Refine
Year of publication
- 2017 (236) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (140)
- Preprint (52)
- Doctoral Thesis (23)
- Conference Proceeding (8)
- Master's Thesis (7)
- Contribution to a Periodical (3)
- Bachelor Thesis (2)
- Other (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (236)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (236) (remove)
Keywords
- QCD phase diagram (3)
- Biophysics and structural biology (2)
- Cryo-electron microscopy (2)
- D-wave (2)
- Gabor lens (2)
- Gabor-Linse (2)
- I-wave (2)
- LHC (2)
- QCD (2)
- Research article (2)
Institute
- Physik (236) (remove)
We present results on transverse momentum (pT) and rapidity (y) differential production cross sections, mean transverse momentum and mean transverse momentum square of inclusive J/ψ and ψ(2S) at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) as well as ψ(2S)-to-J/ψ cross section ratios. These quantities are measured in pp collisions at center of mass energies s√=5.02 and 13 TeV with the ALICE detector. Both charmonium states are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel, using the muon spectrometer. A comprehensive comparison to inclusive charmonium cross sections measured at s√=2.76, 7 and 8 TeV is performed. A comparison to non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics and fixed-order next-to-leading logarithm calculations, which describe prompt and non-prompt charmonium production respectively, is also presented. A good description of the data is obtained over the full pT range, provided that both contributions are summed. In particular, it is found that for pT > 15 GeV/c the non-prompt contribution reaches up to 50% of the total charmonium yield.
We present an in-depth study of masses and decays of excited scalar and pseudoscalar q¯q states in the Extended Linear Sigma Model (eLSM). The model also contains ground-state scalar, pseudoscalar, vector and axial-vector mesons. The main objective is to study the consequences of the hypothesis that the f0(1790) resonance, observed a decade ago by the BES Collaboration and recently by LHCb, represents an excited scalar quarkonium. In addition we also analyse the possibility that the new a0(1950) resonance, observed recently by BABAR, may also be an excited scalar state. Both hypotheses receive justification in our approach although there appears to be some tension between the simultaneous interpretation of f0(1790)/a0(1950) and pseudoscalar mesons η(1295), π(1300), η(1440) and K(1460) as excited q¯q states.
The ability to learn sequential behaviors is a fundamental property of our brains. Yet a long stream of studies including recent experiments investigating motor sequence learning in adult human subjects have produced a number of puzzling and seemingly contradictory results. In particular, when subjects have to learn multiple action sequences, learning is sometimes impaired by proactive and retroactive interference effects. In other situations, however, learning is accelerated as reflected in facilitation and transfer effects. At present it is unclear what the underlying neural mechanism are that give rise to these diverse findings. Here we show that a recently developed recurrent neural network model readily reproduces this diverse set of findings. The self-organizing recurrent neural network (SORN) model is a network of recurrently connected threshold units that combines a simplified form of spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) with homeostatic plasticity mechanisms ensuring network stability, namely intrinsic plasticity (IP) and synaptic normalization (SN). When trained on sequence learning tasks modeled after recent experiments we find that it reproduces the full range of interference, facilitation, and transfer effects. We show how these effects are rooted in the network’s changing internal representation of the different sequences across learning and how they depend on an interaction of training schedule and task similarity. Furthermore, since learning in the model is based on fundamental neuronal plasticity mechanisms, the model reveals how these plasticity mechanisms are ultimately responsible for the network’s sequence learning abilities. In particular, we find that all three plasticity mechanisms are essential for the network to learn effective internal models of the different training sequences. This ability to form effective internal models is also the basis for the observed interference and facilitation effects. This suggests that STDP, IP, and SN may be the driving forces behind our ability to learn complex action sequences.
