E. C. G. Sudarshan and Symmetry in Classical Dynamics, Optics and Quantum Mechanics

We review work initiated and inspired by Sudarshan in relativistic dynamics, beam optics, partial coherence theory, Wigner distribution methods, multimode quantum optical squeezing, and geometric phases. The 1963 No Interaction Theorem using Dirac's instant form and particle World Line Conditions is recalled. Later attempts to overcome this result exploiting constrained Hamiltonian theory, reformulation of the World Line Conditions and extending Dirac's formalism, are reviewed. Dirac's front form leads to a formulation of Fourier Optics for the Maxwell field, determining the actions of First Order Systems (corresponding to matrices of Sp(2,R) and Sp(4,R)) on polarization in a consistent manner. These groups also help characterize properties and propagation of partially coherent Gaussian Schell Model beams, leading to invariant quality parameters and the new Twist phase. The higher dimensional groups Sp(2n,R) appear in the theory of Wigner distributions and in quantum optics. Elegant criteria for a Gaussian phase space function to be a Wigner distribution, expressions for multimode uncertainty principles and squeezing are described. In geometric phase theory we highlight the use of invariance properties that lead to a kinematical formulation and the important role of Bargmann invariants. Special features of these phases arising from unitary Lie group representations, and a new formulation based on the idea of Null Phase Curves, are presented.

Five-level inverter scheme for an open-end winding induction machine with less number of switches

Higher level of inversion is achieved with a less number of switches in the proposed scheme. The scheme proposes a five-level inverter for an open-end winding induction motor which uses only two DC-link rectifiers of voltage rating of Vdc/4, a neutral-point clamped (NPC) three-level inverter and a two-level inverter. Even though the two-level inverter is connected to the high-voltage side, it is always in square-wave operation. Since the two-level inverter is not switching in a pulse width modulated fashion and the magnitude of switching transient is only half compared to the convention three-level NPC inverter, the switching losses and electromagnetic interference is not so high. The scheme is experimentally verified on a 2.5 kW induction machine.

Cascades of Selective Pulses on Connected Single-Quantum Transitions Leading to the Selective Excitation of Multiple-Quantum Coherences

A symmetric cascade of selective pulses applied on connected transitions leads to the excitation of a selected multiple-quantum coherence by a well-defined angle. This cascade selectively operates on the subspace of the multiple-quantum coherence and acts as a generator of rotation selectively on the multiple-quantum subspace. Single-transition operator algebra has been used to explain these experiments. Experiments have been performed on two- and three-spin systems. It is shown that such experiments can be utilized to measure the relaxation times of selected multiple-quantum coherences or of a specifically prepared initial longitudinal state of the spin system.

Quantum and non-Markovian effects in the electron transfer reaction dynamics in the Marcus inverted region

Electron transfer reactions in large molecules may often be coupled to both the polar solvent modes and the intramolecular vibrational modes of the molecule. This can give rise to a complex dynamics which may in some systems, like betaine, be controlled more by vibrational rather than by solvent effects. Additionally, a significant contribution from an ultrafast relaxation component in the solvation dynamics may enhance the complexity. To explain the wide range of behavior that has been observed experimentally, Barbara et al. recently proposed that a model of an electron transfer reaction should minimally consist of a low-frequency classical solvent mode (X), a low-frequency vibrational mode (Q), and a high-frequency quantum mode (q) (J. Phys. Chem. 1991, 96, 3728). In the present work, a theoretical study of this model is described. This study generalizes earlier work by including the biphasic solvent response and the dynamics of the low-frequency vibrational mode in the presence of a delocalized, extended reaction zone. A novel Green's function technique has been developed which allowed us to study the non-Markovian dynamics on a multidimensional surface. The contributions from the high-frequency vibrational mode and the ultrafast component in the non-Markovian solvent dynamics are found to be primarily responsible for the dramatic increase in charge transfer rate over the prediction of the classical theories that neglect both these factors. These, along with a large coupling between the reactant and the product states, may combine to render the electron transfer rate both very large and constant over a wide range of solvent relaxation rates. A study on the free energy gap dependence of the electron transfer rate reveals that the rates are sensitive to changes in the quantum frequency particularly when the free energy gap is very large.

Seebeck Coefficient in Bulk and Quantum Wells of Non-Parabolic Kane-Type Materials

We present a simplified and quantitative analysis of the Seebeck coefficient in degenerate bulk and quantum well materials whose conduction band electrons obey Kane's non-parabolic energy dispersion relation. We use k.p formalism to include the effect of the overlap function due to the band non-parabolicity in the Seebeck coefficient. We also address the key issues and the conditions in which the Seebeck coefficient in quantum wells should exhibit oscillatory dependency with the film thickness under the acoustic phonon and ionized impurity scattering. The effect of screening length in degenerate bulk and quantum wells has also been generalized for the determination of ionization scattering. The well-known expressions of the Seebeck coefficient in non-degenerate wide band gap materials for both bulk and quantum wells has been obtained as a special case and this provides an indirect proof of our generalized theoretical analysis.

