245 research outputs found
The use of airborne LiDAR data for the analysis of debris flow events in Switzerland
A methodology of magnitude estimates for debris flow events is described using airborne LiDAR data. Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) is a widely used technology to generate digital elevation information. LiDAR data in alpine regions can be obtained by several commercial companies where the automated filtering process is proprietary and varies from companies to companies. This study describes the analysis of geomorphologic changes using digital terrain models derived from commercial LiDAR data. The estimation of the deposition volumes is based on two digital terrain models covering the same area but differing in their time of survey. In this study two surveyed deposition areas of debris flows, located in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, were chosen as test cases. We discuss different grid interpolating techniques, other preliminary work and the accuracy of the used LiDAR data and volume estimates
Experimental test of photonic entanglement in accelerated reference frames
The quantization of the electromagnetic field has successfully paved the way
for the development of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and has
established the basis for quantum technologies. Gravity, however, continues to
hold out against physicists' efforts of including it into the framework of
quantum theory. Experimental techniques in quantum optics have only recently
reached the precision and maturity required for the investigation of quantum
systems under the influence of gravitational fields. Here, we report on
experiments in which a genuine quantum state of an entangled photon pair was
exposed to a series of different accelerations. We measure an entanglement
witness for values ranging from 30 mg to up to 30 g - under free-fall as
well on a spinning centrifuge - and have thus derived an upper bound on the
effects of uniform acceleration on photonic entanglement. Our work represents
the first quantum optics experiment in which entanglement is systematically
tested in geodesic motion as well as in accelerated reference frames with
acceleration a>>g = 9.81 m/s^2.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Hall noise and transverse freezing in driven vortex lattices
We study driven vortices lattices in superconducting thin films. Above the
critical force we find two dynamical phase transitions at and
, which could be observed in simultaneous noise measurements of the
longitudinal and the Hall voltage. At there is a transition from plastic
flow to smectic flow where the voltage noise is isotropic (Hall noise =
longitudinal noise) and there is a peak in the differential resistance. At
there is a sharp transition to a frozen transverse solid where the Hall
noise falls down abruptly and vortex motion is localized in the transverse
direction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Nonequilibrium dislocation dynamics and instability of driven vortex lattices in two dimensions
We consider dislocations in a vortex lattice that is driven in a
two-dimensional superconductor with random impurities. The structure and
dynamics of dislocations is studied in this genuine nonequilibrium situation on
the basis of a coarse-grained equation of motion for the displacement field.
The presence of dislocations leads to a characteristic anisotropic distortion
of the vortex density that is controlled by a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang nonlinearity
in the coarse-grained equation of motion. This nonlinearity also implies a
screening of the interaction between dislocations and thereby an instability of
the vortex lattice to the proliferation of free dislocations.Comment: published version with minor correction
Renormalization group approach to layered superconductors
A renormalization group theory for a system consisting of coupled
superconducting layers as a model for typical high-temperature superconducters
is developed. In a first step the electromagnetic interaction over infinitely
many layers is taken into account, but the Josephson coupling is neglected. In
this case the corrections to two-dimensional behavior due to the presence of
the other layers are very small. Next, renormalization group equations for a
layered system with very strong Josephson coupling are derived, taking into
account only the smallest possible Josephson vortex loops. The applicability of
these two limiting cases to typical high-temperature superconductors is
discussed. Finally, it is argued that the original renormalization group
approach by Kosterlitz is not applicable to a layered system with intermediate
Josephson coupling.Comment: RevTeX, 15 pages, 4 figures can be obtained from the author by
conventional mail; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
MOBILITY IN A ONE-DIMENSIONAL DISORDER POTENTIAL
In this article the one-dimensional, overdamped motion of a classical
particle is considered, which is coupled to a thermal bath and is drifting in a
quenched disorder potential. The mobility of the particle is examined as a
function of temperature and driving force acting on the particle. A framework
is presented, which reveals the dependence of mobility on spatial correlations
of the disorder potential. Mobility is then calculated explicitly for new
models of disorder, in particular with spatial correlations. It exhibits
interesting dynamical phenomena. Most markedly, the temperature dependence of
mobility may deviate qualitatively from Arrhenius formula and a localization
transition from zero to finite mobility may occur at finite temperature.
