The scattering matrix was measured for a flat microwave cavity with classically chaotic dynamics. The system can be perturbed by small changes of the geometry. We define the “scattering fidelity” in terms of parametric correlation functions of scattering matrix elements. In chaotic systems and for weak coupling, the scattering fidelity approaches the fidelity of the closed system. Without free parameters, the experimental results agree with random matrix theory in a wide range of perturbation strengths, reaching from the perturbative to the Fermi golden rule regime.

For different settings of a control parameter, a chaotic system can go from a region with two separate stable attractors (generalized bistability) to a crisis where a chaotic attractor expands, colliding with an unstable orbit. In the bistable regime jumps between independent attractors are mediated by external perturbations; above the crisis, the dynamics includes visits to regions formerly belonging to the unstable orbits and this appears as random bursts of amplitude jumps. We introduce a control method which suppresses the jumps in both cases by filtering the specific frequency content of one of the two dynamical objects. The method is tested both in a model and in a real experiment with a ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ laser.

Photonic wires are the simplest extended low-dimensional systems. Photonic crystal confinement confers them a divergent density of states at zero-group-velocity points, which leads to enhancement of spontaneous emission rates [D. Kleppner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 47, 233 (1981)]. We experimentally evidence, for the first time, the spectral signature of these Purcell factor singularities, using the out-of-plane emission of InAs quantum dots buried in $\mathrm{GaAs}/\mathrm{AlGaAs}$ based photonic crystal based wire. Additionally, in-plane collection at the wire exit shows large enhancements of the signal at some of the density of states singularities.

We report the results of an experimental investigation of the mechanics and transport processes at the bounding interface between the turbulent and nonturbulent regions of flow in a turbulent jet, which shows the existence of a finite jump in the tangential velocity at the interface. This is associated with small-scale eddying motion at the outward propagating interface (nibbling) by which irrotational fluid becomes turbulent, and this implies that large-scale engulfment is not the dominant entrainment process. Interpretation of the jump as a singular structure yields an essential and significant contribution to the mean shear in the jet mixing region. Finally, our observations provide a justification for Prandtl’s original hypothesis of a constant eddy viscosity in the nonturbulent outer jet region.

We predict a new spatial quantum correlation in light propagating through a multiple scattering random medium. The correlation depends on the quantum state of the light illuminating the medium, is infinite in range, and dominates over classical mesoscopic intensity correlations. The spatial quantum correlation is revealed in the quantum fluctuations of the total transmission or reflection through the sample and should be readily observable experimentally.

We present the first direct measurement of the time evolution of the gain of a soft x-ray laser amplifier. The measurement is based on the injection of a seed pulse, obtained by high-order harmonic generation, into an x-ray laser medium. Strong amplification occurs when the seed pulse is synchronized with the gain period. By precisely varying the delay between the x-ray laser plasma creation and the seed pulse injection, the actual temporal evolution of the soft x-ray amplifier gain is obtained with a subpicosecond resolution.

The presence of a very small amount of high molecular weight polymer significantly delays the pinch-off singularity of a drop of water falling from a faucet and leads to the formation of a long-lived cylindrical filament. In this Letter, we present experiments, numerical simulations, and theory which examines the pinch-off process in the presence of polymers. The numerical simulations are found to be in good agreement with experiment. As a test case, we establish the conditions under which a small bead remains on the filament; we find that the presence of a bead is due to the asymmetry induced by the self-similar pinch off of the droplet.

We introduce a computational method to directly relate diffusivities to the microscopic behavior of the adsorbed molecules. We apply this method to gases in an MFI-type molecular sieve, the reference system in this field. Transitions in the number and nature of adsorption sites result in temporary local increases in the diffusion. This occurs at different loadings in each of the $x$, $y$, and $z$ directions, giving rise to the complex loading behavior found experimentally. Our method can be applied to any adsorbent-adsorbate system, and provides a fundamental understanding of diffusion in confinement on a molecular level.

We experimentally characterize structures formed during the sedimentation of rigid fibers of high aspect ratio at small Reynolds number using particle image velocimetry. Measurements show the existence of large-scale streamers during early stages of the sedimentation process, consistent with previously published theory and numerical simulations. At longer times, the cell-wide inhomogeneities evolve into smaller-scale streamers. Measurements of spatially averaged fiber velocities and velocity fluctuations are also presented.

Femtosecond laser filamentation is studied in a broadband amplifying medium, sapphire doped with electronically excited Ti ions. Evidence for fluence amplification of self-guided pulses, increase of filamentation length, as well as a lowering of the input laser power necessary for filamentation is reported.

