71 research outputs found
Imaging high-dimensional spatial entanglement with a camera
The light produced by parametric down-conversion shows strong spatial
entanglement that leads to violations of EPR criteria for separability.
Historically, such studies have been performed by scanning a single-element,
single-photon detector across a detection plane. Here we show that modern
electron-multiplying charge-coupled device cameras can measure correlations in
both position and momentum across a multi-pixel field of view. This capability
allows us to observe entanglement of around 2,500 spatial states and
demonstrate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type correlations by more than two orders
of magnitude. More generally, our work shows that cameras can lead to important
new capabilities in quantum optics and quantum information science.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
The Classical Harmonic Vibrations of the Atomic Centers of Mass with Micro Amplitudes and Low Frequencies Monitored by the Entanglement between the Two Two-level Atoms in a Single mode Cavity
We study the entanglement dynamics of the two two-level atoms coupling with a
single-mode polarized cavity field after incorporating the atomic centers of
mass classical harmonic vibrations with micro amplitudes and low frequencies.
We propose a quantitative vibrant factor to modify the concurrence of the two
atoms states. When the vibrant frequencies are very low, we obtain that: (i)
the factor depends on the relative vibrant displacements and the initial phases
rather than the absolute amplitudes, and reduces the concurrence to three
orders of magnitude; (ii) the concurrence increases with the increase of the
initial phases; (iii) the frequency of the harmonic vibration can be obtained
by measuring the maximal value of the concurrence during a small time. These
results indicate that even the extremely weak classical harmonic vibrations can
be monitored by the entanglement of quantum states.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Conclusive quantum steering with superconducting transition edge sensors
Quantum steering allows two parties to verify shared entanglement even if one
measurement device is untrusted. A conclusive demonstration of steering through
the violation of a steering inequality is of considerable fundamental interest
and opens up applications in quantum communication. To date all experimental
tests with single photon states have relied on post-selection, allowing
untrusted devices to cheat by hiding unfavourable events in losses. Here we
close this "detection loophole" by combining a highly efficient source of
entangled photon pairs with superconducting transition edge sensors. We achieve
an unprecedented ~62% conditional detection efficiency of entangled photons and
violate a steering inequality with the minimal number of measurement settings
by 48 standard deviations. Our results provide a clear path to practical
applications of steering and to a photonic loophole-free Bell test.Comment: Preprint of 7 pages, 3 figures; the definitive version is published
in Nature Communications, see below. Also, see related experimental work by
A. J. Bennet et al., arXiv:1111.0739 and B. Wittmann et al., arXiv:1111.076
Generalized Arago-Fresnel laws: The EME-flow-line description
We study experimentally and theoretically the influence of light polarization
on the interference patterns behind a diffracting grating. Different states of
polarization and configurations are been considered. The experiments are
analyzed in terms of electromagnetic energy (EME) flow lines, which can be
eventually identified with the paths followed by photons. This gives rise to a
novel trajectory interpretation of the Arago-Fresnel laws for polarized light,
which we compare with interpretations based on the concept of "which-way" (or
"which-slit") information.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Beating the channel capacity limit for linear photonic superdense coding
Dense coding is arguably the protocol that launched the field of quantum
communication. Today, however, more than a decade after its initial
experimental realization, the channel capacity remains fundamentally limited as
conceived for photons using linear elements. Bob can only send to Alice three
of four potential messages owing to the impossibility of carrying out the
deterministic discrimination of all four Bell states with linear optics,
reducing the attainable channel capacity from 2 to log_2 3 \approx 1.585 bits.
