1,754 research outputs found
Work and Quantum Phase Transitions: Is there Quantum Latency?
We study the physics of quantum phase transitions from the perspective of
non-equilibrium thermodynamics. For first order quantum phase transitions, we
find that the average work done per quench in crossing the critical point is
discontinuous. This leads us to introduce the quantum latent work in analogy
with the classical latent heat of first order classical phase transitions. For
second order quantum phase transitions the irreversible work is closely related
to the fidelity susceptibility for weak sudden quenches of the system
Hamiltonian. We demonstrate our ideas with numerical simulations of first,
second, and infinite order phase transitions in various spin chain models.Comment: accepted in PR
East-West gradient in cardio-vascular mortality in Austria: how much can we explain by following the pattern of risk factors?
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Various studies show major regional differences in the prevalence of cardio-vascular disease morbidity and mortality, both in Europe and within European countries. In Austria, these differences are documented by an East-West gradient with declining morbidity and mortality rates when moving from the East to the West of the country. It was the aim of this study to analyse if, and to what extent, socio-demographic and socio-economic determinants, social resources and health behaviour can contribute to the clarification of this East-West gradient by conducting secondary analyses of an existing Austrian health dataset.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The data were analysed using bivariate analyses, as well as univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. These analyses revealed significant East-West gradients for various risk factors, as well as socio-demographic and socio-economic health determinants. There was a gradual decrease of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and psycho-social discomfort in both sexes, with the highest prevalences in those Austrian regions with the highest cardio-vascular mortality and a stepwise decrease to the regions with the lowest cardio-vascular mortality. Controlling for educational level significantly raised the odds for diabetes, hypertension and obesity. In the results of the multivariate analyses, factors that significantly and independently predicted diabetes mellitus were geographic location, psycho-social discomfort, lack of physical exercise, and age in both sexes. For women these factors additionally included a low educational level, lack of social support, and being born abroad.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study shows a clear gradual decline of cardio-vascular mortality and some of its risk factors from East to West in Austria. Concerning these risk factors, the geographic region and psycho-social discomfort showed the greatest association with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and obesity. Hence, they contribute to the explanation of the variance in spatial cardio-vascular disease mortality. Yet, a large proportion of this variance remains unexplained. It would be of great importance to public health and preventive measures to take a closer look at spatial differences in cardio-vascular disease morbidity and mortality to better tailor programmes to the regional environments and settings. Our results also call for a greater importance of preventative measures for psycho-social discomfort and increase of social support.</p
Incentivizing Honesty among Competitors in Collaborative Learning and Optimization
Collaborative learning techniques have the potential to enable training
machine learning models that are superior to models trained on a single
entity's data. However, in many cases, potential participants in such
collaborative schemes are competitors on a downstream task, such as firms that
each aim to attract customers by providing the best recommendations. This can
incentivize dishonest updates that damage other participants' models,
potentially undermining the benefits of collaboration. In this work, we
formulate a game that models such interactions and study two learning tasks
within this framework: single-round mean estimation and multi-round SGD on
strongly-convex objectives. For a natural class of player actions, we show that
rational clients are incentivized to strongly manipulate their updates,
preventing learning. We then propose mechanisms that incentivize honest
communication and ensure learning quality comparable to full cooperation.
