PT-symmetric laser-absorber

In a recent work, Y.D. Chong et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 053901 (2010)] proposed the idea of a coherent perfect absorber (CPA) as the time-reversed counterpart of a laser, in which a purely incoming radiation pattern is completely absorbed by a lossy medium. The optical medium that realizes CPA is obtained by reversing the gain with absorption, and thus it generally differs from the lasing medium. Here it is shown that a laser with an optical medium that satisfies the parity-time $(\mathcal{PT})$ symmetry condition $\epsilon(-\mathbf{r})=\epsilon^*(\mathbf{r})$ for the dielectric constant behaves simultaneously as a laser oscillator (i.e. it can emit outgoing coherent waves) and as a CPA (i.e. it can fully absorb incoming coherent waves with appropriate amplitudes and phases). Such a device can be thus referred to as a $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric CPA-laser. The general amplification/absorption features of the $\mathcal{PT}$ CPA-laser below lasing threshold driven by two fields are determined.Comment: 5 pages; to be published in Phys. Rev. A (Rapid Communications

Growth of Sobolev norms in time dependent semiclassical anharmonic oscillators

We consider the semiclassical Schrödinger equation on Rd given by iħ∂tψ=(− [Formula presented] Δ+Wl(x))ψ+V(t,x)ψ, where Wl is an anharmonic trapping of the form Wl(x)= [Formula presented] ∑j=1dxj2l, l≥2 is an integer and ħ is a semiclassical small parameter. We construct a smooth potential V(t,x), bounded in time with its derivatives, and an initial datum such that the Sobolev norms of the solution grow at a logarithmic speed for all times of order log [Formula presented] ⁡(ħ−1). The proof relies on two ingredients: first we construct an unbounded solution to a forced mechanical anharmonic oscillator, then we exploit semiclassical approximation with coherent states to obtain growth of Sobolev norms for the quantum system which are valid for semiclassical time scales

Optical Lenses for Atomic Beams

Superpositions of paraxial laser beam modes to generate atom-optical lenses based on the optical dipole force are investigated theoretically. Thin, wide, parabolic, cylindrical and circular atom lenses with numerical apertures much greater than those reported in the literature to date can be synthesized. This superposition approach promises to make high quality atom beam imaging and nano-deposition feasible.Comment: 10 figure

Quantum Electronics

Contains research objectives and summary of research.U. S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract F44620-71-C-0051)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-71-C-0300)University of California, Livermore (Subcontract No. 7877409)U. S. Army Research Office - Durham (Contract DAHC04-72-C-0044)National Science Foundation (Grant GK-37979X

DYNAMICS OF AN ELASTIC SATELLITE WITH INTERNAL FRICTION. ASYMPTOTIC STABILITY VS COLLISION OR EXPULSION

In this thesis, we study the dynamics of an elastic body, whose shape and position evolve due to the gravitational forces exerted by a pointlike planet whose position is fixed in space. The first result of this thesis is that, if any internal deformation of the body dissipates some energy, then the dynamics of the system has only three possible final behaviors: (i) the satellite is expelled to infinity, (ii) the satellite falls on the planet, (iii) the satellite is captured in a synchronous orbit. By item (iii) we mean that the shape of the body reaches a final configuration, that a principal axis of inertia is directed towards the attracting planet and that the center of mass of the satellite moves on a circle of constant radius. Secondly, we study the stability of the synchronous orbit. Restricting to the quadrupole approximation and assuming that the body is very rigid, we prove that such an orbit is (locally) asymtotically stable, both in the case of a triaxial satellite and in the case of a satellite with spherical symmetry. Some additional results on the dynamics of the body close to the synchronous orbit and some new kinematical results are also present in the thesis

Noise in Electron Devices

Contains reports on two research projects

Quantum transport of strongly interacting photons in a one-dimensional nonlinear waveguide

We present a theoretical technique for solving the quantum transport problem of a few photons through a one-dimensional, strongly nonlinear waveguide. We specifically consider the situation where the evolution of the optical field is governed by the quantum nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation (NLSE). Although this kind of nonlinearity is quite general, we focus on a realistic implementation involving cold atoms loaded in a hollow-core optical fiber, where the atomic system provides a tunable nonlinearity that can be large even at a single-photon level. In particular, we show that when the interaction between photons is effectively repulsive, the transmission of multi-photon components of the field is suppressed. This leads to anti-bunching of the transmitted light and indicates that the system acts as a single-photon switch. On the other hand, in the case of attractive interaction, the system can exhibit either anti-bunching or bunching, which is in stark contrast to semiclassical calculations. We show that the bunching behavior is related to the resonant excitation of bound states of photons inside the system.Comment: 22 pages, 24 figure

Tunable Narrow Band Difference Frequency THz Wave Generation in DAST via Dual Seed PPLN OPG

We report a widely tunable narrowband terahertz (THz) source via difference frequency generation (DFG). A narrowband THz source uses the output of dual seeded periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) optical parametric generators (OPG) combined in the nonlinear crystal 4-dimthylamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium-tosylate (DAST). We demonstrate a seamlessly tunable THZ output that tunes from 1.5 THz to 27 THz with a minimum bandwidth of 3.1 GHz. The effects of dispersive phase matching, two-photon absorption, and polarization were examined and compared to a power emission model that consisted of the current accepted parameters of DAST

Noise in Electron Devices

Contains reports on three research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DA36-039-AMC-03200(E)

Electrodynamics of Media

Contains reports on two research projects.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E)U. S. Air Force (ESD) Contract F19628-70-C-006