Discriminating quantum-optical beam-splitter channels with number-diagonal signal states: Applications to quantum reading and target detection

We consider the problem of distinguishing, with minimum probability of error, two optical beam-splitter channels with unequal complex-valued reflectivities using general quantum probe states entangled over M signal and M' idler mode pairs of which the signal modes are bounced off the beam splitter while the idler modes are retained losslessly. We obtain a lower bound on the output state fidelity valid for any pure input state. We define number-diagonal signal (NDS) states to be input states whose density operator in the signal modes is diagonal in the multimode number basis. For such input states, we derive series formulas for the optimal error probability, the output state fidelity, and the Chernoff-type upper bounds on the error probability. For the special cases of quantum reading of a classical digital memory and target detection (for which the reflectivities are real valued), we show that for a given input signal photon probability distribution, the fidelity is minimized by the NDS states with that distribution and that for a given average total signal energy N_s, the fidelity is minimized by any multimode Fock state with N_s total signal photons. For reading of an ideal memory, it is shown that Fock state inputs minimize the Chernoff bound. For target detection under high-loss conditions, a no-go result showing the lack of appreciable quantum advantage over coherent state transmitters is derived. A comparison of the error probability performance for quantum reading of number state and two-mode squeezed vacuum state (or EPR state) transmitters relative to coherent state transmitters is presented for various values of the reflectances. While the nonclassical states in general perform better than the coherent state, the quantitative performance gains differ depending on the values of the reflectances.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. This closely approximates the published version. The major change from v2 is that Section IV has been re-organized, with a no-go result for target detection under high loss conditions highlighted. The last sentence of the abstract has been deleted to conform to the arXiv word limit. Please see the PDF for the full abstrac

NANODISCS: A NEW EPOCH IN THE STUDY OF MEMBRANE PROTEINS AND AS AN EMERGING DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM

Nano discs recently evolved as a novel tool for studying the membrane associated proteins and serve as an effective drug delivery system. Nano discs constitute disc shaped nano particles and can be defined as a membrane system which is synthetic in nature and aids in the study of membrane proteins. It is mainly made of phospholipid bilayer and the water repelling edge is isolated by amphipathic proteins called membrane scaffolding proteins [MSP]. Micelles present in the nano disc mimics the property of the biological membrane proteins. It is a powerful technology that competently delivers the drug components in to the right cells in the right tissues. Membrane scaffold proteins are primarily expressed, purified and characterized and self-assembled to form Nano discs by the process of dialysis using biobeads. Nano discs are proven to be effective in the study of membrane proteins because they can fluidize and counterbalance and also help in reclusion, refinement, biophysical and biochemical studies of them. It also presents a more genuine environment than liposomes, bicelles, amphipols and detergent micelles. Major technological advantages of nano discs include the higher stability and carrier capacity and also the increased feasibility of incorporating both hydrophilic and hydrophobic substances of drug carrier. Thus nano discs serves as an excellent system in its ability to precisely control its composition and provide a nano scale membrane surface for investigating molecular recognition events. This article reviews the emphasis of nanodiscs in studying membrane proteins as well as its effectivity in transforming into a major drug delivery system. An overview of published literatures between 1996 and 2017 was conducted to write the review

Generalized Bohr-Sommerfeld rules for anomalies with applications to symmetry breakdown and decoupling

In the presence of anomalies, the requirement that a classical symmetry group G has a proper action on the fermion measure or in the effective Lagrangian description imposes Bohr-Sommerfeld conditions on the anomalies, and often implies that G is broken to a subgroup H as well. We show these results in this paper and apply them to QCD and SU(5). In particular, constraints on the QCD order parameter are derived, and an argument is presented which suggests that the breakdown of the chiral flavor symmetry and the emergence of some sort of generation structure in QCD may be natural

Control of bulk superconductivity in a BCS superconductor by surface charge doping via electrochemical gating

