Sources of Asymmetry and the Concept of Nonregularity of n-Dimensional Density Matrices

The information contained in an n-dimensional (nD) density matrix ρ is parametrized and interpreted in terms of its asymmetry properties through the introduction of a family of components of purity that are invariant with respect to arbitrary rotations of the nD Cartesian reference frame and that are composed of two categories of meaningful parameters of different physical nature: the indices of population asymmetry and the intrinsic coherences. It is found that the components of purity coincide, up to respective simple coefficients, with the intrinsic Stokes parameters, which are also introduced in this work, and that determine two complementary sources of purity, namely the population asymmetry and the correlation asymmetry, whose weighted square average equals the overall degree of purity of ρ. A discriminating decomposition of ρ as a convex sum of three density matrices, viz. the pure, the fully random (maximally mixed) and the discriminating component, is introduced, which allows for the definition of the degree of nonregularity of ρ as the distance from ρ to a density matrix of a system composed of a pure component and a set of 2D, 3D,… and nD maximally mixed components. The chiral properties of a state ρ are analyzed and characterized from its intimate link to the degree of correlation asymmetry. The results presented constitute a generalization to nD systems of those established and exploited for polarization density matrices in a series of previous works.

First-principles experimental demonstration of ferroelectricity in a thermotropic nematic liquid crystal: Polar domains and striking electro-optics

We report the experimental determination of the structure and response to applied electric field of the lower-temperature nematic phase of the previously reported calamitic compound 4-[(4-nitrophenoxy)carbonyl]phenyl2,4-dimethoxybenzoate (RM734). We exploit its electro-optics to visualize the appearance, in the absence of applied field, of a permanent electric polarization density, manifested as a spontaneously broken symmetry in distinct domains of opposite polar orientation. Polarization reversal is mediated by field-induced domain wall movement, making this phase ferroelectric, a 3D uniaxial nematic having a spontaneous, reorientable polarization locally parallel to the director. This polarization density saturates at a low temperature value of ∼6 µC/cm2, the largest ever measured for a fluid or glassy material. This polarization is comparable to that of solid state ferroelectrics and is close to the average value obtained by assuming perfect, polar alignment of molecular dipoles in the nematic. We find a host of spectacular optical and hydrodynamic effects driven by ultralow applied field (E ∼ 1 V/cm), produced by the coupling of the large polarization to nematic birefringence and flow. Electrostatic self-interaction of the polarization charge renders the transition from the nematic phase mean field-like and weakly first order and controls the director field structure of the ferroelectric phase. Atomistic molecular dynamics simulation reveals short-range polar molecular interactions that favor ferroelectric ordering, including a tendency for head-to-tail association into polar, chain-like assemblies having polar lateral correlations. These results indicate a significant potential for transformative, new nematic physics, chemistry, and applications based on the enhanced understanding, development, and exploitation of molecular electrostatic interaction.

Super-Gain Optical Parametric Amplification in Dielectric Micro-Resonators via BFGS Algorithm-Based Non-Linear Programming

The goal of this paper is to show that super-gain optical parametric amplification can be achieved even in a small micro-resonator using high-intensity ultrashort pump waves, provided that the frequencies of the ultrashort pulses are tuned to maximize the intracavity magnitude of the wave to be amplified, which we call the stimulus wave. In order to accomplish this, we have performed a dispersion analysis via computational modeling of the electric polarization density in terms of the non-linear electron cloud motion and we have concurrently solved the electric polarization density and the wave equation for the electric field. Based on a series of non-linear programming-integrated finite difference time-domain simulations, we have identified the optimal pump wave frequencies that simultaneously maximize the stored electric energy density and the polarization density inside a micro-resonator by using the Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS) optimization algorithm. When the intracavity energy and the polarization density (which acts as an energy coupling coefficient) are simultaneously high, an input wave can be strongly amplified by efficiently drawing energy from a highly energized cavity. Therefore, we propose that micrometer-scale achievement of super-gain optical parametric amplification is possible in a micro-resonator via high-intensity ultrashort “pump wave” pulses, by determining the optimal frequencies that concurrently maximize the stored electric energy density and the polarization density in a dielectric interaction medium.