Posts in category Research
Han Keijzers
has been declared PhD yesterday by his promotor Leo Kouwenhoven. The PhD thesis was entitled “Josephson effects in carbon nanotube mechanical resonators and graphene”. I was naturally present as a member of the committee. If I were not I would have come anyway since a big chunk of the (already relatively) recent research of me and Ciprian has originated from occasional chat with Han by the bicycle stall three years ago. Since that we have had many chats, yet the only solid conclusion we have drawn and confirmed by hard theoretical work and numerous experiments is that the physics of Josephson nanotube resonators is far more complicated and less spectacular than we have assumed three years ago.
Han did impressive work and his PhD thesis is a way thicker than an average one. I find it remarkable that the opponents spoke during the defence almost as long as the candidate: their questions were long and sometimes complex-structured while the answers came quickly and to the point.
Han has now switched from nanotubes to gigatubes: he has found his way in Dutch industry. Somebody else should go about the superconducting nanotube resonators, that’s it.
And today, the day after the defense, we have received an acceptance note of our
http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/1112.5807, the work done in collaboration with Han.
“Statistics of radiation” becomes the editor suggestion
Our long paper with Chiprian and Fabian "Statistics of radiation at
Josephson parametric resonance" will appear in
Phys. Rev. B 86, 054514 (2012)
It has been promoted to the Editor’s Suggestion, as it is usual with Ciprian.
You can read it at http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/1112.4159
Post-doc opening in INFERNOS: Yes!
You’re never know with this European commission, perhaps they would change their mind, but one could perhaps say carefully that one of the collaborative project I’m in got granted.
Its terrifying name is Infernos, that should be understood as Information, Fluctuations, and Energy Control in Small Systems. Our team opt to manufacture Maxwell daemons, and consist of the groups from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France, NL and US.
This gives me an opportunity to start looking for a post-doc, 2 years position. My part of the reseach is theoretical and concerns non-equilibrium thermodynamics and quantum information flows: please apply if interested in these subjects. Most likely, you would be able to start in February 2013 if in a hurry.
Statistics of radiation accepted
Our long paper with Chiprian and Fabian "Statistics of radiation at Josephson parametric resonance" has been accepted for Physical Review B. You can read it at http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/1112.4159
Quantum synchronization out
Alina and me have finally submitted our work on quantum synchronization, a contribution that revives some nice ideas from the golden age of Josephson quantum mechanics.
Please read it here.
Quantum synchronization and transresistance quantization in superconducting devices
Abstract:
We show theoretically the possibility of quantum synchronization of Josephson and Bloch oscillations in a superconducting device. One needs an LC oscillator to achieve exponentially small rate of synchronization errors. The synchronization leads to quantization of transresistance similar to that in (Fractional) Quantum Hall Effect.
Quantum Noise and Measurement in Engineered Electronic Systems
This workshop is about to be officially announced, look here. Below is the announcement:)
Quantum Noise and Measurement in Engineered Electronic Systems
International Workshop – 8 – 12 October 2012
Scientific Coordinators:
Wolfgang Belzig (Universität Konstanz, Germany)
Michel Devoret (Yale University, USA)
Yuli V. Nazarov (TU Delft, The Netherlands)
Organisation:
Katrin Lantsch (Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme Dresden, Germany)
Supported by the SFB 767 "Controlled Nanosystems" 
The aim to manipulate, control, and measure electronic devices at the single quantum level has shaped the last decade in mesocopic physics. The measurement procedure itself, as well as the effect of a dissipative environment, are intrinsically quantum in these systems, which poses a challenge to experimentalists as well as theorists. These problems are common for the full counting statistics of electrons passing in a nanodevice, fluctuations and amplification in quantum-limited complex circuits, and the next-generation qubit schemes. The workshop strives to achieve the synergy of these research fields at the level of theory and experiment.
