Searching the Sky with CONFIGR-STARS

SyNAPSE program of the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (HRL Laboratories LLC, subcontract #801881-BS under DARPA prime contract HR0011-09-C-0001); CELEST, a National Science Foundation Science of Learning Center (SBE-0354378)CONFIGR-STARS, a new methodology based on a model of the human visual system, is developed for registration of star images. The algorithm first applies CONFIGR, a neural model that connects sparse and noisy image components. CONFIGR produces a web of connections between stars in a reference starmap or in a test patch of unknown location. CONFIGR-STARS splits the resulting, typically highly connected, web into clusters, or "constellations." Cluster geometry is encoded as a signature vector that records edge lengths and angles relative to the cluster’s baseline edge. The location of a test patch cluster is identified by comparing its signature to signatures in the codebook of a reference starmap, where cluster locations are known. Simulations demonstrate robust performance in spite of image perturbations and omissions, and across starmaps from different sources and seasons. Further studies would test CONFIGR-STARS and algorithm variations applied to very large starmaps and to other technologies that may employ geometric signatures. Open-source code, data, and demos are available from http://techlab.bu.edu/STARS/

Perfect Teleportation and Superdense Coding With W-States

True tripartite entanglement of the state of a system of three qubits can be classified on the basis of stochastic local operations and classical communications (SLOCC). Such states can be classified in two categories: GHZ states and W-states. It is known that GHZ states can be used for teleportation and superdense coding, but the prototype W-state cannot be. However, we show that there is a class of W-states that can be used for perfect teleportation and superdense coding.Comment: 9 pages, no figur

Binary black hole detection rates in inspiral gravitational wave searches

The signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for quasi-circular binary black hole inspirals computed from restricted post-Newtonian waveforms are compared with those attained by more complete post-Newtonian signals, which are superpositions of amplitude-corrected harmonics of the orbital phase. It is shown that if one were to use the best available amplitude-corrected waveforms for detection templates, one should expect SNRs in actual searches to be significantly lower than those suggested by simulations based purely on restricted waveforms.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Experimental Test of Quantum No-Hiding Theorem

Linearity and unitarity are two fundamental tenets of quantum theory. Any consequence that follows from these must be respected in the quantum world. The no-cloning theorem and the no-deleting theorem are the consequences of the linearity and the unitarity. Together with the stronger no-cloning theorem they provide permanence to quantum information, thus, suggesting that in the quantum world information can neither be created nor be destroyed. In this sense quantum information is robust, but at the same time it is also fragile because any interaction with the environment may lead to loss of information. Recently, another fundamental theorem was proved, namely, the no-hiding theorem that addresses precisely the issue of information loss. It says that if any physical process leads to bleaching of quantum information from the original system, then it must reside in the rest of the universe with no information being hidden in the correlation between these two subsystems. This has applications in quantum teleportation, state randomization, private quantum channels, thermalization and black hole evaporation. Here, we report experimental test of the no-hiding theorem with the technique of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We use the quantum state randomization of a qubit as one example of the bleaching process and show that the missing information can be fully recovered up to local unitary transformations in the ancilla qubits. Since NMR offers a way to test fundamental predictions of quantum theory using coherent control of quantum mechanical nuclear spin states, our experiment is a step forward in this direction.Comment: 12 pages, 6 Figs. Jharana Rani Samal, Deceased on her 27th birthday 12th Nov. 2009. The experimental work of this paper was completely carried out by the first author. We dedicate this paper to the memory of the brilliant soul of Ms. Jharana Rani Samal

PONDER - A Real time software backend for pulsar and IPS observations at the Ooty Radio Telescope

This paper describes a new real-time versatile backend, the Pulsar Ooty Radio Telescope New Digital Efficient Receiver (PONDER), which has been designed to operate along with the legacy analog system of the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT). PONDER makes use of the current state of the art computing hardware, a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) and sufficiently large disk storage to support high time resolution real-time data of pulsar observations, obtained by coherent dedispersion over a bandpass of 16 MHz. Four different modes for pulsar observations are implemented in PONDER to provide standard reduced data products, such as time-stamped integrated profiles and dedispersed time series, allowing faster avenues to scientific results for a variety of pulsar studies. Additionally, PONDER also supports general modes of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) measurements and very long baseline interferometry data recording. The IPS mode yields a single polarisation correlated time series of solar wind scintillation over a bandwidth of about four times larger (16 MHz) than that of the legacy system as well as its fluctuation spectrum with high temporal and frequency resolutions. The key point is that all the above modes operate in real time. This paper presents the design aspects of PONDER and outlines the design methodology for future similar backends. It also explains the principal operations of PONDER, illustrates its capabilities for a variety of pulsar and IPS observations and demonstrates its usefulness for a variety of astrophysical studies using the high sensitivity of the ORT.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, Accepted by Experimental Astronom

Enhancement of Geometric Phase by Frustration of Decoherence: A Parrondo like Effect

Geometric phase plays an important role in evolution of pure or mixed quantum states. However, when a system undergoes decoherence the development of geometric phase may be inhibited. Here, we show that when a quantum system interacts with two competing environments there can be enhancement of geometric phase. This effect is akin to Parrondo like effect on the geometric phase which results from quantum frustration of decoherence. Our result suggests that the mechanism of two competing decoherence can be useful in fault-tolerant holonomic quantum computation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Published versio