Table of contents

Dynamical magnetic and nuclear polarization in complex spin systems is discussed on the example of transfer of spin from exciton to the central spin of magnetic impurity in a quantum dot in the presence of a finite number of nuclear spins. The exciton is described in terms of electron and heavy-hole spins interacting via exchange interaction with magnetic impurity, via hyperfine interaction with a finite number of nuclear spins and via dipole interaction with photons. The time evolution of the exciton, magnetic impurity and nuclear spins is calculated exactly between quantum jumps corresponding to exciton radiative recombination. The collapse of the wavefunction and the refilling of the quantum dot with a new spin-polarized exciton is shown to lead to the build up of magnetization of the magnetic impurity as well as nuclear spin polarization. The competition between electron spin transfer to magnetic impurity and to nuclear spins simultaneous with the creation of dark excitons is elucidated. The technique presented here opens up the possibility of studying optically induced dynamical magnetic and nuclear polarization in complex spin systems.

Since chaos control has found its way into many applications, the development of fast, easy-to-implement and universally applicable chaos control methods is of crucial importance. Predictive feedback control has been widely applied but suffers from a speed limit imposed by highly unstable periodic orbits. We show that this limit can be overcome by stalling the control, thereby taking advantage of the stable directions of the uncontrolled chaotic map. This analytical finding is confirmed by numerical simulations, giving a chaos-control method that is capable of successfully stabilizing periodic orbits of high period.

Based on the similarity of paraxial diffraction and dispersion mathematical descriptions, the temporal imaging of optical pulses combines linear dispersive filters and quadratic phase modulations operating as time lenses. We consider programming a dispersive filter near atomic resonance in rare earth ion-doped crystals, which leads to unprecedented high values of dispersive power. This filter is used in an approximate imaging scheme, combining a single time lens and a single dispersive section and operating as a time-reversing device, with potential applications in radio-frequency signal processing. This scheme is closely related to a three-pulse photon echo with chirped pulses, but the connection with temporal imaging and dispersive filtering emphasizes new features.

When non-Brownian particles are suspended in a fluid filling a cylindrical tube rotating about a horizontal axis, axially dependent patterns of particle density develop. In many cases, equally spaced axial bands are observed. In this work, we attempt to solve the problem of oscillations between two different banding configurations. Previous work has shown that inertial modes in the fluid are continuously excited by the particles and are responsible for the banding. We derived a one-dimensional linearized model describing the fluid–particle interaction as the source of the oscillatory phenomenon. The model invokes a mechanism of negative feedback between the wave and particle fields, which was modeled in previous work using computer simulations of multiple particles suspended in a moving fluid. It leads to the prediction of the dependence of the temporal period of the oscillations on the particle density and the fluid angular rotation frequency. These predictions were confirmed experimentally.

We propose a method to infer the single-particle entropy of bosonic atoms in an optical lattice and to study the local evolution of entropy, spin squeezing and entropic inequalities for entanglement detection in such systems. This method is based on experimentally feasible measurements of non-nearest-neighbour coherences. We study a specific example of dynamically controlling atom tunnelling between selected sites and show that this could potentially also improve the metrologically relevant spin squeezing.

Many processes in nature are governed by the interaction of electro-magnetic radiation with matter. New tools such as femtosecond and free-electron lasers allow one to study the interaction in unprecedented detail with high temporal and spatial resolution. In addition, much work is devoted to the exploration of novel target systems that couple to radiation in an effective and controllable way or that could serve as efficient sources of energetic particles when being subjected to intense laser fields. The interaction between matter and radiation fields as well as their mutual modification via correlations constitutes a rich field of research that is impossible to cover exhaustively. The papers in this focus issue represent a selection that largely reflects the program of the international conference on 'Correlation Effects in Radiation Fields' held in 2011 in Rostock, Germany.

We demonstrate the direct observation of non-equilibrium intersubband dynamics in a modulation-doped multiple quantum well sample subject to intense few-cycle terahertz (THz) pulses. The transmission spectra show a distinct dependence on the incident THz field strength and contain signatures of a multitude of nonlinear effects that can be observed owing to the large THz-pulse bandwidth. We focus our attention on a case of transient nonlinear refractive index caused by the efficient transfer of electronic population from the ground state to higher-excited states of the quantum well sample. By comparing the experimental results with a one-dimensional finite-difference model going beyond the slowly varying envelope approximation, we prove that, depending on the pulse shape, the leading part of the intense pulse efficiently transfers electrons from the ground state to higher lying excited states. For weak electric fields and small-population transfer, the linear Lorentz model holds. For strong electric fields, up to 55 and 20% of the ground-state electrons are transferred to the first and second excited subbands, respectively, which could lead to the observation of the optical gain.

