Progress in Optics, Vol. 34

We still lack any consensus about what one is actually talking about as one uses quantum mechanics. There is a gap between the abstract terms in which the theory is couched and the phenomena the theory enables each of us to account for so well. Because it has no practical consequences for how we each use quantum mechanics to deal with physical problems, this cognitive dissonance has managed to coexist with the quantum theory from the very beginning.

The absence of conceptual clarity for almost a century suggests that the problem might lie in some implicit misconceptions about the nature of scientific explanation that are deeply held by virtually all physicists, but are rarely explicitly acknowledged. I describe here such unvoiced but widely shared assumptions. Rejecting them clarifies and unifies a range of obscure remarks about quantum mechanics made almost from the beginning by some of the giants of physics, many of whom are held to be in deep disagreement. This new view of physics requires physicists to think about science in an unfamiliar way.

My primary purpose is to explain the new perspective and urge that it be taken seriously. My secondary aims are to explain why this perspective differs significantly from what Bohr, Heisenberg, and Pauli had been saying from the very beginning, and why it is not solipsism, as some have maintained. To emphasize that this is a general view of science, and not just of quantum mechanics, I apply it to a long-standing puzzle in classical physics: The theoretical discovery of Majorana fermions—whose defining property is that they are their own anti-particles—has since impacted diverse problems ranging from neutrino physics and dark matter searches to the fractional quantum Hall effect and superconductivity.

Despite this long history the unambiguous observation of Majorana fermions nevertheless remains an outstanding goal. This review paper highlights recent advances in the condensed matter search for Majorana that have led many in the field to believe that this quest may soon bear fruit. Numerous proposals of this type are discussed, based on diverse materials such as topological insulators, conventional semiconductors, ferromagnetic metals and many others. The all-important question of how one experimentally detects Majorana fermions in these setups is then addressed. We focus on three classes of measurements that provide smoking-gun Majorana signatures: Finally, we discuss the most remarkable properties of condensed matter Majorana fermions—the non-Abelian exchange statistics that they generate and their associated potential for quantum computation.

During the last ten years, superconducting circuits have passed from being interesting physical devices to becoming contenders for near-future useful and scalable quantum information processing QIP. Advanced quantum simulation experiments have been shown with up to nine qubits, while a demonstration of quantum supremacy with fifty qubits is anticipated in just a few years.

Quantum supremacy means that the quantum system can no longer be simulated by the most powerful classical supercomputers. Integrated classical-quantum computing systems are already emerging that can be used for software development and experimentation, even via web interfaces.

Therefore, the time is ripe for describing some of the recent development of superconducting devices, systems and applications. As such, the discussion of superconducting qubits and circuits is limited to devices that are proven useful for current or near future applications. Consequently, the centre of interest is the practical applications of QIP, such as computation and simulation in Physics and Chemistry. In the past ten years we have witnessed a revival of, and subsequent rapid expansion in, the research on zinc oxide ZnO as a semiconductor. Being initially considered as a substrate for GaN and related alloys, the availability of high-quality large bulk single crystals, the strong luminescence demonstrated in optically pumped lasers and the prospects of gaining control over its electrical conductivity have led a large number of groups to turn their research for electronic and photonic devices to ZnO in its own right.

The high electron mobility, high thermal conductivity, wide and direct band gap and large exciton binding energy make ZnO suitable for a wide range of devices, including transparent thin-film transistors, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes that operate in the blue and ultraviolet region of the spectrum. In spite of the recent rapid developments, controlling the electrical conductivity of ZnO has remained a major challenge.

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While a number of research groups have reported achieving p-type ZnO, there are still problems concerning the reproducibility of the results and the stability of the p-type conductivity. Even the cause of the commonly observed unintentional n-type conductivity in as-grown ZnO is still under debate. One approach to address these issues consists of growing high-quality single crystalline bulk and thin films in which the concentrations of impurities and intrinsic defects are controlled.

