Inhomogeneous mechanical losses in micro-oscillators with high reflectivity coating

We characterize the mechanical quality factor of micro-oscillators covered by a highly reflective coating. We test an approach to the reduction of mechanical losses, that consists in limiting the size of the coated area to reduce the strain and the consequent energy loss in this highly dissipative component. Moreover, a mechanical isolation stage is incorporated in the device. The results are discussed on the basis of an analysis of homogeneous and non-homogeneous losses in the device and validated by a set of Finite-Element models. The contributions of thermoelastic dissipation and coating losses are separated and the measured quality factors are found in agreement with the calculated values, while the absence of unmodeled losses confirms that the isolation element integrated in the device efficiently uncouples the dynamics of the mirror from the support system. Also the resonant frequencies evaluated by Finite-Element models are in good agreement with the experimental data, and allow the estimation of the Young modulus of the coating. The models that we have developed and validated are important for the design of oscillating micro-mirrors with high quality factor and, consequently, low thermal noise. Such devices are useful in general for high sensitivity sensors, and in particular for experiments of quantum opto-mechanics

Detection of weak stochastic force in a parametrically stabilized micro opto-mechanical system

Measuring a weak force is an important task for micro-mechanical systems, both when using devices as sensitive detectors and, particularly, in experiments of quantum mechanics. The optimal strategy for resolving a weak stochastic signal force on a huge background (typically given by thermal noise) is a crucial and debated topic, and the stability of the mechanical resonance is a further, related critical issue. We introduce and analyze the parametric control of the optical spring, that allows to stabilize the resonance and provides a phase reference for the oscillator motion, yet conserving a free evolution in one quadrature of the phase space. We also study quantitatively the characteristics of our micro opto-mechanical system as detector of stochastic force for short measurement times (for quick, high resolution monitoring) as well as for the longer term observations that optimize the sensitivity. We compare a simple, naive strategy based on the evaluation of the variance of the displacement (that is a widely used technique) with an optimal Wiener-Kolmogorov data analysis. We show that, thanks to the parametric stabilization of the effective susceptibility, we can more efficiently implement Wiener filtering, and we investigate how this strategy improves the performance of our system. We finally demonstrate the possibility to resolve stochastic force variations well below 1% of the thermal noise

An ultra-low dissipation micro-oscillator for quantum opto-mechanics

Generating non-classical states of light by opto-mechanical coupling depends critically on the mechanical and optical properties of micro-oscillators and on the minimization of thermal noise. We present an oscillating micro-mirror with a mechanical quality factor Q = 2.6x10^6 at cryogenic temperature and a Finesse of 65000, obtained thanks to an innovative approach to the design and the control of mechanical dissipation. Already at 4 K with an input laser power of 2 mW, the radiation-pressure quantum fluctuations become the main noise source, overcoming thermal noise. This feature makes our devices particularly suitable for the production of pondero-motive squeezing.Comment: 21 pages including Supplementary Informatio

Semantic Object Parsing with Graph LSTM

By taking the semantic object parsing task as an exemplar application scenario, we propose the Graph Long Short-Term Memory (Graph LSTM) network, which is the generalization of LSTM from sequential data or multi-dimensional data to general graph-structured data. Particularly, instead of evenly and fixedly dividing an image to pixels or patches in existing multi-dimensional LSTM structures (e.g., Row, Grid and Diagonal LSTMs), we take each arbitrary-shaped superpixel as a semantically consistent node, and adaptively construct an undirected graph for each image, where the spatial relations of the superpixels are naturally used as edges. Constructed on such an adaptive graph topology, the Graph LSTM is more naturally aligned with the visual patterns in the image (e.g., object boundaries or appearance similarities) and provides a more economical information propagation route. Furthermore, for each optimization step over Graph LSTM, we propose to use a confidence-driven scheme to update the hidden and memory states of nodes progressively till all nodes are updated. In addition, for each node, the forgets gates are adaptively learned to capture different degrees of semantic correlation with neighboring nodes. Comprehensive evaluations on four diverse semantic object parsing datasets well demonstrate the significant superiority of our Graph LSTM over other state-of-the-art solutions.Comment: 18 page

The magnetic precursor of L1448-mm: Excitation differences between ion and neutral fluids

