2,951 research outputs found
Unidirectional Nonlinear PT-symmetric Optical Structures
We show that non-linear optical structures involving a balanced gain-loss
profile, can act as unidirectional optical valves. This is made possible by
exploiting the interplay between the fundamental symmetries of parity (P) and
time (T), with optical nonlinear effects. This novel unidirectional dynamics is
specifically demonstrated for the case of an integrable PT-symmetric nonlinear
system.Comment: 6 pages,5 figure
Semiclassical interferences and catastrophes in the ionization of Rydberg atoms by half-cycle pulses
A multi-dimensional semiclassical description of excitation of a Rydberg
electron by half-cycle pulses is developed and applied to the study of energy-
and angle-resolved ionization spectra. Characteristic novel phenomena
observable in these spectra such as interference oscillations and semiclassical
glory and rainbow scattering are discussed and related to the underlying
classical dynamics of the Rydberg electron. Modifications to the predictions of
the impulse approximation are examined that arise due to finite pulse
durations
Semiclassical trace formulae for systems with spin-orbit interactions: successes and limitations of present approaches
We discuss the semiclassical approaches for describing systems with
spin-orbit interactions by Littlejohn and Flynn (1991, 1992), Frisk and Guhr
(1993), and by Bolte and Keppeler (1998, 1999). We use these methods to derive
trace formulae for several two- and three-dimensional model systems, and
exhibit their successes and limitations. We discuss, in particular, also the
mode conversion problem that arises in the strong-coupling limit.Comment: LaTeX2e, 25 pages incl. 9 figures, version 3: final version in print
for J. Phys.
Effect of pitchfork bifurcations on the spectral statistics of Hamiltonian systems
We present a quantitative semiclassical treatment of the effects of
bifurcations on the spectral rigidity and the spectral form factor of a
Hamiltonian quantum system defined by two coupled quartic oscillators, which on
the classical level exhibits mixed phase space dynamics. We show that the
signature of a pitchfork bifurcation is two-fold: Beside the known effect of an
enhanced periodic orbit contribution due to its peculiar -dependence at
the bifurcation, we demonstrate that the orbit pair born {\em at} the
bifurcation gives rise to distinct deviations from universality slightly {\em
above} the bifurcation. This requires a semiclassical treatment beyond the
so-called diagonal approximation. Our semiclassical predictions for both the
coarse-grained density of states and the spectral rigidity, are in excellent
agreement with corresponding quantum-mechanical results.Comment: LaTex, 25 pp., 14 Figures (26 *.eps files); final version 3, to be
published in Journal of Physics
Berry Phase of a Resonant State
We derive closed analytical expressions for the complex Berry phase of an
open quantum system in a state which is a superposition of resonant states and
evolves irreversibly due to the spontaneous decay of the metastable states. The
codimension of an accidental degeneracy of resonances and the geometry of the
energy hypersurfaces close to a crossing of resonances differ significantly
from those of bound states. We discuss some of the consequences of these
differences for the geometric phase factors, such as: Instead of a diabolical
point singularity there is a continuous closed line of singularities formally
equivalent to a continuous distribution of `magnetic' charge on a diabolical
circle; different classes of topologically inequivalent non-trivial closed
paths in parameter space, the topological invariant associated to the sum of
the geometric phases, dilations of the wave function due to the imaginary part
of the Berry phase and others.Comment: 28 pages Latex, three uuencoded postcript figure
Cancer-related health behaviours of young people not in education, employment or training ('NEET'): a cross-sectional study
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were madeThis study was funded by Cancer Research UK (C53258/A19682) and the Medical Research Council/ Chief Scientist Office Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow under the Measuring and Analysing Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health programme (MC_UU_12017/13 & SPHSU13)
Fresnel Representation of the Wigner Function: An Operational Approach
We present an operational definition of the Wigner function. Our method
relies on the Fresnel transform of measured Rabi oscillations and applies to
motional states of trapped atoms as well as to field states in cavities. We
illustrate this technique using data from recent experiments in ion traps [D.
M. Meekhof et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1796 (1996)] and in cavity QED [B.
Varcoe et al., Nature 403, 743 (2000)]. The values of the Wigner functions of
the underlying states at the origin of phase space are W(0)=+1.75 for the
vibrational ground state and W(0)=-1.4 for the one-photon number state. We
generalize this method to wave packets in arbitrary potentials.Comment: 4 pages include 4 figures, submitted to PR
Heralded Noiseless Amplification of a Photon Polarization Qubit
Non-deterministic noiseless amplification of a single mode can circumvent the
unique challenges to amplifying a quantum signal, such as the no-cloning
theorem, and the minimum noise cost for deterministic quantum state
amplification. However, existing devices are not suitable for amplifying the
fundamental optical quantum information carrier, a qubit coherently encoded
across two optical modes. Here, we construct a coherent two-mode amplifier, to
demonstrate the first heralded noiseless linear amplification of a qubit
encoded in the polarization state of a single photon. In doing so, we increase
the transmission fidelity of a realistic qubit channel by up to a factor of
five. Qubit amplifiers promise to extend the range of secure quantum
communication and other quantum information science and technology protocols.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Quantum catastrophe of slow light
Catastrophes are at the heart of many fascinating optical phenomena. The
rainbow, for example, is a ray catastrophe where light rays become infinitely
intense. The wave nature of light resolves the infinities of ray catastrophes
while drawing delicate interference patterns such as the supernumerary arcs of
the rainbow. Black holes cause wave singularities. Waves oscillate with
infinitely small wave lengths at the event horizon where time stands still. The
quantum nature of light avoids this higher level of catastrophic behaviour
while producing a quantum phenomenon known as Hawking radiation. As this letter
describes, light brought to a standstill in laboratory experiments can suffer a
similar wave singularity caused by a parabolic profile of the group velocity.
In turn, the quantum vacuum is forced to create photon pairs with a
characteristic spectrum. The idea may initiate a theory of quantum
catastrophes, in addition to classical catastrophe theory, and the proposed
experiment may lead to the first direct observation of a phenomenon related to
Hawking radiation.Comment: Published as "A laboratory analogue of the event horizon using slow
light in an atomic medium
Theory of a Slow-Light Catastrophe
In diffraction catastrophes such as the rainbow the wave nature of light
resolves ray singularities and draws delicate interference patterns. In quantum
catastrophes such as the black hole the quantum nature of light resolves wave
singularities and creates characteristic quantum effects related to Hawking
radiation. The paper describes the theory behind a recent proposal [U.
Leonhardt, arXiv:physics/0111058, Nature (in press)] to generate a quantum
catastrophe of slow light.Comment: Physical Review A (in press
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