Looking after your immune system through lifestyle and herbs. This is all about prevention. I will issue another newsletter later on discussing the use of herbs and supplements if you do get sick.
The benefits of massage and how after 30 years of working with clients I have identified the three major reasons why people come for a massage.
With winter fast approaching this is a check list to help you strengthen your immune system.
1. 70% of our immune system is in the intestines so it pays to look after the good bacteria in the gut via diet and lifestyle.
a) Exchange mucous producing white coloured foods such as white bread, pasta, rice for brown varieties. Eat 5 serves of vegetables and 2 serves of fruit a day. To ward off the 2-3pm sugar slump eat protein snacks such as nuts, salmon or cheese and biscuits instead of sweet biscuits, cakes and chocolates. The fibre in the brown foods helps the good bugs in the gut.
b) Cut back on refined sugars as these are inflammatory. So instead of the cake and chocolate look at the above foods. Or have low or no sugar alternatives for soft drinks.
c) Drinking liquids at room temperature or warm instead of chilled is much better for your digestion. Having half a squeezed lemon in warm water or apple cider vinegar or warm water on its own first thing in the morning helps to activate the digestive tract.
d) Drinking a maximum of 1 glass a day of alcohol with 1 free alcohol day is best for your digestion and immune system.
e) Frequent use of anti biotics kill off the beneficial bacteria. Try using probiotics such as plain yoghurt or kefir to increase the number of good bugs in the intestines. Alternatively, you can buy probiotics which need to be kept in the fridge. They have more active ingredients in them and work more efficiently than foods. And maybe you will not have to use anti biotics if you use probiotics all the time.
f) Eat food in a relaxed state. Less stressful on the digestive system.
g) Constant physical and emotional stress will keep your nervous system in an uptight state, working hand in hand with the immune system. Alternatives are massage,yoga, tai chi, meditation, exercise or seeing a councillor.
h) Prolonged use of NSAIDs - neurofen, Mobic can damage the lining of the digestive tract and you can get ulcers, drowsiness and headaches. Alternative herbs are turmeric, Boswellia and Saligesic plus many more.
i) As we age our immune system does not work as efficiently. Our stomach acid is reduced. It is needed to digest protein, calcium and iron but also importantly killing off any bugs that may come in with the food. Using a bitter herb such as gentian - 20 drops in water 15-20 mins before each meal will do wonders or dandelion root liquid.
So what herbs to use to help prevent a cold?
a) Zinc tablets if tested deficient.
e) Vitamin D3 - If low on testing need to take a specific dose. Promotes activity of white blood cells that fight viruses and bacteria.
If you would like any help with zinc testing I can do that in the clinic. Also, if you would like a long distance travel protocol using Echinaceae let me know and I can mail you out a copy.I have had great results from it and no cold/flu on the holiday!
I have been practising massage for 30 years now using many different techniques depending on what is needed. During that time I can identify three major reasons why people come to me for massage. And all three reasons may or may not be addressed in the one treatment, all contributing to their problem.
Massage promotes the release of pain reducing neurochemicals. It can provide stimuli to modulate pain percerption and decrease pain directly.
As many of you would have experienced, much pain and tightness comes from occupational stress, sporting injuries or having a fall. Occupational pain most often comes from being in the one position for too long - on the computer, long car trips, standing or sitting too long, and in pastimes such as knitting, sewing where the neck is in one position. Shoulders above the head lifting heavy things in your job. In sport overarm swimming and tennis serves, golf swings can all cause shoulder issues. Knees are a problem in the football codes, netball, tennis and golf. Tripping up at home or on the pavement .
Stress, anxiety and insomnia can all contribute to increased pain! And tension headache can occur too. In these situations the nervous system is in sympathetic mode (uptight) and by massaging, the nervous system goes into para sympathetic mode(relaxed mode).
The neck, back and shoulders get very stiff from life and ageing. Massage will reduce muscle tightness and therefor improve the flow of oxygen and nutrients into muscles, and the flow of toxins out of muscles. As a result massage will speed up muscle recovery after activity or injury.
And added to the above I give advice on specific exercises to help strengthen or stretch muscles to help the healing process.
Wishing you all a healthy winter and wonderful holidays if you are travelling overseas. If you want a protocol for cold prevention on long distance travel using Echinaceae let me know and I will email it to you.
Penny provides a relaxing, calm and warm atmosphere, and her unfailing honesty. She's the best!


The 2020 proposed notice of benefit and payment parameters outlines a new method for calculating key Affordable Care Act (ACA) figures that would increase cost-sharing limits by 3.8%. Other key changes aimed at increasing enrollee's use of generic drugs would relax rules around cost-sharing for brand drugs when generic equivalents are available. Issued annually by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the notice sets out policy and payment rules for the coming year. While much of the notice focuses on the individual and small-group insurance markets, some proposals apply to large employer-sponsored plans. After reviewing comments on the proposals, HHS is expected to issue final rules later this year.
HHS has proposed a new formula for determining the annual premium adjustment percentage — which is used to calculate key ACA figures affecting large-employer plans, among other things — for the 2020 benefit year and beyond. The percentage, set annually by HHS, has been based on projected estimates of employer-sponsored insurance premiums from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The new methodology is aimed at reflecting the premium trend in all markets by including individual market premiums in the calculation.
Cost-sharing limits. The proposed 2020 annual out-of-pocket (OOP) maximums for nongrandfathered group health plans would increase to $8,200 for self-only coverage and $16,400 for other coverage — up 3.8% from 2019 levels. These cost-sharing limits apply to all OOP costs for in-network essential health benefits (EHBs).
ESR assessments. Using the new HHS calculation method to determine the proposed premium adjustment percentage, the 2020 play-or-pay assessment for employers not offering coverage is projected to increase to $2,590 per full-time employee — up from $2,500 in 2019 (a 3.6% increase). The 2020 assessment for employers offering coverage that is unaffordable or lacks minimum value is projected to increase to $3,890 per full-time employee who receives subsidized coverage through a public exchange — up from $3,750 in 2019 (a 3.7% increase). The IRS website typically announces the official employer shared-responsibility assessment figures for a future year after HHS finalizes the premium adjustment percentage for that year (Q&A-13, IRS Notice 2015-87).
Adoption by IRS. If adopted by the IRS, the new methodology it is also expected to increase the required contribution percentage used to determine if an offer of employer-sponsored coverage is affordable, increase the portion of the premium that an individual with public exchange coverage will pay, and reduce the amount of the premium tax credit he or she will receive.
HHS proposes two policy changes designed to reduce prescription drug costs by encouraging individuals to use lower-cost generic medication. These changes, HHS says, will apply directly to large plans — insured and self-insured — giving employers more options regarding coverage of brand name drugs.
Brand name drugs with generic equivalents. The proposal would allow insurers and self-insured health plans that cover both a brand name prescription drug and its generic equivalent to (i) use cost sharing for the generic rather than the brand drug when calculating maximum OOP costs if the generic is available and medically appropriate and (ii) impose annual and lifetime dollar limits on the brand drug. This change would apply to all nongrandfathered coverage. As an alternative, HHS has proposed requiring (rather than simply allowing) all plans to exclude brand drugs with generic equivalents from EHBs. A 2014 triagency FAQ already clarified that nongrandfathered group health plans don't have to count all cost sharing for brand drugs toward cost-sharing limits if certain criteria are met, but the guidance didn't address annual or lifetime dollar limits (Q&A-3, ACA FAQs Part XIX).
Manufacturer coupons. The proposal would allow plans to disregard enrollee cost sharing that uses "any form of direct support offered by drug manufacturers to insured patients to reduce or eliminate immediate out-of-pocket costs for specific prescription brand drugs that have a generic equivalent" when calculating maximum OOP costs. This change is consistent with concerns set out in President Trump's blueprint for lowering drug prices that drug manufacturer coupons and other forms of copay assistance increase overall drug costs. Some employer-sponsored plans and pharmacy benefit managers have "copay accumulator programs" that exclude manufacturer copay assistance from a patient's deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. Although the notice says the proposed change would apply to nongrandfathered large group insured and self-insured plans, HHS sought comments on whether the proposal should be limited to public exchange plans. The agency also sought comments on whether plan information technology systems can implement needed changes, and whether states should be able to decide how coupons are treated (some states prohibit coupon use when there is a generic equivalent).
Options for EHB modifications. Last year, HHS offered states several options for changing their benchmark plan effective in 2020. Just one state, Illinois, did so, making changes that would restrict access to prescription opioids, provide alternative medications for chronic pain and expand access to treatment for certain mental health and substance use disorders. Illinois also added telepsychiatry as an EHB. HHS is encouraging other states to explore modifications to their EHB benchmark plan to fight the opioid epidemic.
Under current federal law, insurers generally can only make changes to fully-insured group health plan coverage at the time of renewal. The proposal would allow issuers in all markets, including the large-group insurance market, to make midyear formulary changes to replace brand drugs with new generic equivalents (or shift the brand drugs to a higher tier) 60 days after notifying enrollees. States could still limit or narrow when insurers could make midyear changes. HHS says these formulary changes wouldn't affect a plan's grandfathered status. The proposal wouldn't apply to self-insured ERISA plans, which aren't subject to midyear change restrictions, although applicable ERISA disclosure rules would likely apply.
The notice also addresses coverage of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders, noting that lack of access to MAT has contributed to the opioid crisis. In some cases, HHS says, insurer plan designs exclude coverage of certain drugs for MAT while covering the same drugs for other medically necessary purposes, a potentially discriminatory practice under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. According to HHS, a drug covered under a plan for treatment of a medical condition but excluded for MAT is a nonquantitative treatment limit (NQTL). Plans with NQTLs must demonstrate that the standards used to determine whether a drug is covered for medical purposes are comparable to those used to exclude coverage of the drug for substance use disorders. While the notice discusses these issues in the context of insurers that provide coverage in the individual and small-group markets, the same parity rules apply to large insured and self-insured plans.
HHS is weighing whether reference-based pricing for prescriptions drugs is useful for lowering drug costs and asked for feedback on the risks and opportunities associated with that strategy. To employ this mechanism, as described by the agency, a plan sets a price for a group of similar drugs in a therapeutic class. Participants then pay the difference between the drug's cost and the set, or reference, price.
HHS also sought input on the use of therapeutic substitution — substituting a therapeutically different compound with another in the same drug class — as a mechanism for reducing drug costs. The agency is assessing the impact of this practice on quality and access.
Final rules aren't expected until later this year. Until then, employers will want to keep the following in mind.
Cost-sharing limits and ESR assessments. The proposed change in indexing methodology has garnered some negative comments, including concerns that it will lower exchange enrollment in future years. Employers should wait until final rules are issued before relying on the 2020 numbers.
EHBs/MAT. Employers should take note of proposed flexibilities in determining what qualifies as an EHB for purposes of cost-sharing and annual and lifetime dollar limits. In addition, employers may want to review how their plans cover MAT treatment to ensure compliance with the parity law.
Other drug policy proposals. Employers may wish to follow comments and developments concerning referenced-based drug pricing and therapeutic substitution as they consider mechanisms to reduce prescription drug costs.
Indexing Provision in HHS Proposed Marketplace Regulations Is Not Just Bad Policy, but Could Be Vulnerable to Legal Challenge (Brookings, Feb.14, 2019).