However, entanglement in an extra degree of freedom enables the complete and
deterministic discrimination of all Bell states. Using pairs of photons
simultaneously entangled in spin and orbital angular momentum, we demonstrate
the quantum advantage of the ancillary entanglement. In particular, we describe
a dense-coding experiment with the largest reported channel capacity and, to
our knowledge, the first to break the conventional linear-optics threshold. Our
encoding is suited for quantum communication without alignment and satellite
communication.Comment: Letter: 6 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary Information: 4 pages, 1
figur
A Blast Wave from the 1843 Eruption of Eta Carinae
Very massive stars shed much of their mass in violent precursor eruptions as
luminous blue variables (LBVs) before reaching their most likely end as
supernovae, but the cause of LBV eruptions is unknown. The 19th century
eruption of Eta Carinae, the prototype of these events, ejected about 12 solar
masses at speeds of 650 km/s, with a kinetic energy of almost 10^50 ergs. Some
faster material with speeds up to 1000-2000 km/s had previously been reported
but its full distribution was unknown. Here I report observations of much
faster material with speeds up to 3500-6000 km/s, reaching farther from the
star than the fastest material in earlier reports. This fast material roughly
doubles the kinetic energy of the 19th century event, and suggests that it
released a blast wave now propagating ahead of the massive ejecta. Thus, Eta
Car's outer shell now mimics a low-energy supernova remnant. The eruption has
usually been discussed in terms of an extreme wind driven by the star's
luminosity, but fast material reported here suggests that it was powered by a
deep-seated explosion rivalling a supernova, perhaps triggered by the
pulsational pair instability. This may alter interpretations of similar events
seen in other galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, 3 color figs, supplementary information. Accepted by Natur
X-Ray Spectroscopy of Stars
(abridged) Non-degenerate stars of essentially all spectral classes are soft
X-ray sources. Low-mass stars on the cooler part of the main sequence and their
pre-main sequence predecessors define the dominant stellar population in the
galaxy by number. Their X-ray spectra are reminiscent, in the broadest sense,
of X-ray spectra from the solar corona. X-ray emission from cool stars is
indeed ascribed to magnetically trapped hot gas analogous to the solar coronal
plasma. Coronal structure, its thermal stratification and geometric extent can
be interpreted based on various spectral diagnostics. New features have been
identified in pre-main sequence stars; some of these may be related to
accretion shocks on the stellar surface, fluorescence on circumstellar disks
due to X-ray irradiation, or shock heating in stellar outflows. Massive, hot
stars clearly dominate the interaction with the galactic interstellar medium:
they are the main sources of ionizing radiation, mechanical energy and chemical
enrichment in galaxies. High-energy emission permits to probe some of the most
important processes at work in these stars, and put constraints on their most
peculiar feature: the stellar wind. Here, we review recent advances in our
understanding of cool and hot stars through the study of X-ray spectra, in
particular high-resolution spectra now available from XMM-Newton and Chandra.
We address issues related to coronal structure, flares, the composition of
coronal plasma, X-ray production in accretion streams and outflows, X-rays from
single OB-type stars, massive binaries, magnetic hot objects and evolved WR
stars.Comment: accepted for Astron. Astrophys. Rev., 98 journal pages, 30 figures
(partly multiple); some corrections made after proof stag
A Single-Photon Imager Based on Microwave Plasmonic Superconducting Nanowire
Detecting spatial and temporal information of individual photons by using
single-photon-detector (SPD) arrays is critical to applications in
spectroscopy, communication, biological imaging, astronomical observation, and
quantum-information processing. Among the current SPDs1,detectors based on
superconducting nanowires have outstanding performance2, but are limited in
their ability to be integrated into large scale arrays due to the engineering
difficulty of high-bandwidth cryogenic electronic readout3-8. Here, we address
this problem by demonstrating a scalable single-photon imager using a single
continuous photon-sensitive superconducting nanowire microwave-plasmon
transmission line. By appropriately designing the nanowire's local
electromagnetic environment so that the nanowire guides microwave plasmons, the
propagating voltages signals generated by a photon-detection event were slowed
down to ~ 2% of the speed of light. As a result, the time difference between
arrivals of the signals at the two ends of the nanowire naturally encoded the
position and time of absorption of the photon. Thus, with only two readout
lines, we demonstrated that a 19.7-mm-long nanowire meandered across an area of
286 {\mu}m * 193 {\mu}m was capable of resolving ~590 effective pixels while
simultaneously recording the arrival times of photons with a temporal
resolution of 50 ps. The nanowire imager presents a scalable approach to
realizing high-resolution photon imaging in time and space
Spectropolarimetry of stars across the H-R diagram
The growing sample of magnetic stars shows a remarkable diversity in the
properties of their magnetic fields. The overall goal of current studies is to
understand the origin, evolution, and structure of stellar magnetic fields in
stars of different mass at different evolutionary stages. In this chapter we
discuss recent measurements together with the underlying assumptions in the
interpretation of data and the requirements, both observational and
theoretical, for obtaining a realistic overview of the role of magnetic fields
in various types of stars.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, chapter 7 of "Astronomical Polarisation from the
Infrared to Gamma Rays", published in Astrophysics and Space Science Library
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