203 research outputs found
Tailoring superradiance to design artificial quantum systems
Cooperative phenomena arising due to the coupling of individual atoms via the
radiation field are a cornerstone of modern quantum and optical physics. Recent
experiments on x-ray quantum optics added a new twist to this line of research
by exploiting superradiance in order to construct artificial quantum systems.
However, so far, systematic approaches to deliberately design superradiance
properties are lacking, impeding the desired implementation of more advanced
quantum optical schemes. Here, we develop an analytical framework for the
engineering of single-photon superradiance in extended media applicable across
the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and show how it can be used to tailor the
properties of an artificial quantum system. This "reverse engineering" of
superradiance not only provides an avenue towards non-linear and quantum
mechanical phenomena at x-ray energies, but also leads to a unified view on and
a better understanding of superradiance across different physical systems.Comment: 6 pages + supplemental materia
Radiative Corrections to Multi-Level Mollow-Type Spectra
This paper is concerned with two rather basic phenomena: the incoherent
fluorescence spectrum of an atom driven by an intense laser field and the
coupling of the atom to the (empty) modes of the radiation field. The sum of
the many-photon processes gives rise to the inelastic part of the atomic
fluorescence, which, for a two-level system, has a well-known characteristic
three-peak structure known as the Mollow spectrum. From a theoretical point of
view, the Mollow spectrum finds a natural interpretation in terms of
transitions among laser-dressed states which are the energy eigenstates of a
second-quantized two-level system strongly coupled to a driving laser field. As
recently shown, the quasi-energies of the laser-dressed states receive
radiative corrections which are nontrivially different from the results which
one would expect from an investigation of the coupling of the bare states to
the vacuum modes. In this article, we briefly review the basic elements
required for the analysis of the dynamic radiative corrections, and we
generalize the treatment of the radiative corrections to the incoherent part of
the steady-state fluorescence to a three-level system consisting of 1S, 3P and
2S states.Comment: Dedicated to Prof. H. Walther on the occasion of his 70th birthda
Yoctosecond photon pulses from quark-gluon plasmas
Present ultra-fast laser optics is at the frontier between atto- and
zeptosecond photon pulses, giving rise to unprecedented applications. We show
that high-energetic photon pulses down to the yoctosecond timescale can be
produced in heavy ion collisions. We focus on photons produced during the
initial phase of the expanding quark-gluon plasma. We study how the time
evolution and properties of the plasma may influence the duration and shape of
the photon pulse. Prospects for achieving double peak structures suitable for
pump-probe experiments at the yoctosecond timescale are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; final version as accepted by PR
Comment in response to the public consultation paper issued by the European Commission on 28th January 2011 on taxation problems that arise when dividends are distributed across borders to individual investors and possible solutions
The EU Commission identifies two major shortcomings of the crossâborder taxation of dividends received
by portfolio shareholders in its consultation paper. Firstly, withholding taxes may be levied
and credited in a discriminatory manner which may constitute an infringement of the free movement
of capital set out in Articles 63 to 66 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Secondly,
the imposition of withholding taxes may result in double taxation and as a consequence impede
investors from investing in foreign corporations. Hence, the benefits of international risk diversification
are not fully exploited which may result in welfare losses.1 The parentâsubsidiaryâdirective2
addresses this issue by prohibiting the imposition of dividends paid to substantial shareholdings. A
comparable relief is, however, not available for portfolio and individual investors. In turn, withholding
taxes on interest have been considerably reduced and even abolished by many member
states whereas withholding taxes on dividends are still common and significant.3 This report therefore
discusses how the above highlighted issues concerning the crossâborder taxation of dividends
received by individuals can be resolved. The taxation of portfolio investments by corporations which
is also left out of the scope of the parentâsubsidiaryâdirective is not addressed in the following as this
issue requires a separate analysis
Effective tax rates under IP tax planning
Tax planning with intangibles has become one of the most popular and most vividly
debated topics in international taxation. We incorporate various intellectual property (IP) tax
planning models into forward-looking measures of effective tax rates, namely the disposal of
intangibles to low-tax subsidiaries, intra-group licensing arrangements, and intra-group
contract R&D. In doing so, we draw upon the methodology put forward by Devereux and Griffith
and amend this model by considering a research & development (R&D) investment which is
carried out by a parent company, whereby the resulting intangible is exploited by a foreign
subsidiary. We point out analytically under which conditions IP tax planning achieves the
objective of reducing the effective average tax rate of the group. We find that the disposal of
intangibles to low-tax subsidiaries does not achieve this tax planning objective, if the true
value of the asset is subject to tax upon the disposal. We show to what extent the parent must
