59,545 research outputs found
Theory of disorder-induced multiple coherent scattering in photonic crystal waveguides
We introduce a theoretical formalism to describe disorder-induced extrinsic
scattering in slow-light photonic crystal waveguides. This work details and
extends the optical scattering theory used in a recent \emph{Physical Review
Letter} [M. Patterson \emph{et al.}, \emph{Phys. Rev. Lett.} \textbf{102},
103901 (2009)] to describe coherent scattering phenomena and successfully
explain complex experimental measurements. Our presented theory, that combines
Green function and coupled mode methods, allows one to self-consistently
account for arbitrary multiple scattering for the propagating electric field
and recover experimental features such as resonances near the band edge. The
technique is fully three-dimensional and can calculate the effects of disorder
on the propagating field over thousands of unit cells. As an application of
this theory, we explore various sample lengths and disordered instances, and
demonstrate the profound effect of multiple scattering in the waveguide
transmission. The spectra yield rich features associated with disorder-induced
localization and multiple scattering, which are shown to be exasperated in the
slow light propagation regime
Orbital evolution of a test particle around a black hole: higher-order corrections
We study the orbital evolution of a radiation-damped binary in the extreme
mass ratio limit, and the resulting waveforms, to one order beyond what can be
obtained using the conservation laws approach. The equations of motion are
solved perturbatively in the mass ratio (or the corresponding parameter in the
scalar field toy model), using the self force, for quasi-circular orbits around
a Schwarzschild black hole. This approach is applied for the scalar model.
Higher-order corrections yield a phase shift which, if included, may make
gravitational-wave astronomy potentially highly accurate.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Encapsulated PostScript figure
Interplay between disorder and local field effects in photonic crystal waveguides
We introduce a theory to describe disorder-induced scattering in photonic
crystal waveguides, specifically addressing the influence of local field
effects and scattering within high-index-contrast perturbations. Local field
effects are shown to increase the predicted disorder-induced scattering loss
and result in significant resonance shifts of the waveguide mode. We
demonstrate that two types of frequency shifts can be expected, a mean
frequency shift and a RMS frequency shift, both acting in concert to blueshift
and broaden the nominal band structure. For a representative waveguide, we
predict substantial meV frequency shifts and band structure broadening for a
telecommunications operating frequency, even for state of the art fabrication.
The disorder-induced broadening is found to increase as the propagation
frequency approaches the slow light regime (mode edge) due to restructuring of
the electric field distribution. These findings have a dramatic impact on
high-index-contrast nanoscale waveguides, and, for photonic crystal waveguides,
suggest that the nominal slow-light mode edge may not even exist. Furthermore,
our results shed new light on why it has hitherto been impossible to observe
the very slow light regime for photonic crystal waveguides.Comment: 4 page lette
Time and M-theory
We review our recent proposal for a background independent formulation of a
holographic theory of quantum gravity. The present review incorporates the
necessary background material on geometry of canonical quantum theory,
holography and spacetime thermodynamics, Matrix theory, as well as our specific
proposal for a dynamical theory of geometric quantum mechanics, as applied to
Matrix theory. At the heart of this review is a new analysis of the conceptual
problem of time and the closely related and phenomenologically relevant problem
of vacuum energy in quantum gravity. We also present a discussion of some
observational implications of this new viewpoint on the problem of vacuum
energy.Comment: 86 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX, typos fixed, references added, and Sec.
