347 research outputs found
Strongly Coupled Matter-Field and Non-Analytic Decay Rate of Dipole Molecules in a Waveguide
The decay rate \gam of an excited dipole molecule inside a waveguide is
evaluated for the strongly coupled matter-field case near a cutoff frequency
\ome_c without using perturbation analysis. Due to the singularity in the
density of photon states at the cutoff frequency, we find that \gam depends
non-analytically on the coupling constant as . In contrast
to the ordinary evaluation of \gam which relies on the Fermi golden rule
(itself based on perturbation analysis), \gam has an upper bound and does not
diverge at \ome_c even if we assume perfect conductance in the waveguide
walls. As a result, again in contrast to the statement found in the literature,
the speed of emitted light from the molecule does not vanish at \ome_c and is
proportional to which is on the order of m/s for
typical dipole molecules.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
A multiple-scattering approach to interatomic interactions and superradiance in inhomogeneous dielectrics
The dynamics of a collection of resonant atoms embedded inside an
inhomogeneous nondispersive and lossless dielectric is described with a dipole
Hamiltonian that is based on a canonical quantization theory. The dielectric is
described macroscopically by a position-dependent dielectric function and the
atoms as microscopic harmonic oscillators. We identify and discuss the role of
several types of Green tensors that describe the spatio-temporal propagation of
field operators. After integrating out the atomic degrees of freedom, a
multiple-scattering formalism emerges in which an exact Lippmann-Schwinger
equation for the electric field operator plays a central role. The equation
describes atoms as point sources and point scatterers for light. First,
single-atom properties are calculated such as position-dependent
spontaneous-emission rates as well as differential cross sections for elastic
scattering and for resonance fluorescence. Secondly, multi-atom processes are
studied. It is shown that the medium modifies both the resonant and the static
parts of the dipole-dipole interactions. These interatomic interactions may
cause the atoms to scatter and emit light cooperatively. Unlike in free space,
differences in position-dependent emission rates and radiative line shifts
influence cooperative decay in the dielectric. As a generic example, it is
shown that near a partially reflecting plane there is a sharp transition from
two-atom superradiance to single-atom emission as the atomic positions are
varied.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Aberrant levels of hematopoietic/neuronal growth and differentiation factors in euthyroid women at risk for autoimmune thyroid disease
Background Subjects at risk for major mood disorders have a higher risk to develop autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) and vice-versa, implying a shared pathogenesis. In mood disorder patients, an abnormal profile of hematopoietic/neuronal growth factors is observed, suggesting that growth/differentiation abnormalities of these cell lineages may predispose to mood disorders. The first objective of our study was to investigate whether an aberrant profile of these hematopoietic/neuronal growth factors is also detectable in subjects at risk for AITD. A second objective was to study the inter relationship of these factors with previously determined and published growth factors/cytokines in the same subjects. Methods We studied 64 TPO-Ab-negative females with at least 1 first-or second-degree relative with AITD, 32 of whom did and 32 who did not seroconvert to TPO-Ab positivity in 5-year follow-up. Subjects were compared with 32 healthy controls (HCs). We measured serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Stem Cell Factor (SCF), Insulin-like Growth Factor-Binding Protein 2 (IGFBP-2), Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) and IL-7 at baseline. Results BDNF was significantly lower (8.2 vs 18.9 ng/ml, P<0.001), while EGF (506.9 vs 307.6 pg/ml, P = 0.003) and IGFBP-2 (388.3 vs 188.5 ng/ml, P = 0.028) were significantly higher in relatives than in HCs. Relatives who seroconverted in the next 5 years had significantly higher levels of SCF than non-seroconverters (26.5 vs 16.7 pg/ml, P = 0.017). In a cluster analysis with the previously published growth factors/cytokines SCF clustered together with IL-1β, IL-6 and CCL-3, of which high levels also prec
Vacuum-field level shifts in a single trapped ion mediated by a single distant mirror
A distant mirror leads to a vacuum-induced level shift in a laser-excited
atom. This effect has been measured with a single mirror 25 cm away from a
single, trapped barium ion. This dispersive action is the counterpart to the
mirror's dissipative effect, which has been shown earlier to effect a change in
the ion's spontaneous decay [J. Eschner et al., Nature 413, 495-498 (2001)].
The experimental data are well described by 8-level optical Bloch equations
which are amended to take into account the presence of the mirror according to
the model in [U. Dorner and P. Zoller, Phys. Rev. A 66, 023816 (2002)].
Observed deviations from simple dispersive behavior are attributed to
multi-level effects.Comment: version accepted by PR
Molecular fluorescence above metallic gratings
P. Andrew and William L. Barnes, Physical Review B, Vol. 64, article 125405 (2001). "Copyright © 2001 by the American Physical Society."We present measurements of the fluorescence of emitters located in close proximity (d<λ) to metallic grating surfaces. By measuring both the spontaneous emission lifetime and angle-dependent radiation pattern of a monolayer of dye molecules as a function of their separation from planar and periodically corrugated mirrors of increasing modulation depth, we are able to examine the effect of varying the surface profile on the emission process. Both the distance dependence of the lifetime and the spatial distribution of the emitted light are significantly changed upon the introduction of a corrugation, quite apart from the appearance of the familiar Bragg-scattered bound-mode features. It is postulated that these perturbations arise from the interference of the grating scattered dipole fields with the usual upward propagating and reflected fields. In addition, the measurement of nonexponential decay transients for the deepest gratings examined provide evidence for the existence of optically dissimilar dipole positions above the grating surface
Spontaneous emission of an atom in front of a mirror
Motivated by a recent experiment [J. Eschner {\it et al.}, Nature {\bf 413},
495 (2001)], we now present a theoretical study on the fluorescence of an atom
in front of a mirror. On the assumption that the presence of the distant mirror
and a lens imposes boundary conditions on the electric field in a plane close
to the atom, we derive the intensities of the emitted light as a function of an
effective atom-mirror distance. The results obtained are in good agreement with
the experimental findings.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, revised version, references adde
Damped vacuum states of light
We consider one-dimensional propagation of quantum light in the presence of a block of material, with a full account of dispersion and absorption. The electromagnetic zero-point energy for some frequencies is damped (suppressed) by the block below the free-space value, while for other frequencies it is increased. We also calculate the regularized (Casimir) zero-point energy at each frequency and find that it too is damped below the free-space value (zero) for some frequencies. The total Casimir energy is positive
Multipole interaction between atoms and their photonic environment
Macroscopic field quantization is presented for a nondispersive photonic
dielectric environment, both in the absence and presence of guest atoms.
Starting with a minimal-coupling Lagrangian, a careful look at functional
derivatives shows how to obtain Maxwell's equations before and after choosing a
suitable gauge. A Hamiltonian is derived with a multipolar interaction between
the guest atoms and the electromagnetic field. Canonical variables and fields
are determined and in particular the field canonically conjugate to the vector
potential is identified by functional differentiation as minus the full
displacement field. An important result is that inside the dielectric a dipole
couples to a field that is neither the (transverse) electric nor the
macroscopic displacement field. The dielectric function is different from the
bulk dielectric function at the position of the dipole, so that local-field
effects must be taken into account.Comment: 17 pages, to be published in Physical Review
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