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Home Metro News FCT Minister Pleads For Increment In Corps Members' Allowances
FCT Minister Pleads For Increment In Corps Members' Allowances
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, has called for an increase in the allowances of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.
http://www.newbalanceshoesinc.com new balance 1123
The corps members are presently paid N19, 800 monthly by the Federal Government.
But the minister pleaded with President Goodluck Jonathan to look into ways of further reviewing upward the corps members' allowance "because the youths and the students have been very supportive".
Speaking during a campaign rally on Tuesday at Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja, Mohammed also commended the president for reducing the pump price of petrol due to fall in oil prices at the international market.
He described Mr. Jonathan as a democrat and a true leader, who listens to the yearnings of the people, noting that the timely gesture would affect all sectors of the economy positively, particularly commercial transportation of goods and services from the rural to the urban areas.
He said, "Nigerian students have spoken here and they have shown us support, I want the NYSC allowance to be increased. On their behalf I am doing that, and I know he (President Jonathan) would do it one day".
The minister claimed that Jonathan has delivered on his Transformation Agenda in the FCT citing the completion of the Airport and Kubwa Expressways as well as the completion of the Phases 3 & 4 Water Treatment Plants at the Lower Usman Dam initiated about 14 years ago.
"The water needs of Abuja for the next 50 years has been taken care of by the Jonathan Administration and that is why even water supply to the Gwagwalada Township has drastically improved", Mohammed asserted.
On resettlement and compensation of original inhabitants of Abuja, the minister said that before now, contracts were awarded by previous governments to provide basic infrastructure in the FCT without adequate attention to resettlement and compensation, but with the Land Swap Initiative inaugurated by President Jonathan about two weeks ago, non-payment of compensation is no longer an issue.
Mr. Mohammed also noted that the FG has almost concluded the issue of FCT Board of Internal Revenue to generate sufficient funds to develop the FCT.
allowances of National Youth Service Corps
Bala Mohammed
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Footnotes: Gertrude Stein
by Tymon on Feb 4th, 2013 Tweet
Today marks the birthday of feminist, modernist writer, art collector and lesbian Gertrude Stein. Born in 1874 in West Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Stein grew up in Oakland, California, a town she once famously described with the phrase: "There is no there, there."
The youngest of five children of wealthy German Jewish parents, Stein was raised with a strong sense of European culture and history. Her parents died within a few years of each other; her mother, Amelia, in 1888 and her father, Daniel, in 1891.
She attended Radcliffe College, where she studied psychology under William James, before taking up medicine at Johns Hopkins, a course she never finished, rebelling against the male-dominated world of medicine. In 1903, Stein moved to Paris with Alice B. Toklas, who remained her partner and secretary for the rest of her life. She never lived in her native country again. The apartment that Stein, Toklas and Stein's brother Leo shared on the Left Bank became famous as a gathering place for artists, writers and intellectuals including Henri Matisse, Ezra Pound and Pablo Picasso.
Stein was a passionate advocate of the new movement in literature that was pioneered by many of her literary friends including William Carlos Williams, F Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. Stein's own works stringently rejected the narrative conventions of 19th-century literature and her books were not initially well received. The writer Clifton Fadiman once described her as "a woman masterly in making nothing happen very slowly".
However, the publication in 1933 of The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas saw her achieve bestseller status in America, where she was treated as a celebrity on her book tour in 1934.
Despite warnings that she leave France during the Nazi occupation, Stein and Toklas remained and displayed uncomfortably un-Jewish, sometimes pro-Hitler political views. A relationship with the powerful Vichy government official Bernard Fay may have helped them and their art collection to survive the war. Stein wrote a piece that called for Hitler to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, a suggestion whose sincerity has been the cause of much debate.
Stein died in 1946 at the age of 72 and was buried in Paris at the Père Lachaise cemetery, where she lies in the company of Toklas, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Honoré de Balzac.
» read article
Footnotes: Margaret Atwood
by Tymon on Nov 19th, 2012 Tweet
She's most recognised as a novelist but Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, who celebrates her 73rd birthday today, began her writing life as a poet.
Born in Ottawa, the daughter of a forest entomologist, Atwood didn't go to school full-time until she was in Grade 8. She began writing poems at the age of 6 and decided she wanted to pursue a profession as a writer when she was 16.
In 1961, at the age of 22, she won the EJ Pratt Medal for poetry for her collection Double Persephone. She once wrote: "With a lyric poem you look, meditate and put the rock back. With fiction you poke things with a stick to see what will happen."
She continued to write poetry before publishing her first novel The Edible Woman in 1969. Married in 1968 and divorced in 1973, Atwood once said: "A divorce is like an amputation; you survive, but there's less of you."
It was with her novel The Handmaid's Tale, published in 1985, that Atwood received international attention.
A dystopian tale of a near future set in a totalitarian theocracy in which women are subjugated, the novel won the first Arthur C Clarke Award for Science Fiction in 1987 and was nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award and Booker Prize. It became a film in 1990, directed by Volker Schlöndorff and written by Harold Pinter.
Atwood was subsequently twice nominated for the Booker Prize for her novels Cat's Eye and Alias Grace before she won the award in 2000 for The Blind Assassin.
Now a regular tweeter and social activist who has written about Canadian literature, debt and science fiction, Atwood continues to write short fiction, poetry and novels with the third novel in her Oryx and Crake trilogy, Maddaddam, due for publication next year. She lives in Toronto with novelist Graeme Gibson.
Footnote: Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh
by Tymon on Oct 29th, 2012 Tweet
He was once described as "the nastiest-tempered" man in England, but for many readers Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was one of the great prose stylists of his time.
Born today in 1903, Waugh was the son of a publisher and served briefly as a schoolteacher before turning to writing full time with the publication of his first novel Decline and Fall in 1928.
He once said, "Anyone could write a novel given six weeks, pen, paper, and no telephone or wife." He was married twice and had seven children. He's most remembered for his debut novel, as well as A Handful of Dust, his most well-known book Brideshead Revisited and his trilogy of war novels collected as Sword of Honour.
Waugh, like his contemporary Graham Greene, also wrote several travel stories for newspapers about Abyssinia, the Belgian Congo and British Guiana.
Raised as an Anglican, Waugh converted to Catholicism in 1930 and remained a devoted and staunch adherent of the church who was opposed to the changes made after the Second Vatican Council.
He served in the army during World War 2 and had a mental breakdown in the 1950s after extended drug dependence that saw his health deteriorate and led to him hearing voices while on board a ship travelling to Sri Lanka.
While he continued to publish throughout the '50s until his death in 1966, his later works were not well received by the public or critics. When he died, Greene wrote that Waugh had been "the greatest novelist of my generation".
The publication of his diaries, in 1973, led to a new interest in his work that resulted in the Granada Television adaptation of Brideshead Revisited in 1982, which was a huge critical and popular success in both Britain and the US.
Footnotes: Sigmund Freud
by Tymon on Sep 26th, 2012 Tweet
Sigmund Freud had been living in London for just over a year when he died there on 23 September 1939 at his home at 20 Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead.
Having fled his native Vienna due to persecution by the Nazis, the father of modern psychoanalysis had been suffering from cancer of the mouth, first diagnosed in 1923, the result of his love of cigars.
Honouring an agreement they had made years earlier in the event of Freud's illness becoming unbearable, his physician, friend and fellow refugee Max Schur, after consultation with Freud's daughter Anna, administered heavy doses of morphine, which resulted in Freud's death.
Although he had spent most of his life in Vienna, Freud was cremated at London's Golders Green Crematorium. Later his ashes were placed in the crematorium in an ancient Greek urn, given to Freud by Princess Marie Bonaparte, who had helped him leave Vienna. Bonaparte had also tried to help Freud's four sisters leave the Austrian city but she was unsuccessful and all four died in Nazi concentration camps.
In the year before his death, Freud was visited by London's famous artists and literary set, including Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Stefan Zweig, HG Wells and Salvador Dali – whose meeting with Freud forms the basis for playwright Terry Johnson's farce Hysteria. Zweig, a popular Austrian writer, was also present at the cremation.
When Freud's wife, Martha, died in 1951, her ashes were placed in the urn with her husband's. Their daughter Anna, who was also a psychoanalyst, was cremated at the same crematorium in 1982 and her ashes rest on a shelf next to those of her parents.
Footnotes: Sir Alec Guinness
by Tymon on Aug 6th, 2012 Tweet
He was 86 when he died on 5 August in 2000, and in an acting career spanning three decades Sir Alec Guinness immortalised many classic literary roles on screen.
Born in London, Guinness began his acting career on stage at the age of 20. In 1939, he adapted Great Expectations for the stage and played the role of Herbert Pocket. Film director David Lean, who saw the production, would later have Guinness reprise the role for his 1946 screen adaptation and the two would collaborate on a series of films for which Guinness was most well known. With Lean, Guinness would appear in a number of films adapted from novels including his Oscar-winning performance as Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai, Fagin in Oliver Twist, Yevgraf Zhivago in Dr Zhivago from the novel by Boris Pasternak and Professor Godbole in A Passage to India.
