Characteristic Time and Maximum Mixedness: Single Mode Gaussian States in Dissipative Channels

We derive an upper limit for the mixedness of single bosonic mode gaussian states propagating in dissipative channels. It is a function of the initial squeezing and temperature of the channel only. Moreover the time at which von Neumann's entropy reaches its maximum value coincides with that of complete loss of coherence, thus defining a quantum-classical transition.Comment: Accepted versio

Peptide mimics selected from immune sera using phage display technology can replace native antigens in the diagnosis of Epstein–Barr virus infection

There is an expanding area of small molecule discovery, especially in the area of peptide mimetics. Peptide sequences can be used to substitute for the entire native antigen for use in diagnostic assays. Our approach is to select peptides that mimic epitopes of the natural immune response to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) that may be recognised by antibodies typically produced after infection with EBV. We screened a random peptide library on sera from rabbits immunised with a crude preparation of EBV and serum antibodies from a patient with a high titer of EBV antibodies. We selected four peptides (Eb1–4) with the highest relative binding affinity with immune rabbit sera and a single peptide with high affinity to human serum antibodies. The peptides were coupled to the carrier molecule BSA and the recognition of the peptides by IgM antibodies in clinical samples after infection with EBV was measured. The sensitivities were Eb1 94%, Eb2, 3, 4 88%, H1 81% and all had 100% specificity. This study illustrates that the phage display approach to select epitope mimics can be applied to polyclonal antibodies and peptides that represent several diagnostically important epitopes can be selected simultaneously. This panel of EBV peptides representing a wide coverage of immunodominant epitopes could replace crude antigen preparations currently used for capture in commercial diagnostic tests for EBV

dd→3Hendd\to {^3}He n reaction at intermediate energies

The $dd\to ^3He n$ reaction is considered at the energies between 200 MeV and 520 MeV. The Alt-Grassberger-Sandhas equations are iterated up to the lowest order terms over the nucleon-nucleon t-matrix. The parameterized ${^3He}$ wave function including five components is used. The angular dependence of the differential cross section and energy dependence of tensor analyzing power $T_{20}$ at the zero scattering angle are presented in comparison with the experimental data

Electromagnetic waves in a wormhole geometry

We investigate the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a static wormhole. It is shown that the problem can be reduced to a one-dimensional Schr\"odinger-like equation with a barrier-type potential. Using numerical methods, we calculate the transmission coefficient as a function of the energy. We also discuss the polarization of the outgoing radiation due to this gravitational scattering.Comment: LaTex file, 5 pages, 2 figures, one reference added, accepted for publication in PR

Quantum Inequalities for the Electromagnetic Field

A quantum inequality for the quantized electromagnetic field is developed for observers in static curved spacetimes. The quantum inequality derived is a generalized expression given by a mode function expansion of the four-vector potential, and the sampling function used to weight the energy integrals is left arbitrary up to the constraints that it be a positive, continuous function of unit area and that it decays at infinity. Examples of the quantum inequality are developed for Minkowski spacetime, Rindler spacetime and the Einstein closed universe.Comment: 19 pages, 1 table and 1 figure. RevTex styl

Particle decays and stability on the de Sitter universe

We study particle decay in de Sitter space-time as given by first order perturbation theory in a Lagrangian interacting quantum field theory. We study in detail the adiabatic limit of the perturbative amplitude and compute the "phase space" coefficient exactly in the case of two equal particles produced in the disintegration. We show that for fields with masses above a critical mass $m_c$ there is no such thing as particle stability, so that decays forbidden in flat space-time do occur here. The lifetime of such a particle also turns out to be independent of its velocity when that lifetime is comparable with de Sitter radius. Particles with mass lower than critical have a completely different behavior: the masses of their decay products must obey quantification rules, and their lifetime is zero.Comment: Latex, 38 pages, 1 PostScript figure; added references, minor corrections and remark

Heating rate and electrode charging measurements in a scalable, microfabricated, surface-electrode ion trap

We characterise the performance of a surface-electrode ion "chip" trap fabricated using established semiconductor integrated circuit and micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) microfabrication processes which are in principle scalable to much larger ion trap arrays, as proposed for implementing ion trap quantum information processing. We measure rf ion micromotion parallel and perpendicular to the plane of the trap electrodes, and find that on-package capacitors reduce this to <~ 10 nm in amplitude. We also measure ion trapping lifetime, charging effects due to laser light incident on the trap electrodes, and the heating rate for a single trapped ion. The performance of this trap is found to be comparable with others of the same size scale.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figure

Dynamic Scaling and Two-Dimensional High-Tc Superconductors

There has been ongoing debate over the critical behavior of two-dimensional superconductors; in particular for high Tc superconductors. The conventional view is that a Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition occurs as long as finite size effects do not obscure the transition. However, there have been recent suggestions that a different transition actually occurs which incorporates aspects of both the dynamic scaling theory of Fisher, Fisher, and Huse and the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Berezinskii transition. Of general interest is that this modified transition apparently has a universal dynamic critical exponent. Some have countered that this apparent universal behavior is rooted in a newly proposed finite-size scaling theory; one that also incorporates scaling and conventional two-dimensional theory. To investigate these issues we study DC voltage versus current data of a 12 angstrom thick YBCO film. We find that the newly proposed scaling theories have intrinsic flexibility that is relevant to the analysis of the experiments. In particular, the data scale according to the modified transition for arbitrarily defined critical temperatures between 0 K and 19.5 K, and the temperature range of a successful scaling collapse is related directly to the sensitivity of the measurement. This implies that the apparent universal exponent is due to the intrinsic flexibility rather than some real physical property. To address this intrinsic flexibility, we propose a criterion which would give conclusive evidence for phase transitions in two-dimensional superconductors. We conclude by reviewing results to see if our criterion is satisfied.Comment: 14 page

Deconstructing the financialization of healthcare

Financialization is promoted by alliances of multilateral 'development' organisations, national governments, and owners and institutions of private capital. In the healthcare sector, the leveraging of private sources of finance is widely argued as necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3 target of universal health coverage. Employing social science perspectives on financialization, we contend that this is a new phase of capital formation. We trace the antecedents, institutions, instruments and ideas that facilitated the penetration of private capital in this sector, and the emergence of new asset classes that distinguish it. We argue that this deepening of financialization represents a fundamental shift in the organizing principles for healthcare systems, with negative implications for health and equality