516 research outputs found
Characterizing and Quantifying Frustration in Quantum Many-Body Systems
We present a general scheme for the study of frustration in quantum systems.
We introduce a universal measure of frustration for arbitrary quantum systems
and we relate it to a class of entanglement monotones via an exact inequality.
If all the (pure) ground states of a given Hamiltonian saturate the inequality,
then the system is said to be inequality saturating. We introduce sufficient
conditions for a quantum spin system to be inequality saturating and confirm
them with extensive numerical tests. These conditions provide a generalization
to the quantum domain of the Toulouse criteria for classical frustration-free
systems. The models satisfying these conditions can be reasonably identified as
geometrically unfrustrated and subject to frustration of purely quantum origin.
Our results therefore establish a unified framework for studying the
intertwining of geometric and quantum contributions to frustration.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
Intramyocardial hemorrhage: An enigma for cardiac MRI?
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a useful noninvasive technique for determining the presence of microvascular obstruction (MVO) and intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH), frequently occurring in patients after reperfused myocardial infarction (MI). MVO, or the so-called no-reflow phenomenon, is associated with adverse ventricular remodeling and a poor prognosis during follow-up. Similarly, IMH is considered a severe damage after revascularization by percutaneous primary coronary intervention (PPCI) or fibrinolysis, which represents a worse prognosis. However, the pathophysiology of IMH is not fully understood and imaging modalities might help to better understand that phenomenon. While, during the past decade, several studies examined the distribution patterns of late gadolinium enhancement with different CMR sequences, the standardized CMR protocol for assessment of IMH is not yet well established. The aim of this review is to evaluate the available literature on this issue, with particular regard to CMR sequences. New techniques, such as positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI), could be useful tools to explore molecular mechanisms of the myocardial infarction healing process
Entanglement quantification by local unitaries
Invariance under local unitary operations is a fundamental property that must
be obeyed by every proper measure of quantum entanglement. However, this is not
the only aspect of entanglement theory where local unitaries play a relevant
role. In the present work we show that the application of suitable local
unitary operations defines a family of bipartite entanglement monotones,
collectively referred to as "mirror entanglement". They are constructed by
first considering the (squared) Hilbert-Schmidt distance of the state from the
set of states obtained by applying to it a given local unitary. To the action
of each different local unitary there corresponds a different distance. We then
minimize these distances over the sets of local unitaries with different
spectra, obtaining an entire family of different entanglement monotones. We
show that these mirror entanglement monotones are organized in a hierarchical
structure, and we establish the conditions that need to be imposed on the
spectrum of a local unitary for the associated mirror entanglement to be
faithful, i.e. to vanish on and only on separable pure states. We analyze in
detail the properties of one particularly relevant member of the family, the
"stellar mirror entanglement" associated to traceless local unitaries with
nondegenerate spectrum and equispaced eigenvalues in the complex plane. This
particular measure generalizes the original analysis of [Giampaolo and
Illuminati, Phys. Rev. A 76, 042301 (2007)], valid for qubits and qutrits. We
prove that the stellar entanglement is a faithful bipartite entanglement
monotone in any dimension, and that it is bounded from below by a function
proportional to the linear entropy and from above by the linear entropy itself,
coinciding with it in two- and three-dimensional spaces.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Improved and generalized proof of monotonicity
of the mirror and stellar entanglemen
The rare case of positive FDG-positron emission tomography for giant cavernous hemangioma of the liver
Hemangioma is the most common benign liver tumor and the second most common liver tumor after metastases. Large hemangiomas are often heterogeneous. When they exceed 4 cm in diameter, they are termed giant hemangiomas. These giant hemangiomas often present heterogeneous patterns. These heterogeneous appearances are shown because of intratumoral changes due to several
degenerative phenomena. PET/CT is reported to be useful for the differentiation of benign from malignant liver lesions. We report the case of a large hepatic hemangioma characterized by high FDG uptake
Supernova Neutrino Energy Spectra and the MSW Effect
The distortions in the thermal energy spectra for neutrinos produced in a
supernova when a resonant oscillation, MSW effect, occurs are determined. In
order to show this effect for some relevant and representative examples of
unified gauge models, we have chosen , and ,
with a particular scheme for fermion masses (DHR model). The
analysis has been performed for two choices of neutrinos parameters, predicted
by the above models, and capable to explain the solar neutrino problem. In both
cases one observes a strong distortion in the electron neutrino energy
spectrum. This effect, computed for a wide range of models has
produced the same results of the previous supersymmetric ones.Comment: 14 pages, plain LaTeX, 6 figures, revised version to be published in
