• Synthesis and observation of optical skyrmionic structure in free space

    分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The skyrmion, which is characterised by a topological integer, is a structure that is topologically stable against local disturbances. The huge potential of skyrmions for use in magnetic storage systems has drawn considerable research interest among physicists. Recently, the optical skyrmion was discovered and has some excellent properties. However, these optical skyrmions have been observed, for example, in surface plasmons that consist of evanescent waves. This type of optical skyrmion is difficult to manipulate and also difficult to apply in practice. In this work, we realise several skyrmionic optical structures with different skyrmion numbers in a free-space linear optical system. Because of the convenience of operation using free-space optics, with the exception of the original applications of skyrmions, skyrmionic optical structures can also be applied widely, e.g. to enable manipulation of tiny objects or propagation over long distances.

  • Inflationary Attractor in Braneworld Scenario

    分类: 物理学 >> 普通物理:统计和量子力学,量子信息等 提交时间: 2017-09-27

    摘要: We demonstrate the attractor behavior of inflation driven by a scalar field or a tachyon field in the context of recently proposed four-dimensional effective gravity induced on the world-volume of a three-brane in five-dimensional Einstein gravity, and we obtain a set of exact inflationary solutions.Phase portraits indicate that an initial kinetic term decays rapidly and it does not prevent the onset of inflation. The trajectories more rapidly reach the slow rolling curve in braneworld scenario than in the standard cosmology.

  • Quantum Enhanced Interferometer for Kilohertz Gravitational Wave Detection

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The gravitational wave detector of higher sensitivity and greater bandwidth in kilohertz window is required for future gravitational wave astronomy and cosmology. Here we present a new type broadband high frequency laser interferometer gravitational wave detector utilizing polarization of light as signal carrier. Except for Fabry-Perot cavity arms we introduce dual power recycling to further amplify the gravitational wave signals. A novel method of weak measurement amplification is used to amplify signals for detection and to guarantee the long-term run of detector. Equipped with squeezed light, the proposed detector is shown sensitive enough within the window from 300Hz to several kHz, making it suitable for the study of high frequency gravitational wave sources. With the proposed detector added in the current detection network, we show that the ability of exploring binary neutron stars merger physics be significantly improved. The detector presented here is expected to provide an alternative way of exploring the possible ground-based gravitational wave detector for the need of future research.

  • Core overshoot constrained by the absence of a solar convective core and some solar-like stars

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Convective-core overshoot mixing is a significant uncertainty in stellar evolution. Because numerical simulations and turbulent convection models predict exponentially decreasing radial rms turbulent velocity, a popular treatment of the overshoot mixing is to apply a diffusion process with exponentially decreasing diffusion coefficient. It is important to investigate the parameters of the diffusion coefficient because they determine the efficiency of the mixing in the overshoot region. In this paper, we have investigated the effects of the core overshoot mixing on the properties of the core in solar models and have constrained the parameters of the overshoot model by using helioseismic inferences and the observation of the solar 8B neutrino flux. For solar-mass stars, the core overshoot mixing helps to prolong the lifetime of the convective core developed at the ZAMS. If the strength of the mixing is sufficiently high, the convective core in a solar model could survive till the present solar age, leading to large deviations of the sound-speed and density profiles comparing with the helioseismic inferences. The 8B neutrino flux also favours a radiative solar core. Those provide a constraint on the parameters of the exponential diffusion model of the convective overshoot mixing. A limited asteroseismic investigation of 13 Kepler low-mass stars with 1.0 < M < 1.5 shows a mass-dependent range of the overshoot parameter. The overshoot mixing processes for different elements are analyzed in detail. It is found that the exponential diffusion overshoot model leads to different effective overshoot mixing lengths for elements with different nuclear equilibrium timescale.

  • Multicell Atomic Quantum Memory as a Hardware-Efficient Quantum Repeater Node

    分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: For scalable quantum communication and networks, a key step is to realize a quantum repeater node that can efficiently connect different segments of atom-photon entanglement using quantum memories. We report a compact and hardware-efficient realization of a quantum repeater node using a single atomic ensemble for multicell quantum memories. Millisecond lifetime is achieved for individual memory cells after suppressing the magnetic-field-induced inhomogeneous broadening and the atomic-motion-induced spin-wave dephasing. Based on these long-lived multicell memory cells, we achieve heralded asynchronous entanglement generation in two quantum repeater segments one after another and then an on-demand entanglement connection of these two repeater segments. As another application of the multicell atomic quantum memory, we further demonstrate storage and on-demand retrieval of heralded atomic spin-wave qubits by implementing a random access quantum memory with individual addressing capacity. This work provides a promising constituent for efficient realization of quantum repeaters for large-scale quantum networks.