In this review we discuss the status of ZnO as a semiconductor. We first discuss the growth of bulk and epitaxial films, growth conditions and their influence on the incorporation of native defects and impurities. We then present the theory of doping and native defects in ZnO based on density-functional calculations, discussing the stability and electronic structure of native point defects and impurities and their influence on the electrical conductivity and optical properties of ZnO.

We pay special attention to the possible causes of the unintentional n-type conductivity, emphasize the role of impurities, critically review the current status of p-type doping and address possible routes to controlling the electrical conductivity in ZnO. In a single process, the merger of binary neutron star systems combines extreme gravity, the copious emission of gravitational waves, complex microphysics and electromagnetic processes, which can lead to astrophysical signatures observable at the largest redshifts.

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Although special attention is paid to the status of models, techniques and results for fully general-relativistic dynamical simulations, a review is also offered on the initial data and advanced simulations with approximate treatments of gravity. Finally, we review the considerable amount of work carried out on the post-merger phase, including black-hole formation, torus accretion onto the merged compact object, the connection with gamma-ray burst engines, ejected material, and its nucleosynthesis.

The nuclear matrix elements that govern the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay must be accurately calculated if experiments are to reach their full potential. Theorists have been working on the problem for a long time but have recently stepped up their efforts as ton-scale experiments have begun to look feasible. Here we review past and recent work on the matrix elements in a wide variety of nuclear models and discuss work that will be done in the near future. Ab initio nuclear-structure theory, which is developing rapidly, holds out hope of more accurate matrix elements with quantifiable error bars.

A discovery of the unusual thermal properties of graphene stimulated experimental, theoretical and computational research directed at understanding phonon transport and thermal conduction in two-dimensional material systems. We provide a critical review of recent results in the graphene thermal field focusing on phonon dispersion, specific heat, thermal conductivity, and comparison of different models and computational approaches.

The correlation between the phonon spectrum in graphene-based materials and the heat conduction properties is analyzed in details. The effects of the atomic plane rotations in bilayer graphene, isotope engineering, and relative contributions of different phonon dispersion branches are discussed. The presence of magnetic ions was first believed to be detrimental to superconductivity. However, unconventional superconductivity has been widely induced by doping or applying external pressure in magnetic systems such as heavy fermion, cuprate and iron-based superconductors in which magnetic fluctuations are suggested to serve as the pairing glue for Cooper pairs.

The discovery of superconductivity in the magnetic compounds CrAs and MnP under high pressures has further expanded this family of superconductors and provided new platforms for investigating the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity. The close proximity of superconductivity to magnetic instability in these systems suggests that spin fluctuations may play crucial roles in mediating the Cooper pairing.

In this article we review the basic physical properties of these novel superconductors and the progress achieved in recent studies. This historic achievement was the culmination of a world-wide effort and decades of instrument research. While sufficient for this monumental discovery, the current generation of gravitational-wave detectors represent the least sensitive devices necessary for the task; improved detectors will be required to fully exploit this new window on the Universe.

In this paper, we review the application of squeezed vacuum states of light to gravitational-wave detectors as a way to reduce quantum noise, which currently limits their performance in much of the detection band.

The design of correlated materials challenges researchers to combine the maturing, high throughput framework of DFT-based materials design with the rapidly-developing first-principles theory for correlated electron systems. We review the field of correlated materials, distinguishing two broad classes of correlation effects, static and dynamics, and describe methodologies to take them into account.

We introduce a material design workflow, and illustrate it via examples in several materials classes, including superconductors, charge ordering materials and systems near an electronically driven metal to insulator transition, highlighting the interplay between theory and experiment with a view towards finding new materials. We review the statistical formulation of the errors of currently available methods to estimate formation energies.

We formulate an approach for estimating a lower-bound for the probability of a new compound to form. Correlation effects have to be considered in all the material design steps. These include bridging between structure and property, obtaining the correct structure and predicting material stability. We introduce a post-processing strategy to take them into account. The ability to study single particles has revolutionized nanoscience. The advantage of single particle spectroscopy measurements compared to conventional ensemble studies is that they remove averaging effects from the different sizes and shapes that are present in the samples.

