arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A. Aiello.
We present a composite optical cavity made of standard laser mirrors; the cavity consists of a suitable combination of stable and unstable cavities. In spite of its very open nature the composite cavity shows ray chaos, which may be either soft or hard, depending on the cavity configuration. This opens a new, convenient route for experimental studies of the quantum aspects of a chaotic wave field.
We investigate the role of excess quantum noise in type-II degenerate parametric down conversion in a cavity with non-orthogonal polarization eigenmodes. Since only two modes are involved we are able to derive an analytical expression for the twin-photon generation rate measured outside the cavity as a function of the degree of mode nonorthogonality. Contrary to recent claims we conclude that there is no evidence of excess quantum noise for a parametric amplifier working so far below threshold that spontaneous processes dominate.
The inertial drag on Cooper pairs in a rotating rf-SQUID ring leads to an asymmetry in the Hamiltonian potential able to force the average magnetic field versus in the ring along the angular velocity one. This effect is a Sagnac signature of Cooper pairs at a quantum level and it may probe the fundamental quantum Mach principle within detectability levels.