Avraham Klein

Strong coupling optimization with planar spiral resonators

Abstract Planar spirals offer a highly scalable geometry appropriate for wireless power transfer via strongly coupled inductive resonators. We numerically derive a set of geometric scale and material independent coupling terms, and analyze a simple model to identify design considerations for a variety of different materials. We use our model to fabricate integrated planar resonators of handheld sizes, and optimize them to achieve high-Q factors, comparable to much larger systems, and strong coupling over significant distances with approximately constant efficiency.

The internal structure of a vortex in a two-dimensional superfluid with long healing length and its implications

We analyze the motion of quantum vortices in a two-dimensional spinless superfluid within Popov’s hydrodynamic description. In the long healing length limit (where a large number of particles are inside the vortex core) the superfluid dynamics is determined by saddle points of Popov’s action, which, in particular, allows for weak solutions of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. We solve the resulting equations of motion for a vortex moving with respect to the superfluid and find the reconstruction of the vortex core to be a non-analytic function of the force applied on the vortex. This response produces an anomalously large dipole moment of the vortex and, as a result, the spectrum associated with the vortex motion exhibits narrow resonances lying within the phonon part of the spectrum, contrary to traditional view.

Role of finite-size effects in the critical behavior of itinerant fermions

We study the role of finite size effects on a metallic critical behavior near a q = 0 critical point and compare the results with the recent extensive quantum Monte-Carlo (QMC) study [Y. Schattner et al, PRX 6, 0231028]. This study found several features in both bosonic and fermionic responses, in disagreement with the expected critical behavior with dynamical exponent z = 3. We show that finite size effects are particularly strong for z = 3 criticality and give rise to a behavior different from that of an infinite system, over a wide range of momenta and frequencies. We argue that by taking finite size effects into account, the QMC results can be explained within z = 3 theory. Our results also have implications for small interacting fermionic systems, such as magnetic nanoparticles.

Topological transitions in evaporating thin films

A thin water film evaporating from a cleaved mica substrate undergoes a first-order phase transition between two values of film thickness. During evaporation, the interface between the two phases develops a fingering instability similar to that observed in the Saffman–Taylor problem. The dynamics of the droplet interface is dictated by an infinite number of conserved quantities: all harmonic moments decay exponentially at the same rate. A typical scenario is the nucleation of a dry patch within the droplet domain. We construct solutions of this problem and analyze the topological transition occurring when the boundary of the dry patch meets the outer boundary. We show a duality between Laplacian growth and evaporation, and utilize it to explain the behavior near the transition. We construct a family of problems for which evaporation and Laplacian growth are limiting cases and show that a necessary condition for a smooth topological transition, in this family, is that all boundaries share the same pressure.

Instability of the Abrikosov Lattice due to Nonanalytic Core Reconstruction of Vortices in Bosonic Superfluids

We study the impact of the nonanalytic reconstruction of vortex cores on static vortex structures in weakly coupled superfluids. We show that, in rotating two-dimensional systems, the Abrikosov vortex lattice is unstable to vortex core deformation: Each zero of the wave function becomes a cut of finite length. The directors characterizing the orientations of the cuts are themselves ordered in superstructures due either to surface effects or to interaction with shear deformations of the lattice (spiral structure). Similar instability may also be observable in clean superconducting films.

Speckle statistics of entangled photons

We consider the propagation of several entangled photons through an elastically scattering medium and study statistical properties of their speckle patterns. We find the spatial correlations of multiphoton speckles and their sensitivity to changes of system parameters. Our analysis covers both the directed-wave regime, where rays propagate almost ballistically while experiencing small-angle diffusion, and the real-space diffusive regime. We demonstrate that long-range correlations of the speckle patterns dominate experimental signatures for large-aperture photon detectors. We also show that speckle sensitivity depends strongly on the number of photons N in the incoming beam, increasing as root N in the directed-wave regime and as N in the diffusive regime.

Critical point correlations in random Gaussian fields

We consider fluctuations in the distribution of critical points - saddle points, minima and maxima - of random gaussian fields. We calculate the asymptotic limits of the two point correlation function for various critical point densities, for both long and short range. We perform the calculation for any dimension of the field, provide explicit formulae for two and three dimensions, and verify our results with numerical calculations.