6,450 research outputs found
Quantum theory of optical temporal phase and instantaneous frequency. II. Continuous time limit and state-variable approach to phase-locked loop design
We consider the continuous-time version of our recently proposed quantum
theory of optical temporal phase and instantaneous frequency [Tsang, Shapiro,
and Lloyd, Phys. Rev. A 78, 053820 (2008)]. Using a state-variable approach to
estimation, we design homodyne phase-locked loops that can measure the temporal
phase with quantum-limited accuracy. We show that post-processing can further
improve the estimation performance, if delay is allowed in the estimation. We
also investigate the fundamental uncertainties in the simultaneous estimation
of harmonic-oscillator position and momentum via continuous optical phase
measurements from the classical estimation theory perspective. In the case of
delayed estimation, we find that the inferred uncertainty product can drop
below that allowed by the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. Although this result
seems counter-intuitive, we argue that it does not violate any basic principle
of quantum mechanics.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, v2: accepted by PR
Ziv-Zakai Error Bounds for Quantum Parameter Estimation
I propose quantum versions of the Ziv-Zakai bounds as alternatives to the
widely used quantum Cram\'er-Rao bounds for quantum parameter estimation. From
a simple form of the proposed bounds, I derive both a "Heisenberg" error limit
that scales with the average energy and a limit similar to the quantum
Cram\'er-Rao bound that scales with the energy variance. These results are
further illustrated by applying the bound to a few examples of optical phase
estimation, which show that a quantum Ziv-Zakai bound can be much higher and
thus tighter than a quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound for states with highly
non-Gaussian photon-number statistics in certain regimes and also stay close to
the latter where the latter is expected to be tight.Comment: v1: preliminary result, 3 pages; v2: major update, 4 pages +
supplementary calculations, v3: another major update, added proof of
"Heisenberg" limit, v4: accepted by PR
Predicted Abundances of Carbon Compounds in Volcanic Gases on Io
We use chemical equilibrium calculations to model the speciation of carbon in
volcanic gases on Io. The calculations cover wide temperature (500-2000 K),
pressure (10^-8 to 10^+2 bars), and composition ranges (bulk O/S atomic ratios
\~0 to 3), which overlap the nominal conditions at Pele (1760 K, 0.01 bar, O/S
~ 1.5). Bulk C/S atomic ratios ranging from 10^-6 to 10^-1 in volcanic gases
are used with a nominal value of 10^-3 based upon upper limits from Voyager for
carbon in the Loki plume on Io. Carbon monoxide and CO2 are the two major
carbon gases under all conditions studied. Carbonyl sulfide and CS2 are orders
of magnitude less abundant. Consideration of different loss processes
(photolysis, condensation, kinetic reactions in the plume) indicates that
photolysis is probably the major loss process for all gases. Both CO and CO2
should be observable in volcanic plumes and in Io's atmosphere at abundances of
several hundred parts per million by volume for a bulk C/S ratio of 10^-3.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables; accepted by Astrophysical Journa
Ku-band system design study and TDRSS interface analysis
The capabilities of the Shuttle/TDRSS link simulation program (LinCsim) were expanded to account for radio frequency interference (RFI) effects on the Shuttle S-band links, the channel models were updated to reflect the RFI related hardware changes, the ESTL hardware modeling of the TDRS communication payload was reviewed and evaluated, in LinCsim the Shuttle/TDRSS signal acquisition was modeled, LinCsim was upgraded, and possible Shuttle on-orbit navigation techniques was evaluated
On the Relationship between Resolution Enhancement and Multiphoton Absorption Rate in Quantum Lithography
The proposal of quantum lithography [Boto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2733
(2000)] is studied via a rigorous formalism. It is shown that, contrary to Boto
et al.'s heuristic claim, the multiphoton absorption rate of a ``NOON'' quantum
state is actually lower than that of a classical state with otherwise identical
parameters. The proof-of-concept experiment of quantum lithography [D'Angelo et
al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 013602 (2001)] is also analyzed in terms of the
proposed formalism, and the experiment is shown to have a reduced multiphoton
absorption rate in order to emulate quantum lithography accurately. Finally,
quantum lithography by the use of a jointly Gaussian quantum state of light is
investigated, in order to illustrate the trade-off between resolution
enhancement and multiphoton absorption rate.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted, v2: rewritten in response to
referees' comments, v3: rewritten and extended, v4: accepted by Physical
Review
Investigation of remote sensing techniques of measuring soil moisture
Major activities described include development and evaluation of theoretical models that describe both active and passive microwave sensing of soil moisture, the evaluation of these models for their applicability, the execution of a controlled field experiment during which passive microwave measurements were acquired to validate these models, and evaluation of previously acquired aircraft microwave measurements. The development of a root zone soil water and soil temperature profile model and the calibration and evaluation of gamma ray attenuation probes for measuring soil moisture profiles are considered. The analysis of spatial variability of soil information as related to remote sensing is discussed as well as the implementation of an instrumented field site for acquisition of soil moisture and meteorologic information for use in validating the soil water profile and soil temperature profile models
Cavity quantum electro-optics
The quantum dynamics of the coupling between a cavity optical field and a
resonator microwave field via the electro-optic effect is studied. This
coupling has the same form as the opto-mechanical coupling via radiation
pressure, so all previously considered opto-mechanical effects can in principle
be observed in electro-optic systems as well. In particular, I point out the
possibilities of laser cooling of the microwave mode, entanglement between the
optical mode and the microwave mode via electro-optic parametric amplification,
and back-action-evading optical measurements of a microwave quadrature.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; v2: updated and submitted, v3: extended, accepted
by Physical Review
CD4+ T-cell responses to Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1 in Chinese populations are highly focused on novel C-terminal domain-derived epitopes
Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen EBNA1, the one viral protein uniformly expressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), represents a prime target for T-cell-based immunotherapy. However, little is known about the EBNA1 epitopes, particularly CD4 epitopes, presented by HLA alleles in Chinese people, the group at highest risk for NPC. We analyzed the CD4 T-cell responses to EBNA1 in 78 healthy Chinese donors and found marked focusing on a small number of epitopes in the EBNA1 C-terminal region, including a DP5- restricted epitope that was recognized by almost half of the donors tested and elicited responses able to recognize EBNA1-expressing, DP5-positive target cells
Influence of the Coulomb Interaction on the Chemical Equilibrium of Nuclear Systems at Break-Up
The importance of a Coulomb correction to the formalism proposed by Albergo
et al. for determining the temperatures of nuclear systems at break-up and the
ensities of free nucleon gases is discussed. While the proposed correction has
no effect on the temperatures extracted based on double isotope ratios, it
becomes non-negligible when such temperatures or densities of free nucleon
gases are extracted based on multiplicities of heavier fragments of different
atomic numbers
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