We realize experimentally a cold-atom system, the quasiperiodic kicked rotor, equivalent to the three-dimensional Anderson model of disordered solids where the anisotropy between the x direction and the y–z plane can be controlled by adjusting an experimentally accessible parameter. This allows us to study experimentally the disorder versus anisotropy phase diagram of the Anderson metal–insulator transition. Numerical and experimental data compare very well with each other and a theoretical analysis based on the self-consistent theory of localization correctly describes the observed behavior, illustrating the flexibility of cold-atom experiments for the study of transport phenomena in complex quantum systems.

Nonlinear transmission spectroscopy was performed on a doped Ge:Ga semiconductor using intense THz pulses with different cycle numbers. When single-cycle pulses were used, non-perturbative phenomena, such as the ionization of shallow impurities, competed with the conventional coherent transition, whereas the coherent transition was dominant when multi-cycle pulses were used.

We investigate the geometric properties of two-dimensional continuous time random walks that are used extensively to model stochastic processes exhibiting anomalous diffusion in a variety of different fields. Using the concept of subordination, we determine exact analytical expressions for the average perimeter and area of the convex hulls for this class of non-Markovian processes. As the convex hull is a simple measure to estimate the home range of animals, our results give analytical estimates for the home range of foraging animals that perform sub-diffusive search strategies such as some Mediterranean seabirds and animals that ambush their prey. We also apply our results to Levy flights where possible.

We elucidate dipolar magnetic interaction effects in spinor condensates at a low-background field. In particular, we show that arrays of ferromagnetic spinor Bose–Einstein condensates show a rich phase structure that is strongly influenced by the competition of shape anisotropy and higher-order magnetostatic contributions both depending on the condensate's form.

Peripheral light harvesting complex (LH2), which is found in photosynthetic antenna systems of purple photosynthetic bacteria, has important functions in the photosynthetic process, such as harvesting sunlight and transferring its energy to the photosynthetic reaction center. The key component in excitation energy transfer (EET) between LH2s is B850, which is a characteristic ring-shaped aggregate of pigments usually formed by 18 or 16 bacteriochlorophylls in LH2. We theoretically study the strategy of the ring-shaped aggregate structure, which maximizes EET efficiency, by using the standard Frenkel exciton model and the self-consistent calculation method for the Markovian quantum master equation and Maxwell equation. As a result, we have revealed a simple but ingenious strategy of the ring-shaped aggregate structure. The combination of three key properties of the ring unit system maximizes the EET efficiency, namely the large dipole moment of aggregates causes the basic improvement of EET efficiency, and the isotropic nature and the large occupying area are critically effective to remove the disorder-induced shielding that inhibits EET in the presence of the randomness of orientation and alignment of carriers of excitation energy.

We propose a scheme of band engineering by means of staggered electric potential, antiferromagnetic exchange field and intrinsic spin–orbit coupling for electrons on a honeycomb lattice. With fine control on the degrees of freedom of spin, sublattice and valley, one can achieve a topological state with simultaneous non-zero charge and spin Chern numbers. With first principles calculations, we confirm that the scheme can be realized by material modification in perovskite G-type antiferromagnetic insulators grown along the [111] direction, where Dirac electrons from d orbits are achieved on an atomic sheet of a buckled honeycomb lattice. In a finite sample, this state provides a spin-polarized quantum edge current, robust to both non-magnetic and magnetic defects, with the spin polarization reversible by electric field, and is thus ideal for spintronics applications.

We report thermal conductivity measurements of porous Vycor glass when it is empty and when the pores are filled with helium between 0.06 and 0.5 K. The filling of liquid ³He and liquid ⁴He inside the Vycor pores brings about two to three-fold reduction of the thermal conductivity as compared with empty Vycor. This dramatic reduction of thermal conductivity, not seen with solid ³He and ⁴He in the pores, is the consequence of hydrodynamic sound modes in liquid helium that greatly facilitate the quantum tunneling of the two-level systems in Vycor and enhance the scattering of the thermal phonons in the silica network.

Interfaces between stratified epithelia and their supporting stromas commonly exhibit irregular shapes. Undulations are particularly pronounced in dysplastic tissues and typically evolve into long, finger-like protrusions in carcinomas. In previous work (Basan et al 2011 Phys. Rev. Lett.106 158101), we demonstrated that an instability arising from viscous shear stresses caused by the constant flow due to cell turnover in the epithelium could drive this phenomenon. While interfacial tension between the two tissues as well as mechanical resistance of the stroma tend to maintain a flat interface, an instability occurs for sufficiently large viscosity, cell-division rate and thickness of the dividing region in the epithelium. Here, extensions of this work are presented, where cell division in the epithelium is coupled to the local concentration of nutrients or growth factors diffusing from the stroma. This enhances the instability by a mechanism similar to that of the Mullins–Sekerka instability in single-diffusion processes of crystal growth. We furthermore present the instability for the generalized case of a viscoelastic stroma.

