Related papers: Spatio-Orientational Decoherence of Nanoparticles
We describe how quasiclassical relative positions of particles emerge in an initially delocalized quantum system as scattering of a probe beam is observed. We show that in the multiparticle case this localization in position space occurs…
The quantum state of motion of a large and rotating polar molecule can lose coherence through the collisions with gas atoms. We show how the associated quantum master equation for the center of mass can be expressed in terms of the…
We use a simple model of particle shape to investigate how particle asymmetry affects particle-surface interaction, orientation, and stochastic dynamics over a planar surface. With this geometric model, we construct potential energy curves…
The optical properties of nanoparticle clusters vary with the spatial arrangement of the constituent particles, but also the overall orientation of the cluster with respect to the incident light. This is particularly important in the…
We study a motion of quantum particles, whose properties depend on one coordinate so that they can move freely in the perpendicular direction. A rotationally-symmetric Hamiltonian is derived and applied to study a general interface formed…
We analyze the decoherence of a particle's spatial superposition moving along a stationary worldline through the Minkowski vacuum. The particle is modeled via an internal degree of freedom that couples to a scalar field, and an external…
The optical resonances supported by nanostructures offer the possibility to enhance the interaction between matter and the quantum states of light. In this work, we provide a framework to study the scattering of quantum states of light with…
The assumption of asymptotic flatness for isolated astrophysical bodies may be considered an approximation when one considers a cosmological context where a cosmological constant or vacuum energy is present. In this framework we study the…
Fostered by the recent progress of the fields of plasmonics and metamaterials, the seminal topic of light scattering by clusters of nanoparticles is attracting enormous renewed interest gaining more attention than ever before. Related…
We study a quasi-two-dimensional monolayer of granular rods fluidized by a spatially and temporally homogeneous upflow of air. By tracking the position and orientation of the particles, we characterize the dynamics of the system with…
Van der Waals interactions between flat surfaces in uniaxial anisotropic media are investigated in the nonretarded limit. The main focus is the effect of nonzero tilt between the optical axis and the surface normal on the strength of van…
For the purpose of understanding the quantum behavior such as quantum decoherence, fluctuations, dissipation, entanglement and teleportation of a mesoscopic or macroscopic object interacting with a general environment, we derive here a set…
In this dissertation, I explore interactions between matter and propagating light. The electromagnetic field is modeled as a reservoir of quantum harmonic oscillators successively streaming past a quantum system. Each weak and fleeting…
We study the interaction of dielectric rods and disks with the laser field of a high finesse cavity. The quantum master equation for the coupled particle-cavity dynamics, including Rayleigh scattering, is derived for particle sizes…
The time evolution of anharmonic molecular wave packets is investigated under the influence of the environment consisting of harmonic oscillators. These oscillators represent photon or phonon modes and assumed to be in thermal equilibrium.…
Confinement breaks the translational symmetry of materials. Such symmetry breaking can be used to obtain configurations that are not otherwise accessible in the bulk. Here, we explore the effect of substrate-liquid interactions on the…
Charge transport in crystalline organic semiconductors is intrinsically limited by the presence of large thermal molecular motions, which are a direct consequence of the weak van der Waals inter-molecular interactions. These lead to an…
Active particles break out of thermodynamic equilibrium thanks to their directed motion, which leads to complex and interesting behaviors in the presence of confining potentials. When dealing with active nanoparticles, however, the…
We study the behavior of a quantum gyroscope, that is, a quantum system which singles out a direction in space in order to measure certain properties of incoming particles such as the orientation of their spins. We show that repeated…
We argue that for some species of magnetic nanoparticles the macrospin can have a nonvanishing moment of inertia and then an orbital angular momentum. We represent such nanoparticles by two interacting rigid rotors one of which has a large…