Geometric phase induced by a cyclically evolving squeezed vacuum reservoir

We propose a new way to generate an observable geometric phase by means of a completely incoherent phenomenon. We show how to imprint a geometric phase to a system by adiabatically manipulating the environment with which it interacts. As a specific scheme, we analyze a multilevel atom interacting with a broadband squeezed vacuum bosonic bath. As the squeezing parameters are smoothly changed in time along a closed loop, the ground state of the system acquires a geometric phase. We also propose a scheme to measure such a geometric phase by means of a suitable polarization detection.     

Measuring Light Field of Light Source with High Directional Resolution Using Mirrored Ball and Pinhole Camera

This paper presents a method of measuring a light field of a light source with high directional resolution using a mirrored ball and a pinhole camera. The light field describes a spatial and directional distribution of radiances from the light source. The directional distribution is expanded by a reflection on the mirrored ball, and the radiances are measured by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera with a pinhole lens. The light source is laterally moved by a robot arm to measure the directionally expanded light field, and each pixel on a CCD can obtain the radiances from the light source through the pinhole lens with high directional resolution. The light field is estimated from the pixel value and the position of each pixel using a ray tracing technique. The light field of a krypton lamp was experimentally measured by the proposed method, and the accuracy of the measurement was evaluated against the irradiances measured by a spectro-radiometer at sample points.     

Vibrations of double-string complex system under moving forces. Closed solutions

In this paper the dynamic response of a double-string system traversed by a constant or a harmonically oscillating moving force is considered. The force is moving with a constant velocity on the top string. The strings are identical, parallel, one upon the other and continuously coupled by a linear Winkler elastic element. The classical solution of the response of a double-string system subjected to a force moving with a constant velocity has a form of an infinite series. The main goal of this paper is to show that in the considered case a part of the solution can be presented in a closed, analytical form instead of an infinite series. The presented method of finding the solution in a closed, analytical form is based on the observation that the solution of the system of partial differential equations in the form of an infinite series is also a solution of an appropriate system of ordinary differential equations.     

Synthesis of magnetic systems producing field with maximal scalar characteristics

A method of synthesis of the magnetic systems (MSs) consisting of uniformly magnetized blocks is proposed. This method allows to synthesize MSs providing maximum value of any magnetic field scalar characteristic. In particular, it is possible to synthesize the MSs providing the maximum of a field projection on a given vector, a gradient of a field modulus and a gradient of a field energy on a given directing vector, a field magnitude, a magnetic flux through a given surface, a scalar product of a field or a force by a directing function given in some area of space, etc. The synthesized MSs provide maximal efficiency of permanent magnets utilization. The usage of the proposed method of MSs synthesis allows to change a procedure of projecting in principal, namely, to execute it according to the following scheme: (a) to choose the sizes, a form and a number of blocks of a system proceeding from technological (economical) reasons; (b) using the proposed synthesis method, to find an orientation of site magnetization providing maximum possible effect of magnet utilization in a system obtained in (a). Such approach considerably reduces a time of MSs projecting and guarantees maximal possible efficiency of magnets utilization. Besides it provides absolute assurance in “ideality” of a MS design and allows to obtain an exact estimate of the limit parameters of a field in a working area of a projected MS.The method is applicable to a system containing the components from soft magnetic material with linear magnetic properties.     

Physical adsorption and surface plasmons

The quantum mechanical formulation of the screening of a point charge by surface plasmons is extended to describe the coupling of a fluctuating atomic dipole with a metallic surface of planar, spherical or cylindrical shape. This allows for the calculation of the nonretarded Van der Waals attraction of an atom by a solid surface in the three different geometries. Applications of the theoretical formulae are made to obtain numerical values of the dispersion energy by a spherical particle, a spherical pore, a thin film, a slot-like prore, a cylindrical fiber or a cylindrical pore.     

The Klein-Gordon and the Dirac Oscillators in a Noncommutative Space

We study the Dirac and the Klein-Gordon oscillators in a noncommutative space. It is shown that the Klein-Gordon oscillator in a noncommutative space has a similar behaviour to the dynamics of a particle in a commutative space and in a constant magnetic field. The Dirac oscillator in a noncommutative space has a similar equation to the equation of motion for a relativistic fermion in a commutative space and in a magnetic field, however a new exotic term appears, which implies that a charged fermion in a noncommutative space has an electric dipole moment.     

