Intermittent synchronization in a network of bursting neurons

Synchronized oscillations in networks of inhibitory and excitatory coupled bursting neurons are common in a variety of neural systems from central pattern generators to human brain circuits. One example of the latter is the subcortical network of the basal ganglia, formed by excitatory and inhibitory bursters of the subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus, involved in motor control and affected in Parkinson's disease. Recent experiments have demonstrated the intermittent nature of the phase-locking of neural activity in this network. Here, we explore one potential mechanism to explain the intermittent phase-locking in a network. We simplify the network to obtain a model of two inhibitory coupled elements and explore its dynamics. We used geometric analysis and singular perturbation methods for dynamical systems to reduce the full model to a simpler set of equations. Mathematical analysis was completed using three slow variables with two different time scales. Intermittently, synchronous oscillations are generated by overlapped spiking which crucially depends on the geometry of the slow phase plane and the interplay between slow variables as well as the strength of synapses. Two slow variables are responsible for the generation of activity patterns with overlapped spiking, and the other slower variable enhances the robustness of an irregular and intermittent activity pattern. While the analyzed network and the explored mechanism of intermittent synchrony appear to be quite generic, the results of this analysis can be used to trace particular values of biophysical parameters (synaptic strength and parameters of calcium dynamics), which are known to be impacted in Parkinson's disease.     

Nonequilibrium evolution thermodynamics of vacancies

An alternative approach, nonequilibrium evolution thermodynamics, is compared with the classical Landau approach. A statistical justification of the approach is done with the help of a probability distribution function on an example of a solid with vacancies. Two kinds of kinetic equations are derived in terms of the internal energy and the modified free energy.     

Chirality-assisted electronic cloaking of confined States in bilayer graphene

We show that the strong coupling of pseudospin orientation and charge carrier motion in bilayer graphene has a drastic effect on transport properties of ballistic p-n-p junctions. Electronic states with zero momentum parallel to the barrier are confined under it for one pseudospin orientation, whereas states with the opposite pseudospin tunnel through the junction totally uninfluenced by the presence of confined states. We demonstrate that the junction acts as a cloak for confined states, making them nearly invisible to electrons in the outer regions over a range of incidence angles. This behavior is manifested in the two-terminal conductance as transmission resonances with non-Lorentzian, singular peak shapes. The response of these phenomena to a weak magnetic field or electric-field-induced interlayer gap can serve as an experimental fingerprint of electronic cloaking.     

Scattering of evanescent electromagnetic waves by a cylinder near the flat boundary: the Green function and fast numerical method

The scattering of plane evanescent waves by a cylinder is studied. The Green function for the Helmholtz equation for two dielectrics with flat interface is found and applied for the numerical calculation of the scattered field by the boundary elements method. The Green function keeps close track of scattering, including multiple reflections. The result may be applicable for the data analysis in near-field optical microscopy.     

Temporal differentiation of optical signals using resonant gratings

We study theoretically the possibility of performing temporal differentiation of optical signals using a resonant diffraction grating. We demonstrate that the resonant grating allows the calculation of the first-order derivative of an optical signal envelope in the vicinity of waveguide resonant frequencies in the zeroth transmitted diffraction order. The grating is shown to allow the calculation of the fractional derivative of order 1/2 in the vicinity of Rayleigh-Wood anomalies. Numerical simulations based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis of Maxwell's equations demonstrate the high-quality differentiation of optical signals with temporal features in the picosecond range.     

Complete Asymptotic Expansion of the Integrated Density of States of Multidimensional Almost-Periodic Pseudo-Differential Operators

We obtain a complete asymptotic expansion of the integrated density of states of operators of the form ${H = (-\Delta)^w+ B}$ in ${\mathbb{R}^d}$ . Here w >  0 and B belong to a wide class of almost-periodic self-adjoint pseudo-differential operators of order less than 2w. In particular, we obtain such an expansion for magnetic Schrödinger operators with either smooth periodic or generic almost-periodic coefficients.     

On Stability of the Thomson’s Vortex N-gon in the Geostrophic Model of the Point Vortices in Two-layer Fluid

Journal of Nonlinear Science - A two-layer quasigeostrophic model is considered. The stability analysis of the stationary rotation of a system of N identical point vortices lying uniformly on a...