167 research outputs found
Off-resonant emission of photon pairs in nonlinear optical cavities
Cavity-assisted spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) and spontaneous four-wave mixing (SFWM) in nonlinear optical materials are practical and versatile methods to generate narrowband time-energy entangled photon pairs. Time- energy entangled photons with tailored spectro-temporal properties are particularly useful for efficient quantum optical interfaces. In this work we study the generation of photon pairs in cavity-assisted SPDC and SFWM for the general case of off-resonant conversion, namely, when the frequencies of the generated photons do not match the cavity resonances. Such a frequency mismatch in particular depends on temperature and requires an additional control in the experiment. First, we propose a generic model, for description of cavity-assisted SPDC and SFWM. We show that in both processes the mismatch reduces the generation rate of photons, distorts the spectrum and the auto-correlation function of the generated fields, as well as affects the photon generation dynamics. Second, we verify the results experimentally using parametric generation of photon pairs in a nonlinear whispering gallery mode resonator (WGMR) as an experimental platform with controlled frequency mismatch. Our work reveals the role of the frequency mismatch in the photon generation process and shows a way to control it. Obtained results constitute one more step in the direction of full control over the spectro-temporal properties of entangled photon pairs and the heralded generation of single-photon pulses with a tailored temporal mode
Hybrid-Entanglement in Continuous Variable Systems
Entanglement is one of the most fascinating features arising from
quantum-mechanics and of great importance for quantum information science. Of
particular interest are so-called hybrid-entangled states which have the
intriguing property that they contain entanglement between different degrees of
freedom (DOFs). However, most of the current continuous variable systems only
exploit one DOF and therefore do not involve such highly complex states. We
break this barrier and demonstrate that one can exploit squeezed cylindrically
polarized optical modes to generate continuous variable states exhibiting
entanglement between the spatial and polarization DOF. We show an experimental
realization of these novel kind of states by quantum squeezing an azimuthally
polarized mode with the help of a specially tailored photonic crystal fiber
A 4-year longitudinal study investigating the relationship between flexible school starts and grades
The mismatch between teenagers’ late sleep phase and early school start times results in acute and chronic sleep reductions. This is not only harmful for learning but may reduce career prospects and widen social inequalities. Delaying school start times has been shown to improve sleep at least short-term but whether this translates to better achievement is unresolved. Here, we studied whether 0.5–1.5 years of exposure to a flexible school start system, with the daily choice of an 8 AM or 8:50 AM-start, allowed secondary school students (n = 63–157, 14–21 years) to improve their quarterly school grades in a 4-year longitudinal pre-post design. We investigated whether sleep, changes in sleep or frequency of later starts predicted grade improvements. Mixed model regressions with 5111–16,724 official grades as outcomes did not indicate grade improvements in the flexible system per se or with observed sleep variables nor their changes—the covariates academic quarter, discipline and grade level had a greater effect in our sample. Importantly, our finding that intermittent sleep benefits did not translate into detectable grade changes does not preclude improvements in learning and cognition in our sample. However, it highlights that grades are likely suboptimal to evaluate timetabling interventions despite their importance for future success
Proton inelastic scattering to continuum studied with antisymmetrized molecular dynamics
Intermediate energy (p,px) reaction is studied with antisymmetrized
molecular dynamics (AMD) in the cases of Ni target with MeV
and C target with 200 and 90 MeV. Angular distributions for
various energies are shown to be reproduced well without any
adjustable parameter, which shows the reliability and usefulness of AMD in
describing light-ion reactions. Detailed analyses of the calculations are made
in the case of Ni target and following results are obtained: Two-step
contributions are found to be dominant in some large angle region and to be
indispensable for the reproduction of data. Furthermore the reproduction of
data in the large angle region \theta \agt 120^\circ for = 100 MeV
is shown to be due to three-step contributions. Angular distributions for
E_{p'} \agt 40 MeV are found to be insensitive to the choice of different
in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections and the reason of this
insensitivity is discussed in detail. On the other hand, the total reaction
cross section and the cross section of evaporated protons are found to be
sensitive to . In the course of the analyses of the calculations,
comparison is made with the distorted wave approach.Comment: 16 pages, 7 Postscript figure
Studies of the Giant Dipole Resonance in Al, Ca, Fe, Ni and Pb with high energy-resolution inelastic proton scattering under 0