QCD matter is expected to exist in different phases, when heated to high temperatures and getting highly compressed. Each phase could be characterized by distinct properties. A way to access extreme phases of matter in the laboratory are heavy-ion collisions at (ultra-)relativistic energies. During the collision, the temperature and density is evolving and reaches a maximum temperature and density far beyond the ground state of matter. The matter properties depend on the incident collision energy. Typically, a collision is separated into three collisions stages, namely first chance collisions (I), hot and dense stage (II) and freeze-out stage (III). Out of those, the second one is of major interest, since the extreme states of matter are generated within. For this reason, the most prominent change of the hadrons is expected to appear there in. Those changes are caused by i.e. modification of the hadronic spectral function. However, to retrieve such information is complicated. Hadrons are strongly interacting particles and therefore, carry little information about the hot and dense stage. For that purpose, decays of hadrons (low-mass vector mesons) to e+e- pairs via a virtual photon, so-called dielectrons, are an ideal probe. Electrons and positrons do not interact strongly and transport the information about the hot and dense stage nearly undisturbed to the detector. Unfortunately, the production of dielectrons is suppressed by a branching ratio of ≈ 10^(-5) and requires a precise lepton identification. Nonetheless, previous experiments have extracted a dilepton signal and observed in the low-mass range an excess over the hadronic cocktail. Latter one is expected to be caused by thermal radiation induced by the medium. Up to now, experiments conducted dilepton measurements with a focus on larger collision energies and large collision systems. Measurements of dielectrons at collision energies of around 1-2A GeV were only conducted for small and medium size collision systems. HADES continued the systematic studies by a measurement of Au+Au collisions at 1.23A GeV.
The detection of dielectrons requires detectors that handle high data rates and specific detectors for a high purity lepton identification. In HADES, the strongest separation of electrons or positrons from the hadronic background is provided by a ring imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH). Its electron identification is based on Cherenkov photons, that are emitted in ring like patterns. In this work a new approach, using the time-of-flight information to preselect electrons and the reconstructed particle trajectory to estimate ring positions, is utilized to improve the lepton identification. The concept of the so-called backtracking algorithm will be explained and applied to e+e- identification in Au+Au collisions. The whole analysis chain comprises single lepton identification, pair reconstruction and correction for efficiency and acceptance losses. The final pair spectra will be presented in form of their invariant mass, pt, mt and helicity distributions. Subsequently, transport model calculations as well as results from the recently developed coarse-grained transport approach will be compared to the dielectron spectra. Moreover, the centrality dependence of the excess yield and true (not "blue-shifted") temperature of the fireball will be presented. The results will be put in context to measurements of lighter collisions systems and at higher energies.
The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI Darmstadt will provide unprecedented intensities of protons and heavy ions up to uranium at energies of up to 29 GeV for protons and 2.7 GeV/u for Uranium 28+. To achieve high intensities in the synchrotron accelerators, high beam currents have to be provided by the injector linear accelerators. High current heavy ion beams are provided by the Universal Linear Accelerator (UNILAC), which in its current state will not be able to provide the required FAIR beam currents. This thesis deals with the development of upgrades for the UNILAC to ensure its high current capability. The first improvement is a matching section (MEBT) for the interface between the RFQ and the IH-DTL of the existing high current injector HSI at the UNILAC. With this new MEBT section, particle losses are eliminated and the overall beam quality is improved. As a second improvement, a complete replacement of the existing Alvarez-DTL is presented. A combination of efficient IH-type cavities and KONUS beam dynamics results in a reduction of the linac length from about 60 m (Alvarez) to just 23 m (new IH-DTL) while providing the same energy and fulfilling FAIR requirements of a high beam current and beam quality. This thesis contains a detailed beam dynamics design of the new linac including some fundamental investigations of the KONUS beam dynamics concept. A cross-check of the beam dynamics design was performed with two independent multi-particle simulation codes. Detailed error studies were conducted to investigate the influence of manufacturing, alignment and operating errors on the beam dynamics performance. Additionally, all five linac cavities were designed, optimized, and their RF parameters including power requirements calculated to provide a comprehensive linac design.
In this doctoral thesis the transformation from relativistic hydrodynamics to transport and vice versa is studied. Approximations made by hybrid (hydrodynamics + transport) simulations of relativistic heavy ion collisions are discussed and their reliability is assessed at intermediate collision energies. A new method to simulate heavy ion collisions is suggested, based on the forced thermalization in high-density regions.
