Clock Shift Research Articles

Doppler Cooling to the Quantum Limit

Doppler cooling on a narrow transition is limited by the noise of single scattering events. It shows novel features, which are in sharp contrast with cooling on a broad transition, such as a non-gaussian momentum distribution, and divergence of its mean square value close to the resonance. We have observed those features using 1D cooling on an intercombination transition in strontium, and compared the measurements with theoretical predictions and Monte Carlo simulations. We also find that for very a narrow transition, cooling can be improved using a dipole trap, where the clock shift is canceled.

Evolutionary origin of bipolar disorder-revised: EOBD-R

The hypothesis of the evolutionary origin of bipolar disorder (EOBD) synthesized ideas about the biological clock and seasonal shifts in mood (Rosenthal, Wehr) with theorizing that bipolar disorder descends from a pyknic (compact, cold-adapted) group (Kretchmer). The hypothesis suggested that bipolar behaviors evolved in the northern temperate zone as highly derived adaptations to the selective pressures of severe climatic conditions during the Pleistocene. Given evidence of Neandertal contributions to the human genome, the hypothesis is extended (EOBD-R) to suggest Neandertal as the ancestral source for bipolar vulnerability genes (susceptibility alleles). The EOBD-R hypothesis explains and integrates existing observations: bipolar disorder has the epidemiology of an adaptation; it is correlated with a cold-adapted build, and its moods vary according to light and season. Since the hypothesis was first published, data consistent with it have continued to appear. Individuals with seasonal affective disorder, which is related to bipolar disorder, have been shown to manifest a biological signal of season change similar to that found in hibernating animals. The involvement of the circadian gene network in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder has been confirmed. Because selective pressures during the Pleistocene would have been greatest for women of reproductive age, they are expected to manifest winter depression more than males or younger females, which is the case. (This sex difference is also found in hibernating mammals.) Because it is hypothesized that the evolution of bipolar disorder took place in the northern temperate zone during the Pleistocene, it is not expected that individuals of African descent, lacking Neandertal genes, will manifest circular bipolar I disorder, and in fact, the incidence of bipolar disorder among black individuals is less than among whites. A definitive test of the hypothesis is proposed: It is predicted that the bipolar and Neandertal genomes will be more similar than the modern human and Neandertal genomes, and the modern human and San and Yoruba genomes will be more similar than the bipolar and San and Yoruba genomes. Failure to confirm these predictions will falsify the EOBD-R hypothesis. The EOBD-R hypothesis has important implications in the search for bipolar vulnerability genes and our understanding of ourselves and our Neandertal ancestor. At a practical level, confirmation of the EOBD-R hypothesis will boost interest and research in the prevention and management of bipolar symptoms by manipulation of ambient light.

Near-optimal radio use for wireless network synchronization

In this paper, we consider the model of communication where wireless devices can either switch their radios off to save energy (and hence, can neither send nor receive messages), or switch their radios on and engage in communication. The problem has been extensively studied in practice, in the setting such as deployment and clock synchronization of wireless sensor networks.We distill a clean theoretical formulation of minimizing radio use and present near-optimal solutions. Our base model ignores issues of communication interference, although we also extend the model to handle this requirement. We assume that nodes intend to communicate periodically, or according to some time-based schedule. Clearly, perfectly synchronized devices could switch their radios on for exactly the minimum periods required by their joint schedules. The main challenge in the deployment of wireless networks is to synchronize the devices’ schedules, given that their initial schedules may be offset relative to one another (even if their clocks run at the same speed). In this paper, we study how frequently the devices must switch on their radios in order to both synchronize their clocks and communicate. In this setting, we significantly improve previous results, and show optimal use of the radio for two processors and near-optimal use of the radio for synchronization of an arbitrary number of processors. In particular, for two processors we prove deterministic matching Θ(d) upper and lower bounds on the number of times the radio has to be on, where d is the discretized uncertainty period of the clock shift between the two processors. (In contrast, all previous results for two processors are randomized.) For n=dβ processors (for any positive β<1) we prove Ω(d(1−β)/2) is the lower bound on the number of times the radio has to be switched on (per processor), and show a nearly matching (in terms of the radio use) Õ(d(1−β)/2) randomized upper bound per processor. For β≥1 our algorithm runs with at most poly-log(d) radio invocations per processor. Our bounds also hold in a radio-broadcast model where interference must be taken into account.

