Revisiting the security of quantum dialogue and bidirectional quantum secure direct communication

From the perspective of information theory and cryptography, the security of two quantum dialogue protocols and a bidirectional quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) protocol was analyzed, and it was pointed out that the transmitted information would be partly leaked out in them. That is, any eavesdropper can elicit some information about the secrets from the public annunciations of the legal users. This phenomenon should have been strictly forbidden in a quantum secure communication. In fact, this problem exists in quite a few recent proposals and, therefore, it deserves more research attention in the following related study. Supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2006AA01Z419), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 90604023 and 60373059), the National Research Foundation for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (Grant No. 20040013007), the National Laboratory for Modern Communications Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 9140C1101010601), the Natural Science Foundation of Beijing (Grant No. 4072020) and the ISN Open Foundation     

Controllable switching behavior of optical Tamm state based on nematic liquid crystal

The controllable behavior of optical Tamm state (OTS) is investigated in a heterostructure with nematic liquid crystal (NLC). By changing the external fields (electric field and temperature), the orientation of NLC’s molecules can be modified. It offers us an effective way to control the optical properties of the optical Tamm state. We obtain the critical condition for the appearance of the optical Tamm state. Our theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that through choosing appropriate parameters we can not only change the frequency position of the optical Tamm state, but also realize the disappearance of the OTS.     

Evolution of the gain extinction ratio in dual-pump phase sensitive amplification

We have experimentally achieved a gain extinction ratio (GER) of 30 dB at 21.75 dBm pump power in a dual-pump phase sensitive amplifier based on highly nonlinear fiber, which is more efficient than what we predict with the conventional three-wave model. We point out that high-order sidebands play a key role. Then we scrutinize the trajectories of the output signal vector in the complex plane with increasing nonlinear phase shift and understand the roll-over behavior of GER versus pump power curve. We found that the phase "flip" of the output signal occurs around the largest GER. Adjusting design parameters, we show how to improve GER.     

Distortion of parabolic pulse due to higher-order effects in a dispersion-decreasing fiber

Considering Third-order Dispersion (TOD) and Stimulated Raman Scattering effect (SRS) simultaneously, the properties of the self-similar parabolic pulse evolution in a dispersion-decreasing optical fiber with normal group-velocity dispersion are firstly investigated in our paper. Our results show that parabolic pulses are distorted and the characteristic of exactly self-similarity will be lost due to the High-order effects. When only the TOD is taken into account, the chirp still reveals highly linear but glows into asymmetric which causes the waveform appearing optical wave breaking. When only considering SRS, the pulse still reveals highly linear chirp only linearity range narrow down, resulting in delaying the self-similar evolution. When considering SRS and TOD simultaneously, parabolic pulses are distorted less and the characteristic of exactly self-similarity will be better due to SRS effect than only considering TOD effect. The highly linear chirp in optical pulse still allows for efficient and high-quality pulse compression by use of dispersion compensation technique.     

Study on the algorithm of computational ghost imaging based on discrete fourier transform measurement matrix

We have developed a model and realized an algorithm for the calculation of the coefficient of coherent (direct) transmission of light through a layer of liquid crystal (LC) droplets in a polymer matrix. The model is based on the Hulst anomalous diffraction approximation for describing the scattering by an individual particle and the Foldy-Twersky approximation for a coherent field. It allows one to investigate polymer dispersed LC (PDLC) materials with homogeneous and inhomogeneous interphase surface anchoring on the droplet surface. In order to calculate the configuration of the field of the local director in the droplet, the relaxation method of solving the problem of minimization of the free energy volume density has been used. We have verified the model by comparison with experiment under the inverse regime of the ionic modification of the LC-polymer interphase boundary. The model makes it possible to solve problems of optimization of the optical response of PDLC films in relation to their thickness and optical characteristics of the polymer matrix, sizes, polydispersity, concentration, and anisometry parameters of droplets. Based on this model, we have proposed a technique for estimating the size of LC droplets from the data on the dependence of the transmission coefficient on the applied voltage.     

