907 research outputs found
Deep Mid-Infrared Silicate Absorption as a Diagnostic of Obscuring Geometry Toward Galactic Nuclei
The silicate cross section peak near 10um produces emission and absorption
features in the spectra of dusty galactic nuclei observed with the Spitzer
Space Telescope. Especially in ultraluminous infrared galaxies, the observed
absorption feature can be extremely deep, as IRAS 08572+3915 illustrates. A
foreground screen of obscuration cannot reproduce this observed feature, even
at large optical depth. Instead, the deep absorption requires a nuclear source
to be deeply embedded in a smooth distribution of material that is both
geometrically and optically thick. In contrast, a clumpy medium can produce
only shallow absorption or emission, which are characteristic of
optically-identified active galactic nuclei. In general, the geometry of the
dusty region and the total optical depth, rather than the grain composition or
heating spectrum, determine the silicate feature's observable properties. The
apparent optical depth calculated from the ratio of line to continuum emission
generally fails to accurately measure the true optical depth. The obscuring
geometry, not the nature of the embedded source, also determines the far-IR
spectral shape.Comment: To appear in ApJ
The complexity of parsec-scaled dusty tori in AGN
Warm gas and dust surround the innermost regions of active galactic nuclei
(AGN). They provide the material for accretion onto the super-massive black
hole and they are held responsible for the orientation-dependent obscuration of
the central engine. The AGN-heated dust distributions turn out to be very
compact with sizes on scales of about a parsec in the mid-infrared. Only
infrared interferometry currently provides the necessary angular resolution to
directly study the physical properties of this dust. Size estimates for the
dust distributions derived from interferometric observations can be used to
construct a size--luminosity relation for the dust distributions. The large
scatter about this relation suggests significant differences between the dust
tori in the individual galaxies, even for nuclei of the same class of objects
and with similar luminosities. This questions the simple picture of the same
dusty doughnut in all AGN. The Circinus galaxy is the closest Seyfert 2 galaxy.
Because its mid-infrared emission is well resolved interferometrically, it is a
prime target for detailed studies of its nuclear dust distribution. An
extensive new interferometric data set was obtained for this galaxy. It shows
that the dust emission comes from a very dense, disk-like structure which is
surrounded by a geometrically thick, similarly warm dust distribution as well
as significant amounts of warm dust within the ionisation cone.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference
"The central kiloparsec in Galactic Nuclei: Astronomy at High Angular
Resolution 2011", open access Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS),
published by IOP Publishin
Generation of squeezed states of light with a fiber-optic ring interferometer
Forward nondegenerate four-wave mixing in an optical-fiber ring resonator is proposed as a method to generate squeezed states of light. The nonlinear interactions are analyzed both with a self-consistent propagation-equation technique and with Fokker-Planck equations in the Glauber-Sudarshan P representation. Excellent squeezing is predicted at modest input power levels, with perfect quantum-noise squeezing at the critical points for optical bistability. A method to suppress the stimulated Brillouin effect is proposed and demonstrated experimentally, and the effects of forward spontaneous guided acoustic wave Brillouin scattering inside the resonator are analyzed. Methods are suggested for minimizing this noise under conditions where squeezing can be detected. Experimental apparatus and procedures are outlined for verifying the predictions of our theory and demonstrating squeezing of classical and quantum noise
Coherent phenomena in semiconductors
A review of coherent phenomena in photoexcited semiconductors is presented.
In particular, two classes of phenomena are considered: On the one hand the
role played by optically-induced phase coherence in the ultrafast spectroscopy
of semiconductors; On the other hand the Coulomb-induced effects on the
coherent optical response of low-dimensional structures.
All the phenomena discussed in the paper are analyzed in terms of a
theoretical framework based on the density-matrix formalism. Due to its
generality, this quantum-kinetic approach allows a realistic description of
coherent as well as incoherent, i.e. phase-breaking, processes, thus providing
quantitative information on the coupled ---coherent vs. incoherent--- carrier
dynamics in photoexcited semiconductors.
