Amplitude-squared squeezing in superposed coherent states

We study amplitude-squared squeezing of the Hermitian operator Z_θ=Z₁ cosθ+Z₂ sin θ, in the most general superposition state , of two coherent states and . Here operators Z_1,2 are defined by , a is annihilation operator, θ is angle, and complex numbers C_1,2 , α, β are arbitrary and only restriction on these is the normalization condition of the state . We define the condition for a state to be amplitude-squared squeezed for the operator Z_θ if squeezing parameter , where N=a⁺a and . We find maximum amplitude-squared squeezing of Z_θ in the superposed coherent state with minimum value 0.3268 of the parameter S for an infinite combinations with α- β= 2.16 exp [±i(π/4) + iθ/2], and with arbitrary values of (α+β) and θ. For this minimum value of squeezing parameter S, the expectation value of photon number can vary from the minimum value 1.0481 to infinity. Variations of the parameter S with different variables at maximum amplitude-squared squeezing are also discussed.     

Retrodiction for coherent communication with homodyne or heterodyne detection

Previous work on the retrodictive theory of direct detection is extended to cover the homodyne detection of coherent optical signal states and . The retrodictive input state probabilities are obtained by the application of Bayes' theorem to the corresponding predictive distributions, based on the probability operator measure (POM) elements for the homodyne process. Results are derived for the retrodictive information on the complex amplitude of the signal field obtainable from the difference photocount statistics of both 4-port and 8-port balanced homodyne detection schemes. The local oscillator is usually assumed much stronger than the signal but the case of equal strengths in 4-port detection is also considered. The calculated probability distributions and error rates are illustrated numerically for values of signal and local oscillator strengths that extend from the classical to the quantum regimes.     

Atomic squeezing in assembly of two two-level atoms interacting with a single mode coherent radiation

Saito and Ueda [Phys. Rev. A 59, 3959 (1999)] studied atomic and radiation squeezing in interaction of a single mode coherent state of radiation with two excited two-level atoms, using the Jaynes Cummings Hamiltonian. They considered α real and studied squeezing of the Dicke operator S_x using the Kitagawa-Ueda criterion for squeezing and coupling times less than or nearly equal to . We obtain results to all orders in coupling time for atoms, which are initially in (i) fully excited, (ii) superradiant or in (iii) ground states and obtain more general results. We use our recently reported criterion for atomic squeezing, of which the Kitagawa-Ueda criterion is a special case, and obtain a much stronger (nearly 95%) atomic squeezing than that (nearly 1.1%) reported by Saito and Ueda.     

Effects of phase decoherence on the entanglement of a two-qubit anisotropic Heisenberg XYZ chain with an in-plane magnetic field

We investigate the phase decoherence effects on the entanglement of a two-qubit anisotropic Heisenberg model with a nonuniform magnetic field in the x–z-plane. As a measure of the entanglement, the concurrence of the system is calculated. It is shown that when the magnetic field is along the z-axis, the nonuniform and uniform components of the field have no influence on the entanglement for the cases of and , respectively. But when the magnetic field is not along the z-axis, both the uniform and the nonuniform components of the field will introduce the decoherence effects. It is found that the effects of the Heisenberg chain's anisotropy in the Z-direction on the entanglement are dependent on the direction of the field. Moreover, the larger the initial concurrence is, the higher value it will exhibit during the time evolution of the system for a proper set of the parameters ν, Δ, θ, γ , B and b.     

Hyperfine structure and isotope shift study in singly ionized lead

Hyperfine structure and isotope shifts in five optical transitions: 424.5 nm ( – ), 537.2 nm ( – ), 554.5 nm ( – ), 560.9 nm ( – ) and 666.0 nm ( – ) of Pb  II have been measured. As a light source the discharge tube was used. The hyperfine structure measurements were performed using metallic isotope ²⁰⁷Pb. For isotope shifts measurements natural lead was used. The high resolution spectral apparatus consisted of a silver coated Fabry-Perot etalon and a grating spectrograph combined with a CCD camera used as a detector. In the analysis of the spectra a computer simulation technique was used. The hyperfine structure observations yielded the splitting constants A for seven levels of Pb II. The isotope shift studies enabled to separate the mass and the field shifts and to determine values of changes of the mean square nuclear charge radii.     

