3,914 research outputs found
High accuracy measure of atomic polarizability in an optical lattice clock
Despite being a canonical example of quantum mechanical perturbation theory,
as well as one of the earliest observed spectroscopic shifts, the Stark effect
contributes the largest source of uncertainty in a modern optical atomic clock
through blackbody radiation. By employing an ultracold, trapped atomic ensemble
and high stability optical clock, we characterize the quadratic Stark effect
with unprecedented precision. We report the ytterbium optical clock's
sensitivity to electric fields (such as blackbody radiation) as the
differential static polarizability of the ground and excited clock levels:
36.2612(7) kHz (kV/cm)^{-2}. The clock's fractional uncertainty due to room
temperature blackbody radiation is reduced an order of magnitude to 3 \times
10^{-17}.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
The Spin Glass Transition : Exponents and Dynamics
Numerical simulations on Ising Spin Glasses show that spin glass transitions
do not obey the usual universality rules which hold at canonical second order
transitions. On the other hand the dynamics at the approach to the transition
appear to take up a universal form for all spin glasses. The implications for
the fundamental physics of transitions in complex systems are addressed.Comment: 4 pages (Latex) with 3 figures (postscript), accepted for publication
in Physica
An atomic clock with instability
Atomic clocks have been transformational in science and technology, leading
to innovations such as global positioning, advanced communications, and tests
of fundamental constant variation. Next-generation optical atomic clocks can
extend the capability of these timekeepers, where researchers have long aspired
toward measurement precision at 1 part in . This milestone will
enable a second revolution of new timing applications such as relativistic
geodesy, enhanced Earth- and space-based navigation and telescopy, and new
tests on physics beyond the Standard Model. Here, we describe the development
and operation of two optical lattice clocks, both utilizing spin-polarized,
ultracold atomic ytterbium. A measurement comparing these systems demonstrates
an unprecedented atomic clock instability of after
only hours of averaging
Nonlinear lattice dynamics as a basis for enhanced superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O6.5
THz-frequency optical pulses can resonantly drive selected vibrational modes
in solids and deform their crystal structure. In complex oxides, this method
has been used to melt electronic orders, drive insulator to metal transitions
or induce superconductivity. Strikingly, coherent interlayer transport strongly
reminiscent of superconductivity can be transiently induced up to room
temperature in YBa2Cu3O6+x. By combining femtosecond X-ray diffraction and ab
initio density functional theory calculations, we determine here the crystal
structure of this exotic non-equilibrium state. We find that nonlinear lattice
excitation in normal-state YBa2Cu3O6+x at 100 K causes a staggered
dilation/contraction of the Cu-O2 intra/inter- bilayer distances, accompanied
by anisotropic changes in the in-plane O-Cu-O bond buckling. Density functional
theory calculations indicate that these motions cause dramatic changes in the
electronic structure. Amongst these, the enhancement in the dx2-y2 character of
the in-plane electronic structure is likely to favor superconductivity.Comment: 28 pages, including Supplemen
Quasispecies evolution in general mean-field landscapes
I consider a class of fitness landscapes, in which the fitness is a function
of a finite number of phenotypic "traits", which are themselves linear
functions of the genotype. I show that the stationary trait distribution in
such a landscape can be explicitly evaluated in a suitably defined
"thermodynamic limit", which is a combination of infinite-genome and strong
selection limits. These considerations can be applied in particular to identify
relevant features of the evolution of promoter binding sites, in spite of the
shortness of the corresponding sequences.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Europhysics Letters style (included) Finite-size
scaling analysis sketched. To appear in Europhysics Letter
Sub-femtosecond absolute timing precision with a 10 GHz hybrid photonic-microwave oscillator
We present an optical-electronic approach to generating microwave signals
with high spectral purity. By circumventing shot noise and operating near
fundamental thermal limits, we demonstrate 10 GHz signals with an absolute
timing jitter for a single hybrid oscillator of 420 attoseconds (1Hz - 5 GHz)
- âŠ