Guinness also appeared in the role of James Wormold in Carol Reed's adaptation of Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana and as Major HO Jones in the Elizabeth Taylor/ Richard Burton film of Greene's The Comedians. He was nominated for an Oscar for his adapted screenplay of Joyce Cary's novel The Horse's Mouth in 1958.
In the late '70s and '80s, Guinness again garnered acclaim for his portrayal of John Le Carre's spook George Smiley in the BBC adaptations of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. Of course, for a younger generation Guinness was immortalised for his role as Obi-Wan Kanobi in George Lucas's Star Wars films, a role for which he received an Oscar nomination. He was knighted in 1959 and wrote three volumes of his bestselling autobiography from 1985 until his death in 2000.
Footnotes: Ambrose Bierce
by Tymon on Jun 25th, 2012 Tweet
He's most famous for disappearing without a trace while travelling with rebel troops in Mexico in 1913, but writer, critic, journalist, satirist and short-story writer Ambrose Bierce also left behind him many short stories including "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and the collection of satirical pieces The Devil's Dictionary.
The 10th child of a family of 13 children whose names all began with the letter A, Bierce was born today in Ohio in 1842. After leaving home at the age of 15 to become a printer's devil, Bierce enlisted in the Union Army at the outbreak of the American Civil War. He lived most of the rest of his life in San Francisco, where he wrote for Randolph William Hearst's Examiner and established himself as one of the West Coast's most influential journalists and critics before he left the paper in 1906.
The Devil's Dictionary, his collection of satirical definitions of words, was originally published as The Cynic's Word Book but later retitled under Bierce's preferred name in 1909. In 1913, he travelled to Mexico where he joined the revolutionary forces of Pancho Villa as an observer. According to legend he wrote a letter to a friend on December 26 in which he said: "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination." These were the author's last known words as he subsequently vanished without a trace and his body has never been found. His disappearance was the subject of the late Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes' novel The Old Gringo, later adapted into a film starring Gregory Peck. Biographers still try to uncover what happened to Bierce and many critics consider the stories he wrote based on his war experiences among the best in the genre.
Footnotes: Charles Mingus
by Tymon on Apr 23rd, 2012 Tweet
The world would have been a far more interesting place were Charles Mingus Jr, born today in 1922, still around.
One of jazz's most formidable and influential musicians, Mingus was the composer of seminal songs such as Goodbye Pork Hat, Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting and The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady and the author of one of the best musical autobiographies, Beneath the Underdog – a stream of consciousness, fabulist account of his life, sexual exploits and thoughts about race and class in 1960s America.
Mingus was as well known for his tantrums as he was for his music – chastising audiences, destroying his bass on stage in response to heckling and fighting on stage with fellow musicians. His career was cut short by the onset of Lou Gehrig's disease, which affected his bass playing and led to his death on January 5 1979 in Mexico, where he had travelled for treatment.
His final project, a collaborative album he was working on with Joni Mitchell, was released after his death. He was 56 years old.
Footnotes: Milan Kundera
by Tymon on Apr 2nd, 2012 Tweet
Yesterday was Czech novelist Milan Kundera's 83rd birthday. The author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and Immortality, among others, lives in France, his home since leaving Czechoslovakia in 1975.
The son of a musicologist, Kundera's work is full of musical influences. He studied at the Prague Film School in the late 1940s and, after graduating in 1952, was appointed as a lecturer in world literature.
He wrote his first novel, The Joke, in 1967, a satirical look at totalitarian regimes which, like all Kundera's work, was banned after he criticised the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
In 1984, Kundera published his most famous novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In 2008, a controversy erupted when it was alleged Kundera had denounced a pilot to the Czech police in 1950.
He denied the accusation, but it was supported by the police report – despite which, the pilot did not believe Kundera was his betrayer.
In November 2008, 11 international authors came to Kundera's defence, including SA Nobel Laureates JM Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer. Kundera has yet to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and you have to wonder if the negative publicity may have hurt his chances forever.
Footnotes: George Plimpton
by Tymon on Mar 19th, 2012 Tweet
The Paris Review has just celebrated the publication of its 200th issue. Unfortunately for one of the world's most revered and beloved literary journals, its first editor-in-chief, George Plimpton, isn't around to share in the celebrations.
Plimpton, who died in 2003, was born on 18 March 1927, into an influential New York family. He was a Harvard graduate who wrote for the Harvard Lampoon, drove a tank in Italy for the US Army during World War 2, obtained a second degree at Cambridge and, at the age of 26, became the first editor-in-chief of The Paris Review. A Harvard classmate of Robert Kennedy's, Plimpton was present when the senator was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968 and was credited as being one of the people who helped wrestle the assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, to the ground. For his most well-known book, Paper Lion, Plimpton signed up for pre-season training with the Detroit Lions NFL team and turned his experiences into a book, which was later made into a film. He performed similar exercises for books about baseball and golf and for articles about a range of sporting activities written for Sports Illustrated.
He appeared in a number of television episodes and films, playing secondary characters – these included ER and Good Will Hunting. He was also an interviewee in the 1996 documentary When We Were Kings, about the famous fight in Zaire between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman.
Footnotes: Douglas Adams
One of the 20th century's most beloved and bestselling authors should have celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday. Unfortunately, Douglas Noel Adams died of a heart attack in 2001, but his hugely successful series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the cult it spawned, live on.
The series began as a radio comedy for the BBC in 1978 before Adams turned it into a "trilogy" – of five books.
Unnaturally tall and with an early gift for writing, Adams spent several years after university struggling to break into the world of television and radio before he and producer Simon Brett pitched their idea for a comedy sci-fi series to the BBC in 1977.
Aside from this series of books, Adams also wrote two books featuring private detective Dirk Gently – Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (the novels were recently adapted for television by the BBC), as well as several books about his passion for travelling and preserving endangered species.
When he collapsed unexpectedly after a gym session in 2001, Adams – a lifelong atheist – was cremated and his ashes now rest in Highgate cemetery in London. His memorial service became the first church service to be webcast by the BBC.
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Key Characters: Padmé Amidala; Jar Jar Binks; Anakin Skywalker; Ahsako Tano; Obi-Wan Kenobi; Dr. Nuvo Vindi.
Episode Brief: Padmé and Jar Jar are captured while searching for a secret Separatist bio-weapons lab, sparking Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka to try and save their friends and halt the release of a deadly virus.
"Fear is a disease; hope is its only cure."
The gleaming Naboo yacht lands within the cavernous Royal Hangar at the Theed Palace on Naboo. Awaiting its arrival are Queen Neeyutnee, the current Naboo monarch, and Captain Typho. Senator Padmé Amidala, Jar Jar and C-3PO hurry out of the craft and meet with the queen, who reports that Naboo security forces discovered a small number of battle droids in the plains. Neeyutnee wants Amidala to inform the Senate that Naboo is threatened, but Amidala knows the Senate will require more proof.
They retire to a droid repair room, where the fragments of battle droids and a tactical droid are under examination. Amidala finds it odd that the droid remains have such thick mud on them since they were supposedly found in the grasslands. Jar Jar is distracted. He smells something that causes him to poke around the banks of spare parts. Meanwhile, a medical droid begins a robolobotomy on the tactical droid, poking around its memory banks to see what it can find.
The droid springs to life, though its photoreceptors are not functional. At Padmé's prompting, C-3PO lies to the droid, telling it that it is aboard a Separatist ship. Threepio tries to fish out any information about the droid's assignment on Naboo. It utters something about a virus, specifically about a leak of a small amount of virus from a secret laboratory. The droid comes to realize it has been duped and clams up. At the same time, Jar Jar has been chasing a bright blue slug-beetle that has crawled out of one of the battle droid shells, and clumsily knocks over several shelves of spare parts. The chaos litters debris everywhere, and disrupts the robolobotomy, shorting out the tactical droid.
Jar Jar humbly apologizes. He explains that the tasty slug-beetle is one of his favorite delicacies, and it can only be found in one place on Naboo -- under the perlote tree in the eastern swamps. Jar Jar has unwittingly pointed the way to where the secret laboratory might be.
The Naboo contact the Jedi Council, informing Yoda and Mace Windu of their discovery. Yoda agrees to dispatch two Jedi to investigate. Senator Amidala recommends Generals Skywalker and Kenobi. Yoda concurs. Padmé is determined to locate the laboratory.
Out the Naboo plains, a shaak wrangler named Peppi Bow leads her herd to a river to drink. The shaaks at the stream suddenly collapse and die. Bow is distressed. The river has been poisoned.
A Naboo scout carrier soars over the plains towards the eastern swamps. It sets down near the river, near the dead shaaks. Padmé and Jar Jar emerge in full bio-hazard suits and examine the dead animals. Peppi, unaware of their intentions, attacks them with her electropole. She yanks off Jar Jar's helmet, and is surprised to see a Gungan underneath. Padmé holds her at gunpoint, trying to get her to calm down. Jar Jar panics without his helmet, but Peppi explains that whatever killed her shaaks isn't airborne. The poison is in the water.
Padmé explains they are trying to make their way to the perlote trees. Realizing their intentions are pure, Peppi volunteers to guide Padmé and Jar Jar, but Padmé tells her to stay here. It's too dangerous. Amidala will dispatch Naboo guards to take her back home.
Later, in the thick of the eastern swamps, Padmé and Jar Jar look for anything out of the ordinary. A stalk-mounted photoreceptor emerging from the swamp ground watches them. Observing them from underground is the strange Dr. Nuvo Vindi, the diabolical mastermind behind this Separatist plot. Vindi orders battle droids to the surface to capture these interlopers.
Jar Jar's bumbling uncovers a metal surface beneath the swamp soil -- it appears to be a hatch. Padmé radios Captain Typho, requesting a geo-scan of coordinates SP127. Battle droids suddenly emerge from the swamps and hold Jar Jar and Padmé at gunpoint.
Jar Jar and Padmé are shackled and led into the underground laboratory where they are confronted by Dr. Vindi. The unhinged genius declares that he is creating life. He stands before a shielded cabinet filled with small vials of glowing blue liquid, and announces the return of the infamous Blue Shadow Virus, a deadly plague wiped from the galaxy generations ago. Vindi has cultivated it once more. Furthermore, he has created an airborne version of the virus -- no longer is it contained only to water. Placed within bombs, the gaseous virus is now an incredibly potent weapon.
To Vindi's demented way of thinking, the eradication of the virus was tantamount to genocide. The thousands upon thousands of multicellular organisms spreading war throughout the galaxy are the real plague, and they should not be afforded any superiority.
A Republic gunship lands at Theed palace, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka and Anakin Skywalker emerge. They are met by Typho, who reports that Padmé has gone into the swamps to investigate the outbreak. Anakin is alarmed at this news. Typho introduces Peppi Bow, the last person to have seen Padmé and Jar Jar. Anakin dispatches Ahsoka to accompany Peppi in the search for Padmé.
Typho briefs the Jedi; the Naboo technicians did further robolobotomies on the battle droids, uncovering a holographic image of Doctor Nuvo Vindi, Senior Medic of the Perma families who disappeared about ten years ago. The snippet of holographic recording shows Vindi plotting to release one Blue Shadow virus bomb for each star system.
Typho next reveals the result of the geo-scan of the coordinates that Padmé dispatched. The sensor readings uncovered a huge underground laboratory, with three entry points and a large hangar. Radiation scans also pinpoint a likely location for the bomb assembly room.
The situation is dire -- the weaponization of Blue Shadow Virus could lead to a galaxy-wide plague. The Jedi need to strike quickly, decisively -- and accurately. A careless blast might unleash the virus on Naboo. Obi-Wan pragmatically weighs the risks -- better one planet be poisoned and the plot stopped than thousands of worlds fall victim to the virus.
In the eastern swamps, Peppi and Ahsoka ride shaak-back and find Padmé's scout carrier. They spot Jar Jar and Padmé's tracks in the mud. Suddenly, the periscope emerges underneath Peppi's feet. Both Ahsoka and Peppi try to stay out of the scope's field of vision.
Night has fallen. Ahsoka reports in to an edgy Anakin. There is no sign of the Senator, so Ahsoka assumes she is in the lab. However, the lab entranceways are lined with pressure sensors. There is no way to enter undetected. Obi-Wan orders AHsoka to detonate a bunker-bomb at the south end of the facility; she is cause a distraction that seals off the bomb area while Kenobi and Skywalker come in through the hatches.
A trio of gunships arrive at the hangar, ready to take the Jedi into the swamps. Kenobi will take care of the virus bombs while Anakin is to focus on the doctor. Obi-Wan reminds Anakin to focus on the mission and not be distracted by Padmé.
Back in the swamps, Ahsoka levitates a bunker bomb thermal detonator charge past the periscopes and at the swamp compound's south end and detonates it. Alarms ring throughout the lab. Vindi orders all droids to hatch number one, while he dons a special breather helmet.
The gunships arrive at the swamps. Peppi wants to join in the fight, but Ahsoka tells her to stay behind and make sure no one escapes. Peppi reluctantly agrees.
Clone troopers led by Captain Rex rappel from their gunship into the breach that Ahsoka has made. She joins them. The other two gunships drop thermal detonators at the other hatches. Kenobi leaps into one, while Anakin jumps into another. The droids are concentrated at Ahsoka's entrance; her distraction seems to have worked. With the arrival of droidekas, Ahsoka orders her troops to fall back. Elsewhere, Dr. Vindi's assistant droid has spotted the clone attackers, and runs for it, carrying a Blue Shadow Virus bomb.
Anakin leads his troops to the laboratory, cutting through the airlock doors. He spots Padmé and Jar Jar tied to an electric terminal. Dr. Vindi stands at the terminal's control, warning Skywalker that if he takes another step, the prisoners will be fried. He orders the Republic invaders to drop their weapons. Skywalker has no choice but to comply and tosses his lightsaber to the floor. The clones drop their guns, and the battle droids surround them.
The droidekas harrying Ahsoka's troops are suddenly taken out by the collapse of a tunnel caused by Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has arrived with a special bomb squad team of clone troopers.
Vindi knows he can't hold Anakin for long, so he instead craftily offers the Jedi a choice: capture him, or save his friends. Vindi flips the switch on the electric terminal as he makes a dash for an escape tunnel. Anakin jumps past the firing battle droids to grab his lightsaber, spins and turns and cuts them down, and then uses the Force to toss a super battle droid at the terminal controls. He checks to see if Amidala is all right. She's shaken, but will survive.
Elsewhere in the compound, Obi-Wan races to the bomb assembly area, while Ahsoka holds off the droids. He and his squad find the room filled with rows of inactive explosives. The bombs suddenly light up as Dr. Vindi remotely activates them. Kenobi surmises that Skywalker didn't capture the doctor. He also notices an empty slot amid the rows of bombs -- one of the explosives is missing.
Anakin orders Ahsoka to search for the wayward explosive. Padmé remembers Dr. Vindi's assistant, and correctly guesses that it's the keeper of the missing bomb. The teams split up to find the droid.
Anakin finds Dr. Vindi's secret hangar and cuts through his battle droid guards. To distract Anakin, Vindi throws a vial of the virus out the blast door. Anakin leaps to catch it while Vindi shuts the door behind the Jedi. Vindi raises the landing platform so he can escape in his shuttle. Anakin begins to cut through the door, and radios to Obi-Wan for help.
Padmé and Jar Jar discover a room filled with a small grove of trees. Inside, Dr. Vindi's droid cowers. Padmé corners it, and it makes a break for it. Jar Jar tackles the droid, dropping the bomb which Padmé catches. She radios her success to Ahsoka, who dispatches the bomb squad to Padmé's location.
Anakin and Obi-Wan cut their way into the hangar bay. Vindi drops a trio of vials from his rising platform, forcing Kenobi to break pursuit to catch them and make sure they don't break.
The hangar launch chute opens, splitting the swamp floor beneath Peppi Bow's feet. Daylight streams into the hangar. Anakin leaps to the top of the platform and holds his blade at Vindi. Once more he tries to drop a vial, but he is tackled by Peppi, who knocks him down with her electropole. Vindi lies prostrate on the landing platform surface, cackling with glee because his timed bombs are ready to erupt. But there is no explosion.
The clone troopers have deactivated all the bombs.
When Neeyutnee demands that Padmé inform the Senate of the possible invasion, Amidala instantly answers that they will need more proof. She is clearly remembering the events of Episode I, when a huge invasion of the planet only managed to prompt the motion of an independent fact-finding commission be sent to Naboo to ascertain the truth.
The original script had the evidence of plague be at the very start of the episode, moving downstream and affecting an entire Gungan village. Some remnants of this order of events remain in the finished episode. Notably, the tense relationship with the Gungans that Padmé cites stems from this version of the story.
The script originally called for the tactical droid to be a tripedal medical droid. This is why C-3PO says to it, "We all want to hear your tale of medical heroics."
The laboratory may have been built over a decade ago during the original Naboo invasion.
According to the script, the clones units dispatched to help invade the laboratory are Wildfire, Snow Wolves and Calm Tree.
Originally the "rabbit droid" took the bomb and left in Act II never to be seen again. Padmé found the missing bomb in the greenhouse room, left hidden for no apparent reason. The addition of the scampering droid with the bomb was done during editorial, not only for story logic but to add the fun beat where it startles Padmé.
The Naboo guards were a late addition, taxing the asset allocation budget for the episode. Consequently, the crew only produced a single guard, who was cheated in camera angles to keep the twin guards from being too noticeable.
In recreating the Theed hangar, the crew discovered that the Naboo starfighter's tails go through the hangar walls in order to fit into their stalls. Dave Filoni consulted with Episode I Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll about this, and Knoll confirmed they had the same problem in The Phantom Menace.
In the script, the plants in the greenhouse room where Padmé finds the missing bomb were originally "tea leaf plants". In the end, Giancarlo Volpi and Dave Filoni decided it was better if the plants seemed more like they were involved in the creation of the Blue Shadow Virus somehow, hence their blue color.
The crew nicknamed the underground laboratory hallway fights the "disco hallways." Their tube-like design was inspired by the hallway Luke Skywalker explores in Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back.
"Mesa luven! Is berry berry good tongue-grabben." -- Jar Jar Binks, describing slug-beetles.
- "There's a good chance we're about to destroy all life on this planet, including the Senator's, so, yes. I'm on edge. Why aren't you?"
"Oops. What happened?" -- Dr. Nuvo Vindi, his plot being foiled.
- "Senator Padmé can be very hard to stop once she has made up her mind."
"She's right next to me. I'm okay too, thanks for asking." -- Ahsoka Tano responding to Anakin's queries about Padmé.
Clone Wars:The Valley Captain Typho investigates a new threat to Naboo in this exclusive webcomic.
Video Commentary Director Dave Filoni discusses how the production crew is now capable of creating more new character models than ever before.
Bringing the Fight to the Heart of the Republic, the Mandalorian Death Watch is BACK in an All-New Episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- This Friday at 9:00pm on Cartoon Network!
On the run from Republic authorities, Duchess Satine and Obi-Wan set off to discover the truth behind Death Watch.
Reunited with a former flame while on a mission of vital importance to the war effort, Obi-Wan Kenobi must defend his convictions and fight for his beliefs -- even though taking up arms drives him further from the woman he once loved.
Watch The Clone Wars The Mandalore Plot Now!
In this video, the director talks about voicing an all new character in The Clone Wars.


text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}

It is well known that energy-time entanglement not only results in a linear dependence of the two-photon absorption (TPA) rate on photon flux \cite{Gea89,Jav90} but also in additional enhancements of the TPA rate \cite{You08,You09,You10,Oka10,Oka18a,Oka18b}. These quantum advantages have been demonstrated experimentally in atomic \cite{Geo95,Day04,Svo19} and molecular \cite{Lee06,Guz10,Guz13} systems, motivating a number of systematic studies of the influence of the specific level structure of these systems on the TPA rate \cite{Per98,Sal98,Leo13,Svo18,Svo19,Sch16a,Sch16b,Sch17a,Sch17b,Sch18,Shaul20,Lutz21,Raymer21,Ric10,Ros13}. However, there is still considerable debate concerning the reliability of theoretical predictions with regard to specific molecular systems \cite{Tab21,Par21,Raymer1,Raymer2,Raymer3,Raymer4}. The main conclusion that can be drawn from these studies seems to be that the actual enhancement depends on the specific level structure of the intermediate levels. The actual mechanism of entanglement-enhanced TPA is therefore more complicated than the original idea suggested. It is therefore interesting to ask whether it may be possible to introduce a new experimental method that would allow us to characterize the dependence of TPA enhancement on the spectrum of intermediate levels in a sufficiently simple and systematic manner.

In the present paper, we point out that the theoretical description of TPA includes a very broad spectral feature that is anti-symmetric around the resonant frequency. The contribution of this anti-symmetric feature to the TPA rate can be enhanced significantly by introducing a phase flip in the spectrum of the broadband entangled two-photon state. Although the same phase flip reduces the symmetric contributions that are responsible for resonant absorptions, the enhancement of off-resonant absorption by a resonant phase flip tends to outweigh the loss of resonant TPA contributions. Our theoretical analysis is based on a general description of the TPA process where intermediate resonances are represented by Lorentz lines. We can then characterize the effects of a phase flip at a specific frequency for each of the intermediate resonances. The effect of the phase flip on a single intermediate resonance shows the expected resonant enhancement, which can be evaluated in terms of the ratio of the TPA rate relative to the TPA rate without the phase flip. We find that the resonant enhancement depends on the distance between the resonant frequency and the center of the spectrum, where both input photons have the same frequency. This result indicates that spectral phase flips could be used to identify intermediate resonances at the low end of the two-photon spectrum without the need for direct photon detection in that frequency region.

In systems with more complicated level structures, quantum interferences between the different intermediate levels may modify the effects of resonant enhancements. We have studied the effects of interferences between two levels with regard to both constructive and destructive interferences. When the linewidths are narrow, the resonant enhancements are modified only slightly. However, interference modifies the contributions to the TPA rate for entangled photons without a phase flip. In particular, two contributions can be completely cancelled by destructive interference. In this case, the phase flip is needed in order to activate TPA involving these intermediate levels. Spectral phase flips can thus be used to characterize interference effects between different resonances by contrasting the TPA observed when the phase flip is between the two resonances with the TPA observed without a phase flip.

The results of our analysis show that spectral phase flips can be used to characterize intermediate resonances in TPA using broadband entangled photons. Interestingly, the sensitivity of this method increases at the lower and higher ends of the spectrum, indicating that spectral phase flips may be a useful alternative to direct detection of radiation at these ends of the spectrum. It is also worth noting that the phase flip method can be applied to enhance TPA without any prior knowledge of the level structure of a material, simply by adapting the frequency of the phase flip to the experimentally observed resonances. Spectral phase flips may thus serve as a practical and uncomplicated method of adapting the phase dispersion of broadband entangled light to the spectral features of a specific material.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In section \ref{sec:phaseflip}, we give a brief introduction on the theoretical description of TPA in terms of the spectrum of intermediate levels and introduce a phase flip to the input state. In section \ref{sec:single}, we discuss the enhancement of the TPA rate achieved by the introduction of the phase flip for a single intermediate level. In section \ref{sec:Interference}, we discuss the interference effects between different resonances. Section \ref{sec:conclude} summarizes the results and concludes the paper.

\section{Effects of a spectral phase flip on the absorption of broadband entangled photons}
\label{sec:phaseflip}

The TPA process is described by the linear dynamics of a two-photon wavefunction and the level structure of the absorbing material. It is therefore possible to represent the probability of a TPA in terms of an inner product of the initial two-photon state and a maximally absorbed state representing the dynamics of the intermediate levels. For entangled photons, the sum frequency of the two photons can be resonant with the two photon transition between the ground state $|g>$ and the final state $|f>$. The rate of TPA then depends only on the overlap between the frequency difference wavefunction $\Phi(\omega_-)$ of the input photons with the frequency difference wavefunction of the optimally absorbed state $\Gamma(\omega_-)$ \cite{Li21,SPIE21},
\begin{equation}
\label{P_TPA}
P_{\mathrm{TPA}}= P_{\mathrm{gf}} \; \left|\int \Gamma(\omega_-) \Phi(\omega_-) d\omega_- \right|^2.
\end{equation}
The probability $P_{\mathrm{gf}}$ determines the transition probability when the overlap between the wavefunctions is one. The material response is encoded in the wavefunction of the optimally absorbed state. As shown in \cite{Li21}, it is possible to derive this wavefunction directly from the Hamiltonian of the electronic system, where different energy eigenstates appear as delta-like resonances,
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:KKR}
\Gamma(\omega_-) = \sum_m 2 C_m \left(\pi \delta(\omega_-+\nu_m)+ \pi \delta(\omega_--\nu_m) + \frac{i}{\omega_-+\nu_m} - \frac{i}{\omega_--\nu_m} \right).
\end{equation}
In an idealized system, each intermediate level $m$ is an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian with an energy uncertainty of zero. The complex coefficients $C_m$ represent the transition matrix elements and the frequencies $\nu_m$ represent the difference between the single photon resonance of the level and the average frequency of the two absorbed photons, $\omega_{gf}/2$. Eq.(\ref{eq:KKR}) shows that every level $m$ contributes both a resonant part given by the delta functions at $\omega_-=\pm \nu_m$ and an off-resonant part related to the resonant contributions by Kramers-Kronig relations \cite{Li21}. $\Gamma(\omega_-)$ thus represents the Hamiltonian dynamics of the material response responsible for TPA.

In a realistic description of the material response, the Hamiltonian of the material system would have to include all interactions between the electronic system and other degrees of freedom. The best way to take these interactions into account is to introduce a Lorentzian broadening of each level. The wavefunction describing the absorption process can then be expressed as
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{Re-Im}
\Gamma(\omega_-)=\sum_m 2 C_m \left(\frac{1}{\gamma_m-i(\nu_m+\omega_-)} +  \frac{1}{\gamma_m-i(\nu_m-\omega_-)}\right),
\end{eqnarray}
where $\gamma_m$ is the linewidth of the resonance associated with the intermediate level $m$. The complex Lorentz lines in Eq.(\ref{Re-Im}) describe the characteristic phase dispersion of this resonance. It is possible to identify the real part of this response with the resonant contribution to the absorption and the imaginary part with the off-resonant contribution. The resonant contribution is symmetric in the frequency difference $\omega_-$ around the resonance at $\pm\nu_m$ and the off-resonant contribution is anti-symmetric around $\pm\nu_m$. The spectrum of the off-resonant contribution is wider, confirming that it is the dominant contribution when the frequencies of the input photons do not match the resonances of the intermediate levels. However, the anti-symmetry of the off-resonant contribution means that they will tend to cancel out in the integral given in Eq.(\ref{P_TPA}) if the input state $\Phi(\omega_-)$ has the same phase for all frequency differences $\omega_-$ because the contributions have opposite sign for $\omega_-<\nu_m$ and for $\omega_->\nu_m$. In order to maximize the absorption associated with the imaginary part of $\Gamma(\omega_-)$, it is therefore useful to introduce a spectral phase flip in the spectral wavefunction $\Phi(\omega_-)$ of the input photons at $\omega_-=\nu_m$.

The introduction of a spectral phase flip at a specific frequency is a comparatively simple modification of a broadband entangled state that can be applied independent of the material properties of the absorber. We consider a broadband entangled state with a bandwidth of $b$ modified by a spectral phase flip at $\omega_-=\delta_s$,
\begin{equation}
\label{Phi_sym}
\Phi(\omega_-)= \left\{
\begin{array}{ccc} \displaystyle
-\frac{1}{\sqrt{b}} && \mbox{for} \hspace{0.2cm} |\omega_-|<\delta_s,
\\[0.5cm]
\displaystyle \frac{1}{\sqrt{b}} && \mbox{for} \hspace{0.2cm} \delta_s<|\omega_-|<b/2,
\\[0.5cm]
\displaystyle 0 && \mbox{for} \hspace{0.2cm} |\omega_-|>b/2,
\end{array} \right.
\end{equation}
where $0<\delta_s<b/2$. Note that the phase flip appears at both positive and negative values of $\omega_-$. This is a result of the bosonic symmetry of the photon wavefunction. In general, the above input state can be implemented by applying a phase shift of $\pi$ to all photons above a frequency of $\omega_{gf}/2+\delta_s$, using conventional pulse shaping technology \cite{Day04}. Also, we have chosen a negative sign for the wavefunction of the original input state, so that the wavefunction at $\delta_s=0$ is positive. Both $\delta_s=0$ and $|\delta_s|=b/2$ reproduce the original broadband entangled state, but the overall phase is opposite.

The phase flip in the dispersion of the state will change the contribution of each resonance to the integral in Eq.(\ref{P_TPA}) according to the difference between the resonance $\delta_s$ at which the phase flip is applied and the resonant frequencies $\nu_m$ and $-\nu_m$. It is possible to solve these integrals for each level $m$, where we distinguish the integral of the resonant contribution $A_m(\delta_s)$ from the integral of the off-resonant contribution $B_m(\delta_s)$. The rate of TPA is then expressed by the squared sum of these contributions,
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{P_AB}
P_{\mathrm{TPA}}(\delta_s)= \frac{P_{\mathrm{gf}}}{b} \; \left|\sum_m 2 C_m\left(A_m(\delta_s)+iB_m(\delta_s)\right) \right|^2
\end{eqnarray}
where
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{Am}
A_m(\delta_s)=\left(2\text{arctan}\left(\frac{b/2+\nu_m}{\gamma_{m}}\right)+2\text{arctan}\left(\frac{b/2-\nu_m}{\gamma_{m}}\right)\right)-2\left(2\arctan\left(\frac{\left|\delta_s\right|+\nu_m}{\gamma_{m}}\right)+2\arctan\left(\frac{\left|\delta_s\right|-\nu_m}{\gamma_{m}}\right)\right)
\end{eqnarray}
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{Bm}
B_m(\delta_s)=\ln\left(\frac{(b/2+\nu_m)^2+\gamma_{m}}{(b/2-\nu_m)^2+\gamma_{m}^2}\right)-2\ln\left(\frac{(|\delta_s|+\nu_m)^2+\gamma_{m})^2}{(|\delta_s|-\nu_m)^2+\gamma_{m}^2}\right).
\end{eqnarray}
The dependence of the amplitudes $A_m(\delta_s)$ and $B_m(\delta_s)$ on the frequency $\delta_s$ of the phase flip is shown in Fig. \ref{AB}. The resonant contributions $A_m(\delta_s)$ describe a change of sign at $\delta_s=-\nu_m$ and at $\delta_s=+\nu_m$, broadened by the linewidth $\gamma_m$. The absolute value of this contribution only changes close to the resonance, where it drops to zero as the sign changes. This is very different from the dependence of the off-resonant contributions $B_m(\delta_s)$ on the frequency  $\delta_s$ of the phase flip. These contributions are comparatively low at $\delta_s=0$ because of the cancellation of positive and negative contributions in the integral. The phase flip modifies this cancelation, achieving a maximal absolute value when the phase flip is at resonance ($\delta_s=\pm \nu_m$).

\begin{figure} [ht]
   \begin{center}
\begin{picture}(500,230)
\put(0,0){\makebox(500,250){
\scalebox{0.5}[0.5]{
\includegraphics{fig1.pdf}}}}
\end{picture}
\vspace{-2cm}
   \end{center}
\caption{\label{AB}  Dependence of the resonant contribution $A_m$ (a) and the off-resonant contribution $B_m$ (b) on the frequency $\delta_s$ of the phase flip for an intermediate level of frequency $\nu_m=b/4$, where $b$ is the bandwidth of the entangled input state. Sharp resonant features are obtained for a linewidth of $\gamma_m=\nu_m/20$ (solid line) and $\gamma_m=\nu_m/10$ (dashed line). At $\gamma_m=\nu_m/3$ (dashed-dotted line), the features are significantly reduced by the broadening of the resonance.}
\end{figure}

The precise resonant features described by Eqs.(\ref{Am}) and (\ref{Bm}) depend on the bandwidth $b$, the linewidth $\gamma_m$, and the resonant frequency $\nu_m$. In Fig. \ref{AB}, the variable $\delta_s$ has been scaled using the resonance $\nu_m$ to accommodate the fact that resonance is achieved at $\delta_s=\nu_m$. The linewidth then determines the broadening of the resonant features in a rather straightforward manner. The bandwidth $b$ has an effect on the values of $A_m$ and $B_m$ at $\delta_s=0$, which corresponds to a broadband entangled state without any phase flip. It may be interesting to consider the values of $A_m$ and $B_m$ at $\delta_s=0$ in the limit of bandwidths that are much larger than $\nu_m$ and $\gamma_{m}$. In this broadband limit, $A_m(\delta_s=0)$ approaches $4 \arctan(\infty)=2\pi$ and $B_m(\delta_s=0)$ is negligibly small, reflecting the integrals of the real and imaginary parts of a Lorentz line over all frequencies. In general, the bandwidth $b$ introduces an offset to both $A_m$ and $B_m$, with positive values smaller than $2 \pi$ for $A_m$ and positive values that drop to zero in the broadband limit for $B_m$.

At $\delta_s=0$, there is a significant resonant contribution $A_m$ and a much smaller contribution $B_m$. In the broadband limit, $A_m(\delta_s=0)=2 \pi$ and $B_m(\delta_s=0)=0$. As the phase flip freqency $\delta_s$ is moved towards resonance, $A_m$ decreases and $B_m$ increases, until the values at resonance are effectively reversed. For sufficiently narrow linewidths ($\gamma_m \ll \nu_m$), the broadband limit gives $A_m(|\delta_s|=\nu_m)=0$ and $B_m(|\delta_s|=\nu_m)=-4 \ln(2 \nu_m/\gamma_m)$, indicating an enhancement of the TPA rate given by the squared ratio of $B_m(|\delta_s|=\nu_m)$ and $A_m(\delta_s=0)$,
\begin{equation}
\label{eq:ratio}
\left(\frac{B_m(|\delta_s|=\nu_m)}{A_m(\delta_s=0)}\right)^2 \approx \left(\frac{2}{\pi}\ln(2 \nu_m/\gamma_m)\right)^2.
\end{equation}
However, this enhancement factor cannot be observed in isolation, since it always appears in a sum with all of the other intermediate levels $m$. For a systematic analysis of the enhancement effect, it is therefore convenient to consider the case of a single intermediate level first.

