Shape-resonance-induced non-Franck–Condon effects in (2+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization of the C 3Πg state of O2

We show that strong non-Franck–Condon effects observed in (2+1) resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization of the C 3Pig state of O2 are due to the ksigmau shape resonance previously observed in single-photon studies of diatomic molecules. Calculated vibrational branching ratios for the v=2,3 levels of the C 3Πg state are in reasonable agreement with experiment. Certain discrepancies remain in comparing theoretical results with the measured spectra, and possible electron-correlation effects which underly this are discussed

Optical implementation of continuous-variable quantum cloning machines

We propose an optical implementation of the Gaussian continuous-variable quantum cloning machines. We construct a symmetric N -> M cloner which optimally clones coherent states and we also provide an explicit design of an asymmetric 1 -> 2 cloning machine. All proposed cloning devices can be built from just a single non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier and several beam splitters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, REVTe

Generalized uncertainty relations: Theory, examples, and Lorentz invariance

The quantum-mechanical framework in which observables are associated with Hermitian operators is too narrow to discuss measurements of such important physical quantities as elapsed time or harmonic-oscillator phase. We introduce a broader framework that allows us to derive quantum-mechanical limits on the precision to which a parameter---e.g., elapsed time---may be determined via arbitrary data analysis of arbitrary measurements on $N$ identically prepared quantum systems. The limits are expressed as generalized Mandelstam-Tamm uncertainty relations, which involve the operator that generates displacements of the parameter---e.g., the Hamiltonian operator in the case of elapsed time. This approach avoids entirely the problem of associating a Hermitian operator with the parameter. We illustrate the general formalism, first, with nonrelativistic uncertainty relations for spatial displacement and momentum, harmonic-oscillator phase and number of quanta, and time and energy and, second, with Lorentz-invariant uncertainty relations involving the displacement and Lorentz-rotation parameters of the Poincar\'e group.Comment: 39 pages of text plus one figure; text formatted in LaTe

Broadband teleportation

Quantum teleportation of an unknown broadband electromagnetic field is investigated. The continuous-variable teleportation protocol by Braunstein and Kimble [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 80}, 869 (1998)] for teleporting the quantum state of a single mode of the electromagnetic field is generalized for the case of a multimode field with finite bandwith. We discuss criteria for continuous-variable teleportation with various sets of input states and apply them to the teleportation of broadband fields. We first consider as a set of input fields (from which an independent state preparer draws the inputs to be teleported) arbitrary pure Gaussian states with unknown coherent amplitude (squeezed or coherent states). This set of input states, further restricted to an alphabet of coherent states, was used in the experiment by Furusawa {\it et al.} [Science {\bf 282}, 706 (1998)]. It requires unit-gain teleportation for optimizing the teleportation fidelity. In our broadband scheme, the excess noise added through unit-gain teleportation due to the finite degree of the squeezed-state entanglement is just twice the (entanglement) source's squeezing spectrum for its ``quiet quadrature.'' The teleportation of one half of an entangled state (two-mode squeezed vacuum state), i.e., ``entanglement swapping,'' and its verification are optimized under a certain nonunit gain condition. We will also give a broadband description of this continuous-variable entanglement swapping based on the single-mode scheme by van Loock and Braunstein [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 61}, 10302 (2000)]Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, revised version for publication, Physical Review A (August 2000); major changes, in parts rewritte

Weak force detection with superposed coherent states

We investigate the utility of non classical states of simple harmonic oscillators, particularly a superposition of coherent states, for sensitive force detection. We find that like squeezed states a superposition of coherent states allows displacement measurements at the Heisenberg limit. Entangling many superpositions of coherent states offers a significant advantage over a single mode superposition states with the same mean photon number.Comment: 6 pages, no figures: New section added on entangled resources. Changes to discussions and conclusio

Non-Gaussian two-mode squeezing and continuous variable entanglement of linearly and circularly polarized light beams interacting with cold atoms

