Enhancing the acquisition efficiency of fast magnetic resonance imaging via broadband encoding of signal content

Current efficient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods such as parallel-imaging and k-t methods encode MR signals using a set of effective encoding functions other than the Fourier basis. This work revisits the proposition of directly manipulating the set of effective encoding functions at the radiofrequency excitation step in order to increase MRI efficiency. This approach, often termed "broadband encoding," enables the application of algebraic matrix factorization technologies to extract efficiency by representing and encoding MR signal content in a compacted form. Broadband imaging equivalents of fast multiecho, parallel and k-t MRI are developed and analyzed. The potential of these techniques to increase the time efficiency of data acquisition is experimentally verified on a commercial MRI scanner using simple spin-echo imaging. A three-dimensional gradient-echo dynamic imaging application that demonstrates the potential benefits of this approach compared to the present state of the art for certain applications is also presented.     

Gravitational correction to running of gauge couplings

We calculate the contribution of graviton exchange to the running of gauge couplings at lowest non-trivial order in perturbation theory. Including this contribution in a theory that features coupling constant unification does not upset this unification, but rather shifts the unification scale. When extrapolated formally, the gravitational correction renders all gauge couplings asymptotically free.     

A data-analysis method for identifying differential effects of time-delayed feedback forces and periodic driving forces in stochastic systems

In this work a method is developed for analyzing time series of periodically driven stochastic systems involving time-delayed feedback. The proposed data-analysis method yields dynamical models in terms of stochastic delay differential equations. On the basis of these dynamical models differential effects of driving forces and time-delayed feedback forces can be identified.     

Time-resolved probing of the ground state coherence in rubidium

We demonstrate the preparation and probing of the coherence between the hyperfine ground states |S(1/2),F=1> and |5S(1/2),F=2> of the Rb87 isotope. The effects of various coherence control techniques, i.e., fractional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage and coherent population return, on the coherence are investigated. These techniques are implemented using nearly degenerate pump and Stokes lasers at 795 nm (Rb D1 transition), which couple the two hyperfine ground states via the excited state |5P(1/2),F=1> through a resonant two-photon process in which a coherent superposition of the two hyperfine ground states is established. The medium is probed by an additional weak laser, which generates a four-wave mixing signal proportional to the ground state coherence and allows us to monitor its evolution in time. The experimental data are compared with numerical simulations.     

Common luminescence intensity fluctuations of single particle and single molecules in non-conducing matrices

Optical spectroscopy in combination with wide field or confocal optical microscopy enables the investigation of single quantum objects such as organic molecules, II/VI semiconductor quantum dots and silicon nanocrystals. They all have fluctuations of luminescence intensities on time scales longer than μs in common. A comparison reveals that despite the large differences of the nature of the respective quantum objects, the intensity fluctuations are related to a slow ionisation process followed by a trapping of the photoejected charge in the non-conducing environment. Detailed aspects of the dynamics are controlled by the dielectric properties of the matrix.     

Ground-state energy of a two level system with phonon coupling

The coupling of a two-level system to quantized boson modes has been the focus of many researchers for a number of years. Applications to exciton motion, molecular polaron formation, chaos in quantum systems as well as a number of other effects in condensed matter physics have also been studied. Here we investigate the interaction of bosonic modes with a two-level fermionic system. This quantum system is used as a testing ground for a recently developed Generalized Moments Expansion, GMX(m,n), of which the well-known Connected Moments Expansion (CMX) and Alternate Moments Expansion (AMX) are special cases. The convergence and viability of this scheme are discussed and comparisons are made with a related Canonical Sequence Method (CSM) as well as a Lanczos tridiagonal truncation scheme.     

Ohmic and step noise from a single trapping center hybridized with a Fermi sea

We show that single electron tunneling devices such as the Cooper-pair box or double quantum dot can be sensitive to the zero-point fluctuation of a single trapping center hybridized with a Fermi sea. If the trap energy level is close to the Fermi sea and has linewidth gamma > k(B)T, its noise spectrum has an Ohmic Johnson-Nyquist form, whereas for gamma < k(B)T the noise has a Lorentzian form expected from the semiclassical limit. Trap levels above the Fermi level are shown to lead to steps in the noise spectrum that can be used to probe their energetics, allowing the identification of individual trapping centers coupled to the device.     

Simple design changes to wires to substantially reduce MRI-induced heating at 1.5 T: implications for implanted leads

Reductions in MRI-induced heating at 1.5 T resulting from a simple design change to coiled wires were investigated. MRI-induced heating was assessed for two different coiled wire forms (length, 26 cm): (1) multi-filar coiled wire form and (2) multi-filar coiled wire form having a different coiled pitch, providing an air gap spacing between adjacent five-filar coil loops. Each wire had an electrode and was insulated to create a lead, similar to that which would be used for a medical implant. The wire forms were placed in a gelled-saline-filled head/torso phantom and imaged at 1.5 T [whole-body average specific absorption rate (SAR), 1.79 W/kg]. Fluoroptic thermometry probes were used to measure temperatures at the distal ends of the wires. The experiments demonstrated a substantial reduction in MRI-induced heating for the modified wire compared to the unmodified wire (i.e., 10.5 degrees C difference observed in one experiment and 26 degrees C difference in another). These findings have important implications for MRI-induced heating of leads used for medical implants.     

Evidence for the ground-state resonance of 26O

Evidence for the ground state of the neutron-unbound nucleus (26)O was observed for the first time in the single proton-knockout reaction from a 82 MeV/u (27)F beam. Neutrons were measured in coincidence with (24)O fragments. (26)O was determined to be unbound by 150(-150)(+50) keV from the observation of low-energy neutrons. This result agrees with recent shell-model calculations based on microscopic two- and three-nucleon forces.     

Numerical solution of nonlocal hydrodynamic Drude model for arbitrary shaped nano-plasmonic structures using Nédélec finite elements

Nonlocal material response distinctively changes the optical properties of nano-plasmonic scatterers and waveguides. It is described by the nonlocal hydrodynamic Drude model, which – in frequency domain – is given by a coupled system of equations for the electric field and an additional polarization current of the electron gas modeled analogous to a hydrodynamic flow. Recent attempt to simulate such nonlocal model using the finite difference time domain method encountered difficulties in dealing with the grad–div operator appearing in the governing equation of the hydrodynamic current. Therefore, in these studies the model has been simplified with the curl-free hydrodynamic current approximation; but this causes spurious resonances. In this paper we present a rigorous weak formulation in the Sobolev spaces H(curl) for the electric field and H(div) for the hydrodynamic current, which directly leads to a consistent discretization based on Nédélec’s finite element spaces. Comparisons with the Mie theory results agree well. We also demonstrate the capability of the method to handle any arbitrary shaped scatterer.