On Minimum Average Stretch Spanning Trees in Polygonal 2-trees

A spanning tree of an unweighted graph is a minimum average stretch spanning tree if it minimizes the ratio of sum of the distances in the tree between the end vertices of the graph edges and the number of graph edges. We consider the problem of computing a minimum average stretch spanning tree in polygonal 2-trees, a super class of 2-connected outerplanar graphs. For a polygonal 2-tree on $n$ vertices, we present an algorithm to compute a minimum average stretch spanning tree in $O(n \log n)$ time. This algorithm also finds a minimum fundamental cycle basis in polygonal 2-trees.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Diffusion at constant speed in a model phase space

We reconsider the problem of diffusion of particles at constant speed and present a generalization of the Telegrapher process to higher dimensional stochastic media ($d>1$), where the particle can move along $2^d$ directions. We derive the equations for the probability density function using the ``formulae of differentiation'' of Shapiro and Loginov. The model is an advancement over similiar models of photon migration in multiply scattering media in that it results in a true diffusion at constant speed in the limit of large dimensions.Comment: Final corrected version RevTeX, 6 pages, 1 figur

On the refractive index for a nonmagnetic two-component medium: resolution of a controversy

The refractive index of a dielectric medium comprising both passive and inverted components in its permittivity was determined using two methods: (i) in the time domain, a finite-difference algorithm to compute the frequency-domain reflectance from reflection data for a pulsed plane wave that is normally incident on a dielectric half-space, and (ii) in the frequency domain, the deflection of an obliquely incident Gaussian beam on transmission through a dielectric slab. The dielectric medium was found to be an active medium with a negative real part for its refractive index. Thereby, a recent controversy in the scientific literature was resolved.Comment: manuscript submitted to Optics Communication

Complete controllability of quantum systems

Sufficient conditions for complete controllability of $N$-level quantum systems subject to a single control pulse that addresses multiple allowed transitions concurrently are established. The results are applied in particular to Morse and harmonic-oscillator systems, as well as some systems with degenerate energy levels. Morse and harmonic oscillators serve as models for molecular bonds, and the standard control approach of using a sequence of frequency-selective pulses to address a single transition at a time is either not applicable or only of limited utility for such systems.Comment: 8 pages, expanded and revised versio

Near Field Lenses in Two Dimensions

It has been shown that a slab of materials with refractive index = -1 behaves like a perfect lens focussing all light to an exact electromagnetic copy of an object. The original lens is limited to producing images the same size as the object, but here we generalise the concept so that images can be magnified. For two dimensional systems, over distances much shorter than the free space wavelength, we apply conformal transformations to the original parallel sided slab generating a variety of new lenses. Although the new lenses are not `perfect' they are able to magnify two dimensional objects. The results apply equally to imaging of electric or magnetic sub wavelength objects in two dimensions. The concepts have potential applications ranging from microwave frequencies to the visible.Comment: PDF fil