1,841 research outputs found
Wavelength transduction from a 3D microwave cavity to telecom using piezoelectric optomechanical crystals
Microwave to optical transduction has received a great deal of interest from
the cavity optomechanics community as a landmark application for
electro-optomechanical systems. In this Letter, we demonstrate a novel
transducer that combines high-frequency mechanical motion and a microwave
cavity for the first time. The system consists of a 3D microwave cavity and a
gallium arsenide optomechanical crystal, which has been placed in the microwave
electric field maximum. This allows the microwave cavity to actuate the
gigahertz-frequency mechanical breathing mode in the optomechanical crystal
through the piezoelectric effect, which is then read out using a telecom
optical mode. The gallium arsenide optomechanical crystal is a good candidate
for low-noise microwave-to-telecom transduction, as it has been previously
cooled to the mechanical ground state in a dilution refrigerator. Moreover, the
3D microwave cavity architecture can naturally be extended to couple to
superconducting qubits and to create hybrid quantum systems
Super liquid repellent surfaces for anti-foaming and froth management
Wet and dry foams are prevalent in many industries, ranging from the food processing and commercial cosmetic sectors to industries such as chemical and oil-refining. Uncontrolled foaming results in product losses, equipment downtime or damage and cleanup costs. To speed up defoaming or enable anti-foaming, liquid oil or hydrophobic particles are usually added. However, such additives may need to be later separated and removed for environmental reasons and product quality. Here, we show that passive defoaming or active anti-foaming is possible simply by the interaction of foam with chemically or morphologically modified surfaces, of which the superamphiphobic variant exhibits superior performance. They significantly improve retraction of highly stable wet foams and prevention of growing dry foams, as quantified for beer and aqueous soap solution as model systems. Microscopic imaging reveals that amphiphobic nano-protrusions directly destabilize contacting foam bubbles, which can favorably vent through air gaps warranted by a Cassie wetting state. This mode of interfacial destabilization offers untapped potential for developing efficient, low-power and sustainable foam and froth management
Time- and momentum-resolved photoemission studies using time-of-flight momentum microscopy at a free-electron laser
Time-resolved photoemission with ultrafast pump and probe pulses is an emerging technique with wide application potential. Real-time recording of nonequilibrium electronic processes, transient states in chemical reactions, or the interplay of electronic and structural dynamics offers fascinating opportunities for future research. Combining valence-band and core-level spectroscopy with photoelectron diffraction for electronic, chemical, and structural analyses requires few 10 fs soft X-ray pulses with some 10 meV spectral resolution, which are currently available at high repetition rate free-electron lasers. We have constructed and optimized a versatile setup commissioned at FLASH/PG2 that combines free-electron laser capabilities together with a multidimensional recording scheme for photoemission studies. We use a full-field imaging momentum microscope with time-of-flight energy recording as the detector for mapping of 3D band structures in (kx, ky, E) parameter space with unprecedented efficiency. Our instrument can image full surface Brillouin zones with up to 7 Å−1 diameter in a binding-energy range of several eV, resolving about 2.5 × 105 data voxels simultaneously. Using the ultrafast excited state dynamics in the van der Waals semiconductor WSe2 measured at photon energies of 36.5 eV and 109.5 eV, we demonstrate an experimental energy resolution of 130 meV, a momentum resolution of 0.06 Å−1, and a system response function of 150 fs
Quiver theories, soliton spectra and Picard-Lefschetz transformations
Quiver theories arising on D3-branes at orbifold and del Pezzo singularities
are studied using mirror symmetry. We show that the quivers for the orbifold
theories are given by the soliton spectrum of massive 2d N=2 theory with
weighted projective spaces as target. For the theories obtained from the del
Pezzo singularities we show that the geometry of the mirror manifold gives
quiver theories related to each other by Picard-Lefschetz transformations, a
subset of which are simple Seiberg duals. We also address how one indeed
derives Seiberg duality on the matter content from such geometrical transitions
and how one could go beyond and obtain certain ``fractional Seiberg duals.''