Quantum-confinement effects on the ordering of the lowest-lying excited states in conjugated chains

The symmetrized density-matrix renormalization-group approach is applied within the extended Hubbard-Peierls model (with parameters U/t, V/t, and bond alternation delta) to study the ordering of the lowest one-photon (1(1)B(u)(-)) and two-photon (2(1)A(g)(+)) states in one-dimensional conjugated systems with chain lengths N up to N = 80 sites. Three different types of crossovers are studied, as a function of U/t, delta, and N. The ''U crossover'' emphasizes the larger ionic character of the 2A(g) state compared to the lowest triplet excitation. The ''delta crossover'' shows strong dependence on both N and U/t. the ''N crossover'' illustrates the more localized nature of the 2A(g) excitation relative to the 1B(u) excitation at intermediate correlation strengths.

Spin distributions in antiferromagnetically coupled Mn2+Cu2+ systems: from the pair to the infinite chain

Probably the most informative description of the ground slate of a magnetic molecular species is provided by the spin density map. Such a map may be experimentally obtained from polarized neutron diffraction (PND) data or theoretically calculated using quantum chemical approaches. Density functional theory (DFT) methods have been proved to be well-adapted for this. Spin distributions in one-dimensional compounds may also be computed using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) formalism. These three approaches, PND, DFT, and DMRG, have been utilized to obtain new insights on the ground state of two antiferromagnetically coupled Mn2+Cu2+ compounds, namely [Mn(Me-6-[14]ane-N-4)Cu(oxpn)](CF3SO3)(2) and MnCu(pba)(H2O)(3) . 2H(2)O, with Me-6-[14]ane-N-4 = (+/-)-5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane, oxpn = N,N'-bis(3-aminopropyl)oxamido and pba = 1,3-propylenebis(oxamato). Three problems in particular have been investigated: the spin distribution in the mononuclear precursors [Cu(oxpn)] and [Cu(pba)](2-), the spin density maps in the two Mn2+Cu2+ compounds, and the evolution of the spin distributions on the Mn2+ and Cu2+ sites when passing from a pair to a one-dimensional ferrimagnet.

Magnetization properties of some quantum spin ladders

The experimental realization of various spin ladder systems has prompted their detailed theoretical investigations. Hen we study the evolution of ground-state magnetization with an external magnetic field for two different antiferromagnetic systems: a three-legged spin-1/2 ladder, and a two-legged spin-1/2 ladder with an additional diagonal interaction. The finite system density-matrix renormalization-group method is employed for numerical studies of the three-chain system, and an effective low-energy Hamiltonian is used in the limit of strong interchain coupling to study the two- and three-chain systems. The three-chain system has a magnetization plateau at one-third of the saturation magnetization. The two-chain system has a plateau at zero magnetization due to a gap above the singlet ground state. It also has a plateau at half of the saturation magnetization for a certain range of values of the couplings. We study the regions of transitions between plateaus numerically and analytically, and find that they are described, at first order in a strong-coupling expansion, by an XXZ spin-1/2 chain in a magnetic field; the second-order terms give corrections to the XXZ model, We also study numerically some low-temperature properties of the three-chain system, such as the magnetization, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat. [S0163-1829(99)303001-5].

Quantum theoretical study of molecular mechanisms of mutation and cancer - A review

Several endogenous and exogenous chemical species, particularly the so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen oxide species (RNOS), attack deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in biological systems producing DNA lesions which hamper normal cell functioning and cause various diseases including mutation and cancer. The guanine (G) base of DNA among all the bases is most susceptible and certain modified guanines get involved in mispairing with other bases during DNA replication. The biological system repairs the abnormal base pairs, but those that are still left cause mutation and cancer. Anti-oxidants present in biological systems can scavenge the ROS and RNOS. Thus three types of molecular events occur in biological media: (i) DNA damage, (ii) DNA repair, and (iii) prevention of DNA damage by scavenging ROS and RNOS. Quantum mechanical methods may be used to unravel molecular mechanisms of such phenomena. Some recent quantum theoretical results obtained on these problems are reviewed here.

Developments in quantum information processing by nuclear magnetic resonance: Use of quadrupolar and dipolar couplings

Use of dipolar and quadrupolar couplings for quantum information processing (QIP) by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is described. In these cases, instead of the individual spins being qubits, the 2(n) energy levels of the spin-system can be treated as an n-qubit system. It is demonstrated that QIP in such systems can be carried out using transition-selective pulses, in (CHCN)-C-3, (CH3CN)-C-13, Li-7 (I = 3/2) and Cs-133 (I = 7/2), oriented in liquid crystals yielding 2 and 3 qubit systems. Creation of pseudopure states, implementation of logic gates and arithmetic operations (half-adder and subtractor) have been carried out in these systems using transition-selective pulses.

