861 research outputs found
Two-mode squeezed vacuum and squeezed light in correlated interferometry
We study in detail a system of two interferometers aimed to the detection of
extremely faint phase-fluctuations. This system can represent a breakthrough
for detecting a faint correlated signal that would remain otherwise
undetectable even using the most sensitive individual interferometric devices,
that are limited by the shot noise. If the two interferometers experience
identical phase-fluctuations, like the ones introduced by the so called
"holographic noise", this signal should emerge if their output signals are
correlated, while the fluctuations due to shot noise and other independent
contributions will vanish. We show how the injecting quantum light in the free
ports of the interferometers can reduce the photon noise of the system beyond
the shot-noise, enhancing the resolution in the phase-correlation estimation.
We analyze both the use of two-mode squeezed vacuum or twin-beam state (TWB)
and of two independent squeezing states. Our results basically confirms the
benefit of using squeezed beams together with strong coherent beams in
interferometry, even in this correlated case. However, mainly we concentrate on
the possible use of TWB, discovering interesting and probably unexplored areas
of application of bipartite entanglement and in particular the possibility of
reaching in principle surprising uncertainty reduction
Direct experimental observation of nonclassicality in ensembles of single photon emitters
In this work we experimentally demonstrate for the first time a recently
proposed criterion adressed to detect nonclassical behavior in the fluorescence
emission of ensembles of single-photon emitters. In particular, we apply the
method to study clusters of NV centres in diamond observed via
single-photon-sensitive confocal microscopy. Theoretical considerations on the
behavior of the parameter at any arbitrary order in presence of poissonian
noise are presented and, finally, the opportunity of detecting manifold
coincidences is discussed
BoWFire: Detection of Fire in Still Images by Integrating Pixel Color and Texture Analysis
Emergency events involving fire are potentially harmful, demanding a fast and
precise decision making. The use of crowdsourcing image and videos on crisis
management systems can aid in these situations by providing more information
than verbal/textual descriptions. Due to the usual high volume of data,
automatic solutions need to discard non-relevant content without losing
relevant information. There are several methods for fire detection on video
using color-based models. However, they are not adequate for still image
processing, because they can suffer on high false-positive results. These
methods also suffer from parameters with little physical meaning, which makes
fine tuning a difficult task. In this context, we propose a novel fire
detection method for still images that uses classification based on color
features combined with texture classification on superpixel regions. Our method
uses a reduced number of parameters if compared to previous works, easing the
process of fine tuning the method. Results show the effectiveness of our method
of reducing false-positives while its precision remains compatible with the
state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings of the 28th SIBGRAPI Conference on Graphics,
Patterns and Images, IEEE Pres
Towards joint reconstruction of noise and losses in quantum channels
The calibration of a quantum channel, i.e. the determination of the
transmission losses affecting it, is definitely one of the principal objectives
in both the quantum communication and quantum metrology frameworks. Another
task of the utmost relevance is the identification, e.g. by extracting its
photon number distribution, of the noise potentially present in the channel.
Here we present a protocol, based on the response of a photon-number-resolving
detector at different quantum efficiencies, able to accomplish both of these
tasks at once, providing with a single measurement an estimate of the
transmission losses as well as the photon statistics of the noise present in
the exploited quantum channel. We show and discuss the experimental results
obtained in the practical implementation of such protocol, with different kinds
and levels of noise.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Native NIR-emitting single colour centres in CVD diamond
Single-photon sources are a fundamental element for developing quantum
technologies, and sources based on colour centres in diamonds are among the
most promising candidates. The well-known NV centres are characterized by
several limitations, thus few other defects have recently been considered. In
the present work, we characterize in detail native efficient single colour
centres emitting in the near infra-red in both standard IIa single-crystal and
electronic-grade polycrystalline commercial CVD diamond samples. In the former
case, a high-temperature annealing process in vacuum is necessary to induce the
formation/activation of luminescent centres with good emission properties,
while in the latter case the annealing process has marginal beneficial effects
on the number and performances of native centres in commercially available
samples. Although displaying significant variability in several photo physical
properties (emission wavelength, emission rate instabilities, saturation
behaviours), these centres generally display appealing photophysical properties
for applications as single photon sources: short lifetimes, high emission rates
and strongly polarized light. The native centres are tentatively attributed to
impurities incorporated in the diamond crystal during the CVD growth of
high-quality type IIa samples, and offer promising perspectives in
diamond-based photonics.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to "New Journal of Phsyics",
NJP-100003.R
Coil embolization as an alternative endovascular approach for ruptured superficial femoral artery aneurysms
Purpose: True aneurysms of the superficial femoral artery (SFAA) are rare and, the endovascular approach using covered stents has gained more popularity. We report an endovascular alternative using embolization coils for treatment of a ruptured SFAA.
Case description: An 88-old male admitted for a ruptured true SFAA (67×52mm in diameter and 70mm in length) presenting with painful mass pulsating in the proximal third of the left thigh. His surgical history consisted of an infrarenal abdominal aneurysm treated by open surgery and an ipsilateral popliteal aneurysm treated with prosthetic bypass by a medial approach; this was revealed to be occluded at the CT scan evaluation. The patient was asymptomatic for limb ischaemia, therefore we decided to perform embolization of the SFA with coils (MReye®Embolization Coil, Cook Medical, Bloomington,USA). Under local anaesthesia, via a 5-Fr sheath and an antegrade approach, coils were deployed first at the distal neck of the SFAA and then to its proximal neck. On the angiogram, complete aneurysm sac thrombosis with no leaks was achieved. At 6-month follow-up, the SFAA remained occluded, and the patient had not developed any sign of limb ischaemia.
Conclusion: Coil embolization of SFAA in selected cases represents a feasible and safe endovascular alternative
Quantum state reconstruction using binary data from on/off photodetection
The knowledge of the density matrix of a quantum state plays a fundamental
role in several fields ranging from quantum information processing to
experiments on foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum optics. Recently, a
method has been suggested and implemented in order to obtain the reconstruction
of the diagonal elements of the density matrix exploiting the information
achievable with realistic on/off detectors, e.g. silicon avalanche
photo-diodes, only able to discriminate the presence or the absence of light.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the theoretical and
experimental developments of the on/off method, including its extension to the
reconstruction of the whole density matrix.Comment: revised version, 11 pages, 6 figures, to appear as a review paper on
Adv. Science Let
Systematic Review of Job Transition Programs Addressed to Youths With Intellectual Disability
This systematic review aimed to determine what existing job transition programs are evidence-based and methodologically founded. The PRISMA method was used for the review, and the inclusion criteria were to include studies where there were a description of transition programs and functional curriculum for acquiring employment competences; internship experiences in employment context; single-case or group-design studies with youths as participants; and diagnosis of intellectual disability. Forty-six studies were initially selected, and three final articles met all the criteria set for assessing the methodology quality. Although the review results show that more research is needed to provide empirical programs for enhancing the acquisition of employment capabilities, some evidence emerged from the analysis of studies. These concern mainly four aspects: curriculum contents facilitating the development of self-determination and the acquirement of job-related skills, chance to have individualized internships, support of job coaches, and technological solutions and programs anchored in community-based settings
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