1,660 research outputs found
Quantum-enhanced capture of photons using optical ratchet states
Natural and artificial light harvesting systems often operate in a regime
where the flux of photons is relatively low. Besides absorbing as many photons
as possible it is therefore paramount to prevent excitons from annihilation via
photon re-emission until they have undergone an irreversible energy conversion
process. Taking inspiration from photosynthetic antenna structures, we here
consider ring-like systems and introduce a class of states we call ratchets:
excited states capable of absorbing but not emitting light. This allows our
antennae to absorb further photons whilst retaining the excitations from those
that have already been captured. Simulations for a ring of four sites reveal a
peak power enhancement by up to a factor of 35 under ambient conditions owing
to a combination of ratcheting and the prevention of emission through
dark-state population. In the slow extraction limit the achievable power
enhancement due to ratcheting alone exceeds 20%.Comment: major revision with improved model (all data and figures updated
Superabsorption of light via quantum engineering
Almost 60 years ago Dicke introduced the term superradiance to describe a
signature quantum effect: N atoms can collectively emit light at a rate
proportional to N^2. Even for moderate N this represents a significant increase
over the prediction of classical physics, and the effect has found applications
ranging from probing exciton delocalisation in biological systems, to
developing a new class of laser, and even in astrophysics. Structures that
super-radiate must also have enhanced absorption, but the former always
dominates in natural systems. Here we show that modern quantum control
techniques can overcome this restriction. Our theory establishes that
superabsorption can be achieved and sustained in certain simple nanostructures,
by trapping the system in a highly excited state while extracting energy into a
non-radiative channel. The effect offers the prospect of a new class of quantum
nanotechnology, capable of absorbing light many times faster than is currently
possible; potential applications of this effect include light harvesting and
photon detection. An array of quantum dots or a porphyrin ring could provide an
implementation to demonstrate this effect
Overcoming phonon-induced dephasing for indistinguishable photon sources
Reliable single photon sources constitute the basis of schemes for quantum
communication and measurement based quantum computing. Solid state single
photon sources based on quantum dots are convenient and versatile but the
electronic transitions that generate the photons are subject to interactions
with lattice vibrations. Using a microscopic model of electron-phonon
interactions and a quantum master equation, we here examine phonon-induced
decoherence and assess its impact on the rate of production, and
indistinguishability, of single photons emitted from an optically driven
quantum dot system. We find that, above a certain threshold of desired
indistinguishability, it is possible to mitigate the deleterious effects of
phonons by exploiting a three-level Raman process for photon production
Literary and cinematic perspectives on gender studies
This project focuses on gender studies including women, men, and sexual diversity studies. Students explore gender and sexuality in the fields of literature and cinema related to cultural, social, and economic issues in Latin America and Spain. The analysis includes a diverse selection of topics: gender and science, gender and sexuality, gender and minority ethnicities, feminism and diversity, transgender identities, transgender healthcare, lesbian and gay figures and trends, and intersex and culture
Observation via one-dimensional 13Calpha NMR of local conformational substates in thermal unfolding equilibria of a synthetic analog of the GCN4 leucine zipper.
The Structure of the Vortex Liquid at the Surface of a Layered Superconductor
A density-functional approach is used to calculate the inhomogeneous vortex
density distribution in the flux liquid phase at the planar surface of a
layered superconductor, where the external magnetic field is perpendicular to
the superconducting layers and parallel to the surface. The interactions with
image vortices are treated within a mean field approximation as a functional of
the vortex density. Near the freezing transition strong vortex density
fluctuations are found to persist far into the bulk liquid. We also calculate
the height of the Bean-Livingston surface barrier.Comment: 8 pages, RevTeX, 2 figure
Shift Towards P Limitation with N Deposition?