understate the value of the intangible in order to reduce the groupâs tax burden. We
furthermore point out that contract R&D may generally achieve a significant lower effective tax
burden. We present cost of capital and effect average tax rates to illustrate these findings
Romania's development to a low-tax country: Effective corporate tax burden in Romania from 1992 to 2010 and Romania's current ranking among the eastern European member states
We trace back Romania's development to a low-tax country among the Member States of the European Union by analysing the major tax law changes in corporate taxation since 1992. We find that the significant reduction of the corporate income tax rate from 45% in 1992 to 16% since 2005 has not been accompanied by a comprehensive broadening of the corporate income tax base as prevalent in many longstanding Member States of the EU and the OECD. Our analysis is not limited to a comprehensive description of the development of corporate taxation in Romania, but goes on with a numerical analysis of the tax burdens at different periods of time which constitute milestones in the development of corporate taxation in Romania. For this purpose, we apply the European Tax Analyzer, which is a computer-based model firm approach. We find that the average company tax burden of the underlying model company has dropped significantly by almost 65% since 1992. Furthermore, our numerical analysis does not confirm the tax base broadening policy. As a result, Romania holds position two among the group of Central and Eastern European EU Member States. --corporate taxation,effective tax burden,transition economy,EU accession countries,tax reform,tax-rate-cum-base-broadening reform
Streaking At High Energies With Electrons And Positrons
State-of-the-art attosecond metrology deals with the detection and
characterization of photon pulses with typical energies up to the hundreds of
eV and time resolution of several tens of attoseconds. Such short pulses are
used for example to control the motion of electrons on the atomic scale or to
measure inner-shell atomic dynamics. The next challenge of time-resolving the
inner-nuclear dynamics, transient meson states and resonances requires photon
pulses below attosecond duration and with energies exceeding the MeV scale.
Here we discuss a detection scheme for time-resolving high-energy gamma ray
pulses down to the zeptosecond timescale. The scheme is based on the concept of
attosecond streak imaging, but instead of conversion of photons into electrons
in a nonlinear medium, the high-energy process of electron-positron pair
creation is utilized. These pairs are produced in vacuum through the collision
of a test pulse to be characterized with an intense laser pulse, and they
acquire additional energy and momentum depending on their phase in the
streaking pulse at the moment of production. A coincidence measurement of the
electron and positron momenta after the interaction provides information on the
pair production phase within the streaking pulse. We examine the limitations
imposed by quantum radiation reaction in multiphoton Compton scattering on this
detection scheme, and discuss other necessary conditions to render the scheme
feasible in the upcoming Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) laser facility.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, contribution to the AIP proceedings of "Light at
Extreme Intensities" (LEI 2011), Szeged, Hungary, Nov 14-18, 201
Fiscal Investment Climate and the Cost of Capital in Germany
Measured in terms of the cost of capital, the investment climate in Germany currently ranks 24th Key Messages
out of the 28 EU member states. However, this represents an improvement over the year 2000,
when Germany ranked 27th. In fact, among the EU-28, Germany has seen the most significant decline
in the cost of capital between 2000 and 2014, from 7.7% to 6.5%. This decline is mainly attributable
to considerable reductions in the countryâs corporate tax rate. The comprehensive corporate
tax reforms enacted in 2001 and 2008 thus appear to have succeeded in improving the
investment climate in Germany. Nevertheless, in comparison to most other EU member states, the
cost of capital in Germany is still quite high. In order to further improve the investment climate in
Germany, the (temporary) re-introduction of reduced-balance tax depreciation for movable fixed
assets is currently being discussed. However, our analysis indicates that this would only slightly
decrease the cost of capital from 6.5% to 6.3%. When we additionally account for the personal
taxation of individual investors, a different picture emerges: The overall cost of capital in Germany
currently amounts to 6.0%, and could be reduced considerably by taxing dividends and capital
gains at lower rates than interest income
VENUS meets SEMAT : How do they compare?
SEMAT (Software Engineering Methods And Theory) is an initiative to define a generic foundation for software engineering as a rigorous discipline. The so-called SEMAT kernel provides a thinking framework for software engineers that is not constrained to certain methods and processes but aims to encompass all kinds of proven principles and best practices. Our own interdisciplinary VENUS development method is designed to achieve similar generality and compatibility objectives, although the chosen application domain in VENUS has a much narrower scope. In this paper we compare the VENUS development method with SEMAT. The main contributions are positioning the VENUS development concepts within the SEMAT conceptual framework, and investigating whether SEMAT is an appropriate framework for dealing with inherently interdisciplinary development processes. In the end we present suggestions for the improvement of both approaches.Sociedad Argentina de InformĂĄtica e InvestigaciĂłn Operativa (SADIO
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