58 research outputs found
Quantum tomography of mesoscopic superpositions of radiation states
We show the feasibility of a tomographic reconstruction of Schr\"{o}dinger
cat states generated according to the scheme proposed by S. Song, C.M. Caves
and B. Yurke [Phys. Rev. A 41, 5261 (1990)]. We present a technique that
tolerates realistic values for quantum efficiency at photodetectors. The
measurement can be achieved by a standard experimental setup.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.; 4 pages including 6 ps figure
Radiating dipoles in photonic crystals
The radiation dynamics of a dipole antenna embedded in a Photonic Crystal are
modeled by an initially excited harmonic oscillator coupled to a non--Markovian
bath of harmonic oscillators representing the colored electromagnetic vacuum
within the crystal. Realistic coupling constants based on the natural modes of
the Photonic Crystal, i.e., Bloch waves and their associated dispersion
relation, are derived. For simple model systems, well-known results such as
decay times and emission spectra are reproduced. This approach enables direct
incorporation of realistic band structure computations into studies of
radiative emission from atoms and molecules within photonic crystals. We
therefore provide a predictive and interpretative tool for experiments in both
the microwave and optical regimes.Comment: Phys. Rev. E, accepte
Influence of a classical homogeneous gravitational field on dissipative dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model with phase damping
In this paper, we study the dissipative dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model
with phase damping in the presence of a classical homogeneous gravitational
field. The model consists of a moving two-level atom simultaneously exposed to
the gravitational field and a single-mode traveling radiation field in the
presence of the phase damping. We present a quantum treatment of the internal
and external dynamics of the atom based on an alternative su(2) dynamical
algebraic structure. By making use of the super-operator technique, we obtain
the solution of the master equation for the density operator of the quantum
system, under the Markovian approximation. Assuming that initially the
radiation field is prepared in a Glauber coherent state and the two-level atom
is in the excited state, we investigate the influence of gravity on the
temporal evolution of collapses and revivals of the atomic population
inversion, atomic dipole squeezing, atomic momentum diffusion, photon counting
statistics and quadrature squeezing of the radiation field in the presence of
phase damping.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figure
Primordial Nucleosynthesis for the New Cosmology: Determining Uncertainties and Examining Concordance
Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have
a long history together in the standard cosmology. The general concordance
between the predicted and observed light element abundances provides a direct
probe of the universal baryon density. Recent CMB anisotropy measurements,
particularly the observations performed by the WMAP satellite, examine this
concordance by independently measuring the cosmic baryon density. Key to this
test of concordance is a quantitative understanding of the uncertainties in the
BBN light element abundance predictions. These uncertainties are dominated by
systematic errors in nuclear cross sections. We critically analyze the cross
section data, producing representations that describe this data and its
uncertainties, taking into account the correlations among data, and explicitly
treating the systematic errors between data sets. Using these updated nuclear
inputs, we compute the new BBN abundance predictions, and quantitatively
examine their concordance with observations. Depending on what deuterium
observations are adopted, one gets the following constraints on the baryon
density: OmegaBh^2=0.0229\pm0.0013 or OmegaBh^2 = 0.0216^{+0.0020}_{-0.0021} at
68% confidence, fixing N_{\nu,eff}=3.0. Concerns over systematics in helium and
lithium observations limit the confidence constraints based on this data
provide. With new nuclear cross section data, light element abundance
observations and the ever increasing resolution of the CMB anisotropy, tighter
constraints can be placed on nuclear and particle astrophysics. ABRIDGEDComment: 54 pages, 20 figures, 5 tables v2: reflects PRD version minor changes
to text and reference
Updated Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Unstable Relic Particles
We revisit the upper limits on the abundance of unstable massive relic
particles provided by the success of Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis calculations. We
use the cosmic microwave background data to constrain the baryon-to-photon
ratio, and incorporate an extensively updated compilation of cross sections
into a new calculation of the network of reactions induced by electromagnetic
showers that create and destroy the light elements deuterium, he3, he4, li6 and
li7. We derive analytic approximations that complement and check the full
numerical calculations. Considerations of the abundances of he4 and li6 exclude
exceptional regions of parameter space that would otherwise have been permitted
by deuterium alone. We illustrate our results by applying them to massive
gravitinos. If they weigh ~100 GeV, their primordial abundance should have been
below about 10^{-13} of the total entropy. This would imply an upper limit on
the reheating temperature of a few times 10^7 GeV, which could be a potential
difficulty for some models of inflation. We discuss possible ways of evading
this problem.Comment: 40 pages LaTeX, 18 eps figure
Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology
notes: As the primary author, OâMalley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. âMacrobeâ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes â the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history â will transform some of the philosophy of biologyâs standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology â including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer â that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations
T(T,2n)
We have studied the energy dependence of the reaction mechanism of the T(t,2n)4He reaction at stellar energies and of its charge symmetric analog reaction 3He(3He,2p)4He at energies up 10 MeV. We find that the reaction mechanism changes dramatically over this energy range in part due to the interference of the two identical fermions in the three-body final state
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