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is altering biogeochemical cycling in forests and interconnected lakes of the northeastern US, and may shift nutrient limitation from N toward other essential elements, such as phosphorus (P). Whether this shift is occurring relative to N deposition gradients across the northeastern US has not been investigated. We used datasets for the northeastern US and the Adirondack sub-region to evaluate whether P limitation is increasing where N deposition is high at two geographic scales, based on N:P mass ratios. Using a model- selection approach, we determined that foliar N for dominant tree species and lake dissolved inorganic N (DIN) increased coincident with increasing N deposition, independent of relationships between foliar N or lake DIN and precipitation or temperature. Foliar P also increased with N deposition across the northeastern US for seven of eight deciduous species, but changed less across the Adirondacks. Foliar N:P therefore declined at the highest levels of N deposition for most deciduous species across the region (remaining nearly constant for most conifers and increasing only for black cherry and hemlock), but increased across all species in the Adirondacks. Ratios between DIN and total P (DIN:TP) in lakes were unrelated to N deposition regionally but increased across the Adirondacks. Thus, nutrient limitation patterns shifted from N toward P for dominant trees, and further toward P for predominantly P-limited lakes, at the sub-regional but not regional scale. For the northeastern US overall, accumulated N deposition may be insufficient to drive nutrient limitation from N toward P; alternatively, elements other than P (e.g., calcium, magnesium) may become limiting as N accumulates. The consistent Adirondack foliar and lake response could provide early indication of shifts toward P limitation within the northeastern US, and together with regional patterns, suggests that foliar chemistry could be a predictor of lake chemistry in the context of N deposition across the region
Supercooled vortex liquid and quantitative theory of melting of the flux line lattice in type II superconductors
A metastable homogeneous state exists down to zero temperature in systems of
repelling objects. Zero ''fluctuation temperature'' liquid state therefore
serves as a (pseudo) ''fixed point'' controlling the properties of vortex
liquid below and even around melting point. There exists Madelung constant for
the liquid in the limit of zero temperature which is higher than that of the
solid by an amount approximately equal to the latent heat of melting. This
picture is supported by an exactly solvable large Ginzburg - Landau model
in magnetic field. Based on this understanding we apply Borel - Pade
resummation technique to develop a theory of the vortex liquid in type II
superconductors. Applicability of the effective lowest Landau level model is
discussed and corrections due to higher levels is calculated. Combined with
previous quantitative description of the vortex solid the melting line is
located. Magnetization, entropy and specific heat jumps along it are
calculated. The magnetization of liquid is larger than that of solid by irrespective of the melting temperature. We compare the result with
experiments on high cuprates , , low material and with Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 28 pages and 4 figures. Enlarged version of paper cond-mat/0107281
with many new content
Nonperturbative Effects from the Resummation of Perturbation Theory
Using the general argument in Borel resummation of perturbation theory that
links the divergent perturbation theory to the nonperturbative effect we argue
that the nonperturbative effect associated with the perturbation theory should
have a branch cut only along the positive real axis in the complex coupling
plane. The component in the weak coupling expansion of the nonperturbative
amplitude, which usually includes the leading term in the weak coupling
expansion, that gives rise to the branch cut can be calculated in principle
from the perturbation theory combined with some exactly calculable properties
of the nonperturbative effect. The realization of this mechanism is
demonstrated in the double well potential and the two-dimensional O(N)
nonlinear sigma model. In these models the leading term in weak coupling of the
nonperturbative effect can be obtained with good accuracy from the first terms
of the perturbation theory. Applying this mechanism to the infrared renormalon
induced nonperturbative effect in QCD, we suggest some of the QCD condensate
effects can be calculated in principle from the perturbation theory.Comment: 21 Pages, 1 Figure; To appear in Phys Rev
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Recent Field Studies of Dry Deposition to Surfaces in Plant Canopies
A variety of field techniques were used to assess the dry deposition of sulfur. In a deciduous forest canopy in eastern Tennessee, inert petri plates and adjacent chestnut oak leaves showed similar SO/sub 4//sup -2/ deposition velocities of about 0.1 cm s/sup -1/. In the same forest, statistical analysis of throughfall yielded a deposition velocity of 0.48 cm s/sup -1/ for total sulfur (SO/sub 4//sup -2/ plus SO/sub 2/). The throughfall technique appears useful for scaling individual surface measurements to larger spatial and temporal scales. On a grassy field in Illinois, flat Teflon plates, petri dishes, and dustfall buckets were exposed side by side. Measured sulfate deposition increased with increasing rim height on the collection surface, and deposition velocities ranged from 0.14 to 0.70 cm s/sup -1/. Much of the deposition to these surfaces can be attributed to large-particle SO/sub 4//sup -2/. Dry season (summer) deposition velocities of /sup 7/Be in California were found to be similar to dry deposition velocities of /sup 212/Pb in Tennessee, ranging from 0.18 to 0.35 cm s/sup -1/. These natural radionuclides attach to submicron aerosols in the atmosphere and may be useful tracers of submicron SO/sub 4//sup -2/ deposition. 9 references, 5 figures, 4 tables
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