The phase diagram of Sr₃Ru₂O₇ shows hallmarks of strong electron correlations despite the modest Coulomb interaction in the Ru 4d shell. We use angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy measurements to provide microscopic insight into the formation of the strongly renormalized heavy d-electron liquid that controls the physics of Sr₃Ru₂O₇. Our data reveal itinerant Ru 4d-states confined over large parts of the Brillouin zone to an energy range of <6 meV, nearly three orders of magnitude lower than the bare band width. We show that this energy scale agrees quantitatively with a characteristic thermodynamic energy scale associated with quantum criticality and illustrate how it arises from a combination of back-folding due to a structural distortion and the hybridization of light and strongly renormalized, heavy quasiparticle bands. The resulting heavy Fermi liquid has a marked k-dependence of the renormalization which we relate to orbital mixing along individual Fermi surface sheets.

A flat monatomically thin insulating sheet is modelled initially as a square lattice and then as an amorphous distribution of harmonic oscillators, polarizable only perpendicularly to the sheet. In an approximation neglecting dissipation and retardation, we calculate the polarizability X(ω,k) per unit area as a function of the frequency ω and surface-parallel wave-vector k of an externally applied electric field. To find the underlying so-called local fields one must first replace the familiar three-dimensional Lorenz–Lorentz accounts of dielectric functions with their well-established and very different two-dimensional analogues. Image fields are given by weighted integrals over X(0,k); the poles of X(ω,k) identify the normal-mode frequencies $\bar {\omega }(\mathbf {k})$. The Hamiltonian version of the theory is quantized via the normal modes; from it we determine the van der Waals interaction of the sheet with a nearby atom, and between two dynamically identical parallel sheets.

Experiments have reported the entanglement of two spatially separated macroscopic atomic ensembles at room temperature (Krauter et al 2011 Phys. Rev. Lett.107 080503; Julsgaard et al 2001 Nature413 400). We show how an Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) paradox is realizable with this experiment. Our proposed test involves violation of an inferred Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which is a sufficient condition for an EPR paradox. This is a stronger test of nonlocality than entanglement. Our proposal would enable the first definitive confirmation of quantum EPR paradox correlations between two macroscopic objects at room temperature. This is a necessary intermediate step towards a nonlocal experiment with causal measurement separations. As well as having fundamental significance, the realization of an atomic EPR paradox could provide a resource for novel applications in quantum technology.

We report new results from the intense laser target interaction experiment that produces relativistic electron–positron pairs. Laser to electron energy transfer, inferred using x-ray and neutron measurements, was found to be consistent with the measured positrons. To increase the number of positrons, one needs to deliver a greater number of relativistic electrons from the laser–plasma interaction to the high Z gold target. A large preplasma was found to have a negative impact for this purpose, while the laser could produce hotter electrons in such preplasma. The peak energy shift in the positron spectrum is confirmed as the post-acceleration in the sheath potential behind the target. The results were supported by a collisional one-dimensional particle-in-cell code. This experiment was performed using the high-power LFEX laser at the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University using a suite of diagnostics measuring electrons, positrons, x-rays and neutrons from the laser–target interaction at the relativistic regime.

The study of time-dependent, many-body transport phenomena is increasingly within reach of ultra-cold atom experiments. We show that the introduction of spatially inhomogeneous interactions, e.g., generated by optically controlled collisions, induce negative differential conductance in the transport of atoms in one-dimensional optical lattices. Specifically, we simulate the dynamics of interacting fermionic atoms via a micro-canonical transport formalism within both a mean-field and a higher-order approximation, as well as with a time-dependent density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG). For weakly repulsive interactions, a quasi-steady-state atomic current develops that is similar to the situation occurring for electronic systems subject to an external voltage bias. At the mean-field level, we find that this atomic current is robust against the details of how the interaction is switched on. Further, a conducting–non-conducting transition exists when the interaction imbalance exceeds some threshold from both our approximate and time-dependent DMRG simulations. This transition is preceded by the atomic equivalent of negative differential conductivity observed in transport across solid-state structures.

We propose and demonstrate a momentum filter for atomic gas-based on a designed Talbot–Lau interferometer. It consists of two identical optical standing-wave pulses separated by a delay equal to odd multiples of the half Talbot time. The one-dimensional momentum width along the long direction of a cigar-shaped condensate is rapidly and greatly purified to a minimum, which corresponds to the ground state energy of the confining trap in our experiment. We find good agreement between theoretical analysis and experimental results. The filter is also effective for non-condensed cold atoms and could be applied widely.

