arXiv subjects

Gregory S. Boutis

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory S. Boutis.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2017

Observation of structural universality in disordered systems using bulk diffusion measurement

We report on an experimental observation of classical diffusion distinguishing between structural universality classes of disordered systems in one dimension. Samples of hyperuniform and short-range disorder were designed, characterized by the statistics of the placement of $μ$m-thin parallel permeable barriers, and the time-dependent diffusion coefficient was measured by NMR methods over three orders of magnitude in time. The relation between the structural exponent, characterizing disorder universality class, and the dynamical exponent of the diffusion coefficient is experimentally verified. The experimentally established relation between structure and transport exemplifies the hierarchical nature of structural complexity --- dynamics are mainly determined by the universality class, whereas microscopic parameters affect the non-universal coefficients. These results open the way for non-invasive characterization of structural correlations in porous media, complex materials, and biological tissues via a bulk diffusion measurement.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Multispin correlations and pseudo-thermalization of the transient density matrix in solid-state NMR: free induction decay and magic echo

Quantum unitary evolution typically leads to thermalization of generic interacting many-body systems. There are very few known general methods for reversing this process, and we focus on the magic echo, a radio-frequency pulse sequence known to approximately "rewind" the time evolution of dipolar coupled homonuclear spin systems in a large magnetic field. By combining analytic, numerical, and experimental results we systematically investigate factors leading to the degradation of magic echoes, as observed in reduced revival of mean transverse magnetization. Going beyond the conventional analysis based on mean magnetization we use a phase encoding technique to measure the growth of spin correlations in the density matrix at different points in time following magic echoes of varied durations and compare the results to those obtained during a free induction decay (FID). While considerable differences are documented at short times, the long-time behavior of the density matrix appears to be remarkably universal among the types of initial states considered - simple low order multispin correlations are observed to decay exponentially at the same rate, seeding the onset of increasingly complex high order correlations. This manifestly athermal process is constrained by conservation of the second moment of the spectrum of the density matrix and proceeds indefinitely, assuming unitary dynamics.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2011

Direct measurement of the correlated dynamics of the protein-backbone and proximal waters of hydration in mechanically strained elastin

We report on the direct measurement of the correlation times of the protein backbone carbons and proximal waters of hydration in mechanically strained elastin by nuclear magnetic resonance methods. The experimental data indicate a decrease in the correlation times of the carbonyl carbons as the strain on the biopolymer is increased. These observations are in good agreement with short 4ns molecular dynamics simulations of (VPGVG)3, a well studied mimetic peptide of elastin. The experimental results also indicate a reduction in the correlation time of proximal waters of hydration with increasing strain applied to the elastomer. A simple model is suggested that correlates the increase in the motion of proximal waters of hydration to the increase in frequency of libration of the protein backbone that develops with increasing strain. Together, the reduction in the protein entropy accompanied with the increase in entropy of the proximal waters of hydration with increasing strain, support the notion that the source of elasticity is driven by an entropic mechanism arising from the change in entropy of the protein backbone.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2004

Encoding multiple quantum coherences in non-commuting bases

Multiple quantum coherences are typically characterised by their coherence number and the number of spins that make up the state, though only the coherence number is normally measured. We present a simple set of measurements that extend our knowledge of the multiple quantum state by recording the coherences in both the $x$ basis and the usual $z$ basis. The coherences in the two bases are related by a similarity transformation. We characterize the growth of the multiple quantum coherences via measurements in the two bases, and show that the rate varies with the coefficient of the driving term in the Hamiltonian. Such measurements in non-commuting bases provides additional information over the 1D method about the state of the spin system. In particular the measurement of coherences in a basis other than the usual $z$ basis allows us to study the dynamics of the spin system under Hamiltonians, such as the secular dipolar Hamiltonian, that conserve $z$ basis coherence number.

quant-ph↗