RF Characterization of Superconducting Samples

At CERN a compact Quadrupole Resonator has been re-commissioned for the RF characterization of superconducting materials at 400 MHz. In addition the resonator can also be excited at multiple integers of this frequency. Besides Rs it enables determination of the maximum RF magnetic field, the thermal conductivity and the penetration depth of the attached samples, at different temperatures. The features of the resonator will be compared with those of similar RF devices and first results will be presented

Efficiency of tunable band-gap structures for single-photon emission

The efficiency of recently proposed single-photon emitting sources based on tunable planar band-gap structures is examined. The analysis is based on the study of the total and ``radiative'' decay rates, the expectation value of emitted radiation energy and its collimating cone. It is shown that the scheme operating in the frequency range near the defect resonance of a defect band-gap structure is more efficient than the one operating near the band edge of a perfect band-gap structure.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Enhancement by prolactin of carcinogen induced mammary cancerigenesis in the male rat.

Mammary tumours were induced in 3 groups of male Long-Evans rats by a series of 6 fortnightly gastric intubations of 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene. Two weeks before the initial carcinogen treatment one group of rats was grafted with 3 pituitary homografts underneath the kidney capsule of each recipient (hyperprolactinaemia). A second group, 2 weeks before the initial carcinogen treatment and for the duration of the study (35 weeks), were injected 4 X weekly with 2-Br-alpha-ergocryptine (CB-154) (hypoprolactinaemia). A third group of rats served as controls. A significant increase in the incidence of mammary tumours and a reduced latency period of tumour appearance in the hyperprolactinaemia group, when compared with the controls, were observed in this study. Mammary tumour incidence and latency period of tumour appearance in the hypoprolactinaemia group, however, did not differ significantly from controls. Thus, an increased secretion of pituitary prolactin in rats appears to be an important enhancing endocrinic condition in carcinogenesis of the male mammary gland

Extension of the Measurement Capabilities of the Quadrupole Resonator

The Quadrupole Resonator, designed to measure the surface resistance of superconducting samples at 400 MHz has been refurbished. The accuracy of its RF-DC compensation measurement technique is tested by an independent method. It is shown that the device enables also measurements at 800 and 1200 MHz and is capable to probe the critical RF magnetic field. The electric and magnetic field configuration of the Quadrupole Resonator are dependent on the excited mode. It is shown how this can be used to distinguish between electric and magnetic losses.Comment: 6 pages, g figure

17beta-oestradiol and Enovid mammary tumorigenesis in C3H/HeJ female mice: counteraction by concurrent 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine.

Chronic administration of 17beta-oestradiol (via drinking water) or the oral contraceptive Enovid (norethynodrel and mestranol) (0-1 mg injected s.c. twice weekly) to nulliparous C3H/HeJ female mice, beginning at one month of age and terminating at 20 months (17beta-oestradiol) or 22 months (Enovid), significantly increased the incidence of mammary tumours over solvent-treated controls. Concurrent treatment of the steroid-treated mice with 2-bromo-alpha-ergocryptine (CB-154) (0-1 mg s.c. injected daily) significantly reduced mammary tumour incidence and mammary hyperplastic nodule development to the control level. CB-154 is an efficacious inhibitor of pituitary prolactin secretion. These results demonstrate that steroid-induced mammary gland dysplasias can be sharply reduced by chronic CB-154 treatment, and suggest that some of the mammary tumorigenic activities of oestrogenic steroids in C3H mice are mediated via an increased secretion of pituitary prolactin

Conditional quantum-state transformation at a beam splitter

Using conditional measurement on a beam splitter, we study the transformation of the quantum state of the signal mode within the concept of two-port non-unitary transformation. Allowing for arbitrary quantum states of both the input reference mode and the output reference mode on which the measurement is performed, we show that the non-unitary transformation operator can be given as an $s$-ordered operator product, where the value of $s$ is entirely determined by the absolute value of the beam splitter reflectance (or transmittance). The formalism generalizes previously obtained results that can be recovered by simple specification of the non-unitary transformation operator. As an application, we consider the generation of Schr\"odinger-cat-like states. An extension to mixed states and imperfect detection is outlined.Comment: 7 Postscript figures, using Late

Cavity-assisted spontaneous emission as a single-photon source: Pulse shape and efficiency of one-photon Fock state preparation

Within the framework of exact quantum electrodynamics in dispersing and absorbing media, we have studied the quantum state of the radiation emitted from an initially in the upper state prepared two-level atom in a high-$Q$ cavity, including the regime where the emitted photon belongs to a wave packet that simultaneously covers the areas inside and outside the cavity. For both continuing atom--field interaction and short-term atom--field interaction, we have determined the spatio-temporal shape of the excited outgoing wave packet and calculated the efficiency of the wave packet to carry a one-photon Fock state. Furthermore, we have made contact with quantum noise theories where the intracavity field and the field outside the cavity are regarded as approximately representing independent degrees of freedom such that two separate Hilbert spaces can be introduced.Comment: 16 pages, 7 eps figures; improved version as submitted to Phys. Rev.

Leaky cavities with unwanted noise

A phenomenological approach is developed that allows one to completely describe the effects of unwanted noise, such as the noise associated with absorption and scattering, in high-Q cavities. This noise is modeled by a block of beam splitters and an additional input-output port. The replacement schemes enable us to formulate appropriate quantum Langevin equations and input-output relations. It is demonstrated that unwanted noise renders it possible to combine a cavity input mode and the intracavity mode in a nonmonochromatic output mode. Possible applications to unbalanced and cascaded homodyning of the intracavity mode are discussed and the advantages of the latter method are shown.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures; published versio

Ground-state van der Waals forces in planar multilayer magnetodielectrics

Within the frame of lowest-order perturbation theory, the van der Waals potential of a ground-state atom placed within an arbitrary dispersing and absorbing magnetodielectric multilayer system is given. Examples of an atom situated in front of a magnetodielectric plate or between two such plates are studied in detail. Special emphasis is placed on the competing attractive and repulsive force components associated with the electric and magnetic matter properties, respectively, and conditions for the formation of repulsive potential walls are given. Both numerical and analytical results are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, minor correction