Control of noise-induced coherent oscillations in three-neuron motifs

The phenomenon of self-induced stochastic resonance (SISR) requires a nontrivial scaling limit between the deterministic and the stochastic timescales of an excitable system, leading to the emergence of coherent oscillations which are absent without noise. In this paper, we numerically investigate SISR and its control in single neurons and three-neuron motifs made up of the Morris–Lecar model. In single neurons, we compare the effects of electrical and chemical autapses on the degree of coherence of the oscillations due to SISR. In the motifs, we compare the effects of altering the synaptic time-delayed couplings and the topologies on the degree of SISR. Finally, we provide two enhancement strategies for a particularly poor degree of SISR in motifs with chemical synapses: (1) we show that a poor SISR can be significantly enhanced by attaching an electrical or an excitatory chemical autapse on one of the neurons, and (2) we show that by multiplexing the motif with a poor SISR to another motif (with a high SISR in isolation), the degree of SISR in the former motif can be significantly enhanced. We show that the efficiency of these enhancement strategies depends on the topology of the motifs and the nature of synaptic time-delayed couplings mediating the multiplexing connections.

Coherence and Reduction

Synchronic intertheoretic reductions are an important field of research in science. Arguably, the best model able to represent the main relations occurring in this kind of scientific reduction is the Nagelian account of reduction, a model further developed by Schaffner and nowadays known as the generalized version of the Nagel–Schaffner model (GNS). In their article (2010), Dizadji-Bahmani, Frigg, and Hartmann (DFH) specified the two main desiderata of a reduction á la GNS: confirmation and coherence. DFH first and, more rigorously, Tešic (2017) later analyse the confirmatory relation between the reducing and the reduced theory in terms of Bayesian confirmation theory. The purpose of this article is to analyse and compare the degree of coherence between the two theories involved in the GNS before and after the reduction. For this reason, in the first section, I will be looking at the reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics and use it as an example to describe the GNS. In the second section, I will introduce three coherence measures which will then be employed in the comparison. Finally, in the last two sections, I will compare the degrees of coherence between the reducing and the reduced theory before and after the reduction and use a few numerical examples to understand the relation between coherence and confirmation measures.

Partial spectral and temporal coherence of plane-wave pulse trains in second-harmonic generation

We study the spectral and temporal coherence effects in the passage of a Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) scalar, plane-wave pulse train through a slab of nonlinear optical crystal exhibiting second-harmonic generation. We show that due to the nonlinear interaction the temporal and spectral degrees of coherence of the fundamental (F) and second-harmonic (SH) pulse trains at the exit facet may deviate markedly from the GSM and the global degree of coherence of the SH wave generally decreases with increasing incident F beam intensity. In addition, we find that due to the partial coherence of the incident GSM field the transmitted SH wave may show a double-peaked intensity distribution.

Exceptional points in oligomer chains

Symmetry underpins our understanding of physical law. Open systems, those in contact with their environment, can provide a platform to explore parity-time symmetry. While classical parity-time symmetric systems have received a lot of attention, especially because of the associated advances in the generation and control of light, there is much more to be discovered about their quantum counterparts. Here we provide a quantum theory which describes the non-Hermitian physics of chains of coupled modes, which has applications across optics and photonics. We elucidate the origin of the exceptional points which govern the parity-time symmetry, survey their signatures in quantum transport, study their influence for correlations, and account for long-range interactions. We also find how the locations of the exceptional points evolve as a function of the chain length and chain parity, capturing how an arbitrary oligomer chain transitions from its unbroken to broken symmetric phase. Our general results provide perspectives for the experimental detection of parity-time symmetric phases in one-dimensional arrays of quantum objects, with consequences for light transport and its degree of coherence.

Video Films in Nursing and Midwifery Teaching – Statistical Study of Dependence

The paper presents educational videos as an interactive method of teaching nursing and midwifery students. As a part of the methods of online education, educational videos transform the learning content into a practical necessity for the formation ofstudents' professional competencies in the considered medical specialties. Correlation analysis identifies the degree of coherence between the observed features: "training with video films" and "professional competencies formation". Using x2statistics, it is decided whether the relationship between two nominal variables is statistically significant and how the strength of the relationship i.e., the extent of the effect, is valued using the coefficients Phi and Cramer’s V. The statistical processing of the performed didactic experiment proves a "strong" correlation between the studied features.

Influence of a Turbulent Jet Engine Exhaust on Laguerre-Gaussian Correlated Shell-Model Beams

In this paper, we investigated the influence of a turbulence jet engine exhaust on Laguerre-Gaussian correlated shell-model beams (LGSMBs). The analytical formulae of the cross-spectral density function as well as the beam width are derived based on the Huygens-Fresnel diffraction principle and the second-order moments of the Wigner distribution function, respectively. From our main results, the spectral density, the degree of coherence and beam width of a LGSMB are analyzed numerically. It is found that for high source coherence width, the spectral density changes gradually its profiles from circular to elliptical shape at short propagation distance, then the beam transforms into a well like Gaussian at long propagation distance. Although, at very short propagation distance, the beam becomes an elliptical dark hollow if the source coherence is very lower. Also, the numerical results show that the LGSMB spreads more rapidly than the GSMB in the same conditions.

Measurement of the coherent beam properties at the CoSAXS beamline

The CoSAXS beamline at the MAX IV Laboratory is a modern multi-purpose (coherent) small-angle X-ray scattering (CoSAXS) instrument, designed to provide intense and optionally coherent illumination at the sample position, enabling coherent imaging and speckle contrast techniques. X-ray tracing simulations used to design the beamline optics have predicted a total photon flux of 1012–1013 photons s−1 and a degree of coherence of up to 10% at 7.1 keV. The normalized degree of coherence and the coherent flux of this instrument were experimentally determined using the separability of a ptychographic reconstruction into multiple mutually incoherent modes and thus the Coherence in the name CoSAXS was verified. How the beamline can be used both for coherent imaging and XPCS measurements, which both heavily rely on the degree of coherence of the beam, was demonstrated. These results are the first experimental quantification of coherence properties in a SAXS instrument at a fourth-generation synchrotron light source.

Variant-Coherence Gaussian Sources

The celebrated Gaussian Schell model source with its shift-invariant degree of coherence may be the basis for devising sources with space-variant properties in the spirit of structured coherence. Starting from superpositions of Gaussian Schell model sources, we present two classes of genuine cross-spectral densities whose degree of coherence varies across the source area. The first class is based on the use of the Laplace transform while the second deals with cross-spectral densities that are shape-invariant upon paraxial propagation. For the latter, we present a set of shape-invariant cross-spectral densities for which the modal expansion can be explicitly found. We finally solve the problem of ascertain whether an assigned cross-spectral density is shape-invariant by checking if it satisfies a simple differential constraint.