34 research outputs found
The Quantum Curriculum Transformation Framework for the development of Quantum Information Science and Technology Education
The field of Quantum Information Science and Technology (QIST) is booming.
Due to this, many new educational courses and programs are needed in order to
prepare a workforce for the developing industry. Owing to its specialist
nature, teaching approaches in this field can suffer from being disconnected to
the substantial degree of science education research which aims to support the
best approaches to teaching in STEM fields. In order to connect these two
communities with a pragmatic and repeatable methodology, we have generated an
innovative approach, the Quantum Curriculum Transformation Framework (QCTF),
intended to provide a didactical perspective on the creation and transformation
of quantum technologies curricula. For this, we propose a decision tree
consisting of four steps: 1. choose a topic, 2. choose one or more targeted
skills, 3. choose a learning goal and 4. choose a teaching approach that
achieves this goal. We show how this can be done using an example curriculum
and more specifically quantum teleportation as a basic concept of quantum
communication within this curriculum. By approaching curriculum creation and
transformation in this way, educational goals and outcomes are more clearly
defined which is in the interest of the individual and the industry alike. The
framework is intended to structure the narrative of QIST teaching, and will
form a basis for further research in the didactics of QIST, as the need for
high quality education in this field continues to grow.Comment: 19+12 pages, 10 figures. S. Goorney and J. Bley contributed equally
to this wor
Modelling assisted tunneling on the Bloch sphere using the Quantum Composer
The Bloch-sphere representation is a rather simple geometric model for all
possible quantum states of a two-level system. In this article, we propose a
simple geometric model for the time dynamics of a qubit based on the
Bloch-sphere representation. The model can be applied both to time-independent
and time-dependent Hamiltonians. As explicit application, we consider time
dynamics of a particle in a double-well potential. In particular, we adopt a
recent method for off-resonant excitations, the so-called SUPER principle
(Swing-UP of the quantum emitter population) in the context of quantum
tunneling. We show that the tunneling probability can be enhanced by orders of
magnitude when an appropriate oscillation of the potential height is
introduced. Driven by a collaborative approach we call educator-developer
dialogue, an updated version of the software Quantum Composer is presented.
Here it is used for educational purposes, to map the two lowest energy states
of the 1D-Schr\"odinger equation to the Bloch sphere representation, leading to
a rather clear and intuitive physical picture for the pertinent time dynamics.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, submitted to European Journal of Physic
Physics competitions in the time of a pandemic: 3D printing as a new approach to the quantitative investigation of Cartesian divers at home
Despite the difficult circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemics, physics students can tackle interesting questions that are part of physics competitions as the German Physicistsâ Tournament (GPT) 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemics in 2020, many competitions such as the GPT are held online. Furthermore, the usual options of equipment offered by the supervising university institutions could not be used by the students. The problems of the GPT 2020 therefore had to be chosen in such a way that they could be examined at home using simple means. One of these supposedly simple but profound experimentsâthe Cartesian diverâis described in this article. The physics of the Cartesian diver has been discussed before Fakhruddin (2003 Phys. Teach.
41 53), GĂŒĂ©mez et al (2002 Am. J. Phys.
70 710) and De Luca and Ganci (2011 Phys. Educ.
46 528), as well as various modifications (Ivanov and Nikolov 2019 Phys. Educ.
55 025006). We present a new way of investigating Cartesian divers quantitatively by using 3D printing and common household materials. The paper is addressed to undergraduate students and educators teaching physics at university
Visualizing Entanglement in multi-Qubit Systems
In the field of quantum information science and technology, the
representation and visualization of quantum states and related processes are
essential for both research and education. In this context, a focus especially
lies on ensembles of few qubits. There exist many powerful representations for
single-qubit and multi-qubit systems, such as the famous Bloch sphere and
generalizations. Here, we utilize the dimensional circle notation as a
representation of such ensembles, adapting the so-called circle notation of
qubits and the idea of representing the n-particle system in an n-dimensional
space. We show that the mathematical conditions for separability lead to
symmetry conditions of the quantum state visualized, offering a new perspective
on entanglement in few-qubit systems and therefore on various quantum
algorithms. In this way, dimensional notations promise significant potential
for conveying nontrivial quantum entanglement properties and processes in
few-qubit systems to a broader audience, and could enhance understanding of
these concepts as a bridge between intuitive quantum insight and formal
mathematical descriptions.Comment: 22 pages, 20 figure
ESA's Space-based Doppler Wind Lidar Mission Aeolus - First Wind and Aerosol Product Assessment Results
The European Space Agency (ESA) wind mission,
Aeolus, hosts the first space-based Doppler Wind
Lidar (DWL) world-wide. The primary mission
objective is to demonstrate the DWL technique for
measuring wind profiles from space, intended for
assimilation in Numerical Weather Prediction
(NWP) models. The wind observations will also be
used to advance atmospheric dynamics research
and for evaluation of climate models. Mission spinoff products are profiles of cloud and aerosol
