Recent work has indicated that ghost imaging may have applications in standoff sensing. However, most theoretical work has addressed transmission-based ghost imaging. To be a viable remote-sensing system, the ghost imager needs to image rough-surfaced targets in reflection through long, turbulent optical paths. We develop, within a Gaussian-state framework, expressions for the spatial resolution, image contrast, and signal-to-noise ratio of such a system. We consider rough-surfaced targets that create fully developed speckle in their returns and Kolmogorov-spectrum turbulence that is uniformly distributed along all propagation paths. We address both classical and nonclassical optical sources, as well as a computational ghost imager.

We study the quantum three-body free-space problem of two same-spin-state fermions of mass $m$ interacting with a different particle of mass $M$, on an infinitely narrow Feshbach resonance with infinite $s$-wave scattering length. This problem is made interesting by the existence of a tunable parameter, the mass ratio $\alpha =m/M$. By a combination of analytical and numerical techniques, we obtain a detailed picture of the spectrum of three-body bound states, within each sector of fixed total angular momentum $l$. For $\alpha$ increasing from 0, we find that the trimer states first appear at the $l$-dependent Efimovian threshold ${\alpha }_c^{\left(l\right)}$, where the Efimov exponent $s$ vanishes, and that the entire trimer spectrum (starting from the ground trimer state) is geometric for $\alpha$ tending to ${\alpha }_c^{\left(l\right)}$ from above, with a global energy scale that has a finite and nonzero limit. For further increasing values of $\alpha$, the least bound trimer states still form a geometric spectrum, with an energy ratio $\exp (2\pi /|s\left|\right)$ that becomes closer and closer to unity, but the most bound trimer states deviate more and more from that geometric spectrum and eventually form a hydrogenoid spectrum.

We report measurements of differential cross sections for the vibrational excitation of furan (C${}_4$H${}_4$O), obtaining results for nine features spanning the electron energy loss range from 0 to 0.8 eV, at electron-impact energies of 5, 6, 7.5, 10, and 15 eV and for scattering angles ranging from 10${}^{\mathrm{o}}$ to 130${}^{\mathrm{o}}$. The normalization of the differential cross sections was done using elastic differential cross sections for furan determined earlier by our group [Khakoo et al., Phys. Rev A 81, 062716 (2010)].

We calculate the vortex structures of an elongated two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. We study how these structures depend on the intracomponent and intercomponent interaction strengths. We present analytical and numerical results respectively at weak and strong interactions; finding lattices with different interlocking geometries: triangular, square, rectangular, and double core.

A procedure is discussed for creating coherent superpositions of motional states of ion strings. The motional states are across the structural transition linear-zigzag, and their coherent superposition is achieved by means of spin-dependent forces, such that a coherent superposition of the electronic states of one ion evolves into an entangled state between the chain's internal and external degrees of freedom. It is shown that the creation of such an entangled state can be revealed by performing Ramsey interferometry with one ion of the chain.

Recent work by Philbin [New J. Phys. 12, 123008 (2010)] has provided a Lagrangian theory that establishes a general method for the canonical quantization of the electromagnetic field in any dispersive, lossy, linear dielectric. Working from this theory, we extend the Lagrangian description to reciprocal and nonreciprocal magnetoelectric (bianisotropic) media, showing that some versions of the constitutive relations are inconsistent with a real Lagrangian, and hence with quantization. This amounts to a restriction on the magnitude of the magnetoelectric coupling. Moreover, from the point of view of quantization, moving media are shown to be fundamentally different from stationary magnetoelectrics, despite the formal similarity in the constitutive relations.

A possibility to constrain axionlike particles from precision atomic physics is considered.

We theoretically study the control of two-photon excitation to bound and dissociative states in a molecule induced by trains of laser pulses, which are equivalent to certain sets of spectral phase modulated pulses. To this end, we solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the interaction of molecular model systems with an external intense laser field. Our numerical results for the temporal evolution of the population in the excited states show that, in the case of an excited dissociative state, control schemes, previously validated for the atomic case, fail due to the coupling of electronic and nuclear motion. In contrast, for excitation to bound states the two-photon excitation probability is controlled via the time delay and the carrier-envelope phase difference between two consecutive pulses in the train.

We solve the zero-temperature unitary Fermi gas problem by incorporating a BCS importance function into the auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo method. We demonstrate that this method does not suffer from a sign problem and that it increases the efficiency of standard techniques by many orders of magnitude for strongly paired fermions. We calculate the ground-state energies exactly for unpolarized systems with up to 66 particles on lattices of up to ${27}^3$ sites, obtaining an accurate result for the universal parameter $\xi$. We also obtain results for interactions with different effective ranges and find that the energy is consistent with a universal linear dependence on the product of the Fermi momentum and the effective range. This method will have many applications in superfluid cold atom systems and in both electronic and nuclear structures where pairing is important.

Optical vortex beams are made to interact via degenerate two-wave mixing in a Kerr-like nonlinear medium. Vortex mixing is shown to occur inside the medium, leading to exchange of topological charge and cascaded generation of vortex beams. A mean-field model is developed and is shown to account for the selection rules of the topological charges observed after the wave-mixing process. Fractional charges are demonstrated to follow the same rules as for integer charges.

