We report on the nondestructive measurement of nuclear magnetization in $n$-GaAs via cavity enhanced Faraday rotation. In contrast with the existing optical methods, this detection scheme does not require the presence of detrimental out-of-equilibrium electrons. Specific mechanisms of the Faraday rotation are identified for (i) nuclear spins situated within the localized electron orbits, these spins are characterized by fast dynamics, (ii) all other nuclear spins in the sample characterized by much slower dynamics. Our results suggest that even in degenerate semiconductors nuclear spin relaxation is limited by the presence of localized electron states and spin diffusion, rather than by Korringa mechanism.

Precision measurements of the positron component in the cosmic radiation provide important information about the propagation of cosmic rays and the nature of particle sources in our Galaxy. The satellite-borne experiment PAMELA has been used to make a new measurement of the cosmic-ray positron flux and fraction that extends previously published measurements up to 300 GeV in kinetic energy. The combined measurements of the cosmic-ray positron energy spectrum and fraction provide a unique tool to constrain interpretation models. During the recent solar minimum activity period from July 2006 to December 2009, approximately 24 500 positrons were observed. The results cannot be easily reconciled with purely secondary production, and additional sources of either astrophysical or exotic origin may be required.

We show that light-pulse atom interferometry with atomic point sources and spatially resolved detection enables multiaxis (two rotation, one acceleration) precision inertial sensing at long interrogation times. Using this method, we demonstrate a light-pulse atom interferometer for ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ with 1.4 cm peak wave packet separation and a duration of $2T=2.3\mathrm{s}$. The inferred acceleration sensitivity of each shot is $6.7\times {10}^{-12}g$, which improves on previous limits by more than 2 orders of magnitude. We also measure Earth’s rotation rate with a precision of $200\mathrm{nrad}/\mathrm{s}$.

The unusual features of quantum mechanics are enabling the development of technologies not possible with classical physics. These devices utilize nonclassical phenomena in the states of atoms, ions, and solid-state media as the basis for many prototypes. Here we investigate molecular states as a distinct alternative. We demonstrate a memory for light based on storing photons in the vibrations of hydrogen molecules. The THz-bandwidth molecular memory is used to store 100-fs pulses for durations up to $\sim 1\mathrm{ns}$, enabling $\sim {10}^4$ operational time bins. The results demonstrate the promise of molecules for constructing compact ultrafast quantum photonic technologies.

Lumped circuit elements (i.e., resistors, capacitors, and inductors) provide the basic building blocks of microelectronic devices ubiquitous in information processing, storage, and communications. The use of these modular quasistatic components can be extended to the nanoscale optical regime to achieve high-density, high-speed analogues of these traditional circuits. We reimagine these devices in the near-infrared (NIR) regime, making use of a simple nanorod geometry and plasmonic transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). We evaluate their equivalent impedance as lumped circuit elements and construct bandpass and band-stop filters operating at NIR wavelengths. Through variation in the TCO nanorod geometry and the addition of PbS nanocrystals in between and NiCr on top of the TCO nanorods, we present the first designable NIR lumped nanocircuits with tailorable response. The experimental results agree with both circuit models and full-wave simulations.

Graphene and its multilayers have attracted considerable interest because their fourfold spin and valley degeneracy enables a rich variety of broken-symmetry states arising from electron-electron interactions, and raises the prospect of controlled phase transitions among them. Here we report local electronic compressibility measurements of ultraclean suspended graphene that reveal a multitude of fractional quantum Hall states surrounding filling factors $\nu =-1/2$ and $-1/4$. Several of these states exhibit phase transitions that indicate abrupt changes in the underlying order, and we observe many additional oscillations in compressibility as $\nu$ approaches $-1/2$, suggesting further changes in spin and/or valley polarization. We use a simple model based on crossing Landau levels of composite fermions with different internal degrees of freedom to explain many qualitative features of the experimental data. Our results add to the diverse array of many-body states observed in graphene and demonstrate substantial control over their order parameters.