The electrochemical gating technique is a powerful tool to tune the surface conduction properties of various materials by means of pure charge doping, but its efficiency is thought to be hampered in materials with a good electronic screening. We show that, if applied to a metallic superconductor (NbN thin films), this approach allows observing reversible enhancements or suppressions of the bulk superconducting transition temperature, which vary with the thickness of the films. These results are interpreted in terms of proximity effect, and indicate that the effective screening length depends on the induced charge density, becoming much larger than that predicted by standard screening theory at very high electric fields

Recursion Rules for Scattering Amplitudes in Non-Abelian Gauge Theories

We present a functional derivation of recursion rules for scattering amplitudes in a non-Abelian gauge theory in a form valid to arbitrary loop order. The tree-level and one-loop recursion rules are explicitly displayed.Comment: 18 pages, RevTeX, 2 postscript figures, a reference added, minor typographical errors correcte

Precise and ultrafast molecular sieving through graphene oxide membranes

There has been intense interest in filtration and separation properties of graphene-based materials that can have well-defined nanometer pores and exhibit low frictional water flow inside them. Here we investigate molecular permeation through graphene oxide laminates. They are vacuum-tight in the dry state but, if immersed in water, act as molecular sieves blocking all solutes with hydrated radii larger than 4.5A. Smaller ions permeate through the membranes with little impedance, many orders of magnitude faster than the diffusion mechanism can account for. We explain this behavior by a network of nanocapillaries that open up in the hydrated state and accept only species that fit in. The ultrafast separation of small salts is attributed to an 'ion sponge' effect that results in highly concentrated salt solutions inside graphene capillaries

Symmetric M-ary phase discrimination using quantum-optical probe states

We present a theoretical study of minimum error probability discrimination, using quantum- optical probe states, of M optical phase shifts situated symmetrically on the unit circle. We assume ideal lossless conditions and full freedom for implementing quantum measurements and for probe state selection, subject only to a constraint on the average energy, i.e., photon number. In particular, the probe state is allowed to have any number of signal and ancillary modes, and to be pure or mixed. Our results are based on a simple criterion that partitions the set of pure probe states into equivalence classes with the same error probability performance. Under an energy constraint, we find the explicit form of the state that minimizes the error probability. This state is an unentangled but nonclassical single-mode state. The error performance of the optimal state is compared with several standard states in quantum optics. We also show that discrimination with zero error is possible only beyond a threshold energy of (M - 1)/2. For the M = 2 case, we show that the optimum performance is readily demonstrable with current technology. While transmission loss and detector inefficiencies lead to a nonzero erasure probability, the error rate conditional on no erasure is shown to remain the same as the optimal lossless error rate.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure

Phase separation and the effect of quenched disorder in Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3Pr_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_3

The nature of phase separation in $Pr_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_3$ has been probed by linear as well as nonlinear magnetic susceptibilities and resistivity measurements across the 2nd order paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition ($T_C$) and 1st order ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition ($T_N$). We found that the ferromagnetic (metallic) clusters, which form with the onset of long-range order in the system at $T_C$, continuously decrease their size with the decrease in temperature and coexist with non-ferromagnetic (insulating) clusters. These non-ferromagnetic clusters are identified to be antiferromagnetic. Significantly, it is shown that they do not arise because of the superheating effect of the lower temperature 1st order transition. Thus reveals unique phase coexistence in a manganite around half-doping encompassing two long-range order transitions. Both the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic clusters form at $T_C$ and persist much below $T_N$. Substitution of quenched disorder (Ga) at Mn-site promotes antiferromagnetism at the cost of ferromagnetism without adding any magnetic interaction or introducing any significant lattice distortion. Moreover, increase in disorder decreases the ferromagnetic cluster size and with 7.5% Ga substitution clusters size reduces to the single domain limit. Yet, all the samples show significant short-range ferromagnetic interaction much above $T_C$. Resistivity measurements also reveal the novel phase coexistence identified from the magnetic measurements. It is significant that, increase in disorder up to 7.5% increases the resistivity of the low temperature antiferromagnetic phase by about four orders