Precision Calculation of Blackbody Radiation Shifts for Optical Frequency Metrology

We show that three group IIIB divalent ions, B(+), Al(+), and In(+), have anomalously small blackbody radiation (BBR) shifts of the ns(2) (1)S(0)-nsnp (3)P(0)(o) clock transitions. The fractional BBR shifts for these ions are at least 10 times smaller than those of any other present or proposed optical frequency standards at the same temperature, and are less than 0.3% of the Sr clock shift. We have developed a hybrid configuration-interaction + coupled-cluster method that provides accurate treatment of correlation corrections in such ions and yields a rigorous upper bound on the uncertainty of the final results. We reduce the BBR contribution to the fractional frequency uncertainty of the Al(+) clock to 4×10(-19) at T=300 K. We also reduce the uncertainties due to this effect at room temperature to 10(-18) level for B(+) and In(+) to facilitate further development of these systems for metrology and quantum sensing.

Identification Method of Vehicle Interior Airborne Noise Based on Pseudo-Random

According to the source-path-receiver model of vehicle interior airborne noise, the correlative identification method of transfer function was proposed. Simulation results demonstrate that the method has excellent noise immunity performance. A m sequence generator whose shift clock frequency is adjustable and register series is optional was designed by complex programmable logic device CPLD and external circuit. The m sequence pseudo-random signal which was amplified by audio power amplifier drives the loudspeaker as sound source signal. The field tests indicate that compare with broadband white noise sweep method, the identification method based on m sequence technique has advantages in noise suppression.

Collisionally induced atomic clock shifts and correlations

We develop a formalism to incorporate exchange symmetry considerations into the calculation of collisional frequency shifts for atomic clocks using a density-matrix formalism. The formalism is developed for both fermionic and bosonic atomic clocks. Numerical results for a finite-temperature ${}^{87}$Sr ${}^{1}{S}_{0}$ ($F=9/2$) atomic clock in a magic wavelength optical lattice are presented.

A 270-MHz to 1.5-GHz CMOS PLL clock generator with reconfigurable multi-functions for FPGA

A PLL clock generator with reconfigurable multi-functions for FPGA design applications is presented. This clock generator has two configurable operation modes to achieve clock multiplication and phase alignment functions, respectively. The output clock signal has advanced clock shift ability such that the phase shift and duty cycle are programmable. In order to further improve the accuracy of phase alignment and phase shift, a VCO design based on a novel quick start-up technique is proposed. A new delay partition method is also adopted to improve the speed of the post-scale counter, which is used to realize the programmable phase shift and duty cycle. A prototype chip implemented in a 0.13-μm CMOS process achieves a wide tuning range from 270 MHz to 1.5 GHz. The power consumption and the measured RMS jitter at 1 GHz are less than 18 mW and 9 ps, respectively. The settling time is approximately 2 μs.

Multi-dimensional data registration CMOS/MEMS integrated inkjet printhead

This paper describes our work aimed at developing an integrated multi-dimensional thermal inkjet (TIJ) printhead with data registration CMOS de-multiplexer utilizing bulk micromachining technology (MEMS). In this experiment, we developed a new structural design for chips used in inkjet printheads. We designed a thermal inkjet device, whose dimensions could be adjusted to optimize drop generation performance. The energy conversion device and accompanying system were based on an integrated driver head with the performance of a high-frequency, picoliter drop inkjet. The inkjet featured a smart CMOS circuit including D Flip–Flops signal processes along with bi-directional data transfer and 12 V power amplifiers in a printhead chip. All of the jets of the printhead were controlled by very few input lines, a pulse shape (ENABLE), a data line (DATA), a bit shift clock (BIT SHIFT), a state clearing pulse, 5-volt supply for the logic devices, a higher voltage for energizing the heater resisters, and a ground line. The fabricated backside etching of the thermal inkjet (TIJ) printhead was measured by open pool and closed pool systems. The starting voltage was measured at 6.5 V, and its lifespan was 1.5 × 10 8.

A low hardware overhead self-diagnosis technique using reed-solomon codes for self-repairing chips

A self-diagnosis circuit that can be used for built-in self-repair is proposed. The circuit under diagnosis is assumed to be composed of a large number of field repairable units (FRUs), which can be replaced with spares when they are found to be defective. Since the proposed self-diagnosis circuit is implemented on the chip, responses that are scanned out of scan chains are compressed by the group compactor, the space compression circuit, and finally, the time compression circuit to reduce the volume of test response data. Both the space and time compression circuits implement a Reed-Solomon code. Unlike prior work, in the proposed technique, responses of all FRUs are observed at the same time to reduce diagnosis time. The proposed diagnosis circuit can locate up to l defective FRUs. We propose a novel space compression circuit that reduces hardware overhead by exploiting the frequency difference of the scan shift clock and the system clock and by combining scan cells into groups of size r. When the size of constituent multiple-input signature register (MISR) is m, the total number of signatures to be stored for the fault-free signature is 2 lmB bits, where 1≤ B ≤ m. The experimental results show that the proposed diagnosis circuit that can locate up to four defective FRUs in the same test session can be implemented with less than one percent of hardware overhead for a large industrial design. Hardware overhead for the diagnosis circuit is lower for large CUDs.

