@article{MenzelMarxPuhlmannetal.2019, author = {Menzel, Ralf and Marx, Robert and Puhlmann, Dirk and Heuer, Axel and Schleich, Wolfgang}, title = {The photon}, series = {Journal of the Optical Society of America : B, Optical physics}, volume = {36}, journal = {Journal of the Optical Society of America : B, Optical physics}, number = {6}, publisher = {Optical Society of America}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0740-3224}, doi = {10.1364/JOSAB.36.001668}, pages = {1668 -- 1675}, year = {2019}, abstract = {We investigate the role of the spatial mode function in a single-photon experiment designed to demonstrate the principle of complementarity. Our approach employs entangled photons created by spontaneous parametric downconversion from a pump mode in a TEM01 mode together with a double slit. Measuring the interference of the signal photons behind the double slit in coincidence with the entangled idler photons at different positions, we select signal photons of different mode functions. When the signal photons belong to the TEM01-like double-hump mode, we obtain almost perfect visibility of the interference fringes, and no "which slit" information is available in the idler photon detected before the slits. This result is remarkable because the entangled signal and idler photon pairs are created each time in only one of the two intensity humps. However, when we break the symmetry between the two maxima of the signal photon mode structure, the paths through the slits for these additional photons become distinguishable and the visibility vanishes. It is the mode function of the photons selected by the detection system that decides if interference or "which slit" information is accessible in the experiment.}, language = {en} } @article{PrellerRungeBorchertZellmeretal.2019, author = {Preller, Tobias and Runge-Borchert, Gundula and Zellmer, Sabrina and Menzel, Dirk and Saein, Saeid Azimi and Peters, Jan and Raatz, Annika and Tiersch, Brigitte and Koetz, Joachim and Garnweitner, Georg}, title = {Particle-reinforced and functionalized hydrogels for SpineMan, a soft robotics application}, series = {Journal of materials science}, volume = {54}, journal = {Journal of materials science}, number = {5}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {0022-2461}, doi = {10.1007/s10853-018-3106-6}, pages = {4444 -- 4456}, year = {2019}, abstract = {SpineMan is designed as a prototype of a soft robotic manipulator that is constructed of alternating hard and soft segments similar to the human spine. Implementing such soft segments allows to surpass the rigidity of conventional robots and ensures safer workspaces where humans and machines can work side by side with less stringent safety restrictions. Therefore, we used a hydrogel as viscoelastic material consisting of poly(vinyl alcohol) and borax. The mechanical properties of the hydrogel were tailored by embedding silica particles of various particles sizes as well as in different mass fractions. Increased mass contents as well as larger particle sizes led to strongly enhanced rigidity with a more than doubled storage modulus of the composite compared to the pure hydrogel. Furthermore, specific functionalities were induced by the incorporation of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles that can in principle be used for sensing robotic motion and detecting malfunctions. Therefore, we precisely adjusted the saturation magnetization of the soft segments using defined mass contents of the nanoparticles. To ensure long-time shape stability and prevention of atmospheric influences on the prepared composites, a silicone skin of specific shore hardness was used. The composites and the soft segments were characterized by oscillation measurements, cryo-SEM, bending tests and SQUID measurements, which give insights into the properties in the passive and in the moving state of SpineMan. The utilization of tailored composites led to highly flexible, reinforced and functional soft segments, which ensure stability, easy movability by springs of the shape memory alloy nitinol and prevention of total failure.}, language = {en} } @article{PuhlmannHenkelHeueretal.2016, author = {Puhlmann, Dirk and Henkel, Carsten and Heuer, Axel and Pieplow, Gregor and Menzel, Ralf}, title = {Characterization of a remote optical element with bi-photons}, series = {Physica scripta : an international journal for experimental and theoretical physics}, volume = {91}, journal = {Physica scripta : an international journal for experimental and theoretical physics}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0031-8949}, doi = {10.1088/0031-8949/91/2/023006}, pages = {113 -- 114}, year = {2016}, abstract = {We present a simple setup that exploits the interference of entangled photon pairs. 'Signal' photons are sent through a Mach-Zehnder-like interferometer, while 'idlers' are detected in a variable polarization state. Two-photon interference (in coincidence detection) is observed with very high contrast and for significant time delays between signal and idler detection events. This is explained by quantum erasure of the polarization tag and a delayed choice protocol involving a non-local virtual polarizer. The phase of the two-photon fringes is scanned by varying the path length in the signal beam or by rotating a birefringent crystal in the idler beam. We exploit this to characterize one beam splitter of the signal photon interferometer (reflection and transmission amplitudes including losses), using only information about coincidences and control parameters in the idler path. This is possible because our bi-photon state saturates the Greenberger-Yelin-Englert inequality between contrast and predictability.