On reconstructing photon statistics by on/off detectors: Toward the multi-partite case

The propagation of pulses of the pump and its second harmonic in a quadratically nonlinear medium whose linear properties are characterized by a negative refractive index at the pump frequency and by a positive refractive index at the harmonic frequency is considered theoretically. In the case of a low intensity of the interacting waves, the pump and second-harmonic pulses propagate in the opposite directions, but sufficiently powerful pulses can form a simulton—a solitary two-frequency wave propagating in a certain direction as a single whole. Solutions to a set of equations are found which describe the steady-state propagation of a solitary wave and of a nonlinear periodic (cnoidal) wave.     

Dynamic reflection and refraction of neutrons at the boundaries of matter characterized by a variable magnetic induction

Optical phenomena that arise in the interaction of a neutron wave with matter characterized by a variable interaction potential are considered. The time dependence of the potential is assumed to be due to a change in the magnetization vector in matter with time. Since the interaction in question is time-dependent, the neutron energy is not conserved. If a neutron interacts with a sample that has a plane boundary, only the neutron-velocity component orthogonal to the matter boundary changes. Thus, reflected waves are characterized by a reflection angle that is different from the angle of incidence. Waves transmitted through a plane sample can also change direction. The changes in the neutron energy and in the neutron-velocity direction are closely related to the reversal of the neutron-spin projection. The question of whether a slab featuring a rotating magnetization vector can be used as a spin flipper or as a coherent wave splitter is considered.     

Boundary crisis and transient in a dissipative relativistic standard map

Some dynamical properties for a problem concerning the acceleration of particles in a wave packet are studied. The model is described in terms of a two-dimensional nonlinear map obtained from a Hamiltonian which describes the motion of a relativistic standard map. The phase space is mixed in the sense that there are regular and chaotic regions coexisting. When dissipation is introduced, the property of area preservation is broken and attractors emerge. We have shown that a tiny increase of the dissipation causes a change in the phase space. A chaotic attractor as well as its basin of attraction are destroyed thereby leading the system to experience a boundary crisis. We have characterized such a boundary crisis via a collision of the chaotic attractor with the stable manifold of a saddle fixed point. Once the chaotic attractor is destroyed, a chaotic transient described by a power law with exponent −1 is observed.     

Interaction of electromagnetic waves with nonlinear substance layer under conditions of electron paramagnetic resonance in millimeter waves

Trancated equations have been obtained by the Green's functions method for a slowly varying amplitude of a transverse magnetic field component in a paramagnetic layer under conditions of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). A magnetic susceptibiliti of the substence has been found from the Bloch equation for a homogeneously line breadth of the EPR. In a stationary case a solution of a nonlinear boundary-value problem is redused to a solution of two boundary problems for amplitude and phase equations. It is shown that unstable regimes of the electrodynamic system under inves tigation are possible.Electrodynamic characteristics of a nonlinear resonator of the Fabry-Pero type filled with a saturated paramagnetic medium have been analyzed numerically in a non-stationery case.     

Weak values of electron spin in a double quantum dot

We propose a protocol for a controlled experiment to measure a weak value of the electron's spin in a solid state device. The weak value is obtained by a two step procedure--weak measurement followed by a strong one (postselection), where the outcome of the first measurement is kept provided a second postselected outcome occurs. The setup consists of a double quantum dot and a weakly coupled quantum point contact to be used as a detector. Anomalously large values of the spin of a two electron system are predicted, as well as negative values of the total spin. We also show how to incorporate the adverse effect of decoherence into this procedure.     

Reconstruction of the acoustic impedance profile in a plate using an inverse spectral procedure

An inverse spectral procedure was applied to reconstruct the acoustic impedance profile along the thickness direction of a plate using its thickness resonance frequencies, density and thickness. For a successful reconstruction, the material-property profile must be symmetric about the mid-plane of the plate. Several cases of numerical simulations, including plates with a few layers and with a high number of layers are described. The calculated resonance frequencies were used to reconstruct the acoustic impedance profile, a process that was successful for all cases. We assume that a plate with a high number of layers, each with a different but constant acoustic impedance, simulates a plate with a smoothly varying acoustic impedance profile. It can be concluded that such a plate, which generates small, virtually undetectable, internally reflected waves, can also be reconstructed. In the special case of a plate of unknown thickness and unknown but constant density, the method is still useful, because a relative variation of the material property can be reconstructed using only the resonance frequencies. An experiment using a resonance-mode electromagnetic acoustic transducer (resonance-mode EMAT) is also described. EMAT is a non-contact ultrasonic method that can measure thickness resonance frequencies, making it appropriate for this method. Some examples of applications are measurement of the temperature profile inside a rolled metal sheet, measurement of a clad metal plate, and monitoring of a metal casting.     

