312 research outputs found
Calculating Unknown Eigenvalues with a Quantum Algorithm
Quantum algorithms are able to solve particular problems exponentially faster
than conventional algorithms, when implemented on a quantum computer. However,
all demonstrations to date have required already knowing the answer to
construct the algorithm. We have implemented the complete quantum phase
estimation algorithm for a single qubit unitary in which the answer is
calculated by the algorithm. We use a new approach to implementing the
controlled-unitary operations that lie at the heart of the majority of quantum
algorithms that is more efficient and does not require the eigenvalues of the
unitary to be known. These results point the way to efficient quantum
simulations and quantum metrology applications in the near term, and to
factoring large numbers in the longer term. This approach is architecture
independent and thus can be used in other physical implementations
Quantum Transduction of Telecommunications-band Single Photons from a Quantum Dot by Frequency Upconversion
The ability to transduce non-classical states of light from one wavelength to
another is a requirement for integrating disparate quantum systems that take
advantage of telecommunications-band photons for optical fiber transmission of
quantum information and near-visible, stationary systems for manipulation and
storage. In addition, transducing a single-photon source at 1.3 {\mu}m to
visible wavelengths for detection would be integral to linear optical quantum
computation due to the challenges of detection in the near-infrared. Recently,
transduction at single-photon power levels has been accomplished through
frequency upconversion, but it has yet to be demonstrated for a true
single-photon source. Here, we transduce the triggered single-photon emission
of a semiconductor quantum dot at 1.3 {\mu}m to 710 nm with a total detection
(internal conversion) efficiency of 21% (75%). We demonstrate that the 710 nm
signal maintains the quantum character of the 1.3 {\mu}m signal, yielding a
photon anti-bunched second-order intensity correlation, g^(2)(t), that shows
the optical field is composed of single photons with g^(2)(0) = 0.165 < 0.5.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Variable strength of forest stand attributes and weather conditions on the questing activity of Ixodes ricinus ticks over years in managed forests
Given the ever-increasing human impact through land use and climate change on the environment, we crucially need to achieve a better understanding of those factors that influence the questing activity of ixodid ticks, a major disease-transmitting vector in temperate forests. We investigated variation in the relative questing nymph densities of Ixodes ricinus in differently managed forest types for three years (2008–2010) in SW Germany by drag sampling. We used a hierarchical Bayesian modeling approach to examine the relative effects of habitat and weather and to consider possible nested structures of habitat and climate forces. The questing activity of nymphs was considerably larger in young forest successional stages of thicket compared with pole wood and timber stages. Questing nymph density increased markedly with milder winter temperatures. Generally, the relative strength of the various environmental forces on questing nymph density differed across years. In particular, winter temperature had a negative effect on tick activity across sites in 2008 in contrast to the overall effect of temperature across years. Our results suggest that forest management practices have important impacts on questing nymph density. Variable weather conditions, however, might override the effects of forest management practices on the fluctuations and dynamics of tick populations and activity over years, in particular, the preceding winter temperatures. Therefore, robust predictions and the detection of possible interactions and nested structures of habitat and climate forces can only be quantified through the collection of long-term data. Such data are particularly important with regard to future scenarios of forest management and climate warming
The Evolution of Bat Vestibular Systems in the Face of Potential Antagonistic Selection Pressures for Flight and Echolocation
PMCID: PMC3634842This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Visualizing variation within Global Pneumococcal Sequence Clusters (GPSCs) and country population snapshots to contextualize pneumococcal isolates
Knowledge of pneumococcal lineages, their geographic distribution and antibiotic resistance patterns, can give insights into
global pneumococcal disease. We provide interactive bioinformatic outputs to explore such topics, aiming to increase dissemination of genomic insights to the wider community, without the need for specialist training. We prepared 12 country-specific
phylogenetic snapshots, and international phylogenetic snapshots of 73 common Global Pneumococcal Sequence Clusters
(GPSCs) previously defined using PopPUNK, and present them in Microreact. Gene presence and absence defined using Roary,
and recombination profiles derived from Gubbins are presented in Phandango for each GPSC. Temporal phylogenetic signal
was assessed for each GPSC using BactDating. We provide examples of how such resources can be used. In our example use of
a country-specific phylogenetic snapshot we determined that serotype 14 was observed in nine unrelated genetic backgrounds
in South Africa. The international phylogenetic snapshot of GPSC9, in which most serotype 14 isolates from South Africa
were observed, highlights that there were three independent sub-clusters represented by South African serotype 14 isolates.
We estimated from the GPSC9-dated tree that the sub-clusters were each established in South Africa during the 1980s. We
show how recombination plots allowed the identification of a 20kb recombination spanning the capsular polysaccharide locus
within GPSC97. This was consistent with a switch from serotype 6A to 19A estimated to have occured in the 1990s from the
GPSC97-dated tree. Plots of gene presence/absence of resistance genes (tet, erm, cat) across the GPSC23 phylogeny were
consistent with acquisition of a composite transposon. We estimated from the GPSC23-dated tree that the acquisition occurred
between 1953 and 1975. Finally, we demonstrate the assignment of GPSC31 to 17 externally generated pneumococcal serotype
1 assemblies from Utah via Pathogenwatch. Most of the Utah isolates clustered within GPSC31 in a USA-specific clade with the
most recent common ancestor estimated between 1958 and 1981. The resources we have provided can be used to explore to
data, test hypothesis and generate new hypotheses. The accessible assignment of GPSCs allows others to contextualize their
own collections beyond the data presented here
Quantum Computing
Quantum mechanics---the theory describing the fundamental workings of
nature---is famously counterintuitive: it predicts that a particle can be in
two places at the same time, and that two remote particles can be inextricably
and instantaneously linked. These predictions have been the topic of intense
metaphysical debate ever since the theory's inception early last century.
