126 research outputs found
No light shining through a wall : new results from a photoregeneration experiment
Recently, axion-like particle search has received renewed interest. In
particular, several groups have started ``light shining through a wall''
experiments based on magnetic field and laser both continuous, which is very
demanding in terms of detector background. We present here the 2 limits
obtained so far with our novel set-up consisting of a pulsed magnetic field and
a pulsed laser. In particular, we have found that the axion-like particle two
photons inverse coupling constant is GeV provided that the
particle mass 1 meV. Our results definitively invalidate
the axion interpretation of the original PVLAS optical measurements with a
confidence level greater than 99.9%.Comment: Version that will appear in Physical Review Letters, Vol. 99, n. 18,
(2 Nov 2007
Towards a first observation of magneto-electric directional anisotropy and linear birefringence in gases
In this contribution to PSAS'2010 we report on recent progress on an
experiment aimed at measuring small optical directional anisotropies by
frequency metrology in a high finesse ring cavity. We focus on our first
experimental goal, the measurement of magneto-electric effects in gases. After
a review of the expected effects in our set-up, we present the apparatus and
the measurement procedure, showing that we already have the necessary
sensitivity to start novel experiments.Comment: Proceedings of PSAS'2010, to be published in Canadian Journal of
Physics, 2011 Ja
Coherent analysis of quantum optical sideband modes
We demonstrate a device that allows for the coherent analysis of a pair of
optical frequency sidebands in an arbitrary basis. We show that our device is
quantum noise limited and hence applications for this scheme may be found in
discrete and continuous variable optical quantum information experiments.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Optics Letter
The BMV project: Search for photon oscillations into massive particles
In this contribution to PSAS08 we report on the research activities developed
in our Toulouse group, in the framework of the BMV project, concerning the
search for photon oscillations into massive particles, such as axion-like
particles in the presence of a strong transverse magnetic field. We recall our
main result obtained in collaboration with LULI at \'Ecole Polytechnique
(Palaiseau, France). We also present the very preliminary results obtained with
the BMV experiment which is set up at LNCMP (Toulouse, France).Comment: Proceedings of PSAS'08, to be published in Can. J. Phy
Demonstration of the spatial separation of the entangled quantum side-bands of an optical field
Quantum optics experiments on "bright" beams typically probe correlations
between side-band modes. However the extra degree of freedom represented by
this dual mode picture is generally ignored. We demonstrate the experimental
operation of a device which can be used to separate the quantum side-bands of
an optical field. We use this device to explicitly demonstrate the quantum
entanglement between the side-bands of a squeezed beam
The BMV experiment : a novel apparatus to study the propagation of light in a transverse magnetic field
In this paper, we describe in detail the BMV (Bir\'efringence Magn\'etique du
Vide) experiment, a novel apparatus to study the propagation of light in a
transverse magnetic field. It is based on a very high finesse Fabry-Perot
cavity and on pulsed magnets specially designed for this purpose. We justify
our technical choices and we present the current status and perspectives.Comment: To be published in the European Physical Journal
Recruitment, growth and mortality of an Antarctic hexactinellid sponge, Anoxycalyx joubini.
Polar ecosystems are sensitive to climate forcing, and we often lack baselines to evaluate changes. Here we report a nearly 50-year study in which a sudden shift in the population dynamics of an ecologically important, structure-forming hexactinellid sponge, Anoxycalyx joubini was observed. This is the largest Antarctic sponge, with individuals growing over two meters tall. In order to investigate life history characteristics of Antarctic marine invertebrates, artificial substrata were deployed at a number of sites in the southern portion of the Ross Sea between 1967 and 1975. Over a 22-year period, no growth or settlement was recorded for A. joubini on these substrata; however, in 2004 and 2010, A. joubini was observed to have settled and grown to large sizes on some but not all artificial substrata. This single settlement and growth event correlates with a region-wide shift in phytoplankton productivity driven by the calving of a massive iceberg. We also report almost complete mortality of large sponges followed over 40 years. Given our warming global climate, similar system-wide changes are expected in the future
About the connection between vacuum birefringence and the light-light scattering amplitude
Birefringence phenomena stemming from vacuum polarization are revisited in
the framework of coherent scattering. Based on photon-photon scattering, our
analysis brings out the direct connection between this process and vacuum
birefringence. We show how this procedure can be extended to the Kerr and the
Cotton-Mouton birefringences in vacuum, thus providing a unified treatment of
various polarization schemes, including those involving static fields
Synchronization of Hamiltonian motion and dissipative effects in optical lattices: Evidence for a stochastic resonance
We theoretically study the influence of the noise strength on the excitation
of the Brillouin propagation modes in a dissipative optical lattice. We show
that the excitation has a resonant behavior for a specific amount of noise
corresponding to the precise synchronization of the Hamiltonian motion on the
optical potential surfaces and the dissipative effects associated with optical
pumping in the lattice. This corresponds to the phenomenon of stochastic
resonance. Our results are obtained by numerical simulations and correspond to
the analysis of microscopic quantities (atomic spatial distributions) as well
as macroscopic quantities (enhancement of spatial diffusion and pump-probe
spectra). We also present a simple analytical model in excellent agreement with
the simulations
Birefringence of interferential mirrors at normal incidence Experimental and computational study
In this paper we present a review of the existing data on interferential
mirror birefringence. We also report new measurements of two sets of mirrors
that confirm that mirror phase retardation per reflection decreases when mirror
reflectivity increases. We finally developed a computational code to calculate
the expected phase retardation per reflection as a function of the total number
of layers constituting the mirror. Different cases have been studied and we
have compared computational results with the trend of the experimental data.
Our study indicates that the origin of the mirror intrinsic birefringence can
be ascribed to the reflecting layers close to the substrate.Comment: To be published in Applied Physics
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