In dieser Arbeit wurden thermodynamische Eigenschaften eines chiralen Quark Meson Modelles untersucht. Das chirale Quark Meson Model beschreibt die starke Wechselwirkung über den Austausch von Mesonen und zudem die thermische und dichteabhängige Entwicklung der Quarkmassen im Medium über die chirale Symmetrie.Im SU(2) Model wurde zunächst in mean field approximation gearbeitet, um im Anschluss den divergenten Vakuumterm mit einzubeziehen. Nach eingehender Untersuchung der Ergebnisse, wurden dann die thermischen Mesonenfluktuationen studiert. In beiden Ansätzen verschiebt die Nullpunktsenergie den chiralen Phasenübergang zu höheren Temperaturen, wodurch die Massen bei höheren Temperaturen entarten. Beide Ansätze wurden dann zu einem gemeinsamen Modell kombiniert, um den Einfluss der Mesonenfluktuationen auf Ordnungsparameter, Massen und thermodynamische Grössen zu untersuchen. Als Fazit der Studie kann behauptet werden, dass sich der Einfluss der Mesonenfluktuationen in grösserem Maÿ auf die Thermodynamik, als auf den Ordnungsparameter und die Massen auswirkt. Im SU(3) Modell wurden ebenfalls regularisiert und zudem Vektormesonen mitberücksichtigt, welche die Repulsion zwischen den einzelnen Freiheitsgraden modelliert. Die Zustandsgleichung wird durch den Vakuum Term etwas softer und zeigt ein ähnliches Verhalten im niederen Energiebereich. Untersucht wurde neben der Temperatur T, die Elektron Baryon Rate Ye, die Sigma Meson Masse noch der Einfluss der Vektorkopplung. Aus der Zustandsgleichung konntendann Isentropen im T-mu Phasendiagramm errechnet werden, welche in naher Zukunft Aufschluss über eine dritte Familie von kompakten Sternen in Zusammenhang mit der entsprechenden Supernova Explosion geben könnte. Um die Existenz von kompakten Sternen genauer zu analysieren, wurde das chiraleSU(3) Quark Meson Modell bei T = 0 benutzt, um über die aus dem Formalismusgewonnenen Grössen Druck und Energiedichte die Tolmann-Oppenheimer-Volkoff zu lösen. Diese stellen die Masse-Radius Beziehungen kompakter Objekte dar. Auf der Suche nach Twin Stern Lösungen aus dem chiralen SU(3) Quark Meson Model wurde zunächst ein Modell für Hybridsterne entwickelt. Im untersuchten Parameterbereich fanden wir Hybrid Stern Lösungen, bei welchen der Einfluss der Quarkmaterie auf die Stabilität des Sternes untersucht wurde, denn das Einsetzen des Phasenüberganges übt einen zusätzlichen gravitativen Zug auf die hadronische Kruste aus. Der Stern ist stabil, wenn der Druck der Quarkmaterie diesem zusätzlichen Zug standzuhalten vermag. Für einen zu grossen Sprung in der Energiedichte werden die Lösungen jedoch instabil. Zwillingssterne waren nicht unter den Lösungen, da der Übergangsdruck relativklein sein muss, während der Energiedichtesprung eher gross sein sollte. Das Auftreten zweier stabiler Äste in der Masse Radius Relation kann allerdingsmit dem SU(3) Modell und entsprechendem chiralen Phasenübergang modelliert werden. Für einen gewissen Parameterbereich einhergehend mit kleinem Wert des Vakuum Druckes B konnten Nicht-Linearitäten in der Zustangsgleichungzur Lösung der TOV Gleichung beitragen. Im Weitern ist das Zusammenspiel der Vektorkopplung und der Sigma Mesonen Masse einflussreich auf die Lösungen, welche auf Kausalität, Stabilität und neben der 2 Sonnenmassen Bedingung noch auf Restriktionen vom millisecond pulsar PSR J1748-2446ad untersucht wurden.Mit Weltraummissionen wie etwa NICER (Neutron star Interior CompositionExploreR) sollte die Radiusbestimmung kompakter Objekte in Zukunft bis auf einen Kilometer genau bestimmt werden können. Die Entdeckung von zweiSternen mit der gleichen Masse und unterschiedlichen Radien wäre in der Tat ein Beweis für die Existenz von Zwillingssternen, welche dann die Theorie des Phasenüberganges in dichter Materie untermauern würde. Das Kollaps-Szenario eines Zwillingssternes würde weiteren Aufschluss über Neutrino-Emmissivität, Gamma-ray burster und Gravitationswellen Signale geben können. Dynamische Simulationen in allgemein relativistischem Kontext für compact star merger mit den hier diskutierten Zustandsgleichungen sind bereits in Planung, um Eigenschaftenwie beispielsweise das Temperatur- und Dichteprofil solcher Objekte genauer zu analysieren.