We demonstrate that the clustering statistics and the corresponding phase transition to non-equilibrium clustering found in many experiments and simulation studies with self-propelled particles (SPPs) with alignment can be obtained by a simple kinetic model. The key elements of this approach are the scaling of the cluster cross-section with cluster size—described by an exponent α—and the scaling of the cluster perimeter with cluster size—described by an exponent β. The analysis of the kinetic approach reveals that the SPPs exhibit two phases: (i) an individual phase, where the cluster size distribution (CSD) is dominated by an exponential tail that defines a characteristic cluster size, and (ii) a collective phase characterized by the presence of a non-monotonic CSD with a local maximum at large cluster sizes. Through a finite-size study of the kinetic model, we show that the critical point P_c that separates the two phases scales with the system size N as P_c∝N^−ξ, while the CSD p(m), at the critical point P_c, is always a power law such that p(m)∝m^−γ, where m is the cluster size. Our analysis shows that the critical exponents ξ and γ are a function of α and β, and even provides the relationship between them. Furthermore, the kinetic approach suggests that in the thermodynamic limit, a genuine clustering phase transition, in two and three dimensions, requires that α = β. Interestingly, the critical exponent γ is found to be in the range 0.8 < γ < 1.5 in line with the observations from experiments and simulations.

A valence shell study of electrosprayed insulin protein polyanion photodetachment was carried out on a vacuum ultra-violet synchrotron radiation beamline coupled to a radiofrequency ion trap, for both close- and open-shell species. A two-electron photodetachment is observed, which arises from two different mechanisms that are disentangled: a sequential multi-photon absorption and a direct one-photon two-electron process. The threshold for the direct double-electron ejection is measured at 11.4 eV and corresponds to electronic excitation in the valence shell, which makes it the first observation of direct double photodetachment in the valence shell. The results are discussed in the light of previous knowledge from multiple photoionization and ab initio calculations on model polyanions. Double photodetachment appears to be a relaxation mechanism that leads to oxidized anions of striking stability, a feature of high relevance in radiobiology.

Thus far, the role of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of a light pulse has generally been demonstrated in the few-cycle (sub-10 fs) regime. Here, by simulating the molecular dynamics of H⁺₂ and D⁺₂, we report that the electron localization of H⁺₂ and D⁺₂ exhibits unexpectedly strong CEP dependence in the multicycle regime. Our results also demonstrate that the electron localization asymmetry in the multicycle regime (15–20 fs) is higher than that in the single-cycle (4 fs) pulse. This counterintuitive phenomenon is discussed by monitoring the motions of both nuclear and electronic wavepackets.

We describe a multi-mode quantum memory for propagating microwave photons that combines a solid-state spin ensemble resonantly coupled to a frequency tunable single-mode microwave cavity. We first show that high efficiency mapping of the quantum state transported by a free photon to the spin ensemble is possible both for strong and weak coupling between the cavity mode and the spin ensemble. We also show that even in the weak coupling limit unit efficiency and faithful retrieval can be obtained through time reversal inhomogeneous dephasing based on spin echo techniques. This is possible provided that the cavity containing the spin ensemble and the transmission line are impedance matched. We finally discuss the prospects for an experimental implementation using a rare-earth doped crystal coupled to a superconducting resonator.

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the generation of rectified mean vortex displacement resulting from a controlled difference between the surface barriers at the opposite borders of a superconducting strip. Our investigation focuses on Al superconducting strips where, in one of the two sample borders, a saw tooth-like array of micro-indentations has been imprinted. The origin of the vortex ratchet effect is based on the fact that (i) the onset of vortex motion is mainly governed by the entrance/nucleation of vortices and (ii) the current lines bunching produced by the indentations facilitates the entrance/nucleation of vortices. Only for one current direction the indentations are positioned at the side of vortex entry and the onset of the resistive regime is lowered compared to the opposite current direction. This investigation points to the relevance of ubiquitous border effects typically neglected when interpreting vortex ratchet measurements on samples with arrays of local asymmetric pinning sites.

Time-resolved diffraction and microscopy with femtosecond electron pulses provide four-dimensional recordings of atomic motion in space and time. However, the limited coherence of electron pulses, reported in the range of 2–3 nm, has so far prevented the study of complex organic molecules with relevance to chemistry and biology. Here we characterize the coherence of femtosecond single-electron pulses that are generated by laser photoemission. We show how the absence of space charge and the minimization of the source size allow the transverse coherence to be extended to 20 nm at the sample position while maintaining a useful beam diameter. The extraordinary coherence is experimentally demonstrated by recording single-electron diffraction snapshots from a complex organic molecular crystal and identifying more than 80 sharp Bragg reflections. Further optimization affords promise for coherences of 100 nm. These advances will allow time-resolved imaging of functional dynamics in biological systems, uniting picometre and femtosecond resolutions in a compact, table-top instrumentation.

