13,693 research outputs found
X-ray Studies of Two Neutron Stars in 47 Tucanae: Toward Constraints on the Equation of State
We report spectral and variability analysis of two quiescent low mass X-ray
binaries (X5 and X7, previously detected with the ROSAT HRI) in a Chandra
ACIS-I observation of the globular cluster 47 Tuc. X5 demonstrates sharp
eclipses with an 8.666+-0.01 hr period, as well as dips showing an increased
N_H column. The thermal spectra of X5 and X7 are well-modeled by unmagnetized
hydrogen atmospheres of hot neutron stars. No hard power law component is
required. A possible edge or absorption feature is identified near 0.64 keV,
perhaps an OV edge from a hot wind. Spectral fits imply that X7 is
significantly more massive than the canonical 1.4 \Msun neutron star mass, with
M>1.8 \Msun for a radius range of 9-14 km, while X5's spectrum is consistent
with a neutron star of mass 1.4 \Msun for the same radius range. Alternatively,
if much of the X-ray luminosity is due to continuing accretion onto the neutron
star surface, the feature may be the 0.87 keV rest-frame absorption complex (O
VIII & other metal lines) intrinsic to the neutron star atmosphere, and a mass
of 1.4 \Msun for X7 may be allowed.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, accepted by Ap
Climate Ready Estuaries - COAST in Action: 2012 Projects from Maine and New Hampshire
In summer 2011 the US EPA’s Climate Ready Estuaries program awarded funds to the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP) in Portland, Maine, and the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) in coastal New Hampshire, to further develop and use COAST (COastal Adaptation to Sea level rise Tool) in their sea level rise adaptation planning processes. The New England Environmental Finance Center worked with municipal staff, elected officials, and other stakeholders to select specific locations, vulnerable assets, and adaptation actions to model using COAST. The EFC then collected the appropriate base data layers, ran the COAST simulations, and provided visual, numeric, and presentation-based products in support of the planning processes underway in both locations. These products helped galvanize support for the adaptation planning efforts. Through facilitated meetings they also led to stakeholders identifying specific action steps and begin to determine how to implement them
A quantum algorithm providing exponential speed increase for finding eigenvalues and eigenvectors
We describe a new polynomial time quantum algorithm that uses the quantum
fast fourier transform to find eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a Hamiltonian
operator, and that can be applied in cases (commonly found in ab initio physics
and chemistry problems) for which all known classical algorithms require
exponential time. Applications of the algorithm to specific problems are
considered, and we find that classically intractable and interesting problems
from atomic physics may be solved with between 50 and 100 quantum bits.Comment: 10 page
Protocol for a longitudinal qualitative interview study: maintaining psychological well-being in advanced cancer - what can we learn from patients' and carers' own coping strategies?
IntroductionPeople with advanced cancer and their carers experience stress and uncertainty which affects the quality of life and physical and mental health. This study aims to understand how patients and carers recover or maintain psychological well-being by exploring the strategies employed to self-manage stress and uncertainty.Methods and analysisA longitudinal qualitative interview approach with 30 patients with advanced cancer and 30 associated family or informal carers allows the exploration of contexts, mechanisms and outcomes at an individual level. Two interviews, 4–12?weeks apart, will not only enable the exploration of individuals’ evolving coping strategies in response to changing contexts but also how patients’ and carers’ strategies inter-relate. Patient and Carer focus groups will then consider how the findings may be used in developing an intervention. Recruiting through two major tertiary cancer centres in the North West and using deliberately broad and inclusive criteria will enable the sample to capture demographic and experiential breadth.Ethics and disseminationThe research team will draw on their considerable experience to ensure that the study is sensitive to a patient and carer group, which may be considered vulnerable but still values being able to contribute its views. Public and patient involvement (PPI) is integral to the design and is evidenced by: a research advisory group incorporating patient and carers, prestudy consultations with the PPI group at one of the study sites and a user as the named applicant. The study team will use multiple methods to disseminate the findings to clinical, policy and academic audiences. A key element will be engaging health professionals in patient and carer ideas for promoting self-management of psychological well-being. The study has ethical approval from the North West Research Ethics Committee and the appropriate NHS governance clearance.RegistrationNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Studies Portfolio, UK Clinical Research Network (UKCRN) Study number 11725
Computational capacity of the universe
Merely by existing, all physical systems register information. And by
evolving dynamically in time, they transform and process that information. The
laws of physics determine the amount of information that a physical system can
register (number of bits) and the number of elementary logic operations that a
system can perform (number of ops). The universe is a physical system. This
paper quantifies the amount of information that the universe can register and
the number of elementary operations that it can have performed over its
history. The universe can have performed no more than ops on
bits.Comment: 17 pages, TeX. submitted to Natur
NMR C-NOT gate through Aharanov-Anandan's phase shift
Recently, it is proposed to do quantum computation through the Berry's
phase(adiabatic cyclic geometric phase) shift with NMR (Jones et al, Nature,
403, 869(2000)). This geometric quantum gate is hopefully to be fault tolerant
to certain types of errors because of the geometric property of the Berry
phase. Here we give a scheme to realize the NMR C-NOT gate through
Aharonov-Anandan's phase(non-adiabatic cyclic phase) shift on the dynamic phase
free evolution loop.
In our scheme, the gate is run non-adiabatically, thus it is less affected by
the decoherence. And, in the scheme we have chosen the the zero dynamic phase
time evolution loop in obtaining the gepmetric phase shift, we need not take
any extra operation to cancel the dynamic phase.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
Pattern formation in quantum Turing machines
We investigate the iteration of a sequence of local and pair unitary
transformations, which can be interpreted to result from a Turing-head
(pseudo-spin ) rotating along a closed Turing-tape ( additional
pseudo-spins). The dynamical evolution of the Bloch-vector of , which can be
decomposed into primitive pure state Turing-head trajectories, gives
rise to fascinating geometrical patterns reflecting the entanglement between
head and tape. These machines thus provide intuitive examples for quantum
parallelism and, at the same time, means for local testing of quantum network
dynamics.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.A, 3 figures, REVTEX fil
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