Strong CP Violation in External Magnetic Fields

We study the response of the QCD vacuum to an external magnetic field, in the presence of strong CP violation. Using chiral perturbation theory and large N_c expansion, we show that the external field would polarize quantum fluctuations and induce an electric dipole moment of the vacuum, along the direction of the magnetic field. We estimate the magnitude of this effect in different physical scenarios. In particular, we find that the polarization induced by the magnetic field of a magnetar could accelerate electric charges up to energies of the order \theta 10^3 TeV. We also suggest a connection with the possible existence of "hot-spots" on the surface of neutron stars.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Major revision. Phenomenological analysis extende

Ultra-Low Noise Microwave Extraction from Fiber-Based Optical Frequency Comb

In this letter, we report on all-optical fiber approach to the generation of ultra-low noise microwave signals. We make use of two erbium fiber mode-locked lasers phase locked to a common ultra-stable laser source to generate an 11.55 GHz signal with an unprecedented relative phase noise of -111 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz from the carrier.The residual frequency instability of the microwave signals derived from the two optical frequency combs is below 2.3 10^(-16) at 1s and about 4 10^(-19) at 6.5 10^(4)s (in 5 Hz bandwidth, three days continuous operation).Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Periodic negative differential conductance in a single metallic nano-cage

We report a bi-polar multiple periodic negative differential conductance (NDC) effect on a single cage-shaped Ru nanoparticle measured using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. This phenomenon is assigned to the unique multiply-connected cage architecture providing two (or more) defined routes for charge flow through the cage. This, in turn, promotes a self- gating effect, where electron charging of one route affects charge transport along a neighboring channel, yielding a series of periodic NDC peaks. This picture is established and analyzed here by a theoretical model

Ultra-low phase noise all-optical microwave generation setup based on commercial devices

In this paper, we present a very simple design based on commercial devices for the all-optical generation of ultra-low phase noise microwave signals. A commercial, fibered femtosecond laser is locked to a laser that is stabilized to a commercial ULE Fabry-Perot cavity. The 10 GHz microwave signal extracted from the femtosecond laser output exhibits a single sideband phase noise $\mathcal{L}(f)=-104 \ \mathrm{dBc}/\mathrm{Hz}$ at 1 Hz Fourier frequency, at the level of the best value obtained with such "microwave photonics" laboratory experiments \cite{Fortier2011}. Close-to-the-carrier ultra-low phase noise microwave signals will now be available in laboratories outside the frequency metrology field, opening up new possibilities in various domains.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Applied Optics, early posting version available at http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ao/upcoming_pdf.cfm?id=23114

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass After Failed Vertical Banded Gastroplasty: a Multicenter Experience with 203 Patients

Background: Vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) has long been the main restrictive procedure for morbid obesity but has many long-term complications for which conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) is often considered the best option. Methods: This series regroups patients operated on by three different surgeons in four different centers. All data were collected prospectively, then pooled and analyzed retrospectively. Results: Out of 2,522 RYGBP performed between 1998 and 2010, 538 were reoperations, including 203 laparoscopic RYGBP after VBG. There were 175 women and 28 men. The mean BMI before VBG was 43.2 ± 6.3, and the mean BMI before reoperation was 37.4 ± 8.3. Most patients had more than one indication for reoperation and/or had regained significant weight. There was no conversion to open surgery. A total of 24 patients (11.8%) developed complications, including nine (4.5%) who required reoperation and one death. With a follow-up of 88.9% after 8years, the mean BMI after 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9years was 29.1, 28.8, 28.7, 29.9, and 28.8, respectively. Conclusions: On the basis of this experience, the largest with laparoscopic reoperative RYGBP after failed VBG, we conclude that this procedure can safely be performed in experienced hands, with weight loss results similar to those observed after primary RYGBP. In patients with too difficult an anatomy below the cardia, dividing the esophagus just above the esophago-gastric junction and performing an esophagojejunostomy may be a safe alternative to converting to a Scopinaro-type BPD, obviating the additional long-term risks associated with malabsorptio