\section{Enhancement of absorption for a single intermediate resonance}
\label{sec:single}

In the case of a single intermediate level at a resonant frequency of $\nu_0$, the rate of TPA can be found by adding the squared values of the real and imaginary contributions $A_0$ and $B_0$,
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{single TPA}
P_{\mathrm{TPA}}(\delta_s)= \frac{P_{\mathrm{gf}}|C_0|^2}{b}(A_0^2(\delta_s)+B_0^2(\delta_s)).
\end{eqnarray}
To understand the physics of TPA enhancement, it is useful to consider the values of $A_0^2$ and of $B_0^2$ separately. Fig. \ref{squares} shows the resonant contribution $A_0^2$ and the off-resonant contribution $B_0^2$ for different linewidths. Using the squared values, it is easy to confirm the opposite roles of these two contributions. $A_0^2$ is very low at $\delta_s=0$ and initially drops to zero at small values of $|\delta_s|$, while $B_0^2$ is initially at its maximal value. As $\delta_s$ approaches the resonance at $|\delta_s|=\nu_0$, $A_0^2$ drops to zero and $B_0^2$ rises towards its maximum. It is important to note that the shape of the minimum of $A_0^2$ is not very different from the shape of the maximum of $B_0^2$, despite the different mathematical forms given by Eqs. (\ref{Am}) and (\ref{Bm}). As discussed above, the two contributions exchange roles on resonance, and enhancements are possible because the value of $B_m^2$ at resonance ($\delta_s=\nu_0$) exceeds the value of $A_m^2$ at $\delta_s=0$. However, Fig. \ref{squares} also illustrates the limits of this enhancement effect. At a linewidth of $\gamma_0=\nu_0/3$ and a bandwidth of $b=4 \nu_0$, the suppression of $A_0^2$ and the enhancement of $B_0^2$ approximately cancel each other. Enhancement thus depends on both bandwidth and linewidth, both expressed in terms of the separation $\nu_0$ between the resonance of the single intermediate level and the average photon frequency $\omega_{gf}/2$.

\begin{figure} [ht]
   \begin{center}
\begin{picture}(500,200)
\put(0,0){\makebox(500,230){
\scalebox{0.52}[0.52]{
\includegraphics{fig2.pdf}}}}
\end{picture}
\vspace{-2cm}
   \end{center}
\caption{\label{squares}  Contributions to the TPA rate for a single intermediate level for various linewidths $\gamma_0$. The dashed lines show the resonant contribution $A_0^2/4\pi^2$ and the solid lines show the off-resonant contribution $B_0^2/4\pi^2$ as a function of the frequency $\delta_s$ of the phase flip. The bandwidth is $b=4\nu_0$. (a) shows the results for a linewidth of $\gamma_0=\nu_0/3$, (b) shows the results for $\gamma_0=\nu_0/10$, and (c) shows the results for $\gamma_0=\nu_0/20$.}
\end{figure}

To evaluate the enhancement, it is useful to compare the TPA rate with a phase flip at $\delta_s$ with the TPA rate in the absence of a phase flip, corresponding to $\delta_s=0$,
\begin{equation}
\label{g}
g(\delta_s) = \frac{P_{\mathrm{TPA}}(\delta_s)}{P_{\mathrm{TPA}}(0)}.
\end{equation}

\begin{figure} [ht]
   \begin{center}
\begin{picture}(500,205)
\put(0,0){\makebox(500,250){
\scalebox{0.45}[0.45]{
\includegraphics{fig3.pdf}}}}
\end{picture}
\vspace{-2cm}
   \end{center}
\caption{\label{enhancement} The enhancement factor $g$ as a function of the frequency $\delta_s$ of the phase shift for different linewidths. The bandwidth is $b=4\nu_0$. The solid line shows the enhancement for $\gamma_0=\nu_0/20$, the dashed line shows the enhancement for $\gamma_0=\nu_0/10$, and the dashed-dotted line shows the enhancement for $\gamma_0=\nu_0/3$. The bold black  line indicates $g=1$ (no enhancement) for reference. Note that the enhancement factor for $\gamma_0=\nu_0/3$ is below one at all frequencies $\delta_s$, indicating the absence of any enhancement at that linewidth.}
\end{figure}

The enhancement factors for different linewidths are shown in Fig. \ref{enhancement}. For a linewidth of $\gamma_0=\nu_0/3$, there is no enhancement effect and the TPA rate is actually reduced by the phase flips. However, significant enhancements are observed at narrower linewidths, with a maximum close to the resonant frequency of $\delta_s=\pm \nu_0$. It is interesting to note that the enhancement factor always has values below one for small values of $|\delta_s|$ because of the reduction of the values of $B_0^2$ shown in Fig. \ref{squares}. Phase flips at $\delta_s\ll \nu_0$ reduce both $A_0^2$ and $B_0^2$, resulting in an overall supression of TPA rates. Actual enhancements are only observed if the linewidth is sufficiently narrow, and the maximal value of the enhancement depends on the ratio of linewidth $\gamma_0$ and resonant frequency $\nu_0$. Since the maximal enhancement is typically obtained at the resonant frequency $\delta_s=\nu_0$, it is useful to define the resonant enhancement as $g_{\mathrm{res.}}=g(\delta_s=\nu_0)$. In the broadband limit, the resonant enhancement is given by
\begin{equation}
g_{res.}(\mathrm{broadband})=(1 - \frac{2}{\pi}\arctan(2\nu_0/\gamma_0))^2+(\frac{2}{\pi} \ln(1+2 \nu_0/\gamma_0))^2.
\end{equation}

\begin{figure} [ht]
   \begin{center}
\begin{picture}(500,230)
\put(0,0){\makebox(500,250){
\scalebox{0.43}[0.43]{
\includegraphics{fig4.pdf}}}}
\end{picture}
\vspace{-2cm}
   \end{center}
\caption{\label{compare} Dependence of the resonant enhancement factor $g_{res.}$ on the inverse linewidth $\nu_0/\gamma_0$. The solid line gives the broadband limit, the dashed line corresponds to a bandwidth of $b=8 \nu_0$, the dashed-dotted line to a bandwidth of $b=6 \nu_0$, and the dotted line to a bandwidth of $b=4 \nu_0$. The bold black line indicates $g_{res.}=1$ (no enhancement) for reference.}
\end{figure}

Fig. \ref{compare} shows the dependence of resonant enhancement on the ratio of resonant frequency $\nu_0$ and linewidth $\gamma_0$. The broadband limit describes the maximal enhancement for the respective linewidth ratio. The figure also shows resonant enhancements for narrower bandwidths. At a bandwidth of $b=4 \nu_0$, the enhancement is reduced significantly as a result of the non-zero value of the off-resonant contribution $A_0^2$ at $\delta_s=0$. However, the qualitative dependence of resonant enhancement on the linewidth ratio is unchanged. Even in the broadband limit, enhancement is only observed when the linewidth is sufficiently narrow.

For sufficiently narrow linewidths, it is possible to simplify the broadband limit formula by using Eq.(\ref{eq:ratio}). The approximate formula is given by
\begin{equation}
\label{rough g}
g_{res.}(\mathrm{broadband})\approx (\frac{2}{\pi} \ln(2 \nu_0/\gamma_0))^2.
\end{equation}
This formula is particularly useful to estimate the necessary inverse linewidth for a specific enhancement factor. For instance, an enhancement by a factor of $4$ requires a minimal inverse linewidth of $\nu_0/\gamma_0 = \frac{1}{2} e^{\pi}$, a ratio of approximately $11.6$. Although the formula is less reliable at lower enhancement factors, it may be interesting to use it to estimate the inverse linewidth required for an enhancement factor of one. The formal result is $\nu_0/\gamma_0 =\frac{1}{2} e^{\pi/2}$, a ratio of approximately $2.4$. Although by no means precise, it seems reasonable to assume that no enhancement can be observed when the inverse linewidth $\nu_0/\gamma_0$ is smaller than $2.4$.

At first sight, it may seem difficult to find materials with sufficiently narrow linewidths for a significant TPA enhancement using a resonant phase flip. However, it should be kept in mind that the condition refers to the ratio of the linewidth $\gamma_0$ and the resonant frequency $\nu_0$. If $\nu_0$ is large, it may be possible to satisfy the condition even if $\gamma_0$ is relatively broad. Ideally, we would be looking for materials with intermediate levels in the center of the lower or upper half of the broadband spectrum, where $\nu_0=b/4$. If the bandwidth of the input state is sufficient, the resonant band at $\nu_0$ could be rather wide and still produce a resonant enhancement effect. If a scan of the phase flip frequency is used as a method of spectroscopy, it may therefore be possible to use this enhancement effect to identify intermediate levels with resonant transitions at very high or very low frequencies. The argument that was given here for a single resonant level may then be applied to a whole band of intermediate states that are too close to each other to be resolved. It may be good to remember that the introduction of broadened resonances was motivated by the dephasing and relaxation effects in open systems. We can thus expect that a number of complicated systems can be described in this approximate manner. To understand the possible limitations of this method, it is necessary to consider the possible effects of interferences between different intermediate levels, as described by the general formula in Eq. (\ref{P_AB}).

\section{Interference effects between different intermediate resonances}
\label{sec:Interference}

The basic enhancement effect consisting in an increase of the value of $B_m$ at resonance can be observed even in the presence of multiple intermediate levels $m$. However, it needs to be remembered that the sign of $A_m$ changes at resonance, resulting in a switch between constructive and destructive interferences of $A_m$ with the contributions from other intermediate levels. In this section, we will investigate the effects of such interferences on the TPA rate.