Magnetic resonance line shifts in the quantum gas of atomic hydrogen

We present an experimental study of the quantum gas of atomic hydrogen in a strong magnetic field (4.6 T). The gas is compressed to densities of ∼1018 cm−3 at temperatures of 0.2–0.5 K. We observed shifts of the electron spin resonance (ESR) lines caused by the exchange interaction in atomic collisions (clock shift) and the long-range dipolar interactions. The clock shift was found to be vanishingly small in a doubly polarized gas, in contrast to a mixture of two hyperfine states. The difference is explained by properly including quantum statistical effects in the treatment of atomic collisions. From our data, we extract the difference between the triplet and singlet s-wave scattering lengths, at−as=60(10) pm, in agreement with existing theories. At densities above 1017 cm−3, weakly resolved structures appeared in the ESR spectra, interpreted in terms of electron spin waves. We consider exchange and dipolar interactions to possibly induce the spin waves.

Non-TMR SEU-Hardening Techniques for SiGe HBT Shift Registers and Clock Buffers

We report new results from both broad-beam, heavy-ion and proton experiments for circuit-level RHBD techniques in SiGe digital logic. Redundant circuit elements within the latches are used to significantly reduce single-event upset rates in shift registers and clock paths, without resorting to TMR techniques.

Magnetoreception

Few subjects in animal behavior have more exotic mystery than magnetic-field sensitivity. A force we cannot sense, generated by events no one completely understands, creates field lines that pass through our bodies without any evident effect on us or on them. It is an energy felt as much by migrating lobsters on the sea floor as by ocean-crossing birds thousands of meters overhead, transduced in generally poorly understood ways. Despite the blindness of humans, modern life depends on this invisible, ghostlike field. Aside from lights and heaters, nearly every electrical device we own makes use of electromagnetism, and that same magnetism is essential in generating the power these new-found necessities consume. But for many animals, the reliance is far older and more basic: their life-or-death ability to find their way around in the world depends on correctly interpreting the earth's magnetic field.

Clock shifts in a Fermi gas interacting with a minority component: A soluble model

We consider the absorption spectrum of a Fermi gas mixed with a minority species when majority fermions are transferred to another internal state by an external probe. In the limit when the minority species is much more massive than the majority one, we show that the minority species may be treated as static impurities and the problem can be solved in closed form. The analytical results bring out the importance of vertex corrections, which change qualitatively the nature of the absorption spectrum. It is demonstrated that large line shifts are not associated with resonant interactions in general. We also show that the commonly used ladder approximation fails when the majority component is degenerate for large mass ratios between the minority and majority species and that bubble diagrams, which correspond to the creation of many particle-hole pairs, must be taken into account. We carry out detailed numerical calculations, which confirm the analytical insights, and we point out the connection to shadowing phenomena in nuclear physics.

Dynamic polarizabilities and related properties of clock states of the ytterbium atom

We carry out relativistic many-body calculations of the static and dynamic dipole polarizabilities of the ground 6s2 1S0 and the first excited 6s6p 3Po0 states of Yb. With these polarizabilities, we compute several properties of Yb relevant to optical lattice clocks operating on the 6s2 1S0–6s6p 3Po0 transition. We determine (i) the first four magic wavelengths of the laser field for which the frequency of the clock transition is insensitive to the laser intensity. While the first magic wavelength is known, we predict the second, the third and the fourth magic wavelengths to be 551 nm, 465 nm and 413 nm. (ii) We re-evaluate the effect of black-body radiation on the frequency of the clock transition, the resulting clock shift at T = 300 K being −1.41(17) Hz. (iii) We compute long-range interatomic van der Waals coefficients (in a.u.) C6(6s2 1S0 + 6s2 1S0) = 1909(160), C6(6s2 1S0 + 6s6p 3P0) = 2709(338) and C6(6s6p 3P0 + 6s6p 3P0) = 3886(360). Finally, we determine the atom-wall interaction coefficients (in a.u.), C3(6s2 1S0) = 3.34 and C3(6s6p 3P0) = 3.68. We also address and resolve a disagreement between previous calculations of the static polarizability of the ground state.

Comment on “Clock Shift in High Field Magnetic Resonance of Atomic Hydrogen”

In this Comment, we reanalyze the experiments on the collision frequency shift of the b-c and a-d hyperfine transitions in three-dimensional atomic hydrogen in the presence of, respectively, a and b-state atoms. Accurate consideration of the symmetry of the spatial and spin part of the diatomic wavefunction yields the difference a_T-a_S=0.30(5) \AA between the triplet and singlet s-wave scattering lengths of hydrogen atoms. This corrects the factor-of two error of the commented work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 263003 (2008)].

