Variational solution of the Yang-Mills Schr\"odinger equation in Coulomb gauge

The Yang-Mills Schr\"odinger equation is solved in Coulomb gauge for the vacuum by the variational principle using an ansatz for the wave functional, which is strongly peaked at the Gribov horizon. A coupled set of Schwinger-Dyson equations for the gluon and ghost propagators in the Yang-Mills vacuum as well as for the curvature of gauge orbit space is derived and solved in one-loop approximation. We find an infrared suppressed gluon propagator, an infrared singular ghost propagator and a almost linearly rising confinement potential.Comment: 24 pages, revtex, 13 figure

On scale symmetry breaking and confinement in D=3 models

Within the framework of the gauge-invariant, but path-dependent, variables formalism, we study the connection between scale symmetry breaking and confinement in three-dimensional gluodynamics. We explicitly show that the static potential profile contains a linear potential, leading to the confinement of static charges. Also, we establish a new type of equivalence among different three-dimensional effective theories.Comment: 6 pages, references adde

Impact of absorption in the top layer of a two layer sample on spectroscopic spectral domain interferometry of the bottom layer

Spectroscopic spectral domain interferometry and spectroscopic optical coherence tomography combine depth information with spectrally-resolved localised absorption data. These additional data can improve diagnostics by giving access to functional information of the investigated sample. One possible application is measuring oxygenation levels at the retina for earlier detection of several eye diseases. Here measurements with different hollow glass tube phantoms are shown to measure the impact of a superficial absorbing layer on the precision of reconstructed attenuation spectra of a deeper layer. Measurements show that a superficial absorber has no impact on the reconstructed absorption spectrum of the deeper absorber. Even when diluting the concentration of the deeper absorber so far that an incorrect absorption maximum is obtained, still no influence of the superficially placed absorber is identified

Comparison between a supercontinuum source and a titanium sapphire laser in achieving ultra-high resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)

Corneal B-scan images and signal-to-noise ratio measurements using ultra-high resolution Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) are reported. A comparison of results is obtained using a Ti:Sa laser and a supercontinuum optical source, is performed. Beside some differences in the SNR, the images are strikingly similar

Comparison between a supercontinuum source and a titanium sapphire laser in achieving ultra-high resolution spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)

Corneal B-scan images and signal-to-noise ratio measurements using ultra-high resolution Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) are reported. A comparison of results is obtained using a Ti:Sa laser and a supercontinuum optical source, is performed. Beside some differences in the SNR, the images are strikingly similar

Resolution dependence on phase extraction by the Hilbert transform in phase calibrated and dispersion compensated ultrahigh resolution spectrometer based OCT

Ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) is enabled by using a broad band source. Simultaneously, this makes the OCT image more sensitive to dispersion mismatch in the interferometer. In spectral domain OCT, dispersion left uncompensated in the interferometer and detector non-linearities lead together to an unknown chirp of the detected interferogram. One method to compensate for the chirp is to perform a pixel-wavenumber calibration versus phase that requires numerical extraction of the phase. Typically a Hilbert transform algorithm is employed to extract the optical phase versus wavenumber for calibration and dispersion compensation. In this work we demonstrate UHR-OCT at 1300 nm using a Super continuum source and highlight the resolution constraints in using the Hilbert transform algorithm when extracting the optical phase for calibration and dispersion compensation. We demonstrate that the constraints cannot be explained purely by the numerical errors in the data processing module utilizing the Hilbert transform but must be dictated by broadening mechanisms originating from the experimentally obtained interferograms

Erbium-doped ion-exchanged waveguide lasers in BK-7 glass

Ion exchange in glass is a simple, flexible, technique to realize optical fiber compatible planar waveguide devices. Recently, neodymium-doped waveguide lasers operating at 1060 and 1300 nm have been demonstrated in this technology. Lasers operating at 1540 nm are desirable for telecommunication applications and we report here, for the first time, ion-exchanged waveguide lasers in erbium-doped glass emitting at this wavelength. Lasers in BK-7 glass doped with 0.5 wt% Er2O3 and pumped at 980 nm exhibited launched pump power thresholds of 150 mW and slope efficiencies of 0.55%. The waveguides operated in a single transverse mode at the lasing wavelength

Truncating first-order Dyson-Schwinger equations in Coulomb-Gauge Yang-Mills theory

The non-perturbative domain of QCD contains confinement, chiral symmetry breaking, and the bound state spectrum. For the calculation of the latter, the Coulomb gauge is particularly well-suited. Access to these non-perturbative properties should be possible by means of the Green's functions. However, Coulomb gauge is also very involved, and thus hard to tackle. We introduce a novel BRST-type operator r, and show that the left-hand side of Gauss' law is r-exact. We investigate a possible truncation scheme of the Dyson-Schwinger equations in first-order formalism for the propagators based on an instantaneous approximation. We demonstrate that this is insufficient to obtain solutions with the expected property of a linear-rising Coulomb potential. We also show systematically that a class of possible vertex dressings does not change this result.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Hamiltonian Approach to 1+1 dimensional Yang-Mills theory in Coulomb gauge

We study the Hamiltonian approach to 1+1 dimensional Yang-Mills theory in Coulomb gauge, considering both the pure Coulomb gauge and the gauge where in addition the remaining constant gauge field is restricted to the Cartan algebra. We evaluate the corresponding Faddeev-Popov determinants, resolve Gauss' law and derive the Hamiltonians, which differ in both gauges due to additional zero modes of the Faddeev-Popov kernel in the pure Coulomb gauge. By Gauss' law the zero modes of the Faddeev-Popov kernel constrain the physical wave functionals to zero colour charge states. We solve the Schroedinger equation in the pure Coulomb gauge and determine the vacuum wave functional. The gluon and ghost propagators and the static colour Coulomb potential are calculated in the first Gribov region as well as in the fundamental modular region, and Gribov copy effects are studied. We explicitly demonstrate that the Dyson-Schwinger equations do not specify the Gribov region while the propagators and vertices do depend on the Gribov region chosen. In this sense, the Dyson-Schwinger equations alone do not provide the full non-abelian quantum gauge theory, but subsidiary conditions must be required. Implications of Gribov copy effects for lattice calculations of the infrared behaviour of gauge-fixed propagators are discussed. We compute the ghost-gluon vertex and provide a sensible truncation of Dyson-Schwinger equations. Approximations of the variational approach to the 3+1 dimensional theory are checked by comparison to the 1+1 dimensional case.Comment: 76 pages, 18 figure

The Preliminary Evaluation of Liquid Lubricants for Space Applications by Vacuum Tribometry

Four different vacuum tribometers for the evaluation of liquid lubricants for space applications are described. These range from simple ball-on-flat sliders with maximum in-situ control and surface characterization to an instrument bearing apparatus having no in-situ characterization. Thus, the former provides an abundance of surface chemical information but is not particularly simulative of most triboelements. On the other hand, the instrument bearing apparatus is completely simulative, but only allows post-mortem surface chemical information. Two other devices, a four-ball apparatus and a ball-on-plate tribometer, provide varying degrees of surface chemical information and tribo-simulation. Examples of data from each device are presented