583 research outputs found
Quantum enhancement of N-photon phase sensitivity by interferometric addition of down-converted photon pairs to weak coherent light
It is shown that the addition of down-converted photon pairs to coherent
laser light enhances the N-photon phase sensitivity due to the quantum
interference between components of the same total photon number. Since most of
the photons originate from the coherent laser light, this method of obtaining
non-classical N-photon states is much more efficient than methods based
entirely on parametrically down-converted photons. Specifically, it is possible
to achieve an optimal phase sensitivity of about delta phi^2=1/N^(3/2), equal
to the geometric mean of the standard quantum limit and the Heisenberg limit,
when the average number of down-converted photons contributing to the N-photon
state approaches (N/2)^(1/2).Comment: 21 pages, including 6 figures. Extended version gives more details on
down-conversion efficiencies and clarifies the relation between phase
sensitivity and squeezing. The title has been changed in order to avoid
misunderstandings regarding these concept
Does environment affect the star formation histories of early-type galaxies?
Differences in the stellar populations of galaxies can be used to quantify
the effect of environment on the star formation history. We target a sample of
early-type galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in two different
environmental regimes: close pairs and a general sample where environment is
measured by the mass of their host dark matter halo. We apply a blind source
separation technique based on principal component analysis, from which we
define two parameters that correlate, respectively, with the average stellar
age (eta) and with the presence of recent star formation (zeta) from the
spectral energy distribution of the galaxy. We find that environment leaves a
second order imprint on the spectra, whereas local properties - such as
internal velocity dispersion - obey a much stronger correlation with the
stellar age distribution.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Proceedings of JENAM 2010, Symposium 2:
"Environment and the formation of galaxies: 30 years later
States for phase estimation in quantum interferometry
Ramsey interferometry allows the estimation of the phase of rotation
of the pseudospin vector of an ensemble of two-state quantum systems. For
small, the noise-to-signal ratio scales as the spin-squeezing parameter
, with possible for an entangled ensemble. However states with
minimum are not optimal for single-shot measurements of an arbitrary
phase. We define a phase-squeezing parameter, , which is an appropriate
figure-of-merit for this case. We show that (unlike the states that minimize
), the states that minimize can be created by evolving an
unentangled state (coherent spin state) by the well-known 2-axis
counter-twisting Hamiltonian. We analyse these and other states (for example
the maximally entangled state, analogous to the optical "NOON" state ) using several different properties, including ,
, the coefficients in the pseudo angular momentum basis (in the three
primary directions) and the angular Wigner function . Finally
we discuss the experimental options for creating phase squeezed states and
doing single-shot phase estimation.Comment: 8 pages and 5 figure
The Potential-Density Phase Shift Method for Determining the Corotation Radii in Spiral and Barred Galaxies
We have developed a new method for determining the corotation radii of
density waves in disk galaxies, which makes use of the radial distribution of
an azimuthal phase shift between the potential and density wave patterns. The
approach originated from improved theoretical understandings of the relation
between the morphology and kinematics of galaxies, and on the dynamical
interaction between density waves and the basic-state disk stars which results
in the secular evolution of disk galaxies. In this paper, we present the
rationales behind the method, and the first application of it to several
representative barred and grand-design spiral galaxies, using near-infrared
images to trace the mass distributions, as well as to calculate the potential
distributions used in the phase shift calculations. We compare our results with
those from other existing methods for locating the corotations, and show that
the new method both confirms the previously-established trends of bar-length
dependence on galaxy morphological types, as well as provides new insights into
the possible extent of bars in disk galaxies. Application of the method to a
larger sample and the preliminary analysis of which show that the phase shift
method is likely to be a generally-applicable, accurate, and essentially
model-independent method for determining the pattern speeds and corotation
radii of single or nested density wave patterns in galaxies. Other implications
of this work are: most of the nearby bright disk galaxies appear to possess
quasi-stationary spiral modes; that these density wave modes and the associated
basic state of the galactic disk slowly transform over time; and that
self-consistent N-particle systems contain physics not revealed by the passive
orbit analysis approaches.Comment: 48 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
The tidal tails of NGC 2298
We present an implementation of the matched-filter technique to detect tidal
tails of globular clusters. The method was tested using SDSS data for the
globular cluster Palomar 5 revealing its well known tidal tails. We also ran a
simulation of a globular cluster with a tidal tail where we successfully
recover the tails for a cluster at the same position and with the same
characteristics of NGC 2298. Based on the simulation we estimate that the
matched-filter increases the contrast of the tail relative to the background of
stars by a factor of 2.5 for the case of NGC 2298. We also present the
photometry of the globular cluster NGC 2298 using the MOSAIC2 camera installed
on the CTIO 4m telescope. The photometry covers ~ 3deg2 reaching V ~ 23. A fit
of a King profile to the radial density profile of NGC 2298 shows that this
cluster has a tidal radius of 15.91' \pm 1.07' which is twice as in the
literature. The application of the matched-filter to NGC 2298 reveals several
extra-tidal structures, including a leading and trailing tail. We also find
that NGC 2298 has extra-tidal structures stretching towards and against the
Galactic disk, suggesting strong tidal interaction. Finally, we assess how the
matched-filter performs when applied to a globular cluster with and without
mass segregation taken into account. We find that disregarding the effects of
mass segregation may significantly reduce the detection limit of the
matched-filter.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication on MNRAS main
journa
Clinical and biological effects of high-dose sodium selenite, continuously administered in septic shock
On the Generation of the Hubble Sequence through an Internal Secular Dynamical Process
The secular evolution process, which slowly transforms the morphology of a
galaxy over its lifetime, could naturally account for observed properties of
the great majority of physical galaxies if both stellar and gaseous accretion
processes are taken into account. As an emerging paradigm for galaxy evolution,
its dynamical foundation had been established in the past few years, and its
observational consequences are yet to be fully explored. The secular evolution
picture provides a coherent framework for understanding the extraordinary
regularity and the systematic variation of galaxy properties along the Hubble
sequence.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, invited talk presented at the international
conference on "Penetrating Bars through the Masks of Cosmic Dust: The Hubble
Tuning Fork Strikes a New Note", June 2004, South Afric
Effect of Pre-Incisional Continuous Regional Block on Early and Late Postoperative Conditions in Tibial Osteotomy and Total Knee Arthroplasty
Imaging tests in determination of brain death
In this issue, an excellent review is published on the imaging findings in non-neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy [1]. The authors also go into detail on imaging “brain death”, an entity that is currently causing debate as far as the imaging approach is concerned. Brain death refers to the irreversible end of all brain activity due to necrosis of neurons. The diagnosis of brain death allows organ donation for transplantation or withdrawal of life support. Legal standard and/or practice guidelines are currently present in most countries. There is uniform agreement on the clinical neurological examination to evaluate absence of brain function. This examination includes the assessment of coma, the absence of brain reflexes, and the assessment of apnea. Some guidelines require a confirmatory test for the diagnosis o
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