We explore the existence of tightly confined gap modes in structures consisting of two infinitely long graphene ribbons vertically offset by a gap. By investigating carefully such a sandwich geometry we find that the gap modes originate from a strong hybridization that gives rise to improved waveguide performance while modifying the guiding behaviour compared to a single ribbon. Our work particularly focuses on the physical origin and description of these plasmon modes, studying the critical parameters of width, gap and operation wavelength. This allows different regimes, coupling mechanisms and mode families to be recognized. Importantly we show that the gap modes also exist when a single graphene sheet is placed on top of a metal or a doped semiconductor—a geometry that is readily achievable experimentally. As an example we report on an unprecedented level of confinement of a terahertz wave of nearly five orders of magnitude when a graphene ribbon is placed on top of a highly doped silicon substrate. Because of their remarkable field distributions and extreme confinement, the families of modes presented here could be the building blocks for both graphene-based integrated optics and ultrasensitive sensing modalities.

We consider the motion of charge carriers in a bulk wide-gap dielectric interacting with a few-cycle laser pulse. A semiclassical model based on Bloch equations is applied to describe the emerging time-dependent macroscopic currents for laser intensities close to the damage threshold. At such laser intensities, electrons can reach edges of the first Brillouin zone even for electron–phonon scattering rates as high as those known for SiO₂. We find that, whenever this happens, Bragg-like reflections of electron waves, also known as Bloch oscillations, affect the dependence of the charge displaced by the laser pulse on its carrier–envelope phase.

We develop and apply the multi-layer multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method for bosons, which represents an ab initio method for investigating the non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of multi-species bosonic systems. Its multi-layer feature allows for tailoring the wave function ansatz to describe intra- and inter-species correlations accurately and efficiently. To demonstrate the beneficial scaling and efficiency of the method, we explored the correlated tunneling dynamics of two species with repulsive intra- and inter-species interactions, to which a third species with vanishing intra-species interaction was weakly coupled. The population imbalances of the first two species can feature a temporal equilibration and their time evolution significantly depends on the coupling to the third species. Bosons of the first and second species exhibit a bunching tendency, whose strength can be influenced by their coupling to the third species.

Integrated quantum photonic circuits are becoming increasingly complex. Accurate calibration of device parameters and detailed characterization of the prepared quantum states are critically important for future progress. Here we report on an effective experimental calibration method based on Bayesian updating and Markov chain Monte Carlo integration. We use this calibration technique to characterize a two qubit chip and extract the reflectivities of its directional couplers. An average quantum state tomography fidelity of 93.79 ± 1.05% against the four Bell states is achieved. Furthermore, comparing the measured density matrices against a model using the non-ideal device parameters derived from the calibration we achieve an average fidelity of 97.57 ± 0.96%. This pinpoints non-ideality of chip parameters as a major factor in the decrease of Bell state fidelity. We also perform quantum state tomography for Bell states while continuously varying photon distinguishability and find excellent agreement with theory.

In a recent paper (2012 New J. Phys.14 103009), we proposed a definition of the Wigner function for a particle on an infinite lattice. Here we argue that the criticism to our work raised by Bizarro is not substantial and does not invalidate our proposal.

It is pointed out that in a recent paper (2012 New J. Phys.14 103009) in which a Wigner function for a particle in an infinite lattice (a system described by an unbounded discrete coordinate and its conjugate angle-like momentum) has been introduced, no reference is made to previous, pioneering work on discrete Wigner distributions (more precisely, on the rotational Wigner function for a system described by a rotation angle and its unbounded discrete-conjugate angular momentum). Not only has the problem addressed in essence been solved for a long time (the discrete coordinate and angle-like conjugate momentum are the perfect dual of the rotation angle and discrete-conjugate angular momentum), but the solution advanced only in some distorted manner obeys two of the fundamental properties of a Wigner distribution (that, when integrated over one period of the momentum variable, it should yield the correct marginal distribution on the discrete position variable, and that it should be invariant with respect to translation).

We demonstrate the control and rotation of an optically trapped object, an optical paddle-wheel, with the rotation direction normal to the beam axis. This is in contrast to the usual situation where the rotation is about the beam axis. The paddle-wheel can be optically driven and moved to any position in the field of view of the microscope, which can be of interest for various biological applications where controlled application of a fluid flow is needed in a particular location and in a specific direction. This is of particular interest in signal transduction studies in cells, especially when a cell is flat and spread out on a surface.