Cleaning an ion beam from unwanted fractions is crucial for intense ion beams. This thesis will explore separation methods using a collimation channel, electric and magnetic dipoles and a velocity selector for low intensity beams on an experimental basis. In addition, statistical data of degassing events during the commissioning of a pentode extraction system for beam energies from 20 - 120keV will be presented.
This thesis aimed at identifying and understanding the interplay of charge and lattice degrees of freedom at metal-insulator transitions that are driven by strong electron correlations, i.e., Mott and charge-order metal-insulator transitions. To this end, measurements of the thermal expansion were performed, which have proven to be particularly suited to deliver insight into the role of lattice degrees of freedom in strongly correlated electron systems. Prime examples of such systems are the herein studied organic charge-transfer salts which stand out by a high tunability of the interaction strength.
The central topic of this thesis was the investigation of the universal behavior of the pressure-induced finite-temperature Mott critical endpoint in the organic charge-transfer salt kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Cl. In the present work, it was proven experimentally that lattice effects play a crucial role for the universal behavior, in contrast to the assumption made in previous works.
In April and May 2012 data on Au+Au collisions at beam energies of Ekin = 1.23A GeV were recorded with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer, which is located at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany. At this beam energy all hadrons containing strangeness are produced below their elementary production threshold. The required energy is not available in binary NN collisions but must be provided by the system e.g. through multi-particle interactions or medium effects like a modified in-medium potential (e.g. KN/ΛN potential). Thus, a high sensitivity to these medium effects is expected in the investigated system.
The baryon-dominated systems created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions (HIC) at SIS18 energies reach densities of about 2-3 times ground state density p0 and may be similar to the properties of matter expected in the inner core of neutron stars. It is in particular the behavior of hadrons containing strangeness, i.e. kaons and hyperons, and their potentials in the dense medium which may have severe implications on astrophysical objects and processes. As ab-initio calculations of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) cannot be performed rigorously on the lattice at finite baryo-chemical potentials due to the fermion sign problem, effective descriptions have to be used in order to model properties of dense systems and the involved particles. The only way to access the in-medium potential of strange hadrons above nuclear ground state density p0 is by comparing data from relativistic HIC to such effective microscopic models. Up to now, not much data on neutral kaons and Λ hyperons are available from heavy collision systems close to their NN production threshold. These two electromagnetically uncharged strange hadrons are in particular well suited to study their potential in a dense nucleon-dominated environment as their kinematic spectra are not affected by Coulomb interactions.
We study the sensitivities of the directed flow in Au+Au collisions on the equation of state (EoS), employing the transport theoretical model JAM. The EoS is modified by introducing a new collision term in order to control the pressure of a system by appropriately selecting an azimuthal angle in two-body collisions according to a given EoS. It is shown that this approach is an efficient method to modify the EoS in a transport model. The beam energy dependence of the directed flow of protons is examined with two different EoS, a first-order phase transition and crossover. It is found that our approach yields quite similar results as hydrodynamical predictions on the beam energy dependence of the directed flow; Transport theory predicts a minimum in the excitation function of the slope of proton directed flow and does indeed yield negative directed flow, if the EoS with a first-order phase transition is employed. Our result strongly suggests that the highest sensitivity for the critical point can be seen in the beam energy range of 4.7 ≤√sNN≤11.5GeV.