Lifetime vibrational interference during the NO 1s-1π* resonant excitation studied by the NO+(A 1Π → X 1Σ+) fluorescence

Dispersed fluorescence from fragments formed after the de-excitation of the 1s^-1π^* resonances of N^*O and NO^* has been measured in the spectral range of 118–142 nm. This range is dominated by lines of atomic nitrogen and oxygen fragments and by the bands in the NO⁺ ion which result from the participator Auger decay of the 1s^-1π^* resonances. Ab-initio calculations of the transition probabilities between vibrational levels during the reaction NO N^*O ⇒ NO were used to explain the observed intensity dependence for the fluorescence bands on the exciting-photon energy across the resonances and on both v^′ and v^′′ vibrational quantum numbers. The multiplet structure of the 1s^-1π^* resonance and lifetime vibrational interference explain the observed exciting-photon energy dependence of the fluorescence intensity. A strong spin-orbit coupling between singlet and triplet states of NO⁺ is proposed to reduce additional cascade population of the state via radiative transitions from the and states and to explain remaining differences between measured and calculated integral fluorescence intensities.     

Modular construction of special mixed quantum states

For a homogeneous quantum network of N subsystems with n levels each we consider separable generalized Werner states. A generalized Werner state is defined as a mixture of the totally mixed state and an arbitrary pure state : with a mixture coefficient . For this density operator to be separable, will have an upper bound . Below this bound one should alternatively be able to reproduce by a mixture of entirely separable input-states. For this purpose we introduce a set of modules, each contributing elementary coherence properties with respect to a generalized coherence vector. Based on these there exists a general step-by-step mixing process for any . For being a cat-state it is possible to define an optimal process, which produces states right up to the separability boundary ( ).Received: 3 December 2002, Published online: 29 July 2003PACS: 03.65.Ud Entanglement and quantum nonlocality (e.g. EPR paradox, Bells inequalities, GHZ states, etc.) - 03.67.-a Quantum information - 03.65.-w Quantum mechanics     

Soft X-ray contact microscopy of nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Soft X-ray Contact Microscopy (SXCM) of Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes with typical length m and diameter m has been performed using the PALS laser source of wavelength m and pulse duration ps. Pulsed soft X-rays were generated using molybdenum and gold targets with laser intensities W/cm². Images have been recorded on PMMA photo resists and analyzed using an atomic force microscope operating in contact mode. Cuticle features and several internal organs have been identified in the SXCM images including lateral field, cuticle annuli, pharynx, and hypodermal and neuronal cell nuclei.Received: 18 February 2004, Published online: 29 June 2004PACS: 42.62.Be Biological and medical applications - 07.85.Tt X-ray microscopes - 87.59.Bh X-ray radiographyA color version of the figures is available in electronic form at .     

Hyperfine structure and isotope shifts in near-infrared transitions of atomic nitrogen

We have obtained Doppler-free spectra of transitions in the → 2p²(³P) and → multiplets of atomic nitrogen using saturated absorption spectroscopy. These multiplets consist of respectively of seven and eight transitions, and have center of gravity wavelengths of 821 nm and 869 nm. Values for the hyperfine structure coupling constants of all the upper and lower states for these multiplets were obtained for both ¹⁴N and ¹⁵N. Isotope shifts of three transitions in each multiplet were also measured, and a significant J-dependence to the shifts was observed.     

Electron impact excitation of 2p and 3p states of hydrogen at intermediate energies

The recent theoretical work by Bartlett et al. [J. Phys. B 38, L95 (2005)] and the latest measurements on the reduced Stokes parameters , and for 54.4 eV electron impact excitation of the 2p state atomic hydrogen by Williams and Mikosza [J. Phys. B 39, 4113 (2006)] has motivated the present work. A coupled-channel-optical calculation with 9 and 12 atomic states supplemented with the continuum optical potentials for the stronger coupling channels has been performed. The calculated n = 2 and n = 3 differential cross sections and the reduced Stokes parameters are comparable with the state-of-the art calculations. There is closer agreement between the present calculations and the experimental measurements for the reduced Stokes parameters and in the n = 2p excitation at 54.4 eV. The present CCO calculations also display good accord with the limited experimental data for the reduced Stokes parameters in the n=3p excitation.     

