Single Shot Quantum State Estimation via a Continuous Measurement in the Strong Backaction Regime

We study quantum tomography based on a stochastic continuous-time measurement record obtained from a probe field collectively interacting with an ensemble of identically prepared systems. In comparison to previous studies, we consider here the case in which the measurement-induced backaction has a nonnegligible effect on the dynamical evolution of the ensemble. We formulate a maximum likelihood estimate for the initial quantum state given only a single instance of the continuous diffusive measurement record. We apply our estimator to the simplest problem -- state tomography of a single pure qubit, which, during the course of the measurement, is also subjected to dynamical control. We identify a regime where the many-body system is well approximated at all times by a separable pure spin coherent state, whose Bloch vector undergoes a conditional stochastic evolution. We simulate the results of our estimator and show that we can achieve close to the upper bound of fidelity set by the optimal POVM. This estimate is compared to, and significantly outperforms, an equivalent estimator that ignores measurement backaction.Comment: 10 pages, 5 epic figure

Addressing the Challenges of Uncertainty Affecting Last-Mile Distribution in Disaster Relief

The study of Disaster Relief has received increasing attention for the better part of 20 years, and particularly in the wake of high-visibility storms like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, there is little need to provide justification for the field as an area of interest. This presentation will summarize an ongoing effort to study one particular aspect of Disaster Relief, namely last-mile distribution in the face of uncertain supply. This body of work forms the bulk of my dissertation which I completed last year along with my co-author and mentor Dr. Emmett Lodree, a full Professor at the University of Alabama

University Based Multidisciplinary Organizations - Promises and Challenges

The Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory (DIAL) at Mississippi State University is a multidisciplinary research organization engaged in developing and applying advanced computer-controlled, optical and laser-based diagnostic instrumentation systems for the characterization of high temperature gas streams. Part of the mission of DIAL is the on-site application of the diagnostic systems to large-scale facilities. The laboratory has approximately 40 professional and support personnel. Twelve faculty members are associated with the laboratory and, because of the multidisciplinary nature of the research program, their disciplines cross college as well as departmental boundaries. This provides for unique graduate research opportunities. Moreover, the laboratory employees 12 full-time research scientists and engineers in addition to a number of technicians and graduate students. The overall program of the laboratory and the rationale for such mission-oriented organizations are presented. In addition, it is pointed out that an organization of this type presents particular administrative problems in universities. While the path from instructor to university president is well laid out in the tenure track system, the administrative path in which the cross-disciplinary researchers find themselves is often unexplored by them or university administrators. Though there are clearly numerous advantages to this kind of organization, there are also disadvantages. Most of these advantages and disadvantages apply to many cross-disciplinary research groups to varying degrees, and these are also discussed in a general way. Recommendations for interfacing cross disciplinary research groups are also given

A questionnaire elicitation of surgeons' belief about learning within a surgical trial

PMID: 23145113 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC3493499 Free PMC ArticlePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Why We Explore: The Value of Space Exploration for Future Generations

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its industry partners are making measurable progress toward delivering new human space transportation capabilities to serve as the catalyst for a new era of discovery, as directed by the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration. In the interest of ensuring prolonged support, the Agency encourages space advocates of all stripes to accurately portray both the tangible and intangible benefits of space exploration, especially its value for future generations. This may be done not only by emphasizing the nation's return on its aerospace investment, but also by highlighting enabling security features and by promoting the scientific and technological benefits that accrue from the human exploration of space. As America embarks on a new era of leadership and international partnership on the next frontier, we are poised to master space by living off-planet on the Moon to prepare astronauts for longer journeys to Mars. These and other relevant facts should be clearly in the view of influential decision-makers and the American taxpayers, and we must increasingly involve those on whom the long-term sustainability of space exploration ultimately depends: America's youth. This paper will examine three areas of concrete benefits for future generations: fundamental security, economic enterprise, and high-technology advancements spurred by the innovation that scientific discovery demands

Urban Partnerships Promoting Academic Excellence

Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the University preparation programs have developed a collaborative partnership that shares a vision for charting bright futures for all students. This program aims that incorporating service learning in curricula will prepare school counseling students to promote educational excellence and equity among urban youth, and Co-creating school counseling interventions between UMass Boston faculty and BPS personnel will foster communication and meet student needs

How We Can Pay for Health Care Reform

Describes savings and revenue sources and policies to reduce healthcare spending that could finance comprehensive reform with a public option, such as reducing physician and hospital payments, investing in prevention programs, and capping tax exclusions

The Bermuda Triangle : the pragmatics, policies, and principles for data sharing in the history of the Human Genome Project

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of the History of Biology 51 (2018): 693–805, doi:10.1007/s10739-018-9538-7.The Bermuda Principles for DNA sequence data sharing are an enduring legacy of the Human Genome Project (HGP). They were adopted by the HGP at a strategy meeting in Bermuda in February of 1996 and implemented in formal policies by early 1998, mandating daily release of HGP-funded DNA sequences into the public domain. The idea of daily sharing, we argue, emanated directly from strategies for large, goal-directed molecular biology projects first tested within the “community” of C. elegans researchers, and were introduced and defended for the HGP by the nematode biologists John Sulston and Robert Waterston. In the C. elegans community, and subsequently in the HGP, daily sharing served the pragmatic goals of quality control and project coordination. Yet in the HGP human genome, we also argue, the Bermuda Principles addressed concerns about gene patents impeding scientific advancement, and were aspirational and flexible in implementation and justification. They endured as an archetype for how rapid data sharing could be realized and rationalized, and permitted adaptation to the needs of various scientific communities. Yet in addition to the support of Sulston and Waterston, their adoption also depended on the clout of administrators at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the UK nonprofit charity the Wellcome Trust, which together funded 90% of the HGP human sequencing effort. The other nations wishing to remain in the HGP consortium had to accommodate to the Bermuda Principles, requiring exceptions from incompatible existing or pending data access policies for publicly funded research in Germany, Japan, and France. We begin this story in 1963, with the biologist Sydney Brenner’s proposal for a nematode research program at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) at the University of Cambridge. We continue through 2003, with the completion of the HGP human reference genome, and conclude with observations about policy and the historiography of molecular biology