417 research outputs found
Queer anarcha-feminism: an emerging ideology? The case of Proyectil Fetal
This thesis assesses the degree to which the Argentinean activist collective Proyectil Fetal can be successfully placed within the context of three intersecting ideological strains: feminism, anarchism and queer activism/theory. Queer anarcha-feminism, the confluence of these three ideologies, is an emerging ideology developed by a number of groups and individuals around the globe. This is in part due to their conviction that anarchists should have something to say about sexuality and gender, and that queer theory and feminism can help define such an up-to-date anarchist politics of sexuality. In addition, some believe that queer theory and feminism should be grounded in the more comprehensive ethical framework provided by the anti-capitalism and anti-Statism of the anarchist ideology, rather than be complicit with capitalism and the State. As such, queer anarchists share queer Marxists concern with combining queer theory and anti-capitalism.
The overlaps and the tensions between these three ideological currents and Proyectil Fetal are closely traced through a deep analysis of the latter s blogs, internet pronouncements and discussions and actions. The core concepts of queer anarcha-feminism are all identified on their blog, and the group s adjacent as well as perimeter queer anarcha-feminist concepts are examined in depth. It is shown how the latter are formed partly in response to the current political climate in Argentina. Finally, the reception of Proyectil Fetal s queer anarcha-feminist ideas is examined in order to position their queer anarcha-feminism in relation to the political landscape of Argentina.
Through this work, and drawing on Michael Freeden s conceptualisation of ideologies (Freeden 1998), this thesis elaborates the first systematic definition of queer anarcha-feminism
Mesoscopic atomic entanglement for precision measurements beyond the standard quantum limit
Squeezing of quantum fluctuations by means of entanglement is a well
recognized goal in the field of quantum information science and precision
measurements. In particular, squeezing the fluctuations via entanglement
between two-level atoms can improve the precision of sensing, clocks,
metrology, and spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate 3.4 dB of metrologically
relevant squeezing and entanglement for ~ 10^5 cold cesium atoms via a quantum
nondemolition (QND) measurement on the atom clock levels. We show that there is
an optimal degree of decoherence induced by the quantum measurement which
maximizes the generated entanglement. A two-color QND scheme used in this paper
is shown to have a number of advantages for entanglement generation as compared
to a single color QND measurement.Comment: 6 pages+suppl, PNAS forma
Heterodyne non-demolition measurements on cold atomic samples: towards the preparation of non-classical states for atom interferometry
We report on a novel experiment to generate non-classical atomic states via
quantum non-demolition (QND) measurements on cold atomic samples prepared in a
high finesse ring cavity. The heterodyne technique developed for the QND
detection exhibits an optical shot-noise limited behavior for local oscillator
optical power of a few hundred \muW, and a detection bandwidth of several GHz.
This detection tool is used in single pass to follow non destructively the
internal state evolution of an atomic sample when subjected to Rabi
oscillations or a spin-echo interferometric sequence.Comment: 23 page
Trapping of Neutral Rubidium with a Macroscopic Three-Phase Electric Trap
We trap neutral ground-state rubidium atoms in a macroscopic trap based on
purely electric fields. For this, three electrostatic field configurations are
alternated in a periodic manner. The rubidium is precooled in a magneto-optical
trap, transferred into a magnetic trap and then translated into the electric
trap. The electric trap consists of six rod-shaped electrodes in cubic
arrangement, giving ample optical access. Up to 10^5 atoms have been trapped
with an initial temperature of around 20 microkelvin in the three-phase
electric trap. The observations are in good agreement with detailed numerical
simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Minimally-destructive detection of magnetically-trapped atoms using frequency-synthesised light
We present a technique for atomic density measurements by the off-resonant
phase-shift induced on a two-frequency, coherently-synthesised light beam. We
have used this scheme to measure the column density of a magnetically trapped
atom cloud and to monitor oscillations of the cloud in real time by making over
a hundred non-destructive local density measurments. For measurements using
pulses of 10,000-100,000 photons lasting ~10 microsecond, the precision is
limited by statistics of the photons and the photodiode avalanche. We explore
the relationship between measurement precision and the unwanted loss of atoms
from the trap and introduce a figure of merit that characterises it. This
method can be used to probe the density of a BEC with minimal disturbance of
its phase.Comment: Submitted to New Journal of Physic
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