669 research outputs found
Atom laser coherence and its control via feedback
We present a quantum-mechanical treatment of the coherence properties of a
single-mode atom laser. Specifically, we focus on the quantum phase noise of
the atomic field as expressed by the first-order coherence function, for which
we derive analytical expressions in various regimes. The decay of this function
is characterized by the coherence time, or its reciprocal, the linewidth. A
crucial contributor to the linewidth is the collisional interaction of the
atoms. We find four distinct regimes for the linewidth with increasing
interaction strength. These range from the standard laser linewidth, through
quadratic and linear regimes, to another constant regime due to quantum
revivals of the coherence function. The laser output is only coherent (Bose
degenerate) up to the linear regime. However, we show that application of a
quantum nondemolition measurement and feedback scheme will increase, by many
orders of magnitude, the range of interaction strengths for which it remains
coherent.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, revtex
Wang-Landau study of the critical behaviour of the bimodal 3D-Random Field Ising Model
We apply the Wang-Landau method to the study of the critical behaviour of the
three dimensional Random Field Ising Model with a bimodal probability
distribution. Our results show that for high values of the random field
intensity the transition is first order, characterized by a double-peaked
energy probability distribution at the transition temperature. On the other
hand, the transition looks continuous for low values of the field intensity. In
spite of the large sample to sample fluctuations observed, the double peak in
the probability distribution is always present for high field
Control of an atom laser using feedback
A generalised method of using feedback to control Bose-Einstein condensates
is introduced. The condensates are modelled by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation,
so only semiclassical fluctations can be suppressed, and back-action from the
measurement is ignored. We show that for any available control, a feedback
scheme can be found to reduce the energy while the appropriate moment is still
dynamic. We demonstrate these schemes by considering a condensate trapped in a
harmonic potential that can be modulated in strength and position. The
formalism of our feedback scheme also allows the inclusion of certain types of
non-linear controls. If the non-linear interaction between the atoms can be
controlled via a Feshbach resonance, we show that the feedback process can
operate with a much higher efficiency.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Finite-size scaling properties of random transverse-field Ising chains : Comparison between canonical and microcanonical ensembles for the disorder
The Random Transverse Field Ising Chain is the simplest disordered model
presenting a quantum phase transition at T=0. We compare analytically its
finite-size scaling properties in two different ensembles for the disorder (i)
the canonical ensemble, where the disorder variables are independent (ii) the
microcanonical ensemble, where there exists a global constraint on the disorder
variables. The observables under study are the surface magnetization, the
correlation of the two surface magnetizations, the gap and the end-to-end
spin-spin correlation for a chain of length . At criticality, each
observable decays typically as in both ensembles, but the
probability distributions of the rescaled variable are different in the two
ensembles, in particular in their asymptotic behaviors. As a consequence, the
dependence in of averaged observables differ in the two ensembles. For
instance, the correlation decays algebraically as 1/L in the canonical
ensemble, but sub-exponentially as in the microcanonical
ensemble. Off criticality, probability distributions of rescaled variables are
governed by the critical exponent in both ensembles, but the following
observables are governed by the exponent in the microcanonical
ensemble, instead of the exponent in the canonical ensemble (a) in the
disordered phase : the averaged surface magnetization, the averaged correlation
of the two surface magnetizations and the averaged end-to-end spin-spin
correlation (b) in the ordered phase : the averaged gap. In conclusion, the
measure of the rare events that dominate various averaged observables can be
very sensitive to the microcanonical constraint.Comment: 24 page
Raft-dependent endocytosis of autocrine motility factor is phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-dependent in breast carcinoma cells
Autocrine motility factor (AMF) is internalized via a receptor-mediated, dynamin-dependent, cholesterol-sensitive raft pathway to the smooth endoplasmic reticulum that is negatively regulated by caveolin-1. Expression of AMF and its receptor (AMFR) is associated with tumor progression and malignancy; however, the extent to which the raft-dependent uptake of AMF is tumor cell-specific has yet to be addressed. By Western blot and cell surface fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis, AMFR expression is increased in tumorigenic MCF7 and metastatic MDA-231 and MDA-435 breast cancer cell lines relative to dysplastic MCF10A mammary epithelial cells. AMF uptake, determined by FACS measurement of protease-insensitive internalized fluorescein-conjugated AMF, was increased in MCF7 and MDA-435 cells relative to MCF-10A and caveolin-1-expressing MDA-231 cells. Uptake of fluorescein-conjugated AMF was dynamin-dependent, methyl-beta-cyclodextrin- and genistein-sensitive, reduced upon overexpression of caveolin-1 in MDA-435 cells, and increased upon short hairpin RNA reduction of caveolin-1 in MDA-231 cells. Tissue microarray analysis of invasive primary human breast carcinomas showed that AMFR expression had no impact on survival but did correlate significantly with expression of phospho-Akt. Phospho-Akt expression was increased in AMF-internalizing MCF7 and MDA-435 breast carcinoma cells. AMF uptake in these cells was reduced by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibition but not by regulators of macropinocytosis such as amiloride, phorbol ester, or actin cytoskeleton disruption by cytochalasin D. The raft-dependent endocytosis of AMF therefore follows a distinct phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-dependent pathway that is up-regulated in more aggressive tumor cells