Factorisation,parton entanglement and the Drell-Yan process

We discuss the angular distribution of the lepton pair in the Drell-Yan process, . This process gives information on the spin-density matrix of the annihilating quark-antiquark pair in . There is strong experimental evidence that even for unpolarised initial hadrons is non-trivial, and therefore the quark-antiquark system is polarised. We discuss the possibilities of a general - which could be entangled - and a factorising . We argue that instantons may lead to a non-trivial of the type indicated by experiments.Received: 6 December 2004, Published online: 9 February 2005     

A high-resolution Ramsey-Bordé spectrometer for optical clocks based on cold Mg atoms

We report on recent progress in our Ramsey-Bordé interferometer with cold magnesium atoms at 457.2 nm. A resolution as high as was achieved, which corresponds to a quality factor of Q = 2.3×10¹². An upper limit of 170 Hz for the laser oscillator line width is inferred from the interferometric analysis of the contrast decay induced by the residual atomic motion and spontaneous emission. The performance of the spectrometer allows to realize an optical frequency standard at 457.2 nm with a short-term stability of up to with 10⁵ atoms similar to state-of-the art, non-cryogenic microwave clocks or oscillators.     

Twist-3 distribution amplitudes of the pion and kaon from the QCD sum rules

Twist-3 distribution amplitudes of the pion and kaon are studied in this paper. We calculate the first several moments for the twist-3 distribution amplitudes ( and ) of the pion and kaon by applying the QCD sum rules. Our results show that (i) the first three moments of and the first two moments of and of the pion and kaon can be obtained with 30 uncertainty; (ii) the fourth moment of the and the second moment of the can be obtained when the uncertainty are relaxed to 35 ; (iii) the fourth moment of the can be obtained only when the uncertainty are relaxed to 40 ; (iv) we have and after including the -corrections to the perturbative part. These moments will be helpful for constructing the twist-3 wave functions of the pion and kaon.Received: 6 January 2005, Revised: 29 March 2005, Published online: 22 June 2005PACS: 13.20.He, 11.55.Hx     

Electromagnetic momentum, magnetic model of light and effects of the Aharonov-Bohm type

The wave equation for light propagation in slowly moving media, which is analogous to that of quantum effects of the Aharonov-Bohm type, is characterized by the interaction momentum , related to the flow . In effects of the Aharonov-Bohm type the interaction momentum is related to the momentum of the electromagnetic (em) fields, that characterizes an em flow . It is shown that in both cases has the same physical origin. Calculation of the interaction em momentum for the light wave dragged by the flow yields exactly the Fresnel-Fizeau momentum. These results corroborate the validity of the magnetic model for light and highlight the role and relevance of the em momentum in new effects of classical and quantum physics. A tentative test of an astrophysical Fizeau-Aharonov-Bohm effect is discussed.     

Measurement of charm fragmentation ratios and fractionsin photoproduction at HERA

The production of , D⁰, D ⁺ , D_s ⁺ and charm hadrons and their antiparticles in e p scattering at HERA was measured with the ZEUS detector using an integrated luminosity of . The measurement has been performed in the photoproduction regime with the exchanged-photon virtuality and for photon-proton centre-of-mass energies in the range . The charm hadrons were reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity . The production cross sections were used to determine the ratio of neutral and charged D-meson production rates, , the strangeness-suppression factor, , and the fraction of charged D mesons produced in a vector state, . The measured and values agree with those obtained in deep inelastic scattering and in e ⁺ e^- annihilations. The measured value is smaller than, but consistent with, the previous measurements. The fractions of c quarks hadronising as a particular charm hadron, , were derived in the given kinematic range. The measured open-charm fragmentation fractions are consistent with previous results, although the measured is smaller and is larger than those obtained in e ⁺ e^- annihilations. These results generally support the hypothesis that fragmentation proceeds independently of the hard sub-process. Received: 12 August 2005, Revised: 8 September 2005, Published online: 6 October 2005     

Probing spin-orbit quenching in Cl (2P) + H2 via crossed molecular beam scattering