I summarize recent developments in the hard-thermal-loop approach to QCD. I first discuss a finite-temperature and -density calculation of QCD thermodynamics at NNLO from the hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory. I then discuss a generalization of the hard-thermal-loop framework to the magnetic scale g2T, from which a novel non-Abelian massless mode is uncovered.
We study a random matrix model for QCD at finite density via complex Langevin dynamics. This model has a phase transition to a phase with nonzero baryon density. We study the convergence of the algorithm as a function of the quark mass and the chemical potential and focus on two main observables: the baryon density and the chiral condensate. For simulations close to the chiral limit, the algorithm has wrong convergence properties when the quark mass is in the spectral domain of the Dirac operator. A possible solution of this problem is discussed.
We report on the results on the dynamical modelling of cluster formation with the new combined PHSD+FRIGA model at Nuclotron and NICA energies. The FRIGA clusterization algorithm, which can be applied to the transport models, is based on the simulated annealing technique to obtain the most bound configuration of fragments and nucleons. The PHSD+FRIGA model is able to predict isotope yields as well as hypernucleus production. Based on present predictions of the combined model we study the possibility to detect such clusters and hypernuclei in the BM@N and MPD/NICA detectors.
The properties of matter at finite baryon densities play an important role for the astrophysics of compact stars as well as for heavy ion collisions or the description of nuclear matter. Because of the sign problem of the quark determinant, lattice QCD cannot be simulated by standard Monte Carlo at finite baryon densities. I review alternative attempts to treat dense QCD with an effective lattice theory derived by analytic strong coupling and hopping expansions, which close to the continuum is valid for heavy quarks only, but shows all qualitative features of nuclear physics emerging from QCD. In particular, the nuclear liquid gas transition and an equation of state for baryons can be calculated directly from QCD. A second effective theory based on strong coupling methods permits studies of the phase diagram in the chiral limit on coarse lattices.
The aim of this thesis is finding a geometric configuration that allows electron insertion into a Gabor plasma lens in order to increase the density of the confined electrons and provide ignition conditions at parameters where ignition is not possible. First, simulations using CST and bender were conducted to investigate several geometric configurations in terms of their performance of inserting electrons manually. One particular design has been chosen as a basis for an experiment. In order to prepare the experiment, further simulations using the code bender have been conducted to investigate the density distribution that is formed inside the Gabor lens when inserting electrons transversally in compliance with the chosen design. Additionally, bender was used to investigate the impact of the initial electron energy on the distribution inside the lens. Simulations with and without space charge effects have shown a significant impact of the space charge effects on the resulting density dstribution. Therefore, space charge effects have proven to be the major electron redistribution process. A given electron source was characterised in order to find the performance under the conditions inside a Gabor lens. In particular, a transversal magnetic field that will be present in the experiment has to be compensated by shielding the inner regions of the source by a μ-metal layer. Using a μ-metal shield, transversal magnetic fields are sufficiently tolerable to perform measurements in a Gabor lens. Additionally, operating close to 100 eV electron energy yields a maximum in the emitted current. Adding a Wehnelt cylinder to the electron source furthermore improves the extracted current to roughly 1 mA. A test stand consisting of a newly designed anode for the Gabor lens, as well as a terminal for the electron source, was constructed. The electron source was thoroughly characterised in the environment of the Gabor lens and the ignition properties of the new system were evaluated. In further experiments, electron beam assisted ignition by increasing the residual gas pressure was observed and the impact of the position of the electron source on the ignition properties was investigated. In addition, ignition of a sub-critical state, that is a state consisting of potential, magnetic field and pressure that did not yet perform ignition by itself, was performed by increasing the extracted current from the electron source. Finally, the electron source was used to influence a pre-ignited plasma. The density was measured, which was increased by the use of the electron source in most cases. This project is part of the EDEN collaboration (Electron DENsity boosting) of the NNP Group at IAP Frankfurt with INFN institutes in Bologna and Catania.