Moreover, from the mirror geometry for the del Pezzos arise certain Diophantine
equations which classify all quivers related by Picard-Lefschetz. Some of these
Diophantine equations can also be obtained from the classification results of
Cecotti-Vafa for the 2d N=2 theories.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figure
Local models for intersecting brane worlds
We describe the construction of configurations of D6-branes wrapped on
compact 3-cycles intersecting at points in non-compact Calabi-Yau threefolds.
Such constructions provide local models of intersecting brane worlds, and
describe sectors of four-dimensional gauge theories with chiral fermions. We
present several classes of non-compact manifolds with compact 3-cycles
intersecting at points, and discuss the rules required for model building with
wrapped D6-branes. The rules to build 3-cycles are simple, and allow easy
computation of chiral spectra, RR tadpoles and the amount of preserved
supersymmetry. We present several explicit examples of these constructions,
some of which have Standard Model like gauge group and three quark-lepton
generations. In some cases, mirror symmetry relates the models to other
constructions used in phenomenological D-brane model building, like D-branes at
singularities. Some simple N=1 supersymmetric configurations may lead to
relatively tractable G_2 manifolds upon lift to M-theory, which would be
non-compact but nevertheless yield four-dimensional chiral gauge field
theories.Comment: 52 pages, latex, 24 enclosed eps figures; v2. typo correcte
Effectiveness of physiotherapy exercise following hip arthroplasty for osteoarthritis: a systematic review of clinical trials
Background: Physiotherapy has long been a routine component of patient rehabilitation following hip joint replacement. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of physiotherapy exercise after discharge from hospital on function, walking, range of motion, quality of life and muscle strength, for osteoarthritic patients following elective primary total hip arthroplasty.
Methods: Design: Systematic review, using the Cochrane Collaboration Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and the Quorom Statement. Database searches: AMED, CINAHL, EMBASE, KingsFund, MEDLINE, Cochrane library (Cochrane reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, DARE), PEDro, The Department of Health National
Research Register. Handsearches: Physiotherapy, Physical Therapy, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Britain)
Conference Proceedings. No language restrictions were applied.
Selection: Trials comparing physiotherapy exercise versus usual/standard care, or comparing two types of relevant exercise physiotherapy, following discharge from hospital after elective primary total hip replacement for osteoarthritis were reviewed.
Outcomes: Functional activities of daily living, walking, quality of life, muscle strength and range of hip joint
motion. Trial quality was extensively evaluated. Narrative synthesis plus meta-analytic summaries were performed to summarise the data.
Results: 8 trials were identified. Trial quality was mixed. Generally poor trial quality, quantity and diversity prevented explanatory meta-analyses. The results were synthesised and meta-analytic summaries were used where possible to provide a formal summary of results. Results indicate that physiotherapy exercise after discharge following total hip replacement has the potential to benefit patients.
Conclusion: Insufficient evidence exists to establish the effectiveness of physiotherapy exercise following primary hip replacement for osteoarthritis. Further well designed trials are required to determine the value of post discharge exercise following this increasingly common surgical procedure
Modeling and Simulation of Multi-Lane Traffic Flow
A most important aspect in the field of traffic modeling is the simulation of
bottleneck situations. For their realistic description a macroscopic multi-lane
model for uni-directional freeways including acceleration, deceleration,
velocity fluctuations, overtaking and lane-changing maneuvers is systematically
deduced from a gas-kinetic (Boltzmann-like) approach. The resulting equations
contain corrections with respect to previous models. For efficient computer
simulations, a reduced model delineating the coarse-grained temporal behavior
is derived and applied to bottleneck situations.Comment: For related work see
http://www.theo2.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/helbing.htm
The spectrum of BPS branes on a noncompact Calabi-Yau
We begin the study of the spectrum of BPS branes and its variation on lines
of marginal stability on O_P^2(-3), a Calabi-Yau ALE space asymptotic to
C^3/Z_3. We show how to get the complete spectrum near the large volume limit
and near the orbifold point, and find a striking similarity between the
descriptions of holomorphic bundles and BPS branes in these two limits. We use
these results to develop a general picture of the spectrum. We also suggest a
generalization of some of the ideas to the quintic Calabi-Yau.Comment: harvmac, 45 pp. (v2: added references
Role of electromagnetically induced transparency in resonant four-wave-mixing schemes.
Published versio
- …