• Physics in fiction

    Updated: 2012-08-30 11:24:47
    Physics World's books-podcast team review four recent fiction books that put physics and physicists at the centre of the action

  • Solitary propagation effect of a well-defined chirped femtosecond laser pulse in a resonance-absorbing medium

    Updated: 2012-08-29 14:00:00
    Author(s): Q. Q. Xu (许倩倩), D. Z. Yao (姚端正), X. N. Liu (刘晓娜), Q. Zhou (周勤), and G. G. Xiong (熊贵光)We investigate the solitary propagation effect of a well-defined chirped femtosecond laser pulse in a resonance-absorbing medium which is modeled by a two-level quantum dot ensemble. Employing full time-dependent and space-dependent Maxwell-Bloch equations, the evolution of the pulse and the populat...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023853] Published Wed Aug 29, 2012

  • Molecular quantum wake-induced pulse shaping and extension of femtosecond air filaments

    Updated: 2012-08-28 14:00:00
    Author(s): S. Varma, Y.-H. Chen, J. P. Palastro, A. B. Fallahkair, E. W. Rosenthal, T. Antonsen, and H. M. MilchbergTwo-pulse excitation of a molecular quantum wake in air during filamentary propagation is shown to controllably shape an intense femtosecond probe pulse and to significantly extend the filament compared to single-pulse excitation. The effect is sensitive to pump-probe delay on a ∼10-fs time scale.[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023850] Published Tue Aug 28, 2012

  • Quadratic solitons for negative effective second-harmonic diffraction as nonlocal solitons with periodic nonlocal response function

    Updated: 2012-08-28 14:00:00
    Author(s): B. K. Esbensen, M. Bache, W. Krolikowski, and O. BangWe employ the formal analogy between quadratic and nonlocal solitons to investigate analytically the properties of solitons and soliton bound states in second-harmonic generation in the regime of negative diffraction or dispersion of the second harmonic. We show that in the nonlocal description this...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023849] Published Tue Aug 28, 2012

  • What is molecular gastronomy?

    Updated: 2012-08-28 09:49:44
    Peter Barham explains how fundamental science can help to produce delicious food

  • Scattering of inhomogeneous circularly polarized optical field and mechanical manifestation of the internal energy flows

    Updated: 2012-08-27 14:00:00
    Author(s): A. Ya. Bekshaev, O. V. Angelsky, S. G. Hanson, and C. Yu. ZenkovaBased on the Mie theory and on the incident beam model via superposition of two plane waves, we analyze numerically the momentum flux of the field scattered by a spherical, nonmagnetic microparticle placed within the spatially inhomogeneous circularly polarized paraxial light beam. The asymmetry bet...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023847] Published Mon Aug 27, 2012

  • Localization length of nearly periodic layered metamaterials

    Updated: 2012-08-27 14:00:00
    Author(s): O. del Barco and M. OrtuñoWe have analyzed numerically the localization length of light ξ for nearly periodic arrangements of homogeneous stacks (formed exclusively by right-handed materials) and mixed stacks (with alternating right- and left-handed metamaterials). Layers with index of refraction n1 and thickness L1 alternat...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023846] Published Mon Aug 27, 2012

  • Effect of losses on the performance of an SU(1,1) interferometer

    Updated: 2012-08-24 14:00:00
    Author(s): A. M. Marino, N. V. Corzo Trejo, and P. D. LettWe study the effect of losses on the phase sensitivity of the SU(1,1) interferometer for different configurations. We find that this type of interferometer is robust against losses that result from an inefficient detection system. This type of loss only introduces an overall prefactor to the sensiti...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023844] Published Fri Aug 24, 2012

  • What is supersymmetry?

