Negative-index media for matter-wave optics

We consider the extension of optical meta-materials to matter waves. We show that the generic property of pulsed comoving magnetic fields allows us to fashion the wave-number dependence of the atomic phase shift. It can be used to produce a transient negative group velocity of an atomic wave packet, which results into a negative refraction of the matter wave. Application to slow metastable argon atoms Ar*(3P2) shows that the device is able to operate either as an efficient beam splitter or an atomic meta-lens. Implications of "meta-media" in atom optics are considered.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted at PRL 4 November 200

Observation of metastable hcp solid helium

We have produced and observed metastable solid helium-4 below its melting pressure between 1.1 K and 1.4 K. This is achieved by an intense pressure wave carefully focused inside a crystal of known orientation. An accurate density map of the focal zone is provided by an optical interferometric technique. Depending on the sample, minimum density achieved at focus corresponds to pressures between 2 and 4 bar below the static melting pressure. Beyond, the crystal undergoes an unexpected instability much earlier than the predicted spinodal limit. This opens a novel opportunity to study this quantum crystal in an expanded metastable state and its stability limits.Comment: deuxi\`eme versio

Développement d'un logiciel d'acquisition et de traitement pour l'imagerie spirale

L'imagerie spirale par sa faible sensibilité aux artefacts de flux et de mouvement est la technique de choix pour l'imagerie de flux et pour l'imagerie fonctionnelle. Un logiciel a été développé, qui gère la modélisation de la forme des gradients, l'acquisition (intégrée au logiciel d'exploitation du système), la reconstruction des images ainsi que les corrections des trajectoires d'échantillonnage et des inhomogénéités du champ magnétique. Sa facilité d'utilisation en fait un outil adapté aux applications médicales

Schlieren imaging of nano-scale atom-surface inelastic transition using a Fresnel biprism atom interferometer

Surface-induced exo-energetic inelastic transitions among atomic Zeeman states in a magnetic field (“van der Waals – Zeeman” transitions) are useable as tuneable beam splitters. A transversally coherent atom beam impinging a pair of opposite surfaces (e.g. 2 edges of a slit or of an ensemble of periodic slits) gives rise to two coherently diffracted wave packets. Within the wave packet overlap, non-localised interference fringes of the Young-slit type are predicted. From the diffraction pattern observed in the Fraunhofer regime (Schlieren image), detailed information about the transition amplitude on a scale of a few nanometers should be derived

Dynamic nuclear polarization with nitroxides dissolved in biological fluids.

The most widely used free radicals for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) experiments or related Overhauser imaging are nitroxides. The DNP parameters in biological fluids were measured in order to provide guidelines for the design of new nitroxides, adapted to the biological applications of DNP. Eighteen nitroxides were studied at a concentration of 1 mM. Extrapolation at complete electron paramagnetic resonance saturation and proton longitudinal-relaxation-time measurements enable calculation of the coupling factor between nitroxide free electrons and water protons. In deoxygenated phosphate-buffered solutions, the NMR signal enhancement by DNP ranged from -36.3 to -6.7, and the coupling factor ranged from 0.31 to 0.03. Nitroxides with a long side chain yield poor enhancement, although their relaxivity is far greater than that of nitroxides with small chains. In a 1 mM albumin solution, the loss in enhancement factor is mainly caused by the fact that proton relaxation occurs via interactions, not only with the dissolved free radicals but also with the albumin macromolecules. In serum, the enhancement factor is lower than that in an albumin solution, because of the higher protein concentration in serum. In red-blood-cell suspensions, the enhancement factor was further decreased. Two effects contribute to this decrease: first, the increased viscosity due to the presence of red blood cells, and second, the susceptibility effects of the paramagnetism of deoxyhemoglobin. The high sensitivity to oxygen of DNP in phosphate-buffered solution is also greatly reduced when nitroxides are dissolved in blood.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS

van der Waals - Zeeman transitions of metastable neon atoms passing through a micro-slit copper grating

Surface-induced transitions between Zeeman sub-levels of metastable neon atoms traversing a micro-slit copper grating are investigated. The quadrupolar part of the surface van der Waals interaction suddenly perturbs the evolution of the Zeeman sub-levels in a magnetic field $\bm B$, giving rise to van der Waals - Zeeman transitions. Exothermal inelastic transitions are identified by the related deflection γ. In a diagram (γ, $B^{1/2})$ the location of the inelastic peaks is fitted by straight lines of slopes proportional to $|\Delta m|^{-1/2}$, where $\Delta m$ is the magnetic number change

Diffraction of fast metastable atoms by micrometric reflection gratings

Diffraction of thermal velocity metastable atoms by non-magnetic and magnetic reflection gratings of micrometric period has been observed. This observation is made possible by the use of an ultra narrow beam generated by metastability exchange. Grazing incidence angles are exploited to minimise the quenching of metastable atoms on the grating surface. Potential applications are beam splitting, atom holography and probing of micro-sized solid surfaces

Functional integration in schizophrenia: too little or too much? Preliminary results on fMRI data.

International audienceThe disconnectivity hypothesis proposes that schizophrenia results from poor or miswired anatomical connections. Theoretically, its functional counterpart should be disintegration. Integration is thought to allow segregated neurons to interact as a coherent whole, referred to as the "core", while the non-interacting part of the brain is referred to as the "rest". In this study, it is suggested that schizophrenia is the result of rest noise interfering with core activity. Two possible causes are assessed: (i) defective core integration, making the core more vulnerable to noise from the rest, or (ii) the rest being too highly integrated, meaning that it can interfere with the core. These hypotheses were tested using fMRI data acquired from 13 stabilized medicated schizophrenic subjects compared to 11 matched controls. Subjects were required to perform a series of lexical decision and retrieval tasks in separate sessions. The brain was divided into 90 components. Integration was defined as the amount of information shared between the components of a sub-system. An iterative aggregation procedure made it possible to identify a core on the basis of the functional clustering index, which assesses the integration of the core relative to its integration with the rest. Correlation of component-pairs within the core was also compared between the two groups. This procedure was repeated for each subject and for each task. Cores did not differ between the two groups, either in terms of integration or in terms of functional clustering index. However, the core was still highly integrated with the rest and the rest was overly integrated in schizophrenic subjects. Both anomalies were correlated with the negative symptoms. These findings were consistent regardless of the task considered. Furthermore, within the core, anterior-posterior correlations were lower in patients (between the frontal and the parietal and posterior cingulate cortices), whereas frontal left-right correlations were excessive. No significant correlation was found with the medication. Thus, it appears that schizophrenia entails a deleterious combination of too much "noisy" integration (from the rest) and too little "significant" integration (anterior-posterior functional connectivity)