Efficient calculation of local dose distribution for response modelling in proton and ion beams

We present an algorithm for fast and accurate computation of the local dose distribution in MeV beams of protons, carbon ions or other heavy-charged particles. It uses compound Poisson-process modelling of track interaction and succesive convolutions for fast computation. It can handle mixed particle fields over a wide range of fluences. Since the local dose distribution is the essential part of several approaches to model detector efficiency or cellular response it has potential use in ion-beam dosimetry and radiotherapy.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

EEG source imaging assists decoding in a face recognition task

EEG based brain state decoding has numerous applications. State of the art decoding is based on processing of the multivariate sensor space signal, however evidence is mounting that EEG source reconstruction can assist decoding. EEG source imaging leads to high-dimensional representations and rather strong a priori information must be invoked. Recent work by Edelman et al. (2016) has demonstrated that introduction of a spatially focal source space representation can improve decoding of motor imagery. In this work we explore the generality of Edelman et al. hypothesis by considering decoding of face recognition. This task concerns the differentiation of brain responses to images of faces and scrambled faces and poses a rather difficult decoding problem at the single trial level. We implement the pipeline using spatially focused features and show that this approach is challenged and source imaging does not lead to an improved decoding. We design a distributed pipeline in which the classifier has access to brain wide features which in turn does lead to a 15% reduction in the error rate using source space features. Hence, our work presents supporting evidence for the hypothesis that source imaging improves decoding

Observation of twin beam correlations and quadrature entanglement by frequency doubling in a two-port resonator

We demonstrate production of quantum correlated and entangled beams by second harmonic generation in a nonlinear resonator with two output ports. The output beams at wavelength 428.5 nm exhibit 0.9 dB of nonclassical intensity correlations and 0.3 dB of entanglement.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Investigating 16O with the 15N(p,{\alpha})12C reaction

The 16O nucleus was investigated through the 15N(p,{\alpha})12C reaction at excitation energies from Ex = 12 231 to 15 700 keV using proton beams from a 5 MeV Van de Graaff accelerator at beam energies of Ep = 331 to 3800 keV. Alpha decay from resonant states in 16O was strongly observed for ten known excited states in this region. The candidate 4-alpha cluster state at Ex = 15.1 MeV was investigated particularly intensely in order to understand its particle decay channels.Comment: Submitted for Proceedings of Fourth International Workshop on State of the Art in Nuclear Cluster Physics (SOTANCP4), held from May 13 - 18, 2018 in Galveston, TX, US

Reduction of Guided Acoustic Wave Brillouin Scattering in Photonic Crystal Fibers

Guided Acoustic Wave Brillouin Scattering (GAWBS) generates phase and polarization noise of light propagating in glass fibers. This excess noise affects the performance of various experiments operating at the quantum noise limit. We experimentally demonstrate the reduction of GAWBS noise in a photonic crystal fiber in a broad frequency range using cavity sound dynamics. We compare the noise spectrum to the one of a standard fiber and observe a 10-fold noise reduction in the frequency range up to 200 MHz. Based on our measurement results as well as on numerical simulations we establish a model for the reduction of GAWBS noise in photonic crystal fibers.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures; added numerical simulations, added reference

Near-infrared photoabsorption by C(60) dianions in a storage ring

We present a detailed study of the electronic structure and the stability of C(60) dianions in the gas phase. Monoanions were extracted from a plasma source and converted to dianions by electron transfer in a Na vapor cell. The dianions were then stored in an electrostatic ring, and their near-infrared absorption spectrum was measured by observation of laser induced electron detachment. From the time dependence of the detachment after photon absorption, we conclude that the reaction has contributions from both direct electron tunneling to the continuum and vibrationally assisted tunneling after internal conversion. This implies that the height of the Coulomb barrier confining the attached electrons is at least similar to 1.5 eV. For C(60)(2-) ions in solution electron spin resonance measurements have indicated a singlet ground state, and from the similarity of the absorption spectra we conclude that also the ground state of isolated C(60)(2-) ions is singlet. The observed spectrum corresponds to an electronic transition from a t(1u) lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of C(60) to the t(1g) LUMO+1 level. The electronic levels of the dianion are split due to Jahn-Teller coupling to quadrupole deformations of the molecule, and a main absorption band at 10723 cm(-1) corresponds to a transition between the Jahn-Teller ground states. Also transitions from pseudorotational states with 200 cm(-1) and (probably) 420 cm(-1) excitation are observed. We argue that a very broad absorption band from about 11 500 cm(-1) to 13 500 cm(-1) consists of transitions to so-called cone states, which are Jahn-Teller states on a higher potential-energy surface, stabilized by a pseudorotational angular momentum barrier. A previously observed, high-lying absorption band for C(60)(-) may also be a transition to a cone state

