534 research outputs found
Nonlinearity and nonclassicality in a nanomechanical resonator
We address quantitatively the relationship between the nonlinearity of a
mechanical resonator and the nonclassicality of its ground state. In
particular, we analyze the nonclassical properties of the nonlinear Duffing
oscillator (being driven or not) as a paradigmatic example of a nonlinear
nanomechanical resonator. We first discuss how to quantify the nonlinearity of
this system and then show that the nonclassicality of the ground state, as
measured by the volume occupied by the negative part of the Wigner function,
monotonically increases with the nonlinearity in all the working regimes
addressed in our study. Our results show quantitatively that nonlinearity is a
resource to create nonclassical states in mechanical systems.Comment: 6 pages; 7 figures; RevTeX4-
Quantifying the nonlinearity of a quantum oscillator
We address the quantification of nonlinearity for quantum oscillators and
introduce two measures based on the properties of the ground state rather than
on the form of the potential itself. The first measure is a fidelity-based one,
and corresponds to the renormalized Bures distance between the ground state of
the considered oscillator and the ground state of a reference harmonic
oscillator. Then, in order to avoid the introduction of this auxiliary
oscillator, we introduce a different measure based on the non-Gaussianity (nG)
of the ground state. The two measures are evaluated for a sample of significant
nonlinear potentials and their properties are discussed in some detail. We show
that the two measures are monotone functions of each other in most cases, and
this suggests that the nG-based measure is a suitable choice to capture the
anharmonic nature of a quantum oscillator, and to quantify its nonlinearity
independently on the specific features of the potential. We also provide
examples of potentials where the Bures measure cannot be defined, due to the
lack of a proper reference harmonic potential, while the nG-based measure
properly quantify their nonlinear features. Our results may have implications
in experimental applications where access to the effective potential is
limited, e.g., in quantum control, and protocols rely on information about the
ground or thermal state.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, published versio
Impacts of improving water management of smallholder agriculture in the Upper Blue Nile Basin
With its total area of about 200,000 square kilometers (km2), which is 20% of the country’s land mass, and accommodating 25% of the population, the Upper Blue Nile Basin (Abbay) is one of the most important river basins in Ethiopia. About 40% of agricultural products and 45% of the surface water of the country are contributed by this basin. However, the characteristic-intensive biophysical variation, rapid population growth, land degradation, climatic fluctuation and resultant low agricultural productivity and poverty are posing daunting challenges to sustainability of agricultural production systems in the basin. This calls for technological interventions that not only enhance productivity and livelihoods in the basin, but also bring about positive spillover effects on downstream water users. In this study, the farming systems in the basin have been stratified and characterized; and promising agricultural water management technologies, which may upgrade the productivity of smallholder rainfed agriculture while improving downstream water quality, have been identified. As a consequence, supplementary and full irrigation using rainwater and drainage of waterlogged soils are recognized as being among the promising agricultural water management technologies that can be easily scaled-up in the basin. The magnitude of the impacts of these technologies on the productivity of the upstream farming systems and the concomitant effects on the downstream water flow and quality are under investigation, assuming an assortment of scenarios.Length: pp.7-21River basinsFarming systemsCerealsRainfed farmingWater harvestingIrrigated farming
Connecting Angular Momentum and Galactic Dynamics: The complex Interplay between Spin, Mass, and Morphology
The evolution and distribution of the angular momentum of dark matter (DM)
halos have been discussed in several studies over the past decades. In
particular, the idea arose that angular momentum conservation should allow to
infer the total angular momentum of the entire DM halo from measuring the
angular momentum of the baryonic component, which is populating the center of
the halo, especially for disk galaxies. To test this idea and to understand the
connection between the angular momentum of the DM halo and its galaxy, we use
the Magneticum simulations. We successfully produce populations of spheroidal
and disk galaxies self-consistently. Thus, we are able to study the dependence
of galactic properties on their morphology. We find that (1) the specific
angular momentum of stars in disk and spheroidal galaxies as a function of
their stellar mass compares well with observational results; (2) the specific
angular momentum of the stars in disk galaxies is slightly smaller compared to
the specific angular momentum of the cold gas, in good agreement with
observations; (3) simulations including the baryonic component show a dichotomy
in the specific stellar angular momentum distribution when splitting the
galaxies according to their morphological type (this dichotomy can also be seen
in the spin parameter, where disk galaxies populate halos with slightly larger
spin compared to spheroidal galaxies); (4) disk galaxies preferentially
populate halos in which the angular momentum vector of the DM component in the
central part shows a better alignment to the angular momentum vector of the
entire halo; and (5) the specific angular momentum of the cold gas in disk
galaxies is approximately 40 percent smaller than the specific angular momentum
of the total DM halo and shows a significant scatter.Comment: 25 pages, accepted by ApJ, www.magneticum.or
Quantum phase communication channels assisted by non-deterministic noiseless amplifiers
We address quantum -ary phase-shift keyed (PSK) communication channels in
the presence of phase diffusion, and analyze the use of probabilistic noiseless
linear amplifiers (NLA) to enhance performance of coherent signals. We consider
both static and dynamical phase diffusion and assess the performances of the
channel for ideal and realistic phase receivers. Our results show that NLA
employed at the stage of signal preparations is a useful resource, especially
in the regime of weak signals. We also discuss the interplay between the use of
NLA, and the memory effects occurring with dynamical noise, in determining the
capacity of the channel.Comment: to appear in JOSA
Joint quantum estimation of loss and nonlinearity in driven-dissipative Kerr resonators
We address multiparameter quantum estimation for coherently driven nonlinear
Kerr resonators in the presence of loss. In particular, we consider the
realistic situation in which the parameters of interest are the loss rate and
the nonlinear coupling, whereas the amplitude of the coherent driving is known
and externally tunable. Our results show that this driven-dissipative model is
asymptotically classical, i.e. the Uhlmann curvature vanishes, and the two
parameters may be jointly estimated without any additional noise of quantum
origin. We also find that the ultimate bound to precision, as quantified by the
quantum Fisher information (QFI), increases with the interaction time and the
driving amplitude for both parameters. Finally, we investigate the performance
of quadrature detection, and show that for both parameters the Fisher
information oscillates in time, repeatedly approaching the corresponding QFI
Experimental estimation of one-parameter qubit gates in the presence of phase diffusion
We address estimation of one-parameter qubit gates in the presence of phase
diffusion. We evaluate the ultimate quantum limits to precision, seek for
optimal probes and measurements, and demonstrate an optimal estimation scheme
for polarization qubits. An adaptive method to achieve optimal estimation in
any working regime is also analyzed in details and experimentally implemented.Comment: revised version, to appear on PR
- …