20 research outputs found
Chaos and flights in the atom-photon interaction in cavity QED
We study dynamics of the atom-photon interaction in cavity quantum
electrodynamics (QED), considering a cold two-level atom in a single-mode
high-finesse standing-wave cavity as a nonlinear Hamiltonian system with three
coupled degrees of freedom: translational, internal atomic, and the field. The
system proves to have different types of motion including L\'{e}vy flights and
chaotic walkings of an atom in a cavity. It is shown that the translational
motion, related to the atom recoils, is governed by an equation of a parametric
nonlinear pendulum with a frequency modulated by the Rabi oscillations. This
type of dynamics is chaotic with some width of the stochastic layer that is
estimated analytically. The width is fairly small for realistic values of the
control parameters, the normalized detuning and atomic recoil
frequency . It is demonstrated how the atom-photon dynamics with a
given value of depends on the values of and initial
conditions. Two types of L\'{e}vy flights, one corresponding to the ballistic
motion of the atom and another one corresponding to small oscillations in a
potential well, are found. These flights influence statistical properties of
the atom-photon interaction such as distribution of Poincar\'{e} recurrences
and moments of the atom position . The simulation shows different regimes of
motion, from slightly abnormal diffusion with at to a superdiffusion with at that
corresponds to a superballistic motion of the atom with an acceleration. The
obtained results can be used to find new ways to manipulate atoms, to cool and
trap them by adjusting the detuning .Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Retinal Structure and Function in Achromatopsia : Implications for Gene Therapy
Purpose: To characterize retinal structure and function in achromatopsia (ACHM) in preparation for clinical trials of gene therapy. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: Forty subjects with ACHM. Methods: All subjects underwent spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), microperimetry, and molecular genetic testing. Foveal structure on SD-OCT was graded into 5 distinct categories: (1) continuous inner segment ellipsoid (ISe), (2) ISe disruption, (3) ISe absence, (4) presence of a hyporeflective zone (HRZ), and (5) outer retinal atrophy including retinal pigment epithelial loss. Foveal and outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness was measured and presence of hypoplasia determined. Main Outcome Measures: Photoreceptor appearance on SD-OCT imaging, foveal and ONL thickness, presence of foveal hypoplasia, retinal sensitivity and fixation stability, and association of these parameters with age and genotype. Results: Forty subjects with a mean age of 24.9 years (range, 6e52 years) were included. Disease-causing variants were found in CNGA3 (n [ 18), CNGB3 (n ¼ 15), GNAT2 (n ¼ 4), and PDE6C (n ¼ 1). No variants were found in 2 individuals. In all, 22.5% of subjects had a continuous ISe layer at the fovea, 27.5% had ISe disruption, 20% had an absent ISe layer, 22.5% had an HRZ, and 7.5% had outer retinal atrophy. No significant differences in age (P ¼ 0.77), mean retinal sensitivity (P ¼ 0.21), or fixation stability (P ¼ 0.34) across the 5 SD-OCT categories were evident. No correlation was found between age and foveal thickness (P ¼ 0.84) or between age and foveal ONL thickness (P ¼ 0.12). Conclusions: The lack of a clear association of disruption of retinal structure or function in ACHM with age suggests that the window of opportunity for intervention by gene therapy is wider in some individuals than previously indicated. Therefore, the potential benefit for a given subject is likely to be better predicted by specific measurement of photoreceptor structure rather than simply by age. The ability to directly assess cone photoreceptor preservation with SD-OCT and/or adaptive optics imaging is likely to prove invaluable in selecting subjects for future trials and measuring the trials’ impact