Elastic wave scattering by shelled spherical scatterers in a focused field

Embrittlement of many important metal alloys has been related to the accumulation of undesirable materials at grain boundaries, a condition which may be detectable through measurement of ultrasonic scattering from the material’s microstructure. Grains with decorated grain boundaries are modeled as shelled microspheres embedded in an isotropic elastic host, and a practical means of predicting scattering from these particles is developed. The incident field often used for measuring backscattered grain noise is focused; both plane and focused incident fields are treated. Theoretical predictions of scattering from isolated scatterers are compared with experimental measurements on metal microspheres embedded in plastic to validate the computational procedure, then predictions of scattering from similar spherical structures embedded in a metal host are presented. In the former case theoretical predictions are found consistent with observations, although differences between shelled and nonshelled scatterers are obscured by the great contrast between host and scatterer. In the latter case, where host and core are quite similar, even thin shells can produce scattering readily distinguishable from the weak scattering in polycrystals that may be due to locally inhomogeneous properties. Results of this study can be used to calculate a backscattering coefficient for calculations of grain noise in metals containing, or composed of, numerous shelled scatterers

Detection of noise-corrupted sinusoidal signals with Josephson junctions

We investigate the possibility of exploiting the speed and low noise features of Josephson junctions for detecting sinusoidal signals masked by Gaussian noise. We show that the escape time from the static locked state of a Josephson junction is very sensitive to a small periodic signal embedded in the noise, and therefore the analysis of the escape times can be employed to reveal the presence of the sinusoidal component. We propose and characterize two detection strategies: in the first the initial phase is supposedly unknown (incoherent strategy), while in the second the signal phase remains unknown but is fixed (coherent strategy). Our proposals are both suboptimal, with the linear filter being the optimal detection strategy, but they present some remarkable features, such as resonant activation, that make detection through Josephson junctions appealing in some special cases.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figure

Frequency-Dependent Squeezing for Advanced LIGO

The first detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015 launched the era of gravitational wave astronomy. The quest for gravitational wave signals from objects that are fainter or farther away impels technological advances to realize ever more sensitive detectors. Since 2019, one advanced technique, the injection of squeezed states of light is being used to improve the shot noise limit to the sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors, at frequencies above $\sim 50$ Hz. Below this frequency, quantum back action, in the form of radiation pressure induced motion of the mirrors, degrades the sensitivity. To simultaneously reduce shot noise at high frequencies and quantum radiation pressure noise at low frequencies requires a quantum noise filter cavity with low optical losses to rotate the squeezed quadrature as a function of frequency. We report on the observation of frequency-dependent squeezed quadrature rotation with rotation frequency of 30Hz, using a 16m long filter cavity. A novel control scheme is developed for this frequency-dependent squeezed vacuum source, and the results presented here demonstrate that a low-loss filter cavity can achieve the squeezed quadrature rotation necessary for the next planned upgrade to Advanced LIGO, known as "A+."Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let

Properties of metastable alkaline-earth-metal atoms calculated using an accurate effective core potential

The first three electronically excited states in the alkaline-earth-metal atoms magnesium, calcium, and strontium comprise the (nsnp) triplet P^o_J (J=0,1,2) fine-structure manifold. All three states are metastable and are of interest for optical atomic clocks as well as for cold-collision physics. An efficient technique--based on a physically motivated potential that models the presence of the ionic core--is employed to solve the Schroedinger equation for the two-electron valence shell. In this way, radiative lifetimes, laser-induced clock shifts, and long-range interaction parameters are calculated for metastable Mg, Ca, and Sr.Comment: 13 pages, 9 table

Metallic Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dots with Broken Symmetries as a Platform for Tunable Terahertz Detection