As an example, let us consider the case of two intermediate levels at resonances $\nu_1$ and $\nu_2$ with coefficients of $C_1$ and $C_2$ describing the associated transition matrix elements. According to Eq.(\ref{P_AB}), the contributions of the two levels must be added before the absolute square determines the TPA rate,
\begin{eqnarray}
\label{interference}
P_{\mathrm{TPA}}(\delta_s)=\frac{4P_{\mathrm{gf}}}{b} \; \left| C_1\left(A_1+iB_1\right)+C_2 \left(A_2+iB_2\right) \right|^2.
\end{eqnarray}
To analyze the interference effects, it is necessary to consider the phase relation between the coefficients $C_1$ and $C_2$. For simplicity, we will only consider real values of $C_1$ and $C_2$, with positive signs describing constructive interferences and opposite signs describing destructive interferences. If the absolute values of $C_1$ and $C_2$ are the same, interference effects are described by the separate sums and differences of $A_1$ and $A_2$, and of $B_1$ and $B_2$.

Fig. \ref{onetwo} illustrates the basic interference effects between two intermediate levels with the same linewidths $\gamma_1=\gamma_2=\nu_1/20$, where the resonances are sufficiently separate to recognize two distinct enhancement effects. Interferences between $A_1$ and $A_2$ result in regions where the two contributions cancel and regions where they add up. The contributions of $A_1+A_2$ cancel each other for $\nu_1<|\delta_s|<\nu_2$ and add up outside of this region. For $A_1-A_2$, the contributions add up for $\nu_1<|\delta_s|<\nu_2$ and cancel each other outside of this region. $B_1$ and $B_2$ are dominated by the resonant enhancements. The effects of interferences are strongest for $\nu_1<|\delta_s|<\nu_2$, where $B_1-B_2$ drops to zero and changes its sign, whereas $B_1+B_2$ remains at high absolute values throughout. In summary, constructive interference results in negligible values of $A_1+A_2$ and high values of $B_1+B_2$ in the region between the resonances, while destructive interferences result in high values of $A_1-A_2$ and low values of $B_1-B_2$. In the sum of the squares, these two interference effects may be hard to distinguish.

\begin{figure} [ht]
   \begin{center}
\begin{picture}(500,320)
\put(0,0){\makebox(500,350){
\scalebox{0.52}[0.52]{
\includegraphics{fig5.pdf}}}}
\end{picture}
\vspace{-2cm}
   \end{center}
\caption{\label{onetwo} Illustration of the effects of interferences between two levels for $\nu_2=3 \nu_1$ at a linewidth of $\gamma_1=\gamma_2=\nu_1/20$. (a) shows the $\delta_s$-dependence of resonant contributions $A_1$ (solid line) and $A_2$ (dashed line), (b) shows the $\delta_s$-dependence of off-resonant contributions $B_1$ (solid line) and $B_2$ (dashed line), (c) shows the constructive and destructive interferences $A_1+A_2$ (solid line) and $A_1-A_2$ (dashed line), and (d) shows the constructive and destructive interferences $B_1+B_2$ (solid line) and $B_1-B_2$ (dashed line).}
\end{figure}

The characteristic difference between constructive and destructive interference is seen at $\delta_s=0$, corresponding to the TPA rate without a phase flip. In the broadband limit, we have $A_1(0)=A_2(0)=2\pi$ and $B_1(0)=B_2(0)=0$. Constructive interference results in $A_1(0)+A_2(0)=4 \pi$ and destructive interference results in $A_1(0)-A_2(0)=0$. Due to this interference effect, it is not useful to compare the TPA rates at different frequencies $\delta_s$ with the TPA rate at $\delta_s=0$. Instead, we will simply compare the two results directly. Fig. \ref{fig6} shows the TPA rates for constructive and destructive interferences, with all other parameters being equal. As expected, destructive interference reduces the resonant TPA rates while constructive interferences enhance them. However, destructive interference completely suppresses the TPA rates close to $\delta_s=0$. It is therefore quite remarkable that comparatively high TPA rates can be obtained for destructive interferences when the frequency of the phase flip is between the resonances at $\nu_1<|\delta_s|<\nu_2$. This activation of transitions that interfere destructively may be one of the most interesting aspects of the phase relation between the coefficients $C_m$. Constructive interference is consistent with the idea that levels close to each other correspond to a single broadened transition, even though the individual resonances can be resolved as long as the linewidths are sufficiently narrow. The case of destructive itnerference requires a more thorough analysis due to the suppression of TPA rates at $\delta_s=0$.

\begin{figure} [ht]
   \begin{center}
\begin{picture}(500,220)
\put(0,0){\makebox(500,250){
\scalebox{0.55}[0.55]{
\includegraphics{fig6.pdf}}}}
\end{picture}
\vspace{-2cm}
   \end{center}
\caption{\label{fig6} Dependence of TPA rates of interferences between two intermediate levels on the frequency $\delta_s$ of the phase flip for the same linewidths of $\gamma_1=\gamma_2=\nu_1/20$. The  solid lines show the results for constructive interference and the dashed  lines show the results for destructive interference. In (a) the second resonance is at $\nu_2=3 \nu_1$ and in (b) it is at $\nu_2=1.5 \nu_1$.}
\end{figure}

\section{Conclusions}
\label{sec:conclude}

We have shown that a spectral phase flip introduced at a frequency difference of $\delta_s$ from the average frequency of the entangled photons can enhance the TPA of the entangled photons significantly when it is resonant with an intermediate level involved in the TPA process. This effect might be useful in the characterization of intermediate levels far away from the average photon frequency, providing access to frequencies at the far ends of the broadband spectrum. Interference effects between different transitions might complicate the picture somewhat, with an interesting possibility of activating forbidden transitions when the phase flip is placed between two destructively interfering transitions. In general, the application of a spectral phase flip requires no prior knowledge of the level structure of a two-photon absorber and can be adjusted for optimal enhancement effects based on the experimental data. The dependence of TPA rates on the frequency of the phase flip highlights a fundamental aspect of phase dispersion in the TPA process that may have a wide range of applications in the future.

\begin{acknowledgments}
This work has been supported by JST-CREST (JPMJCR1674), Japan Science and Technology Agency. Baihong Li was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (12074309) and the Youth Innovation Team of Shaanxi Universities.
\end{acknowledgments}

\vspace{0.5cm}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9- by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray. Line it with parchment paper cut with an ample overhang on all four sides.
Combine the salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, white pepper, and flour in a medium bowl and whisk together.
Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter browns, five to seven minutes. Watch it carefully, as it can go from brown to burnt very quickly. Cool to just warm, then combine the two sugars, sorghum, egg, and liquid browned butter—including the browned bits in the butter—in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
Spread the batter out evenly in the prepared pan and bake the blondies until they are fragrant and beginning to brown around the edges but are still soft to the touch, eight to 12 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until firm, about one hour. Remove them from the pan, peel the parchment paper off, and flip them onto a cutting board. Cut them into 16 rectangles and freeze them overnight. Wrapped airtight, the blondies will keep for up to two weeks in the freezer.
Combine the plums, sugar, and lemon juice and toss to coat. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Combine the plums, their juices, and the vanilla extract in a small saucepan and cook them over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the plums soften to a jam-like texture, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and process with a hand blender or in a food processor until smooth. Cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate. The plum ripple will keep for up to four days in the refrigerator.
Roast the sesame seeds in a sauté pan over low heat until they begin to pop, three to five minutes. Transfer them to a plate and cool to room temperature. Put the seeds in a food processor and pulse just to crush them up a bit into a rough paste. Put the yolks in a bowl. Combine the sugar, salt, cream, milk, and sesame seeds in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stir well, and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat. Pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then whisk in an additional cup. Whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the hot cream in the saucepan. Return the saucepan to medium-low heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula, 12 to 15 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a large heatproof bowl and use a hand blender to blend until smooth. Set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice and water and stir occasionally until the mixture is completely cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to two days.
Spray a 6 1/2- by 9 1/2-inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray. Line it with parchment paper cut with a small overhang on all four sides. Place the pan in the freezer while you churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once churned, scrape the ice cream into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Drop spoonfuls of the chilled plum ripple into the ice cream and swirl them together with a knife. Freeze the ice cream in the pan until hardened, six hours to overnight.
Place a piece of parchment on the surface of the ice cream. Place a cutting board on top of the parchment paper and invert the pan onto the cutting board. Peel the parchment paper off of the ice cream and quickly cut it into eight rectangles to match the size of the blondies. Leaving them on the parchment and cutting board for ease of handling, return the cut ice cream to the freezer to firm up again.
Place a blondie onto each ice cream rectangle and press down lightly. Using an offset spatula, pick the ice cream and blondie up and flip them over. Place another blondie on top to make a sandwich. Repeat. Return to the freezer until the ice cream is firm, at least four hours or overnight. In a covered container, the ice cream sandwiches will keep for up to two weeks in the freezer.
CHEF'S NOTE: It's easy to make the components ahead of time, freeze them, then assemble them into ice cream sandwiches the day they'll be served.


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