1,392 research outputs found
Low-temperature tapered-fiber probing of diamond NV ensembles coupled to GaP microcavities
In this work we present a platform for testing the device performance of a
cavity-emitter system, using an ensemble of emitters and a tapered optical
fiber. This method provides high-contrast spectra of the cavity modes,
selective detection of emitters coupled to the cavity, and an estimate of the
device performance in the single- emitter case. Using nitrogen-vacancy (NV)
centers in diamond and a GaP optical microcavity, we are able to tune the
cavity onto the NV resonance at 10 K, couple the cavity-coupled emission to a
tapered fiber, and measure the fiber-coupled NV spontaneous emission decay.
Theoretically we show that the fiber-coupled average Purcell factor is 2-3
times greater than that of free-space collection; although due to ensemble
averaging it is still a factor of 3 less than the Purcell factor of a single,
ideally placed center.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Comments on Proposed Gravitational Modifications of Schrodinger Dynamics and their Experimental Implications
We discuss aspects of gravitational modifications of Schrodinger dynamics
proposed by Diosi and Penrose. We consider first the Diosi-Penrose criterion
for gravitationally induced state vector reduction, and compute the reduction
time expected for a superposition of a uniform density cubical solid in two
positions displaced by a small fraction of the cube side. We show that the
predicted effect is much smaller than would be observable in the proposed
Marshall et al. mirror experiment. We then consider the ``Schrodinger -Newton''
equation for an N-particle system. We show that in the independent particle
approximation, it differs from the usual Hartree approximation applied to the
Newtonian potential by self-interaction terms, which do not have a consistent
Born rule interpretation. This raises doubts about the use of the
Schrodinger-Newton equation to calculate gravitational effects on molecular
interference experiments. When the effects of Newtonian gravitation on
molecular diffraction are calculated using the standard many-body Schrodinger
equation, no washing out of the interference pattern is predicted.Comment: Tex, 17
Three-dimensional device fabrication in monocrystalline diamond using FIB and a novel lift-off technique
How Big Can Anomalous W Couplings Be?
Conventional wisdom has it that anomalous gauge-boson self-couplings can be
at most a percent or so in size. We test this wisdom by computing these
couplings at one loop in a generic renormalizable model of new physics. (For
technical reasons we consider the CP-violating couplings here, but our results
apply more generally.) By surveying the parameter space we find that the
largest couplings (several percent) are obtained when the new particles are at
the weak scale. For heavy new physics we compare our findings with expectations
based on an effective-lagrangian analysis. We find general patterns of induced
couplings which robustly reflect the nature of the underlying physics. We build
representative models for which the new physics could be first detected in the
anomalous gauge couplings.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, (dvi file and figures combined into a uuencoded
compressed file), (We correct an error in eq. 39 and its associated figure
(9). No changes at all to the text.), McGill-93/40, UQAM-PHE-93/03,
NEIPH-93-00
Using second harmonic generation to predict patient outcome in solid tumors
Abstract
Background
Over-treatment of estrogen receptor positive (ER+), lymph node-negative (LNN) breast cancer patients with chemotherapy is a pressing clinical problem that can be addressed by improving techniques to predict tumor metastatic potential. Here we demonstrate that analysis of second harmonic generation (SHG) emission direction in primary tumor biopsies can provide prognostic information about the metastatic outcome of ER+, LNN breast cancer, as well as stage 1 colorectal adenocarcinoma.
Methods
SHG is an optical signal produced by fibrillar collagen. The ratio of the forward-to-backward emitted SHG signals (F/B) is sensitive to changes in structure of individual collagen fibers. F/B from excised primary tumor tissue was measured in a retrospective study of LNN breast cancer patients who had received no adjuvant systemic therapy and related to metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. In addition, F/B was studied for its association with the length of progression-free survival (PFS) in a subgroup of ER+ patients who received tamoxifen as first-line treatment for recurrent disease, and for its relation with OS in stage I colorectal and stage 1 lung adenocarcinoma patients.