In our previous work we investigated electronically non-adiabatic effects in using crossed molecular beam scattering coupled with velocity mapped ion imaging. The prior experiments placed limits on the cross-section for electronically non-adiabatic spin-orbit excitation and electronically non-adiabatic spin-orbit quenching . In the present work, we investigate electronically non-adiabatic spin-orbit quenching for which is the required first step for the reaction of Cl^* to produce ground state HCl+H products. In these experiments we collide Cl (²P) with H₂ at a series of fixed collision energies using a crossed molecular beam machine with velocity mapped ion imaging detection. Through an analysis of our ion images, we determine the fraction of electronically adiabatic scattering in Cl^* +H₂, which allows us to place limits on the cross-section for electronically non-adiabatic scattering or quenching. We determine the following quenching cross-sections σ _quench(2.1 kcal/mol) = 26 ± 21 ?², σ _quench(4.0 kcal/mol) = 21 ± 49 ?², and σ _quench(5.6 kcal/mol) = 14 ± 41 ?².     

Studies of ion energy and yield from argon clusters heated by intense femtosecond laser pulses

Using time-of-flight spectrometry, the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with argon clusters has been studied by measuring the energy and yield of emitted ions. With two different supersonic nozzles, the dependence of average ion energy on cluster size in a large range of has been measured. The experimental results indicate that when the cluster size , the average ion energy Coulomb explosion is the dominant expansion mechanism. Beyond this size, the average ion energy gets saturated gradually, the clusters exhibit a mixed Coulomb-hydrodynamic expansion behavior. We also find that with the increasing gas backing pressure, there is a maximum ion yield, the ion yield decreases as the gas backing pressure is further increased.     

Exclusive radiative and electroweak b\to d and b\to s penguin decays at NLO

We provide standard model expectations for the rare radiative decays , and , and the electroweak penguin decays and at the next-to-leading order (NLO), extending our previous results to transitions. We consider branching fractions, isospin asymmetries and direct CP asymmetries. For the electroweak penguin decays, the lepton-invariant mass spectrum and forward-backward asymmetry is also included. Radiative and electroweak penguin transitions in are mainly interesting in the search for new flavor-changing neutral current interactions, but in addition the decays provide constraints on the CKM parameters . The potential impact of these constraints is discussed.Received: 16 January 2005, Published online: 16 March 2005 Corresponding author: Th. Feldmann     

Low mass dimuon production in proton-nucleus collisions with the NA60 apparatus

During the June 2002 run NA60 collected around 600 000 dimuon triggers in proton-nucleus collisions at 400 GeV. We show that the collected dimuon mass spectra can be understood in terms of known sources. The specific target setup, consisting of Beryllium, Indium and Lead targets, simultaneously exposed to the beam, allowed us to study the nuclear dependence of the production cross-section of the and resonances. The elementary nucleon-nucleon production cross-sections at 400 GeV for the , and mesons are also presented. By using the -Dalitz decay, dominating the mass range below 450 MeV, we, furthermore, extracted the production cross-section and its nuclear dependence. The results are discussed in the framework of previous measurements, mostly obtained in different decay channels, performed by NA27, HELIOS-1 and CERES-TAPS. Arrival of the final proofs: 1 July 2005 PACS: 25.75.Dw, 25.75.Nq     

Semihard scattering unraveled from collective flow at the SPS

A study of elliptic flow and two-particle azimuthal correlations of charged particles ( GeV/c) and high- pions ( GeV/c) in Pb + Au collisions at 158A GeV/c, close to midrapidity, is presented. Elliptic flow (v ₂) rises linearly with to a value of about 10 at 2 GeV/c. Beyond 1.5 GeV/c, the slope decreases and possibly indicates a v ₂ saturation at high . Two-pion azimuthal anisotropies for 1.2 GeV/c exceed the v ₂ values by about 60 in semicentral collisions. This non-flow component is attributed to near-side and away-side jetlike correlations. While the near-side peak remains constant with centrality 0.23 0.03 rad, as expected for fragmentation, the away-side peak experiences broadening and disappears in central collisions. Arrival of the final proofs: 30 June 2005 PACS: 25.75.Ld, 25.75.Gz