}, language = {en} } @article{RiedelStebichAnoopetal.2015, author = {Riedel, Nils and Stebich, Martina and Anoop, Ambili and Basavaiah, Nathani and Menzel, Philip and Prasad, Sushma and Sachse, Dirk and Sarkar, Saswati and Wiesner, Martin}, title = {Modern pollen vegetation relationships in a dry deciduous monsoon forest: A case study from Lonar Crater Lake, central India}, series = {Quaternary international : the journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research}, volume = {371}, journal = {Quaternary international : the journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1040-6182}, doi = {10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.046}, pages = {268 -- 279}, year = {2015}, abstract = {As part of ongoing research on Holocene lacustrine sediments of Lonar Crater Lake (central India), pollen assemblages in lake surface sediment and soil samples were studied to unravel pollenevegetation relationships, including pollen transport processes in tropical dry deciduous forest vegetation. Furthermore, palynological results were compared with geochemical proxies and spatial features of the lake sediments and the vegetation. The obtained data reveal strong differences in pollen assemblages and pollen concentrations between and within the studied trapping media. Local arboreal vegetation is adequately represented in the soil samples, but is less represented in the lake surface sediment samples. The composition of the lacustrine pollen assemblages is mainly influenced by patterns of transport through surface and channel runoff. Besides the relevance of our new data for reliable interpretation of fossil pollen spectra extracted from Lonar sediment cores, the results of this study are of general importance for the understanding of Quaternary pollen assemblages from tropical lacustrine archives, as well as for the implementation and selection of suitable approaches for quantitative pollen based environmental reconstructions in south Asia and beyond. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} } @article{ElsnerPuhlmannPieplowetal.2015, author = {Elsner, Robert and Puhlmann, Dirk and Pieplow, Gregor and Heuer, Axel and Menzel, Ralf}, title = {Transverse distinguishability of entangled photons with arbitrarily shaped spatial near- and far-field distributions}, series = {Journal of the Optical Society of America : B, Optical physics}, volume = {32}, journal = {Journal of the Optical Society of America : B, Optical physics}, number = {9}, publisher = {Optical Society of America}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0740-3224}, doi = {10.1364/JOSAB.32.001910}, pages = {1910 -- 1919}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Entangled photons generated by spontaneous parametric downconversion are ubiquitous in quantum optics. In general, they exhibit a complex spatial photon count distribution. This spatial structure is responsible for seemingly surprising results concerning, e.g., complementarity such as the apparent simultaneous observation of interference fringes V and which-way information D at a double slit, as recently reported by Menzel et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 9314 (2012)]. We implement a complete quantitative model of the SPDC interaction that fully incorporates the effects of crystal anisotropies, phase matching, and the pump beam structure and allows for arbitrary manipulations of the SPDC light in the near and far fields. This enables us to establish an upper bound D-2 + V-2 <= 1.47 for the experimental parameters reported by Menzel et al. We report new experimental results that agree excellently with these theoretical predictions. The new model enables a detailed quantitative analysis of this surprising result and the fair sampling interpretation of biphotons passing a double slit. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America}, language = {en} } @article{PrasadAnoopRiedeletal.2014, author = {Prasad, Sushma and Anoop, A. and Riedel, N. and Sarkar, Saswati and Menzel, P. and Basavaiah, Nathani and Krishnan, R. and Fuller, D. and Plessen, Birgit and Gaye, B. and Roehl, U. and Wilkes, H. and Sachse, Dirk and Sawant, R. and Wiesner, M. G. and Stebich, M.}, title = {Prolonged monsoon droughts and links to Indo-Pacific warm pool: A Holocene record from Lonar Lake, central India}, series = {Earth \& planetary science letters}, volume = {391}, journal = {Earth \& planetary science letters}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0012-821X}, doi = {10.1016/j.epsl.2014.01.043}, pages = {171 -- 182}, year = {2014}, abstract = {Concerns about the regional impact of global climate change in a warming scenario have highlighted the gaps in our understanding of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM, also referred to as the Indian Ocean summer monsoon) and the absence of long term palaeoclimate data from the central Indian core monsoon zone (CMZ). Here we present the first high resolution, well-dated, multiproxy reconstruction of Holocene palaeoclimate from a 10 m long sediment core raised from the Lonar Lake in central India. We show that while the early Holocene onset of-intensified monsoon in the CMZ is similar to that reported from other ISM records, the Lonar data shows two prolonged droughts (PD, multidecadal to centennial periods of weaker monsoon) between 4.6-3.9 and 2-0.6 cal ka. A comparison of our record with available data from other ISM influenced sites shows that the impact of these PD was observed in varying degrees throughout the ISM realm and coincides with intervals of higher solar irradiance. We demonstrate that (i) the regional warming in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) plays an important role in causing ISM PD through changes in meridional overturning circulation and position of the anomalous Walker cell; (ii) the long term influence of conditions like El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the ISM began only ca. 2 cal ka BP and is coincident with the warming of the southern IPWP; (iii) the first settlements in central India coincided with the onset of the first PD and agricultural populations flourished between the two PD, highlighting the significance of natural climate variability and PD as major environmental factors affecting human settlements.