optical properties. Aeolus was launched on 22
August 2018, and the Atmospheric LAser Doppler
INstrument (Aladin) instrument switch-on was
completed with first high energy output in wind
mode on 4 September 2018. The on-ground
data processing facility worked excellent, allowing
L2 product output in near-real-time from the start
of the mission. First results from the wind profile
product (L2B) assessment show that the winds are
of very high quality, with random errors in the free
Troposphere within (cloud/aerosol backscatter
winds: 2.1 m/s) and larger (molecular backscatter
winds: 4.3 m/s) than the requirements (2.5 m/s), but
still allowing significant positive impact in first
preliminary NWP impact experiments. The higher
than expected random errors at the time of writing
are amongst others due to a lower instrument outand input photon budget than designed. The
instrument calibration is working well, and some of
the data processing steps are currently being
refined to allow to fully correct instrument
alignment related drifts and elevated detector dark
currents causing biases in the first data product
version. The optical properties spin-off product
(L2A) is being compared e.g. to NWP model
clouds, air quality model forecasts, and collocated
ground-based observations. Features including
optically thick and thin particle and hydrometeor
layers are clearly identified and are being validated
Effects of Aerosols and Clouds on the Levels of Surface Solar Radiation and Solar Energy in Cyprus
Cyprus plans to drastically increase the share of renewable energy sources from 13.9% in 2020 to 22.9% in 2030. Solar energy can play a key role in the effort to fulfil this goal. The potential for production of solar energy over the island is much higher than most of European territory because of the low latitude of the island and the nearly cloudless summers. In this study, high quality and fine resolution satellite retrievals of aerosols and dust, from the newly developed MIDAS climatology, and information for clouds from CM SAF are used in order to quantify the effects of aerosols, dust, and clouds on the levels of surface solar radiation for 2004â2017 and the corresponding financial loss for different types of installations for the production of solar energy. Surface solar radiation climatology has also been developed based on the above information. Ground-based measurements were also incorporated to study the contribution of different species to the aerosol mixture and the effects of day-to-day variability of aerosols on SSR. Aerosols attenuate 5â10% of the annual global horizontal irradiation and 15â35% of the annual direct normal irradiation, while clouds attenuate 25â30% and 35â50% respectively. Dust is responsible for 30â50% of the overall attenuation by aerosols and is the main regulator of the variability of total aerosol. All-sky annual global horizontal irradiation increased significantly in the period of study by 2%, which was mainly attributed to changes in cloudiness
Data quality of Aeolus wind measurements
The European Space Agency (ESA)'s Earth Explorer Aeolus was launched in August 2018 carrying the world's first spaceborne wind lidar, the Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument (ALADIN). ALADIN uses a high spectral resolution Doppler wind lidar operating at 355nm to measure profiles of line-of-sight wind components in near-real-time (NRT). ALADIN samples the atmosphere from 30km altitude down to the Earth's surface or to the level where the lidar signal is attenuated by optically thick clouds.
The global wind profiles provided by ALADIN help to improve weather forecasting and the understanding of atmospheric dynamics as they fill observational gaps in vertically resolved wind profiles mainly in the tropics, southern hemisphere, and over the northern hemisphere oceans. In January 2020, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) became the first numerical weather prediction (NWP) centre to assimilate Aeolus observations for operational forecasting.
A main prerequisite for beneficial impact is data of sufficient quality. Such high data quality has been achieved through close collaboration of all involved parties within the Aeolus Data Innovation and Science Cluster (DISC), which was established after launch to study and improve the data quality of Aeolus products. The tasks of the Aeolus DISC include the instrument and platform monitoring, calibration, characterization, retrieval algorithm refinement, processor evolution, quality monitoring, product validation, and impact assessment for NWP.
The achievements of the Aeolus DISC for the NRT data quality and the current status of Aeolus wind measurements will be described and summarized. Further, an outlook on future improvements and the availability of reprocessed datasets with enhanced data quality will be provided
Genetic and phenotypic spectrum associated with IFIH1 gain-of-function
IFIH1 gain-of-function has been reported as a cause of a type I interferonopathy encompassing a spectrum of autoinflammatory phenotypes including AicardiâGoutiĂšres syndrome and Singleton Merten syndrome. Ascertaining patients through a European and North American collaboration, we set out to describe the molecular, clinical and interferon status of a cohort of individuals with pathogenic heterozygous mutations in IFIH1. We identified 74 individuals from 51 families segregating a total of 27 likely pathogenic mutations in IFIH1. Ten adult individuals, 13.5% of all mutation carriers, were clinically asymptomatic (with seven of these aged over 50 years). All mutations were associated with enhanced type I interferon signaling, including six variants (22%) which were predicted as benign according to multiple in silico pathogenicity programs. The identified mutations cluster close to the ATP binding region of the protein. These data confirm variable expression and nonpenetrance as important characteristics of the IFIH1 genotype, a consistent association with enhanced type I interferon signaling, and a common mutational mechanism involving increased RNA binding affinity or decreased efficiency of ATP hydrolysis and filament disassembly rate