An elementary excitation in an aggregate of coupled particles generates a collective excited state. We show that the dynamics of these excitations can be controlled by applying a transient external potential which modifies the phase of the quantum states of the individual particles. The method is based on an interplay of adiabatic and sudden time scales in the quantum evolution of the many-body states. We show that specific phase transformations can be used to accelerate or decelerate quantum energy transfer and spatially focus delocalized excitations onto different parts of arrays of quantum particles. We consider possible experimental implementations of the proposed technique and study the effect of disorder due to the presence of impurities on its fidelity. We further show that the proposed technique can allow control of energy transfer in completely disordered systems.

We solve the unstructured search problem in constant time by computing with a physically motivated nonlinearity of the Gross–Pitaevskii type. This speedup comes, however, at the novel expense of increasing the time-measurement precision. Jointly optimizing these resource requirements results in an overall scaling of N^1/4. This is a significant, but not unreasonable, improvement over the N^1/2 scaling of Grover's algorithm. Since the Gross–Pitaevskii equation approximates the multi-particle (linear) Schrödinger equation, for which Grover's algorithm is optimal, our result leads to a quantum information-theoretic lower bound on the number of particles needed for this approximation to hold, asymptotically.

Optical transitions between exciton states in semiconductors—intraexcitonic transitions—usually fall into the terahertz (THz) range and can be resonantly excited with narrowband, intense THz radiation as provided by a free-electron laser. We investigate this situation for two different quantum well structures by probing the near-infrared excitonic absorption spectrum near the band edge. We observe the dynamical Stark—or Autler–Townes—splitting of the 1s exciton ground state and follow its evolution for various THz photon energies and field strengths. The behavior is considerably more complex as compared to the atomic systems. At the highest field strengths, where the Rabi energy is of the same order of magnitude as the exciton level separation, the system cannot be described within the standard framework of a two-level system in rotating wave approximation. When the ponderomotive energy approaches the exciton binding energy, signatures of exciton field ionization are observed.

At optical frequencies metals behave as an electron plasma and conventional antenna designs need modifications when transferred to this regime. In contrast to antenna theory and to the effective wavelength picture, the position and width of the dipolar resonance of a rectangular cuboidal plasmonic nanoantenna scales nonlinearly with its length, width and height, as shown in this paper directly by analytical formulae. Moreover we show that the quality factor calculated for different sizes varies significantly with size, in contrast to the quasi-static approximation which predicts invariance. We present analytical expressions that provide a tool for direct and precise calculation of the dipolar plasmon resonance which can be applied to the antenna design process. These expressions enable both physical insight and the quick exploration of a wide range of parameters to tailor the plasmon resonance response or scattering by nanoparticles, for either metals or dielectrics, for numerous promising applications in optical sensor, photovoltaic and light emitting device design.

How can precise control be realized in intrinsically noisy systems? Here, we develop a general theoretical framework that provides a way of achieving precise control in signal-dependent noisy environments. When the control signal has Poisson or supra-Poisson noise, precise control is not possible. If, however, the control signal has sub-Poisson noise, then precise control is possible. For this case, the precise control solution is not a function, but a rapidly varying random process that must be averaged with respect to a governing probability density functional. Our theoretical approach is applied to the control of straight-trajectory arm movement. Sub-Poisson noise in the control signal is shown to be capable of leading to precise control. Intriguingly, the control signal for this system has a natural counterpart, namely the bursting pulses of neurons—trains of Dirac-delta functions—in biological systems to achieve precise control performance.

We report a controllable method for producing mixed two-photon states via spontaneous parametric down-conversion with a two-type-I crystal geometry. By using variable polarization rotators (VPRs), one obtains mixed states of various purities and degrees of entanglement depending on the parameters of the VPRs. The generated states are characterized by quantum state tomography. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the theory. The method can be easily implemented for various experiments that require the generation of states with controllable degrees of entanglement or mixedness.

Entangled states of rotating, trapped ultracold bosons form a very promising scenario for quantum metrology. In order to employ such states for metrology, it is vital to understand their detailed form and the enhanced accuracy with which they could measure phase, in this case generated through rotation. In this work, we study the rotation of ultracold bosons in an asymmetric trapping potential beyond the lowest Landau level (LLL) approximation. We demonstrate that while the LLL can identify reasonably the critical frequency for a quantum phase transition and entangled state generation, it is vital to go beyond the LLL to identify the details of the state and quantify the quantum Fisher information (which bounds the accuracy of the phase measurement). We thus identify a new parameter regime for useful entangled state generation, amenable to experimental investigation.

We propose measurements on a quantum system to realize the Riemann zeta function ζ. A single system, that is classical interference, suffices to create the Dirichlet representation of ζ. In contrast, we need measurements performed on two entangled quantum systems to extend ζ into the critical strip of complex space where the non-trivial zeros of ζ are located. As a consequence, we can view these zeros as a result of a Schrödinger cat which is by its very construction similar to, but in its details very different from, the superposition formed by two coherent states of identical amplitudes but opposite phases. This interpretation suggests that entanglement in quantum mechanics is the analogue of analytic continuation of complex analysis.