Random walks and polymers in the presence of quenched disorder
After a general introduction to the field, we describe some recent results
concerning disorder effects on both `random walk models', where the random walk
is a dynamical process generated by local transition rules, and on `polymer
models', where each random walk trajectory representing the configuration of a
polymer chain is associated to a global Boltzmann weight. For random walk
models, we explain, on the specific examples of the Sinai model and of the trap
model, how disorder induces anomalous diffusion, aging behaviours and Golosov
localization, and how these properties can be understood via a strong disorder
renormalization approach. For polymer models, we discuss the critical
properties of various delocalization transitions involving random polymers. We
first summarize some recent progresses in the general theory of random critical
points : thermodynamic observables are not self-averaging at criticality
whenever disorder is relevant, and this lack of self-averaging is directly
related to the probability distribution of pseudo-critical temperatures
over the ensemble of samples of size . We describe the
results of this analysis for the bidimensional wetting and for the
Poland-Scheraga model of DNA denaturation.Comment: 17 pages, Conference Proceedings "Mathematics and Physics", I.H.E.S.,
France, November 200
Quantum learning: optimal classification of qubit states
Pattern recognition is a central topic in Learning Theory with numerous
applications such as voice and text recognition, image analysis, computer
diagnosis. The statistical set-up in classification is the following: we are
given an i.i.d. training set where
represents a feature and is a label attached to that
feature. The underlying joint distribution of is unknown, but we can
learn about it from the training set and we aim at devising low error
classifiers used to predict the label of new incoming features.
Here we solve a quantum analogue of this problem, namely the classification
of two arbitrary unknown qubit states. Given a number of `training' copies from
each of the states, we would like to `learn' about them by performing a
measurement on the training set. The outcome is then used to design mesurements
for the classification of future systems with unknown labels. We find the
asymptotically optimal classification strategy and show that typically, it
performs strictly better than a plug-in strategy based on state estimation.
The figure of merit is the excess risk which is the difference between the
probability of error and the probability of error of the optimal measurement
when the states are known, that is the Helstrom measurement. We show that the
excess risk has rate and compute the exact constant of the rate.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure
2.5PN kick from black-hole binaries in circular orbit: Nonspinning case
Using the Multipolar post-Minskowskian formalism, we compute the linear
momentum flux from black-hole binaries in circular orbits and having no spins.
The total linear momentum flux contains various types of instantaneous (which
are functions of the retarded time) and hereditary (which depends on the
dynamics of the binary in the past) terms both of which are analytically
computed. In addition to the inspiral contribution, we use a simple model of
plunge to compute the kick or recoil accumulated during this phase.Comment: To appear in Proceedings of "Relativity and Gravitation - 100 Years
after Einstein in Prague" Ed. J. Bicak (2013
Are long gamma-ray bursts biased tracers of star formation? Clues from the host galaxies of the Swift/BAT6 complete sample of bright LGRBs. :III. Stellar masses, star formation rates, and metallicities at z > 1
Are long gamma-ray bursts biased tracers of star formation? Clues from the host galaxies of the Swift/BAT6 complete sample of bright LGRBs. :III. Stellar masses, star formation rates, and metallicities at z > 1
(Abridged) Long gamma-ray bursts (LGRB) have been suggested as promising
tracers of star formation owing to their association with the core-collapse of
massive stars. The goal of this work is to characterise the population of host
galaxies of LGRBs at 1 < z < 2, investigate the conditions in which LGRBs form
at these redshifts and assess their use as tracers of star formation. We
perform a spectro-photometric analysis to determine the stellar mass, star
formation rate, specific star formation rate and metallicity of the complete,
unbiased host galaxy sample of the Swift/BAT6 LGRB sample at 1 < z < 2. We
compare the distribution of these properties to the ones of typical
star-forming galaxies from the MOSDEF and COSMOS2015 Ultra Deep surveys, within
the same redshift range. We find that, similarly to z < 1, LGRBs do not
directly trace star formation at 1 < z < 2, and they tend to avoid high-mass,
high-metallicity host galaxies. We also find evidence for an enhanced fraction
of starbursts among the LGRB host sample with respect to the star-forming
population of galaxies. Nonetheless we demonstrate that the driving factor
ruling the LGRB efficiency is metallicity. The LGRB host distributions can be
reconciled with the ones expected from galaxy surveys by imposing a metallicity
upper limit of 12+logOH ~ 8.55. Metallicity rules the LGRB production
efficiency, which is stifled at Z > 0.7 Zsun. Under this hypothesis we can
expect LGRBs to trace star formation at z > 3, once the bulk of the star
forming galaxy population are characterised by metallicities below this limit.
The moderately high metallicity threshold found is in agreement with the
conditions necessary to rapidly produce a fast-rotating Wolf-Rayet star a in
close binary system, and could be accommodated by single star models under
chemically homogeneous mixing with very rapid rotation and weak magnetic
coupling.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
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