The primary goal of the paper is to discuss the concept of quantum-mechanical
phase coherence as well as its relevance and implications on semiconductor
physics and technology. In particular, we will discuss the dominant role played
by optically induced phase coherence on the process of carrier photogeneration
and relaxation in bulk systems. We will then review typical field-induced
coherent phenomena in semiconductor superlattices such as Bloch oscillations
and Wannier-Stark localization. Finally, we will discuss the dominant role
played by Coulomb correlation on the linear and non-linear optical spectra of
realistic quantum-wire structures.Comment: Topical review in Semiconductor Science and Technology (in press)
(Some of the figures are not available in electronic form
Information and noise in quantum measurement
Even though measurement results obtained in the real world are generally both
noisy and continuous, quantum measurement theory tends to emphasize the ideal
limit of perfect precision and quantized measurement results. In this article,
a more general concept of noisy measurements is applied to investigate the role
of quantum noise in the measurement process. In particular, it is shown that
the effects of quantum noise can be separated from the effects of information
obtained in the measurement. However, quantum noise is required to ``cover up''
negative probabilities arising as the quantum limit is approached. These
negative probabilities represent fundamental quantum mechanical correlations
between the measured variable and the variables affected by quantum noise.Comment: 16 pages, short comment added in II.B., final version for publication
in Phys. Rev.
The ROSAT-HRI X-Ray Survey of the Cygnus Loop
We describe and report progress on the joint U.S. and German campaign to map
the X-ray emission from the entire Cygnus Loop supernova remnant with the ROSAT
High Resolution Imager. The Cygnus Loop is the prototype for a supernova
remnant that is dominated by interactions with the interstellar medium and
supplies fundamental physical information on this basic mechanism for shaping
the interstellar medium. The global view that these high-resolution
observations provide emphasizes the inhomogeneity of the interstellar medium
and the pivotal nature of cloud-blast wave interactions in determining the
X-ray morphology of the supernova remnant. While investigating the details of
the evolution of the blast wave, we also describe the interstellar medium in
the vicinity of the Cygnus Loop, which the progenitor star has processed.
Although we do not expect the X-ray observations to be complete until September
1997, the incomplete data combined with deep H images provide
definitive evidence that the Cygnus Loop was formed by an explosion within a
preexisting cavity.Comment: 15 text pages, 17 figures, AASTeX, to appear in July 10 Ap
On Active Galactic Nuclei as Sources of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
We measure the correlation between sky coordinates of the Swift BAT catalogue
of active galactic nuclei with the arrival directions of the highest energy
cosmic rays detected by the Auger Observatory. The statistically complete, hard
X-ray catalogue helps to distinguish between AGN and other source candidates
that follow the distribution of local large-scale structure. The positions of
the full catalogue are marginally uncorrelated with the cosmic ray arrival
directions, but when weighted by their hard X-ray flux, AGN within 100 Mpc are
correlated at a significance level of 98 per cent. This correlation sharply
decreases for sources beyond ~100 Mpc, suggestive of a GZK suppression. We
discuss the implications for determining the mechanism that accelerates
particles to these extreme energies in excess of 10^19 eV.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Quantum nondemolition measurements in optical cavities
We analyze schemes for performing quantum nondemolition (QND) measurements in optical cavities. We consider three schemes: (1) measurement of a quadrature phase amplitude using a parametric process, (2) measurement of a quadrature phase amplitude using the optical Kerr effect in a nonlinear fiber, and (3) measurement of the photon number also using the Kerr effect in a fiber. We show that in the second scheme an enhancement of the QND effect may be obtained by making the cavity finesse for the signal larger than that for the probe
Two Mode Quantum Systems: Invariant Classification of Squeezing Transformations and Squeezed States
A general analysis of squeezing transformations for two mode systems is given
based on the four dimensional real symplectic group Sp(4,\Re)\/. Within the
framework of the unitary metaplectic representation of this group, a
distinction between compact photon number conserving and noncompact photon
number nonconserving squeezing transformations is made. We exploit the
Sp(4,\Re)-SO(3,2)\/ local isomorphism and the U(2)\/ invariant squeezing
criterion to divide the set of all squeezing transformations into a two
parameter family of distinct equivalence classes with representative elements
chosen for each class. Familiar two mode squeezing transformations in the
literature are recognized in our framework and seen to form a set of measure
zero. Examples of squeezed coherent and thermal states are worked out. The need
to extend the heterodyne detection scheme to encompass all of U(2)\/ is
emphasized, and known experimental situations where all U(2)\/ elements can
be reproduced are briefly described.Comment: Revtex 37 pages, Latex figures include
- …