Social networks exhibit scaling laws for several structural characteristics, such as degree distribution, scaling of the attachment kernel and clustering coefficients as a function of node degree. A detailed understanding if and how these scaling laws are inter-related is missing so far, let alone whether they can be understood through a common, dynamical principle. We propose a simple model for stationary network formation and show that the three mentioned scaling relations follow as natural consequences of triadic closure. The validity of the model is tested on multiplex data from a well-studied massive multiplayer online game. We find that the three scaling exponents observed in the multiplex data for the friendship, communication and trading networks can simultaneously be explained by the model. These results suggest that triadic closure could be identified as one of the fundamental dynamical principles in social multiplex network formation.

We perform a non-perturbative analysis of the strong interaction between gapless nodal fermions and the nematic order parameter in two-dimensional d_x²−y² superconductors. We predict that the critical nematic fluctuation can generate a dynamical nodal gap if the fermion flavor N is smaller than a threshold N_c. Such gap generation leads to an additional is-wave Cooper pairing instability, which induces a fully gapped d_x²−y² +  is superconducting dome in the vicinity of the nematic quantum critical point. The opening of a dynamical gap has important consequences, including the saturation of fermion velocity renormalization, a weak confinement of fermions and the suppression of observable quantities.

The interaction of matter–wave solitons with a potential barrier is a fundamentally important problem, and the splitting and subsequent recombination of the soliton by the barrier is the essence of soliton matter–wave interferometry. We demonstrate the three-dimensional (3D) character of the interactions in the case relevant to ongoing experiments, where the number of atoms in the soliton is relatively close to the collapse threshold. We examine the soliton dynamics in the framework of the effectively one-dimensional (1D) nonpolynomial Schrödinger equation (NPSE), which admits the collapse in a modified form, and in parallel we use the full 3D Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE). Both approaches produce similar results, which are, however, quite different from those produced in recent work that used the 1D cubic GPE. Basic features, produced by the NPSE and the 3D GPE alike, include (a) an increase in the first reflection coefficient for increasing barrier height and decreasing atom number; (b) large variation of the secondary reflection/recombination probability versus barrier height; (c) pronounced asymmetry in the oscillation amplitudes of the transmitted and reflected fragments; and (d) enhancement of the transverse excitations as the number of atoms is increased. We also explore effects produced by variations of the barrier width and outcomes of the secondary collision upon phase imprinting on the fragment in one arm of the interferometer.

The entangled quantum state of a photon pair propagating through atmospheric turbulence suffers decay of entanglement due to the scintillation it experiences. In this paper, we investigate the robustness against this decay for different qutrit states. An infinitesimal propagation equation is used to obtain the density matrix as a function of the propagation distance and the tangle is used to quantify the entanglement between a pair of qutrits. We consider the evolution of various initial states as they propagate through turbulence. Using optimization of the parameters that define the initial state, we obtain expressions for bipartite qutrit states that retain their initial entanglement longer than the initially maximally entangled states.

We introduce a quantum phase space representation for the orientation state of extended quantum objects, using the Euler angles and their conjugate momenta as phase space coordinates. It exhibits the same properties as the standard Wigner function and thus provides an intuitive framework for discussing quantum effects and semiclassical approximations in the rotational motion. Examples illustrating the viability of this quasi-probability distribution include the phase space description of a molecular alignment effect.

We show how to measure the order-two Renyi entropy of many-body states of spinful fermionic atoms in an optical lattice in equilibrium and non-equilibrium situations. The proposed scheme relies on the possibility to produce and couple two copies of the state under investigation, and to measure the occupation number in a site- and spin-resolved manner, e.g. with a quantum gas microscope. Such a protocol opens the possibility to measure entanglement and test a number of theoretical predictions, such as area laws and their corrections. As an illustration we discuss the interplay between thermal and entanglement entropy for a one dimensional Fermi–Hubbard model at finite temperature, and its possible measurement in an experiment using the present scheme.

We represent the $\mathbb {Z}_2$ topological invariant characterizing a one-dimensional topological superconductor using a Wess–Zumino–Witten dimensional extension. The invariant is formulated in terms of the single-particle Green's function which allows us to classify interacting systems. Employing a recently proposed generalized Berry curvature method, the topological invariant is represented independent of the extra dimension requiring only the single-particle Green's function at zero frequency of the interacting system. Furthermore, a modified twisted boundary conditions approach is used to rigorously define the topological invariant for disordered interacting systems.

