Single-particle machine for quantum thermalization

The long time accumulation of the \textit{random} actions of a single particle "reservoir" on its coupled system can transfer some temperature information of its initial state to the coupled system. This dynamic process can be referred to as a quantum thermalization in the sense that the coupled system can reach a stable thermal equilibrium with a temperature equal to that of the reservoir. We illustrate this idea based on the usual micromaser model, in which a series of initially prepared two-level atoms randomly pass through an electromagnetic cavity. It is found that, when the randomly injected atoms are initially prepared in a thermal equilibrium state with a given temperature, the cavity field will reach a thermal equilibrium state with the same temperature as that of the injected atoms. As in two limit cases, the cavity field can be cooled and "coherently heated" as a maser process, respectively, when the injected atoms are initially prepared in ground and excited states. Especially, when the atoms in equilibrium are driven to possess some coherence, the cavity field may reach a higher temperature in comparison with the injected atoms. We also point out a possible experimental test for our theoretical prediction based on a superconducting circuit QED system.Comment: 9 pages,4 figures

DLC2 modulates angiogenic responses in vascular endothelial cells by regulating cell attachment and migration.

Deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) is a RhoGTPase activation protein-containing tumor suppressor that associates with various types of cancer. Although DLC2 shares a similar domain structure with that of DLC1, the function of DLC2 is not well characterized. Here, we describe the expression and ablation of DLC2 in mice using a reporter-knockout approach. DLC2 is expressed in several tissues and in endothelial cells (ECs) of blood vessels. Although ECs and blood vessels show no histological abnormalities and mice appear overall healthy, DLC2-mutant mice display enhanced angiogenic responses induced by matrigel and by tumor cells. Silencing of DLC2 in human ECs has reduced cell attachment, increased migration, and tube formation. These changes are rescued by silencing of RhoA, suggesting that the process is RhoA pathway dependent. These results indicate that DLC2 is not required for mouse development and normal vessel formation, but may protect mouse from unwanted angiogenesis induced by, for example, tumor cells

Avalanche-Induced Current Enhancement in Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes

Semiconducting carbon nanotubes under high electric field stress (~10 V/um) display a striking, exponential current increase due to avalanche generation of free electrons and holes. Unlike in other materials, the avalanche process in such 1D quantum wires involves access to the third sub-band, is insensitive to temperature, but strongly dependent on diameter ~exp(-1/d^2). Comparison with a theoretical model yields a novel approach to obtain the inelastic optical phonon emission length, L_OP,ems ~ 15d nm. The combined results underscore the importance of multi-band transport in 1D molecular wires

Quantum switch for single-photon transport in a coupled superconducting transmission line resonator array

We propose and study an approach to realize quantum switch for single-photon transport in a coupled superconducting transmission line resonator (TLR) array with one controllable hopping interaction. We find that the single-photon with arbitrary wavevector can transport in a controllable way in this system. We also study how to realize controllable hopping interaction between two TLRs via a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). When the frequency of the SQUID is largely detuned from those of the two TLRs, the variables of the SQUID can be adiabatically eliminated and thus a controllable interaction between two TLRs can be obtained.Comment: 4 pages,3 figure

Spin-orbit torque in completely compensated synthetic antiferromagnet

Synthetic antiferromagnets (SAF) have been proposed to replace ferromagnets in magnetic memory devices to reduce the stray field, increase the storage density and improve the thermal stability. Here we investigate the spin-orbit torque in a perpendicularly magnetized Pt/[Co/Pd]/Ru/[Co/Pd] SAF structure, which exhibits completely compensated magnetization and an exchange coupling field up to 2100 Oe. The magnetizations of two Co/Pd layers can be switched between two antiparallel states simultaneously by spin-orbit torque. The magnetization switching can be read out due to much stronger spin-orbit coupling at bottom Pt/[Co/Pd] interface compared to its upper counterpart without Pt. Both experimental and theoretical analyses unravel that the torque efficiency of antiferromagnetic coupled stacks is significantly higher than the ferromagnetic counterpart, making the critical switching current of SAF comparable to the conventional single ferromagnet. Besides adding an important dimension to spin-orbit torque, the efficient switching of completely compensated SAF might advance magnetic memory devices with high density, high speed and low power consumption.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.

Two-dimensional electron liquid state at LaAlO3-SrTiO3 interfaces

Using tunneling spectroscopy we have measured the spectral density of states of the mobile, two-dimensional electron system generated at the LaAlO3-SrTiO3 interface. As shown by the density of states the interface electron system differs qualitatively, first, from the electron systems of the materials defining the interface and, second, from the two-dimensional electron gases formed at interfaces between conventional semiconductors

Controlling Excitations Inversion of a Cooper Pair Box Interacting with a Nanomechanical Resonator

We investigate the action of time dependent detunings upon the excitation inversion of a Cooper pair box interacting with a nanomechanical resonator. The method employs the Jaynes-Cummings model with damping, assuming different decay rates of the Cooper pair box and various fixed and t-dependent detunings. It is shown that while the presence of damping plus constant detunings destroy the collapse/revival effects, convenient choices of time dependent detunings allow one to reconstruct such events in a perfect way. It is also shown that the mean excitation of the nanomechanical resonator is more robust against damping of the Cooper pair box for convenient values of t-dependent detunings.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure