737 research outputs found
Improved design of a DFB Raman fibre laser
A Raman fibre laser based on phase shifted DFB structures is modelled for the first time. Using parameters of realistic devices, the model predicts low-threshold and highly-efficient laser output. The change of position and width of the phase shift were found to have a substantial impact on laser performanc
A study of balance, gait and psychotropic drug use in relation to fall risk in nursing home residents with dementia
Falls are a major health problem in nursing home residents with dementia. In nursing homes one-third of all falls results in an injury. In order to take tailor-made preventive measures in time, the fall risk profile of each individual nursing home resident should be periodically evaluated. A systematic evaluation of fall risk should include an assessment of major contributing components, including an assessment of balance and gait, and the use of psychotropic drugs. The purpose of this study was a) to evaluate the feasibility and predictive validity of different assessment methods for balance and gait impairments in a population of nursing home residents with dementia with a specific view to predicting falls in the short term, i.e., three months, and b) to quantify the additive contribution of psychotropic drugs to fall risk in nursing home residents with dementia. Part one of this thesis describes how ambulatory nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia participated in a prospective cohort study. This study showed that gait velocity is a feasible and valid predictor of a fall within three months.
In part two of this thesis the additive contribut
Stopping Light on a Defect
Gap solitons are localized nonlinear coherent states which have been shown
both theoretically and experimentally to propagate in periodic structures.
Although theory allows for their propagation at any speed , ,
they have been observed in experiments at speeds of approximately 50% of .
It is of scientific and technological interest to trap gap solitons. We first
introduce an explicit multiparameter family of periodic structures with
localized defects, which support linear defect modes. These linear defect modes
are shown to persist into the nonlinear regime, as {\it nonlinear defect
modes}. Using mathematical analysis and numerical simulations we then
investigate the capture of an incident gap soliton by these defects. The
mechanism of capture of a gap soliton is resonant transfer of its energy to
nonlinear defect modes. We introduce a useful bifurcation diagram from which
information on the parameter regimes of gap soliton capture, reflection and
transmission can be obtained by simple conservation of energy and resonant
energy transfer principles.Comment: 45 pages, Submitted to Journal of the Optical Society
Coherent perfect absorption and reflection in slow-light waveguides
We identify a family of unusual slow-light modes occurring in lossy
multi-mode grating waveguides, for which either the forward or backward mode
components, or both, become degenerate. In the fully-degenerate case, by
varying the wave amplitudes in a uniform input waveguide, one can modulate
between coherent perfect absorption (zero reflection) and perfect reflection.
The perfectly-absorbed wave has anomalously short absorption length, scaling as
the inverse 1/3 power of the absorptivity
Spatial solitons in a medium composed of self-focusing and self-defocusing layers
We introduce a model combining Kerr nonlinearity with a periodically changing
sign ("nonlinearity management") and a Bragg grating (BG). The main result,
obtained by means of systematic simulations, is presented in the form of a
soliton's stability diagram on the parameter plane of the model; the diagram
turns out to be a universal one, as it practically does not depend on the
soliton's power. Moreover, simulations of the nonlinear Schroedinger (NLS)
model subjected to the same "nonlinearity management" demonstrate that the same
diagram determines the stability of the NLS solitons, unless they are very
narrow. The stability region of very narrow NLS solitons is much smaller, and
soliton splitting is readily observed in that case. The universal diagram shows
that a minimum non-zero average value of the Kerr coefficient is necessary for
the existence of stable solitons. Interactions between identical solitons with
an initial phase difference between them are simulated too in the BG model,
resulting in generation of stable moving solitons. A strong spontaneous
symmetry breaking is observed in the case when in-phase solitons pass through
each other due to attraction between them.Comment: a latex text file and 9 eps files with figures. Physics Letters A, in
pres
Slow light with flat or offset band edges in multi-mode fiber with two gratings
We consider mode coupling in multimode optical fibers using either two Bragg
gratings or a Bragg grating and a long-period grating. We show that the
magnitude of the band edge curvature can be controlled leading to a flat,
quartic band-edge or to two band edges at distinct, nonequivalent -values,
allowing precise control of slow light propagation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Canonical quantization of macroscopic electrodynamics in a linear, inhomogeneous magneto-electric medium
We present a canonical quantization of macroscopic electrodynamics. The
results apply to inhomogeneous media with a broad class of linear
magneto-electric responses which are consistent with the Kramers-Kronig and
Onsager relations. Through its ability to accommodate strong dispersion and
loss, our theory provides a rigorous foundation for the study of quantum
optical processes in structures incorporating metamaterials, provided these may
be modeled as magneto-electric media. Previous canonical treatments of
dielectric and magneto-dielectric media have expressed the electromagnetic
field operators in either a Green function or mode expansion representation.
Here we present our results in the mode expansion picture with a view to
applications in guided wave and cavity quantum optics.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review A 24/07/201
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