Soliton-comb structures in ring-shaped optical microresonators: generation, reconstruction and stability

Characteristic features of soliton-comb structures in optical microresonators are investigated in normal and anomalous dispersion regimes, when the detuning parameter is varied over a broad range of values. The study rests on the assumption that soliton combs are self-organized ensemble of co-propagating coherently entangled states of light, and depending on the group-velocity dispersion they can result from space-division multiplexing of single-bright and single-dark solitons. Their analytical and numerical reconstruction schemes are discussed, while a linear-stability analysis leads to a $2\times 2$ Lam\'e eigenvalue problem whose boundstate spectrum is composed of a Goldstone-type translation mode and stable internal modes, as well as unstable decaying modes and growing modes. A power-spectral analysis of the three distinct possible soliton crystals enables us probe their inner structures in the frequency domain, and unveil the existence of structural defects in their power spectra.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, submitte

On the steady state correlation functions of open interacting systems

We address the existence of steady state Green-Keldysh correlation functions of interacting fermions in mesoscopic systems for both the partitioning and partition-free scenarios. Under some spectral assumptions on the non-interacting model and for sufficiently small interaction strength, we show that the system evolves to a NESS which does not depend on the profile of the time-dependent coupling strength/bias. For the partitioned setting we also show that the steady state is independent of the initial state of the inner sample. Closed formulae for the NESS two-point correlation functions (Green-Keldysh functions), in the form of a convergent expansion, are derived. In the partitioning approach, we show that the 0th order term in the interaction strength of the charge current leads to the Landauer-Buettiker formula, while the 1st order correction contains the mean-field (Hartree-Fock) results

Grand Unification in the Spectral Pati-Salam Model

We analyze the running at one-loop of the gauge couplings in the spectral Pati-Salam model that was derived in the framework of noncommutative geometry. There are a few different scenario's for the scalar particle content which are determined by the precise form of the Dirac operator for the finite noncommutative space. We consider these different scenarios and establish for all of them unification of the Pati-Salam gauge couplings. The boundary conditions are set by the usual RG flow for the Standard Model couplings at an intermediate mass scale at which the Pati-Salam symmetry is broken.Comment: 8 page

Homoclinic snaking of localized states in doubly diffusive convection

Numerical continuation is used to investigate stationary spatially localized states in two-dimensional thermosolutal convection in a plane horizontal layer with no-slip boundary conditions at top and bottom. Convectons in the form of 1-pulse and 2-pulse states of both odd and even parity exhibit homoclinic snaking in a common Rayleigh number regime. In contrast to similar states in binary fluid convection, odd parity convectons do not pump concentration horizontally. Stable but time-dependent localized structures are present for Rayleigh numbers below the snaking region for stationary convectons. The computations are carried out for (inverse) Lewis number \tau = 1/15 and Prandtl numbers Pr = 1 and Pr >> 1

Phase Closure Nulling: results from the 2009 campaign

We present here a new observational technique, Phase Closure Nulling (PCN), which has the potential to obtain very high contrast detection and spectroscopy of faint companions to bright stars. PCN consists in measuring closure phases of fully resolved objects with a baseline triplet where one of the baselines crosses a null of the object visibility function. For scenes dominated by the presence of a stellar disk, the correlated flux of the star around nulls is essentially canceled out, and in these regions the signature of fainter, unresolved, scene object(s) dominates the imaginary part of the visibility in particular the closure phase. We present here the basics of the PCN method, the initial proof-of-concept observation, the envisioned science cases and report about the first observing campaign made on VLTI/AMBER and CHARA/MIRC using this technique.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the SPIE'2010 conference on "Optical and Infrared Interferometry II

PAHs molecules and heating of the interstellar gas

Until now it has remained difficult to account for the rather high temperatures seen in many diffuse interstellar clouds. Various heating mechanisms have been considered: photoionization of minor species, ionization of H by cosmic rays, and photoelectric effect on small grains. Yet all these processes are either too weak or efficient under too restricting conditions to balance the observed cooling rates. A major heat source is thus still missing in the thermal balance of the diffuse gas. Using photoionization cross sections measured in the lab, it was shown that in order to balance the observed cooling rates in cold diffuse clouds (T approx. 80 K) the PAHs would have to contain 15 percent of the cosmic abundance of carbon. This value does not contradict the former estimation of 6 percent deduced from the IR emission bands since this latter is to be taken as a lower limit. Further, it was estimated that the contribution to the heating rate due to PAH's in a warm HI cloud, assuming the same PAH abundance as for a cold HI cloud, would represent a significant fraction of the value required to keep the medium in thermal balance. Thus, photoionization of PAHs might well be a major heat source for the cold and warm HI media

Non-equilibrium steady-states for interacting open systems: exact results

Under certain conditions we prove the existence of a steady-state transport regime for interacting mesoscopic systems coupled to reservoirs (leads). The partitioning and partition-free scenarios are treated on an equal footing. Our time-dependent scattering approach is {\it exact} and proves, among other things the independence of the steady-state quantities from the initial state of the sample. Closed formulas for the steady-state current amenable for perturbative calculations w.r.t. the interaction strength are also derived. In the partitioning case we calculate the first order correction and recover the mean-field (Hartree-Fock) results.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.