Gravitational coupling and dynamical reduction of the cosmological constant

We introduce a dynamical model to reduce a large cosmological constant to a sufficiently small value. The basic ingredient in this model is a distinction which has been made between the two unit systems used in cosmology and particle physics. We have used a conformal invariant gravitational model to define a particular conformal frame in terms of large scale properties of the universe. It is then argued that the contributions of mass scales in particle physics to the vacuum energy density should be considered in a different conformal frame. In this manner, a decaying mechanism is presented in which the conformal factor appears as a dynamical field and plays a key role to relax a large effective cosmological constant. Moreover, we argue that this model also provides a possible explanation for the coincidence problem.     

The analysis of impact forces in randomly vibrating elastic systems

This work is concerned with the characteristics of the impact force produced when two randomly vibrating elastic bodies collide with each other, or when a single randomly vibrating elastic body collides with a stop. The impact condition includes a non-linear spring, which may represent, for example, a Hertzian contact, and in the case of a single body, closed form approximate expressions are derived for the duration and magnitude of the impact force and for the maximum deceleration at the impact point. For the case of two impacting bodies, a set of algebraic equations are derived which can be solved numerically to yield the quantities of interest. The approach is applied to a beam impacting a stop, a plate impacting a stop, and to two impacting beams, and in each case a comparison is made with detailed numerical simulations. Aspects of the statistics of impact velocity are also considered, including the probability that the impact velocity will exceed a specified value within a certain time.     

Anomalous Josephson current via Majorana bound states in topological insulators

We propose a setup involving Majorana bound states (MBS) hosted by a vortex on a superconducting surface of a 3D topological insulator (TI). We consider a narrow channel drilled across a TI slab with both sides covered by s-wave superconductor. In the presence of a vortex pinned to such a channel, it acts as a ballistic nanowire connecting the superconducting surfaces, with a pair of MBS localized in it. The energies of the MBS possess a 4π-periodic dependence on the superconductive phase difference φ between the surfaces. It results in the appearance of an anomalous term in the current-phase relation I(a)(φ) for the supercurrent flowing along the channel between the superconductive surfaces. We have calculated the shape of the 4π-periodic function I(a)(φ), as well as the dependence of its amplitude on temperature and system parameters.     

Influences of decoherence on the generation of a macroscopic superposition state using weak cross-Kerr effect

Considering a system in which a single photon and a coherent field propagate through a Kerr medium, when the weak cross-Kerr interaction between the coherent state and the single photon under decoherence is involved, this paper derives analytically a macroscopic superposition state by the superoperator method and investigates the influences of decoherence on the coherence properties of the obtained state. It finds that the macroscopic superposition state will experience evolution from a pure superposition state to a mixed state in a dissipative environment and the Kerr effect makes the field display a periodic revival from decoherence for a short time.     

Soliton matter and the onset of color conductivity

We employ the hybrid soliton model of the nucleon consisting of a topological meson field and deeply bound quarks to investigate the behavior of the quarks on soliton matter as a function of density. We investigate a particular possible ground state by placing the solitons on a spatial lattice. The model suggests the transition of matter from a color insulator to a color conductor above a critical density of a few times normal nuclear density.     

A hypothetical model of confinement in a dia-electric medium

The assumption of a perfect color dia-electric vacuum in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) led to a reasonable explanation of quark confinement. Along the same lines, a hypothetical dia-electric medium in electromagnetism is shown to lead to charge confinement; although such a medium does not exist, the analysis of this hypothetical problem illuminates in a very simple and straightforward way how this dia property (negative susceptibility) of a medium leads to confinement. It is shown that adding a dipole (particle-antiparticle) charge distribution to such a dia-electric medium would lead the creation of a cavity surrounding the charges; by a simple analysis, using the image problem along with a series expansion in Legendre polynomials, it is shown that the polarization charge distribution on the cavity's surface would lead to an increase in the dipole energy by a finite amount; on the other hand, the increase in the electric energy of a single charge inserted in such a medium would be infinite. It is thus concluded that in such a dia-electric medium, separating the charges of a dipole would require an infinite amount of energy, and thus illustrating in a simple way the confinement concept.     

Formation of a spiraling line defect and its meandering transition in a period-2 medium

The instability of a period-1 spiral wave resulting in a period-2 spiral wave with a line defect is investigated for the first time in a laboratory system. At the very onset the transition proceeds by an emergence of a spiraling line defect, "breathing" intermittently while retaining its symmetry of a period-1 spiral wave. With a further change in a control parameter, the line defect undergoes a meandering transition producing a compound tip trajectory, following a dynamic shape transition. The observed transitions have a strong analogy to the phase synchronization transition of two coupled nonlinear oscillators and the meandering transition of a period-1 spiral wave.