Recently, methanol was identified as a sensitive target system to probe variations of the proton-to-electron mass ratio $\mu$ [Jansen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 100801 (2011)]. The high sensitivity of methanol originates from the interplay between overall rotation and hindered internal rotation of the molecule; that is, transitions that convert internal rotation energy into overall rotation energy, or vice versa, have an enhanced sensitivity coefficient, $K_{\mu }$. As internal rotation is a common phenomenon in polyatomic molecules, it is likely that other molecules display similar or even larger effects. In this paper we generalize the concepts that form the foundation of the high sensitivity in methanol and use this to construct an approximate model which makes it possible to estimate the sensitivities of transitions in internal rotor molecules with $C_{3v}$ symmetry, without performing a full calculation of energy levels. We find that a reliable estimate of transition sensitivities can be obtained from the three rotational constants ($A$, $B$, and $C$) and three torsional constants ($F$, $V_3$, and $\rho$). This model is verified by comparing obtained sensitivities for methanol, acetaldehyde, acetamide, methyl formate, and acetic acid with a full analysis of the molecular Hamiltonian. Of the molecules considered, methanol is by far the most suitable candidate for laboratory and cosmological tests searching for a possible variation of $\mu$.

We have experimentally observed the dynamics of the Fermi resonance interaction in the $S_1$ low-energy regime of para-difluorobenzene at $+$819 cm${}^{-1}$ by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging technique. The Fermi resonance interaction is clearly demonstrated by the time dependence of the photoelectron spectra; furthermore, the corresponding photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) clearly reflect each Fermi component character of the resonance $5^1\cdots 6^2$. The oscillation period for the Fermi resonance is estimated to be less than 20 ps from the time behavior of the photoelectron spectra, which is very close to our calculated oscillation period value of 13.3 ps. Our results demonstrate the vibrational energy transfer between the two Fermi resonance components of 5${}^1$ and 6${}^2$, suggestive of a special insight into the vibrational energy redistribution in the $S_1$ low-energy regime of para-difluorobenzene.

We have measured changes in the ground-state populations of Cs vapor induced by optical pumping at high magnetic field. The $2.7$-T field of our experiments is strong enough to decouple the nuclear and electronic spins, allowing us to independently measure each population. The spatial dependence of the Cs populations in small amounts of buffer gas obeys a simple coupled diffusion model and the relative populations reveal the details of relaxation within the vapor cell. Optical pumping can produce high nuclear polarization in the Cs vapor due to perturbations of the hyperfine interaction during collisions with buffer-gas particles and depending on the pumping transition, radiation trapping can strongly influence the electronic and nuclear polarizations in the vapor.

We analyze the spectrum of the three-site Bose-Hubbard model with periodic boundary conditions using a semiclassical method. The Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization is applied to an effective classical Hamiltonian which we derive using resonance normal form theory. The derivation takes into account the 1:1 resonance between frequencies of a linearized classical system and brings nonlinear terms into a corresponding normal form. The obtained expressions reproduce the exact low-energy spectrum of the system remarkably well even for a small number of particles $N$ corresponding to fillings of just two particles per site. Such small fillings are often used in current experiments, and it is inspiring to get insight into this quantum regime using essentially classical calculations.

We consider the effective spin Hamiltonian describing a mixture of two species of pseudo-spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Bose gases with interspecies spin exchange. First we analyze the stability of the fixed points of the corresponding classical dynamics, of which the signature is found in quantum dynamics with a disentangled initial state. Focusing on the case without an external potential, we find all the ground states by taking into account quantum fluctuations around the classical ground state in each parameter regime. The nature of entanglement and its relation with classical bifurcation is investigated. When the total spins of the two species are unequal, the maximal entanglement at the parameter point of classical bifurcation is possessed by the excited state corresponding to the classical fixed point which bifurcates, rather than by the ground state.

We present a systematic study of photonic band gaps (PBGs) in three-dimensional (3D) photonic amorphous structures (PASs) with short-range order. From calculations of the density of optical states (DOS) for PASs with different topologies, we find that tetrahedrally connected dielectric networks produce the largest isotropic PBGs. Local uniformity and tetrahedral order are essential to the formation of PBGs in PASs, in addition to short-range geometric order. This work demonstrates that it is possible to create broad, isotropic PBGs for vector light fields in 3D PASs without long-range order.

We demonstrate that the peak intensity in the filament core, which is inherently limited by the intensity clamping effect during femtosecond laser filamentation, can be significantly enhanced using spatiotemporally focused femtosecond laser pulses. In addition, the filament length obtained by spatiotemporally focused femtosecond laser pulses is ∼25 times shorter than that obtained by a conventional focusing scheme, resulting in improved high spatial resolution.

We reexamine the derivation of the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation in the case of nonaxially uniform optical fibers, taking into account the longitudinal and spectral evolutions of all pertinent linear parameters. Our theory leads to an improved form of this equation that highlights an additional term, which ensures the conservation of the total photon number in nonuniform optical fibers in the absence of attenuation. Numerical simulations confirm the validity of this theory in the context of a Raman-induced soliton self-frequency shift, emission of Cherenkov radiation, and a soliton blue shift.