arXiv subjects

S. Hughes

Publications and source records attributed to S. Hughes.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Comment on "Entanglement on Demand through Time Reordering"

In a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 100}, 120501 (2008)], Avron {\em et al.} discuss a time reordering scheme to achieve efficient "across-generation" of entangled photon pairs in a semiconductor quantum dot with a suppressed biexciton binding energy. They demonstrate that the scheme can be implemented using time delay between the generated photons. In this Comment, we derive an exact expression for the concurrence of the time delayed photons, and show that the predicted values by Avron {\em et al.} are not achievable, which stems from an approximation used in their approximate theoretical analysis.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Massive Black Holes Across Cosmic Time

This White Paper to the National Academy of Sciences Astro2010 Decadal Review Committee outlines some of the outstanding questions regarding the assembly history of Massive Black Holes in the nuclei of galaxies and the revolutionary contributions anticipated in this field from low-frequency gravitational wave astronomy.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Generation of entangled photon-pairs from a single quantum dot embedded in a planar photonic-crystal cavity

We present a formal theory of single quantum-dot coupling to a planar photonic crystal that supports quasi-degenerate cavity modes, and use this theory to describe, and optimize, entangled-photon-pair generation via the biexciton-exciton cascade. In the generated photon pairs, either both photons are spontaneously emitted from the dot, or one photon is emitted from the biexciton spontaneously and the other is emitted via the leaky-cavity mode. In the strong-coupling regime, the generated photon pairs can be maximally entangled, in qualitative agreement with the simple dressed-state predictions of Johne {\em et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. vol. 100, 240404 (2008)]. We derive useful and physically-intuitive analytical formulas for the spectrum of the emitted photon pairs in the presence of exciton and biexciton broadening, which is necessary to connect to experiments, and demonstrate the clear failure of using a dressed-state approach. We also present a method for calculating and optimizing the entanglement between the emitted photons, which can account for post-sample spectral filtering. Pronounced entanglement values of greater than 80% are demonstrated using experimentally achievable parameters, even without spectral filtering.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2001

Laboratory Astrophysics and Collimated Stellar Outflows: The Production of Radiatively Cooled Hypersonic Plasma Jets

We present first results of astrophysically relevant experiments where highly supersonic plasma jets are generated via conically convergent flows. The convergent flows are created by electrodynamic acceleration of plasma in a conical array of fine metallic wires (a modification of the wire array Z-pinch). Stagnation of plasma flow on the axis of symmetry forms a standing conical shock effectively collimating the flow in the axial direction. This scenario is essentially similar to that discussed by Canto\' ~and collaborators as a purely hydrodynamic mechanism for jet formation in astrophysical systems. Experiments using different materials (Al, Fe and W) show that a highly supersonic ($M\sim 20$), well-collimated jet is generated when the radiative cooling rate of the plasma is significant. We discuss scaling issues for the experiments and their potential use for numerical code verification. The experiments also may allow direct exploration of astrophysically relevant issues such as collimation, stability and jet-cloud interactions.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale XIII. The Metallicity Dependence of the Cepheid Distance Scale

Uncertainty in the metal abundance dependence of the Cepheid variable period- luminosity (PL) relation remains one of the outstanding sources of systematic error in the extragalactic distance scale and Hubble constant. To test for such a metallicity dependence, we have used the WFPC2 camera on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to observe Cepheids in two fields in the nearby spiral galaxy M101, which span a range in oxygen abundance of 0.7+-0.15 dex. A differential analysis of the PL relations in V and I in the two fields yields a marginally significant change in the inferred distance modulus on metal abundance, with d(m-M)/d[O/H] = -0.24+-0.16 mag/dex. The trend is in the theoretically predicted sense that metal-rich Cepheids appear brighter and closer than metal-poor stars. External comparisons of Cepheid distances with those derived from three other distance indicators, in particular the tip of the red giant branch method, further constrain the magnitude of any Z-dependence of the PL relation at V and I. The overall effects of any metallicity dependence on the distance scale derived with HST will be of the order of a few percent or less for most applications, though distances to individual galaxies at the extremes of the metal abundance range may be affected at the 10% level.

astro-ph↗