We investigate how entangled coherent states and superpositions of low intensity coherent states of non-Gaussian nature can be generated via non-resonant interaction between either two linearly or circularly polarized field modes and an ensemble of X-like four-level atoms placed in an optical cavity. We compare our results to recent experimental observations and argue that the non-Gaussian structure of the field states may be present in those systems.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, replaced with final published versio

Gene-network inference by message passing

The inference of gene-regulatory processes from gene-expression data belongs to the major challenges of computational systems biology. Here we address the problem from a statistical-physics perspective and develop a message-passing algorithm which is able to infer sparse, directed and combinatorial regulatory mechanisms. Using the replica technique, the algorithmic performance can be characterized analytically for artificially generated data. The algorithm is applied to genome-wide expression data of baker's yeast under various environmental conditions. We find clear cases of combinatorial control, and enrichment in common functional annotations of regulated genes and their regulators.Comment: Proc. of International Workshop on Statistical-Mechanical Informatics 2007, Kyot

Gene-network inference by message passing

The inference of gene-regulatory processes from gene-expression data belongs to the major challenges of computational systems biology. Here we address the problem from a statistical-physics perspective and develop a message-passing algorithm which is able to infer sparse, directed and combinatorial regulatory mechanisms. Using the replica technique, the algorithmic performance can be characterized analytically for artificially generated data. The algorithm is applied to genome-wide expression data of baker's yeast under various environmental conditions. We find clear cases of combinatorial control, and enrichment in common functional annotations of regulated genes and their regulators.Comment: Proc. of International Workshop on Statistical-Mechanical Informatics 2007, Kyot

Perceived internal depth in rotating and translating objects

Previous research has indicated that observers use differences between velocities and ratios of velocities to judge the depth within a moving object, although depth cannot in general be determined from these quantities. In four experiments we examined the relative effects of velocity difference and velocity ratio on judged depth within a transparent object that was rotating about a vertical axis and translating horizontally, examined the effects of the velocity difference for pure rotations and pure translations, and examined the effect of the velocity difference for objects that varied in simulated internal depth. Both the velocity difference and the velocity ratio affected judged depth, with difference having the larger effect. The effect of velocity difference was greater for pure rotations than for pure translations. Simulated depth did not affect judged depth unless there was a corresponding change in the projected width of the object. Observers appear to use the velocity difference, the velocity ratio, and the projected width of the object heuristically to judge internal object depth, rather than using image information from which relative depth could potentially be recovered

Effect of Disorder Strength on Optimal Paths in Complex Networks

We study the transition between the strong and weak disorder regimes in the scaling properties of the average optimal path $\ell_{\rm opt}$ in a disordered Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi (ER) random network and scale-free (SF) network. Each link $i$ is associated with a weight $\tau_i\equiv\exp(a r_i)$, where $r_i$ is a random number taken from a uniform distribution between 0 and 1 and the parameter $a$ controls the strength of the disorder. We find that for any finite $a$, there is a crossover network size $N^*(a)$ at which the transition occurs. For $N \ll N^*(a)$ the scaling behavior of $\ell_{\rm opt}$ is in the strong disorder regime, with $\ell_{\rm opt} \sim N^{1/3}$ for ER networks and for SF networks with $\lambda \ge 4$, and $\ell_{\rm opt} \sim N^{(\lambda-3)/(\lambda-1)}$ for SF networks with $3 < \lambda < 4$. For $N \gg N^*(a)$ the scaling behavior is in the weak disorder regime, with $\ell_{\rm opt}\sim\ln N$ for ER networks and SF networks with $\lambda > 3$. In order to study the transition we propose a measure which indicates how close or far the disordered network is from the limit of strong disorder. We propose a scaling ansatz for this measure and demonstrate its validity. We proceed to derive the scaling relation between $N^*(a)$ and $a$. We find that $N^*(a)\sim a^3$ for ER networks and for SF networks with $\lambda\ge 4$, and $N^*(a)\sim a^{(\lambda-1)/(\lambda-3)}$ for SF networks with $3 < \lambda < 4$.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures. submitted to Phys. Rev.