分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Optical time-domain surveys can unveil and characterize exciting but less-explored non-accreting and/or non-beaming neutron stars (NS) in binaries. Here we report the discovery of such a NS candidate using the LAMOST spectroscopic survey. The candidate, designated LAMOST J112306.9+400736 (hereafter J1123), is in a single-lined spectroscopic binary containing an optically visible M star. The star's large radial velocity variation and ellipsoidal variations indicate a relatively massive unseen companion. Utilizing follow-up spectroscopy from the Palomar 200-inch telescope and high-precision photometry from TESS, we measure a companion mass of $1.24_{-0.03}^{+0.03}~M_{\odot}$. Main-sequence stars with this mass are ruled out, leaving a NS or a massive white dwarf (WD). Although a massive WD cannot be ruled out, the lack of UV excess radiation from the companion supports the NS hypothesis. Deep radio observations with FAST yielded no detections of either pulsed or persistent emission. J1123 is not detected in numerous X-ray and gamma-ray surveys. These non-detections suggest that the NS candidate is not presently accreting and pulsing. Our work exemplifies the capability of discovering compact objects in non-accreting close binaries by synergizing the optical time-domain spectroscopy and high-cadence photometry.
分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Optical time-domain surveys can unveil and characterize exciting but less-explored non-accreting and/or non-beaming neutron stars (NS) in binaries. Here we report the discovery of such a NS candidate using the LAMOST spectroscopic survey. The candidate, designated LAMOST J112306.9+400736 (hereafter J1123), is in a single-lined spectroscopic binary containing an optically visible M star. The star's large radial velocity variation and ellipsoidal variations indicate a relatively massive unseen companion. Utilizing follow-up spectroscopy from the Palomar 200-inch telescope and high-precision photometry from TESS, we measure a companion mass of $1.24_{-0.03}^{+0.03}~M_{\odot}$. Main-sequence stars with this mass are ruled out, leaving a NS or a massive white dwarf (WD). Although a massive WD cannot be ruled out, the lack of UV excess radiation from the companion supports the NS hypothesis. Deep radio observations with FAST yielded no detections of either pulsed or persistent emission. J1123 is not detected in numerous X-ray and gamma-ray surveys. These non-detections suggest that the NS candidate is not presently accreting and pulsing. Our work exemplifies the capability of discovering compact objects in non-accreting close binaries by synergizing the optical time-domain spectroscopy and high-cadence photometry.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Parallel worlds are imaginative ideas in quantum mechanics and cosmology. The superpositions of parallel worlds are novel states of quantum gravity and have no classical correspondences generally. In this letter, we investigate the superposition or the Schr\"odinger's cat state of optical parallel worlds, which could be realized in laboratory and may shed some light on the detection of parallel universes in a real world. We propose two realizable experimental schemes, which enable to explore the mysterious `parallel universes' by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The first one is based on an atomic ensemble in a superposition state, which is a fat Schr\"odinger's cat state. The second one is to prepare a photon in a superposition of different paths, where each path lies in an optical parallel universe.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Whispering gallery mode (WGM) cavity is important for exploring physics of strong light-matter interaction. Yet it suffers from the notorious radiation loss universally due to the light tunneling effect through the curved boundary. In this work, we propose and demonstrate an optical black hole (OBH) cavity based on transformation optics. The radiation loss of all WGMs in OBH cavity is completely inhibited by an infinite wide potential barrier. Besides, the WGM field outside the cavity is revealed to follow $1/r^\alpha$ decay rule based on conformal mapping, which is fundamentally different from the conventional Hankel-function distributions in a homogeneous cavity. Experimentally, a truncated OBH cavity is achieved based on the effective medium theory, and both the Q-factor enhancement and tightly confined WGM field are measured in the microwave spectra which agree well with the theoretical results. The circular OBH cavity is further applied to the arbitrary-shaped cavities including single-core and multi-core structures with high-Q factor via the conformal mapping. The OBH cavity design strategy can be generalized to resonant modes of various wave systems, such as acoustic and elastic waves, and finds applications in energy harvesting and optoelectronics.