Out-of-equilibrium physics in driven dissipative coupled resonator arrays

Coupled resonator arrays have been shown to exhibit interesting many- body physics including Mott and Fractional Hall states of photons. One of the main differences between these photonic quantum simulators and their cold atoms coun- terparts is in the dissipative nature of their photonic excitations. The natural equi- librium state is where there are no photons left in the cavity. Pumping the system with external drives is therefore necessary to compensate for the losses and realise non-trivial states. The external driving here can easily be tuned to be incoherent, coherent or fully quantum, opening the road for exploration of many body regimes beyond the reach of other approaches. In this chapter, we review some of the physics arising in driven dissipative coupled resonator arrays including photon fermionisa- tion, crystallisation, as well as photonic quantum Hall physics out of equilibrium. We start by briefly describing possible experimental candidates to realise coupled resonator arrays along with the two theoretical models that capture their physics, the Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard and Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonians. A brief review of the analytical and sophisticated numerical methods required to tackle these systems is included.Comment: Chapter that appeared in "Quantum Simulations with Photons and Polaritons: Merging Quantum Optics with Condensed Matter Physics" edited by D.G.Angelakis, Quantum Science and Technology Series, Springer 201

Quantum superposition of localized and delocalized phases of photons

Based on a variant of 2-site Jaynes-Cummings-Hubbard model, which is constructed using superconducting circuits, we propose a method to coherently superpose the localized and delocalized phases of photons. In our model, two nonlinear superconducting stripline resonators are coupled by an interfacial circuit composed of parallel combination of a superconducting qubit and a capacitor, which plays the role of a quantum knob for the photon hopping rate: with the knob qubit in its ground/excited state, the injected photons tend to be localized/delocalized in the resonators. We show that, by applying a microwave field with appropriate frequency on the knob qubit, we could demonstrate Rabi oscillation between photonic localized phase and delocalized phase. Furthermore, this set-up offers advantages (e. g. infinite on/off ratio) over other proposals for the realization of scalable quantum computation with superconducting qubits.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Pretreatment with feline interferon omega and the course of subsequent infection with feline herpesvirus in cats

Objective:Recombinant feline interferon omega (rFeIFN-ω), a type I IFN, may have the potential to limit virus replication and associated clinical signs when administered early on in the course of feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) infection and reactivation, respectively. The effect of rFeIFN-ω pretreatment on the course of subsequent FHV-1 infection in cats was investigated. Animals studied: Nine SPF cats were divided into an IFN group (n=5) and a control-group (n=4). Procedures: The IFN group was pretreated for 2 days with 10 000 units rFeIFN-ω twice aday topically into both eyes and 20 000 units rFeIFN-ω once a day orally, whereas the control group was mock-treated. Subsequently all cats were infected with FHV-1. Samples for FHV-1 DNA detection and quantitation, virus isolation, and titration of FHV-1 antibodies were collected. Clinical and ocular signs were recorded and scored. Results: Courses of median individual clinical and ocular scores and virus load did not differ significantly between both groups using for repeated measurements. Analysis (Anova)of each individual ocular parameter revealed significantly high scores for epithelial keratitis (P=0.016) in the IFN group compared to the control group. Periods of virus shedding did not differ significantly between both groups using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Conclusions: Results indicated a lack of beneficial effects of rFeIFN-ω pretreatment in the course of primary FHV-1 infection in cats

Textual politics of Alabama\u27s historical markers: Slavery, emancipation, and civil rights

In light of recent protests and debates over Confederate symbols, markers, and flags after the 2015 Charleston shooting, the South remains fertile ground for critically reflecting on the role of history in shaping the present. State historical marker programs are a near ubiquitous feature of the United States\u27 commemorative landscape, used to retell history at important sites. However, geographers and other memory studies scholars have not devoted much time or effort in researching historical markers, in part because they are often considered mundane or they are ignored in favor of researching stand-alone monuments or other memory projects. Engaging with textual politics-the belief that language, words, and narrative are politically active within commemorative landscapes-along with the concepts of historical responsibility and surrogation, this chapter presents an analysis of the Alabama Historical Association\u27s marker program and its presentation and interpretation of African-American history. Findings include that historical periods of slavery and emancipation have largely been ignored, while the Civil Rights Movement is more widely represented and celebrated as a success story

Vitamin B6 reduces hippocampal apoptosis in experimental pneumococcal meningitis

BACKGROUND Bacterial meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae leads to death in up to 30% of patients and leaves up to half of the survivors with neurological sequelae. The inflammatory host reaction initiates the induction of the kynurenine pathway and contributes to hippocampal apoptosis, a form of brain damage that is associated with learning and memory deficits in experimental paradigms. Vitamin B6 is an enzymatic cofactor in the kynurenine pathway and may thus limit the accumulation of neurotoxic metabolites and preserve the cellular energy status. The aim of this study in a pneumococcal meningitis model was to investigate the effect of vitamin B6 on hippocampal apoptosis by histomorphology, by transcriptomics and by measurement of cellular nicotine amide adenine dinucleotide content. METHODS AND RESULTS Eleven day old Wistar rats were infected with 1x10(6) cfu/ml of S. pneumoniae and randomized for treatment with vitamin B6 or saline as controls. Vitamin B6 led to a significant (p > 0.02) reduction of hippocampal apoptosis. According to functional annotation based clustering, vitamin B6 led to down-regulation of genes involved in processes of inflammatory response, while genes encoding for processes related to circadian rhythm, neuronal signaling and apoptotic cell death were mostly up-regulated. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide evidence that attenuation of apoptosis by vitamin B6 is multi-factorial including down-modulation of inflammation, up-regulation of the neuroprotective brain-derived neurotrophic factor and prevention of the exhaustion of cellular energy stores. The neuroprotective effect identifies vitamin B6 as a potential target for the development of strategies to attenuate brain injury in bacterial meningitis