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A. McIntosh

Publications and source records attributed to A. McIntosh.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Deterministic and dynamic synthesis of optical skyrmions through an ultrathin multimode fibre

Topological light fields offer powerful opportunities for information encoding, transport, and manipulation, yet their deterministic generation in complex scattering media remains an outstanding challenge. In highly multimode fibres, strong mode coupling and polarisation mixing can obscure the precise control required to synthesise structured vectorial states, including optical skyrmions. Here, we demonstrate the deterministic generation and dynamic reconfiguration of arbitrary optical skyrmions through an ultrathin multimode fibre. By combining vectorial transmission-matrix control with a phase-retrieval optimisation framework, we exploit the full polarisation-resolved modal space of the fibre to reconstruct user-defined vector fields with high fidelity at the distal facet. This approach enables the synthesis of Néel, Bloch, anti- and higher-order skyrmions, and bimerons. Their topological properties are confirmed through polarisation-resolved Stokes-vector measurements and quantitative determination of the skyrmion number. Wavefront reprogramming further provides dynamic control over polarisation textures, enabling reversible transitions between distinct skyrmionic states. Our results establish multimode fibres as programmable platforms for the generation of topological light and introduce a scalable route towards minimally invasive topological photonics, with potential applications in imaging, sensing, optical communications, and information processing in complex environments.

physics.optics↗

S$π$RIT: A time-projection chamber for symmetry-energy studies

A Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) called the SAMURAI Pion-Reconstruction and Ion-Tracker (S$π$RIT) has recently been constructed at Michigan State University as part of an international effort to constrain the symmetry-energy term in the nuclear Equation of State (EoS). The S$π$RIT TPC will be used in conjunction with the SAMURAI spectrometer at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF) at RIKEN to measure yield ratios for pions and other light isospin multiplets produced in central collisions of neutron-rich heavy ions, such as $^{132}$Sn + $^{124}$Sn. The S$π$RIT TPC can function both as a TPC detector and as an active target. It has a vertical drift length of 50 cm, parallel to the magnetic field. Gas multiplication is achieved through the use of a multi-wire anode. Image charges are produced in the 12096 pads, and are read out with the recently developed Generic Electronics for TPCs.

physics.ins-det↗

Constraining the Symmetry Term in the Nuclear Equation of State at Sub-Saturation Densities and Finite Temperatures

Methods of extraction of the symmetry energy (or enthalpy) coefficient to temperature ratio from isobaric and isotopic yields of fragments produced in Fermi-energy heavy-ion collisions are discussed. We show that the methods are consistent when the hot fragmenting source is well characterized and its excitation energy and isotopic composition are properly taken into account. The results are independent of the mass number of the detected fragments, which suggests that their fate is decided very early in the reaction.

nucl-ex↗

Experimental evidence of quantum quenching of fluctuations in heavy ion collisions

The first experimental results of a new quantum method for calculating nuclear temperature and density of fragmenting heavy ions is presented. This method is based on fluctuations in the event quadrupole momentum and fragment multiplicity distributions of light Fermions. The cal- culated temperatures are lower than those obtained with a similar classical method. Quenching of the normalized multiplicity distributions of light fermions due to Pauli blocking is also observed. These results indicate a need for a quantum treatment when dealing with statistical properties of fragmenting heavy-ions.

nucl-ex↗