Reliable entanglement transfer between pure quantum states

The problem of the reliable transfer of entanglement from one pure bipartite quantum state to another using local operations is analyzed. It is shown that in the case of qubits the amount that can be transferred is restricted to the difference between the entanglement of the two states. In the presence of a catalytic state the range of the transferrable amount broadens to a certain degree.Comment: 6 pages, 4 pictures; revised version; to appear in Phys. Rev.

Kinosternon herrerai

Number of Pages: 2Integrative BiologyGeological Science

Study of Growth in Recent and Fossil Invertebrate Exoskeletons and Its Relationship to Tidal Cycles in the Earth-moon System Semiannual Report, May 1 - Oct. 31, 1966

Growth cycles in fossil pelecypod shells and relationship to tidal cycles in earth-moon syste

Evidence for Auto-Correlation and Symmetry Detection in Primary Visual Cortex

The detectability of patterns in random dot arrays was measured as a function of dot density and compared with the statistical limit set by different methods of detecting the pattern. For filtering, cross-correlation, convolution, or template matching, the limit is expected to be inversely proportional to the square root of dot density. But for auto-correlation, which can detect symmetries of various types, the limit is unaffected by dot density under many conditions. Confirming previous results, we found that the coherence-threshold is often constant for Glass patterns, but the range of constancy depends on details of the display procedure. Coherence-thresholds were found to increase when the average number of dots expected at each location rose towards or exceeded a value of one; we therefore think it results from the non-linear effects of occlusion that occur when a later-programmed dot falls in the same location as an earlier one. To test this, these non-linear effects were prevented by arranging the luminance of each location to be directly proportional to the number of times that location was covered by a dot. Millions of dots can be used for these images, and they retain the streakiness of Glass patterns, while discrete dots disappear. The constant coherence threshold for detecting this streakiness is maintained over a huge range of dot densities, extending right down to the range where discrete dots become visible and up to patterns that are essentially full-tone images with no discrete dots. At threshold, all these patterns have similar auto-correlation functions, as we can see from the way both low dot-number Glass-patterns and these mega-dot, multi-tone, Glass-like images are formed. This startling fact raises the question whether primary visual cortex computes auto-correlations as well as, or even instead of, the local, Fourier-type, wavelet analysis of the currently popular paradigm

Evidence for a neural model to evaluate symmetry in V1

50 years ago Hubel and Wiesel discovered simple and complex cells in V1, but there is still no consensus on their functional roles. It is agreed that complex cells are more often selective for direction of motion than simple cells, that there are differences in the way they combine information within their receptive fields, and that complex cells probably receive most of their input from simple cells, but what this serial hierarchy achieves is not understood. There is another puzzling dichotomy that we think is related, namely that of cross-correlation, which is widely accepted as the operation performed on the input image by simple cells, and auto-correlation, which some think underlies the perception of Glass patterns, and possibly motion. We propose the hypothesis that complex cells signal auto-correlations in the visual image, but to evaluate them they require the preliminary analysis done by simple cells, and also pinwheels - structures intervening between simple cells and complex cells that were quite unknown to Hubel and Wiesel. We shall first present psychophysical evidence, using a new kind of random dot display, which suggests that both cross-correlation and auto-correlation are performed in early vision. We then point to recent evidence on the micro-circuitry of pinwheels, and mappings of their intrinsic activity, which shows how pinwheels might enable complex cells to respond selectively to autocorrelations in the input image that activates the simple cells. Auto-correlation is a powerful tool for detecting symmetry, and many may be surprised by evidence that such an abstract property is detected so early in visual perception

Computing Early-time Dynamics in Heavy Ion Collisions: Status, Problems and Prospects

We discuss some recent developments towards a quantitative understanding of the production and early-time evolution of bulk quark-gluon matter in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions.Comment: 10 pages, Invited Talk, Workshop on "QCD evolution of parton distributions: from collinear to non-collinear case", Newport News, VA, 8 - 9 Apr 201

Late Wenlock (middle Silurian) bio-events: Caused by volatile boloid impact/s

Late Wenlockian (late mid-Silurian) life is characterized by three significant changes or bioevents: sudden development of massive carbonate reefs after a long interval of limited reef growth; sudden mass mortality among colonial zooplankton, graptolites; and origination of land plants with vascular tissue (Cooksonia). Both marine bioevents are short in duration and occur essentially simultaneously at the end of the Wenlock without any recorded major climatic change from the general global warm climate. These three disparate biologic events may be linked to sudden environmental change that could have resulted from sudden infusion of a massive amount of ammonia into the tropical ocean. Impact of a boloid or swarm of extraterrestrial bodies containing substantial quantities of a volatile (ammonia) component could provide such an infusion. Major carbonate precipitation (formation), as seen in the reefs as well as, to a more limited extent, in certain brachiopods, would be favored by increased pH resulting from addition of a massive quantity of ammonia into the upper ocean. Because of the buffer capacity of the ocean and dilution effects, the pH would have returned soon to equilibrium. Major proliferation of massive reefs ceased at the same time. Addition of ammonia as fertilizer to terrestrial environments in the tropics would have created optimum environmental conditions for development of land plants with vascular, nutrient-conductive tissue. Fertilization of terrestrial environments thus seemingly preceded development of vascular tissue by a short time interval. Although no direct evidence of impact of a volatile boloid may be found, the bioevent evidence is suggestive that such an impact in the oceans could have taken place. Indeed, in the case of an ammonia boloid, evidence, such as that of the Late Wenlockian bioevents may be the only available data for impact of such a boloid

Geometric gauge potentials and forces in low-dimensional scattering systems

We introduce and analyze several low-dimensional scattering systems that exhibit geometric phase phenomena. The systems are fully solvable and we compare exact solutions of them with those obtained in a Born-Oppenheimer projection approximation. We illustrate how geometric magnetism manifests in them, and explore the relationship between solutions obtained in the diabatic and adiabatic pictures. We provide an example, involving a neutral atom dressed by an external field, in which the system mimics the behavior of a charged particle that interacts with, and is scattered by, a ferromagnetic material. We also introduce a similar system that exhibits Aharonov-Bohm scattering. We propose some practical applications. We provide a theoretical approach that underscores universality in the appearance of geometric gauge forces. We do not insist on degeneracies in the adiabatic Hamiltonian, and we posit that the emergence of geometric gauge forces is a consequence of symmetry breaking in the latter.Comment: (Final version, published in Phy. Rev. A. 86, 042704 (2012