1,834 research outputs found
Unambiguous state discrimination in quantum cryptography with weak coherent states
The use of linearly independent signal states in realistic implementations of
quantum key distribution (QKD) enables an eavesdropper to perform unambiguous
state discrimination. We explore quantitatively the limits for secure QKD
imposed by this fact taking into account that the receiver can monitor to some
extend the photon number statistics of the signals even with todays standard
detection schemes. We compare our attack to the beamsplitting attack and show
that security against beamsplitting attack does not necessarily imply security
against the attack considered here.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, updated version with added discussion of
beamsplitting attac
Conservative management of a brain abscess in a patient with Staphylococcus lugdunensis endocarditis
Real-time observation of interfering crystal electrons in high-harmonic generation
Accelerating and colliding particles has been a key strategy to explore the
texture of matter. Strong lightwaves can control and recollide electronic
wavepackets, generating high-harmonic (HH) radiation which encodes the
structure and dynamics of atoms and molecules and lays the foundations of
attosecond science. The recent discovery of HH generation in bulk solids
combines the idea of ultrafast acceleration with complex condensed matter
systems and sparks hope for compact solid-state attosecond sources and
electronics at optical frequencies. Yet the underlying quantum motion has not
been observable in real time. Here, we study HH generation in a bulk solid
directly in the time-domain, revealing a new quality of strong-field
excitations in the crystal. Unlike established atomic sources, our solid emits
HH radiation as a sequence of subcycle bursts which coincide temporally with
the field crests of one polarity of the driving terahertz waveform. We show
that these features hallmark a novel non-perturbative quantum interference
involving electrons from multiple valence bands. The results identify key
mechanisms for future solid-state attosecond sources and next-generation
lightwave electronics. The new quantum interference justifies the hope for
all-optical bandstructure reconstruction and lays the foundation for possible
quantum logic operations at optical clock rates
Unambiguous State Discrimination of Coherent States with Linear Optics: Application to Quantum Cryptography
We discuss several methods for unambiguous state discrimination of N
symmetric coherent states using linear optics and photodetectors. One type of
measurements is shown to be optimal in the limit of small photon numbers for
any N. For the special case of N=4 this measurement can be fruitfully used by
the receiving end (Bob) in an implementation of the BB84 quantum key
distribution protocol using faint laser pulses. In particular, if Bob detects
only a single photon the procedure is equivalent to the standard measurement
that he would have to perform in a single-photon implementation of BB84, if he
detects two photons Bob will unambiguously know the bit sent to him in 50% of
the cases without having to exchange basis information, and if three photons
are detected, Bob will know unambiguously which quantum state was sent.Comment: 5 RevTeX pages, 2 eps figure
Novel technique for thermal lens measurement in commonly used optical components
The absorption of light in transmissive optics cause a thermally
induced effect known as thermal lensing. This effect provokes an often
undesired change of a laser beam transmitted by the optic. In this paper we
present a measurement method that allows us to determine thermal lensing
in commonly used optical components. The beam influenced by the thermal
lens is expanded into the eigenmodes of an optical cavity, and its modal
content is analyzed in the eigenbasis of the cavity. The measured quantity
depends neither on beam parameters nor on the position of the optical
component under investigation. This method allows, to our knowledge, for
the first time the direct measurement of the mode conversion coefficient je2j
of the thermal lens
Monensin and brefeldin A differentially affect the phosphorylation and sulfation of secretory proteins.
Chromogranin B and secretogranin II, two members of the granin family, are known to be post-translationally modified by the addition of O-linked carbohydrates to serine and/or threonine, phosphate to serine and threonine, and sulfate to carbohydrate and tyrosine residues. In the present study, chromogranin B and secretogranin II were used as model proteins to investigate in which subcompartment of the Golgi complex secretory proteins become phosphorylated. Monensin, a drug known to block the transport from the medial to the trans cisternae of the Golgi stack, inhibited the phosphorylation of the granins, indicating that this modification occurred distal to the medial Golgi. Monensin also blocked the addition of galactose to O-linked carbohydrates and the sulfation of the granins, confirming previous data that these modifications take place in the trans Golgi. To distinguish, within the trans Golgi, between the trans cisternae of the Golgi stack and the trans Golgi network, we made use of the previous observation that brefeldin A results in the redistribution to the endoplasmic reticulum of membrane-bound enzymes of the trans cisternae of the Golgi stack, but not of the trans Golgi network. Brefeldin A treatment abolished granin sulfation but resulted in the accumulation of phosphorylated and galactosylated granins. Differential effects of brefeldin A on membranes of the Golgi stack versus the trans Golgi network were also observed by immunofluorescence analysis of marker proteins specific for either compartment. Our results suggest that the phosphorylation of secretory proteins, like their galactosylation, largely occurs in the trans cisternae of the Golgi stack, whereas the sulfation of secretory proteins on both carbohydrate and tyrosine residues takes place selectively in the trans Golgi network
Experimental test of higher-order Laguerre–Gauss modes in the 10 m Glasgow prototype interferometer
Brownian noise of dielectric mirror coatings is expected to be one of the limiting noise sources, at the peak sensitivity, of next generation ground based interferometric gravitational wave (GW) detectors. The use of higher-order Laguerre–Gauss (LG) beams has been suggested to reduce the effect of coating thermal noise in future generations of gravitational wave detectors. In this paper we describe the first test of interferometry with higher-order LG beams in an environment similar to a full-scale gravitational wave detector. We compare the interferometric performance of higher-order LG modes and the fundamental mode beams, injected into a 10 m long suspended cavity that features a finesse of 612, a value chosen to be typical of future gravitational wave detectors. We found that the expected mode degeneracy of the injected LG3, 3 beam was resolved into a multiple peak structure, and that the cavity length control signal featured several nearby zero crossings. The break up of the mode degeneracy is due to an astigmatism (defined as |Rcy − Rcx|) of 5.25 ± 0.5 cm on one of our cavity mirrors with a radius of curvature (Rc) of 15 m. This observation agrees well with numerical simulations developed with the FINESSE software. We also report on how these higher-order mode beams respond to the misalignment and mode mismatch present in our 10 m cavity. In general we found the LG3, 3 beam to be considerably more susceptible to astigmatism and mode mismatch than a conventional fundamental mode beam. Therefore the potential application of higher-order Laguerre–Gauss beams in future gravitational wave detectors will impose much more stringent requirements on both mode matching and mirror astigmatism
Experimental demonstration of coupled optical springs
Optical rigidity will play an important role in improving the sensitivity of future generations of gravitational wave (GW) interferometers, which employ high laser power in order to reach and exceed the standard quantum limit. Several experiments have demonstrated the combined effect of two optical springs on a single system for very low-weight mirror masses or membranes. In this paper we investigate the complex interactions between multiple optical springs and the surrounding apparatus in a system of comparable dynamics to a large-scale GW detector. Using three 100 g mirrors to form a coupled cavity system capable of sustaining two or more optical springs, we demonstrate a number of different regimes of opto-mechanical rigidity and measurement techniques. Our measurements reveal couplings between each optical spring and the control loops that can affect both the achievable increase in sensitivity and the stability of the system. Hence this work establishes a better understanding of the realisation of these techniques and paves the way to their application in future GW observatories, such as upgrades to Advanced LIGO
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