Quantal global symmetry for a gauge-invariant system

Based on the configuration-space generating functional obtained by using the Faddeev-Popov trick for a gauge-invariant system, the Ward identities for global transformation are derived. The conservation laws at the quantum level for global symmetry transformation are also deduced. A preliminary application of the present formulation to non-Abelian Chern-Simons (CS) theory is given. The Ward identity and quantal BRS charge under the BRS transformation are deduced. The quantal conserved angular momentum is obtained and the fractional spin for CS theories is discussed.     

Distinct magnetic properties of one novel type of nanoscale cobalt-iron Prussian blue analogues synthesized in microemulsion

One novel type of nanoscale cobalt-iron Prussian blue analogues (PBA) in the form of mixed nanorods and nanocubes were synthesized using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as the surfactant in microemulsion at low temperature. The generated products were characterized by SQUID, XRD and IR techniques, etc. The effects of potassium contents, cobalt-to-iron ratios, reaction temperatures on the properties of the nanoscale cobalt-iron PBA were systematically explored. The results showed that the novel type of nanomaterials possessed distinct magnetic properties in that their coercivities were intensely dependent on cobalt-to-iron ratios and potassium contents. Furthermore, it was observed that low reaction temperature not only affected the morphologies of the products, but also had influence on their magnetic properties. Additionally, the cobalt-iron Prussian blue analogues were strongly influenced by CTAB around their surface, which led to higher Curie temperatures.     

First-principles study of the formation mechanisms of nitrogen molecule in annealed ZnO

Recently, N₂ molecule was reported to induce localized states in the band gap and trap two holes in ZnO. In this Letter, the detailed mechanism for the formation of N₂ molecule in high temperature annealing process in ZnO was investigated based on density-functional theory. By analyzing the interactions between N-related defects, we found that the nitrogen molecule would form by the binding of two interstitial nitrogen atoms. Interstitial oxygen facilitated the formation of N₂ by kicking out N_O to interstitial site. The formation of nitrogen molecule in ZnO would cause low doping efficiency and degeneration of the p-type in annealing process. Our results could explain the recently reported formation of N₂ molecule in high temperature annealing process in N-doped ZnO. Appropriate annealing conditions were suggested in order to get p-type ZnO.     

Dynamic response of converse magnetoelectric effect in a PMN-PT-based multiferroic heterostructure

A multiferroic heterostructure, consisting of a 25 μm thick Metglas® ribbon affixed to a lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate (PMN-PT) crystal, was systemically studied to investigate the time response of converse magnetoelectric coupling under the application of electric fields at low frequencies (0.05<f<10 Hz). This multiferroic heterostructure exhibits a considerably strong converse magnetoelectric effect, CME=?80%, where CME=[M(E)?M(0)]/M(0), and a converse ME coupling constant, A=22.5 Oe-cm/kV, at frequencies below 1 Hz and near saturation electric polarization. A switching time (t _s), representing the response time of the CME coupling, is measured to be 0.6 seconds for this heterostructure under the application of instantaneous electric fields. The switching time results in significant influences on the magnetoelectric effect especially at frequencies higher than 2 Hz. The dynamic response of CME coupling is predominantly determined by ferroelectric relaxation within the PMN-PT crystal, as opposed to the magnetic relaxation of the Metglas® ribbon. A model was used to describe the dynamic behavior of CME coupling in disordered systems such as PMN-PT.     

Self-organized diffusion of congestion in complex networks

In this work, we propose and study a model for the diffusion of congestion in complex networks. According to the proposed model, the level of congestion on each node will be self-organized into the same value. The diffusion of congestion throughout various networks with different topologies is investigated analytically and by numerical tests. The flow fluctuations in complex networks are studied. We recover a power-law scaling relation between the standard deviation and mean flow, which is consistent with the previous studies. Finally, we extend our model by adding two constraints, which may be effective strategies for diffusing the local and the global congestion in complex networks, respectively.