Point Estimation of States of Finite Quantum Systems

The estimation of the density matrix of a $k$-level quantum system is studied when the parametrization is given by the real and imaginary part of the entries and they are estimated by independent measurements. It is established that the properties of the estimation procedure depend very much on the invertibility of the true state. In particular, in case of a pure state the estimation is less efficient. Moreover, several estimation schemes are compared for the unknown state of a qubit when one copy is measured at a time. It is shown that the average mean quadratic error matrix is the smallest if the applied observables are complementary. The results are illustrated by computer simulations.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Inhomogeneous low temperature epitaxial breakdown during Si overgrowth of GeSi quantum dots

Low temperature epitaxial breakdown of inhomogeneously strained Si capping layers is investigated. By growing Si films on coherently strained GeSi quantum dot surfaces, we differentiate effects of surface roughness, strain, and growth orientation on the mechanism of epitaxial breakdown. Using atomic force microscopy and high resolution cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy we find that while local lattice strain up to 2% has a negligible effect, growth on higher-index facets such as {113} significantly reduces the local breakdown thickness. Nanoscale growth mound formation is observed above all facet orientations. Since diffusion lengths depend directly on the surface orientation, we relate the variation in epitaxial thickness to the low temperature stability of specific growth facets and on the average size of kinetically limited growth mounds.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to the Journal of Applied Physic

On Mutual Information in Multipartite Quantum States and Equality in Strong Subadditivity of Entropy

The challenge of equality in the strong subadditivity inequality of entropy is approached via a general additivity of correlation information in terms of nonoverlapping clusters of subsystems in multipartite states (density operators). A family of tripartite states satisfying equality is derived.Comment: 8 pages; Latex2e and Revtex

The missing link? Design for all elements in ICT education fostering e-inclusion.

Accessible Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems and applications are able to offer an important opportunity for social, political and economic engagement. Additionally, the established principles and practices of Design for All could help to minimise the risk of exclusion of citizens from the information society such as older adults, disabled people, people with low literacy or those not using their first language But what if the future providers of ICT solutions and applications lack the knowledge of Design for All principles and practices, and the skills to apply that knowledge to support innovation and advancement

Covariance and Fisher information in quantum mechanics

Variance and Fisher information are ingredients of the Cramer-Rao inequality. We regard Fisher information as a Riemannian metric on a quantum statistical manifold and choose monotonicity under coarse graining as the fundamental property of variance and Fisher information. In this approach we show that there is a kind of dual one-to-one correspondence between the candidates of the two concepts. We emphasis that Fisher informations are obtained from relative entropies as contrast functions on the state space and argue that the scalar curvature might be interpreted as an uncertainty density on a statistical manifold.Comment: LATE

Design for all as focus in European ICT teaching and training activities.

Both in the EU and UK the goal of digital inclusion demands a broad understanding of the factors that contribute to the risk of exclusion, such as a result of age, disability, low literacy, geography and ethnicity. The overall methodologies and principles of Design for All are well established and address many of the challenges of design for user diversity including older and disabled people. However, these are not yet an established part of the curriculum in mainstream Computing and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in higher level education. The Design for All @eInclusion project investigated the current provision of education and training of future developers and associated disciplines and identified progress and gaps. Best practice included examples of specialist modules and ‘hidden gems’ – instances of small elements such as single lectures that are optional, integrated or embedded within a larger module. These findings contributed to the development of curriculum guidelines which take account of the latest agreements for European harmonisation through the European Qualifications Framework. These guidelines are intended to stimulate the creation of new courses throughout Europe