254 research outputs found
Autonomous power system intelligent diagnosis and control
The Autonomous Power System (APS) project at NASA Lewis Research Center is designed to demonstrate the abilities of integrated intelligent diagnosis, control, and scheduling techniques to space power distribution hardware. Knowledge-based software provides a robust method of control for highly complex space-based power systems that conventional methods do not allow. The project consists of three elements: the Autonomous Power Expert System (APEX) for fault diagnosis and control, the Autonomous Intelligent Power Scheduler (AIPS) to determine system configuration, and power hardware (Brassboard) to simulate a space based power system. The operation of the Autonomous Power System as a whole is described and the responsibilities of the three elements - APEX, AIPS, and Brassboard - are characterized. A discussion of the methodologies used in each element is provided. Future plans are discussed for the growth of the Autonomous Power System
Frequency Bin Entangled Photons
A monochromatic laser pumping a parametric down conversion crystal generates
frequency entangled photon pairs. We study this experimentally by addressing
such frequency entangled photons at telecommunication wavelengths (around 1550
nm) with fiber optics components such as electro-optic phase modulators and
narrow band frequency filters. The theory underlying our approach is developed
by introducing the notion of frequency bin entanglement. Our results show that
the phase modulators address coherently up to eleven frequency bins, leading to
an interference pattern which can violate a Bell inequality adapted to our
setup by more than five standard deviations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures (extended version
Crisis, Charisma and Consequences: Evidence from the 2004 US Presidential Election
We investigate how conditions of crisis affect perceptions of charisma and how these, in turn, affect blame attribution and self-sacrificial behavior. Our data are from a 2004 experimental study that preceded the U.S. presidential election, in which we manipulated concerns of a terrorist attack. The results show that those in the Crisis condition rated Bush higher on perceptions of charisma compared to those in the Good Times condition. The Crisis condition also directly and indirectly, via perceptions of charisma, affected whether Bush was blamed for failures in Iraq and our subjects’ willingness to sacrifice their personal resources for his candidacy
Real-time measurements of dissipative solitons in a mode-locked fiber laser
Dissipative solitons are remarkable localized states of a physical system
that arise from the dynamical balance between nonlinearity, dispersion and
environmental energy exchange. They are the most universal form of soliton that
can exist in nature, and are seen in far-from-equilibrium systems in many
fields including chemistry, biology, and physics. There has been particular
interest in studying their properties in mode-locked lasers producing
ultrashort light pulses, but experiments have been limited by the lack of
convenient measurement techniques able to track the soliton evolution in
real-time. Here, we use dispersive Fourier transform and time lens measurements
to simultaneously measure real-time spectral and temporal evolution of
dissipative solitons in a fiber laser as the turn-on dynamics pass through a
transient unstable regime with complex break-up and collision dynamics before
stabilizing to a regular mode-locked pulse train. Our measurements enable
reconstruction of the soliton amplitude and phase and calculation of the
corresponding complex-valued eigenvalue spectrum to provide further physical
insight. These findings are significant in showing how real-time measurements
can provide new perspectives into the ultrafast transient dynamics of complex
systems.Comment: See also M. Narhi, P. Ryczkowski, C. Billet, G. Genty, J. M. Dudley,
Ultrafast Simultaneous Real Time Spectral and Temporal Measurements of Fibre
Laser Modelocking Dynamics, 2017 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics
Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference, paper EE-3.5 (2017
Implementing two-photon interference in the frequency domain with electro-optic phase modulators
Frequency-entangled photons can be readily produced using parametric
down-conversion. We have recently shown how such entanglement could be
manipulated and measured using electro-optic phase modulators and narrow-band
frequency filters, thereby leading to two-photon interference patterns in the
frequency domain. Here we introduce new theoretical and experimental
developments showing that this method is potentially a competitive platform for
the realization of quantum communication protocols in standard
telecommunication fibres. We derive a simple theoretical expression for the
coincidence probabilities and use it to optimize a Bell inequality.
Furthermore, we establish an equivalence between the entangled- photon scheme
and a classical interference scheme. Our measurements of two-photon
interference in the frequency domain yield raw visibilities in excess of 99%.
