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.     

Effects of a magnetic field on a modulated phase

The effects of a magnetic field on a modulated phase are studied. A modulated phase is found to have two critical fields H₁ and H₂. For a large enough magnetic field, H₁ and H₂ can be approximated by a linear law. As a result, the minimum magnetic field needed to destroy a modulated phase is a constant. The minimum magnetic field also greatly depends on the order of a commensurate phase. A very high order commensurate phase and an incommensurate phase cannot survive a magnetic field. The behaviour of a magnetoelastic chain in a magnetic field can be described by a harmless devil's staircase. The inverse temperature is found to play a role similar to that of a special magnetic field. The deeper physics underlying these new phenomena is the breaking of the left-right symmetry of a phase diagram. As a result a controllable path to a modulated phase is found.     

Some non-abelian phase spaces in low dimensions

A non-abelian phase space, or a phase space of a Lie algebra, is a generalization of the usual (abelian) phase space of a vector space. It corresponds to a para-Kähler structure in geometry. Its structure can be interpreted in terms of left-symmetric algebras. In particular, a solution of an algebraic equation in a left-symmetric algebra which is an analogue of classical Yang–Baxter equation in a Lie algebra can induce a phase space. In this paper, we find that such phase spaces have a symplectically isomorphic property. We also give all such phase spaces in dimension 4 and some examples in dimension 6. These examples can be a guide for a further development.     

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.     

Asymmetric universal entangling machine for qubits

We give a definition of a universal entangling machine that entangles a system in an unknown state to a specially prepared ancilla. We describe explicitly such a machine for one qubit; i.e., we show how a qubit in an a priori unknown state can be entangled to a four-level ancilla by means of a unitary transformation. As a result, a fixed state-independent amount of entanglement is generated in exchange for a fixed degradation of qubit state fidelity.     

Maximum in vibrational frequency shift of a hydrogen molecule in solid hydrogen under pressure

Raman measurements on solid hydrogen show a maximum in the vibrational frequency of a H₂ molecule as a function of pressure, around 350 Kbar. We give an interpretation of this experimental data by considering a model in which a single H₂ molecule is immersed in a dielectric medium, and enclosed in a spheroidal box to simulate the effect of pressure. The maximum results from a balance between a decreasing equilibrium bond length of H₂ with pressure at low pressures and a term which reflects the pressure dependence of the dielectric constant. Our results are consistent with available calculations which give a much lower vibrational frequency at a much higher pressure, for a H₂ molecule embedded in a metallic medium.     

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.     

Scattering of a plane wave from a periodic random surface: a probabilistic approach

This paper deals with a probabilistic formulation of the wave scattering from a periodic random surface. When a plane wave is incident on a random surface described by a periodic stationary stochastic process, it is shown by a group-theoretic consideration that the scattered wave may have a stochastic Floquet form, i.e. a product of a periodic stationary random function and an exponential phase factor. Such a periodic stationary random function is then written by a harmonic series representation similar to a Fourier series, where Fourier coefficients are mutually correlated stationary processes instead of constants. The mutually correlated stationary processes are represented by Wiener - Hermite functional series with unknown coefficient functions called Wiener kernels. In case of a slightly rough surface and TE wave incidence, low-order Wiener kernels are determined from the boundary condition. Several statistical properties of the scattering are calculated and illustrated in figures.     

The development of a portable line-shaping optical system for silicon surface treatment

This study proposes a beam shaper for converting a circle beam profile generated with a Gaussian intensity distribution by an 808 nm diode laser into a line beam profile for silicon surface treatment applications. To produce a hand-held and low-cost device with a large spot-size laser, this study uses a portable optical system consisting of a diode laser source, a collimator, a cylindrical lens, and a plano-convex lens to generate an approximately 40 × 3:5mm² line beam profile at a working distance of 200 mm. The silicon surface treated by the line-shaped laser beam has significantly reduced reflectance spectra. The proposed system is also suitable for the surface cleaning of materials.     

A Minimal Framework for Non-Commutative Quantum Mechanics

Deformation quantisation is applied to ordinary Quantum Mechanics by introducing the star product in a configuration space combining a Riemannian structure with a Poisson one. A Hilbert space compatible with such a configuration space is designed. The dynamics is expressed by a Hermitian Hamiltonian containing a scalar potential and a one-form potential. As a simple illustration, it is shown how a particular type of non-commutativity of the star product is interpretable as generating the Zeeman effect of ordinary Quantum Mechanics.     

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.     

Experimental demonstration of a technique to generate arbitrary quantum superposition states of a harmonically bound spin-1/2 particle

Using a single, harmonically trapped 9Be(+) ion, we experimentally demonstrate a technique for generation of arbitrary states of a two-level particle confined by a harmonic potential. Rather than engineering a single Hamiltonian that evolves the system to a desired final state, we implement a technique that applies a sequence of simple operations to synthesize the state.     

Lognormal Modes of Dielectric Optical Waveguides

It is shown that, at a critical point where the effective refractive index of a mode coincides with the bulk index of a cladding region, optical waveguide modes exhibiting a lognormal feature are supportable for a hyperlongrange refractive-index profile. As a typical example of waveguides that support lognormal modes a parabolic-index core surrounded by a depressed-index cladding is presented.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Micro x-ray small-angle scattering with synchrotron radiation

Abstract

Three small-angle scattering cameras based on mirror/monochromator optics, a circular Bragg-Fresnel (BF) lens, and a microcollimation system combined with a double-focusing mirror have been tested for microfocusing applications. In order to reach a focal spot less than or equal to 10 μm. a microcollimation system provides a flexible solution for medium-resolution applications. When using a glass capillary as a collimation system, a minimum s-value of 5·10^?2 nm^?1 was attained. Scanning small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) patterns from a poly(tetramethyl-p-silphenylene)-siloxane spherulite and a 40-μm polyethyl-eneterephthalate fiber were obtained in a few seconds per pattern with a 4 μm diameter beam at a wavelength of λ = 0.095 nm.     

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.