Effects of exchange and weak Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya anisotropies on thermodynamic characteristics of spin-gapped magnets

We study the modification of low-temperature properties of quantum magnets such as magnetization, heat capacity, energy spectrum and densities of condensed and noncondensed quasiparticles (triplons) due to anisotropies in the framework of mean-field- based approach. We show that in contrast to exchange anisotropy (EA) interaction, Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya (DM) interaction modifies the physics dramatically. Particularly, it changes the sign of the anomalous density in the whole range of temperatures. Its critical behavior is slightly modified also by the EA. We have found that the shift of the critical temperature of phase transition (or crossover caused by DM interaction) is positive and significant. Using the experimental data on the magnetization of the compound TlCuCl3, we have found optimal values for the strengths of EA and DM interactions. The spectrum of the energy of low lying excitations has also been investigated and found to develop a linear dispersion similar to Goldstone mode with a negligibly small anisotropy gap.

Gastric proton pump with two occluded K+ engineered with sodium pump-mimetic mutations

The gastric H+,K+-ATPase mediates electroneutral exchange of 1H+/1K+ per ATP hydrolysed across the membrane. Previous structural analysis of the K+-occluded E2-Pi form of H+,K+-ATPase showed a single bound K+ at cation-binding site II, in marked contrast to the two K+ occluded at sites I and II of the closely-related Na+,K+-ATPase which mediates electrogenic 3Na+/2K+ translocation across the membrane. The two pumps show significant differences in structure in and around Site I, but which are critical for blocking K+ binding in the gastric pump and contribute to binding in the sodium pump is unclear. We have a series of crystal structures and a cryo-EM structure of H+,K+-ATPase mutants with changes in the vicinity of site I based on the structure of the sodium pump. The number of bound Rb+, determined by its anomalous dispersion, remains one in the luminal-open E2BeF form of the Lys791Ser single mutant and Lys791Ser/Glu820Asp double mutant, mutation that could create space and may directly bind the cation. We next introduced mutations in peripheral residues Try340Asn and Glu936Val. A strong and spread-out Rb+ anomalous density observed in the quadruple mutant suggests that a certain population ATPases has two Rb+ bound. We then added gate-closing mutation Try799Trp and determined its cryo-EM structure in the occluded E2-AlF form. This quintuple mutant unambiguously has two separate densities at the cation-binding site. The step-wise construction of the K+ binding site offers new insight into how it is blocked in the one pump and constituted in the other.

Density Fluctuations and Energy Spectra of 3D Bacterial Suspensions

Giant number fluctuations are often considered as a hallmark of the emergent nonequilibrium dynamics of active fluids. However, these anomalous density fluctuations have only been reported experimentally in two-dimensional dry...

Dynamic nuclear structure emerges from chromatin crosslinks and motors

The cell nucleus houses the chromosomes, which are linked to a soft shell of lamin filaments. Experiments indicate that correlated chromosome dynamics and nuclear shape fluctuations arise from motor activity. To identify the physical mechanisms, we develop a model of an active, crosslinked Rouse chain bound to a polymeric shell. System-sized correlated motions occur but require both motor activity and crosslinks. Contractile motors, in particular, enhance chromosome dynamics by driving anomalous density fluctuations. Nuclear shape fluctuations depend on motor strength, crosslinking, and chromosome-lamina binding. Therefore, complex chromatin dynamics and nuclear shape emerge from a minimal, active chromosome-lamina system.

Moho Topography and Velocity/Density Model for the Hedmarken area, Eastern Norway, using Receiver Function Analysis and Rj-McMC

<p>A Receiver Function Analysis was carried out in the Mjøsa area, Eastern Norway, in order to better image this tectonically complex area, understand the crustal contrasts and complement geological analysis that were made previously in the area. For this, we used seismic traces received for seven broadband stations from the NORSAR permanent array. The H-K (depth vs Vp/Vs) stacking procedure and a Reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (Rj-McMC) inversion were developed independently. The first analysis allows us to obtain a model with the Mohorovicic discontinuity values under each seismic station and the average Vp/Vs crustal ratio. With the inversion, it was possible to develop a 1D local velocity model. Applying the Nafe-Drake relationship, a 2D density model was obtained and tested against observed gravity. Results indicate the presence of a low anomalous density layer that is located to the NNW of the study area, which is probably related to low-density meta-sediments in the Åsta Basin located above the basement. A main crustal fault is also indicated from the density model, spatially coinciding with faults grown during the Sveconorwegian orogenic process.</p><p> </p>

The static and time-dependent signature of ocean–continent and ocean–ocean subduction: the case studies of Sumatra and Mariana complexes

SUMMARY The anomalous density structure at subduction zones, both in the wedge and in the upper mantle, is analysed to shed light on the processes that are responsible for the characteristic gravity fingerprints of two types of subduction: ocean–continent and ocean–ocean. Our modelling is then performed within the frame of the EIGEN-6C4 gravitational disturbance pattern of two subductions representative of the above two types, the Sumatra and Mariana complexes, finally enabling the different characteristics of the two patterns to be observed and understood on a physical basis, including some small-scale details. A 2-D viscous modelling perpendicular to the trench accounts for the effects on the gravity pattern caused by a wide range of parameters in terms of convergence velocity, subduction dip angle and lateral variability of the crustal thickness of the overriding plate, as well as compositional differentiation, phase changes and hydration of the mantle. Plate coupling, modelled within a new scheme where the relative velocity at the plate contact results self-consistently from the thermomechanical evolution of the system, is shown to have an important impact on the gravity signature. Beyond the already understood general bipolar fingerprint of subduction, perpendicular to the trench, we obtain the density and gravity signatures of the processes occurring within the wedge and mantle that are responsible for the two different gravity patterns. To be compliant with the geodetic EIGEN-6C4 gravitational disturbance and to compare our predictions with the gravity at Sumatra and Mariana, we define a model normal Earth. Although the peak-to-peak gravitational disturbance is comparable for the two types of subductions, approximately 250 mGal, from both observations and modelling, encompassing the highest positive maximum on the overriding plates and the negative minimum on the trench, the trough is wider for the ocean–ocean subduction: approximately 300 km compared to approximately 180 km for the ocean–continent subduction. Furthermore, the gravitational disturbance pattern is more symmetric for the ocean–ocean subduction compared to the ocean–continent subduction in terms of the amplitudes of the two positive maxima over the overriding and subducting plates. Their difference is, for the ocean–ocean type, approximately one half of the ocean–continent one. These different characteristics of the two types of subductions are exploited herein in terms of the different crustal thicknesses of the overriding plate and of the different dynamics in the wedge and in the mantle for the two types of subduction, in close agreement with the gravity data.