Clock Shifts of Optical Transitions in Ultracold Atomic Gases

We calculate the shift, due to interatomic interactions, of an optical transition in an atomic Fermi gas trapped in an optical lattice, as in recent experiments of Campbell et al. [Science 324, 360 (2009)]. Using a pseudospin formalism to describe the density matrix of atoms, we derive a Bloch equation which incorporates both spatial inhomogeneity of the probe laser field and interatomic interactions. Expressions are given for the frequency shift as a function of pulse duration, detuning of the probe laser, and the spatial dependence of the electric field of the probe beam. In the low temperature semiclassical regime, we find that the magnitude of the shift is proportional to the temperature.

Radio-frequency response of strongly interacting Fermi gases at finite temperatures

The radio frequency spectrum of the fermions in the unitary limit at finite temperatures is characterized by the sum rule relations. We consider a simple picture where the atoms are removed by radio frequency excitations from the strongly interacting states into a state of negligible interaction. We calculate the moments of the response function in the range of temperature $0.08 \epsilon_F < T < 0.8 \epsilon_F$ using auxiliary field Monte Carlo technique (AFMC) in which continuum auxiliary fields with a density dependent shift are used. We estimate the effects of superfluid pairing from the clock shift. We find a qualitative agreement with the pairing gap - pseudogap transition behavior. We also find within the quasiparticle picture that in order for the gap to come into quantitative agreement with the previously known value at T=0, the effective mass has to be $m^* \sim 1.43 m$. Finally, we discuss implications for the adiabatic sweep of the resonant magnetic field.

Mapping Out Atom-Wall Interaction with Atomic Clocks

We explore the feasibility of probing atom-wall interaction with atomic clocks based on atoms trapped in engineered optical lattices. Optical lattice is normal to the wall. By monitoring the wall-induced clock shift at individual wells of the lattice, one would measure the dependence of the atom-wall interaction on the atom-wall separation. We find that the induced clock shifts are large and observable at already experimentally demonstrated levels of accuracy. We show that this scheme may uniquely probe the long-range atom-wall interaction in all three qualitatively distinct regimes of the interaction: van der Waals (image-charge interaction), Casimir-Polder (QED vacuum fluctuations), and Lifshitz (thermal-bath fluctuations) regimes.

Seasonally adaptive migratory headings mediated by a sun compass in the painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui

Many insects undertake long-distance migrations to exploit seasonally variable conditions at high latitudes, but the mechanisms used by migrants to select and maintain beneficial flight headings are poorly understood. Using computerized flight simulators, we performed controlled experiments to test the ability of an obligate migrant butterfly (Vanessa cardui) to orient in seasonally advantageous directions (i.e. northwards in spring and southwards in autumn). We also investigated the compass mechanism used to select and maintain these headings. Laboratory-reared autumn-generation butterflies flown in the U.K. displayed a highly significant mean orientation towards the south-southwest, consistent with return migration to winter breeding sites. However, seasonally adaptive flight headings were not observed in wild-caught adults flown at the same time. Spring-generation adults caught in Gibraltar (presumed to be migrating from winter breeding sites in North Africa into Europe) showed no evidence of northward flight headings, but produced a wide scatter of flight headings with a mean direction towards the west. Butterflies flown in the simulators when the sky was not visible produced a random scatter of flight headings and less-directed flight tracks, providing evidence that migrating V. cardui use a sun compass to select and maintain their flight headings. However, when butterflies were subjected to a 6 h clock shift, no change in orientation was observed relative to the control group. Field evidence for a return migration in autumn by V. cardui is surprisingly scarce in the literature, but we conclude that the species does attempt such southward movements and that individuals use a sun compass to select their migratory heading.

Re-orientation in clock-shifted homing pigeons subjected to a magnetic disturbance: a study with GPS data loggers

Some authors have proposed that homing pigeons are able to correct the error in orientation following a phase-shift treatment by using the magnetic compass reference. They reported that clock-shifted pigeons bearing magnets display a greater deflection compared to magnetically unmanipulated clock-shifted birds. However, this hypothesis tested by recording pigeons’ vanishing bearings has led to contradictory results. The present study reports pigeons’ tracks recorded with a GPS and shows that clock-shifted pigeons bearing magnets displayed a greater deviation through the whole route compared to the magnetically unmanipulated shifted pigeons. Moreover, the analysis of the tracks shows that the birds belonging to both experimental groups stop in coincidence with their subjective night. When re-starting their journey, the birds corrected the clock-shift induced error in orientation, but the magnetically manipulated pigeons were less efficient in doing so. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that homing pigeons released from unfamiliar location re-orient after clock shift by using the magnetic compass.