International Journal of Modern Physics B

We consider two systems of wave equations whose wave packet solutions have trajectories that are altered by the “anomalous velocity” effect of a Berry curvature. The first is the matrix Weyl equation describing cyclotron motion of a charged massless fermion. The second is Maxwell equations for the whispering-gallery modes of light in a cylindrical waveguide. In the case of the massless fermion, the anomalous velocity is obscured by the contribution from the magnetic moment. In the whispering-gallery modes, the anomalous velocity causes the circumferential light ray to creep up the cylinder at the rate of one wavelength per orbit, and can be identified as a continuous version of the Imbert–Federov effect.

The relevance of the quasi-two-dimensional spin-1/2 frustrated quantum antiferromagnet (AFM) due to its possibility of modeling the high-temperature superconducting parent compounds has resulted in numerous theoretical and experimental studies. This paper presents a detailed research of the influence of the varying exchange interactions on the model magnetic properties within the framework of self-consistent spin-wave theory based on Dyson–Maleev (DM) representation. Beside the nearest neighbor (NN) interaction within the plane, the planar frustration up to the third NNs, cyclic interaction and the interlayer coupling are taken into account. The detailed description of the elementary spin excitations, staggered magnetization, spin-wave velocity renormalization factor and ground state energy is given. The results are compared to the predictions of the linear spin-wave theory and when possible also to the second-order perturbative spin-wave expansion results. Finally, having at our disposal improved experimental results for the in-plane spin-wave dispersion in high-$T_c$ copper oxide La₂CuO₄, the self-consistent spin-wave theory (SCSWT) is applied to that compound in order to correct earlier obtained set of exchange parameters and high-temperature spin-wave dispersion.

This paper studies the synchronizability of power network with community structure. Second-order Kuramoto-like oscillators with dissimilar natural frequencies are used as a coarse-scale model for an electrical power network that contains generators and consumers. The impact of community structure on frequency synchronization of power network is investigated, focusing on the parameters such as community strength, community number and connection strategy between communities. Numerical simulations show that increasing the community strength above a certain critical threshold or adding new communities to the network will be beneficial for the synchronization. Of course, connecting high-degree nodes among communities will be a best strategy to enhance synchronization. Furthermore, it is observed that the synchronizability of the network is significantly influenced by adding new links with different characteristics.

Reliable signal propagation across distributed brain areas provides the basis for neural circuit function. Modeling studies on cortical circuits have shown that multilayered feed-forward networks (FFNs), if strongly and/or densely connected, can enable robust signal propagation. However, cortical networks are typically neither densely connected nor have strong synapses. This paper investigates under which conditions spiking activity can be propagated reliably across diluted FFNs. Extending previous works, we model each layer as a recurrent sub-network constituting both excitatory (E) and inhibitory (I) neurons and consider the effect of interactions between local excitation and inhibition on signal propagation. It is shown that elevation of cellular excitation–inhibition (EI) balance in the local sub-networks (layers) softens the requirement for dense/strong anatomical connections and thereby promotes weak signal propagation in weakly connected networks. By means of iterated maps, we show how elevated local excitability state compensates for the decreased gain of synchrony transfer function that is due to sparse long-range connectivity. Finally, we report that modulations of EI balance and background activity provide a mechanism for selectively gating and routing neural signal. Our results highlight the essential role of intrinsic network states in neural computation.

Resonant excitations of coupled skyrmions in Co/Ru/Co nanodisks activated by spin-transfer torque (STT) have been studied by micromagnetic simulations. It is found that STT is an effective method to manipulate skyrmion dynamics. Unlike the dynamics driven by a microwave field, two skyrmions with opposite chiralities move synchronously in the same direction when they are driven by STT, which makes it easier to observe the dynamics of coupled skyrmions in experiments. Resonant excitations of coupled skyrmions can be controlled by changing the frequency or amplitude ratio of a dual-frequency alternating current (AC). In addition, the magnetostatic interaction between the two skyrmions plays an important role in the dynamics of coupled skyrmions.

We propose an order index, $\varphi$, which quantifies the notion of “life at the edge of chaos” when applied to genome sequences. It maps genomes to a number from 0 (random and of infinite length) to 1 (fully ordered) and applies regardless of sequence length and base composition. The 786 complete genomic sequences in GenBank were found to have $\varphi$ values in a very narrow range, 0.037 ± 0.027. We show this implies that genomes are halfway towards being completely random, namely, at the edge of chaos. We argue that this narrow range represents the neighborhood of a fixed-point in the space of sequences, and genomes are driven there by the dynamics of a robust, predominantly neutral evolution process.

Using the first-principles method which combines the nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) with density functional theory (DFT), the role of defect, dopant, barrier length and geometric deformation for low-bias negative differential resistance (NDR) in two capped armchair carbon nanotubes (CNTs) sandwiching $\sigma$ barrier are systematically analyzed. We found that this method can regulate the negative differential resistance (NDR) effects such as current peak and peak position. The adjusting mechanism may originate from orbital interaction and orbital reconstruction. Our calculations try to manipulate the transport characteristics in energy space by simply manipulating the structure in real space, which may promise the potential applications in nanomolecular-electronics in the future.

Graphene-like materials can be effectively described by quantum electrodynamics in (2+1) dimensions, QED₃. In a pristine state, these systems exhibit a symmetry between the nonequivalent Dirac points in the honeycomb lattice. Realistic samples which include distortions and crystalline anisotropies are considered through mass gaps of topological and dynamical nature. In this work, we show that the incorporation of an in-plane uniform external magnetic field on this pseudochiral asymmetric configuration generates a nondissipative electric current aligned with the magnetic field: The pseudochiral magnetic effect (PCME). This scenario resembles the chiral magnetic effect in quantum chromodynamics (QCD).

In this study, a generalized linear model (GLM) is used to reconstruct mapping from acupuncture stimulation to spike trains driven by action potential data. The electrical signals are recorded in spinal dorsal horn after manual acupuncture (MA) manipulations with different frequencies being taken at the “Zusanli” point of experiment rats. Maximum-likelihood method is adopted to estimate the parameters of GLM and the quantified value of assumed model input. Through validating the accuracy of firings generated from the established GLM, it is found that the input–output mapping of spike trains evoked by acupuncture can be successfully reconstructed for different frequencies. Furthermore, via comparing the performance of several GLMs based on distinct inputs, it suggests that input with the form of half-sine with noise can well describe the generator potential induced by acupuncture mechanical action. Particularly, the comparison of reproducing the experiment spikes for five selected inputs is in accordance with the phenomenon found in Hudgkin–Huxley (H–H) model simulation, which indicates the mapping from half-sine with noise input to experiment spikes meets the real encoding scheme to some extent. These studies provide us a new insight into coding processes and information transfer of acupuncture.