2,115 research outputs found
Decoherence in qubits due to low-frequency noise
The efficiency of the future devices for quantum information processing is
limited mostly by the finite decoherence rates of the qubits. Recently a
substantial progress was achieved in enhancing the time, which a solid-state
qubit demonstrates a coherent dynamics. This progress is based mostly on a
successful isolation of the qubits from external decoherence sources. Under
these conditions the material-inherent sources of noise start to play a crucial
role. In most cases the noise that quantum device demonstrate has 1/f spectrum.
This suggests that the environment that destroys the phase coherence of the
qubit can be thought of as a system of two-state fluctuators, which experience
random hops between their states. In this short review we discuss the current
state of the theory of the decoherence due to the qubit interaction with the
fluctuators. We describe the effect of such an environment on different
protocols of the qubit manipulations - free induction and echo signal. It turns
out that in many important cases the noise produced by the fluctuators is
non-Gaussian. Consequently the results of the interaction of the qubit with the
fluctuators are not determined by the pair correlation function only.
We describe the effect of the fluctuators using so-called spin-fluctuator
model. Being quite realistic this model allows one to evaluate the qubit
dynamics in the presence of one fluctuator exactly. This solution is found, and
its features, including non-Gaussian effects are analyzed in details. We extend
this consideration for the systems of large number of fluctuators, which
interact with the qubit and lead to the 1/f noise. We discuss existing
experiments on the Josephson qubit manipulation and try to identify
non-Gaussian behavior.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure
Social determinants of content selection in the age of (mis)information
Despite the enthusiastic rhetoric about the so called \emph{collective
intelligence}, conspiracy theories -- e.g. global warming induced by chemtrails
or the link between vaccines and autism -- find on the Web a natural medium for
their dissemination. Users preferentially consume information according to
their system of beliefs and the strife within users of opposite narratives may
result in heated debates. In this work we provide a genuine example of
information consumption from a sample of 1.2 million of Facebook Italian users.
We show by means of a thorough quantitative analysis that information
supporting different worldviews -- i.e. scientific and conspiracist news -- are
consumed in a comparable way by their respective users. Moreover, we measure
the effect of the exposure to 4709 evidently false information (satirical
version of conspiracy theses) and to 4502 debunking memes (information aiming
at contrasting unsubstantiated rumors) of the most polarized users of
conspiracy claims. We find that either contrasting or teasing consumers of
conspiracy narratives increases their probability to interact again with
unsubstantiated rumors.Comment: misinformation, collective narratives, crowd dynamics, information
spreadin
The structure of fluid trifluoromethane and methylfluoride
We present hard X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements on the polar
fluorocarbons HCF3 and H3CF under supercritical conditions and for a range of
molecular densities spanning about a factor of ten. The Levesque-Weiss-Reatto
inversion scheme has been used to deduce the site-site potentials underlying
the measured partial pair distribution functions. The orientational
correlations between adjacent fluorocarbon molecules -- which are characterized
by quite large dipole moments but no tendency to form hydrogen bonds -- are
small compared to a highly polar system like fluid hydrogen chloride. In fact,
the orientational correlations in HCF3 and H3CF are found to be nearly as small
as those of fluid CF4, a fluorocarbon with no dipole moment.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Quantum Vacuum Contribution to the Momentum of the Dielectric Media
Momentum transfer between matter and electromagnetic field is analyzed. The
related equations of motion and conservation laws are derived using
relativistic formalism. Their correspondence to various, at first sight
self-contradicting, experimental data (the so called Abraham-Minkowski
controversy) is demonstrated. A new, Casimir like, quantum phenomenon is
predicted: contribution of vacuum fluctuations to the motion of dielectric
liquids in crossed electric and magnetic fields. Velocities about can
be expected due to the contribution of high frequency vacuum modes
“I'm from Europe, but I'm not European”: Television and children's identities in England and Bulgaria
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Children and Media on 5/11/2012 available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17482798.2012.740416This article examines the role television (TV) plays in the development of primary school children's European knowledge and identities in England and Bulgaria. It compares the media coverage on Europe and the European Union with pupils' European perceptions and identities. The article reports data from 174 qualitative interviews with children and the content analysis of seven TV programmes. It concludes that TV plays a strong role in collective identities when a topic is salient on the agenda. TV raises awareness and knowledge and sets the direction of understanding. Yet, despite the higher salience of Europe on the Bulgarian media agenda, Bulgarians feel less European than English children. The article provides an explanation to this phenomenon, thus filling an important gap in the literature about the media's role in collective identities formation from an early age. It also adopts an innovative approach in the study of agenda-setting theory by investigating its application among children
Real-Time Hypoglycemia Prediction Suite Using Continuous Glucose Monitoring: A safety net for the artificial pancreas
Prevention of Nocturnal Hypoglycemia Using Predictive Alarm Algorithms and Insulin Pump Suspension
Indications of Universal Excess Fluctuations in Nonequilibrium Systems
The fluctuation in electric current in nonequilibrium steady states is
investigated by molecular dynamics simulation of macroscopically uniform
conductors. At low frequencies, appropriate decomposition of the spectral
intensity of current into thermal and excess fluctuations provides a simple
picture of excess fluctuations behaving as shot noise. This indicates that the
fluctuation-dissipation relation may be violated in a universal manner by the
appearance of shot noise for a wide range of systems with particle or momentum
transport.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; title changed, major revision; to appear in J.
Phys. Soc. Jp
Sustainability appraisal: Jack of all trades, master of none?
Sustainable development is a commonly quoted goal for decision making and supports a large number of other discourses. Sustainability appraisal has a stated goal of supporting decision making for sustainable development. We suggest that the inherent flexibility of sustainability appraisal facilitates outcomes that often do not adhere to the three goals enshrined in most definitions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection and enhancement, and the wellbeing of the human population. Current practice is for sustainable development to be disenfranchised through the interpretation of sustainability, whereby the best alternative is good enough even when unsustainable. Practitioners must carefully and transparently review the frameworks applied during sustainability appraisal to ensure that outcomes will meet the three goals, rather than focusing on a discourse that emphasises one or more goals at the expense of the other(s)
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