The production of 77,79,85,85mKr and 77Br via the reaction Se(a, x) was investigated between Ea = 11 and 15 MeV using the activation technique. The irradiation of natural selenium targets on aluminum backings was conducted at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Germany. The spectroscopic analysis of the reaction products was performed using a high-purity germanium detector located at PTB and a low energy photon spectrometer detector at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. Thicktarget yields were determined. The corresponding energy-dependent production cross sections of 77,79,85,85mKr and 77Br were calculated from the thicktarget yields. Good agreement between experimental data and theoretical predictions using the TALYS-1.6 code was found.
Overrepresentation of bidirectional connections in local cortical networks has been repeatedly reported and is a focus of the ongoing discussion of nonrandom connectivity. Here we show in a brief mathematical analysis that in a network in which connection probabilities are symmetric in pairs, Pij = Pji, the occurrences of bidirectional connections and nonrandom structures are inherently linked; an overabundance of reciprocally connected pairs emerges necessarily when some pairs of neurons are more likely to be connected than others. Our numerical results imply that such overrepresentation can also be sustained when connection probabilities are only approximately symmetric.
Criticality meets learning : criticality signatures in a self-organizing recurrent neural network
(2017)
Many experiments have suggested that the brain operates close to a critical state, based on signatures of criticality such as power-law distributed neuronal avalanches. In neural network models, criticality is a dynamical state that maximizes information processing capacities, e.g. sensitivity to input, dynamical range and storage capacity, which makes it a favorable candidate state for brain function. Although models that self-organize towards a critical state have been proposed, the relation between criticality signatures and learning is still unclear. Here, we investigate signatures of criticality in a self-organizing recurrent neural network (SORN). Investigating criticality in the SORN is of particular interest because it has not been developed to show criticality. Instead, the SORN has been shown to exhibit spatio-temporal pattern learning through a combination of neural plasticity mechanisms and it reproduces a number of biological findings on neural variability and the statistics and fluctuations of synaptic efficacies. We show that, after a transient, the SORN spontaneously self-organizes into a dynamical state that shows criticality signatures comparable to those found in experiments. The plasticity mechanisms are necessary to attain that dynamical state, but not to maintain it. Furthermore, onset of external input transiently changes the slope of the avalanche distributions – matching recent experimental findings. Interestingly, the membrane noise level necessary for the occurrence of the criticality signatures reduces the model’s performance in simple learning tasks. Overall, our work shows that the biologically inspired plasticity and homeostasis mechanisms responsible for the SORN’s spatio-temporal learning abilities can give rise to criticality signatures in its activity when driven by random input, but these break down under the structured input of short repeating sequences.
Compact stars can be treated as the ultimate laboratories for testing theories of dense matter. They are not only extremely dense objects, but they are known to be associated with strong magnetic fields, fast rotation and, in certain cases, with very high temperatures. Here, we present several different approaches to model numerically the signatures and properties of these stars, namely:
•The effects of strong magnetic fields on hybrid stars by using a fully general relativistic approach. We solved the coupled Maxwell-Einstein equations in a self-consistent way, taking into consideration the anisotropy of the energy-momentum tensor due purely to the magnetic field, magnetic field effects on equation of state and the interaction between matter and the magnetic field (magnetization). We showed that the effects of the magnetization and the magnetic field on the equation of state for matter do not play an important role on global properties of neutron stars (only the pure magnetic _eld contribution does). In addition, the magnetic field breaks the spherical symmetry of stars, inducing major changes in the populated degrees of freedom inside these objects and, potentially, converting a hybrid star into a hadronic star over time.
•The effects of magnetic fields and rotation on the structure and composition of proto-neutron stars. We found that the magnetic field not only deforms these stars, but also significantly alters the number of trapped neutrinos in the stellar interior, together with the strangeness content and temperature in each evolution stage from a hot proto-neutron star to a cold neutron star.