Quantum dots (QD) in metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) have shown great potential to build sensitive terahertz (THz) detection devices usually based on photon-assisted tunneling. A recently reported mechanism based on a combination of resonant QD transitions and asymmetries in the tunneling barriers results in narrow linewidth photocurrent response with a large signal to noise ratio under weak THz radiation. However in such devices, due to metallic SWNTs linear dispersion relation, the detection range is intrinsically limited to allowed energy transitions between equidistant quantized states set by the QD length. Here, we show that simultaneously breaking translational, rotational and mirror symmetries in metallic SWNT QDs leads to a quantized spectrum with non-equidistant energy levels. This result stems from tight-binding and first-principle simulations of a defect-induced metallic zigzag SWNT QD and is validated experimentally by scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies. Importantly, we show that breaking symmetries in metallic SWNT QDs of arbitrary chirality strongly relaxes the selection rules in the electric dipole approximation, leading to a richer set of allowed optical transitions spanning frequencies from as low as 1 THz up to several tens of THz for a $\sim$10 nm QD. Such findings make metallic carbon nanotube QDs with broken symmetries a promising platform to design tunable THz detectors operating above liquid helium temperatures. In this context, we propose a device design based on a metallic SWNT QD engineered with artificially created defects.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figure

A constraint on antigravity of antimatter from precision spectroscopy of simple atoms

Consideration of antigravity for antiparticles is an attractive target for various experimental projects. There are a number of theoretical arguments against it but it is not quite clear what kind of experimental data and theoretical suggestions are involved. In this paper we present straightforward arguments against a possibility of antigravity based on a few simple theoretical suggestions and some experimental data. The data are: astrophysical data on rotation of the Solar System in respect to the center of our galaxy and precision spectroscopy data on hydrogen and positronium. The theoretical suggestions for the case of absence of the gravitational field are: equality of electron and positron mass and equality of proton and positron charge. We also assume that QED is correct at the level of accuracy where it is clearly confirmed experimentally

Materials for phantoms for terahertz pulsed imaging

Phantoms are commonly used in medical imaging for quality assurance, calibration, research and teaching. They may include test patterns or simulations of organs, but in either case a tissue substitute medium is an important component of the phantom. The aim of this work was to identify materials suitable for use as tissue substitutes for the relatively new medical imaging modality terahertz pulsed imaging. Samples of different concentrations of the candidate materials TX151 and napthol green dye were prepared, and measurements made of the frequency-dependent absorption coefficient (0.5 to 1.5 THz) and refractive index (0.5 to 1.0 THz). These results were compared qualitatively with measurements made in a similar way on samples of excised human tissue (skin, adipose tissue and striated muscle). Both materials would be suitable for phantoms where the dominant mechanism to be simulated is absorption (similar to ∼100 cm(-1) at 1 THz) and where simulation of the strength of reflections from boundaries is not important; for example, test patterns for spatial resolution measurements. Only TX151 had a frequency-dependent refractive index close to that of tissue, and could therefore be used to simulate the layered structure of skin, the complexity of microvasculature or to investigate frequency-dependent interference effects that have been noted in terahertz images

Time-dependent calculation of ionization in Potassium at mid-infrared wavelengths

We study the dynamics of the Potassium atom in the mid-infrared, high intensity, short laser pulse regime. We ascertain numerical convergence by comparing the results obtained by the direct expansion of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation onto B-Splines, to those obtained by the eigenbasis expansion method. We present ionization curves in the 12-, 13-, and 14-photon ionization range for Potassium. The ionization curve of a scaled system, namely Hydrogen starting from the 2s, is compared to the 12-photon results. In the 13-photon regime, a dynamic resonance is found and analyzed in some detail. The results for all wavelengths and intensities, including Hydrogen, display a clear plateau in the peak-heights of the low energy part of the Above Threshold Ionization (ATI) spectrum, which scales with the ponderomotive energy Up, and extends to 2.8 +- 0.5 Up.Comment: 15 two-column pages with 15 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev A. Improved figures, language and punctuation, and made minor corrections. We also added a comparison to the ADK theor