Z. Phys.
Reconstruction of time-dependent coefficients: a check of approximation schemes for non-Markovian convolutionless dissipative generators
We propose a procedure to fully reconstruct the time-dependent coefficients
of convolutionless non-Markovian dissipative generators via a finite number of
experimental measurements. By combining a tomography based approach with a
proper data sampling, our proposal allows to relate the time-dependent
coefficients governing the dissipative evolution of a quantum system to
experimentally accessible quantities. The proposed scheme not only provides a
way to retrieve full information about potentially unknown dissipative
coefficients but also, most valuably, can be employed as a reliable consistency
test for the approximations involved in the theoretical derivation of a given
non-Markovian convolutionless master equation.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, revised version published on PR
Heatwaves in Europe: areas of homogeneous variability and links with the regional to large-scale atmospheric and SSTs anomalies
This work presents a methodology to study the interannual variability associated with summertime months in which extremely hot temperatures are frequent. Daily time series of maximum and minimum temperature fields (T max and T min, respectively) are used to define indexes of extreme months based on the number of days crossing thresholds. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis is applied to the monthly indexes. EOF loadings give information about the geographical areas where the number of days per month with extreme temperatures has the largest variability. Correlations between the EOF principal components and the time series of other fields allow plotting maps highlighting the anomalies in the large scale circulation and in the SSTs that are associated with the occurrence of extreme events. The methodology is used to construct the “climatology” of the extremely hot summertime months over Europe. In terms of both interannual and intraseasonal variability, there are three regions in which the frequency of the extremely hot days per month homogeneously varies: north-west Europe, Euro-Mediterranean and Eurasia region. Although extremes over those regions occur during the whole summer (June to August), the anomalous climatic conditions associated with frequent heatwaves present some intraseasonal variability. Extreme climate events over the north-west Europe and Eurasia are typically related to the occurrence of blocking situations. The intraseasonal variability of those patterns is related to the amplitude of the blocking, the relative location of the action centre and the wavetrain of anomalies downstream or upstream of the blocking. During June and July, blocking situations which give extremely hot climate conditions over north-west Europe are also associated with cold conditions over the eastern Mediterranean sector. The Euro-Mediterranean region is a transition area in which extratropical and tropical systems compete, influencing the occurrence of climate events: blockings tend to be related to extremely hot months during June while baroclinic anomalies dominate the variability of the climate events in July and August. We highlight that our method could be easily applied to other regions of the world, to other fields as well as to model outputs to assess, e.g. the potential change of extreme climate events in a warmer climate
Crosstalk Cascades for Frame-rate Pedestrian Detection
Cascades help make sliding window object detection fast,
nevertheless, computational demands remain prohibitive for numerous applications. Currently, evaluation of adjacent windows proceeds independently; this is suboptimal as detector responses at nearby locations and scales are correlated. We propose to exploit these correlations by
tightly coupling detector evaluation of nearby windows. We introduce two opposing mechanisms: detector excitation of promising neighbors and inhibition of inferior neighbors. By enabling neighboring detectors to communicate, crosstalk cascades achieve major gains (4-30x speedup) over cascades evaluated independently at each image location. Combined
with recent advances in fast multi-scale feature computation, for which we provide an optimized implementation, our approach runs at 35-65 fps
on 640 x 480 images while attaining state-of-the-art accuracy
Comparison between two different modes of non-invasive ventilatory support in preterm newborn infants with respiratory distress syndrome mild to moderate: preliminary data
Despite of improved survival of premature infants, the incidence of long term pulmonary complications, mostly associated with ventilation-induced lung injury, remains high. Non invasive ventilation (NIV) is able to reduce the adverse effects of mechanical ventilation. Although nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) is an effective mode of NIV, traumatic nasal complications and intolerance of the nasal interface are common. Recently high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is emerging as a better tolerated form of NIV, allowing better access to the baby's face, which may improve nursing, feeding and bonding. HFNC may be effective in the treatment of some neonatal respiratory conditions while being more user-friendly for care-givers than conventional NCPAP. Limited evidence is available to support the specific role, efficacy and safety of HFNC in newborns and to demonstrate efficacy compared with NCPAP; some studies suggest a potential role for HFNC in respiratory care of the neonate as a distinct non invasive ventilatory support. We present the preliminary data of a randomized clinical trial; the aim of this study was to assess efficacy and safety of HFNC compared to NCPAP in preterm newborns with mild to moderate respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)
On the Influence of ENSO on Sudden Stratospheric Warmings
Using the extended ERA5 reanalysis and three state-of-the-art models, this study explores how El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can influence the total frequency, seasonal cycle and preconditioning of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). Reanalysis data shows that in the last seven decades, winters with SSWs were more common than winters without, regardless El Niño (EN) or La Niña (LN) occurrence or the ENSO/SSW definitions. In agreement with previous studies, our models tend to simulate a linear ENSO-SSW relationship, with more SSWs for EN, around mid-winter (January–February) as in reanalysis, and less for LN when compared to neutral conditions. Independently of ENSO, the main tropospheric precursor of SSWs appears to be an anomalous wave-like pattern over Eurasia, but it is dominated by wavenumber 1 (WN1) for EN and shows an enhanced wavenumber 2 (WN2) for LN. The differences in this Eurasian wave pattern, which is largely internally generated, emerge from the distinct configuration of the background, stationary wave pattern induced by ENSO in the North Pacific, favoring a stronger WN1 (WN2) component during EN (LN). Our results suggest that the ENSO-forced signal relies on modulating the seasonal-mean polar vortex strength, becoming weaker and more displaced (stronger and more stable) for EN (LN), while ENSO-unforced wave activity represents the ultimate trigger of SSWs. This supports the view that ENSO and SSWs are distinct sources of variability of the winter atmospheric circulation operating at different time-scales and may reconcile previous findings in this context
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