•The influence of the quark-hadron phase transitions in neutron stars. In particular, previous calculations have shown that fast rotating neutron stars, when subjected to a quark-hadron phase transition in their interiors, could give rise to the backbending phenomenon characterized by a spin-up era. In this work, we obtained the interesting backbending phenomenon for fast spinning neutron stars. More importantly, we showed that a magnetic field, which is assumed to be axisymmetric and poloidal, can also be enhanced due to the phase transition from normal hadronic matter to quark matter on highly magnetized neutron stars. Therefore, in parallel to the spin-up era, classes of neutron stars endowed with strong magnetic fields may go through a `magnetic-up era' in their lives.
•Finally, we were also able to calculate super-heavy white dwarfs in the presence of strong magnetic fields. White dwarfs are the progenitors of supernova Type Ia explosions and they are widely used as candles to show that the Universe is expanding and accelerating. However, observations of ultraluminous supernovae have suggested that the progenitor of such an explosion should be a white dwarf with mass above the well-known Chandrasekhar limit ~ 1.4 M. In corroboration with other works, but by using a fully general relativistic framework, we obtained also strongly magnetized white dwarfs with masses M ~ 2:0 M.
For a chaotic system pairs of initially close-by trajectories become eventually fully uncorrelated on the attracting set. This process of decorrelation can split into an initial exponential decrease and a subsequent diffusive process on the chaotic attractor causing the final loss of predictability. Both processes can be either of the same or of very different time scales. In the latter case the two trajectories linger within a finite but small distance (with respect to the overall extent of the attractor) for exceedingly long times and remain partially predictable. Standard tests for chaos widely use inter-orbital correlations as an indicator. However, testing partially predictable chaos yields mostly ambiguous results, as this type of chaos is characterized by attractors of fractally broadened braids. For a resolution we introduce a novel 0-1 indicator for chaos based on the cross-distance scaling of pairs of initially close trajectories. This test robustly discriminates chaos, including partially predictable chaos, from laminar flow. Additionally using the finite time cross-correlation of pairs of initially close trajectories, we are able to identify laminar flow as well as strong and partially predictable chaos in a 0-1 manner solely from the properties of pairs of trajectories.
The detailed biophysical mechanisms through which transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) activates cortical circuits are still not fully understood. Here we present a multi-scale computational model to describe and explain the activation of different pyramidal cell types in motor cortex due to TMS. Our model determines precise electric fields based on an individual head model derived from magnetic resonance imaging and calculates how these electric fields activate morphologically detailed models of different neuron types. We predict neural activation patterns for different coil orientations consistent with experimental findings. Beyond this, our model allows us to calculate activation thresholds for individual neurons and precise initiation sites of individual action potentials on the neurons’ complex morphologies. Specifically, our model predicts that cortical layer 3 pyramidal neurons are generally easier to stimulate than layer 5 pyramidal neurons, thereby explaining the lower stimulation thresholds observed for I-waves compared to D-waves. It also shows differences in the regions of activated cortical layer 5 and layer 3 pyramidal cells depending on coil orientation. Finally, it predicts that under standard stimulation conditions, action potentials are mostly generated at the axon initial segment of cortical pyramidal cells, with a much less important activation site being the part of a layer 5 pyramidal cell axon where it crosses the boundary between grey matter and white matter. In conclusion, our computational model offers a detailed account of the mechanisms through which TMS activates different cortical pyramidal cell types, paving the way for more targeted application of TMS based on individual brain morphology in clinical and basic research settings.
In this thesis we study strongly correlated electron systems within the Density Functional Theory (DFT) in combination with the Dynamical Mean-Field Theory (DMFT).
First, we give an introduction into the theoretical methods and then apply them to study realistic materials. We present results on the hole-doped 122-family of the iron-based superconductors and the transition-metal oxide SrVO3. Our investigations show that a proper treatment of strong electronic correlations is necessary to describe the experimental observations.