Development and Characterization of Bioactive Polypropylene Films for Food Packaging Applications.

Bioactive polypropylene (PP) films with active agents) presence for food packaging application have been prepared and characterized. The novel modified PP films were obtained via PP/additives systems regranulation and cast extrusion. The influence of two types of plasticizers (natural agents as well as commercial synthetic product) and bioactive additives on final features, e.g., mechanical properties, was evaluated. Moreover, the biocidal activity of the films was determined. Due to their functional properties, they are developed as additives to packaging plastic materials such as polyolefins. The study results presented in our work may indirectly contribute to environmental protection by reducing food waste. The aim of the work was to obtain innovative, functional packaging materials with an ability to prolong the shelf life of food products. The best antimicrobial properties were observed for the sample based on 5 wt.% oregano oil (OO) and 5 wt.% cedar oil (OC) in PP matrix. A microbial test revealed that the system causes total reduction in the following microorganisms: B. subtilis, E. coli, S. aureus, P. putida, C. albicans, A. alternata, F. oxysporum.

Anderson localisation in steady states of microcavity polaritons.

We present an experimental signature of the Anderson localisation of microcavity polaritons, and provide a systematic study of the dependence on disorder strength. We reveal a controllable degree of localisation, as characterised by the inverse-participation ratio, by tuning the positional disorder of arrays of interacting mesas. This constitutes the realisation of disorder-induced localisation in a driven-dissipative system. In addition to being an ideal candidate for investigating localisation in this regime, microcavity polaritons hold promise for low-power, ultra-small devices and their localisation could be used as a resource in quantum memory and quantum information processing.

Superluminal X-waves in a polariton quantum fluid.

In this work, we experimentally demonstrate for the first time the spontaneous generation of two-dimensional exciton-polariton X-waves. X-waves belong to the family of localized packets that can sustain their shape without spreading, even in the linear regime. This allows the wavepacket to maintain its shape and size for very low densities and very long times compared to soliton waves, which always necessitate a nonlinearity to compensate the diffusion. Here, we exploit the polariton nonlinearity and uniquely structured dispersion, comprising both positive- and negative-mass curvatures, to trigger an asymmetric four-wave mixing in momentum space. This ultimately enables the self-formation of a spatial X-wave front. Using ultrafast imaging experiments, we observe the early reshaping of the initial Gaussian packet into the X-pulse and its propagation, even for vanishingly small densities. This allows us to outline the crucial effects and parameters that drive the phenomena and to tune the degree of superluminal propagation, which we found to be in close agreement with numerical simulations.

Quantum Steering Inequality with Tolerance for Measurement-Setting Errors: Experimentally Feasible Signature of Unbounded Violation.

Quantum steering is a relatively simple test for proving that the values of quantum-mechanical measurement outcomes come into being only in the act of measurement. By exploiting quantum correlations, Alice can influence-steer-Bob's physical system in a way that is impossible in classical mechanics, as shown by the violation of steering inequalities. Demonstrating this and similar quantum effects for systems of increasing size, approaching even the classical limit, is a long-standing challenging problem. Here, we prove an experimentally feasible unbounded violation of a steering inequality. We derive its universal form where tolerance for measurement-setting errors is explicitly built in by means of the Deutsch-Maassen-Uffink entropic uncertainty relation. Then, generalizing the mutual unbiasedness, we apply the inequality to the multisinglet and multiparticle bipartite Bell state. However, the method is general and opens the possibility of employing multiparticle bipartite steering for randomness certification and development of quantum technologies, e.g., random access codes.

Two copies of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state of light lead to refutation of EPR ideas.

Bell's theorem applies to the normalizable approximations of original Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) state. The constructions of the proof require measurements difficult to perform, and dichotomic observables. By noticing the fact that the four mode squeezed vacuum state produced in type II down-conversion can be seen both as two copies of approximate EPR states, and also as a kind of polarization supersinglet, we show a straightforward way to test violations of the EPR concepts with direct use of their state. The observables involved are simply photon numbers at outputs of polarizing beam splitters. Suitable chained Bell inequalities are based on the geometric concept of distance. For a few settings they are potentially a new tool for quantum information applications, involving observables of a nondichotomic nature, and thus of higher informational capacity. In the limit of infinitely many settings we get a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-type contradiction: EPR reasoning points to a correlation, while quantum prediction is an anticorrelation. Violations of the inequalities are fully resistant to multipair emissions in Bell experiments using parametric down-conversion sources.

Efficient Modeling of NMR Parameters in Carbon Nanosystems.

Rapid growth of nanoscience and nanotechnology requires new and more powerful modeling tools. Efficient theoretical modeling of large molecular systems at the ab initio and Density Functional Theory (DFT) levels of theory depends critically on the size and completeness of the basis set used. The recently designed variants of STO-3G basis set (STO-3Gel, STO-3Gmag), modified to correctly predict electronic and magnetic properties were tested on simple models of pristine and functionalized carbon nanotube (CNT) systems and fullerenes using the B3LYP and VSXC density functionals. Predicted geometries, vibrational properties, and HOMO/LUMO gaps of the model systems, calculated with typical 6-31G* and modified STO-3G basis sets, were comparable. The (13)C nuclear isotropic shieldings, calculated with STO-3Gmag and Jensen's polarization consistent pcS-2 basis sets, were also identical. The STO-3Gmag basis sets, being half the size of the latter one, are promising alternative for studying (13)C nuclear magnetic shieldings in larger size CNTs and fullerenes.

Measuring photon antibunching from continuous variable sideband squeezing.

We present a technique for measuring the second-order coherence function g(2)(tau) of light using a Hanbury Brown-Twiss intensity interferometer modified for homodyne detection. The experiment was performed entirely in the continuous-variable regime at the sideband frequency of a bright carrier field. We used the setup to characterize g(2)(tau) for thermal and coherent states and investigated its immunity to optical loss. We measured g(2)(tau) of a displaced-squeezed state and found a best antibunching statistic of g(2)(0)=0.11+/-0.18.