Quantum Noise and Superluminal Propagation

Causal "superluminal" effects have recently been observed and discussed in various contexts. The question arises whether such effects could be observed with extremely weak pulses, and what would prevent the observation of an "optical tachyon." Aharonov, Reznik, and Stern (ARS) [Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 81, 2190 (1998)] have argued that quantum noise will preclude the observation of a superluminal group velocity when the pulse consists of one or a few photons. In this paper we reconsider this question both in a general framework and in the specific example, suggested by Chiao, Kozhekin, and Kurizki [Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 77, 1254 (1996)], of off-resonant, short-pulse propagation in an optical amplifier. We derive in the case of the amplifier a signal-to-noise ratio that is consistent with the general ARS conclusions when we impose their criteria for distinguishing between superluminal propagation and propagation at the speed c. However, results consistent with the semiclassical arguments of CKK are obtained if weaker criteria are imposed, in which case the signal can exceed the noise without being "exponentially large." We show that the quantum fluctuations of the field considered by ARS are closely related to superfluorescence noise. More generally we consider the implications of unitarity for superluminal propagation and quantum noise and study, in addition to the complete and truncated wavepackets considered by ARS, the residual wavepacket formed by their difference. This leads to the conclusion that the noise is mostly luminal and delayed with respect to the superluminal signal. In the limit of a very weak incident signal pulse, the superluminal signal will be dominated by the noise part, and the signal-to-noise ratio will therefore be very small.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figure, eps

Dirac Particles in Twisted Tubes

We consider the dynamics of a relativistic Dirac particle constrained to move in the interior of a twisted tube by confining boundary conditions, in the approximation that the curvature of the tube is small and slowly varying. In contrast with the nonrelativistic theory, which predicts that a particle's spin does not change as the particle propagates along the tube, we find that the angular momentum eigenstates of a relativistic spin-1/2 particle may behave nontrivially. For example, a particle with its angular momentum initially polarized in the direction of propagation may acquire a nonzero component of angular momentum in the opposite direction on turning through 2 \pi radians. Also, the usual nonrelativistic effective potential acquires an additional factor in the relativistic theory.Comment: 16 pages, 3 EPS figures, REVTeX using BoxedEPS package; email to [email protected]

Signal velocity, causality, and quantum noise in superluminal light pulse propagation

We consider pulse propagation in a linear anomalously dispersive medium where the group velocity exceeds the speed of light in vacuum (c) or even becomes negative. A signal velocity is defined operationally based on the optical signal-to-noise ratio, and is computed for cases appropriate to the recent experiment where such a negative group velocity was observed. It is found that quantum fluctuations limit the signal velocity to values less than c.Comment: 4 Journal pages, 3 figure

Quantum Nonlocality in Two-Photon Experiments at Berkeley

We review some of our experiments performed over the past few years on two-photon interference. These include a test of Bell's inequalities, a study of the complementarity principle, an application of EPR correlations for dispersion-free time-measurements, and an experiment to demonstrate the superluminal nature of the tunneling process. The nonlocal character of the quantum world is brought out clearly by these experiments. As we explain, however, quantum nonlocality is not inconsistent with Einstein causality.Comment: 16 pages including 24 figure

A comparison between matter wave and light wave interferometers for the detection of gravitational waves

We calculate and compare the response of light wave interferometers and matter wave interferometers to gravitational waves. We find that metric matter wave interferometers will not challenge kilometric light wave interferometers such as Virgo or LIGO, but could be a good candidate for the detection of very low frequency gravitational waves

Operation of the SUPARAMP at 33GHz

A 9mm degenerate parametric amplifier was constructed using a linear, series array of unbiased Josephson junctions as the active, nonlinear element. A balanced diode mixer was used as a synchronous detector, with a single source serving both as the pump and as the mixer local oscillator. A stable, net gain of 15 dB in an instantaneous bandwith (FWHM) of 3.4 GHz was achieved. A system noise temperature of 220 K + or - 5 K (DSB) was measured with a SUPARAMP contribution of only 20 K x or - 10 K. Output saturation was observed and complicates the interpretation of the noise temperature measurements and may render them upper limits. A comparison was made with the results of an earlier 3 cm suparamp. The data is in substantial agreement with theoretical predictions

Hyperspectral imaging of cuttlefish camouflage indicates good color match in the eyes of fish predators