}, language = {en} } @article{MenzelHeuerPuhlmannetal.2013, author = {Menzel, Ralf and Heuer, Axel and Puhlmann, Dirk and Dechoum, K. and Hillery, M. and Spaehn, M. J. A. and Schleich, W. P.}, title = {A two-photon double-slit experiment}, series = {Journal of modern optics}, volume = {60}, journal = {Journal of modern optics}, number = {1}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {0950-0340}, doi = {10.1080/09500340.2012.746400}, pages = {86 -- 94}, year = {2013}, abstract = {We employ a photon pair created by spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) where the pump laser is in the TEM01 mode to perform a Young's double-slit experiment. The signal photon illuminates the two slits and displays interference fringes in the far-field while the idler photon measured in the near-field in coincidence with the signal photon provides us with which-slit' information. We explain the results of these experiments with the help of an analytical expression for the second-order correlation function derived from an elementary model of SPDC. Our experiment emphasizes the crucial role of the mode function in the quantum theory of radiation.}, language = {en} } @article{MenzelPuhlmannHeueretal.2012, author = {Menzel, Ralf and Puhlmann, Dirk and Heuer, Axel and Schleich, Wolfgang P.}, title = {Wave-particle dualism and complementarity unraveled by a different mode}, series = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {109}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {24}, publisher = {National Acad. of Sciences}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1201271109}, pages = {9314 -- 9319}, year = {2012}, abstract = {The precise knowledge of one of two complementary experimental outcomes prevents us from obtaining complete information about the other one. This formulation of Niels Bohr's principle of complementarity when applied to the paradigm of wave-particle dualism-that is, to Young's double-slit experiment-implies that the information about the slit through which a quantum particle has passed erases interference. In the present paper we report a double-slit experiment using two photons created by spontaneous parametric down-conversion where we observe interference in the signal photon despite the fact that we have located it in one of the slits due to its entanglement with the idler photon. This surprising aspect of complementarity comes to light by our special choice of the TEM01 pump mode. According to quantum field theory the signal photon is then in a coherent superposition of two distinct wave vectors giving rise to interference fringes analogous to two mechanical slits.}, language = {en} } @article{MenzelPuhlmannHeuer2017, author = {Menzel, Ralf and Puhlmann, Dirk and Heuer, Axel}, title = {Complementarity in single photon interference - the role of the mode function and vacuum fields}, series = {Journal of the European Optical Society-Rapid}, volume = {13}, journal = {Journal of the European Optical Society-Rapid}, publisher = {Springer}, issn = {1990-2573}, doi = {10.1186/s41476-017-0036-x}, pages = {7}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Background In earlier experiments the role of the vacuum fields could be demonstrated as the source of complementarity with respect to the temporal properties (Heuer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114:053601, 2015). Methods Single photon first order interferences of spatially separated regions from the cone structure of spontaneous parametric down conversion allow for analyzing the role of the mode function in quantum optics regarding the complementarity principle. Results Here the spatial coherence properties of these vacuum fields are demonstrated as the physical reason for complementarity in these single photon quantum optical experiments. These results are directly connected to the mode picture in classical optics. Conclusion The properties of the involved vacuum fields selected via the measurement process are the physical background of the complementarity principle in quantum optics.}, language = {en} } @misc{MenzelPuhlmannHeuer2017, author = {Menzel, Ralf and Puhlmann, Dirk and Heuer, Axel}, title = {Complementarity in single photon interference - the role of the mode function and vacuum fields}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-395210}, pages = {7}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Background In earlier experiments the role of the vacuum fields could be demonstrated as the source of complementarity with respect to the temporal properties (Heuer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 114:053601, 2015). Methods Single photon first order interferences of spatially separated regions from the cone structure of spontaneous parametric down conversion allow for analyzing the role of the mode function in quantum optics regarding the complementarity principle. Results Here the spatial coherence properties of these vacuum fields are demonstrated as the physical reason for complementarity in these single photon quantum optical experiments. These results are directly connected to the mode picture in classical optics. Conclusion The properties of the involved vacuum fields selected via the measurement process are the physical background of the complementarity principle in quantum optics.}, language = {en} }