  • Quantum-Memory-Enhanced Preparation of Nonlocal Graph States

    分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Graph states are an important class of multipartite entangled states. Previous experimental generation of graph states and in particular the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states in linear optics quantum information schemes is subjected to an exponential decay in efficiency versus the system size, which limits its large-scale applications in quantum networks. Here we demonstrate an efficient scheme to prepare graph states with only a polynomial overhead using long-lived atomic quantum memories. We generate atom-photon entangled states in two atomic ensembles asynchronously, retrieve the stored atomic excitations only when both sides succeed, and further project them into a four-photon GHZ state. We measure the fidelity of this GHZ state and further demonstrate its applications in the violation of Bell-type inequalities and in quantum cryptography. Our work demonstrates the prospect of efficient generation of multipartite entangled states in large-scale distributed systems with applications in quantum information processing and metrology.

  • Active spintronic-metasurface terahertz emitters with tunable chirality

    分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The ability to manipulate the electric-field vector of broadband terahertz waves is essential for applications of terahertz technologies in many areas, and can open up new possibilities for nonlinear terahertz spectroscopy and coherent control. Here, we propose a novel laser-driven terahertz emitter, consisting of metasurface-patterned magnetic multilayer heterostructures. Such hybrid terahertz emitters can combine the advantages of spintronic emitters for being ultrabroadband, efficient and flexible, as well as those of metasurfaces for the unique capability to manipulate terahertz waves with high precision and degree of freedom. Taking a stripe-patterned metasurface as an example, we demonstrate the generation of broadband terahertz waves with tunable chirality. Based on experimental and theoretical studies, the interplay between the laser-induced spintronic-origin currents and the metasurface-induced transient charges/currents are investigated, revealing the strong influence on the device functionality originated from both the light-matter interactions in individual metasurface units and the dynamic coupling between them. Our work not only offers a flexible, reliable and cost-effective solution for chiral terahertz wave generation and manipulation, but also opens a new pathway to metasurface-tailored spintronic devices for efficient vector-control of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz regime.

  • Can small-scale magnetic fields be the major cause for the near-surface effect of the solar p-mode frequencies?

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Small-scale magnetic fields are not only the fundamental element of the solar magnetism, but also closely related to the structure of the solar atmosphere. The observations have shown that there is a ubiquitous tangled small-scale magnetic field with a strength of 60 $\sim$ 130\,G in the canopy forming layer of the quiet solar photosphere. On the other hand, the multi-dimensional MHD simulations show that the convective overshooting expels the magnetic field to form the magnetic canopies at a height of about 500\,km in the upper photosphere. However, the distribution of such small-scale ``canopies" in the solar photosphere cannot be rigorously constrained by either observations and numerical simulations. Based on stellar standard models, we identify that these magnetic canopies can act as a global magnetic-arch splicing layer, and find that the reflections of the solar p-mode oscillations at this magnetic-arch splicing layer results in significant improvement on the discrepancy between the observed and calculated p-mode frequencies. The location of the magnetic-arch splicing layer is determined at a height of about 630\,km, and the inferred strength of the magnetic field is about 90\,G. These features of the magnetic-arch splicing layer derived independently in the present study are quantitatively in agreement with the presence of small-scale magnetic canopies as those obtained by the observations and 3-D MHD simulations.

  • Spatially homogeneous few-cycle compression of Yb lasers via all-solid-state free-space soliton management

    分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-23

    摘要: The high power and variable repetition rate of Yb femtosecond lasers make them very attractive for ultrafast science. However, for capturing sub-200 fs dynamics, efficient, high-fidelity, and high-stability pulse compression techniques are essential. Spectral broadening using an all-solid-state free-space geometry is particularly attractive, as it is simple, robust, and low-cost. However, spatial and temporal losses caused by spatio-spectral inhomogeneities have been a major challenge to date, due to coupled space-time dynamics associated with unguided nonlinear propagation. In this work, we use all-solid-state free-space compressors to demonstrate compression of 170 fs pulses at a wavelength of 1030nm from a Yb:KGW laser to ~9.2 fs, with a highly spatially homogeneous mode. This is achieved by ensuring that the nonlinear beam propagation in periodic layered Kerr media occurs in soliton modes and confining the nonlinear phase through each material layer to less than 1.0 rad. A remarkable spatio-spectral homogeneity of ~0.87 can be realized, which yields a high efficiency of >50% for few-cycle compression. The universality of the method is demonstrated by implementing high-quality pulse compression under a wide range of laser conditions. The high spatiotemporal quality and the exceptional stability of the compressed pulses are further verified by high-harmonic generation. This work represents the highest efficiency and the best spatio-spectral quality ever achieved by an all-solid-state free-space pulse compressor for few-cycle-pulse generation.