Lastly, we empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of our incentive scheme on
a standard non-convex federated learning benchmark. Our work shows that
explicitly modeling the incentives and actions of dishonest clients, rather
than assuming them malicious, can enable strong robustness guarantees for
collaborative learning.Comment: Accepted to NeurIPS 2023; 37 pages, 5 figure
Solid-State Formation Mechanisms of Core–shell Microstructures in (Zr,Ta)B2 Ceramics
Transition metal diborides with core–shell microstructures have demonstrated excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Previous studies concluded that core–shell microstructures were formed by liquid-assisted mass transport mechanisms, but in this study, we propose a solid-state formation mechanism for core-shell microstructures in (Zr,Ta)B2 ceramics produced by reaction hot pressing and in ZrB2-TaB2 diffusion couples. Diffusion couple experiments demonstrated that core–shell microstructures developed as a result of Ta diffusion along ZrB2 grain boundaries, which occurred concurrently with lattice diffusion of Ta into ZrB2. These findings suggest that with optimization of batching and processing parameters, core–shell diboride materials may be formed through solid-state processes rather than liquid-assisted processes, which could assist in raising the upper temperature limits of use for these materials
Origin of the large phonon band-gap in SrTiO3 and the vibrational signatures of ferroelectricity in ATiO3 perovskite: First principles lattice dynamics and inelastic neutron scattering of PbTiO3, BaTiO3 and SrTiO3
We report first principles density functional perturbation theory
calculations and inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the phonon
density of states, dispersion relations and electromechanical response of
PbTiO3, BaTiO3 and SrTiO3. The phonon density-of-states of the quantum
paraelectric SrTiO3 is found to be fundamentally distinct from that of
ferroelectric PbTiO3 and BaTiO3 with a large 70-90 meV phonon band-gap. The
phonon dispersion and electromechanical response of PbTiO3 reveal giant
anisotropies. The interplay of covalent bonding and ferroelectricity, strongly
modulates the electromechanical response and give rise to spectacular
signatures in the phonon spectra. The computed charge densities have been used
to study the bonding in these perovskites. Distinct bonding characteristics in
the ferroelectric and paraelectric phases give rise to spectacular vibrational
signatures. While a large phonon band-gap in ATiO3 perovskites seems a
characteristic of quantum paraelectrics, anisotropy of the phonon spectra
correlates well with ferroelectric strength. These correlations between the
phonon spectra and ferroelectricity, can guide future efforts at custom
designing still more effective piezoelectrics for applications. These results
suggest that vibrational spectroscopy can help design novel materials.Comment: 11 pages, 4 color figures and 2 Table
Entanglement Percolation with Bipartite Mixed States
We develop a concept of entanglement percolation for long-distance singlet
generation in quantum networks with neighboring nodes connected by partially
entangled bipartite mixed states. We give a necessary and sufficient condition
on the class of mixed network states for the generation of singlets. States
beyond this class are insufficient for entanglement percolation. We find that
neighboring nodes are required to be connected by multiple partially entangled
states and devise a rich variety of distillation protocols for the conversion
of these states into singlets. These distillation protocols are suitable for a
variety of network geometries and have a sufficiently high success probability
even for significantly impure states. In addition to this, we discuss possible
further improvements achievable by using quantum strategies including
generalized forms of entanglement swapping.Comment: 6+ pages, 5 figures; Published versio
Entanglement and Quantum Phase Transitions via Adiabatic Quantum Computation
For a finite XY chain and a finite two-dimensional Ising lattice, it is shown
that the paramagnetic ground state is adiabatically transformed to the GHZ
state in the ferromagnetic phase by slowly turning on the magnetic field. The
fidelity between the GHZ state and an adiabatically evolved state shows a
feature of the quantum phase transition.Comment: Revise
Creation of effective magnetic fields in optical lattices: The Hofstadter butterfly for cold neutral atoms
We investigate the dynamics of neutral atoms in a 2D optical lattice which
traps two distinct internal states of the atoms in different columns. Two Raman
lasers are used to coherently transfer atoms from one internal state to the
other, thereby causing hopping between the different columns. By adjusting the
laser parameters appropriately we can induce a non vanishing phase of particles
moving along a closed path on the lattice. This phase is proportional to the
enclosed area and we thus simulate a magnetic flux through the lattice. This
setup is described by a Hamiltonian identical to the one for electrons on a
lattice subject to a magnetic field and thus allows us to study this equivalent
situation under very well defined controllable conditions. We consider the
limiting case of huge magnetic fields -- which is not experimentally accessible
for electrons in metals -- where a fractal band structure, the Hofstadter
butterfly, characterizes the system.Comment: 6 pages, RevTe
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