Amplitude to phase conversion of InGaAs pin photo-diodes for femtosecond lasers microwave signal generation

When a photo-diode is illuminated by a pulse train from a femtosecond laser, it generates microwaves components at the harmonics of the repetition rate within its bandwidth. The phase of these components (relative to the optical pulse train) is known to be dependent on the optical energy per pulse. We present an experimental study of this dependence in InGaAs pin photo-diodes illuminated with ultra-short pulses generated by an Erbium-doped fiber based femtosecond laser. The energy to phase dependence is measured over a large range of impinging pulse energies near and above saturation for two typical detectors, commonly used in optical frequency metrology with femtosecond laser based optical frequency combs. When scanning the optical pulse energy, the coefficient which relates phase variations to energy variations is found to alternate between positive and negative values, with many (for high harmonics of the repetition rate) vanishing points. By operating the system near one of these vanishing points, the typical amplitude noise level of commercial-core fiber-based femtosecond lasers is sufficiently low to generate state-of-the-art ultra-low phase noise microwave signals, virtually immune to amplitude to phase conversion related noise.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Applied Physics

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy characterization of the pseudogap and the x = 1/8 anomaly in La2-xSrxCuO4 thin films

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy we examined the local density of states of thin c-axis La2-xSrxCuO4 films, over wide doping and temperature ranges. We found that the pseudogap exists only at doping levels lower than optimal. For x = 0.12, close to the 'anomalous' x = 1/8 doping level, a zero bias conductance peak was the dominant spectral feature, instead of the excepted V- shaped (c-axis tunneling) gap structure. We have established that this surprising effect cannot be explained by tunneling into (110) facets. Possible origins for this unique behavior are discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure

Ultrastable lasers based on vibration insensitive cavities

We present two ultra-stable lasers based on two vibration insensitive cavity designs, one with vertical optical axis geometry, the other horizontal. Ultra-stable cavities are constructed with fused silica mirror substrates, shown to decrease the thermal noise limit, in order to improve the frequency stability over previous designs. Vibration sensitivity components measured are equal to or better than 1.5e-11 per m.s^-2 for each spatial direction, which shows significant improvement over previous studies. We have tested the very low dependence on the position of the cavity support points, in order to establish that our designs eliminate the need for fine tuning to achieve extremely low vibration sensitivity. Relative frequency measurements show that at least one of the stabilized lasers has a stability better than 5.6e-16 at 1 second, which is the best result obtained for this length of cavity.Comment: 8 pages 12 figure

Probabilistic Model Checking for Energy Analysis in Software Product Lines

In a software product line (SPL), a collection of software products is defined by their commonalities in terms of features rather than explicitly specifying all products one-by-one. Several verification techniques were adapted to establish temporal properties of SPLs. Symbolic and family-based model checking have been proven to be successful for tackling the combinatorial blow-up arising when reasoning about several feature combinations. However, most formal verification approaches for SPLs presented in the literature focus on the static SPLs, where the features of a product are fixed and cannot be changed during runtime. This is in contrast to dynamic SPLs, allowing to adapt feature combinations of a product dynamically after deployment. The main contribution of the paper is a compositional modeling framework for dynamic SPLs, which supports probabilistic and nondeterministic choices and allows for quantitative analysis. We specify the feature changes during runtime within an automata-based coordination component, enabling to reason over strategies how to trigger dynamic feature changes for optimizing various quantitative objectives, e.g., energy or monetary costs and reliability. For our framework there is a natural and conceptually simple translation into the input language of the prominent probabilistic model checker PRISM. This facilitates the application of PRISM's powerful symbolic engine to the operational behavior of dynamic SPLs and their family-based analysis against various quantitative queries. We demonstrate feasibility of our approach by a case study issuing an energy-aware bonding network device.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure