Multiparty quantum secret sharing of secure direct communication using single photons

We propose a protocol for multiparty quantum secret sharing of secure direct communication using single photons. In this protocol, random phase shift operations instead of some special discrete unitary operations used usually are employed to realize the sharing controls. The security of this protocol with respect to various kinds of attacks is discussed. Due to the complete randomicity of the phase shift characterizing the unitary operations, the security of secret sharing is therefore enhanced.     

Fluorescence quantum yield of carbon dioxide for quantitative UV laser-induced fluorescence in high-pressure flames

The fluorescence quantum yield for ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence of CO₂ is determined for selected excitation wavelengths in the range 215–250 nm. Wavelength-resolved laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra of CO₂, NO, and O₂ are measured in the burned gases of a laminar CH₄/air flame (φ=0.9 and 1.1) at 20 bar with additional NO seeded into the flow. The fluorescence spectra are fit to determine the relative contribution of the three species to infer an estimate of fluorescence quantum yield for CO₂ that ranges from 2–8×10^?6 depending on temperature and excitation wavelength with an estimated uncertainty of ±0.5×10^?6. The CO₂ fluorescence signal increases linearly with gas pressure for flames with constant CO₂ mole fraction for the 10 to 60 bar range, indicating that collisional quenching is not an important contributor to the CO₂ fluorescence quantum yield. Spectral simulation calculations are used to choose two wavelengths for excitation of CO₂, 239.34 and 242.14 nm, which minimize interference from LIF of NO and O₂. Quantitative LIF images of CO₂ are demonstrated using these two excitation wavelengths and the measured fluorescence quantum yield.     

Formation of pancakelike Ising domains and giant magnetic coercivity in ferrimagnetic LuFe2O4

We have studied quasi-two-dimensional multiferroic LuFe2O4 with strong charge-spin-lattice coupling, in which low-temperature coercivity approaches an extraordinary value of 9 T in single crystals. The enhancement of the coercivity is connected to the collective freezing of nanoscale pancakelike ferrimagnetic domains with large uniaxial magnetic anisotropy ("Ising pancakes"). Our results suggest that collective freezing in low-dimensional magnets with large uniaxial anisotropy provides an effective mechanism to achieve enhanced coercivity. This observation may help identify novel approaches for synthesis of magnets with enhanced properties.     

Minimizing abdominal wall damage during high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation by inducing artificial ascites

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is becoming an important tool for tumor treatment [especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)] in Asian countries. A HIFU system provides unique advantages of low invasiveness and absence of nonradiation. However, if the target HCC is close to the proximal surface of the liver, HIFU may overheat diaphragm, abdominal wall or skin. To avoid this complication, a method using artificial ascites in the abdominal cavity to separate the liver from the peritoneum, and to serve as a heat sink to cool overlying structures and thereby avoid inducing permanent damage was proposed. Target tissue that was 10 mm below the liver surface was ablated in 12 New Zealand white rabbits: 6 in the experimental group and 6 in the control group. Artificial ascites was established in the experimental group by injecting normal saline into the abdominal cavity until the pressure reached 150 mm H2O. Artificial ascites not only reduced the probability and extent of thermal damage to intervening structures, but also had no adverse affect on the efficacy of HIFU ablation.     

Magnetic phase transitions in one-dimensional strongly attractive three-component ultracold fermions

We investigate the nature of trions, pairing, and quantum phase transitions in one-dimensional strongly attractive three-component ultracold fermions in external fields. Exact results for the ground-state energy, critical fields, magnetization and phase diagrams are obtained analytically from the Bethe ansatz solutions. Driven by Zeeman splitting, the system shows exotic phases of trions, bound pairs, a normal Fermi liquid, and four mixtures of these states. Particularly, a smooth phase transition from a trionic phase into a pairing phase occurs as the highest hyperfine level separates from the two lower energy levels. In contrast, there is a smooth phase transition from the trionic phase into a normal Fermi liquid as the lowest level separates from the two higher levels.     

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of ZnO nanorod arrays

Polarization-dependent linear absorption, second-harmonic generation （SHG） and 3rd-order nonlinearities of wellaligned ZnO nanorod arrays have been investigated with ps pulses. The depressed spectral width and the enhanced intensity of reflective SHG along the long axis of ZnO nanorods were observed by using p-polarized pulses, which is explained by the optical confinements. The nonlinear absorption coefficient measured with s-polarization reached the maximum 4.0×10^4cm/GW at the wavelength -750nm, which revealed a large two-photon resonance absorption attributed to the quantum confined exciton when the polarization is vertical to the long axis of ZnO nanorod.     

Electrical properties of metal-oxide semiconductor nano-particle device

We have studied the electrical transport properties of two types of devices utilizing metal-oxide semiconductor nano-particles, Cu₂O and Fe₂O₃. The metal-oxide nano-particles are embedded in a polyimide matrix through chemical reaction between the metal thin film and polyamic acid as a precursor of polyimide. To test the electron tunneling via nano-particles, Au nano-electrodes are fabricated on a SiO₂/Si substrate with a 30 nm gap by electron-beam lithography. A single electron tunneling behavior was apparent in the devices with Cu₂O nano-particle inserted into the nano-gap electrodes. Also, a memory effect was measured in a floating-gated memory device structure with Fe₂O₃ nano-particles embedded in a polyimide matrix.     

On the stability of tangent bundle on double coverings

Let Y be a smooth projective surface defined over an algebraically closed field k with char k≠2, and let π : X →Y be a double covering branched along a smooth divisor. We show that y_X is stable with respect to π~*H if the tangent bundle y_Y is semi-stable with respect to some ample line bundle H on Y.     

Instanton effects on the interaction potential between light quarks and the isomultiplet mass splitting of baryons

On the basis of current assumptions of instanton theory we derive strictly the explicit dependence on the masses and spins of the instanton induced potential between a pair of light quarks in baryons, namelyV ₁₂=γ+β(m _* ^1+α )(m _* ^2+α )η(1-σ ₁ησ ₁), wherem _i ^* andσ _i (i=1.2) are respectively the mass and Pauli spin of theith quark. On the additional basis of the MIT bag model, we obtain γ=c/R ³ and β=b/R ³>0, and α>0 is independent of the radiusR of the baryon. The magnitudes of the parametersb and α are also estimated. The MIT bag model is improved by taking into account this potential. Isomultiplet mass splitting formulas are derived in good agreement with experiment.     

Nonlinear aspects of the Cahn-Hilliard equation

This paper treats phase separation within the context of the phenomenological Cahn-Hilliard equation, c_t = · [M(c)(∂f/∂c - K²c)], where c is the concentration, M(c) is the mobility, and f(c) is homogeneou s free energy, which is assumed here to be a fourth degree polynomial. Natural boundary conditions are introduced. The full set of equilibrium solutions is specified. A comparison theorem for stability criteria which was postulated by Langer is proved here within the framework of the natural boundary conditions. Energy methods are used to define and estimate the limit of monotonic global stability. It is pointed out that within the parameter region where the uniform homogeneous state is the only equilibrium solution, there may still exist some internal “excitable” region in which the homogeneous solution possesses growing fluctuations. Furthermore a periodic instability is shown to exist in the metastable region in addition to the well-known nucleation instability.