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Weyl points are the degenerate points in three-dimensional momentum space with nontrivial topological phase, which are usually realized in classical system with structure and symmetry designs. Here we proposed a one-dimensional layer-stacked photonic crystal using anisotropic materials to realize ideal type-II Weyl points without structure designs. The topological transition from two Dirac points to four Weyl points can be clearly observed by tuning the twist angle between layers. Besides, on the interface between the photonic type-II Weyl material and air, gappless surface states have also been demonstrated in an incomplete bulk bandgap. By breaking parameter symmetry, these ideal type-II Weyl points at the same frequency would transform into the non-ideal ones, and exhibit topological surface states with single group velocity. Our work may provide a new idea for the realization of photonic Weyl points or other semimetal phases by utilizing naturally anisotropic materials.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Polaritons in polar biaxial crystals with extreme anisotropy offer a promising route to manipulate nanoscale light-matter interactions. The dynamical modulation of their dispersion is great significance for future integrated nano-optics but remains challenging. Here, we report a momentum-directed strategy, a coupling between the modes with extra momentum supported by the interface and in-plane hyperbolic polaritons, to tailor topological transitions of anisotropic polaritons in biaxial crystals. We experimentally demonstrate such tailored polaritons at the interface of heterostructures between graphene and {\alpha}-phase molybdenum trioxide ({\alpha}-MoO3). The interlayer coupling can be electrically modulated by changing the Fermi level in graphene, enabling a dynamic topological transition. More interestingly, we found that the topological transition occurs at a constant Fermi level when tuning the thickness of {\alpha}-MoO3. The momentum-directed strategy implemented by interface engineering offers new insights for optical topological transitions, which may shed new light for programmable polaritonics, energy transfer and neuromorphic photonics.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Hyperbolic shear polaritons (HShPs) emerge with widespread attention as a new class of polariton modes with broken symmetry due to shear lattices. In this letter, we find a new mechanism of generating HShPs. When utilizing vortex waves as excitation sources of hyperbolic materials without off-diagonal elements, HShPs will appear. In addition, this asymmetric HShPs can be recovered as symmetric modes away from the source, with a critical transition mode between the left-skewed and right-skewed HShPs, via tuning the magnitude of the off-diagonal imaginary component and controlling the topological charge of vortex source. It is worth mentioning that we explore the influence of parity of topological charges on the field distribution and demonstrate these exotic phenomena from numerical and analytical perspectives. Our results will promote new opportunities for both HShPs and vortex waves, widening the horizon for various hyperbolic materials based on vortex sources and offering a new degree of freedom to control various kinds of polaritons.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: It has been shown that negative refraction makes a perfect lens. However, with little loss, the imaging functionality will be strongly compromised. Later on, it was proved that positive refraction from Maxwell's fish-eye lens can also makes a perfect lens. However, strong debating happens on the introduced drain problem at the imaging position. In this work, we for the first time find that a solid immersion Maxwell's fish-eye lens could be used for super-resolution imaging. We find that it is due to the perfect focusing and total reflection at the outer interface, such that a super-resolution image is formed at the required position in the air background. This simple mechanism will also be valid for other absolute instruments and more versatile super-imaging systems will be anticipated.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Broadband super-resolution imaging is important in optical field. To achieve super-resolution imaging, various lenses from superlens to solid immersion lens have been designed and fabricated in recent years. However, the imaging is unsatisfactory due to low work efficiency and narrow band. In this work, we propose a solid immersion square Maxwell's fish-eye lens which realizes broadband (7-16GHz) achromatic super-resolution imaging with full width at half maximum around 0.2 wavelength based on transformation optics at microwave frequencies. In addition, a super-resolution information transmission channel is also designed to realize long-distance multi-source super-resolution information transmission based on the super-resolution lens.
分类: 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间: 2023-02-19
摘要: Super-resolution imaging is vital for optical applications, such as high capacity information transmission, real-time bio-molecular imaging and nanolithography. Technology and method of super-resolution imaging have attracted much attention. In recent years, different kinds of novel lens, from the superlens to the super-oscillatory lens, has been designed and fabricated to break out the diffraction limit. However, the effect of the super-resolution imaging in these lenses is not satisfactory due to intrinsic loss, aberration, bigger sidebands and single super-resolution imaging. In this research, we introduce the solid immersion mechanism to Mikaelian lens (ML) for multiple super-resolution imaging.