Shock modelling predicts an electron density enhancement within the magnetic precursor of C-shocks. Previous observations of SiO, H13CO+, HN13C and H13CN toward the young L1448-mm outflow showed an over-excitation of the ion fluid that was attributed to an electron density enhancement in the precursor. We re-visit this interpretation and test if it still holds when we consider different source morphologies and kinetic temperatures for the observed molecules, and also give some insight on the spatial extent of the electron density enhancement around L1448-mm. We estimate the opacities of H13CO+ and HN13C by observing the J=3\to2 lines of rarer isotopologues to confirm that the emission is optically thin. To model the excitation of the molecules, we use the large velocity gradient (LVG) approximation with updated collisional coefficients to i) re- analyse the observations toward the positions where the over-excitation of H13CO+ has previously been observed [i.e. toward L1448- mm at offsets (0,0) and (0,-10)], and ii) to investigate if the electron density enhancement is still required for the cases of extended and compact emission, and for kinetic temperatures of up to 400 K. We also report several lines of SiO, HN13C and H13CO+ toward new positions around this outflow, to investigate the spatial extent of the over-excitation of the ions in L1448-mm. From the isotopologue observations, we find that the emission of H13CO+ and HN13C from the precursor is optically thin if this emission is extended. Using the new collisional coefficients, an electron density enhancement is still needed to explain the excitation of H13CO+ for extended emission and for gas temperatures of\le 400 K toward L1448-mm (0,-10), and possibly also toward L1448-mm (0,0). For compact emission the data cannot be fitted. We do not find any evidence for the over-excitation of the ion fluid toward the newly observed positions around L1448-mm. The observed line emission of SiO, H13CO+ and HN13C toward L1448-mm (0,0) and (0,-10) is consistent with an electron density enhancement in the precursor component, if this emission is spatially extended. This is also true for the case of high gas temperatures (\le400 K) toward the (0,-10) offset. The electron density enhancement seems to be restricted to the southern, redshifted lobe of the L1448-mm outflow. Interferometric images of the line emission of these molecules are needed to confirm the spatial extent of the over-excitation of the ions and thus, of the electron density enhancement in the magnetic precursor of L1448-mm.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 9 pages, 3 figure

Frequency noise cancellation in optomechanical systems for ponderomotive squeezing

Ponderomotive squeezing of the output light of an optical cavity has been recently observed in the MHz range in two different cavity optomechanical devices. Quadrature squeezing becomes particularly useful at lower spectral frequencies, for example in gravitational wave interferometers, despite being more sensitive to excess phase and frequency noise. Here we show a phase/frequency noise cancellation mechanism due to destructive interference which can facilitate the production of ponderomotive squeezing in the kHz range and we demonstrate it experimentally in an optomechanical system formed by a Fabry-P\'{e}rot cavity with a micro-mechanical mirror.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Physical explanation expanded. Modified figure

First Principles Calculations of Charge and Spin Density Waves of sqr3-Adsorbates on Semiconductors

We present ab-initio electronic structure results on the surface of sqr3 adsorbates. In particular, we address the issue of metal-insulator instabilities, charge-density-waves (CDWs) or spin-density-waves (SDWs), driven by partly filled surface states and their 2D Fermi surface, and/or by the onset of magnetic instabilities. The focus is both on the newly discovered commensurate CDW transitions in the Pb/Ge(111) and Sn/Ge(111) structures, and on the puzzling semiconducting behavior of the Pb/Ge(111), K/Si(111):B and SiC(0001) surfaces. In all cases, the main factor driving the instability appears to be an extremely narrow surface state band. We have carried out so far preliminary calculations for the Si/Si(111) surface, chosen as our model system, within the gradient corrected local density (LDA+GC) and local spin density (LSD+GC) approximations, with the aim of understanding the possible interplay between 2D Fermi surface and electron correlations in the surface + adsorbate system. Our spin- unrestricted results show that the sqr3 paramagnetic surface is unstable towards a commensurate SDW with periodicity 3x3 and magnetization 1/3.Comment: 9 pages, 4 Postscript figures, to be published in Surf. Sc

Collisional excitation of interstellar PO(X-2 Pi) by He: new ab initio potential energy surfaces and scattering calculations

We acknowledge the financial support from the COST Action CM1401 “Our Astrochemical History”. This research utilized Queen Mary's Mid-Plus computational facilities, supported by QMUL Research-IT and funded by EPSRC grant EP/K000128/1. S. M. acknowledges Indigo Dean for very useful discussions. I. J.-S. acknowledges the financial support received from the STFC through an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (proposal number ST/L004801)