Source of entangled atom pairs on demand, using the Rydberg blockade

Two ultracold atom clouds, each separately in a dipole-blockade regime, realize a source of entangled atom pairs that can be ejected on demand. Entanglement generation and ejection is due to resonant dipole-dipole interactions, while van-der-Waals interactions are predominantly responsible for the blockade that ensures the ejection of a single atom per cloud. A source of entangled atoms using these effects can operate with a 10 kHz repetition rate producing ejected atoms with velocities of about 0.5 m/s.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Dipole-dipole induced global motion of Rydberg-dressed atom clouds

We consider two clouds of ground state alkali atoms in two distinct hyperfine ground states. Each level is far off-resonantly coupled to a Rydberg state, which leads to dressed ground states with a weak admixture of the Rydberg state properties. Due to this admixture, for a proper choice of the Rydberg states, the atoms experience resonant dipole-dipole interactions that induce mechanical forces acting on all atoms within both clouds. This behavior is in contrast to the dynamics predicted for bare dipole-dipole interactions between Rydberg superatoms, where only a single atom per cloud is subject to dipole-dipole induced motion [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 88} 012716 (2013)].Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Response to the Comment on "Excitons in Molecular Aggregates with L\'evy Disorder: Anomalous Localization and Exchange Broadening of Optical Spectra"

In previous work, we have predicted novel effects, such as exchange broadening, anomalous scaling of the localization length and a blue shift of the absorption spectrum with increasing disorder strength, for static disorder models described by stable distributions with stability index {\alpha}<1. The main points of the Comment are that the outliers introduced by heavy tails in the disorder distribution (i) do not lead to deviations from the conventional scaling law for the half width at half maximum (HWHM) of the absorption spectrum and (ii) do not lead to non-universality of the distribution of localization lengths. We show below that the findings reported by us in the Letter are correct and that the wrong conclusions of the Comment arise from focusing on small {\sigma} values.Comment: Based on our response submitted to Physical Review Letters on January 20, 2012. We now also take into account the modifications made to the Comment upon resubmission of the Comment. The Reply has been accepted in Physical Review Letter

Non-ergodic effects in the Coulomb glass: specific heat

We present a numerical method for the investigation of non-ergodic effects in the Coulomb glass. For that, an almost complete set of low-energy many-particle states is obtained by a new algorithm. The dynamics of the sample is mapped to the graph formed by the relevant transitions between these states, that means by transitions with rates larger than the inverse of the duration of the measurement. The formation of isolated clusters in the graph indicates non-ergodicity. We analyze the connectivity of this graph in dependence on temperature, duration of measurement, degree of disorder, and dimensionality, studying how non-ergodicity is reflected in the specific heat.Comment: Submited Phys. Rev.

Dielectric susceptibility of the Coulomb-glass

We derive a microscopic expression for the dielectric susceptibility $\chi$ of a Coulomb glass, which corresponds to the definition used in classical electrodynamics, the derivative of the polarization with respect to the electric field. The fluctuation-dissipation theorem tells us that $\chi$ is a function of the thermal fluctuations of the dipole moment of the system. We calculate $\chi$ numerically for three-dimensional Coulomb glasses as a function of temperature and frequency

Mechanics of individual keratin bundles in living cells

AbstractAlong with microtubules and microfilaments, intermediate filaments are a major component of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton and play a key role in cell mechanics. In cells, keratin intermediate filaments form networks of bundles that are sparser in structure and have lower connectivity than, for example, actin networks. Because of this, bending and buckling play an important role in these networks. Buckling events, which occur due to compressive intracellular forces and cross-talk between the keratin network and other cytoskeletal components, are measured here in situ. By applying a mechanical model for the bundled filaments, we can access the mechanical properties of both the keratin bundles themselves and the surrounding cytosol. Bundling is characterized by a coupling parameter that describes the strength of the linkage between the individual filaments within a bundle. Our findings suggest that coupling between the filaments is mostly complete, although it becomes weaker for thicker bundles, with some relative movement allowed

Assessment of detectability of neutral interstellar deuterium by IBEX observations

The abundance of deuterium in the interstellar gas in front of the Sun gives insight into the processes of filtration of neutral interstellar species through the heliospheric interface and potentially into the chemical evolution of the Galactic gas. We investigate the possibility of detection of neutral interstellar deuterium at 1 AU from the Sun by direct sampling by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). We simulate the flux of neutral interstellar D at IBEX for the actual measurement conditions. We assess the number of interstellar D atom counts expected during the first three years of IBEX operation. We also simulate observations expected during an epoch of high solar activity. In addition, we calculate the expected counts of D atoms from the thin terrestrial water layer, sputtered from the IBEX-Lo conversion surface by neutral interstellar He atoms. Most D counts registered by IBEX-Lo are expected to originate from the water layer, exceeding the interstellar signal by 2 orders of magnitude. However, the sputtering should stop once the Earth leaves the portion of orbit traversed by interstellar He atoms. We identify seasons during the year when mostly the genuine interstellar D atoms are expected in the signal. During the first 3 years of IBEX operations about 2 detectable interstellar D atoms are expected. This number is comparable with the expected number of sputtered D atoms registered during the same time intervals. The most favorable conditions for the detection occur during low solar activity, in an interval including March and April each year. The detection chances could be improved by extending the instrument duty cycle, e.g., by making observations in the special deuterium mode of IBEX-Lo.Comment: Accepted for Astronomy & Astrophysic

Shearing or Compressing a Soft Glass in 2D: Time-concentration superposition

We report surface shear rheological measurements on dense insoluble monolayers of micron sized colloidal spheres at the oil/water interface and of the protein $\beta$-lactoglobulin at the air/water surface. As expected, the elastic modulus shows a changing character in the response, from a viscous liquid towards an elastic solid as the concentration is increased, and a change from elastic to viscous as the shear frequency is increased. Surprisingly, above a critical packing fraction, the complex elastic modulus curves measured at different concentrations can be superposed to form a master curve, by rescaling the frequency and the magnitude of the modulus. This provides a powerful tool for the extrapolation of the material response function outside the experimentally accessible frequency range. The results are discussed in relation to recent experiments on bulk systems, and indicate that these two dimensional monolayers should be regarded as being close to a soft glass state.Comment: to appear in PR