30,126 research outputs found
Comment on "Exclusion of time in the theorem of Bell" by K. Hess and W. Philipp
A recent Letter by Hess and Philipp claims that Bell's theorem neglects the
possibility of time-like dependence in local hidden variables, hence is not
conclusive. Moreover the authors claim that they have constructed, in an
earlier paper, a local realistic model of the EPR correlations. However, they
themselves have neglected the experimenter's freedom to choose settings, while
on the other hand, Bell's theorem can be formulated to cope with time-like
dependence. This in itself proves that their toy model cannot satisfy local
realism, but we also indicate where their proof of its local realistic nature
fails.Comment: Latex needs epl.cl
An invitation to quantum tomography (II)
The quantum state of a light beam can be represented as an infinite
dimensional density matrix or equivalently as a density on the plane called the
Wigner function. We describe quantum tomography as an inverse statistical
problem in which the state is the unknown parameter and the data is given by
results of measurements performed on identical quantum systems. We present
consistency results for Pattern Function Projection Estimators as well as for
Sieve Maximum Likelihood Estimators for both the density matrix of the quantum
state and its Wigner function. Finally we illustrate via simulated data the
performance of the estimators. An EM algorithm is proposed for practical
implementation. There remain many open problems, e.g. rates of convergence,
adaptation, studying other estimators, etc., and a main purpose of the paper is
to bring these to the attention of the statistical community.Comment: An earlier version of this paper with more mathematical background
but less applied statistical content can be found on arXiv as
quant-ph/0303020. An electronic version of the paper with high resolution
figures (postscript instead of bitmaps) is available from the authors. v2:
added cross-validation results, reference
Products of Random Matrices
We derive analytic expressions for infinite products of random 2x2 matrices.
The determinant of the target matrix is log-normally distributed, whereas the
remainder is a surprisingly complicated function of a parameter characterizing
the norm of the matrix and a parameter characterizing its skewness. The
distribution may have importance as an uncommitted prior in statistical image
analysis.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
The Application of the Workflow Primitive Framework to e-Commerce Business-to-Business Processes: Enhancing the Electronic Supply Chain
EPR entanglement strategies in two-well BEC
Criteria suitable for measuring entanglement between two different potential
wells in a Bose- Einstein condensation (BEC) are evaluated. We show how to
generate the required entanglement, utilizing either an adiabatic two-mode or
dynamic four-mode interaction strategy, with techniques that take advantage of
s-wave scattering interactions to provide the nonlinear coupling. The dynamic
entanglement method results in an entanglement signature with spatially
separated detectors, as in the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Hybrid Superconductor-Quantum Point Contact Devices using InSb Nanowires
Proposals for studying topological superconductivity and Majorana bound
states in nanowires proximity coupled to superconductors require that transport
in the nanowire is ballistic. Previous work on hybrid nanowire-superconductor
systems has shown evidence for Majorana bound states, but these experiments
were also marked by disorder, which disrupts ballistic transport. In this
letter, we demonstrate ballistic transport in InSb nanowires interfaced
directly with superconducting Al by observing quantized conductance at
zero-magnetic field. Additionally, we demonstrate that the nanowire is
proximity coupled to the superconducting contacts by observing Andreev
reflection. These results are important steps for robustly establishing
topological superconductivity in InSb nanowires
Sex allocation theory reveals a hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in a parasitoid wasp
P.R.W. was funded by the University of Stirling, C.V.B. and S.M.G. were funded by Nuffield Research Placements and N.C., J.G. and D.M.S. were funded by NERC (NE/J024481/1).Sex allocation theory has proved to be one the most successful theories in evolutionary ecology. However, its role in more applied aspects of ecology has been limited. Here we show how sex allocation theory helps uncover an otherwise hidden cost of neonicotinoid exposure in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Female N. vitripennis allocate the sex of their offspring in line with Local Mate Competition (LMC) theory. Neonicotinoids are an economically important class of insecticides, but their deployment remains controversial, with evidence linking them to the decline of beneficial species. We demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, that neonicotinoids disrupt the crucial reproductive behaviour of facultative sex allocation at sub-lethal, field-relevant doses in N. vitripennis. The quantitative predictions we can make from LMC theory show that females exposed to neonicotinoids are less able to allocate sex optimally and that this failure imposes a significant fitness cost. Our work highlights that understanding the ecological consequences of neonicotinoid deployment requires not just measures of mortality or even fecundity reduction among non-target species, but also measures that capture broader fitness costs, in this case offspring sex allocation. Our work also highlights new avenues for exploring how females obtain information when allocating sex under LMC.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Optimal Bell tests do not require maximally entangled states
Any Bell test consists of a sequence of measurements on a quantum state in
space-like separated regions. Thus, a state is better than others for a Bell
test when, for the optimal measurements and the same number of trials, the
probability of existence of a local model for the observed outcomes is smaller.
The maximization over states and measurements defines the optimal nonlocality
proof. Numerical results show that the required optimal state does not have to
be maximally entangled.Comment: 1 figure, REVTEX
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