Quantum dense coding over Bloch channels

Dynamics of coded information over Bloch channels is investigated for different values of the channel's parameters. We show that, the suppressing of the travelling coded information over Bloch channel can be increased by decreasing the equilibrium absolute value of information carrier and consequently decreasing the distilled information by eavesdropper. The amount of decoded information can be improved by increasing the equilibrium values of the two qubits and decreasing the ratio between longitudinal and transverse relaxation times. The robustness of coded information in maximum and partial entangled states is discussed. It is shown that the maximum entangled states are more robust than the partial entangled state over this type of channels

Precision measurements in nuclear {\beta}-decay with LPCTrap

The experimental achievements and the current program with the LPCTrap device installed at the LIRAT beam line of the SPIRAL1-GANIL facility are presented. The device is dedicated to the study of the weak interaction at low energy by means of precise measurements of the {\beta}-{\nu} angular correlation parameter. Technical aspects as well as the main results are reviewed. The future program with new available beams is briefly discussed.Comment: Annalen der Physik (2013

Simulation of ion behavior in an open three-dimensional Paul trap using a power series method

Simulations of the dynamics of ions trapped in a Paul trap with terms in the potential up to the order 10 have been carried out. The power series method is used to solve numerically the equations of motion of the ions. The stability diagram has been studied and the buffer gas cooling has been implemented by a Monte Carlo method. The dipole excitation was also included. The method has been applied to an existing trap and it has shown good agreement with the experimental results and previous simulations using other methods

Structural phase transitions in epitaxial perovskite films

Three different film systems have been systematically investigated to understand the effects of strain and substrate constraint on the phase transitions of perovskite films. In SrTiO$_3$ films, the phase transition temperature T$_C$ was determined by monitoring the superlattice peaks associated with rotations of TiO$_6$ octahedra. It is found that T$_C$ depends on both SrTiO$_3$ film thickness and SrRuO$_3$ buffer layer thickness. However, lattice parameter measurements showed no sign of the phase transitions, indicating that the tetragonality of the SrTiO$_3$ unit cells was no longer a good order parameter. This signals a change in the nature of this phase transition, the internal degree of freedom is decoupled from the external degree of freedom. The phase transitions occur even without lattice relaxation through domain formation. In NdNiO$_3$ thin films, it is found that the in-plane lattice parameters were clamped by the substrate, while out-of-plane lattice constant varied to accommodate the volume change across the phase transition. This shows that substrate constraint is an important parameter for epitaxial film systems, and is responsible for the suppression of external structural change in SrTiO$_3$ and NdNiO$_3$ films. However, in SrRuO$_3$ films we observed domain formation at elevated temperature through x-ray reciprocal space mapping. This indicated that internal strain energy within films also played an important role, and may dominate in some film systems. The final strain states within epitaxial films were the result of competition between multiple mechanisms and may not be described by a single parameter.Comment: REVTeX4, 14 figure

Atomic entanglement sudden death in a strongly driven cavity QED system

We study the entanglement dynamics of strongly driven atoms off-resonantly coupled with cavity fields. We consider conditions characterized not only by the atom-field coupling but also by the atom-field detuning. By studying two different models within the framework of cavity QED, we show that the so-called atomic entanglement sudden death (ESD) always occurs if the atom-field coupling lager than the atom-field detuning, and is independent of the type of initial atomic state

Data taking strategy for the phase study in ψ′→K+K−\psi^{\prime} \to K^+K^-

The study of the relative phase between strong and electromagnetic amplitudes is of great importance for understanding the dynamics of charmonium decays. The information of the phase can be obtained model-independently by fitting the scan data of some special decay channels, one of which is $\psi^{\prime} \to K^{+}K^{-}$. To find out the optimal data taking strategy for a scan experiment in the measurement of the phase in $\psi^{\prime} \to K^{+} K^{-}$, the minimization process is analyzed from a theoretical point of view. The result indicates that for one parameter fit, only one data taking point in the vicinity of a resonance peak is sufficient to acquire the optimal precision. Numerical results are obtained by fitting simulated scan data. Besides the results related to the relative phase between strong and electromagnetic amplitudes, the method is extended to analyze the fits of other resonant parameters, such as the mass and the total decay width of $\psi^{\prime}$.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

De-pollution efficacy of photocatalytic roofing granules

Photocatalytic building surfaces can harness sunlight to reduce urban air pollution. The NOx abatement capacity of TiO2-coated granules used in roofing products was evaluated for commercial product development. A laboratory test chamber and ancillary setup were built following conditions prescribed by ISO Standard 22197-1. It was validated by exposing reference P25-coated aluminum plates to a 3 L min−1 air flow enriched in 1 ppm NO under UVA irradiation (360 nm, 11.5 W m−2). We characterized prototype granule-surfaced asphalt shingles and loose granules prepared with different TiO2 loadings and post-treatment formulations. Tests performed at surface temperatures of 25 and 60 °C showed that NOx abatement was more effective at the higher temperature. Preliminary tests explored the use of 1 ppm NO2 and of 1 ppm and 0.3 ppm NO/NO2 mixtures. Specimens were aged in a laboratory accelerated weathering apparatus, and by exposure to the outdoor environment over periods that included dry and rainy seasons. Laboratory aging led to higher NO removal and NO2 formation rates, and the same catalyst activation was observed after field exposure with frequent precipitation. However, exposure during the dry season reduced the performance. This inactivation was mitigated by cleaning the surface of field-exposed specimens. Doubling the TiO2 loading led to a 50–150% increase in NO removal and NOx deposition rates. Application of different post-treatment coatings decreased NO removal rates (21–35%) and NOx deposition rates (26–74%) with respect to untreated granules. The mass balance of nitrogenated species was assessed by extracting granules after UV exposure in a 1 ppm NO-enriched atmosphere

Goos-H\"{a}nchen-like shifts for Dirac fermions in monolayer graphene barrier

We investigate the Goos-H\"{a}nchen-like shifts for Dirac fermions in transmission through a monolayer graphene barrier. The lateral shifts, as the functions of the barrier's width and the incidence angle, can be negative and positive in Klein tunneling and classical motion, respectively. Due to their relations to the transmission gap, the lateral shifts can be enhanced by the transmission resonances when the incidence angle is less than the critical angle for total reflection, while their magnitudes become only the order of Fermi wavelength when the incidence angle is larger than the critical angle. These tunable beam shifts can also be modulated by the height of potential barrier and the induced gap, which gives rise to the applications in graphene-based devices.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure