Waveguide single-photon detectors for integrated quantum photonic circuits

The generation, manipulation and detection of quantum bits (qubits) encoded on single photons is at the heart of quantum communication and optical quantum information processing. The combination of single-photon sources, passive optical circuits and single-photon detectors enables quantum repeaters and qubit amplifiers, and also forms the basis of all-optical quantum gates and of linear-optics quantum computing. However, the monolithic integration of sources, waveguides and detectors on the same chip, as needed for scaling to meaningful number of qubits, is very challenging, and previous work on quantum photonic circuits has used external sources and detectors. Here we propose an approach to a fully-integrated quantum photonic circuit on a semiconductor chip, and demonstrate a key component of such circuit, a waveguide single-photon detector. Our detectors, based on superconducting nanowires on GaAs ridge waveguides, provide high efficiency (20%) at telecom wavelengths, high timing accuracy (60 ps), response time in the ns range, and are fully compatible with the integration of single-photon sources, passive networks and modulators.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multi-national data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar was found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-negligible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic

Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics

An in-plane nano-mechanics approach to achieve reversible resonance control of photonic crystal nanocavities

Abstract: We present the design, the fabrication and the characterization of a tunable one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal cavity (PCC) etched on two vertically-coupled GaAs nanobeams. A novel fabrication method which prevents their adhesion under capillary forces is introduced. We discuss a design to increase the flexibility of the structure and we demonstrate a large reversible and controllable electromechanical wavelength tuning (> 15 nm) of the cavity modes

Author Correction: National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9, published online 26 January 2022

Quantum Rings in Electromagnetic Fields

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this recordThis chapter is devoted to optical properties of so-called Aharonov-Bohm quantum rings (quantum rings pierced by a magnetic flux resulting in AharonovBohm oscillations of their electronic spectra) in external electromagnetic fields. It studies two problems. The first problem deals with a single-electron AharonovBohm quantum ring pierced by a magnetic flux and subjected to an in-plane (lateral) electric field. We predict magneto-oscillations of the ring electric dipole moment. These oscillations are accompanied by periodic changes in the selection rules for inter-level optical transitions in the ring allowing control of polarization properties of the associated terahertz radiation. The second problem treats a single-mode microcavity with an embedded Aharonov-Bohm quantum ring which is pierced by a magnetic flux and subjected to a lateral electric field. We show that external electric and magnetic fields provide additional means of control of the emission spectrum of the system. In particular, when the magnetic flux through the quantum ring is equal to a half-integer number of the magnetic flux quanta, a small change in the lateral electric field allows for tuning of the energy levels of the quantum ring into resonance with the microcavity mode, thus providing an efficient way to control the quantum ring-microcavity coupling strength. Emission spectra of the system are discussed for several combinations of the applied magnetic and electric fields

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.publishedVersio

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (vol 13, 517, 2022) : National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic (Nature Communications, (2022), 13, 1, (517), 10.1038/s41467-021-27668-9)

Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.In this article the author name ‘Agustin Ibanez’ was incorrectly written as ‘Augustin Ibanez’. The original article has been corrected.Peer reviewe