778 research outputs found
Comment on: Randomized controlled trial of plain English and visual abstracts for disseminating surgical research via social media
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Electron-Phonon Coupling in Charged Buckminsterfullerene
A simple, yet accurate solution of the electron-phonon coupling problem in
C_{60} is presented. The basic idea behind it is to be found in the
parametrization of the ground state electronic density of the system calculated
making use of ab-initio methods, in term of sp hybridized orbitals.
This parametrization allows for an economic determination of the deformation
potential associated with the fullerene's normal modes. The resulting
electron-phonon coupling constants are used to calculate Jahn-Teller effects in
C_{60}^-, and multiple satellite peaks in the corresponding photoemission
reaction. Theory provides an accurate account of the experimental findings.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Chem. Phys. Let
Performance of various quantum key distribution systems using 1.55 um up-conversion single-photon detectors
We compare the performance of various quantum key distribution (QKD) systems
using a novel single-photon detector, which combines frequency up-conversion in
a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and a silicon avalanche
photodiode (APD). The comparison is based on the secure communication rate as a
function of distance for three QKD protocols: the Bennett-Brassard 1984 (BB84),
the Bennett, Brassard, and Mermin 1992 (BBM92), and the coherent differential
phase shift keying (DPSK). We show that the up-conversion detector allows for
higher communication rates and longer communication distances than the commonly
used InGaAs/InP APD for all the three QKD protocols.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Autocompensating Quantum Cryptography
Quantum cryptographic key distribution (QKD) uses extremely faint light
pulses to carry quantum information between two parties (Alice and Bob),
allowing them to generate a shared, secret cryptographic key. Autocompensating
QKD systems automatically and passively compensate for uncontrolled time
dependent variations of the optical fiber properties by coding the information
as a differential phase between orthogonally-polarized components of a light
pulse sent on a round trip through the fiber, reflected at mid-course using a
Faraday mirror. We have built a prototype system based on standard telecom
technology that achieves a privacy-amplified bit generation rate of ~1000
bits/s over a 10-km optical fiber link. Quantum cryptography is an example of
an application that, by using quantum states of individual particles to
represent information, accomplishes a practical task that is impossible using
classical means.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Submitted to the New Journal of Physic
Practical quantum key distribution: On the security evaluation with inefficient single-photon detectors
Quantum Key Distribution with the BB84 protocol has been shown to be
unconditionally secure even using weak coherent pulses instead of single-photon
signals. The distances that can be covered by these methods are limited due to
the loss in the quantum channel (e.g. loss in the optical fiber) and in the
single-photon counters of the receivers. One can argue that the loss in the
detectors cannot be changed by an eavesdropper in order to increase the covered
distance. Here we show that the security analysis of this scenario is not as
easy as is commonly assumed, since already two-photon processes allow
eavesdropping strategies that outperform the known photon-number splitting
attack. For this reason there is, so far, no satisfactory security analysis
available in the framework of individual attacks.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures; Abstract and introduction extended, Appendix
added, references update
Order out of Randomness : Self-Organization Processes in Astrophysics
Self-organization is a property of dissipative nonlinear processes that are
governed by an internal driver and a positive feedback mechanism, which creates
regular geometric and/or temporal patterns and decreases the entropy, in
contrast to random processes. Here we investigate for the first time a
comprehensive number of 16 self-organization processes that operate in
planetary physics, solar physics, stellar physics, galactic physics, and
cosmology. Self-organizing systems create spontaneous {\sl order out of chaos},
during the evolution from an initially disordered system to an ordered
stationary system, via quasi-periodic limit-cycle dynamics, harmonic mechanical
resonances, or gyromagnetic resonances. The internal driver can be gravity,
rotation, thermal pressure, or acceleration of nonthermal particles, while the
positive feedback mechanism is often an instability, such as the
magneto-rotational instability, the Rayleigh-B\'enard convection instability,
turbulence, vortex attraction, magnetic reconnection, plasma condensation, or
loss-cone instability. Physical models of astrophysical self-organization
processes involve hydrodynamic, MHD, and N-body formulations of Lotka-Volterra
equation systems.Comment: 61 pages, 38 Figure
Quasi one dimensional He inside carbon nanotubes
We report results of diffusion Monte Carlo calculations for both He
absorbed in a narrow single walled carbon nanotube (R = 3.42 \AA) and strictly
one dimensional He. Inside the tube, the binding energy of liquid He is
approximately three times larger than on planar graphite. At low linear
densities, He in a nanotube is an experimental realization of a
one-dimensional quantum fluid. However, when the density increases the
structural and energetic properties of both systems differ. At high density, a
quasi-continuous liquid-solid phase transition is observed in both cases.Comment: 11 pages, 3ps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B (RC
Comparison of Bond Character in Hydrocarbons and Fullerenes
We present a comparison of the bond polarizabilities for carbon-carbon bonds
in hydrocarbons and fullerenes, using two different models for the fullerene
Raman spectrum and the results of Raman measurements on ethane and ethylene. We
find that the polarizabilities for single bonds in fullerenes and hydrocarbons
compare well, while the double bonds in fullerenes have greater polarizability
than in ethylene.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, uses RevTeX. (To appear in Phys. Rev. B.
Vibrational spectra of C60C8H8 and C70C8H8 in the rotor-stator and polymer phases
C60-C8H8 and C70-C8H8 are prototypes of rotor-stator cocrystals. We present
infrared and Raman spectra of these materials and show how the rotor-stator
nature is reflected in their vibrational properties. We measured the
vibrational spectra of the polymer phases poly(C60C8H8) and poly(C70C8H8)
resulting from a solid state reaction occurring on heating. Based on the
spectra we propose a connection pattern for the fullerene in poly(C60C8H8),
where the symmetry of the C60 is D2h. On illuminating the C60-C8H8 cocrystal
with green or blue light a photochemical reaction was observed leading to a
similar product to that of the thermal polymerization.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2nd
version: minor changes in wording, accepted version by journa
Pressure dependence of the thermoelectric power of single-walled carbon nanotubes
We have measured the thermoelectric power (S) of high purity single-walled
carbon nanotube mats as a function of temperature at various hydrostatic
pressures up to 2.0 GPa. The thermoelectric power is positive, and it increases
in a monotonic way with increasing temperature for all pressures. The low
temperature (T < 40 K) linear thermoelectric power is pressure independent and
is characteristic for metallic nanotubes. At higher temperatures it is enhanced
and though S(T) is linear again above about 100 K it has a nonzero intercept.
This enhancement is strongly pressure dependent and is related to the change of
the phonon population with hydrostatic pressure.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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