    Updated: 2012-08-24 09:10:41
    Helen Heath explains why SUSY is so beautiful

  • FREE iPhone Wallpaper

    Updated: 2012-08-23 17:01:12
    Get the new FREE iPhone Wallpaper and show the world your support for the coolest brand on the planet. Click here to download... http://www.skeletonoptics.com/pages/iphone

  • Towards particle creation in a microwave cylindrical cavity

    Updated: 2012-08-23 14:00:00
    Author(s): Wade NaylorWe present numerical results for the particle (photon) creation rate of dynamical Casimir effect (DCE) radiation in a resonant cylindrical microwave cavity. Based on recent experimental proposals, we model an irradiated semiconducting diaphragm (SCD) using a time-dependent “plasma sheet”' where we s...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023842] Published Thu Aug 23, 2012

  • Ultrashort pulses and short-pulse equations in 2+1 dimensions

    Updated: 2012-08-23 14:00:00
    Author(s): Y. Shen, N. Whitaker, P. G. Kevrekidis, N. L. Tsitsas, and D. J. FrantzeskakisIn this paper, we derive and study two versions of the short pulse equation (SPE) in (2+1) dimensions. Using Maxwell's equations as a starting point, and suitable Kramers-Kronig formulas for the permittivity and permeability of the medium, which are relevant, e.g., to left-handed metamaterials and d...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023841] Published Thu Aug 23, 2012

  • How does quantum teleportation work?

    Updated: 2012-08-22 15:40:30
    John Rarity explains why it is tricky to copy quantum information

  • Nonlocal solitons in dual-periodic PT-symmetric optical lattices

    Updated: 2012-08-22 14:00:00
    Author(s): Huagang Li, Xiujuan Jiang, Xing Zhu, and Zhiwei ShiWe numerically study the nonlocal solitons in dual-periodic parity-time (PT) symmetric optical lattices built into a nonlocal self-focusing medium. We state the existence, stability, and propagation dynamics of such PT-gap solitons in detail. Simulated results show that there exist stable gap solito...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023840] Published Wed Aug 22, 2012

  • How can you use X-rays to explore the nanoworld?

    Updated: 2012-08-21 17:25:32
    Annela Seddon explains why X-rays are such a useful imaging tool

  • Wave envelopes with second-order spatiotemporal dispersion. II. Modulational instabilities and dark Kerr solitons

    Updated: 2012-08-21 14:00:00
    Author(s): J. M. Christian, G. S. McDonald, T. F. Hodgkinson, and P. Chamorro-PosadaA simple scalar model for describing spatiotemporal dispersion of pulses, beyond the classic “slowly varying envelopes + Galilean boost” approach, is studied. The governing equation has a cubic nonlinearity, and we focus here mainly on contexts with normal group-velocity dispersion. A complete analy...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023839] Published Tue Aug 21, 2012

  • Wave envelopes with second-order spatiotemporal dispersion. I. Bright Kerr solitons and cnoidal waves

    Updated: 2012-08-21 14:00:00
    Author(s): J. M. Christian, G. S. McDonald, T. F. Hodgkinson, and P. Chamorro-PosadaWe propose a simple scalar model for describing pulse phenomena beyond the conventional slowly varying envelope approximation. The generic governing equation has a cubic nonlinearity, and we focus here mainly on contexts involving anomalous group-velocity dispersion. Pulse propagation turns out to b...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023838] Published Tue Aug 21, 2012

  • What is carbon capture and storage?

    Updated: 2012-08-20 16:46:01
    James Verdon explains the principle of trapping carbon dioxide in rocks

  • Controlled giant rogue waves in nonlinear fiber optics

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): C. N. Kumar, Rama Gupta, Amit Goyal, Shally Loomba, T. Soloman Raju, and Prasanta K. PanigrahiWe show the existence of self-similar giant rogue waves in a tapered graded-index nonlinear fiber and analytically illustrate their amplification in a rather small spatiotemporal domain by controlled manipulation of the phase. Our exact analysis takes recourse to the large manifold of available tape...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 025802] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Low-disorder microwave cavity lattices for quantum simulation with photons

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): D. L. Underwood, W. E. Shanks, Jens Koch, and A. A. HouckWe assess experimentally the suitability of coupled-transmission-line resonators for studies of quantum phase transitions of light. We have measured devices with low photon hopping rates t/2π=0.8 MHz to quantify disorder in individual cavity frequencies. The observed disorder is consistent with smal...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023837] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Fourier processing of quantum light

