Absolute instruments and perfect imaging in geometrical optics

We investigate imaging by spherically symmetric absolute instruments that provide perfect imaging in the sense of geometrical optics. We derive a number of properties of such devices, present a general method for designing them and use this method to propose several new absolute instruments, in particular a lens providing a stigmatic image of an optically homogeneous region and having a moderate refractive index range.Comment: 20 pages, 9 image

Active absorption of electromagnetic pulses in a cavity

7 pages, 4 figuresAuthor version of the article. The version of record is available from the publisher via: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/5/053050 and is an open access article.© 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische GesellschaftWe show that a pulse of electromagnetic radiation launched into a cavity can be completely absorbed into an infinitesimal region of space, provided one has a high degree of control over the current flowing through this region. We work out explicit examples of this effect in a cubic cavity and a cylindrical one, and experimentally demonstrate the effect in the microwave regime.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Czech Science Foundatio

Optimizing the computation of overriding

We introduce optimization techniques for reasoning in DLN---a recently introduced family of nonmonotonic description logics whose characterizing features appear well-suited to model the applicative examples naturally arising in biomedical domains and semantic web access control policies. Such optimizations are validated experimentally on large KBs with more than 30K axioms. Speedups exceed 1 order of magnitude. For the first time, response times compatible with real-time reasoning are obtained with nonmonotonic KBs of this size

Controlled Quantum Secret Sharing

We present a new protocol in which a secret multiqubit quantum state $\ket{\Psi}$ is shared by $n$ players and $m$ controllers, where $\ket{\Psi}$ is the encoding state of a quantum secret sharing scheme. The players may be considered as field agents responsible for carrying out a task, using the secret information encrypted in $\ket{\Psi}$, while the controllers are superiors who decide if and when the task should be carried out and who to do it. Our protocol only requires ancillary Bell states and Bell-basis measurements.Comment: 6 pages, 0 figure, RevTeX4; published version with minor change

Realizability of metamaterials with prescribed electric permittivity and magnetic permeability tensors

We show that any pair of real symmetric tensors \BGve and \BGm can be realized as the effective electric permittivity and effective magnetic permeability of a metamaterial at a given fixed frequency. The construction starts with two extremely low loss metamaterials, with arbitrarily small microstructure, whose existence is ensured by the work of Bouchitt{\'e} and Bourel and Bouchitt\'e and Schweizer, one having at the given frequency a permittivity tensor with exactly one negative eigenvalue, and a positive permeability tensor, and the other having a positive permittivity tensor, and a permeability tensor having exactly one negative eigenvalue. To achieve the desired effective properties these materials are laminated together in a hierarchical multiple rank laminate structure, with widely separated length scales, and varying directions of lamination, but with the largest length scale still much shorter than the wavelengths and attenuation lengths in the macroscopic effective medium.Comment: 12 pages, no figure

Highly non-Gaussian states created via cross-Kerr nonlinearity

We propose a feasible scheme for generation of strongly non-Gaussian states using the cross-Kerr nonlinearity. The resultant states are highly non-classical states of electromagnetic field and exhibit negativity of their Wigner function, sub-Poissonian photon statistics, and amplitude squeezing. Furthermore, the Wigner function has a distinctly pronounced ``banana'' or ``crescent'' shape specific for the Kerr-type interactions, which so far was not demonstrated experimentally. We show that creating and detecting such states should be possible with the present technology using electromagnetically induced transparency in a four-level atomic system in N-configuration.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Perfect imaging: they don't do it with mirrors

Imaging with a spherical mirror in empty space is compared with the case when the mirror is filled with the medium of Maxwell's fish eye. Exact time-dependent solutions of Maxwell's equations show that perfect imaging is not achievable with an electrical ideal mirror on its own, but with Maxwell's fish eye in the regime when it implements a curved geometry for full electromagnetic waves

Geometry of perturbed Gaussian states and quantum estimation

We address the nonGaussianity (nG) of states obtained by weakly perturbing a Gaussian state and investigate the relationships with quantum estimation. For classical perturbations, i.e. perturbations to eigenvalues, we found that nG of the perturbed state may be written as the quantum Fisher information (QFI) distance minus a term depending on the infinitesimal energy change, i.e. it provides a lower bound to statistical distinguishability. Upon moving on isoenergetic surfaces in a neighbourhood of a Gaussian state, nG thus coincides with a proper distance in the Hilbert space and exactly quantifies the statistical distinguishability of the perturbations. On the other hand, for perturbations leaving the covariance matrix unperturbed we show that nG provides an upper bound to the QFI. Our results show that the geometry of nonGaussian states in the neighbourhood of a Gaussian state is definitely not trivial and cannot be subsumed by a differential structure. Nevertheless, the analysis of perturbations to a Gaussian state reveals that nG may be a resource for quantum estimation. The nG of specific families of perturbed Gaussian states is analyzed in some details with the aim of finding the maximally non Gaussian state obtainable from a given Gaussian one.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, revised versio

Soil pathogen-aphid interactions under differences in soil organic matter and mineral fertilizer

There is increasing evidence showing that microbes can influence plant-insect interactions. In addition, various studies have shown that aboveground pathogens can alter the interactions between plants and insects. However, little is known about the role of soil-borne pathogens in plant-insect interactions. It is also not known how environmental conditions, that steer the performance of soil-borne pathogens, might influence these microbe-plant-insect interactions. Here, we studied effects of the soil-borne pathogen Rhizoctonia solani on aphids (Sitobion avenae) using wheat (Triticum aestivum) as a host. In a greenhouse experiment, we tested how different levels of soil organic matter (SOM) and fertilizer addition influence the interactions between plants and aphids. To examine the influence of the existing soil microbiome on the pathogen effects, we used both unsterilized field soil and sterilized field soil. In unsterilized soil with low SOM content, R. solani addition had a negative effect on aphid biomass, whereas it enhanced aphid biomass in soil with high SOM content. In sterilized soil, however, aphid biomass was enhanced by R. solani addition and by high SOM content. Plant biomass was enhanced by fertilizer addition, but only when SOM content was low, or in the absence of R. solani. We conclude that belowground pathogens influence aphid performance and that the effect of soil pathogens on aphids can be more positive in the absence of a soil microbiome. This implies that experiments studying the effect of pathogens under sterile conditions might not represent realistic interactions. Moreover, pathogen-plant-aphid interactions can be more positive for aphids under high SOM conditions. We recommend that soil conditions should be taken into account in the study of microbe-plant-insect interactions