2,179 research outputs found
A versatile source of polarisation entangled photons for quantum network applications
We report a versatile and practical approach for generating high-quality
polarization entanglement in a fully guided-wave fashion. Our setup relies on a
high-brilliance type-0 waveguide generator producing paired photon at a telecom
wavelength associated with an advanced energy-time to polarisation transcriber.
The latter is capable of creating any pure polarization entangled state, and
allows manipulating single photon bandwidths that can be chosen at will over
five orders of magnitude, ranging from tens of MHz to several THz. We achieve
excellent entanglement fidelities for particular spectral bandwidths, i.e. 25
MHz, 540 MHz and 100 GHz, proving the relevance of our approach. Our scheme
stands as an ideal candidate for a wide range of network applications, ranging
from dense division multiplexing quantum key distribution to heralded optical
quantum memories and repeaters.Comment: 5 figure
Resonances from meson-meson scattering in U(3) CHPT
In this work, the complete one loop calculation of meson-meson scattering
amplitudes within U(3)\otimes U(3) chiral perturbation theory with explicit
resonance states is carried out for the first time. Partial waves are
unitarized from the perturbative calculation employing a non-perturbative
approach based on the N/D method. Once experimental data are reproduced in a
satisfactory way we then study the resonance properties, such as the pole
positions, corresponding residues and their N_C behaviors. The resulting N_C
dependence is the first one in the literature that takes into account the fact
that the \eta_1 becomes the ninth Goldstone boson in the chiral limit for large
N_C. Within this scheme the vector resonances studied, \rho(770), K^*(892) and
\phi(1020), follow an N_C trajectory in agreement with their standard \bar{q}q
interpretation. The scalars f_0(1370), a_0(1450) and K^*(1430) also have for
large N_C a \bar{q}q pole position trajectory and all of them tend to a bare
octet of scalar resonances around 1.4 GeV. The f_0(980) tends asymptotically to
the bare pole position of a singlet scalar resonance around 1 GeV. The \sigma,
\kappa and a_0(980) scalar resonances have a very different N_C behavior. The
case of the \sigma resonance is analyzed with special detail.Comment: 50 pages, 15 figures, 1 table. Enlarged version with more detail
comparisons with previous results in the literature. To match with accepted
version for publicatio
A New Shear Estimator for Weak Lensing Observations
We present a new shear estimator for weak lensing observations which properly
accounts for the effects of a realistic point spread function (PSF). Images of
faint galaxies are subject to gravitational shearing followed by smearing with
the instrumental and/or atmospheric PSF. We construct a `finite resolution
shear operator' which when applied to an observed image has the same effect as
a gravitational shear applied prior to smearing. This operator allows one to
calibrate essentially any shear estimator. We then specialize to the case of
weighted second moment shear estimators. We compute the shear polarizability
which gives the response of an individual galaxy's polarization to a
gravitational shear. We then compute the response of the population of
galaxies, and thereby construct an optimal weighting scheme for combining shear
estimates from galaxies of various shapes, luminosities and sizes. We define a
figure of merit --- an inverse shear variance per unit solid angle --- which
characterizes the quality of image data for shear measurement. The new method
is tested with simulated image data. We discuss the correction for anisotropy
of the PSF and propose a new technique involving measuring shapes from images
which have been convolved with a re-circularizing PSF. We draw attention to a
hitherto ignored noise related bias and show how this can be analyzed and
corrected for. The analysis here draws heavily on the properties of real PSF's
and we include as an appendix a brief review, highlighting those aspects which
are relevant for weak lensing.Comment: 39 pages, 9 figure
Paradoxien der Geschichte. Anmerkungen zu den Fotografien von Gerhard Gäbler
PURPOSE: Surgical treatment of early-onset scoliosis (EOS) requires a balance between maintained curve correction and the capacity for spinal and thoracic growth. Spinal fusion creates irreversible conditions that prevent the implementation of further treatment methods. Our hypothesis was that non-fused anchors in growth guidance show a comparable outcome as the technique described in the literature, which involves spondylodesis of the anchoring segments.
METHODS: This retrospective study analysed 148 surgeries in 22 EOS patients (11 female, 11 male) over a 15-year period. Patients underwent surgery with non-fused anchors and growth guidance techniques. Scoliosis, kyphosis, growth and anchoring segments were measured. For the latter, a new measuring technique was developed. Complications were recorded and classified.
RESULTS: The mean Cobb angle reduced from 73.5 ± 24.4° to 28.4 ± 16.2° (60.2 ± 22.9%, p < 0.001) at the last follow-up. Spinal growth T1-S1 and T1-T12 were 41.1 ± 23.3 mm and 24.9 ± 16.6 mm (p < 0.001), respectively. Growth at the cranial and caudal anchoring segment was 1.5 mm/segment/year and 1.9 mm/segment/year, respectively. A total of 63 complications were documented in 20 patients, with 40 requiring unplanned revision surgery. Definitive spondylodesis was performed in three patients.
CONCLUSION: Patients demonstrated a significant spinal growth including the anchoring segments. A comparable correction in Cobb angle and the type of complications was noted, although the rate of device-related complications was higher. No permanent impairment was reported. The rate of device-related complications is acceptable and outweighed by the significant degree of growth preservation and more flexible and individualised treatment strategy for patients with EOS. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material
Cross time-bin photonic entanglement for quantum key distribution
We report a fully fibered source emitting cross time-bin entangled photons at
1540 nm from type-II spontaneous parametric down conversion. Compared to
standard time-bin entanglement realizations, the preparation interferometer
requires no phase stabilization, simplifying its implementation in quantum key
distribution experiments. Franson/Bell-type tests of such a cross time-bin
state are performed and lead to two-photon interference raw visibilities
greater than 95%, which are only limited by the dark-counts in the detectors
and imperfections in the analysis system. Just by trusting the randomness of
the beam-splitters, the correlations generated by the source can be proved of
non-classical origin even in a passive implementation. The obtained results
confirm the suitability of this source for time-bin based quantum key
distribution.Comment: 5 pages, double column, 3 captioned figure
Polarization entangled photon-pair source based on quantum nonlinear photonics and interferometry
We present a versatile, high-brightness, guided-wave source of polarization
entangled photons, emitted at a telecom wavelength. Photon-pairs are generated
using an integrated type-0 nonlinear waveguide, and subsequently prepared in a
polarization entangled state via a stabilized fiber interferometer. We show
that the single photon emission wavelength can be tuned over more than 50 nm,
whereas the single photon spectral bandwidth can be chosen at will over more
than five orders of magnitude (from 25 MHz to 4 THz). Moreover, by performing
entanglement analysis, we demonstrate a high degree of control of the quantum
state via the violation of the Bell inequalities by more than 40 standard
deviations. This makes this scheme suitable for a wide range of quantum optics
experiments, ranging from fundamental research to quantum information
applications. We report on details of the setup, as well as on the
characterization of all included components, previously outlined in F. Kaiser
et al. (2013 Laser Phys. Lett. 10, 045202).Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
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