The extremely collimated bipolar H_2O jet from the NGC 1333-IRAS 4B protostar

We have performed observations of water maser emission towards a sample of low-mass protostars, in order to investigate the properties of jets associated with the earliest stages of star formation and their interaction with the surrounding medium. The main aim is to measure the absolute positions and proper motions of the H_2O spots in order to investigate the kinematics of the region from where the jet is launched. We imaged the protostars in the nearby region NGC 1333-IRAS 4 in the water maser line at 22.2 GHz by using the VLBA in phase-reference mode at the milliarcsecond scale over four epochs, spaced by one month to measure proper motions. Two protostars (A2 and B) were detected in a highly variable H_2O maser emission, with an active phase shorter than four weeks. The H_2O maps allow us to trace the fast jet driven by the B protostar: we observed both the red- and blue-shifted lobes very close to the protostar, =< 35 AU, moving away with projected velocities of ~10-50 km/s. The comparison with the molecular outflow observed at larger scale suggests a jet precession with a 18'/yr rate. By measuring the positional spread of the H_2O spots we estimate a jet width of ~2 AU at a distance of ~12 AU from the driving protostar.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, A&A accepte

Single-ion anisotropy in Haldane chains and form factor of the O(3) nonlinear sigma model

We consider spin-1 Haldane chains with single-ion anisotropy, which exists in known Haldane chain materials. We develop a perturbation theory in terms of anisotropy, where magnon-magnon interaction is important even in the low temperature limit. The exact two-particle form factor in the O(3) nonlinear sigma model leads to quantitative predictions on several dynamical properties including dynamical structure factor and electron spin resonance frequency shift. These agree very well with numerical results, and with experimental data on the Haldane chain material Ni(C$_5$H$_{14}$N$_2$)$_2$N$_3$(PF$_6$)

Is Karenia a synonym of Asterodinium-Brachidinium (Gymnodiniales, Dinophyceae)?

From material collected in open waters of the NW and Equatorial Pacific Ocean the detailed morphology of brachidiniaceans based on two specimens of Asterodinium gracile is reported for the first time. SEM observations showed that the straight apical groove, the morphological characters and orientation of the cell body were similar to those described for species of Karenia. Brachidinium and Asterodinium showed high morphological variability in the length of the extensions and intermediate specimens with Karenia. Karenia-like cells that strongly resemble Brachidinium and Asterodinium but lacking the extensions co-occurred with the typical specimens. The life cycle and morphology of Karenia papilionacea should be investigated under natural conditions because of the strong similarity with the brachidiniaceans

Decoherence induced by a phase-damping reservoir

A phase damping reservoir composed by $N$-bosons coupled to a system of interest through a cross-Kerr interaction is proposed and its effects on quantum superpo sitions are investigated. By means of analytical calculations we show that: i-) the reservoir induces a Gaussian decay of quantum coherences, and ii-) the inher ent incommensurate character of the spectral distribution yields irreversibility . A state-independent decoherence time and a master equation are both derived an alytically. These results, which have been extended for the thermodynamic limit, show that nondissipative decoherence can be suitably contemplated within the EI D approach. Finally, it is shown that the same mechanism yielding decoherence ar e also responsible for inducing dynamical disentanglement.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Kerr nonlinearities and nonclassical states with superconducting qubits and nanomechanical resonators

We propose the use of a superconducting charge qubit capacitively coupled to two resonant nanomechanical resonators to generate Yurke-Stoler states, i.e. quantum superpositions of pairs of distinguishable coherent states 180$^\circ$ out of phase with each other. This is achieved by effectively implementing Kerr nonlinearities induced through application of a strong external driving field in one of the resonators. A simple study of the effect of dissipation on our scheme is also presented, and lower bounds of fidelity and purity of the generated state are calculated. Our procedure to implement a Kerr nonlinearity in this system may be used for high precision measurements in nanomechanical resonators.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, fixed typo

Global entangling properties of the coupled kicked tops

We study global entangling properties of the system of coupled kicked tops testing various hypotheses and predictions concerning entanglement in quantum chaotic systems. In order to analyze the averaged initial entanglement production rate and the averaged asymptotic entanglement different ensembles of initial product states are evolved. Two different ensembles with natural probability distribution are considered: product states of independent spin-coherent states and product states of arbitrary states. It appears that the choice of either of these ensembles results in significantly different averaged entanglement behavior. We investigate also a relation between the averaged asymptotic entanglement and the mean entanglement of the eigenvectors of an evolution operator. Lower bound on the averaged asymptotic entanglement is derived, expressed in terms of the eigenvector entanglement.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, RevTe

Entanglement in the dispersive interaction of trapped ions with a quantized field

The mode-mode entanglement between trapped ions and cavity fields is investigated in the dispersive regime. We show how a simple initial preparation of Gaussian coherent states and a postselection may be used to generate motional non-local mesoscopic states (NLMS) involving ions in different traps. We also present a study of the entanglement induced by dynamical Stark-shifts considering a cluster of N-trapped ions. In this case, all entanglement is due to the dependence of the Stark-shifts on the ions' state of motion manifested as a cross-Kerr interaction between each ion and the field.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, corrected typo

Unconditional Bell-type state generation for spatially separate trapped ions

We propose a scheme for generation of maximally entangled states involving internal electronic degrees of freedom of two distant trapped ions, each of them located in a cavity. This is achieved by using a single flying atom to distribute entanglement. For certain specific interaction times, the proposed scheme leads to the non-probabilistic generation of a perfect Bell-type state. At the end of the protocol, the flying atom completely disentangles from the rest of the system, leaving both ions in a Bell-type state. Moreover, the scheme is insensitive to the cavity field state and cavity losses. We also address the situation in which dephasing and dissipation must be taken into account for the flying atom on its way from one cavity to the other, and discuss the applicability of the resulting noisy channel for performing quantum teleportation.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, detailed comments on the practical implementation of the scheme is added to replaced version, minor typos fixed, added references with comment