763 research outputs found
Odd-skipped genes specify the signaling center that triggers retinogenesis in Drosophila
5 páginas, 4 figuras.Although many of the factors responsible for conferring identity to the eye field in Drosophila have been identified, much less is known about how the expression of the retinal `trigger', the signaling molecule Hedgehog, is controlled. Here, we show that the co-expression of the conserved odd-skipped family genes at the posterior margin of the eye field is required to activate hedgehog expression and thereby the onset of retinogenesis. The fly Wnt1 homologue wingless represses the odd-skipped genes drm and odd along the anterior margin and, in this manner, spatially restricts the extent of retinal differentiation within the eye field.This work has been funded through grants BMC2003-06248 (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Spain) and POCTI/BIA-BCM/56043/2004 [Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal], which are co-funded by FEDER, to F.C. C.B-P. and J.B. are funded by FCT.Peer reviewe
A photonic quantum information interface
Quantum communication is the art of transferring quantum states, or quantum
bits of information (qubits), from one place to another. On the fundamental
side, this allows one to distribute entanglement and demonstrate quantum
nonlocality over significant distances. On the more applied side, quantum
cryptography offers, for the first time in human history, a provably secure way
to establish a confidential key between distant partners. Photons represent the
natural flying qubit carriers for quantum communication, and the presence of
telecom optical fibres makes the wavelengths of 1310 and 1550 nm particulary
suitable for distribution over long distances. However, to store and process
quantum information, qubits could be encoded into alkaline atoms that absorb
and emit at around 800 nm wavelength. Hence, future quantum information
networks made of telecom channels and alkaline memories will demand interfaces
able to achieve qubit transfers between these useful wavelengths while
preserving quantum coherence and entanglement. Here we report on a qubit
transfer between photons at 1310 and 710 nm via a nonlinear up-conversion
process with a success probability greater than 5%. In the event of a
successful qubit transfer, we observe strong two-photon interference between
the 710 nm photon and a third photon at 1550 nm, initially entangled with the
1310 nm photon, although they never directly interacted. The corresponding
fidelity is higher than 98%.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Energy-time entanglement of quasi-particles in solid-state devices
We present a proposal for the experimental observation of energy-time
entanglement of quasi-particles in mesoscopic physics. This type of
entanglement arises whenever correlated particles are produced at the same time
and this time is uncertain in the sense of quantum uncertainty, as has been
largely used in photonics. We discuss its feasibility for electron-hole pairs.
In particular, we argue that the recently fabricated 2DEG-2DHG junctions,
irradiated with a continuous laser, behave as "entanglers" for energy-time
entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Mass resolution optimization in a large isotopic composition experiment
A range-energy experiment was built to measure the isotopic composition of galactic cosmic rays. An enrichment of neutron rich isotopes, 22Ne and (25Mg + 26Mg) in particular, when compared to the solar composition is shown. A rich statistics measurement of these and other neutron-rich isotopes in the galactic flux yields information to the source of these particles. A computer simulation of the experiment was used to estimate the instrument resolution. The Cherenkov detector light collection efficiency, was calculated. Absorption of light in the radiator was considered to determine the optimum Cherenkov medium thickness. The experiment will determine the isotopic composition for the elements neon through argon in the energy range 300 to 800 MeV per nucleon
Integrated optical source of polarization entangled photons at 1310 nm
We report the realization of a new polarization entangled photon-pair source
based on a titanium-indiffused waveguide integrated on periodically poled
lithium niobate pumped by a CW laser at . The paired photons are
emitted at the telecom wavelength of within a bandwidth of .
The quantum properties of the pairs are measured using a two-photon coalescence
experiment showing a visibility of 85%. The evaluated source brightness, on the
order of pairs , associated with its
compactness and reliability, demonstrates the source's high potential for
long-distance quantum communication.Comment: There is a typing mistake in the previous version in the visibility
equation. This mistake doesn't change the result
Quantum Distribution of Gaussian Keys with Squeezed States
A continuous key distribution scheme is proposed that relies on a pair of
canonically conjugate quantum variables. It allows two remote parties to share
a secret Gaussian key by encoding it into one of the two quadrature components
of a single-mode electromagnetic field. The resulting quantum cryptographic
information vs disturbance tradeoff is investigated for an individual attack
based on the optimal continuous cloning machine. It is shown that the
information gained by the eavesdropper then simply equals the information lost
by the receiver.Comment: 5 pages, RevTe
High-quality polarization entanglement state preparation and manipulation in standard telecommunication channels
We report a novel and simple approach for generating near-perfect quality
polarization entanglement in a fully guided-wave fashion. Both deterministic
pair separation into two adjacent telecommunication channels and the paired
photons' temporal walk-off compensation are achieved using standard fiber
components. Two-photon interference experiments are performed, both for
quantitatively demonstrating the relevance of our approach, and for
manipulating the produced state between bosonic and fermionic symmetries. The
compactness, versatility, and reliability of this configuration makes it a
potential candidate for quantum communication applications.Comment: 6 figure
Long-distance entanglement-based quantum key distribution over optical fiber
We report the first entanglement-based quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment over a 100-km optical fiber. We used superconducting single photon detectors based on NbN nanowires that provide high-speed single photon detection for the 1.5-µm telecom band, an efficient entangled photon pair source that consists of a fiber coupled periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide and ultra low loss filters, and planar lightwave circuit Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) with ultra stable operation. These characteristics enabled us to perform an entanglement-based QKD experiment over a 100-km optical fiber. In the experiment, which lasted approximately 8 hours, we successfully generated a 16 kbit sifted key with a quantum bit error rate of 6.9 % at a rate of 0.59 bits per second, from which we were able to distill a 3.9 kbit secure key
Tomographic Quantum Cryptography
We present a protocol for quantum cryptography in which the data obtained for
mismatched bases are used in full for the purpose of quantum state tomography.
Eavesdropping on the quantum channel is seriously impeded by requiring that the
outcome of the tomography is consistent with unbiased noise in the channel. We
study the incoherent eavesdropping attacks that are still permissible and
establish under which conditions a secure cryptographic key can be generated.
The whole analysis is carried out for channels that transmit quantum systems of
any finite dimension.Comment: REVTeX4, 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Proof-of-Concept of Real-World Quantum Key Distribution with Quantum Frames
We propose and experimentally investigate a fibre-based quantum key
distribution system, which employs polarization qubits encoded into faint laser
pulses. As a novel feature, it allows sending of classical framing information
via sequences of strong laser pulses that precede the quantum data. This allows
synchronization, sender and receiver identification, and compensation of
time-varying birefringence in the communication channel. In addition, this
method also provides a platform to communicate implementation specific
information such as encoding and protocol in view of future optical quantum
networks. Furthermore, we report on our current effort to develop high-rate
error correction.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, 4 table
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