Re₆S ₅ ⁱ Br ₃ ⁱ ] cluster cores present in the structure have been unambiguously determined, due to the non-centro symmetry of the structure. Density functional theory calculations have been performed for all possible di- and tri-substituted isomers in order to confirm experimental analyses. Slight differences between the stability of di-substituted and tri-substituted cluster unit isomers built from Mo₆ cluster and Re₆ clusters are evidenced.     

High-resolution elastic and rotationally inelastic diffraction of D2 from NiAl(110)

High-resolution angular distributions of D(2) scattered from NiAl(110) have been measured at incident energies between 20 and 150 meV. The measurements were performed along the [110] azimuth using a high sensitivity time-of-flight apparatus, which allows the recording of diffraction channels not previously studied, including out-of-plane rotationally inelastic diffraction peaks. The attenuation of both elastic and rotationally inelastic diffraction intensities with surface temperature was found to follow a Debye-Waller model. The time-of-flight data analysis allowed us to assign unequivocally the different transition probabilities to each final state. In this way, 0→2, 2→0, and 1→3 transition probabilities were observed, covering relative intensities over two orders of magnitude. In the energy range investigated, the 0→2 transition was found to be a factor of 2-3 larger than the 2→0 one, which lies a factor of 10 above the 1→3 transition probability.     

A Comparative Study of Modifying Gold and Carbon Electrode with 4‐Sulfophenyl Diazonium Salt

A comparison of the reductive adsorption behavior of 4‐sulfophenyl diazonium salt and subsequent electrochemical reactivity on gold relative to carbon was studied with some significant differences observed. The ability of the 4‐sulfophenyl layer adsorbed onto gold to block access of the redox probe ferricyanide to the underlying electrodes, as determined via cyclic voltammetry was inferior to the same layers formed on glassy carbon electrodes thus indicating a more open, porous layer formed on gold. More significantly, the 4‐sulfophenyl layers are shown to be far less electrochemically stable on gold than on glassy carbon. Electrochemical and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) evidence suggests the instability is due to cleavage of the bond between sulfonate functional group and phenyl ring. These results provide further evidence that although aryl diazonium salt layers are relatively stable on gold surfaces compared with alkanethiol based self‐assembled monolayer (SAMs), the stability is not as high as is observed on carbon.     

A new xanthone from the bark extract of Rheedia acuminata and antiplasmodial activity of its major compounds

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the ethyl acetate bark extract of Rheedia acuminata led to the isolation of the new compound 1,5,6-trihydroxy-3-methoxy-7-geranyl-xanthone, together with four known compounds. These compounds were tested in vitro for their antiplasmodial activity on a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum (FcB1) and for their cytotoxicity against the human diploid embryonic lung cell line MRC-5.