What Elephant? The Challenge of Political: Pluralism in the Academy

Does displaying one’s political affiliation in the workplace present a moral dilemma for educators striving to be true pluralists? Two recent graduates of the Higher Education & Student Affairs Administration program at The University of Vermont pose challenging questions to practitioners regarding the intersection of pluralism and political affiliation, highlighting the oft-assumed understanding that to be pluralistic one must be liberal minded. Higher education faculty and administrators, who are overwhelmingly self-identified liberals, risk marginalizing conservative students and colleagues and thwarting opportunities for dialogue around the complexities of the political climate in the academy and beyond. This article examines the paradox of political pluralism and considers the role of advocacy in creating a safe environment for liberals and conservatives alike

Gouy phase compensation in quasi-phase matching

In any focussed nonlinear interaction the focus induced phase shift, known as the Gouy phase shift, provides an imperfection in phase matching for any linearly invariant material. However, using an appropriately designed quasi-phase matched structure it is theoretically possible to compensate for the deleterious effects of the Gouy phase shift, allowing a symmetric frequency response and tighter optimal focussing than in a uniform material

Flat-top temperature tuning response in periodically-poled nonlinear crystals

Second harmonic generation via periodically-poled nonlinear materials offers an efficient means of generating high-quality visible light that would be otherwise unattainable with traditional laser sources. While this technology has the potential for implementation in many mass-industrial applications, temperature stability requirements of 0.1 deg.C can make packaging with a pump source problematic. Using our high fidelity poling technique we have achieved precise placement of poled domains in Lithium Niobate based on the resulting mathematical models. These initial devices provide more than 4 deg.C flat-top temperature stability, albeit with a corresponding loss in operational efficiency. Our aim is to implement improved designs in magnesium-doped Lithium Niobate for packaging with near-room temperature diode-based pump sources, as could be applied towards RGB TV and projector applications

A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in Biology: Developing Systems Thinking through Field Experiences in Restoration Ecology

In this study, we posit that integrating design-based research (Scott et al., 2020) and nature-based learning (Jordan and Chawla, 2019) approaches in biology can lead to gains in holistic systemic thinking (Verhoeff et al., 2018), thinking like a scientist, and greater equity for historically unrepresented student groups. While such experiences can be achieved through participation in research apprenticeships and internships, course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have a greater potential to impact a broader range of students. This paper invites not only the students to broaden their thinking to expand their horizons, but also faculty to broaden their design and implementation of science education. Similar to Wilson et al.’s (2020) approach of using modeling to help students build schemas for understanding and using core biology knowledge, we present a multi-week CURE in introductory biology for majors to develop systems-thinking and foundational research skills that lead to a significant learning experience for students

100 GHz electrically tunable planar Bragg grating via nematic liquid crystal overlay towards reconfigurable WDM networks

Novel liquid crystal-based integrated optical devices with >140GHz electrical tuning are presented for application towards reconfigurable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. Initial results with Bragg wavelength tuning covering five 25GHz WDM channel spacing have been achieved with 170V (peak-to-peak) sinusoidal voltages applied across electro-patterned ITO-covered glass electrodes placed 60µm apart. These prototype devices were fabricated using direct UV grating writing, with an evanescent field coupling into a liquid crystal overlay through an etched window. Electrically controlled liquid crystal birefringence modifies the waveguide effective index, resulting in Bragg wavelength shift. Merck 18523 nematic liquid crystals are used, exhibiting compatible refractive index values to that of silica (no=1.44, ne=1.49 at lambda=1550nm). Homeotropic alignment of the liquid crystal is provided by application of a surfactant layer.The inherent refractive index sensitivity of our etched direct-UV-written structures allows observation of previously unreported liquid crystal surface-behaviour, such as multi-threshold points during variation of the applied field. Continued optimisation based on evanescent field penetration, electrode layout, and surface interaction will allow implementation towards a variety of novel liquid crystal applications and devices. For example, a cascaded architecture of these integrated liquid crystal devices operating at different Bragg wavelengths would pave the way towards true colorless add/drop modules for dense optical networks

On the Localization of One-Photon States

Single photon states with arbitrarily fast asymptotic power-law fall-off of energy density and photodetection rate are explicitly constructed. This goes beyond the recently discovered tenth power-law of the Hellwarth-Nouchi photon which itself superseded the long-standing seventh power-law of the Amrein photon.Comment: 7 pages, tex, no figure