The list of invited speakers includes:
T. Brandes (Berlin, Germany), M. Büttiker (Geneva, Switzerland), A. Clerk (Montreal, Canada), L. DiCarlo (Delft, The Netherlands), K. Ensslin (Zürich, Switzerland), D. Esteve (Gif-sur-Yvette, France), Y. Gefen (Rehovot, Israel), S. Girvin(New Haven, USA), D.C. Glattli (Gif-sur-Yvette, France), M. Heiblum (Rehovot, Israel), T. Kippenberg (Lausanne, Switzerland), J. König (Duisburg, Germany), T. Kontos (Paris, France), G.B. Lesovik (Moscow, Russia), L. Levitov(Cambridge, USA), F. Marquardt (Erlangen, Germany), T. Martin (Marseille, France), K. Mølmer (Aarhus, Denmark),J. Pekola (Aalto, Finland), B. Reulet (Sherbrooke, Canada), R. Schoelkopf (New Haven, USA), G. Schön (Karlsruhe, Germany), C. Schönenberger (Basel, Switzerland), I. Siddiqi (Berkeley, USA), J. van Ruitenbeek (Leiden, The Netherlands), F. von Oppen (Berlin, Germany), A. Wallraff (Zürich, Switzerland)
Applications for participation and poster or oral contributions are welcome and should be made by using the application form on the workshop’s web page. The number of attendees is limited. The registration fee for the workshop is 120 EUR and should be paid by all participants. Costs for accommodation and meals will be covered by the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems. Limited funding is available to partially cover travel expenses. Please note that childcare is available upon request.
Applications received before 31 July 2012 are considered preferentially.
For further information please e-mail to:
qnm12
pks.mpg.de
Microkelvin 2012
I’m now in Slovakia attending a meeting of European MicroKelvin Collaboration, large network of low-temperature groups. I do not participate in the network and got invited because my temperature fluctuation exercises that, rather unexpectedly, get along with a burst of interest in non-equilibrium thermodynamics of small systems. In comparison with a generic conference, the talks over here are more serious and provide (interesting) technical details: people speak to equally knowlegeable colleagues and expect a usefull feedback. I enjoy this, although frequently it is tough to follow.
Quantum phase slips in superconducting wires with weak inhomogeneities
is finally accepted by Physical Review Letters, in seven months after the submission. Phase slips rock!
Polarons
rock, especially in carbon nanotubes: our paper with Izak Snyman has been accepted for PRL today. Please search this blog for ‘polarons’ to find out the whole story. It took a bit less than eight months and three rounds of the referee reports. The research made is quite simple in fact, while the referees, especially one, have been very curious about every detail so that our communications exceeded the volume of the paper by a factor of five.
Old and new
All right, it’s almost time, time to think of good and bad, achievements and losses, old and new, whatever silly it is.
My Lord kept me and keen reasonably healthy and active. Kids gladden my heart. I could enjoy love and friendship. As to research, six papers have been published, two in PRL. We have made 11 arxiv submissions. I got 475 citations this year reaching h-index of 47. I’m happy I could work on Renyi entropies and hope to continue with this, we cracked the polaron in carbon nanotube. I’ve learned about several interesting experiments to think of and had a couple of prospective ideas. I made into several very good grant application teams, this schould work over a time. I collaborated with visitors, Izak Snyman and Tomohiro Yokoyama.
On negative side, my laziness and lack of feeling for my neighbour yet prevail. I could not finish papers I would have to, no grant application was sucsessful, many things planned have been smoothly transferred to next year plans. One of my best scienific achivements has not been sufficiently appreciated. The “weather” for research becomes increasingly bad: less and less money for real science. And overall “wheather” might be better, with all signs of economical and political instability appearing as ugly blotches at the made-up face of our prosperous civilization, that accompany signs of moral degradation and devotion to sin.
And my own aging, on the top of all. Less people smile at my jokes and understand my motives. Less news in my life, all runs along the trajectories known, and to my astonishment I even do not get bored with this…
Challengies for next year. I have to finish the book with Jeroen, and pretty soon. I need to learn how to run the group, and actually why. And grant applications, articles, students finishing, students (hopefully) coming… I just do not want to be boring, you know.