Examples show a suppression of this transition by disorder correlations.Comment: 10 pages, latex, with 3 figures, to be published in Z. Phys.
XY models with disorder and symmetry-breaking fields in two dimensions
The combined effect of disorder and symmetry-breaking fields on the
two-dimensional XY model is examined. The study includes disorder in the
interaction among spins in the form of random phase shifts as well as disorder
in the local orientation of the field. The phase diagrams are determined and
the properties of the various phases and phase transitions are calculated. We
use a renormalization group approach in the Coulomb gas representation of the
model. Our results differ from those obtained for special cases in previous
works. In particular, we find a changed topology of the phase diagram that is
composed of phases with long-range order, quasi-long-range order, and
short-range order. The discrepancies can be ascribed to a breakdown of the
fugacity expansion in the Coulomb gas representation.
Implications for physical systems such as planar Josephson junctions and the
faceting of crystal surfaces are discussed.Comment: 17 pages Latex with 5 eps figures, change: acknowledgment extende
Quantum teleportation using active feed-forward between two Canary Islands
Quantum teleportation [1] is a quintessential prerequisite of many quantum
information processing protocols [2-4]. By using quantum teleportation, one can
circumvent the no-cloning theorem [5] and faithfully transfer unknown quantum
states to a party whose location is even unknown over arbitrary distances. Ever
since the first experimental demonstrations of quantum teleportation of
independent qubits [6] and of squeezed states [7], researchers have
progressively extended the communication distance in teleportation, usually
without active feed-forward of the classical Bell-state measurement result
which is an essential ingredient in future applications such as communication
between quantum computers. Here we report the first long-distance quantum
teleportation experiment with active feed-forward in real time. The experiment
employed two optical links, quantum and classical, over 143 km free space
between the two Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife. To achieve this, the
experiment had to employ novel techniques such as a frequency-uncorrelated
polarization-entangled photon pair source, ultra-low-noise single-photon
detectors, and entanglement-assisted clock synchronization. The average
teleported state fidelity was well beyond the classical limit of 2/3.
Furthermore, we confirmed the quality of the quantum teleportation procedure
(without feed-forward) by complete quantum process tomography. Our experiment
confirms the maturity and applicability of the involved technologies in
real-world scenarios, and is a milestone towards future satellite-based quantum
teleportation
Phase Transitions in the Two-Dimensional XY Model with Random Phases: a Monte Carlo Study
We study the two-dimensional XY model with quenched random phases by Monte
Carlo simulation and finite-size scaling analysis. We determine the phase
diagram of the model and study its critical behavior as a function of disorder
and temperature. If the strength of the randomness is less than a critical
value, , the system has a Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transition
from the paramagnetic phase to a state with quasi-long-range order. Our data
suggest that the latter exists down to T=0 in contradiction with theories that
predict the appearance of a low-temperature reentrant phase. At the critical
disorder and for there is no
quasi-ordered phase. At zero temperature there is a phase transition between
two different glassy states at . The functional dependence of the
correlation length on suggests that this transition corresponds to the
disorder-driven unbinding of vortex pairs.Comment: LaTex file and 18 figure
Ground state properties of fluxlines in a disordered environment
A new numerical method to calculate exact ground states of multi-fluxline
systems with quenched disorder is presented, which is based on the minimum cost
flow algorithm from combinatorial optimization. We discuss several models that
can be studied with this method including their specific implementations,
physically relevant observables and results: 1) the N-line model with N
fluxlines (or directed polymers) in a d-dimensional environment with point
and/or columnar disorder and hard or soft core repulsion; 2) the vortex glass
model for a disordered superconductor in the strong screening limit and 3) the
Sine-Gordon model with random pase shifts in the strong coupling limit.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX, 3 eps-figures include
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