A survey of the fine structure of the Isovector Giant Dipole Resonance
(IVGDR) was performed, using the recently commissioned zero-degree facility of
the K600 magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS. Inelastic proton scattering at
an incident energy of 200 MeV was measured on Al, Ca, Fe,
Ni and Pb. A high energy resolution (
40 keV FWHM) could be achieved after utilising faint-beam and
dispersion-matching techniques. Considerable fine structure is observed in the
energy region of the IVGDR and characteristic energy scales are extracted from
the experimental data by means of a wavelet analysis. The comparison with
Quasiparticle-Phonon Model (QPM) calculations provides insight into the
relevance of different giant resonance decay mechanisms. Photoabsorption cross
sections derived from the data assuming dominance of relativistic Coulomb
excitation are in fair agreement with previous work using real photons.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figure
Cross-polarized photon-pair generation and bi-chromatically pumped optical parametric oscillation on a chip
Nonlinear optical processes are one of the most important tools in modern optics with a broad spectrum of applications in, for example, frequency conversion, spectroscopy, signal processing and quantum optics. For practical and ultimately widespread implementation, on-chip devices compatible with electronic integrated circuit technology offer great advantages in terms of low cost, small footprint, high performance and low energy consumption. While many on-chip key components have been realized, to date polarization has not been fully exploited as a degree of freedom for integrated nonlinear devices. In particular, frequency conversion based on orthogonally polarized beams has not yet been demonstrated on chip. Here we show frequency mixing between orthogonal polarization modes in a compact integrated microring resonator and demonstrate a bi-chromatically pumped optical parametric oscillator. Operating the device above and below threshold, we directly generate orthogonally polarized beams, as well as photon pairs, respectively, that can find applications, for example, in optical communication and quantum optics
Wavelet signatures of -splitting of the Isoscalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance in deformed nuclei from high-resolution (p,p) scattering off Nd
The phenomenon of fine structure of the Isoscalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance
(ISGQR) has been studied with high energy-resolution proton inelastic
scattering at iThemba LABS in the chain of stable even-mass Nd isotopes
covering the transition from spherical to deformed ground states. A wavelet
analysis of the background-subtracted spectra in the deformed 146,148,150Nd
isotopes reveals characteristic scales in correspondence with scales obtained
from a Skyrme RPA calculation using the SVmas10 parameterization. A semblance
analysis shows that these scales arise from the energy shift between the main
fragments of the K = 0, 1 and K = 2 components.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Study of the nucleon-induced preequilibrium reactions in terms of the Quantum Molecular Dynamics
The preequilibrium (nucleon-in, nucleon-out) angular distributions of
Al, Ni and Zr have been analyzed in the energy region from
90 to 200 MeV in terms of the Quantum Moleculear Dynamics (QMD) theory. First,
we show that the present approach can reproduce the measured (p,xp') and (p,xn)
angular distributions leading to continuous final states without adjusing any
parameters. Second, we show the results of the detailed study of the
preequilibrium reaction processes; the step-wise contribution to the angular
distribution, comparison with the quantum-mechanical Feshbach-Kerman-Koonin
theory, the effects of momentum distribution and surface refraction/reflection
to the quasifree scattering. Finally, the present method was used to assess the
importance of multiple preequilibrium particle emission as a function of
projectile energy up to 1 GeV.Comment: 22pages, Revex is used, 10 Postscript figures are available by
request from [email protected]
Measurement of p + d -> 3He + eta in S(11) Resonance
We have measured the reaction p + d -> 3He + eta at a proton beam energy of
980 MeV, which is 88.5 MeV above threshold using the new ``germanium wall''
detector system. A missing--mass resolution of the detector system of 2.6% was
achieved. The angular distribution of the meson is forward peaked. We found a
total cross section of (573 +- 83(stat.) +- 69(syst.))nb. The excitation
function for the present reaction is described by a Breit Wigner form with
parameters from photoproduction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, corrected typos in heade
Birefringence and dispersion of cylindrically polarized modes in nanobore photonic crystal fiber
We demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that a nanoscale hollow
channel placed centrally in the solid glass core of a photonic crystal fiber
strongly enhances the cylindrical birefringence (the modal index difference
between radially and azimuthally polarized modes). Furthermore, it causes a
large split in group velocity and group velocity dispersion. We show
analytically that all three parameters can be varied over a wide range by
tuning the diameters of the nanobore and the core
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