Area preservation in computational fluid dynamics

Incompressible two-dimensional flows such as the advection (Liouville) equation and the Euler equations have a large family of conservation laws related to conservation of area. We present two Eulerian numerical methods which preserve a discrete analog of area. The first is a fully discrete model based on a rearrangement of cells; the second is more conventional, but still preserves the area within each contour of the vorticity field. Initial tests indicate that both methods suppress the formation of spurious oscillations in the field.Comment: 14 pages incl. 3 figure

Laser-like Instabilities in Quantum Nano-electromechanical Systems

We discuss negative damping regimes in quantum nano-electromechanical systems formed by coupling a mechanical oscillator to a single-electron transistor (normal or superconducting). Using an analogy to a laser with a tunable atom-field coupling, we demonstrate how these effects scale with system parameters. We also discuss the fluctuation physics of both the oscillator and the single-electron transistor in this regime, and the degree to which the oscillator motion is coherent.Comment: 4+ pages, 1 figure; reference to the work of Dykman and Krivoglaz adde

Application of approximation theory by nonlinear manifolds in Sturm-Liouville inverse problems

We give here some negative results in Sturm-Liouville inverse theory, meaning that we cannot approach any of the potentials with $m+1$ integrable derivatives on $\mathbb{R}^+$ by an $\omega$-parametric analytic family better than order of $(\omega\ln\omega)^{-(m+1)}$. Next, we prove an estimation of the eigenvalues and characteristic values of a Sturm-Liouville operator and some properties of the solution of a certain integral equation. This allows us to deduce from [Henkin-Novikova] some positive results about the best reconstruction formula by giving an almost optimal formula of order of $\omega^{-m}$.Comment: 40 page

How to detect level crossings without looking at the spectrum

We remind the reader that it is possible to tell if two or more eigenvalues of a matrix are equal, without calculating the eigenvalues. We then use this property to detect (avoided) crossings in the spectra of quantum Hamiltonians representable by matrices. This approach provides a pedagogical introduction to (avoided) crossings, is capable of handling realistic Hamiltonians analytically, and offers a way to visualize crossings which is sometimes superior to that provided by the spectrum. We illustrate the method using the Breit-Rabi Hamiltonian to describe the hyperfine-Zeeman structure of the ground state hydrogen atom in a uniform magnetic field.Comment: Accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physic

``Good Propagation'' Constraints on Dual Invariant Actions in Electrodynamics and on Massless Fields

We present some consequences of non-anomalous propagation requirements on various massless fields. Among the models of nonlinear electrodynamics we show that only Maxwell and Born-Infeld also obey duality invariance. Separately we show that, for actions depending only on the F_\mn^2 invariant, the permitted models have $L \sim \sqrt{1 + F^2}$. We also characterize acceptable vector-scalar systems. Finally we find that wide classes of gravity models share with Einstein the null nature of their characteristic surfaces.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, no figure

The Gigabit Optical Transmitters for the LHCb Calorimeters

This report presents the boards developed for the optical data transmission of the calorimeter system of the LHCb experiment and test results. We developed two types of transmission boards: the single-channel and the multi-channel ones. Multi-channel boards can be equipped with a variable number of transmitters, depending on the need, with a maximum allowed of 12 channels. Each optical channel allows transmitting 32 bit data at 40.08 MHz. The boards have been designed and built using radiation hard devices produced at CERN. The optical links have been qualified using the eye diagram and the BERT at 1.6Gbps

Optical injection and terahertz detection of the macroscopic Berry curvature

We propose an experimental scheme to probe the Berry curvature of solids. Our method is sensitive to arbitrary regions of the Brillouin zone, and employs only basic optical and terahertz techniques to yield a background free signal. Using semiconductor quantum wells as a prototypical system, we discuss how to inject Berry curvature macroscopically, and probe it in a way that provides information about the underlying microscopic Berry curvature.Comment: 4 pages, accepted in Physical Review Letter

Response of a particle in a one-dimensional lattice to an applied force: Dynamics of the effective mass

We study the behaviour of the expectation value of the acceleration of a particle in a one-dimensional periodic potential when an external homogeneous force is suddenly applied. The theory is formulated in terms of modified Bloch states that include the interband mixing induced by the force. This approach allows us to understand the behaviour of the wavepacket, which responds with a mass that is initially the bare mass, and subsequently oscillates around the value predicted by the effective mass. If Zener tunneling can be neglected, the expression obtained for the acceleration of the particle is valid over timescales of the order of a Bloch oscillation, which are of interest for experiments with cold atoms in optical lattices. We discuss how these oscillations can be tuned in an optical lattice for experimental detection.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure