The shape of stationary dislocations

It is shown that the structure of the stationary dislocations which occur in a wide variety of patterns in nonequilibrium systems is given by a self-similar solution of the universal Cross-Newell equation.     

Spatial soliton optical switches: a soliton-based equivalent particle approach

The spatial soliton plays a fundamental role as a robust, particle-like object which can be manipulated to switch or spatially scan collimated light channels or optical pulses which are incident at an oblique angle to an interface separating two or more selffocusing Kerr slab dielectrics. The underlying equivalent particle/multiparticle theory can also be employed to predict stability properties of nonlinear surface or guided waves, to derive an analytic expression for the nonlinear Goos-Hanchen shift at a nonlinear interface and to quantify the effect of material diffusion, linear and twophoton absorption on the switching behaviour of the light beam. Pulsed spatial switching effects are studied in order to illustrate the general predictive power of the equivalent particle theory.     

Kohle und Koks

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Complex systems and human movement

Human movement reveals the hall mark characteristics of complex systems: namely, many interacting subsystems, multiple interactions within and between levels of analysis, emergence of movement coordination modes, and the exhibition of varying levels of the complexity of system output that continually evolve with learning and development over the life span. Here we outline how this high or infinitely dimensional complex dynamical system can be modeled by an epigenetic landscape framework—in the sense of Waddington—that captures the key features of the adaptive qualitative and quantitative properties of coordination modes (“order parameters”), the degeneracy of movement organization and the time scales of change. The framework provides some new ways to consider old problems in motor learning and development—such as an explicit and quantitative approach to exploring the concept of motor programs and developmental pathways—and yields new results and insights into the organization of learning during practice and rest times. For instance along one dimension of the landscape most of the changes occur between practice sessions. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 12: 40–51, 2006     

Time-resolved studies of ultrafast wavepacket dynamics in hydrogen molecules

Recent advances in the study of quantum vibrations and rotations in the fundamental hydrogen molecules are reported. Using the deuterium molecules (D₂⁺ and D₂) as exemplars, the application of ultrafast femtosecond pump-probe experiments to study the creation and time-resolved imaging of coherent nuclear wavepackets is discussed. The ability to study the motion of these fundamental molecules in the time-domain is a notable milestone, made possible through the advent of ultrashort intense laser pulses with durations on sub-vibrational (and sub-rotational) timescales. Quantum wavepacket revivals are characterised for both vibrational and rotational degrees of freedom and quantum models are used to provide a detailed discussion of the underlying ultrafast physical dynamics for the specialist and non-specialist alike.