5,570 research outputs found
Parity Measurement is Sufficient for Phase Estimation at the Quantum Cramer-Rao Bound for Path-Symmetric States
In this letter, we show that for all the so-called path-symmetric states, the
measurement of parity of photon number at the output of an optical
interferometer achieves maximal phase sensitivity at the quantum Cramer-Rao
bound. Such optimal phase sensitivity with parity is attained at a suitable
bias phase, which can be determined a priori. Our scheme is applicable for
local phase estimation
Particle image velocimetry in molten plastic
Injection molding is a standard manufacturing process for plastic parts. The most important process step, mold filling, involves unsteady nonisothermal flow of a non-Newtonian molten plastic. Mold-filling flow largely determines molecular orientation within the final part and thereby influences final part properties. This article describes techniques for successfully applying particle image velocimetry (PIV) to molten plastic flow during injection molding. The primary experimental challenges include the following: engineering optical access to the molten plastic flow at elevated temperatures (230–245°C) and pressures (∼20 MPa), finding particles that survive the thermal-mechanical environment that melts the plastic, and developing experimental and data-reduction techniques that allow multiple imperfect planar PIV measurements to be combined. Here, a custom optical-access mold allowed mold center-plane PIV to be performed in molten polystyrene. Simple statistical assessments of the velocimetry data and scaled residuals of the continuity equation suggest that the PIV can be conducted in molten plastics with an uncertainty of ±2%. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics EngineersPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83457/1/21881_ftp.pd
The Vortex Phase Qubit: Generating Arbitrary, Counter-Rotating, Coherent Superpositions in Bose-Einstein Condensates via Optical Angular Momentum Beams
We propose a scheme for generation of arbitrary coherent superposition of
vortex states in Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) using the orbital angular
momentum (OAM) states of light. We devise a scheme to generate coherent
superpositions of two counter-rotating OAM states of light using known
experimental techniques. We show that a specially designed Raman scheme allows
transfer of the optical vortex superposition state onto an initially
non-rotating BEC. This creates an arbitrary and coherent superposition of a
vortex and anti-vortex pair in the BEC. The ideas presented here could be
extended to generate entangled vortex states, design memories for the OAM
states of light, and perform other quantum information tasks. Applications to
inertial sensing are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Revtex4, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Entanglement of indistinguishable particles in condensed matter physics
The concept of entanglement in systems where the particles are
indistinguishable has been the subject of much recent interest and controversy.
In this paper we study the notion of entanglement of particles introduced by
Wiseman and Vaccaro [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 097902 (2003)] in several specific
physical systems, including some that occur in condensed matter physics. The
entanglement of particles is relevant when the identical particles are
itinerant and so not distinguished by their position as in spin models. We show
that entanglement of particles can behave differently to other approaches that
have been used previously, such as entanglement of modes (occupation-number
entanglement) and the entanglement in the two-spin reduced density matrix. We
argue that the entanglement of particles is what could actually be measured in
most experimental scenarios and thus its physical significance is clear. This
suggests entanglement of particles may be useful in connecting theoretical and
experimental studies of entanglement in condensed matter systems.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, comments welcome, published version (minor
changes, added references
The time-reversal test for stochastic quantum dynamics
The calculation of quantum dynamics is currently a central issue in
theoretical physics, with diverse applications ranging from ultra-cold atomic
Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) to condensed matter, biology, and even
astrophysics. Here we demonstrate a conceptually simple method of determining
the regime of validity of stochastic simulations of unitary quantum dynamics by
employing a time-reversal test. We apply this test to a simulation of the
evolution of a quantum anharmonic oscillator with up to
(Avogadro's number) of particles. This system is realisable as a Bose-Einstein
condensate in an optical lattice, for which the time-reversal procedure could
be implemented experimentally.Comment: revtex4, two figures, four page
Simulations of atomic trajectories near a dielectric surface
We present a semiclassical model of an atom moving in the evanescent field of
a microtoroidal resonator. Atoms falling through whispering-gallery modes can
achieve strong, coherent coupling with the cavity at distances of approximately
100 nanometers from the surface; in this regime, surface-induced Casmir-Polder
level shifts become significant for atomic motion and detection. Atomic transit
events detected in recent experiments are analyzed with our simulation, which
is extended to consider atom trapping in the evanescent field of a microtoroid.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure
Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber
Trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled neutral atoms is an essential
requirement for their use in advanced quantum technologies. Here we
simultaneously realize both of these tasks with cesium atoms interacting with a
multi-color evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber. The atoms are
localized in a one-dimensional optical lattice about 200 nm above the nanofiber
surface and can be efficiently interrogated with a resonant light field sent
through the nanofiber. Our technique opens the route towards the direct
integration of laser-cooled atomic ensembles within fiber networks, an
important prerequisite for large scale quantum communication schemes. Moreover,
it is ideally suited to the realization of hybrid quantum systems that combine
atoms with, e.g., solid state quantum devices
Effect of an atom on a quantum guided field in a weakly driven fiber-Bragg-grating cavity
We study the interaction of an atom with a quantum guided field in a weakly
driven fiber-Bragg-grating (FBG) cavity. We present an effective Hamiltonian
and derive the density-matrix equations for the combined atom-cavity system. We
calculate the mean photon number, the second-order photon correlation function,
and the atomic excited-state population. We show that, due to the confinement
of the guided cavity field in the fiber cross-section plane and in the space
between the FBG mirrors, the presence of the atom in the FBG cavity can
significantly affect the mean photon number and the photon statistics even
though the cavity finesse is moderate, the cavity is long, and the probe field
is weak.Comment: Accepted for Phys. Rev.
Four-dimensional laser induced fluorescence study of the structure of molecular mixing in turbulent flows
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77075/1/AIAA-1994-820-515.pd
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