Results
In 125 ER+, but not in 96 ER-negative (ER-), LNN breast cancer patients an increased F/B was significantly associated with a favorable MFS and OS (log rank trend for MFS: p = 0.004 and for OS: p = 0.03). On the other hand, an increased F/B was associated with shorter PFS in 60 ER+ recurrent breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen (log rank trend p = 0.02). In stage I colorectal adenocarcinoma, an increased F/B was significantly related to poor OS (log rank trend p = 0.03), however this relationship was not statistically significant in stage I lung adenocarcinoma.
Conclusion
Within ER+, LNN breast cancer specimens the F/B can stratify patients based upon their potential for tumor aggressiveness. This offers a “matrix-focused” method to predict metastatic outcome that is complementary to genomic “cell-focused” methods. In combination, this and other methods may contribute to improved metastatic prediction, and hence may help to reduce patient over-treatment.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116036/1/12885_2015_Article_1911.pd
Convergence of the Magnus series
The Magnus series is an infinite series which arises in the study of linear
ordinary differential equations. If the series converges, then the matrix
exponential of the sum equals the fundamental solution of the differential
equation. The question considered in this paper is: When does the series
converge? The main result establishes a sufficient condition for convergence,
which improves on several earlier results.Comment: 11 pages; v2: added justification for conjecture, minor
clarifications and correction
Reactive direction control for a mobile robot: A locust-like control of escape direction emerges when a bilateral pair of model locust visual neurons are integrated
Locusts possess a bilateral pair of uniquely identifiable visual neurons that respond vigorously to
the image of an approaching object. These neurons are called the lobula giant movement
detectors (LGMDs). The locust LGMDs have been extensively studied and this has lead to the
development of an LGMD model for use as an artificial collision detector in robotic applications.
To date, robots have been equipped with only a single, central artificial LGMD sensor, and this
triggers a non-directional stop or rotation when a potentially colliding object is detected. Clearly,
for a robot to behave autonomously, it must react differently to stimuli approaching from
different directions. In this study, we implement a bilateral pair of LGMD models in Khepera
robots equipped with normal and panoramic cameras. We integrate the responses of these LGMD
models using methodologies inspired by research on escape direction control in cockroaches.
Using ‘randomised winner-take-all’ or ‘steering wheel’ algorithms for LGMD model integration,
the khepera robots could escape an approaching threat in real time and with a similar
distribution of escape directions as real locusts. We also found that by optimising these
algorithms, we could use them to integrate the left and right DCMD responses of real jumping
locusts offline and reproduce the actual escape directions that the locusts took in a particular
trial. Our results significantly advance the development of an artificial collision detection and
evasion system based on the locust LGMD by allowing it reactive control over robot behaviour.
The success of this approach may also indicate some important areas to be pursued in future
biological research
Is there a relativistic nonlinear generalization of quantum mechanics?
Yes, there is. - A new kind of gauge theory is introduced, where the minimal
coupling and corresponding covariant derivatives are defined in the space of
functions pertaining to the functional Schroedinger picture of a given field
theory. While, for simplicity, we study the example of an U(1) symmetry, this
kind of gauge theory can accommodate other symmetries as well. We consider the
resulting relativistic nonlinear extension of quantum mechanics and show that
it incorporates gravity in the (0+1)-dimensional limit, where it leads to the
Schroedinger-Newton equations. Gravity is encoded here into a universal
nonlinear extension of quantum theory. The probabilistic interpretation, i.e.
Born's rule, holds provided the underlying model has only dimensionless
parameters.Comment: 10 pages; talk at DICE 2006 (Piombino, September 11-15, 2006); to
appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (2007
Notes on Certain Newton Gravity Mechanisms of Wave Function Localisation and Decoherence
Both the additional non-linear term in the Schr\"odinger equation and the
additional non-Hamiltonian term in the von Neumann equation, proposed to ensure
localisation and decoherence of macro-objects, resp., contain the same
Newtonian interaction potential formally. We discuss certain aspects that are
common for both equations. In particular, we calculate the enhancement of the
proposed localisation and/or decoherence effects, which would take place if one
could lower the conventional length-cutoff and resolve the mass density on the
interatomic scale.Comment: 8pp LaTex, Submitted to J. Phys. A: Math-Gen, for the special issue
``The Quantum Universe'' in honor of G. C. Ghirard
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