We report the observation of subpicosecond terahertz ($T$-ray) pulses with energies $\ge 460\mu \mathrm{J}$ from a laser-driven ion accelerator, thus rendering the peak power of the source higher even than that of state-of-the-art synchrotrons. Experiments were performed with intense laser pulses (up to $5\times {10}^{19}\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$) to irradiate thin metal foil targets. Ion spectra measured simultaneously showed a square law dependence of the $T$-ray yield on particle number. Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show the presence of transient currents at the target rear surface which could be responsible for the strong $T$-ray emission.

We prepare a superposition of two motional states by addressing lithium atoms immersed in a Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium with a species-selective potential. The evolution of the superposition state is characterized by the populations of the constituent states as well as their coherence. The latter we extract employing a novel scheme analogous to the spin-echo technique. Comparing the results directly to measurements on freely evolving fermions allows us to isolate the decoherence effects induced by the bath. In our system, the decoherence time is close to the maximal possible value since the decoherence is dominated by population relaxation processes. The measured data are in good agreement with a theoretical model based on Fermi’s golden rule.

Controlling self-organizing systems is challenging because the system responds to the controller. Here, we develop a model that captures the essential self-organizing mechanisms of Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld (BTW) sandpiles on networks, a self-organized critical (SOC) system. This model enables studying a simple control scheme that determines the frequency of cascades and that shapes systemic risk. We show that optimal strategies exist for generic cost functions and that controlling a subcritical system may drive it to criticality. This approach could enable controlling other self-organizing systems.

The motion of a rotating helical body in a viscoelastic fluid is considered. In the case of force-free swimming, the introduction of viscoelasticity can either enhance or retard the swimming speed and locomotive efficiency, depending on the body geometry, fluid properties, and the body rotation rate. Numerical solutions of the Oldroyd-B equations show how previous theoretical predictions break down with increasing helical radius or with decreasing filament thickness. Helices of large pitch angle show an increase in swimming speed to a local maximum at a Deborah number of order unity. The numerical results show how the small-amplitude theoretical calculations connect smoothly to the large-amplitude experimental measurements.

We report on a new implementation of Doppler broadening thermometry based on precision absorption spectroscopy by means of a pair of offset-frequency locked extended-cavity diode lasers at $1.39\mu \mathrm{m}$. The method consists in the highly accurate observation of the shape of the $4_{4,1}\to 4_{4,0}$ line of the ${\mathrm{H}}_2{}^{18}\mathrm{O}$ ${\nu }_1+{\nu }_3$ band, in a water vapor sample at thermodynamic equilibrium. A sophisticated and extremely refined spectral analysis procedure is adopted for the retrieval of the Doppler width as a function of the gas pressure, taking into account the Dicke narrowing effect, the speed dependence of relaxation rates, and the physical correlation between velocity-changing and dephasing collisions. A spectroscopic determination of the Boltzmann constant with a combined (type $A$ and type $B$) uncertainty of 24 parts over ${10}^6$ is reported. This is the best result obtained so far by means of an optical method. Our determination is in agreement with the recommended CODATA value.

A model for a new electron-vortex beam production method is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The technique calls on the controlled manipulation of the degrees of freedom of the lens aberrations to achieve a helical phase front. These degrees of freedom are accessible by using the corrector lenses of a transmission electron microscope. The vortex beam is produced through a particular alignment of these lenses into a specifically designed astigmatic state and applying an annular aperture in the condenser plane. Experimental results are found to be in good agreement with simulations.

The dynamics of thermally stimulated surface fluctuations of 100 nm thick films of long-branched polymers are measured for the first time. In contrast to comparable films of linear or cyclic chains that show no change in viscosity upon confinement, films of 6-pom, 6-star, and 6-end end-branched stars show viscosities, inferred from x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, as much as 100 times higher than in the bulk. This difference varies in magnitude with chain architecture. Branching has a profound effect on confinement, even for these unentangled chains.

We report a diversity of stable gap solitons in a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate subject to a spatially periodic Zeeman field. It is shown that the solitons can be classified by the main physical symmetries they obey, i.e., symmetries with respect to parity ($P$), time ($T$), and internal degree of freedom, i.e., spin ($C$), inversions. The conventional gap and gap-stripe solitons are obtained in lattices with different parameters. It is shown that solitons of the same type but obeying different symmetries can exist in the same lattice at different spatial locations. $PT$ and $CPT$ symmetric solitons have antiferromagnetic structure and are characterized, respectively, by nonzero and zero total magnetizations.

