Subradiance in a Large Cloud of Cold Atoms

Since Dicke's seminal paper on coherence in spontaneous radiation by atomic ensembles, superradiance has been extensively studied. Subradiance, on the contrary, has remained elusive, mainly because subradiant states are weakly coupled to the environment and are very sensitive to nonradiative decoherence processes.Here we report the experimental observation of subradiance in an extended and dilute cold-atom sample containing a large number of particles. We use a far detuned laser to avoid multiple scattering and observe the temporal decay after a sudden switch-off of the laser beam. After the fast decay of most of the fluorescence, we detect a very slow decay, with time constants as long as 100 times the natural lifetime of the excited state of individual atoms. This subradiant time constant scales linearly with the cooperativity parameter, corresponding to the on-resonance optical depth of the sample, and is independent of the laser detuning, as expected from a coupled-dipole model

Superradiance in a Large and Dilute Cloud of Cold Atoms in the Linear-Optics Regime

Superradiance has been extensively studied in the 1970s and 1980s in the regime of superfluores-cence, where a large number of atoms are initially excited. Cooperative scattering in the linear-optics regime, or "single-photon superradiance" , has been investigated much more recently, and superra-diant decay has also been predicted, even for a spherical sample of large extent and low density, where the distance between atoms is much larger than the wavelength. Here, we demonstrate this effect experimentally by directly measuring the decay rate of the off-axis fluorescence of a large and dilute cloud of cold rubidium atoms after the sudden switch-off of a low-intensity laser driving the atomic transition. We show that, at large detuning, the decay rate increases with the on-resonance optical depth. In contrast to forward scattering, the superradiant decay of off-axis fluorescence is suppressed near resonance due to attenuation and multiple-scattering effects

Nuclear energy density functional from chiral pion-nucleon dynamics: Isovector terms

We extend a recent calculation of the nuclear energy density functional in the framework of chiral perturbation theory by computing the isovector surface and spin-orbit terms: (\vec \nabla \rho_p- \vec \nabla \rho_n)^2 G_d(\rho)+ (\vec \nabla \rho_p- \vec \nabla \rho_n)\cdot(\vec J_p-\vec J_n) G_{so(\rho)+(\vec J_p-\vec J_n)^2 G_J(\rho) pertaining to different proton and neutron densities. Our calculation treats systematically the effects from $1\pi$-exchange, iterated $1\pi$-exchange, and irreducible $2\pi$-exchange with intermediate $\Delta$-isobar excitations, including Pauli-blocking corrections up to three-loop order. Using an improved density-matrix expansion, we obtain results for the strength functions $G_d(\rho)$, $G_{so}(\rho)$ and $G_J(\rho)$ which are considerably larger than those of phenomenological Skyrme forces. These (parameter-free) predictions for the strength of the isovector surface and spin-orbit terms as provided by the long-range pion-exchange dynamics in the nuclear medium should be examined in nuclear structure calculations at large neutron excess.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Nanostructuring Graphene by Dense Electronic Excitation

The ability to manufacture tailored graphene nanostructures is a key factor to fully exploit its enormous technological potential. We have investigated nanostructures created in graphene by swift heavy ion induced folding. For our experiments, single layers of graphene exfoliated on various substrates and freestanding graphene have been irradiated and analyzed by atomic force and high resolution transmission electron microscopy as well as Raman spectroscopy. We show that the dense electronic excitation in the wake of the traversing ion yields characteristic nanostructures each of which may be fabricated by choosing the proper irradiation conditions. These nanostructures include unique morphologies such as closed bilayer edges with a given chirality or nanopores within supported as well as freestanding graphene. The length and orientation of the nanopore, and thus of the associated closed bilayer edge, may be simply controlled by the direction of the incoming ion beam. In freestanding graphene, swift heavy ion irradiation induces extremely small openings, offering the possibility to perforate graphene membranes in a controlled way.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nanotechnolog

The Absorption of Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Insecticides by Frog Skin

The absorption of lindane, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin and p, p\u27 DDT by frog skin has been studied. Various experiments indicate that water-soluble fractions of these insecticides are selectively absorbed by the skin. The relative quantities of insecticides absorbed appear to be partially related to their water solubilities. Selected studies using isolated frog skin indicate that the passage of insecticides across the skin does not alter the electrical potential difference across the skin. The observed results are discussed with respect to the accumulation of these chemicals in the tissues of the frogs

Comment about constraints on nanometer-range modifications to gravity from low-energy neutron experiments

A topic of present interest is the application of experimentally observed quantum mechanical levels of ultra-cold neutrons in the earth's gravitational field for searching short-range modifications to gravity. A constraint on new forces in the nanometer-range published by Nesvizhevsky and Protasov follows from inadequate modelling of the interaction potential of a neutron with a mirror wall. Limits by many orders of magnitude better were already derived long ago from the consistency of experiments on the neutron-electron interaction.Comment: three page

Temporal intensity correlation of light scattered by a hot atomic vapor

We present temporal intensity correlation measurements of light scattered by a hot atomic vapor. Clear evidence of photon bunching is shown at very short time-scales (nanoseconds) imposed by the Doppler broadening of the hot vapor. Moreover, we demonstrate that relevant information about the scattering process, such as the ratio of single to multiple scattering, can be deduced from the measured intensity correlation function. These measurements confirm the interest of temporal intensity correlation to access non-trivial spectral features, with potential applications in astrophysics