In time-resolved experiments this is important for unraveling homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening effects in lifetime measurements. In this report, recent progress in the development of ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopic techniques for interrogating single nanostructures will be discussed. The techniques include far-field experiments that utilize high numerical aperture NA microscope objectives, near-field scanning optical microscopy NSOM measurements, ultrafast electron microscopy UEM , and time-resolved x-ray diffraction experiments. The detection of gravitational waves from binary black-hole mergers by the LIGO—Virgo Collaboration marks the dawn of an era when general-relativistic dynamics in its most extreme manifestation is directly accessible to observation.

In the future, planned space-based observatories operating in the millihertz band will detect the intricate gravitational-wave signals from the inspiral of compact objects into massive black holes residing in galactic centers. Such inspiral events are extremely effective probes of black-hole geometries, offering unparalleled precision tests of general relativity in its most extreme regime. This prospect has in the past two decades motivated a programme to obtain an accurate theoretical model of the strong-field radiative dynamics in a two-body system with a small mass ratio. The problem naturally lends itself to a perturbative treatment based on a systematic expansion of the field equations in the small mass ratio.

At leading order one has a pointlike particle moving in a geodesic orbit around the large black hole. This review surveys the theory of gravitational self-force in curved spacetime and its application to the astrophysical inspiral problem.

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We first lay the relevant formal foundation, describing the rigorous derivation of the equation of self-forced motion using matched asymptotic expansions and other ideas. We then review the progress that has been achieved in numerically calculating the self-force and its physical effects in astrophysically realistic inspiral scenarios. We highlight the way in which, nowadays, self-force calculations make a fruitful contact with other approaches to the two-body problem and help inform an accurate universal model of binary black hole inspirals, valid across all mass ratios.

We conclude with a summary of the state of the art, open problems and prospects. Our review is aimed at non-specialist readers and is for the most part self-contained and non-technical; only elementary-level acquaintance with general relativity is assumed. Where useful, we draw on analogies with familiar concepts from Newtonian gravity or classical electrodynamics.

This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to our use of cookies. To find out more, see our Privacy and Cookies policy. Reports on Progress in Physics. Current volume Number 1, January Congratulations to Jose Onuchic We congratulate Jose Onuchic, of the ROPP Editorial Board, for winning the Max Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics which is an annual award given by the American Physical Society "For independent contributions to a new view of protein folding, from the introduction and exploration of simple models, to detailed confrontations between theory and experiment.

New Proposals Reports on Progress in Physics welcomes proposals from potential authors who wish to write for the journal. Accepted manuscripts Reports on Progress in Physics now offers an accepted-manuscript service, meaning your research can be downloaded and cited within 24 hours of acceptance. The article covers the operating principles, fabrication and performance characteristics. The next article reviews recent research on a promising new class of neural networks, the so-called adaptive multilayer optical networks.

Although still in the early states of developments, these devices offer the possibility of implementing optical interconnections in three dimensions and they can be functionally equivalent to several thousand chips. The fifth article deals with idealized but rather useful models of some atomic systems, namely two-level and four-level atoms. The analogy between a quantum two-level atom and a classical model consisting of two coupled optical modes is discussed.

Extension of these considerations to optical band structure and to four-level systems is also treated.

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The concluding article deals thoroughly with free electron lasers in a physical way, while minimum attention is paid to organic generalities and mathematical rigour. The Best Books of Check out the top books of the year on our page Best Books of Looking for beautiful books?

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Visit our Beautiful Books page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more. Other books in this series. Volume 63 Taco Visser. Volume 46 Emil Wolf. Volume 57 Emil Wolf. Volume 34 Emil Wolf. Volume 55 Emil Wolf. Volume 42 Emil Wolf. Volume 58 Emil Wolf. Volume 43 Emil Wolf. Volume 45 Emil Wolf. Volume 47 Emil Wolf. Volume 61 Taco Visser. Volume 56 Emil Wolf.