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): E. Poem, Y. Gilead, Y. Lahini, and Y. SilberbergIt is shown that a classical optical Fourier processor can be used for the shaping of quantum correlations between two or more photons, and the class of filter functions applicable in the multiphoton Fourier space is identified. This concept is experimentally demonstrated by using two types of perio...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023836] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Multiphoton path-entanglement generation by concurrent parametric down-conversion in a single χ^{(2)} nonlinear photonic crystal

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): Y.-X. Gong, P. Xu, Y. F. Bai, J. Yang, H. Y. Leng, Z. D. Xie, and S. N. ZhuWe propose a two-dimensional χ(2) nonlinear photonic crystal capable of satisfying quasi-phase-matching conditions for two or three parametric down-conversions simultaneously. Seeded by a two-mode coherent state, this crystal can produce two-, three-, four-, or five-photon path-entangled states, pro...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023835] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Polarization property of the THz wave generated from a two-color laser-induced gas plasma

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): Dong Wang and Jinsong LiuThe recent experiments show that the polarization of the terahertz (THz) wave generated from two-color laser-induced gas plasma is a linear polarization, and the polarization angle of the THz wave can be controlled by the optical delay of the two laser beams. In this paper, the polarization property...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023833] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Nonlinear modes and symmetry breaking in rotating double-well potentials

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): Yongyao Li, Wei Pang, and Boris A. MalomedWe study modes trapped in a rotating ring carrying the self-focusing (SF) or self-defocusing (SDF) cubic nonlinearity and double-well potential cos2θ, where θ is the angular coordinate. The model, based on the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation in the rotating reference frame, describes the light ...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023832] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Canonical quantization of the electromagnetic field interacting with a moving dielectric medium

    Updated: 2012-08-20 14:00:00
    Author(s): S. A. R. HorsleyThe electromagnetic field is canonically quantized in the presence of a linear, dispersive, and dissipative medium that is in uniform motion. Specifically we calculate the change in the normal modes of the coupled matter-field system and find a Hamiltonian that contains negative-energy normal modes....[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023830] Published Mon Aug 20, 2012

  • Solitons in cavity-QED arrays containing interacting qubits

    Updated: 2012-08-17 14:00:00
    Author(s): I-H. Chen, Y. Y. Lin, Y.-C. Lai, E. S. Sedov, A. P. Alodjants, S. M. Arakelian, and R.-K. LeeWe reveal the existence of polariton soliton solutions in the array of weakly coupled optical cavities, each containing an ensemble of interacting qubits. An effective, complex Ginzburg-Landau equation is derived in the continuum limit, taking into account the effects of cavity field dissipation and...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023829] Published Fri Aug 17, 2012

  • Electromagnetically induced transparency in an inverted-Y system of interacting cold atoms

    Updated: 2012-08-17 14:00:00
    Author(s): Dong Yan, Yi-Mou Liu, Qian-Qian Bao, Chang-Bao Fu, and Jin-Hui WuWe study the transmitted intensity and correlation properties of a probe field traveling through a sample of interacting cold 87Rb atoms driven into the inverted Y configuration. Two windows of electromagnetically induced transparency are found in the transmission spectrum, which are either sensitiv...[Phys. Rev. A 86, 023828] Published Fri Aug 17, 2012

  • What is a black hole?

    Updated: 2012-08-17 10:47:50
    Andy Young explains why not even light can escape from black holes

  • Multiphysics modelling of MEMS devices

    Updated: 2012-08-16 15:00:00
    Register now: Thursday 20 September A webinar sponsored by COMSOL

  • Modelling of capacitive and resistive devices

    Updated: 2012-08-16 01:00:00
    View on demand: a webinar sponsored by COMSOL

Current Feed Items | Previous Months Items

Jul 2012 | Jun 2012 | May 2012 | Apr 2012 | Mar 2012 | Feb 2012