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (2011):9148-9153, doi:10.1073/pnas.1019090108.Camouflage is a widespread phenomenon throughout nature and an important anti-predator tactic in natural selection. Many visual predators have keen color perception, thus camouflage patterns should provide some degree of color matching in addition to other visual factors such as pattern, contrast, and texture. Quantifying camouflage effectiveness in the eyes of the predator is a challenge from the perspectives of both biology and optical imaging technology. Here we take advantage of Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI), which records full-spectrum light data, to simultaneously visualize color match and pattern match in the spectral and the spatial domains, respectively. Cuttlefish can dynamically camouflage themselves on any natural substrate and, despite their colorblindness, produce body patterns that appear to have high-fidelity color matches to the substrate when viewed directly by humans or with RGB images. Live camouflaged cuttlefish on natural backgrounds were imaged using HSI, and subsequent spectral analysis revealed that most reflectance spectra of individual cuttlefish and substrates were similar, rendering the color match possible. Modeling color vision of potential di- and tri-chromatic fish predators of cuttlefish corroborated the spectral match analysis and demonstrated that camouflaged cuttlefish show good color match as well as pattern match in the eyes of fish predators. These findings (i) indicate the strong potential of HSI technology to enhance studies 3 of biological coloration, and (ii) provide supporting evidence that cuttlefish can produce color-coordinated camouflage on natural substrates despite lacking color vision.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science Council of Taiwan NSC-98-2628-B-007-001-MY3 to CCC, from the Network Science Center at West Point and the Army Research Office to JKW, from the NDSEG Fellowship to JJA, and from ONR grant N000140610202 to RTH

Efficient Reactive Brownian Dynamics

We develop a Split Reactive Brownian Dynamics (SRBD) algorithm for particle simulations of reaction-diffusion systems based on the Doi or volume reactivity model, in which pairs of particles react with a specified Poisson rate if they are closer than a chosen reactive distance. In our Doi model, we ensure that the microscopic reaction rules for various association and disassociation reactions are consistent with detailed balance (time reversibility) at thermodynamic equilibrium. The SRBD algorithm uses Strang splitting in time to separate reaction and diffusion, and solves both the diffusion-only and reaction-only subproblems exactly, even at high packing densities. To efficiently process reactions without uncontrolled approximations, SRBD employs an event-driven algorithm that processes reactions in a time-ordered sequence over the duration of the time step. A grid of cells with size larger than all of the reactive distances is used to schedule and process the reactions, but unlike traditional grid-based methods such as Reaction-Diffusion Master Equation (RDME) algorithms, the results of SRBD are statistically independent of the size of the grid used to accelerate the processing of reactions. We use the SRBD algorithm to compute the effective macroscopic reaction rate for both reaction- and diffusion-limited irreversible association in three dimensions. We also study long-time tails in the time correlation functions for reversible association at thermodynamic equilibrium. Finally, we compare different particle and continuum methods on a model exhibiting a Turing-like instability and pattern formation. We find that for models in which particles diffuse off lattice, such as the Doi model, reactions lead to a spurious enhancement of the effective diffusion coefficients.Comment: To appear in J. Chem. Phy

The Electron Spectral Function in Two-Dimensional Fractionalized Phases

We study the electron spectral function of various zero-temperature spin-charge separated phases in two dimensions. In these phases, the electron is not a fundamental excitation of the system, but rather ``decays'' into a spin-1/2 chargeless fermion (the spinon) and a spinless charge e boson (the chargon). Using low-energy effective theories for the spinons (d-wave pairing plus possible N\'{e}el order), and the chargons (condensed or quantum disordered bosons), we explore three phases of possible relevance to the cuprate superconductors: 1) AF*, a fractionalized antiferromagnet where the spinons are paired into a state with long-ranged N\'{e}el order and the chargons are 1/2-filled and (Mott) insulating, 2) the nodal liquid, a fractionalized insulator where the spinons are d-wave paired and the chargons are uncondensed, and 3) the d-wave superconductor, where the chargons are condensed and the spinons retain a d-wave gap. Working within the $Z_2$ gauge theory of such fractionalized phases, our results should be valid at scales below the vison gap. However, on a phenomenological level, our results should apply to any spin-charge separated system where the excitations have these low-energy effective forms. Comparison with ARPES data in the undoped, pseudogapped, and superconducting regions is made.Comment: 10 page