Photon statistics in collective strong coupling: Nanocavities and microcavities

There exists a growing interest in the properties of the light generated by hybrid systems involving a mesoscopic number of emitters as a means of providing macroscopic quantum light sources. In this work, the quantum correlations of the light emitted by a collection of emitters coupled to a generic optical cavity are studied theoretically using an effective Hamiltonian approach. Starting from the single-emitter level, we analyze the persistence of photon antibunching as the ensemble size increases. Not only is the photon blockade effect identifiable, but photon antibunching originated from destructive interference processes, the so-called unconventional antibunching, is also present. We study the dependence of these two types of negative correlations on the spectral detuning between cavity and emitters, as well as its evolution as the time delay between photon detections increases. Throughout this work, the performance of plasmonic nanocavities and dielectric microcavities is compared: despite the distinct energy scales and the differences introduced by their respectively open and closed character, the bunching and antibunching phenomenology presents remarkable similarities in both types of cavitiesThis work has been funded by the European Research Council under Grant Agreements No. ERC-2011-AdG 290981 and No. ERC-2016-STG-714870, the EU Seventh Framework Programme (Grants No. FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG-630996 and No. FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG-618229), and the Spanish MINECO under Contracts No. MAT2014-53432-C5-5-R and No. FIS2015-64951-R, as well as through the “María de Maeztu” programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (Grant No. MDM-2014-0377)

Organic polaritons enable local vibrations to drive long-range energy transfer

Long-range energy transfer in organic molecules has been experimentally obtained by strongly coupling their electronic excitations to a confined electromagnetic cavity mode. Here, we shed light into the polariton-mediated mechanism behind this process for different configurations: donor and acceptor molecules either intermixed or physically separated. We numerically address the phenomenon by means of Bloch-Redfield theory, which allows us to reproduce the effect of complex vibrational reservoirs characteristic of organic molecules. Our findings reveal the key role played by the middle polariton as the nonlocal intermediary in the transmission of excitations from donor to acceptor molecules. We also provide analytical insights on the key physical magnitudes that help to optimize the efficiency of the long-range energy transferThis work has been funded by the European Research Council under Grant Agreements No. ERC-2011-AdG 290981 and No. ERC- 2016-STG-714870, the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG-630996 and FP7-PEOPLE-2013- CIG-618229), and the Spanish MINECO under Contracts No. MAT2014-53432-C5-5-R and No. FIS2015-64951-R, as well as through the “María de Maeztu” programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2014-0377)

Enhancing photon correlations through plasmonic strong coupling

© 2017 Optical Society of America. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibitedThere is an increasing scientific and technological interest in the design and implementation of nanoscale sources of quantum light. Here, we investigate the quantum statistics of the light scattered from a plasmonic nanocavity coupled to a mesoscopic ensemble of emitters under low coherent pumping. We present an analytical description of the intensity correlations taking place in these systems and unveil the fingerprint of plasmon-exciton-polaritons in them. Our findings reveal that plasmonic cavities are able to retain and enhance excitonic nonlinearities, even when the number of emitters is large. This makes plasmonic strong coupling a promising route for generating nonclassical light beyond the single-emitter levelFP7 Ideas: European Research Council (IDEASERC) (ERC-2011-AdG 290981, ERC-2016-STG-714870, FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG-618229, FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG630996); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (FIS2015-64951-R, MAT2014-53432-C5-5-R, MDM-2014-0377

Geometric Morphometrics and Machine Learning Models Applied to the Study of Late Iron Age Cut Marks from Central Spain

Recently the incorporation of artificial intelligence has allowed the development of valuable methodological advances in taphonomy. Some studies have achieved great precision in identifying the carnivore that produced tooth marks. Additionally, other works focused on human activity have managed to specify what type of tool or raw material was used in the filleting processes identified at the sites. Through the use of geometric morphometrics and machine learning techniques, the present study intends to analyze the cut marks of the Ulaca oppidum (Solosancho, Ávila, Spain) in order to identify the type of tools used during carcass modification. Although the Ulaca oppidum is an Iron Age site, the results suggest that most of the cut marks were produced with flint tools.During the development of the present work J.A. was funded by the Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea [ESPDOC21/05]. This work has been partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (project PID2021-123721OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE) and Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FCT-21-17318). M.Á.M.-G. and C.S.B. acknowledges the grant RYC2021-034813-I and RYC2021-034720-I respectively, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by European Union “NextGenerationEU”/PRTR

VETTONIA PROJECT: A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THE EDUCATIONAL DISSEMINATION OF THE IRON AGE

The VETTONIA project aims to disseminate the rich heritage from the Iron Age of the western Iberian Peninsula and the archaeological investigations carried out on this topic in recent years. The project utilizes new technologies such as virtual tours, 3D models, and impressions to create interactive and stimulating ways to access the results of the most recent archaeological research. Using these resources, lectures and seminars are being given in various forums with diverse types of audiences to present the virtual tours and the rest of the dissemination initiatives. In addition, the project presents its different initiatives during the annual archaeological interventions developed in the oppidum of Ulaca (Solosancho, Ávila, Spain), with good reception by the attending public. The VETTONIA project represents a pioneering dissemination experience that takes advantage of the educational opportunities offered by new technologies. In the future, tools such as virtual tours to archaeological sites may prove essential in classroom teaching at different levels and could promote sustainable tourism in fragile natural environments such as those that constitute the major settlements of the Late Iron Age (ca. 400–50 BC)

Experimental and Theoretical Investigation on the OH + CH3C(O)CH3 Reaction at Interstellar Temperatures (T = 11.7-64.4 K)

International audienceThe rate coefficient, k(T), for the gas-phase reaction between OH radicals and acetone CH3C(O)CH3, has been measured using the pulsed CRESU (French acronym for Reaction Kinetics in a Uniform Supersonic Flow) technique (T = 11.7-64.4 K). The temperature dependence of k(T = 10-300 K) has also been computed using a RRKM-Master equation analysis after partial revision of the potential energy surface. In agreement with previous studies we found that the reaction proceeds via initial formation of two prereactive complexes both leading to H2O + CH3C(O)CH2 by H-abstraction tunneling. The experimental k(T) was found to increase as temperature was lowered. The measured values have been found to be several orders of magnitude higher than k(300 K). This trend is reproduced by calculations, with an especially good agreement with experiments below 25 K. The effect of total gas density on k(T) has been explored. Experimentally, no pressure dependence of k(20 K) and k(64 K) was observed, while k(50 K) at the largest gas density 4.47 × 1017 cm-3 is twice higher than the average values found at lower densities. The computed k(T) is also reported for 103 cm-3 of He (representative of the interstellar medium). The predicted rate coefficients at 10 K surround the experimental value which appears to be very close to that of the low pressure regime prevailing in the interstellar medium. For gas-phase model chemistry of interstellar molecular clouds, we suggest using the calculated value of 1.8 × 10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 at 10 K, and the reaction products are water and CH3C(O)CH2 radicals. © 2019 American Chemical Society