555 research outputs found
Coherent Backscattering with Nonlinear Atomic Scatterers
We study coherent backscattering of a quasi-monochromatic laser by a dilute
gas of cold two-level atoms. We consider the perturbative regime of weak
intensities, where nonlinear effects arise from {\em inelastic} two-photon
scattering processes. Here, coherent backscattering can be formed by
interference between {\em three} different scattering amplitudes. Consequently,
if elastically scattered photons are filtered out from the photodetection
signal by means of suitable frequency-selective detection, we find the
nonlinear backscattering enhancement factor to exceed the linear barrier two.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Partial nonlinear reciprocity breaking through ultrafast dynamics in a random photonic medium
We demonstrate that ultrafast nonlinear dynamics gives rise to reciprocity
breaking in a random photonic medium. Reciprocity breaking is observed via the
suppression of coherent backscattering, a manifestation of weak localization of
light. The effect is observed in a pump-probe configuration where the pump
induces an ultrafast step-change of the refractive index during the dwell time
of the probe light in the material. The dynamical suppression of coherent
backscattering is reproduced well by a multiple scattering Monte Carlo
simulation. Ultrafast reciprocity breaking provides a distinct mechanism in
nonlinear optical media which opens up avenues for the active manipulation of
mesoscopic transport, random lasers, and photon localization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Coherent Backscattering of Light with Nonlinear Atomic Scatterers
We study coherent backscattering of a monochromatic laser by a dilute gas of
cold two-level atoms in the weakly nonlinear regime. The nonlinear response of
the atoms results in a modification of both the average field propagation
(nonlinear refractive index) and the scattering events. Using a perturbative
approach, the nonlinear effects arise from inelastic two-photon scattering
processes. We present a detailed diagrammatic derivation of the elastic and
inelastic components of the backscattering signal both for scalar and vectorial
photons. Especially, we show that the coherent backscattering phenomenon
originates in some cases from the interference between three different
scattering amplitudes. This is in marked contrast with the linear regime where
it is due to the interference between two different scattering amplitudes. In
particular we show that, if elastically scattered photons are filtered out from
the photo-detection signal, the nonlinear backscattering enhancement factor
exceeds the linear barrier two, consistently with a three-amplitude
interference effect.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Universality of residence-time distributions in non-adiabatic stochastic resonance
We present mathematically rigorous expressions for the residence-time and
first-passage-time distributions of a periodically forced Brownian particle in
a bistable potential. For a broad range of forcing frequencies and amplitudes,
the distributions are close to periodically modulated exponential ones.
Remarkably, the periodic modulations are governed by universal functions,
depending on a single parameter related to the forcing period. The behaviour of
the distributions and their moments is analysed, in particular in the low- and
high-frequency limits.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure New version includes distinction between
first-passage-time and residence-time distribution
Coherent backscattering of light by atoms in the saturated regime
We present the first calculation of coherent backscattering with inelastic
scattering by saturated atoms. We consider the scattering of a
quasi-monochromatic laser pulse by two distant atoms in free space. By
restricting ourselves to scattering of two photons, we employ a perturbative
approach, valid up to second order in the incident laser intensity. The
backscattering enhancement factor is found to be smaller than two (after
excluding single scattering), indicating a loss of coherence between the doubly
scattered light emitted by both atoms. Since the undetected photon carries
information about the path of the detected photon, the coherence loss can be
explained by a which-path argument, in analogy with a double-slit experiment.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
Evidence of atrial remodeling in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation:Observations following internal cardioversion
Experimental observation of second-harmonic generation and diffusion inside random media
We have experimentally measured the distribution of the second-harmonic
intensity that is generated inside a highly-scattering slab of porous gallium
phosphide. Two complementary techniques for determining the distribution are
used. First, the spatial distribution of second-harmonic light intensity at the
side of a cleaved slab has been recorded. Second, the total second-harmonic
radiation at each side of the slab has been measured for several samples at
various wavelengths. By combining these measurements with a diffusion model for
second-harmonic generation that incorporates extrapolated boundary conditions,
we present a consistent picture of the distribution of the second-harmonic
intensity inside the slab. We find that the ratio of the
mean free path at the second-harmonic frequency to the coherence length, which
was suggested by some earlier calculations, cannot describe the second-harmonic
yield in our samples. For describing the total second-harmonic yield, our
experiments show that the scattering parameter at the fundamental frequency
\k_{1\omega}\ell_{1\omega} is the most relevant parameter in our type of
samples.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Virtuality in human supervisory control: Assessing the effects of psychological and social remoteness
Virtuality would seem to offer certain advantages for human supervisory control. First, it could provide a physical analogue of the 'real world' environment. Second, it does not require control room engineers to be in the same place as each other. In order to investigate these issues, a low-fidelity simulation of an energy distribution network was developed. The main aims of the research were to assess some of the psychological concerns associated with virtual environments. First, it may result in the social isolation of the people, and it may have dramatic effects upon the nature of the work. Second, a direct physical correspondence with the 'real world' may not best support human supervisory control activities. Experimental teams were asked to control an energy distribution network. Measures of team performance, group identity and core job characteristics were taken. In general terms, the results showed that teams working in the same location performed better than team who were remote from one another
Separable approximations of density matrices of composite quantum systems
We investigate optimal separable approximations (decompositions) of states
rho of bipartite quantum systems A and B of arbitrary dimensions MxN following
the lines of Ref. [M. Lewenstein and A. Sanpera, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 2261
(1998)]. Such approximations allow to represent in an optimal way any density
operator as a sum of a separable state and an entangled state of a certain
form. For two qubit systems (M=N=2) the best separable approximation has a form
of a mixture of a separable state and a projector onto a pure entangled state.
We formulate a necessary condition that the pure state in the best separable
approximation is not maximally entangled. We demonstrate that the weight of the
entangled state in the best separable approximation in arbitrary dimensions
provides a good entanglement measure. We prove in general for arbitrary M and N
that the best separable approximation corresponds to a mixture of a separable
and an entangled state which are both unique. We develop also a theory of
optimal separable approximations for states with positive partial transpose
(PPT states). Such approximations allow to decompose any density operator with
positive partial transpose as a sum of a separable state and an entangled PPT
state. We discuss procedures of constructing such decompositions.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
- …