However, supreme predictive power combined with direct experimental observation
of some of these unusual phenomena leave little doubt as to its fundamental
correctness. In fact, without quantum mechanics we could not explain the
workings of a laser, nor indeed how a fridge magnet operates. Over the last
several decades quantum information science has emerged to seek answers to the
question: can we gain some advantage by storing, transmitting and processing
information encoded in systems that exhibit these unique quantum properties?
Today it is understood that the answer is yes. Many research groups around the
world are working towards one of the most ambitious goals humankind has ever
embarked upon: a quantum computer that promises to exponentially improve
computational power for particular tasks. A number of physical systems,
spanning much of modern physics, are being developed for this task---ranging
from single particles of light to superconducting circuits---and it is not yet
clear which, if any, will ultimately prove successful. Here we describe the
latest developments for each of the leading approaches and explain what the
major challenges are for the future.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, 291 references. Early draft of Nature 464, 45-53
(4 March 2010). Published version is more up-to-date and has several
corrections, but is half the length with far fewer reference
Testing foundations of quantum mechanics with photons
The foundational ideas of quantum mechanics continue to give rise to
counterintuitive theories and physical effects that are in conflict with a
classical description of Nature. Experiments with light at the single photon
level have historically been at the forefront of tests of fundamental quantum
theory and new developments in photonics engineering continue to enable new
experiments. Here we review recent photonic experiments to test two
foundational themes in quantum mechanics: wave-particle duality, central to
recent complementarity and delayed-choice experiments; and Bell nonlocality
where recent theoretical and technological advances have allowed all
controversial loopholes to be separately addressed in different photonics
experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, published as a Nature Physics Insight review
articl
Genomic epidemiology reveals transmission patterns and dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Aotearoa New Zealand
New Zealand, a geographically remote Pacific island with easily sealable borders, implemented a nationwide 'lockdown' of all non-essential services to curb the spread of COVID-19. Here, we generate 649 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences from infected patients in New Zealand with samples collected during the 'first wave', representing 56% of all confirmed cases in this time period. Despite its remoteness, the viruses imported into New Zealand represented nearly all of the genomic diversity sequenced from the global virus population. These data helped to quantify the effectiveness of public health interventions. For example, the effective reproductive number, Re of New Zealand's largest cluster decreased from 7 to 0.2 within the first week of lockdown. Similarly, only 19% of virus introductions into New Zealand resulted in ongoing transmission of more than one additional case. Overall, these results demonstrate the utility of genomic pathogen surveillance to inform public health and disease mitigation
Host Phylogeny Determines Viral Persistence and Replication in Novel Hosts
Pathogens switching to new hosts can result in the emergence of new infectious diseases, and determining which species are likely to be sources of such host shifts is essential to understanding disease threats to both humans and wildlife. However, the factors that determine whether a pathogen can infect a novel host are poorly understood. We have examined the ability of three host-specific RNA-viruses (Drosophila sigma viruses from the family Rhabdoviridae) to persist and replicate in 51 different species of Drosophilidae. Using a novel analytical approach we found that the host phylogeny could explain most of the variation in viral replication and persistence between different host species. This effect is partly driven by viruses reaching a higher titre in those novel hosts most closely related to the original host. However, there is also a strong effect of host phylogeny that is independent of the distance from the original host, with viral titres being similar in groups of related hosts. Most of this effect could be explained by variation in general susceptibility to all three sigma viruses, as there is a strong phylogenetic correlation in the titres of the three viruses. These results suggest that the source of new emerging diseases may often be predictable from the host phylogeny, but that the effect may be more complex than simply causing most host shifts to occur between closely related hosts
A Single-Photon Imager Based on Microwave Plasmonic Superconducting Nanowire
Detecting spatial and temporal information of individual photons by using
single-photon-detector (SPD) arrays is critical to applications in
spectroscopy, communication, biological imaging, astronomical observation, and
quantum-information processing. Among the current SPDs1,detectors based on
superconducting nanowires have outstanding performance2, but are limited in
their ability to be integrated into large scale arrays due to the engineering
difficulty of high-bandwidth cryogenic electronic readout3-8. Here, we address
this problem by demonstrating a scalable single-photon imager using a single
continuous photon-sensitive superconducting nanowire microwave-plasmon
transmission line. By appropriately designing the nanowire's local
electromagnetic environment so that the nanowire guides microwave plasmons, the
propagating voltages signals generated by a photon-detection event were slowed
down to ~ 2% of the speed of light. As a result, the time difference between
arrivals of the signals at the two ends of the nanowire naturally encoded the
position and time of absorption of the photon. Thus, with only two readout
lines, we demonstrated that a 19.7-mm-long nanowire meandered across an area of
286 {\mu}m * 193 {\mu}m was capable of resolving ~590 effective pixels while
simultaneously recording the arrival times of photons with a temporal
resolution of 50 ps. The nanowire imager presents a scalable approach to
realizing high-resolution photon imaging in time and space
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