6.2 revised; invited review for Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Promoting and maintaining health of people with sight loss: A scoping study
This study was undertaken in response to a request by the Thomas Pocklington Trust to identify and explore the following issues: ⢠The needs and concerns regarding immediate risks to health and safety related to sight loss; ⢠Additional risks arising from sight loss for those who are also managing a long term disease; ⢠The difficulties in maintaining and promoting health; ⢠Whether or not health promotion activities and policies sufficiently address perceived needs. Findings pertaining to these objectives have been generated from data collected in Leeds, UK, a city where innovative programming for sight loss has either been planned or is being incorporated into health planning and a review of the literature. Findings related to the last two issues indicate that gaps exist in service provision for maintaining health and emphasise the need for more explicitly targeted health promotion initiatives that could address current weaknesses. - A review of the literature; - Focus group discussions with a range of people who had experienced sight loss; - Interviews with professional practitioners engaged in service provision to this population; - An expert hearing with four professional practitioners, one of whom had sight loss, and two service users with sight loss. Most participants were from the West Yorkshire region and the services described in the study are largely located in Leeds. Evidence from the literature review suggests that people with visual impairment have increased risk of accidents within the home and that ensuing consequences include injuries incurred and decreased confidence. Rates of depression among people who are blind or partially sighted are far higher than in the wider population and the likelihood of depression increases with age, although psycho-social interventions and technological assistance can be successfully implemented to improve quality of life. Sight loss together with other long term health conditions exacerbates the impact of other health conditions and has particularly severe impact on the wellbeing of older people insofar as it may affect their mobility, which in turn increases their risk of falls and depression. The nature and level of support available to people is variable but it is clear that access both to the right information at the right time and to appropriate services is a critical issue. Focus group discussions, interviews and the expert hearing corroborated and extended the themes noted in the literature and discuss the differential impact of different risks to health and the difficulties of coping with these at different times in a personâs life. A simple typology was defined using two dimensions of experience (âstage of lifeâ and âearly/late onset of sight lossâ) as a means of organizing findings and providing a means of making further distinctions in interpreting the data. Potentially, this scheme can allow health promotion initiatives to be targeted more effectively to stages at which people with sight loss are more likely to encounter specific difficulties in managing and maintaining their health. There was a clear consensus throughout the study that interventions to meet the needs of people with sight loss must be tailored to meet the specific needs of individuals: people with sight loss are not a homogeneous group and the way in which each person experiences the challenges of sight loss and of managing their health will inevitably vary from person to person. Recommendations generated by this study include: ⢠The scope for more pro-active services and need for closer collaboration between service providers; ⢠The need for provision and promotion of targeted information; ⢠The need for greater awareness of the needs of people with visual impairments among generic service providers; and ⢠Further research that explores the usefulness of the typology with a larger sample more representative of population demographics such as BME communities that are more likely to slip through the cracks of service provision
Recent integral cross section validation measurements at the ASP facility
This work presents new integral data measured at the ASP 14 MeV neutron
irradiation facility at Aldermaston in the UK, which has recently become
available for fusion-related work through the CCFE materials programme.
Measurements of reaction products from activation experiments using elemental
foils were carried out using gamma spectrometry in a high efficiency,
high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector and associated digital signal processing
hardware. Following irradiation and rapid extraction to the measurement cell,
gamma emissions were acquired with both energy and time bins. Integral cross
section and half-life data have been derived from these measurements. Selected
integral cross section values are presented from the measurement campaigns.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Meteoroid detector
A meteoroid detector is described which uses, a cold cathode discharge tube with a gas-pressurized cell in space for recording a meteoroid puncture of the cell and for determining the size of the puncture
AGAPEROS: Searching for variable stars in the LMC Bar with the Pixel Method. I. Detection, astrometry and cross-identification
We extend the work developed in previous papers on microlensing with a
selection of variable stars. We use the Pixel Method to select variable stars
on a set of 2.5 x 10**6 pixel light curves in the LMC Bar presented elsewhere.
The previous treatment was done in order to optimise the detection of long
timescale variations (larger than a few days) and we further optimise our
analysis for the selection of Long Timescale and Long Period Variables
(LT&LPV). We choose to perform a selection of variable objects as comprehensive
as possible, independent of periodicity and of their position on the colour
magnitude diagram. We detail the different thresholds successively applied to
the light curves, which allow to produce a catalogue of 632 variable objects.
We present a table with the coordinate of each variable, its EROS magnitudes at
one epoch and an indicator of blending in both colours, together with a finding
chart.
A cross-correlation with various catalogues shows that 90% of those variable
objects were undetected before, thus enlarging the sample of LT&LPV previously
known in this area by a factor of 10. Due to the limitations of both the Pixel
Method and the data set, additional data -- namely a longer baseline and near
infrared photometry -- are required to further characterise these variable
stars, as will be addressed in subsequent papers.Comment: 11 pages with 10 figure
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