Gradient echo memory in an ultra-high optical depth cold atomic ensemble

Quantum memories are an integral component of quantum repeaters - devices that will allow the extension of quantum key distribution to communication ranges beyond that permissible by passive transmission. A quantum memory for this application needs to be highly efficient and have coherence times approaching a millisecond. Here we report on work towards this goal, with the development of a $^{87}$Rb magneto-optical trap with a peak optical depth of 1000 for the D2 $F=2 \rightarrow F'=3$ transition using spatial and temporal dark spots. With this purpose-built cold atomic ensemble to implement the gradient echo memory (GEM) scheme. Our data shows a memory efficiency of $80\pm 2$% and coherence times up to 195 $\mu$s, which is a factor of four greater than previous GEM experiments implemented in warm vapour cells.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

An ultra-high optical depth cold atomic ensemble for quantum memories

21st International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy – ICOLS 2013Quantum memories for light lie at the heart of long-distance provably-secure communication. Demand for a functioning quantum memory, with high efficiency and coherence times approaching a millisecond, is therefore at a premium. Here we report on work towards this goal, with the development of a 87Rb magneto-optical trap with a peak optical depth of 1000 for the D2 F = 2 → F' = 3 transition using spatial and temporal dark spots. With this purpose-built cold atomic ensemble we implemented the gradient echo memory (GEM) scheme on the D1 line. Our data shows a memory efficiency of 80 ± 2% and coherence times up to 195 μs.B. M. Sparkes, J. Bernu, M. Hosseini, J. Geng, Q. Glorieux, P. A. Altin, P. K. Lam, N. P. Robins, and B. C. Buchle

Visualizing the role of Cbl-b in control of islet-reactive CD4 T cells and susceptibility to Type 1 Diabetes

The E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl-b regulates T cell activation thresholds and has been associated with protecting against Type 1 diabetes, but its in vivo role in the process of self-tolerance has not been examined at the level of potentially auto-aggressive CD4+ T cells. Here we visualize the consequences of Cbl-b deficiency on self-tolerance to lysozyme antigen expressed in transgenic mice under control of the insulin promoter (insHEL). By tracing the fate of pancreatic islet-reactive CD4+ T cells in pre-diabetic 3A9-TCR x insHEL double-transgenic mice, we find that Cbl-b deficiency contrasts with AIRE or IL-2 deficiency because it does not affect thymic negative selection of islet-reactive CD4+ cells nor the numbers of islet-specific CD4+ or CD4+ FOXP3+ T cells in the periphery, although it decreased differentiation of inducible Treg (iTreg) cells from TGF-b treated 3A9-TCR cells in vitro. When removed from Tregs and placed in culture, Cblb-deficient islet-reactive CD4+ cells reveal a capacity to proliferate to HEL antigen that is repressed in wild-type cells. This latent failure of T cell anergy is nevertheless controlled in vivo in pre-diabetic mice, so that islet-reactive CD4+ cells in spleen and pancreatic lymph node of Cblb-deficient mice show no evidence of increased activation or proliferation in situ. Cblb-deficiency subsequently precipitated diabetes in most TCR:insHEL animals by 15 wks of age. These results reveal a role for peripheral T cell anergy in organ-specific self-tolerance, and illuminate the interplay between Cblb-dependent anergy and other mechanisms for preventing organ-specific autoimmunity

A Cryogenic Silicon Interferometer for Gravitational-wave Detection

The detection of gravitational waves from compact binary mergers by LIGO has opened the era of gravitational wave astronomy, revealing a previously hidden side of the cosmos. To maximize the reach of the existing LIGO observatory facilities, we have designed a new instrument that will have 5 times the range of Advanced LIGO, or greater than 100 times the event rate. Observations with this new instrument will make possible dramatic steps toward understanding the physics of the nearby universe, as well as observing the universe out to cosmological distances by the detection of binary black hole coalescences. This article presents the instrument design and a quantitative analysis of the anticipated noise floor

A Model Predictive Control Framework for Asymptotic Stabilization of Discretized Hybrid Dynamical Systems

