327 research outputs found
Pancharatnam and Berry Phases in Three-Level Photonic Systems
A theoretical analysis of Pancharatnam and Berry phases is made for biphoton
three-level systems, which are produced via frequency degenerate co-linear
spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC). The general theory of
Pancharatnam phases is discussed with a special emphasis on geodesic 'curves'in
Hilbert space. Explicit expressions for Pancharatnam, dynamical and geometrical
phases are derived for the transformations produced by linear phase-converters.
The problem of gauge invariance is treated along all the article
Superresolution observed from evanescent waves transmitted through nano-corrugated metallic films
Plane EM waves transmitted through nano-corrugated metallic thin films
produce evanescent waves which include the information on the nano-structures.
The production of the evanescent waves at the metallic surface are analyzed. A
microsphere located above the metallic surface collects the evanescent waves
which are converted into propagating waves. The equations for the refraction at
the boundary of the microsphere and the use of Snell's law for evanescent waves
are developed. The magnification of the nano-structure images is explained by a
geometric optics description, but the high resolution is related to the
evanescent waves properties.Comment: 12 page
Improvement of measurement accuracy in SU(1,1) interferometers
We consider an SU(1,1) interferometer employing four-wave mixers that is fed
with two-mode states which are both coherent and intelligent states of the
SU(1,1) Lie group. It is shown that the phase sensitivity of the interferometer
can be essentially improved by using input states with a large photon-number
difference between the modes.Comment: LaTeX, 5 pages, 1 figure (compressed PostScript, available at
http://www.technion.ac.il/~brif/graphics/interfer_graph/qopt.ps.gz ). More
information on http://www.technion.ac.il/~brif/science.htm
Nonadiabatic geometric phase induced by a counterpart of the Stark shift
We analyse the geometric phase due to the Stark shift in a system composed of
a bosonic field, driven by time-dependent linear amplification, interacting
dispersively with a two-level (fermionic) system. We show that a geometric
phase factor in the joint state of the system, which depends on the fermionic
state (resulting form the Stark shift), is introduced by the amplification
process. A clear geometrical interpretation of this phenomenon is provided. We
also show how to measure this effect in an interferometric experiment and to
generate geometric "Schrodinger cat"-like states. Finally, considering the
currently available technology, we discuss a feasible scheme to control and
measure such geometric phases in the context of cavity quantum electrodynamics
Endothelial cells decode VEGF-mediated Ca2+ signaling patterns to produce distinct functional responses
A single extracellular stimulus can promote diverse behaviors among isogenic cells by differentially regulated signaling networks. We examined Ca2+ signaling in response to VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), a growth factor that can stimulate different behaviors in endothelial cells. We found that altering the amount of VEGF signaling in endothelial cells by stimulating them with different VEGF concentrations triggered distinct and mutually exclusive dynamic Ca2+ signaling responses that correlated with different cellular behaviors. These behaviors were cell proliferation involving the transcription factor NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T cells) and cell migration involving MLCK (myosin light chain kinase). Further analysis suggested that this signal decoding was robust to the noisy nature of the signal input. Using probabilistic modeling, we captured both the stochastic and deterministic aspects of Ca2+ signal decoding and accurately predicted cell responses in VEGF gradients, which we used to simulate different amounts of VEGF signaling. Ca2+ signaling patterns associated with proliferation and migration were detected during angiogenesis in developing zebrafish
Continuous photodetection model: quantum jump engineering and hints for experimental verification
We examine some aspects of the continuous photodetection model for
photocounting processes in cavities. First, we work out a microscopic model
that describes the field-detector interaction and deduce a general expression
for the Quantum Jump Superoperator (QJS), that shapes the detector's
post-action on the field upon a detection. We show that in particular cases our
model recovers the QJSs previously proposed ad hoc in the literature and point
out that by adjusting the detector parameters one can engineer QJSs. Then we
set up schemes for experimental verification of the model. By taking into
account the ubiquitous non-idealities, we show that by measuring the lower
photocounts moments and the mean waiting time one can check which QJS better
describes the photocounting phenomenon.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Contribution to the conference Quantum Optics
III, Pucon - Chile, November 27-30, 200
Emission spectra and intrinsic optical bistability in a two-level medium
Scattering of resonant radiation in a dense two-level medium is studied
theoretically with account for local field effects and renormalization of the
resonance frequency. Intrinsic optical bistability is viewed as switching
between different spectral patterns of fluorescent light controlled by the
incident field strength. Response spectra are calculated analytically for the
entire hysteresis loop of atomic excitation. The equations to describe the
non-linear interaction of an atomic ensemble with light are derived from the
Bogolubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon hierarchy for reduced single particle
density matrices of atoms and quantized field modes and their correlation
operators. The spectral power of scattered light with separated coherent and
incoherent constituents is obtained straightforwardly within the hierarchy. The
formula obtained for emission spectra can be used to distinguish between
possible mechanisms suggested to produce intrinsic bistability.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure
Aggregate Plaque Volume by Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography Is Superior and Incremental to Luminal Narrowing for Diagnosis of Ischemic Lesions of Intermediate Stenosis Severity
ObjectivesThis study examined the performance of percent aggregate plaque volume (%APV), which represents cumulative plaque volume as a function of total vessel volume, by coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) for identification of ischemic lesions of intermediate stenosis severity.BackgroundCoronary lesions of intermediate stenosis demonstrate significant rates of ischemia. Coronary CTA enables quantification of luminal narrowing and %APV.MethodsWe identified 58 patients with intermediate lesions (30% to 69% diameter stenosis) who underwent invasive angiography and fractional flow reserve. Coronary CTA measures included diameter stenosis, area stenosis, minimal lumen diameter (MLD), minimal lumen area (MLA) and %APV. %APV was defined as the sum of plaque volume divided by the sum of vessel volume from the ostium to the distal portion of the lesion. Fractional flow reserve ≤0.80 was considered diagnostic of lesion-specific ischemia. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were also evaluated.ResultsTwenty-two of 58 lesions (38%) caused ischemia. Compared with nonischemic lesions, ischemic lesions had smaller MLD (1.3 vs. 1.7 mm, p = 0.01), smaller MLA (2.5 vs. 3.8 mm2, p = 0.01), and greater %APV (48.9% vs. 39.3%, p < 0.0001). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was highest for %APV (0.85) compared with diameter stenosis (0.68), area stenosis (0.66), MLD (0.75), or MLA (0.78). Addition of %APV to other measures showed significant reclassification over diameter stenosis (NRI 0.77, p < 0.001), area stenosis (NRI 0.63, p = 0.002), MLD (NRI 0.62, p = 0.001), and MLA (NRI 0.43, p = 0.01).ConclusionsCompared with diameter stenosis, area stenosis, MLD, and MLA, %APV by coronary CTA improves identification, discrimination, and reclassification of ischemic lesions of intermediate stenosis severity
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