Non-quantized Dirac monopoles and strings in the Berry phase of anisotropic spin systems

The Berry phase of an anisotropic spin system that is adiabatically rotated along a closed circuit C is investigated. It is shown that the Berry phase consists of two contributions: (i) a geometric contribution which can be interpreted as the flux through C of a non-quantized Dirac monopole, and (ii) a topological contribution which can be interpreted as the flux through C of a Dirac string carrying a non-quantized flux, i.e., a spin analogue of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Various experimental consequences of this novel effect are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (RevTeX + eps); v2 (revised paper): 4 pages, 4 figure

Berry phase, topology, and diabolicity in quantum nano-magnets

A topological theory of the diabolical points (degeneracies) of quantum magnets is presented. Diabolical points are characterized by their diabolicity index, for which topological sum rules are derived. The paradox of the the missing diabolical points for Fe8 molecular magnets is clarified. A new method is also developed to provide a simple interpretation, in terms of destructive interferences due to the Berry phase, of the complete set of diabolical points found in biaxial systems such as Fe8.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Geometric Quantum Computation

We describe in detail a general strategy for implementing a conditional geometric phase between two spins. Combined with single-spin operations, this simple operation is a universal gate for quantum computation, in that any unitary transformation can be implemented with arbitrary precision using only single-spin operations and conditional phase shifts. Thus quantum geometrical phases can form the basis of any quantum computation. Moreover, as the induced conditional phase depends only on the geometry of the paths executed by the spins it is resilient to certain types of errors and offers the potential of a naturally fault-tolerant way of performing quantum computation.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, uses cite, eepic, epsfig, graphicx and amsfonts. Accepted by J. Mod. Op

Plasma Spectroscopy of Titanium Monoxide for Characterization of Laser Ablation

Ablation of titanium wafers in air is accomplished with 60 µs pulsed, 2.94 µm laser radiation. Titanium monoxide spectra are measured in the wavelength range of 500 nm to 750 nm, and molecular signatures include bands of the C3 Δ → X3 Δ α, B3 Π → X3 Δ γ\u27, and A3 Φ → X3 Δ γ transitions. The spatially and temporally averaged spectra appear to be in qualitative agreement with previous temporally resolved studies that employed shorter wavelengths and shorter pulse durations than utilized in this work. The background signals in the current study are possibly due to particulate content in the plume. A chemical kinetic model of the plume is being developed that will be coupled to a diatomic emission model in order to extract a molecular temperature from the observed spectra

External sources of clean technology: evidence from the clean development mechanism

New technology is fundamental to sustainable development. However, inventors from industrialized countries often refuse technology transfer because they worry about reverse-engineering. When can clean technology transfer succeed? We develop a formal model of the political economy of North–South technology transfer. According to the model, technology transfer is possible if (1) the technology in focus has limited global commercial potential or (2) the host developing country does not have the capacity to absorb new technologies for commercial use. If both conditions fail, inventors from industrialized countries worry about the adverse competitiveness effects of reverse-engineering, so technology transfer fails. Data analysis of technology transfer in 4,894 projects implemented under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism during the 2004–2010 period provides evidence in support of the model