Finding Connected Dense kk-Subgraphs

Given a connected graph $G$ on $n$ vertices and a positive integer $k\le n$, a subgraph of $G$ on $k$ vertices is called a $k$-subgraph in $G$. We design combinatorial approximation algorithms for finding a connected $k$-subgraph in $G$ such that its density is at least a factor $\Omega(\max\{n^{-2/5},k^2/n^2\})$ of the density of the densest $k$-subgraph in $G$ (which is not necessarily connected). These particularly provide the first non-trivial approximations for the densest connected $k$-subgraph problem on general graphs

Stellar activity as noise in exoplanet detection I. Methods and application to solar-like stars and activity cycles

The detection of exoplanets using any method is prone to confusion due to the intrinsic variability of the host star. We investigate the effect of cool starspots on the detectability of the exoplanets around solar-like stars using the radial velocity method. For investigating this activity-caused "jitter" we calculate synthetic spectra using radiative transfer, known stellar atomic and molecular lines, different surface spot configurations, and an added planetary signal. Here, the methods are described in detail, tested and compared to previously published studies. The methods are also applied to investigate the activity jitter in old and young solar-like stars, and over a solar-like activity cycles. We find that the mean full jitter amplitude obtained from the spot surfaces mimicking the solar activity varies during the cycle approximately between 1 m/s and 9 m/s. With a realistic observing frequency a Neptune mass planet on a one year orbit can be reliably recovered. On the other hand, the recovery of an Earth mass planet on a similar orbit is not feasible with high significance. The methods developed in this study have a great potential for doing statistical studies of planet detectability, and also for investigating the effect of stellar activity on recovered planetary parameters.Comment: Accepted to MNRA

Experimental investigation of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal effect in low-Z targets

In the CERN NA63 collaboration we have addressed the question of the potential inadequacy of the commonly used Migdal formulation of the Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect by measuring the photon emission by 20 and 178 GeV electrons in the range 100 MeV - 4 GeV, in targets of LowDensityPolyEthylene (LDPE), C, Al, Ti, Fe, Cu, Mo and, as a reference target, Ta. For each target and energy, a comparison between simulated values based on the LPM suppression of incoherent bremsstrahlung is shown, taking multi-photon effects into account. For these targets and energies, we find that Migdal's theoretical formulation is adequate to a precision of better than about 5%, irrespective of the target substance.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure

Detecting and Characterizing Small Dense Bipartite-like Subgraphs by the Bipartiteness Ratio Measure

We study the problem of finding and characterizing subgraphs with small \textit{bipartiteness ratio}. We give a bicriteria approximation algorithm \verb|SwpDB| such that if there exists a subset $S$ of volume at most $k$ and bipartiteness ratio $\theta$, then for any $0<\epsilon<1/2$, it finds a set $S'$ of volume at most $2k^{1+\epsilon}$ and bipartiteness ratio at most $4\sqrt{\theta/\epsilon}$. By combining a truncation operation, we give a local algorithm \verb|LocDB|, which has asymptotically the same approximation guarantee as the algorithm \verb|SwpDB| on both the volume and bipartiteness ratio of the output set, and runs in time $O(\epsilon^2\theta^{-2}k^{1+\epsilon}\ln^3k)$, independent of the size of the graph. Finally, we give a spectral characterization of the small dense bipartite-like subgraphs by using the $k$th \textit{largest} eigenvalue of the Laplacian of the graph.Comment: 17 pages; ISAAC 201