100 km secure differential phase shift quantum key distribution with low jitter up-conversion detectors

We present a quantum key distribution experiment in which keys that were secure against all individual eavesdropping attacks allowed by quantum mechanics were distributed over 100 km of optical fiber. We implemented the differential phase shift quantum key distribution protocol and used low timing jitter 1.55 um single-photon detectors based on frequency up-conversion in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides and silicon avalanche photodiodes. Based on the security analysis of the protocol against general individual attacks, we generated secure keys at a practical rate of 166 bit/s over 100 km of fiber. The use of the low jitter detectors also increased the sifted key generation rate to 2 Mbit/s over 10 km of fiber.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Electroweak Phase Transition and LHC Signatures in the Singlet Majoron Model

We reconsider the strength of the electroweak phase transition in the singlet Majoron extension of the Standard Model, with a low (~TeV) scale of the singlet VEV. A strongly first order phase transition, of interest for electroweak baryogenesis, is found in sizeable regions of the parameter space, especially when the cross-coupling lambda_{hs}|S|^2|H|^2 between the singlet and the doublet Higgs is significant. Large Majorana Yukawa couplings of the singlet neutrinos, y_i S nu_i^c nu_i, are also important for strengthening the transition. We incorporate the LEP and Tevatron constraints on the Higgs masses, and electroweak precision constraints, in our search for allowed parameters; successful examples include singlet masses ranging from 5 GeV to several TeV. Models with a strong phase transition typically predict a nonstandard Higgs with mass in the range 113 GeV < m_H < 200 GeV and production cross sections reduced by mixing with the singlet, with cos^2(theta) significantly less than 1. We also find examples where the singlet is light and the decay H -> SS can modify the Higgs branching ratios relative to Standard Model expectations.Comment: 36 pages, 18 figure

Magnetization of a half-quantum vortex in a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate

Magnetization dynamics of a half-quantum vortex in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with a ferromagnetic interaction are investigated by mean-field and Bogoliubov analyses. The transverse magnetization is shown to break the axisymmetry and form threefold domains. This phenomenon originates from the topological structure of the half-quantum vortex and spin conservation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Two- and Three-Pion Interferometry for a Nonchaotic Source in Relativistic Nuclear Collisions

Two- and three-pion correlation functions are investigated for a source that is not fully chaotic. Various models are examined to describe the source. The chaoticity and weight factor are evaluated in each model as measures of the strength of correlations and compared to experimental results. A new measure of three-pion correlation is also suggested.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure

Spin-polarized electronic structures and transport properties of Fe-Co alloys

The electrical resistivities of Fe-Co alloys owing to random alloy disorder are calculated using the Kubo-Greenwood formula. The obtained electrical esistivities agree well with experimental data quantitatively at low temperature. The spin-polarization of Fe50Co50 estimated from the conductivity (86%) has opposite sign to that from the densities of the states at the Fermi level (-73%). It is found that the conductivity is governed mainly by s-electrons, and the s-electrons in the minority spin states are less conductive due to strong scattering by the large densities of the states of d-electrons than the majority spin electrons.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Critical phenomena in globally coupled excitable elements

Critical phenomena in globally coupled excitable elements are studied by focusing on a saddle-node bifurcation at the collective level. Critical exponents that characterize divergent fluctuations of interspike intervals near the bifurcation are calculated theoretically. The calculated values appear to be in good agreement with those determined by numerical experiments. The relevance of our results to jamming transitions is also mentioned.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

In-plane deformation of a triangulated surface model with metric degrees of freedom

Using the canonical Monte Carlo simulation technique, we study a Regge calculus model on triangulated spherical surfaces. The discrete model is statistical mechanically defined with the variables $X$, $g$ and $\rho$, which denote the surface position in ${\bf R}^3$, the metric on a two-dimensional surface $M$ and the surface density of $M$, respectively. The metric $g$ is defined only by using the deficit angle of the triangles in {$M$}. This is in sharp contrast to the conventional Regge calculus model, where {$g$} depends only on the edge length of the triangles. We find that the discrete model in this paper undergoes a phase transition between the smooth spherical phase at $b to infty$ and the crumpled phase at $b to 0$, where $b$ is the bending rigidity. The transition is of first-order and identified with the one observed in the conventional model without the variables $g$ and $\rho$. This implies that the shape transformation transition is not influenced by the metric degrees of freedom. It is also found that the model undergoes a continuous transition of in-plane deformation. This continuous transition is reflected in almost discontinuous changes of the surface area of $M$ and that of $X(M)$, where the surface area of $M$ is conjugate to the density variable $\rho$.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Bloch Structures in a Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensate

A rotating Bose-Einstein condensate is shown to exhibit a Bloch band structure without the need of periodic potential. Vortices enter the condensate by a mechanism similar to the Bragg reflection, if the frequency of a rotating drive or the strength of interaction is adiabatically changed. A localized state analogous to a gap soliton in a periodic system is predicted near the edge of the Brillouin zone.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure