Quantum correlated light pulses from sequential superradiance of a condensate

We discover an inherent mechanism for entanglement swap associated with sequential superradiance from an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate. Based on careful examinations with both analytical and numerical approaches, we conclude that as a result of the swap mechanism, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR)-type quantum correlations can be detected among the scattered light pulses.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Tunnelling of condensate magnetization in a double-well potential

We study quantum dynamical properties of a spin-1 atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential. Adopting a mean field theory and single spatial mode approximation, we characterize our model system as two coupled spins. For certain initial states, we find full magnetization oscillations between wells not accompanied by mass (or atom numbers) exchange. We identify dynamic regimes of collective spin variables arising from nonlinear self-interactions that are different from the usual Josephson oscillations. We also discuss magnetization beats and incomplete oscillations of collective spin variables other than the magnetization. Our study points to an alternative approach to observe coherent tunnelling of a condensate through a (spatial) potential barrier.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Superradiance induced topological vortex phase in a Bose-Einstein condensate

We investigate theoretically a topological vortex phase transition induced by a superradiant phase transition in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate driven by a Laguerre-Gaussian optical mode. We show that superradiant radiation can either carry zero angular momentum, or be in a rotating Laguerre-Gaussian mode with angular momentum. The conditions leading to these two regimes are determined in terms of the width for the pump laser and the condensate size for the limiting cases where the recoil energy is both much smaller and larger than the atomic interaction energy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Spin dynamics of two-dimensional electrons with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and electron-electron interactions

We study the spin dynamics of two dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) with Rashba spin-orbit coupling by taking account of electron-electron interactions. The diffusion equations for charge and spin densities are derived by making use of the path-integral approach and the quasiclassical Green's function. Analyzing the effect of the interactions, we show that the spin-relaxation time can be enhanced by the electron-electron interaction in the ballistic regime.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Measuring the quality factor of a microwave cavity using superconduting qubit devices

We propose a method to create superpositions of two macroscopic quantum states of a single-mode microwave cavity field interacting with a superconducting charge qubit. The decoherence of such superpositions can be determined by measuring either the Wigner function of the cavity field or the charge qubit states. Then the quality factor Q of the cavity can be inferred from the decoherence of the superposed states. The proposed method is experimentally realizable within current technology even when the $Q$ value is relatively low, and the interaction between the qubit and the cavity field is weak.Comment: 8 page

Basic Representations of A_{2l}^(2) and D_{l+1}^(2) and the Polynomial Solutions to the Reduced BKP Hierarchies

Basic representations of A_{2l}^(2) and D_{l+1}^(2) are studied. The weight vectors are represented in terms of Schur's $Q$-functions. The method to get the polynomial solutions to the reduced BKP hierarchies is shown to be equivalent to a certain rule in Maya game.Comment: January 1994, 11 page

Genghis Khan's death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

The article examines Genghis Khan's death from the historico-medical perspective. Although several etiologies have been proposed over the years, most of these at a closer look appear to be later inventions by historians. A reassessment of the available evidence suggests instead bubonic plague as the most likely clinical scenario. Genghis Khan's death is also a reflection on the impact of pandemic diseases on leadership in ancient times as well as nowadays

Clusters in the Luminous Giant HII Regions in M101

(Abridged) We have obtained HST WFPC2 observations of three very luminous but morphologically different giant HII regions (GHRs) in M101, NGC5461, NGC5462, and NGC5471, in order to study cluster formation in GHRs. The measured (M_F547M - M_F675W) colors and M_F547M magnitudes are used to determine the ages and masses of the cluster candidates with M_F547M <= -9.0. NGC5461 is dominated by a very luminous core, and has been suggested to host a super-star cluster (SSC). Our observations show that it contains three R136-class clusters superposed on a bright stellar background in a small region. This tight group of clusters may dynamically evolve into an SSC in the future, and may appear unresolved and be identified as an SSC at large distances, but at present NGC5461 has no SSCs. NGC5462 has loosely distributed HII regions and clusters without a prominent core. It has the largest number of cluster candidates among the three GHRs, but most of them are faint and older than 10 Myr. NGC5471 has multiple bright HII regions, and contains a large number of faint clusters younger than 5 Myr. Two of the clusters in NGC5471 are older than R136, but just as luminous; they may be the most massive clusters in the three GHRs. The fraction of stars formed in massive clusters is estimated from the clusters' contribution to the total stellar continuum emission and a comparison of the ionizing power of the clusters to the ionizing requirement of the associated HII regions. Both estimates show that <~ 50% of massive stars are formed in massive clusters. The cluster luminosity functions (CLFs) of the three GHRs show different slopes. NGC5462 has the steepest CLF and the most loosely distributed interstellar gas, qualitatively consistent with the hypothesis that massive clusters are formed in high-pressure interstellar environments.Comment: 36 pages (figures not included), 16 figures (3 of them are color figures). Figures are in JPEG or GIF format with a lower resolution due to the size limit of the file. For a higher resolution version of the paper, please download from http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~c-chen/clusters.pdf. accepted for ApJ (scheduled for the ApJ 2005 February issue

Quantum entanglement of spin-1 bosons with coupled ground states in optical lattices

We examine particle entanglement, characterized by pseudo-spin squeezing, of spin-1 bosonic atoms with coupled ground states in a one-dimensional optical lattice. Both the superfluid and Mott-insulator phases are investigated separately for ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. Mode entanglement is also discussed in the Mott insulating phase. The role of a small but nonzero angle between the polarization vectors of counter-propagating lasers forming the optical lattice on quantum correlations is investigated as well.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. To be published in Journal of Physics