Shapes of Quantum States and Their Applications

Konrad Szymański

Mousley, Michael Gordon, Thirunavukkarasu, Gnanavel, M. Babiker +1 more

Wavefront engineering is an important quantum technology, often applied to the production of states carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM). Here, we demonstrate the design and production of robust C-shaped beam states carrying OAM, in which the usual doughnut shaped transverse intensity structure of the vortex beam contains an adjustable gap. We find that the presence of the vortex lines in the core of the beam is crucial for maintaining the stability of the C-shape structure during beam propagation. The topological charge of the vortex core controls mainly the size of the C-shape, while its opening angle is related to the presence of vortex-anti-vortex loops. We demonstrate the generation and characterisation of C-shaped electron vortex beams, although the result is equally applicable to other quantum waves. C-shaped electron vortex beams have potential applications in nanoscale fabrication of planar split ring structures and three dimensional chiral structures as well as depth sensing and magnetic field determination through rotation of the gap in the C-shape.

M Mousley, G Thirunavukkarasu, M Babiker +1 more

Wavefront engineering is an important quantum technology, often applied to the production of states carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM). Here, we demonstrate the design and production of robust C-shaped beam states carrying OAM, in which the usual doughnut-shaped transverse intensity structure of the vortex beam contains an adjustable gap. We find that the presence of the vortex lines in the core of the beam is crucial for maintaining the stability of the C-shape structure during beam propagation. The topological charge of the vortex core controls mainly the size of the C-shape, while its opening angle is related to the presence of vortex–anti-vortex loops. We demonstrate the generation and characterisation of C-shaped electron vortex beams, although the result is equally applicable to other quantum waves. C-shaped electron vortex beams have potential applications in nanoscale fabrication of planar split-ring structures and three-dimensional chiral structures as well as depth sensing and magnetic field determination through rotation of the gap in the C-shape.

Julian Schwinger

A. B. Balantekin

Algebraic approach to the integrability condition called shape invariance is briefly reviewed. Various applications of shape-invariance available in the literature are listed. A class of shape-invariant bound-state problems which represent two-level systems are examined. These generalize the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. Coherent states associated with shape-invariant systems are discussed. For the case of quantum harmonic oscillator the decomposition of identity for these coherent states is given. This decomposition of identity utilizes Ramanujan's integral extension of the beta function.

Samuel L. Braunstein, Carlton M. Caves