3,193 research outputs found
Strong spectral evolution during the prompt emission of GRB 070616
Swift has revealed features in GRB early light curves, such as steep decays
and X-ray flares, whose properties are consistent with an internal origin
though they are far from understood. The steep X-ray decay is often explained
using the curvature effect; however a significant number of GRBs display strong
spectral evolution during this phase, and a new mechanism must be invoked to
explain this. Of particular interest are the longest duration GRBs in which the
early emission can be studied in most detail. Here we present data for GRB
070616, in which the prompt emission shows a complex multipeaked structure,
leading to one of the longest prompt emission durations ever recorded. We take
advantage of extensive coverage of such a long burst by all Swift instruments.
Combining data from Swift and Suzaku we study the evolution of the prompt
emission spectrum, following the temporal variability of the peak energy and
spectral slope.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures (Fig 1 in colour), contributed talk, submitted to
the proceedings of Gamma Ray Bursts 2007, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 5-9
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Rapidly reconfigurable optically induced photonic crystals in hot rubidium vapor
Through periodic index modulation, we create two different types of photonic
structures in a heated rubidium vapor for controlled reflection, transmission
and diffraction of light. The modulation is achieved through the use of the AC
Stark effect resulting from a standing-wave control field. The periodic
intensity structures create translationally invariant index profiles analogous
to photonic crystals in spectral regions of steep dispersion. Experimental
results are consistent with modeling.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Quantum Chaos, Delocalization, and Entanglement in Disordered Heisenberg Models
We investigate disordered one- and two-dimensional Heisenberg spin lattices
across a transition from integrability to quantum chaos from both a statistical
many-body and a quantum-information perspective. Special emphasis is devoted to
quantitatively exploring the interplay between eigenvector statistics,
delocalization, and entanglement in the presence of nontrivial symmetries. The
implications of basis dependence of state delocalization indicators (such as
the number of principal components) is addressed, and a measure of {\em
relative delocalization} is proposed in order to robustly characterize the
onset of chaos in the presence of disorder. Both standard multipartite and {\em
generalized entanglement} are investigated in a wide parameter regime by using
a family of spin- and fermion- purity measures, their dependence on
delocalization and on energy spectrum statistics being examined. A distinctive
{\em correlation between entanglement, delocalization, and integrability} is
uncovered, which may be generic to systems described by the two-body random
ensemble and may point to a new diagnostic tool for quantum chaos. Analytical
estimates for typical entanglement of random pure states restricted to a proper
subspace of the full Hilbert space are also established and compared with
random matrix theory predictions.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, revised versio
Precision frequency measurements with interferometric weak values
We demonstrate an experiment which utilizes a Sagnac interferometer to
measure a change in optical frequency of 129 kHz per root Hz with only 2 mW of
continuous wave, single mode input power. We describe the measurement of a weak
value and show how even higher frequency sensitivities may be obtained over a
bandwidth of several nanometers. This technique has many possible applications,
such as precision relative frequency measurements and laser locking without the
use of atomic lines.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published in PR
Ultrasensitive Beam Deflection Measurement via Interferometric Weak Value Amplification
We report on the use of an interferometric weak value technique to amplify
very small transverse deflections of an optical beam. By entangling the beam's
transverse degrees of freedom with the which-path states of a Sagnac
interferometer, it is possible to realize an optical amplifier for polarization
independent deflections. The theory for the interferometric weak value
amplification method is presented along with the experimental results, which
are in good agreement. Of particular interest, we measured the angular
deflection of a mirror down to 560 femtoradians and the linear travel of a
piezo actuator down to 20 femtometers
Optimizing the Signal to Noise Ratio of a Beam Deflection Measurement with Interferometric Weak Values
The amplification obtained using weak values is quantified through a detailed
investigation of the signal to noise ratio for an optical beam deflection
measurement. We show that for a given deflection, input power and beam radius,
the use of interferometric weak values allows one to obtain the optimum signal
to noise ratio using a coherent beam. This method has the advantage of reduced
technical noise and allows for the use of detectors with a low saturation
intensity. We report on an experiment which improves the signal to noise ratio
for a beam deflection measurement by a factor of 54 when compared to a
measurement using the same beam size and a quantum limited detector
Continuous phase amplification with a Sagnac interferometer
We describe a weak value inspired phase amplification technique in a Sagnac
interferometer. We monitor the relative phase between two paths of a slightly
misaligned interferometer by measuring the average position of a split-Gaussian
mode in the dark port. Although we monitor only the dark port, we show that the
signal varies linearly with phase and that we can obtain similar sensitivity to
balanced homodyne detection. We derive the source of the amplification both
with classical wave optics and as an inverse weak value.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, previously submitted for publicatio
Showrunners’ Scripts are More Cognitively Complex
The term “showrunner” is used in the US entertainment industry to describe the person who is the chief executive and creative officer of a television TV series. The position is very prestigious, often very financially rewarding, and thus highly sought-after. While there are many paths to the role-and even instances of almost overnight success-the vast majority of current showrunners worked their way up over several years from staff writing positions to production-related roles, often across several different series in the process. Conventional wisdom about how to climb the ladder from writer to showrunner strongly emphasizes the importance of both writing and of originality. While there is research linking objective characteristics of pilot episode scripts to success of the subsequent series, we are aware of no studies that consider whether and how scripts written by showrunners differ from those written by staff writers. Towards that end, in this study we compare the scripts written by showrunners with those written by their staff writers for two highly-acclaimed dramatic series from the last decade-The Good Wife (2009) and The Mentalist (2008). Specifically, we test for differences in the “cognitive complexity” of the two groups of scripts. As expected, we find that, on average, scripts written by showrunners exhibited higher cognitive complexity than those written by staff writers. We also found that scripts by writing team members who later became showrunners for original new series had higher cognitive complexity than those written by staff writers who have yet to attain to this role
Interferometric weak value deflections: quantum and classical treatments
We derive the weak value deflection given in a paper by Dixon et al. (Phys.
Rev. Lett. 102, 173601 (2009)) both quantum mechanically and classically. This
paper is meant to cover some of the mathematical details omitted in that paper
owing to space constraints
Extracting an Entanglement Signature from Only Classical Mutual Information
We introduce a quantity which is formed using classical notions of mutual information and which is computed using the results of projective measurements. This quantity constitutes a sufficient condition for entanglement and represents the amount of information that can be extracted from a bipartite system for spacelike separated observers. In addition to discussion, we provide simulations as well as experimental results for the singlet and maximally correlated mixed states
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