24,981 research outputs found
Geochemical comparison of K-T boundaries from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres
Closely spaced (cm-scale) traverses through the K-T boundary at Stevns Klint (Denmark), Woodside Creek (New Zealand) and a new Southern Hemisphere site at Richards Bay (South Africa) were subjected to trace element and isotopic (C, O, Sr) investigation. Intercomparison between these data-sets, and correlation with the broad K-T database available in the literature, indicate that the chemistry of the boundary clays is not globally constant. Variations are more common than similarities, both of absolute concentrations, and interelement ratios. For example, the chondrite normalized platinum-group elements (PGE) patterns of Stevns Klint are not like those of Woodside Creek, with the Pt/Os ratios showing the biggest variation. These differences in PGE patterns are difficult to explain by secondary alteration of a layer that was originally chemically homogeneous, especially for elements of such dubious crustal mobility as Os and Ir. The data also show that enhanced PGE concentrations, with similar trends to those of the boundary layers, occur in the Cretaceous sediments below the actual boundary at Stevns Klint and all three the New Zealand localities. This confirms the observations of others that the geochemistry of the boundary layers apparently does not record a unique component. It is suggested that terrestrial processes, eg. an extended period of Late Cretaceous volcanism can offer a satisfactory explanation for the features of the K-T geochemical anomaly. Such models would probably be more consistent with the observed stepwise, or gradual, palaeontological changes across this boundary, than the instant catastrophe predicated by the impact theory
Efficient generation of random multipartite entangled states using time optimal unitary operations
We review the generation of random pure states using a protocol of repeated
two qubit gates. We study the dependence of the convergence to states with Haar
multipartite entanglement distribution. We investigate the optimal generation
of such states in terms of the physical (real) time needed to apply the
protocol, instead of the gate complexity point of view used in other works.
This physical time can be obtained, for a given Hamiltonian, within the
theoretical framework offered by the quantum brachistochrone formalism. Using
an anisotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian as an example, we find that different
optimal quantum gates arise according to the optimality point of view used in
each case. We also study how the convergence to random entangled states depends
on different entanglement measures.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. New title, improved explanation of the algorithm.
To appear in Phys. Rev.
Generic Two-Qubit Photonic Gates Implemented by Number-Resolving Photodetection
We combine numerical optimization techniques [Uskov et al., Phys. Rev. A 79,
042326 (2009)] with symmetries of the Weyl chamber to obtain optimal
implementations of generic linear-optical KLM-type two-qubit entangling gates.
We find that while any two-qubit controlled-U gate, including CNOT and CS, can
be implemented using only two ancilla resources with success probability S >
0.05, a generic SU(4) operation requires three unentangled ancilla photons,
with success S > 0.0063. Specifically, we obtain a maximal success probability
close to 0.0072 for the B gate. We show that single-shot implementation of a
generic SU(4) gate offers more than an order of magnitude increase in the
success probability and two-fold reduction in overhead ancilla resources
compared to standard triple-CNOT and double-B gate decompositions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Entanglement of Trapped-Ion Clock States
A M{\o}lmer-S{\o}rensen entangling gate is realized for pairs of trapped
Cd ions using magnetic-field insensitive "clock" states and an
implementation offering reduced sensitivity to optical phase drifts. The gate
is used to generate the complete set of four entangled states, which are
reconstructed and evaluated with quantum-state tomography. An average
target-state fidelity of 0.79 is achieved, limited by available laser power and
technical noise. The tomographic reconstruction of entangled states
demonstrates universal quantum control of two ion-qubits, which through
multiplexing can provide a route to scalable architectures for trapped-ion
quantum computing.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Programmable quantum gate arrays
We show how to construct quantum gate arrays that can be programmed to
perform different unitary operations on a data register, depending on the input
to some program register. It is shown that a universal quantum gate array - a
gate array which can be programmed to perform any unitary operation - exists
only if one allows the gate array to operate in a probabilistic fashion. The
universal quantum gate array we construct requires an exponentially smaller
number of gates than a classical universal gate array.Comment: 3 pages, REVTEX. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
The effectiveness of quantum operations for eavesdropping on sealed messages
A quantum protocol is described which enables a user to send sealed messages
and that allows for the detection of active eavesdroppers. We examine a class
of eavesdropping strategies, those that make use of quantum operations, and we
determine the information gain versus disturbance caused by these strategies.
We demonstrate this tradeoff with an example and we compare this protocol to
quantum key distribution, quantum direct communication, and quantum seal
protocols.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Third Feynman Festival, 25 -- 29 August 2006,
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, U.S.
Catalysis in non--local quantum operations
We show how entanglement can be used, without being consumed, to accomplish
unitary operations that could not be performed with out it. When applied to
infinitesimal transformations our method makes equivalent, in the sense of
Hamiltonian simulation, a whole class of otherwise inequivalent two-qubit
interactions. The new catalysis effect also implies the asymptotic equivalence
of all such interactions.Comment: 4 pages, revte
Conditional q-Entropies and Quantum Separability: A Numerical Exploration
We revisit the relationship between quantum separability and the sign of the
relative q-entropies of composite quantum systems. The q-entropies depend on
the density matrix eigenvalues p_i through the quantity omega_q = sum_i p_i^q.
Renyi's and Tsallis' measures constitute particular instances of these
entropies. We perform a systematic numerical survey of the space of mixed
states of two-qubit systems in order to determine, as a function of the degree
of mixture, and for different values of the entropic parameter q, the volume in
state space occupied by those states characterized by positive values of the
relative entropy. Similar calculations are performed for qubit-qutrit systems
and for composite systems described by Hilbert spaces of larger dimensionality.
We pay particular attention to the limit case q --> infinity. Our numerical
results indicate that, as the dimensionalities of both subsystems increase,
composite quantum systems tend, as far as their relative q-entropies are
concerned, to behave in a classical way
Influence of dissipation on the extraction of quantum states via repeated measurements
A quantum system put in interaction with another one that is repeatedly
measured is subject to a non-unitary dynamics, through which it is possible to
extract subspaces. This key idea has been exploited to propose schemes aimed at
the generation of pure quantum states (purification). All such schemes have so
far been considered in the ideal situations of isolated systems. In this paper,
we analyze the influence of non-negligible interactions with environment during
the extraction process, with the scope of investigating the possibility of
purifying the state of a system in spite of the sources of dissipation. A
general framework is presented and a paradigmatic example consisting of two
interacting spins immersed in a bosonic bath is studied. The effectiveness of
the purification scheme is discussed in terms of purity for different values of
the relevant parameters and in connection with the bath temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
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