We use our high quality setup to experimentally validate the theoretical
predictions, and in particular we report a violation of the CH74 inequality by
more than 18 standard deviations.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure
Squeezed-state quantum key distribution upon imperfect reconciliation
We address the security of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with
squeezed states upon realistic conditions of noisy and lossy environment and
limited reconciliation efficiency. Considering the generalized preparation
scheme and clearly distinguishing between classical and quantum resources, we
investigate the effect of finite squeezing on the tolerance of the protocol to
untrusted channel noise. For a long-distance strongly attenuating channel and
the consequent low reconciliation efficiency, we show that feasible limited
squeezing is surprisingly sufficient to provide the security of Gaussian
quantum key distribution in the presence of untrusted noise. We explain the
effect by behaviour of the Holevo quantity, which describes the information
leakage, and is effectively minimized by the squeezed states.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Real-time full bandwidth measurement of spectral noise in supercontinuum generation
The ability to measure real-time fluctuations of ultrashort pulses
propagating in optical fiber has provided significant insights into fundamental
dynamical effects such as modulation instability and the formation of
frequency-shifting rogue wave solitons. We report here a detailed study of
real-time fluctuations across the full bandwidth of a fiber supercontinuum
which directly reveals the significant variation in measured noise statistics
across the spectrum, and which allows us to study correlations between widely
separated spectral components. For two different propagation distances
corresponding to the onset phase of spectral broadening and the fully-developed
supercontinuum, we measure real time noise across the supercontinuum bandwidth,
and we quantify the supercontinuum noise using statistical higher-order moments
and a frequency-dependent intensity correlation map. We identify correlated
spectral regions within the supercontinuum associated with simultaneous
sideband generation, as well as signatures of pump depletion and soliton-like
pump dynamics. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with
simulations
LiNbO3 acousto-optical and electro-optical micromodulators
We report on acousto-optical (AO) and electro-optical (EO) LiNbO3 modulators with an active length of only 11 µm. The miniature devices are based on photonic crystal (PhC) structures that are controlled by an external effect (DC electric field or Surface Acoustic Waves). Two processes are presented for realizing the PhCs despite the resistance of the material to etching. The first method is based on direct FIB writing and can yield the fabrication of holes with depth of 32 m and diameter of 12 m or less. The second method consists in FIB patterning of a mask which is deposited on the substrate. This process is followed by proton exchange (PE) and reactive ion etching (RIE). Thus, structures with a diameter of 400 nm and an aspect ratio of 3:1 have been fabricated. The methods have been applied to the fabrication of EO and AO micromodulators showing a driving voltage of 13,5 V and a driving electric power of 20 mW respectively. These developments open the way to dense integration of dynamic optical functionalities
Retinal Layer Separation (ReLayS) method enables the molecular analysis of photoreceptor segments and cell bodies, as well as the inner retina
Understanding the physiology of the retina, and especially of the highly polarized photoreceptors, is essential not only to broaden our knowledge of the processes required for normal vision, but also to develop effective therapies to prevent or slow retinal degenerative diseases. However, the molecular analysis of photoreceptors is a challenge due to the heterogeneity of the retinal tissue and the lack of easy and reliable methods for cell separation. Here we present the ReLayS method—a simple technique for the separation of photoreceptor segments (PS) containing both inner and outer segments, outer nuclear layer (ONL), and inner retina (InR) that contains the remaining retinal layers. The layer-specific material isolated from a mouse half-retina with the ReLayS method was sufficient for protein isolation and Western blotting or RNA isolation and real-time PCR studies. The separation of PS, ONL, and InR was successfully validated by Western blotting and real-time PCR using proteins and genes with known expression profiles within the retina. Furthermore, the separation of the PS from the ONL enabled the detection of light-driven translocation of transducin from the PS to the soma. ReLayS is a simple and useful method to address protein and possibly metabolites distribution in photoreceptor compartments in various situations including development, ageing, and degenerative diseases
A Survey of Finite Algebraic Geometrical Structures Underlying Mutually Unbiased Quantum Measurements
The basic methods of constructing the sets of mutually unbiased bases in the
Hilbert space of an arbitrary finite dimension are discussed and an emerging
link between them is outlined. It is shown that these methods employ a wide
range of important mathematical concepts like, e.g., Fourier transforms, Galois
fields and rings, finite and related projective geometries, and entanglement,
to mention a few. Some applications of the theory to quantum information tasks
are also mentioned.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure to appear in Foundations of Physics, Nov. 2006 two
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