Quantum phenomena in magnetic nano clusters

One of the fascinating fields of study in magnetism in recent years has been the study of quantum phenomena in nanosystems. While semiconductor structures have provided paradigms of nanosystems from the stand point of electronic phenomena the synthesis of high nuclearity transition metal complexes have provided examples of nano magnets. The range and diversity of the properties exhibited by these systems rivals its electronic counterparts. Qualitative understanding of these phenomena requires only a knowledge of basic physics, but quantitative study throws up many challenges that are similar to those encountered in the study of correlated electronic systems. In this article, a brief overview of the current trends in this area arc highlighted and some of the efforts of our group in developing a quantitative understanding of this field are outlined.

Size-dependent and strain rate effects in quantum dot nanostructures with molecular dynamic simulations

Size and strain rate effects are among several factors which play an important role in determining the response of nanostructures, such as their deformations, to the mechanical loadings. The mechanical deformations in nanostructure systems at finite temperatures are intrinsically dynamic processes. Most of the recent works in this context have been focused on nanowires [1, 2], but very little attention has been paid to such low dimensional nanostructures as quantum dots (QDs). In this contribution, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with an embedded atom potential method(EAM) are carried out to analyse the size and strain rate effects in the silicon (Si) QDs, as an example. We consider various geometries of QDs such as spherical, cylindrical and cubic. We choose Si QDs as an example due to their major applications in solar cells and biosensing. The analysis has also been focused on the variation in the deformation mechanisms with the size and strain rate for Si QD embedded in a matrix of SiO2 [3] (other cases include SiN and SiC matrices).It is observed that the mechanical properties are the functions of the QD size, shape and strain rate as it is in the case for nanowires [2]. We also present the comparative study resulted from the application of different EAM potentials in particular, the Stillinger-Weber (SW) potential, the Tersoff potentials and the environment-dependent interatomic potential (EDIP) [1]. Finally, based on the stabilized structural properties we compute electronic bandstructures of our nanostructures using an envelope function approach and its finite element implementation.

Authors reply to "On uniqueness, transfer and combination of acoustic sources in one-dimensional systems"

The use of electroacoustic analogies suggests that a source of acoustical energy (such as an engine, compressor, blower, turbine, loudspeaker, etc.) can be characterized by an acoustic source pressure ps and internal source impedance Zs, analogous to the open-circuit voltage and internal impedance of an electrical source. The present paper shows analytically that the source characteristics evaluated by means of the indirect methods are independent of the loads selected; that is, the evaluated values of ps and Zs are unique, and that the results of the different methods (including the direct method) are identical. In addition, general relations have been derived here for the transfer of source characteristics from one station to another station across one or more acoustical elements, and also for combining several sources into a single equivalent source. Finally, all the conclusions are extended to the case of a uniformly moving medium, incorporating the convective as well as dissipative effects of the mean flow.

Fast Direct Torque Control of an Open-End Induction Motor Drive Using 12-Sided Polygonal Voltage Space Vectors

A torque control scheme, based on a direct torque control (DTC) algorithm using a 12-sided polygonal voltage space vector, is proposed for a variable speed control of an open-end induction motor drive. The conventional DTC scheme uses a stator flux vector for the sector identification and then the switching vector to control stator flux and torque. However, the proposed DTC scheme selects switching vectors based on the sector information of the estimated fundamental stator voltage vector and its relative position with respect to the stator flux vector. The fundamental stator voltage estimation is based on the steady-state model of IM and the synchronous frequency of operation is derived from the computed stator flux using a low-pass filter technique. The proposed DTC scheme utilizes the exact positions of the fundamental stator voltage vector and stator flux vector to select the optimal switching vector for fast control of torque with small variation of stator flux within the hysteresis band. The present DTC scheme allows full load torque control with fast transient response to very low speeds of operation, with reduced switching frequency variation. Extensive experimental results are presented to show the fast torque control for speed of operation from zero to rated.

Simple theoretical analysis of the Fowler-Nordheim field emission from microstructures and quantum wires of optoelectronic materials

We present a simplified theoretical formulation of the Fowler-Nordheim field emission (FNFE) under magnetic quantization and also in quantum wires of optoelectronic materials on the basis of a newly formulated electron dispersion law in the presence of strong electric field within the framework of k.p formalism taking InAs, InSb, GaAs, Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te and In(1-x)Ga(x) As(y)P(1-y) lattice matched to InP as examples. The FNFE exhibits oscillations with inverse quantizing magnetic field and electron concentration due to SdH effect and increases with increasing electric field. For quantum wires the FNFE increases with increasing film thickness due to the existence van-Hove singularity and the magnitude of the quantum jumps are not of same height indicating the signature of the band structure of the material concerned. The appearance of the humps of the respective curves is due to the redistribution of the electrons among the quantized energy levels when the quantum numbers corresponding to the highest occupied level changes from one fixed value to the others. Although the field current varies in various manners with all the variables in all the limiting cases as evident from all the curves, the rates of variations are totally band-structure dependent. Under certain limiting conditions, all the results as derived in this paper get transformed in to well known Fowler-Nordheim formula. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.