We calculate the frequency spectra of absolute optical instruments using the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) approximation. The resulting eigenfrequencies approximate the actual values very accurately; in some cases they even give the exact values. Our calculations confirm the results obtained previously by a completely different method. In particular, the eigenfrequencies of absolute instruments form tight groups that are almost equidistantly spaced. We demonstrate our method and its results applied to several examples.

Protective egg capsules from whelks (intertidal marine gastropods) were recently demonstrated to derive their impressive mechanical behavior—reminiscent of the pseudoelastic behavior in some alloy systems from a reversible phase transition of component protein building blocks from a compact α-helical conformation to a more extended softer conformation, called β*. This behavior was previously modeled under equilibrium conditions, demonstrating that the transition from the α- to β*-phase could account for the pronounced yield plateau and reversibility; however, a theoretical understanding of the non-equilibrium behaviors of the egg capsule (e.g. strain rate dependence and hysteresis) requires a new approach. Here, we modify the previously proposed model in order to address the time-dependent behaviors of the whelk egg capsule biopolymer. Our results indicate that hysteresis during cyclic loading originates from a mismatch between the speed of the mechanical driving force and the rate at which the phase transition occurs. Furthermore, the characteristic curved shape of the stress–strain plot arises from a nonlinear relationship between the transformation rate and the amount of applied load. These results have important implications for our understanding of the mechanics of biological polymers and may have implications for the design of biomimetic pseudoelastic polymers.

The temperature-induced emergence of Wigner correlations over finite-size effects in a strongly interacting one-dimensional quantum dot is studied in the framework of the spin coherent Luttinger liquid. We demonstrate that, for temperatures comparable with the zero mode spin excitations, Friedel oscillations are suppressed by the thermal fluctuations of higher spin modes. On the other hand, the Wigner oscillations, sensitive to the charge mode only, are stable and become more visible. This behavior has been proved to be robust both in the thermal electron density and in the linear conductance in the presence of a scanning tunnel microscope tip. The latter probe is not directly proportional to the electron density and may confirm the above phenomena with complementary and additional information.

Table-top sources of intense multi-terahertz (THz) pulses have opened the door to studies of extreme nonlinearities in the previously elusive mid- to far-infrared spectral regime. We discuss two concepts of fully coherent coupling of phase-locked THz pulses with condensed matter. The first approach demonstrates two-dimensional multi-THz spectroscopy of the semiconductor material InSb. By phase- and amplitude-sensitive detection of the nonlinear optical response, we are able to separate incoherent pump–probe signals from coherent four-wave mixing and reveal extremely non-perturbative nonlinearities. While this class of interactions is mediated by the electric field component of the THz pulse, the second approach is complementary, as it demonstrates that, alternatively, the magnetic THz field may be exploited to selectively control the spin degree of freedom in antiferromagnetic NiO.

The classification of topological states of matter depends on spatial dimension and symmetry class. For non-interacting topological insulators and superconductors, the topological classification is obtained systematically and non-trivial topological insulators are classified by either integer or Z₂. The classification of interacting topological states of matter is much more complicated and only special cases are understood. In this paper we study a new class of topological superconductors in (2 + 1) dimensions which has time-reversal symmetry and a $\mathbb {Z}_2$ spin conservation symmetry. We demonstrate that the superconductors in this class are classified by $\mathbb {Z}_8$ when electron interaction is considered, while the classification is $\mathbb {Z}$ without interaction.

We systematically study gapless topological phases of (semi-)metals and nodal superconductors described by Bloch and Bogoliubov–de Gennes Hamiltonians. Using K-theory, a classification of topologically stable Fermi surfaces in (semi-)metals and nodal lines in superconductors is derived. We discuss a generalized bulk–boundary correspondence that relates the topological features of the Fermi surfaces and superconducting nodal lines to the presence of protected zero-energy states at the boundary of the system. Depending on the case, the boundary states are either linearly dispersing (i.e. Dirac or Majorana states) or dispersionless, forming two-dimensional surface flat bands or one-dimensional arc surface states. We study examples of gapless topological phases in symmetry classes AIII and DIII, focusing in particular on nodal superconductors, such as nodal noncentrosymmetric superconductors. For some cases we explicitly compute the surface spectrum and examine the signatures of the topological boundary states in the surface density of states. We also discuss the robustness of the surface states against disorder.

We investigate the quantum dynamics of systems involving small numbers of strongly interacting photons. Specifically, we develop an efficient method to investigate such systems when they are externally driven with a coherent field. Furthermore, we show how to quantify the many-body quantum state of light via correlation functions. Finally, we apply this method to two strongly interacting cases: the Bose–Hubbard and fractional quantum Hall models, and discuss an implementation of these ideas in atom–photon system.