Nonreciprocal Atomic Scattering: A saturable, quantum Yagi-Uda antenna

Recent theoretical studies of a pair of atoms in a 1D waveguide find that the system responds asymmetrically to incident fields from opposing directions at low powers. Since there is no explicit time-reversal symmetry breaking elements in the device, this has caused some debate. Here we show that the asymmetry arises from the formation of a quasi-dark-state of the two atoms, which saturates at extremely low power. In this case the nonlinear saturability explicitly breaks the assumptions of the Lorentz reciprocity theorem. Moreover, we show that the statistics of the output field from the driven system can be explained by a very simple stochastic mirror model and that at steady state, the two atoms and the local field are driven to an entangled, tripartite $\left| W \right\rangle$ state. Because of this, we argue that the device is better understood as a saturable Yagi-Uda antenna, a distributed system of differentially-tuned dipoles that couples asymmetrically to external fields.Comment: 12 pages, 5 Figure

Control of the Stability, Electron-Transfer Kinetics, and pH-Dependent Energetics of Si/H_2O Interfaces through Methyl Termination of Si(111) Surfaces

Methyl-terminated, n-type, (111)-oriented Si surfaces were prepared via a two-step chlorination-alkylation method. This surface modification passivated the Si surface toward electrochemical oxidation and thereby allowed measurements of interfacial electron-transfer processes in contact with aqueous solutions. The resulting semiconductor/liquid junctions exhibited interfacial kinetics behavior in accord with the ideal model of a semiconductor/liquid junction. In contrast to the behavior of H-terminated Si(111) surfaces, current density vs. potential measurements of CH_3-terminated Si(111) surfaces in contact with an electron acceptor having a pH-independent redox potential (methyl viologen^(2+/+)) were used to verify that the band edges of the modified Si electrode were fixed with respect to changes in solution pH. The results provide strong evidence that the energetics of chemically modified Si interfaces can be fixed with respect to pH and show that the band-edge energies of Si can be tuned independently of pH-derived variations in the electrochemical potential of the solution redox species

Chiral Speciation in Terrestrial Pulmonate Snails

On the basis of data in the literature, the percentages of dextral versus sinistral species of snails have been calculated for western Europe, Turkey, North America (north of Mexico), and Japan. When the family of Clausiliidae is represented, about a quarter of all snail species may be sinistral, whereas less than one per cent of the species may be sinistral where that family does not occur. The number of single-gene speciation events on the basis of chirality, resulting in the origin of mirror image species, is not closely linked to the percentage of sinistral versus dextral species in a particular region. Turkey is nevertheless exceptional by both a high percentage of sinistral species and a high number of speciation events resulting in mirror image species. Shell morphology and genetic background may influence the ease of chirality-linked speciation, whereas sinistrality may additionally be selected against by internal selection. For the Clausiliidae, the fossil record and the recent fauna suggest that successful reversals in coiling direction occurred with a frequency of once every three to four million years

An Integrated Laboratory Method to Measure and Verify Directional Hydraulic Conductivity in Fine-to-Medium Sandy Sediments

The constant-head permeameter test (CHPT) is widely used in sandy samples as a standard method in the laboratory to investigate hydraulic conductivity (K). However, it neither can be used to consistently determine directional hydraulic conductivity (DHC) nor guarantee the comparability of measured K values of samples with different sizes. Therefore, this paper proposes an integrated laboratory method, called modified CHPT (MCHPT), for the efficient determination and verification of consistent DHC values in fine-to-medium sandy sediments, based on a new methodological framework. A precise and standardized procedure for preparing the experimental setup of MCHPT was conducted, based on the integrated experimental setup of CHPT and tracer tests. Moreover, a formula was yielded for the time-optimized sample saturation control. In comparison with grain size-based methods, the validity of consistent Kh and Kv values determined by MCHPT was convincing

Dynamische Verwaltung heterogener Kontextquellen in global verteilten Systemen

Im Rahmen der Dissertation wurde ein Middlewaredienst entwickelt und realisiert. Es gestattet die dynamische Verwaltung heterogener Kontextquellen. Das zugrunde liegende Komponentenmodell selbstbeschreibender Context Provieder ermöglicht die lose Kopplung von Kontextquellen und -senken. Es wird durch Filter- und Konverterkomponenten zur generischen Providersselektion anhand domänenspezifischer Merkmale ergänzt. Die Kopplung der verteilten Dienstinstanzen erfolgt durch ein hybrides Peer-to-Peer-System. Dies trägt der Heterogenität der Endgeräte Rechnung, und erlaubt die skalierbare , verteilte Verwaltung von Kontextquellen in globalen Szenarien