Motivated by the seesaw mechanism for neutrinos which naturally generates small neutrino masses, we explore how a small grand-unified-theory-scale mixing between the standard model Higgs boson and an otherwise massless hidden sector scalar can naturally generate a small mass and vacuum expectation value for the new scalar which produces a false vacuum energy density contribution comparable to that of the observed dark energy dominating the current expansion of the Universe. This provides a simple and natural mechanism for producing the correct scale for dark energy, even if it does not address the long-standing question of why much larger dark energy contributions are not produced from the visible sector. The new scalar produces no discernible signatures in existing terrestrial experiments so that one may have to rely on other cosmological tests of this idea.

Do nonlinear waves destroy Anderson localization? Computational and experimental studies yield subdiffusive nonequilibrium wave packet spreading. Chaotic dynamics and phase decoherence assumptions are used for explaining the data. We perform a quantitative analysis of the nonequilibrium chaos assumption and compute the time dependence of main chaos indicators—Lyapunov exponents and deviation vector distributions. We find a slowing down of chaotic dynamics, which does not cross over into regular dynamics up to the largest observed time scales, still being fast enough to allow for a thermalization of the spreading wave packet. Strongly localized chaotic spots meander through the system as time evolves. Our findings confirm for the first time that nonequilibrium chaos and phase decoherence persist, fueling the prediction of a complete delocalization.

We report on the spectroscopy of radio-frequency transitions between nearly degenerate, opposite-parity excited states in atomic dysprosium (Dy). Theoretical calculations predict that these states are very sensitive to variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ owing to large relativistic corrections of opposite sign for the opposite-parity levels. The near degeneracy reduces the relative precision necessary to place constraints on variation of $\alpha$, competitive with results obtained from the best atomic clocks in the world. Additionally, the existence of several abundant isotopes of Dy allows isotopic comparisons that suppress common-mode systematic errors. The frequencies of the 754-MHz transition in ${}^{164}\mathrm{Dy}$ and 235-MHz transition in ${}^{162}\mathrm{Dy}$ are measured over the span of two years. The linear variation of $\alpha$ is $\dot{\alpha }/\alpha =(-5.8\pm {6.9}_{[1\sigma ]})\times {10}^{-17}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$, consistent with zero. The same data are used to constrain the dimensionless parameter $k_{\alpha }$ characterizing a possible coupling of $\alpha$ to a changing gravitational potential. We find that $k_{\alpha }=(-5.5\pm {5.2}_{[1\sigma ]})\times {10}^{-7}$, essentially consistent with zero and the best constraint to date.

Spin noise spectroscopy is an experimental approach to obtain correlators of mesoscopic spin fluctuations in time by purely optical means. We explore the information that this technique can provide when it is applied to a weakly nonequilibrium regime when an electric current is driven through a sample by an electric field. We find that the noise power spectrum of conducting electrons experiences a shift, which is proportional to the strength of the spin-orbit coupling for electrons moving along the electric field direction. We propose applications of this effect to measurements of spin-orbit coupling anisotropy and separation of spin noise of conducting and localized electrons.

Intense terahertz (THz) pulse induces photoluminescence (PL) flash from undoped high-quality $\mathrm{GaAs}/\mathrm{AlGaAs}$ quantum wells under continuous wave laser excitation. The number of excitons increases 10 000-fold from that of the steady state under only laser excitation. The THz electric field dependence and the relaxation dynamics of the PL flash intensity suggest that the strong electric field of the THz pulse ionizes impurity states during the 1 ps period of the THz pulse and release carriers from a giant reservoir containing impurity states in the AlGaAs layers.

When parameters are varied periodically, charge can be pumped through a mesoscopic conductor without applied bias. Here, we consider the inverse effect in which a transport current drives a periodic variation of an adiabatic degree of freedom. This provides a general operating principle for adiabatic quantum motors which we discuss here in general terms. We relate the work performed per cycle on the motor degree of freedom to characteristics of the underlying quantum pump and discuss the motors’ efficiency. Quantum motors based on chaotic quantum dots operate solely due to quantum interference, and motors based on Thouless pumps have ideal efficiency.