A New Differential Method Applied to the Study of Arbitrary Cross Section Microstructured Optical Fibers

The present work adapts a recent grating theory called “Fast Fourier factorization” to cylindrical coordinates in order to study microstructured optical fibers (MOFs). Compared with the classical differential method, this new differential method takes into account the truncation of Fourier series and the discontinuities of the fields across the diffracting surface with the help of new factorization rules. The main advantage of this method is that the directrix of the diffracting cylindrical surface is arbitrary and permits anisotropic and inhomogeneous media although its numerical application needs longer computation time, compared with other well-known numerical methods. The S-propagation algorithm is used to avoid numerical contaminations. The numerical results are validated and compared with the well-established Multipole method in the case of a MOF with six circular cylinders. Further, a new cross-sectional profile (with sectorial inclusions) that the Multipole method cannot consider is studied.     

The ALTO project at IPN-Orsay

The availability of both a tandem deuteron beam and a linac electron beam, the latter converted into Bremsstrahlung, at the new ALTO facility at IPN-Orsay offers a unique opportunity to compare the performance of a laser ion guide under different regimes. The ALTO accelerator has delivered its first electron beam at the end of 2005 and a design for a gas-cell prototype is being studied.     

On conservative approximation by linear polynomial operators an extension of the Bernstein's operator

In this work we study linear polynomial operators preserving some consecutive i-convexities and leaving invariant the polynomials up to a certain degree. First, we study the existence of an incom patibility between the conservation of certain i-convexities and the invariance of a space of polynomials. Interpolation properties are obtained and a theorem by Berens and DeVore about the Bernstein's operator is extended. Finally, from these results a generalized Bernstein's operator is obtained. This work was supported by Junta de Andalucia. Grupo de investigación: Matemática Aplicada. Código: 1107     

A new interpretation of quantum mechanics and its consequences in epistemology

A rather recent interpretation of quantum mechanics, known under the various names of consistent histories, decohering histories, or logical interpretation, has brought interpretation into a standard deductive theory and is now investigated in many places. A key difference with the Copenhagen interpretation is the status of classical physics, now derived completely from quantum principles in both its dynamical and logical aspects. After describing briefly this new interpretation in its essentials, leaving aside technical details, it is shown how its consequences in epistemology differ drastically from the familiar outcomes of the Copenhagen interpretation, leading in particular to a well-defined theory of knowledge. Some more speculative philosophical consequences associated with the unsolved problem of actuality are also mentioned.