6,658 research outputs found
Strongly interacting photons in one-dimensional continuum
Photon-photon scattering in vacuum is extremely weak. However, strong
effective interactions between single photons can be realized by employing
strong light-matter coupling. These interactions are a fundamental building
block for quantum optics, bringing many-body physics to the photonic world and
providing important resources for quantum photonic devices and for optical
metrology. In this Colloquium, we review the physics of strongly-interacting
photons in one-dimensional systems with no optical confinement along the
propagation direction. We focus on two recently-demonstrated experimental
realizations: superconducting qubits coupled to open transmission lines, and
interacting Rydberg atoms in a cold gas. Advancements in the theoretical
understanding of these systems are presented in complementary formalisms and
compared to experimental results. The experimental achievements are summarized
alongside a description of the quantum optical effects and quantum devices
emerging from them.Comment: Updated version, accepted for publication in Reviews of Modern
Physic
Value Added
With more than a thousand honors programs or colleges in the United States and that number growing every year, defining the value of honors is a significant undertaking. Honors seems to have become an obligatory upgrade that no college or university president can afford to be without, but there is more than institutional trending to be considered, or at least there should be, so the real issue is defining the value that honors adds—for students, for faculty, for staff, and for the larger community we serve. When it comes to budgets and governing boards and all the constituencies the university is responsible to, the way that each of us determines the value added is going to be different. Some best practices are consistent across the whole range of colleges and universities where honors education goes forward, but the real value added is in how we apply those best practices to make the most of each institution’s distinctive character and strengths, and how we turn good ideas into conscious practice
Keypad mobile phones are associated with a significant increased risk of microbial contamination compared to touch screen phones
The use of mobile phones in the clinical environment by healthcare workers has become widespread. Despite evidence that these devices can harbour pathogenic micro-organisms there is little guidance on how to reduce contamination. Recently touchscreen phones with a single flat surface have been introduced. We hypothesise that bacterial contamination of phones used in hospitals will be lower on touchscreen devices compared to keypad devices. Sixty seven mobile phones belonging to health care workers were sampled. The median colony count for touchscreen phones and keypad devices was 0·09 colony forming units (cfu)/cm2 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.05–0·14) and 0·77 cfu/cm2 (IQR range 0·45–3.52) respectively. Colony counts were significantly higher on the keypad phones (Fisher’s exact test p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed the type of phone (keypad vs. touch screen) was associated with increased colony counts (F-statistic 14.13: p<0.001). Overall, nine (13%) phones grew either meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus or vancomycin resistant enterococci. Eight (24%) keypad phones were contaminated with these organisms compared with one touch screen phone (3%). Our data indicate that touchscreen mobile phones are less contaminated than their keypad counterparts, and they are less likely to harbour pathogenic bacteria in the clinical setting
Supercooling across first-order phase transitions in vortex matter
Hysteresis in cycling through first-order phase transitions in vortex matter,
akin to the well-studied phenomenon of supercooling of water, has been
discussed in literature. Hysteresis can be seen while varying either
temperature T or magnetic field H (and thus the density of vortices). Our
recent work on phase transitions with two control variables shows that the
observable region of metastability of the supercooled phase would depend on the
path followed in H-T space, and will be larger when T is lowered at constant H
compared to the case when H is lowered at constant T. We discuss the effect of
isothermal field variations on metastable supercooled states produced by
field-cooling. This path dependence is not a priori applicable to metastability
caused by reduced diffusivity or hindered kinetics.Comment: Tex, 8 pages, 3 Postscripts figures. Submitted to Pramana - J.
Physic
New Maser Emission from Nonmetastable Ammonia in NGC 7538. II. Green Bank Telescope Observations Including Water Masers
We present new maser emission from ^{14}NH_3 (9,6) in NGC 7538. Our
observations include the known spectral features near v_LSR = -60 km/s and -57
km/s and several more features extending to -46 km/s. In three epochs of
observation spanning two months we do not detect any variability in the ammonia
masers, in contrast to the >10-fold variability observed in other ^{14}NH_3
(9,6) masers in the Galaxy over comparable timescales. We also present
observations of water masers in all three epochs for which emission is observed
over the velocity range -105 km/s < v_LSR < -4 km/s, including the highest
velocity water emission yet observed from NGC 7538. Of the remarkable number of
maser species in IRS 1, H_2O and, now, ^{14}NH_3 are the only masers known to
exhibit emission outside of the velocity range -62 km/s < v_LSR < -51 km/s.
However, we find no significant intensity or velocity correlations between the
water emission and ammonia emission. We also present a non-detection in the
most sensitive search to date toward any source for emission from the CC^{32}S
and CC^{34}S molecules, indicating an age greater than \approx 10^4 yr for IRS
1-3. We discuss these findings in the context of embedded stellar cores and
recent models of the region.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables; accepted to AJ; color figures only on
arxiv; revised to include references and minor proof change
Factors Associated With Retinal Vessel Diameters in an Elderly Population: the Thessaloniki Eye Study
Purpose: To identify the factors associated with retinal vessel diameters in the population of the Thessaloniki Eye Study.
Methods: Cross-sectional population-based study (age ≥ 60 years). Subjects with glaucoma, late age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy were excluded from the analyses. Retinal vessel diameters were measured using the IVAN software, and measurements were summarized to central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE), central retinal vein equivalent (CRVE), and arteriole to venule ratio (AVR).
Results: The analysis included 1614 subjects. The hypertensive group showed lower values of CRAE (P = 0.033) and AVR (P = 0.0351) compared to the normal blood pressure (BP) group. On the contrary, the group having normal BP under antihypertensive treatment did not have different values compared to the normal BP group. Diastolic BP (per mm Hg) was negatively associated with CRAE (P < 0.0001) and AVR (P < 0.0001), while systolic BP (per mm Hg) was positively associated with CRAE (P = 0.001) and AVR (P = 0.0096). Other factors significantly associated included age, sex, alcohol, smoking, cardiovascular disease history, ophthalmic medication, weight, and IOP; differences were observed in a stratified analysis based on BP medication use.
Conclusions: Our study confirms previous reports about the association of age and BP with vessel diameters. The negative correlation between BP and CRAE seems to be guided by the effect of diastolic BP as higher systolic BP is independently associated with higher values of CRAE. The association of BP status with retinal vessel diameters is determined by diastolic BP status in our population. Multiple other factors are also independently associated with retinal vessel diameters
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