We present a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for the appropriate discretizations of (nondiscretized) hybrid dynamical systems. The optimization problem associated with the MPC algorithm is formulated with a set-based prediction horizon and the discretized hybrid dynamics as part of its constraints. Sufficient conditions guaranteeing structural properties of the problem and asymptotic stability of a closed set are revealed. These conditions include the existence of a control Lyapunov function assuring an invariance property on the terminal constraint set. In addition, we formulate a method to obtain numerical solutions to the hybrid optimal control problem, amenable to off-the-shelf optimization solvers, and demonstrate this method on the discretization of a prototypical hybrid system

Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo network

Gravitational-wave astronomy has been firmly established with the detection of gravitational waves from the merger of ten stellar-mass binary black holes and a neutron star binary. This paper reports on the all-sky search for gravitational waves from intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo network. The search uses three independent algorithms: two based on matched filtering of the data with waveform templates of gravitational-wave signals from compact binaries, and a third, model-independent algorithm that employs no signal model for the incoming signal. No intermediate mass black hole binary event is detected in this search. Consequently, we place upper limits on the merger rate density for a family of intermediate mass black hole binaries. In particular, we choose sources with total masses M=m1+m2ϵ[120,800] M and mass ratios q=m2/m1ϵ[0.1,1.0]. For the first time, this calculation is done using numerical relativity waveforms (which include higher modes) as models of the real emitted signal. We place a most stringent upper limit of 0.20 Gpc-3 yr-1 (in comoving units at the 90% confidence level) for equal-mass binaries with individual masses m1,2=100 M and dimensionless spins χ1,2=0.8 aligned with the orbital angular momentum of the binary. This improves by a factor of ∼5 that reported after Advanced LIGO's first observing run

Search for Eccentric Binary Black Hole Mergers with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo during Their First and Second Observing Runs

When formed through dynamical interactions, stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) may retain eccentric orbits (e > 0.1 at 10 Hz) detectable by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Eccentricity can therefore be used to differentiate dynamically formed binaries from isolated BBH mergers. Current template-based gravitational-wave searches do not use waveform models associated with eccentric orbits, rendering the search less efficient for eccentric binary systems. Here we present the results of a search for BBH mergers that inspiral in eccentric orbits using data from the first and second observing runs (O1 and O2) of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We carried out the search with the coherent WaveBurst algorithm, which uses minimal assumptions on the signal morphology and does not rely on binary waveform templates. We show that it is sensitive to binary mergers with a detection range that is weakly dependent on eccentricity for all bound systems. Our search did not identify any new binary merger candidates. We interpret these results in light of eccentric binary formation models. We rule out formation channels with rates ⪆100 Gpc-3 yr-1 for e > 0.1, assuming a black hole mass spectrum with a power-law index ≲2

All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the second Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run

We present the results of a search for short-duration gravitational-wave transients in the data from the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We search for gravitational-wave transients with a duration of milliseconds to approximately one second in the 32-4096 Hz frequency band with minimal assumptions about the signal properties, thus targeting a wide variety of sources. We also perform a matched-filter search for gravitational-wave transients from cosmic string cusps for which the waveform is well modeled. The unmodeled search detected gravitational waves from several binary black hole mergers which have been identified by previous analyses. No other significant events have been found by either the unmodeled search or the cosmic string search. We thus present the search sensitivities for a variety of signal waveforms and report upper limits on the source rate density as a function of the characteristic frequency of the signal. These upper limits are a factor of 3 lower than the first observing run, with a 50% detection probability for gravitational-wave emissions with energies of ∼10-9 Mc2 at 153 Hz. For the search dedicated to cosmic string cusps we consider several loop distribution models, and present updated constraints from the same search done in the first observing run

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the $\mathcal{J}$-statistic, and by analysing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from $60$ to $650\,\mathrm{Hz}$, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At $194.6\,\mathrm{Hz}$, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95\% confidence) of $h_0^{95\%} = 3.47 \times 10^{-25}$ when marginalising over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering