1,655 research outputs found
Phase locking a clock oscillator to a coherent atomic ensemble
The sensitivity of an atomic interferometer increases when the phase
evolution of its quantum superposition state is measured over a longer
interrogation interval. In practice, a limit is set by the measurement process,
which returns not the phase, but its projection in terms of population
difference on two energetic levels. The phase interval over which the relation
can be inverted is thus limited to the interval ; going beyond
it introduces an ambiguity in the read out, hence a sensitivity loss. Here, we
extend the unambiguous interval to probe the phase evolution of an atomic
ensemble using coherence preserving measurements and phase corrections, and
demonstrate the phase lock of the clock oscillator to an atomic superposition
state. We propose a protocol based on the phase lock to improve atomic clocks
under local oscillator noise, and foresee the application to other atomic
interferometers such as inertial sensors.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Trajectories in the Context of the Quantum Newton's Law
In this paper, we apply the one dimensional quantum law of motion, that we
recently formulated in the context of the trajectory representation of quantum
mechanics, to the constant potential, the linear potential and the harmonic
oscillator. In the classically allowed regions, we show that to each classical
trajectory there is a family of quantum trajectories which all pass through
some points constituting nodes and belonging to the classical trajectory. We
also discuss the generalization to any potential and give a new definition for
de Broglie's wavelength in such a way as to link it with the length separating
adjacent nodes. In particular, we show how quantum trajectories have as a limit
when the classical ones. In the classically forbidden regions,
the nodal structure of the trajectories is lost and the particle velocity
rapidly diverges.Comment: 17 pages, LateX, 6 eps figures, minor modifications, Title changed,
to appear in Physica Script
Ground-based detection of a vibration-rotation line of HD in Orion
The v =1-0 R(5) line of HD at 2.46um has been detected at the position of
brightest line emission of shocked H2 in the Orion Molecular Cloud. The flux in
this HD line, when compared to that of the previously detected HD 0--0 R(5)
line at 19.43um, suggests that, like the v=1 levels of H2, the v=1 levels of HD
are populated in LTE, despite their much higher rates of spontaneous emission
compared to H2. The higher than expected population of vibrationally excited HD
may be due to chemical coupling of HD to H2 via the reactive collisions HD + H
H2 + D in the shocked gas. The deuterium abundance implied by the
strengths of these lines relative to those of H2 is (5.1 pm 1.9 x 10^-6.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the Conference on "Deuterium in
the Universe," to be published in Planetary and Space Science
Wide-field mid-infrared and millimetre imaging of the high-redshift radio galaxy, 4C41.17
We present deep 350- and 1200-micron imaging of the region around 4C41.17 --
one of the most distant (z = 3.792) and luminous known radio galaxies --
obtained with the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera (SHARC-II) and
the Max Planck Millimeter Bolometer Array (MAMBO). The radio galaxy is robustly
detected at 350- and 1200-micron, as are two nearby 850-micron-selected
galaxies; a third 850-micron source is detected at 350-micron and coincides
with a ~ 2-sigma feature in the 1200-micron map. Further away from the radio
galaxy an additional nine sources are detected at 1200-micron, bringing the
total number of detected (sub)millimeter selected galaxies (SMGs) in this field
to 14. Using radio images from the Very Large Array (VLA) and Spitzer
mid-infrared (mid-IR) data, we find statistically robust radio and/or 24-micron
counterparts to eight of the 14 SMGs in the field around 4C41.17. Follow-up
spectroscopy with Keck/LRIS has yielded redshifts for three of the eight
robustly identified SMGs, placing them in the redshift range 0.5 < z < 2.7,
i.e. well below that of 4C41.17. We infer photometric redshifts for a further
four sources using their 1.6-micron (rest-frame) stellar feature as probed by
the IRAC bands; only one of them is likely to be at the same redshift as
4C41.17. Thus at least four, and as many as seven, of the SMGs within the
4C41.17 field are physically unrelated to the radio galaxy. With the redshift
information at hand we are able to constrain the observed over-densities of
SMGs within radial bins stretching to R=50 and 100" (~ 0.4 and ~ 0.8Mpc at z ~
3.8) from the radio galaxy to ~ 5x and ~ 2x that of the field, dropping off to
the background value at R=150". [Abridged]Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A Kiloparsec-Scale Hyper-Starburst in a Quasar Host Less than 1 Gigayear after the Big Bang
The host galaxy of the quasar SDSS J114816.64+525150.3 (at redshift z=6.42,
when the Universe was <1 billion years old) has an infrared luminosity of
2.2x10^13 L_sun, presumably significantly powered by a massive burst of star
formation. In local examples of extremely luminous galaxies such as Arp220, the
burst of star formation is concentrated in the relatively small central region
of <100pc radius. It is unknown on which scales stars are forming in active
galaxies in the early Universe, which are likely undergoing their initial burst
of star formation. We do know that at some early point structures comparable to
the spheroidal bulge of the Milky Way must have formed. Here we report a
spatially resolved image of [CII] emission of the host galaxy of
J114816.64+525150.3 that demonstrates that its star forming gas is distributed
over a radius of ~750pc around the centre. The surface density of the star
formation rate averaged over this region is ~1000 M_sun/yr/kpc^2. This surface
density is comparable to the peak in Arp220, though ~2 orders of magnitudes
larger in area. This vigorous star forming event will likely give rise to a
massive spheroidal component in this system.Comment: Nature, in press, Feb 5 issue, p. 699-70
Feedback control of trapped coherent atomic ensembles
We demonstrate how to use feedback to control the internal states of trapped
coherent ensembles of two-level atoms, and to protect a superposition state
against the decoherence induced by a collective noise. Our feedback scheme is
based on weak optical measurements with negligible back-action and coherent
microwave manipulations. The efficiency of the feedback system is studied for a
simple binary noise model and characterized in terms of the trade-off between
information retrieval and destructivity from the optical probe. We also
demonstrate the correction of more general types of collective noise. This
technique can be used for the operation of atomic interferometers beyond the
standard Ramsey scheme, opening the way towards improved atomic sensors.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Observations of Dense Molecular Gas in a Quasar Host Galaxy at z=6.42: Further Evidence for a Non-Linear Dense Gas - Star Formation Relation at Early Cosmic Times
We report a sensitive search for the HCN(J=2-1) emission line towards SDSS
J1148+5251 at z=6.42 with the VLA. HCN emission is a star formation indicator,
tracing dense molecular hydrogen gas (n(H2) >= 10^4 cm^-3) within star-forming
molecular clouds. No emission was detected in the deep interferometer maps of
J1148+5251. We derive a limit for the HCN line luminosity of L'(HCN) < 3.3 x
10^9 K km/s pc^2, corresponding to a HCN/CO luminosity ratio of L'(HCN)/L'(CO)
< 0.13. This limit is consistent with a fraction of dense molecular gas in
J1148+5251 within the range of nearby ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs;
median value: L'(HCN)/L'(CO) = 0.17 {+0.05/-0.08}) and HCN-detected z>2
galaxies (0.17 {+0.09/-0.08}). The relationship between L'(HCN) and L(FIR) is
considered to be a measure for the efficiency at which stars form out of dense
gas. In the nearby universe, these quantities show a linear correlation, and
thus, a practically constant average ratio. In J1148+5251, we find
L(FIR)/L'(HCN) > 6600. This is significantly higher than the average ratios for
normal nearby spiral galaxies (L(FIR)/L'(HCN) = 580 {+510/-270}) and ULIRGs
(740 {+505/-50}), but consistent with a rising trend as indicated by other z>2
galaxies (predominantly quasars; 1525 {+1300/-475}). It is unlikely that this
rising trend can be accounted for by a contribution of AGN heating to L(FIR)
alone, and may hint at a higher median gas density and/or elevated
star-formation efficiency toward the more luminous high-redshift systems. There
is marginal evidence that the L(FIR)/L'(HCN) ratio in J1148+5251 may even
exceed the rising trend set by other z>2 galaxies; however, only future
facilities with very large collecting areas such as the SKA will offer the
sensitivity required to further investigate this question.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, to appear in ApJL (accepted October 24,
2007
Application of differential pH technique to the determination of urea in Italian wines
A method for the quantification of urea in wine, based on measuring the change in pH when urease is added to the sample, is presented and compared to the conventional dual enzyme (urease/glutamate dehydrogenase) approach. The method is linear in the range 0-30 mg·l-1 in red, white and âraisinâ wines, and the detection limit (0.3 mg·l-1) is lower than for the usual enzymatic method. The differential pH technique presented here gives accurate quantification of urea in wine, being unaffected by the presence of ammonium. The amounts of urea in 195 still and sparkling commercially available wines with designation of geographic origin from the most renowned Italian grape growing areas were quantified. 17.4 % of samples were over the 3 mg·l-1 level suggested by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine for urease treatment to limit the potential risk for ethyl carbamate formation during wine ageing. Yeast strains EC1118 and SP665 can minimise urea content in wine.
Double Scaling Limits and Twisted Non-Critical Superstrings
We consider double-scaling limits of multicut solutions of certain one matrix
models that are related to Calabi-Yau singularities of type A and the
respective topological B model via the Dijkgraaf-Vafa correspondence. These
double-scaling limits naturally lead to a bosonic string with c 1. We
argue that this non-critical string is given by the topologically twisted
non-critical superstring background which provides the dual description of the
double-scaled little string theory at the Calabi-Yau singularity. The
algorithms developed recently to solve a generic multicut matrix model by means
of the loop equations allow to show that the scaling of the higher genus terms
in the matrix model free energy matches the expected behaviour in the
topological B-model. This result applies to a generic matrix model singularity
and the relative double-scaling limit. We use these techniques to explicitly
evaluate the free energy at genus one and genus two.Comment: 32 pages, 3 figure
Spin-squeezing and Dicke state preparation by heterodyne measurement
We investigate the quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement of an atomic
population based on a heterodyne detection and show that the induced
back-action allows to prepare both spin-squeezed and Dicke states. We use a
wavevector formalism to describe the stochastic process of the measurement and
the associated atomic evolution. Analytical formulas of the atomic distribution
momenta are derived in the weak coupling regime both for short and long time
behavior, and they are in good agreement with those obtained by a Monte-Carlo
simulation. The experimental implementation of the proposed heterodyne
detection scheme is discussed. The role played in the squeezing process by the
spontaneous emission is considered
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