Using the quantum trajectories approach, we study the quantum dynamics of a dissipative chaotic system described by the Zaslavsky map. For strong dissipation the quantum wave function in the phase space collapses onto a compact packet which follows classical chaotic dynamics and whose area is proportional to the Planck constant. At weak dissipation the exponential instability of quantum dynamics on the Ehrenfest time scale dominates and leads to wave packet explosion. The transition from collapse to explosion takes place when the dissipation time scale exceeds the Ehrenfest time. For integrable nonlinear dynamics the explosion practically disappears leaving place to collapse.

Turbulent flows are notoriously difficult to describe and understand based on first principles. One reason is that turbulence contains highly intermittent bursts of vorticity and strain rate with highly non-Gaussian statistics. Quantitatively, intermittency is manifested in highly elongated tails in the probability density functions of the velocity increments between pairs of points. A long-standing open issue has been to predict the origins of intermittency and non-Gaussian statistics from the Navier-Stokes equations. Here we derive, from the Navier-Stokes equations, a simple nonlinear dynamical system for the Lagrangian evolution of longitudinal and transverse velocity increments. From this system we are able to show that the ubiquitous non-Gaussian tails in turbulence have their origin in the inherent self-amplification of longitudinal velocity increments, and cross amplification of the transverse velocity increments.

We study droplet coalescence in a molecular system with a variable viscosity and a colloid-polymer mixture with an ultralow surface tension. When either the viscosity is large or the surface tension is small enough, we observe that the opening of the liquid bridge initially proceeds at a constant speed set by the capillary velocity. In the first system we show that inertial effects become dominant at a Reynolds number of about $1.5\pm 0.5$ and the neck then grows as the square root of time. In the second system we show that decreasing the surface tension by a factor of ${10}^5$ opens the way to a more complete understanding of the hydrodynamics involved.

We report the generation of a potential difference, of the order of tens of millivolts, induced by the flow of polar liquids over an assembly of gold nanoparticles. The device consisted of two conducting glass plates, one of which contained the gold nanoparticle multilayer assembly. The potential generated is in transverse direction to the flow and is dependent on the nature of the flowing liquid. We propose a simple theoretical model to account qualitatively for the generation of the flow-induced transverse potential.

We demonstrate, through numerical simulations, the controllable emission of matter-wave bursts from a Bose-Einstein condensate in a shallow optical dipole trap. The process is triggered by spatial variations of the scattering length along the trapping axis. In our approach, the outcoupling mechanisms are atom-atom interactions and thus, the trap remains unaltered. Once emitted, the matter wave forms a robust soliton. We calculate analytically the parameters for the experimental implementation of these matter-wave bursts of solitons.

We demonstrate theoretically that the resonance frequencies of high-$Q$ microcavities in two-dimensional photonic crystal membranes can be tuned over a wide range by introducing a subwavelength dielectric tip into the cavity mode. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations show that by varying the lateral and vertical positions of the tip, it is possible to tune the resonator frequency without lowering the quality factor. Excellent agreement with a perturbative theory is obtained, showing that the tuning range is limited by the ratio of the cavity mode volume to the effective polarizability of the nanoperturber.

We have studied the molecular structure of liquid alkanes confined between a flexible elastomeric poly(dimethyl siloxane) lens and a rigid sapphire substrate using surface-sensitive infrared-visible sum frequency generation spectroscopy. The reduction in the gauche defects suggests ordering of liquid alkanes under confinement. The cooling of confined liquid below the freezing temperature leads to crystallization with alkane molecules lying on the substrate with the symmetry axis parallel to the surface normal. This structure is very different from the bulk alkane crystals next to sapphire or air interfaces.

We experimentally demonstrate subwavelength resolution imaging at microwave frequencies by a three-dimensional (3D) photonic-crystal flat lens using full 3D negative refraction. The photonic crystal was fabricated in a layer-by-layer process. A subwavelength pinhole source and a dipole detector were employed for the measurement. By point-by-point scanning, we obtained the image of the pinhole source shown in both amplitude and phase, which demonstrated the imaging mechanism and subwavelength feature size in all three dimensions. An image of two pinhole sources with subwavelength spacing showed two resolved spots, which further verified subwavelength resolution.

We experimentally investigate the process of intramolecular quantum interference in high-order harmonic generation in impulsively aligned ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ molecules. The recombination interference effect is clearly seen through the order dependence of the harmonic yield in an aligned sample. The experimental results can be well modeled assuming that the effective de Broglie wavelength of the returning electron wave is not significantly altered by the Coulomb field of the molecular ion. We demonstrate that such interference effects can be effectively controlled by changing the ellipticity of the driving laser field.

We show that in the long wavelength limit, water waves propagate through an array of bottom-mounted vertical cylinders as if the water has an effective depth and effective gravitational constant that depends on the filling ratio of the cylinders, leading to refraction phenomena that can be described by analytic formulas. The results are obtained with rigorous homogenization techniques, as well as the multiple scattering formalism that gives full dispersion relationships. This phenomenon provides a mechanism to control the flow of ocean wave energy, as exemplified by a water-wave focusing lens.