9,209 research outputs found
The Unruh Quantum Otto Engine
We introduce a quantum heat engine performing an Otto cycle by using the
thermal properties of the quantum vacuum. Since Hawking and Unruh, it has been
established that the vacuum space, either near a black hole or for an
accelerated observer, behaves as a bath of thermal radiation. In this work, we
present a fully quantum Otto cycle, which relies on the Unruh effect for a
single quantum bit (qubit) in contact with quantum vacuum fluctuations. By
using the notions of quantum thermodynamics and perturbation theory we obtain
that the quantum vacuum can exchange heat and produce work on the qubit.
Moreover, we obtain the efficiency and derive the conditions to have both a
thermodynamic and a kinematic cycle in terms of the initial populations of the
excited state, which define a range of allowed accelerations for the Unruh
engine.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figure
Schema Independent Relational Learning
Learning novel concepts and relations from relational databases is an
important problem with many applications in database systems and machine
learning. Relational learning algorithms learn the definition of a new relation
in terms of existing relations in the database. Nevertheless, the same data set
may be represented under different schemas for various reasons, such as
efficiency, data quality, and usability. Unfortunately, the output of current
relational learning algorithms tends to vary quite substantially over the
choice of schema, both in terms of learning accuracy and efficiency. This
variation complicates their off-the-shelf application. In this paper, we
introduce and formalize the property of schema independence of relational
learning algorithms, and study both the theoretical and empirical dependence of
existing algorithms on the common class of (de) composition schema
transformations. We study both sample-based learning algorithms, which learn
from sets of labeled examples, and query-based algorithms, which learn by
asking queries to an oracle. We prove that current relational learning
algorithms are generally not schema independent. For query-based learning
algorithms we show that the (de) composition transformations influence their
query complexity. We propose Castor, a sample-based relational learning
algorithm that achieves schema independence by leveraging data dependencies. We
support the theoretical results with an empirical study that demonstrates the
schema dependence/independence of several algorithms on existing benchmark and
real-world datasets under (de) compositions
Integrability and Quantum Phase Transitions in Interacting Boson Models
The exact solution of the boson pairing hamiltonian given by Richardson in
the sixties is used to study the phenomena of level crossings and quantum phase
transitions in the integrable regions of the sd and sdg interacting boson
models.Comment: 5 pages, 5 fig. Erice Conferenc
A K-band spectral mini-survey of Galactic B[e] stars
We present a mini-survey of Galactic B[e] stars mainly undertaken with the
Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). B[e] stars show morphological features with
hydrogen emission lines and an infrared excess, attributed to warm
circumstellar dust. In general, these features are assumed to arise from dense,
non-spherical, disk-forming circumstellar material in which molecules and dust
can condensate. Due to the lack of reliable luminosities, the class of Galactic
B[e] stars contains stars at very different stellar evolutionary phases like
Herbig AeBe, supergiants or planetary nebulae. We took near-infrared long-slit
K-band spectra for a sample of Galactic B[e] stars with the LBT-Luci I.
Prominent spectral features, such as the Brackett gamma line and CO band heads
are identified in the spectra. The analysis shows that the stars can be
characterized as evolved objects. Among others we find one LBV candidate
(MWC314), one supergiant B[e] candidate with 13CO (MWC137) and in two cases
(MWC623 and AS 381) indications for the existence of a late-type binary
companion, complementary to previous studies. For MWC84, IR spectra were taken
at different epochs with LBT-Luci I and the GNIRS spectrograph at the Gemini
North telescope. The new data show the disappearance of the circumstellar CO
emission around this star, previously detectable over decades. Also no signs of
a recent prominent eruption leading to the formation of new CO disk emission
are found during 2010 and 2013.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS (in
press
Cross-Dimensional relaxation in Bose-Fermi mixtures
We consider the equilibration rate for fermions in Bose-Fermi mixtures
undergoing cross-dimensional rethermalization. Classical Monte Carlo
simulations of the relaxation process are performed over a wide range of
parameters, focusing on the effects of the mass difference between species and
the degree of initial departure from equilibrium. A simple analysis based on
Enskog's equation is developed and shown to be accurate over a variety of
different parameter regimes. This allows predictions for mixtures of commonly
used alkali atoms.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, uses Revtex 4. This is a companion paper to [PRA
70, 021601(R) (2004)] (cond-mat/0405419
Robust ab initio calculation of condensed matter: transparent convergence through semicardinal multiresolution analysis
We present the first wavelet-based all-electron density-functional
calculations to include gradient corrections and the first in a solid. Direct
comparison shows this approach to be unique in providing systematic
``transparent'' convergence, convergence with a priori prediction of errors, to
beyond chemical (millihartree) accuracy. The method is ideal for exploration of
materials under novel conditions where there is little experience with how
traditional methods perform and for the development and use of chemically
accurate density functionals, which demand reliable access to such precision.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. (updated
to include GGA
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