Efficient generation of an isolated single-cycle attosecond pulse

A new method for efficiently generating an isolated single-cycle attosecond pulse is proposed. It is shown that the ultraviolet (UV) attosecond pulse can be utilized as a robust tool to control the dynamics of electron wave packets (EWPs). By adding a UV attosecond pulse to an infrared (IR) few-cycle pulse at a proper time, only one return of the EWP to the parent ion is selected to effectively contribute to the harmonics, then an isolated two-cycle 130-as pulse with a bandwidth of 45 eV is obtained. After complementing the chirp, an isolated single-cycle attosecond pulse with a duration less than 100 as seems achievable. In addition, the contribution of the quantum trajectories can be selected by adjusting the delay between the IR and UV fields. Using this method, the harmonic and attosecond pulse yields are efficiently enhanced in contrast to the scheme [G. Sansone {\it et al.}, Science {\bf314}, 443 (2006)] using a few-cycle IR pulse in combination with the polarization gating technique.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

PSIDD (2): A Prototype Post-Scan Interactive Data Display System for Detailed Analysis of Ultrasonic Scans

This article presents the description of PSIDD(2), a post-scan interactive data display system for ultrasonic contact scan and single measurement analysis. PSIDD(2) was developed in conjunction with ASTM standards for ultrasonic velocity and attenuation coefficient contact measurements. This system has been upgraded from its original version PSIDD(1) and improvements are described in this article. PSIDD(2) implements a comparison mode where the display of time domain waveforms and ultrasonic properties versus frequency can be shown for up to five scan points on one plot. This allows the rapid contrasting of sample areas exhibiting different ultrasonic properties as initially indicated by the ultrasonic contact scan image. This improvement plus additional features to be described in the article greatly facilitate material microstructural appraisal

Thermodynamics of Dual CFTs for Kerr-AdS Black Holes

Recently Gibbons {\it et al.} in hep-th/0408217 defined a set of conserved quantities for Kerr-AdS black holes with the maximal number of rotation parameters in arbitrary dimension. This set of conserved quantities is defined with respect to a frame which is non-rotating at infinity. On the other hand, there is another set of conserved quantities for Kerr-AdS black holes, defined by Hawking {\it et al.} in hep-th/9811056, which is measured relative to a frame rotating at infinity. Gibbons {\it et al.} explicitly showed that the quantities defined by them satisfy the first law of black hole thermodynamics, while those quantities defined by Hawking {\it et al.} do not obey the first law. In this paper we discuss thermodynamics of dual CFTs to the Kerr-AdS black holes by mapping the bulk thermodynamic quantities to the boundary of the AdS space. We find that thermodynamic quantities of dual CFTs satisfy the first law of thermodynamics and Cardy-Verlinde formula only when these thermodynamic quantities result from the set of bulk quantities given by Hawking {\it et al.}. We discuss the implication of our results.Comment: Revtex4, twocolumn, 6 pages, v2: 7 pages, more references and comments added, an err correcte

Modeling asymmetry and tail dependence among multiple variables by using partial regular vine

Copyright © SIAM. Modeling high-dimensional dependence is widely studied to explore deep relations in multiple variables particularly useful for financial risk assessment. Very often, strong restrictions are applied on a dependence structure by existing high-dimensional dependence models. These restrictions disabled the detection of sophisticated structures such as asymmetry, upper and lower tail dependence between multiple variables. The paper proposes a partial regular vine copula model to relax these restrictions. The new model employs partial correlation to construct the regular vine structure, which is algebraically independent. This model is also able to capture the asymmetric characteristics among multiple variables by using two-parametric copula with flexible lower and upper tail dependence. Our method is tested on a cross-country stock market data set to analyse the asymmetry and tail dependence. The high prediction performance is examined by the Value at Risk, which is a commonly adopted evaluation measure in financial market

Phase transitions on the surface of a carbon nanotube

A suspended carbon nanotube can act as a nanoscale resonator with remarkable electromechanical properties and the ability to detect adsorption on its surface at the level of single atoms. Understanding adsorption on nanotubes and other graphitic materials is key to many sensing and storage applications. Here we show that nanotube resonators offer a powerful new means of investigating fundamental aspects of adsorption on carbon, including the collective behaviour of adsorbed matter and its coupling to the substrate electrons. By monitoring the vibrational resonance frequency in the presence of noble gases, we observe the formation of monolayers on the cylindrical surface and phase transitions within these monolayers, and simultaneous modification of the electrical conductance. The monolayer observations also demonstrate the possibility of studying the fundamental behaviour of matter in cylindrical geometry.Comment: Unpublished; 7 pages with 4 figures plus 3 pages of supplementary materia

Testing Spatial Noncommutativity via Magnetic Hyperfine Structure Induced by Fractional Angular Momentum of Rydberg System

An approach to solve the critical problem of testing quantum effects of spatial noncommutativity is proposed. Magnetic hyperfine structures in a Rydberg system induced by fractional angular momentum originated from spatial noncommutativity are discussed. The orders of the corresponding magnetic hyperfine splitting of spectrum $\sim 10^{-7} - 10^{-8} eV$ lie within the limits of accuracy of current experimental measurements. Experimental tests of physics beyond the standard model are the focus of broad interest. We note that the present approach is reasonable achievable with current technology. The proof is based on very general arguments involving only the deformed Heisenberg-Weyl algebra and the fundamental property of angular momentum. Its experimental verification would constitute an advance in understanding of fundamental significance, and would be a key step towards a decisive test of spatial noncommutativity.Comment: 11 pages, no figure

Broadband polarization-independent perfect absorber using a phase-change metamaterial at visible frequencies

We report a broadband polarization-independent perfect absorber with wide-angle near unity absorbance in the visible regime. Our structure is composed of an array of thin Au squares separated from a continuous Au film by a phase change material (Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5)) layer. It shows that the near perfect absorbance is flat and broad over a wide-angle incidence up to 80° for either transverse electric or magnetic polarization due to a high imaginary part of the dielectric permittivity of Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5). The electric field, magnetic field and current distributions in the absorber are investigated to explain the physical origin of the absorbance. Moreover, we carried out numerical simulations to investigate the temporal variation of temperature in the Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) layer and to show that the temperature of amorphous Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) can be raised from room temperature to > 433 K (amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition temperature) in just 0.37 ns with a low light intensity of 95 nW/μm(2), owing to the enhanced broadband light absorbance through strong plasmonic resonances in the absorber. The proposed phase-change metamaterial provides a simple way to realize a broadband perfect absorber in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) regions and is important for a number of applications including thermally controlled photonic devices, solar energy conversion and optical data storage

Non-bisphosphonate inhibitors of isoprenoid biosynthesis identified via computer-aided drug design.

The relaxed complex scheme, a virtual-screening methodology that accounts for protein receptor flexibility, was used to identify a low-micromolar, non-bisphosphonate inhibitor of farnesyl diphosphate synthase. Serendipitously, we also found that several predicted farnesyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors were low-micromolar inhibitors of undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase. These results are of interest because farnesyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors are being pursued as both anti-infective and anticancer agents, and undecaprenyl diphosphate synthase inhibitors are antibacterial drug leads