Cost-Effectiveness Evaluation of Swiss Agri-Environmental Measures on Sector Level

Abstract This paper focuses on non-linear programming models and their suitability for ex-ante evaluations of agri-environmental policies on sector level. An approach is presented to compare organic farming payments as a multi-objective policy, with other, more targeted agri-environmental policies in Switzerland. The Swiss version of the comparative static sector-consistent farm group model FARMIS is able to group the sector’s farms into organic and non-organic farms and optimise them separately. CH-FARMIS is expanded with three modules particularly for this study: a) allowing for the simulation of uptake; b) integrating life cycle assessment data for energy use, eutrophication and biodiversity; and c) estimating the policy and farm-group-specific public expenditure, including transaction costs. This paper illustrates the functions of the model, shows preliminary energy use calculations for the German Agricultural Sector and discusses the advantages and limitations of the approach

Nuclear spin qubits in a trapped-ion quantum computer

Physical systems must fulfill a number of conditions to qualify as useful quantum bits (qubits) for quantum information processing, including ease of manipulation, long decoherence times, and high fidelity readout operations. Since these conditions are hard to satisfy with a single system, it may be necessary to combine different degrees of freedom. Here we discuss a possible system, based on electronic and nuclear spin degrees of freedom in trapped ions. The nuclear spin yields long decoherence times, while the electronic spin, in a magnetic field gradient, provides efficient manipulation, and the optical transitions of the ions assure a selective and efficient initialization and readout.Comment: 7 page

Spin- and entanglement-dynamics in the central spin model with homogeneous couplings

We calculate exactly the time-dependent reduced density matrix for the central spin in the central-spin model with homogeneous Heisenberg couplings. Therefrom, the dynamics and the entanglement entropy of the central spin are obtained. A rich variety of behaviors is found, depending on the initial state of the bath spins. For an initially unpolarized unentangled bath, the polarization of the central spin decays to zero in the thermodynamic limit, while its entanglement entropy becomes maximal. On the other hand, if the unpolarized environment is initially in an eigenstate of the total bath spin, the central spin and the entanglement entropy exhibit persistent monochromatic large-amplitude oscillations. This raises the question to what extent entanglement of the bath spins prevents decoherence of the central spin.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, typos corrected, published versio

Spin Chains as Perfect Quantum State Mirrors

Quantum information transfer is an important part of quantum information processing. Several proposals for quantum information transfer along linear arrays of nearest-neighbor coupled qubits or spins were made recently. Perfect transfer was shown to exist in two models with specifically designed strongly inhomogeneous couplings. We show that perfect transfer occurs in an entire class of chains, including systems whose nearest-neighbor couplings vary only weakly along the chain. The key to these observations is the Jordan-Wigner mapping of spins to noninteracting lattice fermions which display perfectly periodic dynamics if the single-particle energy spectrum is appropriate. After a half-period of that dynamics any state is transformed into its mirror image with respect to the center of the chain. The absence of fermion interactions preserves these features at arbitrary temperature and allows for the transfer of nontrivially entangled states of several spins or qubits.Comment: Abstract extended, introduction shortened, some clarifications in the text, one new reference. Accepted by Phys. Rev. A (Rapid Communications

Resistive transition of hydrogen-rich superconductors

Critical temperature, Tc, and transition width, ΔTc, are two primary parameters of the superconducting transition. The latter parameter reflects the superconducting state disturbance originating from the thermodynamic fluctuations, atomic disorder, applied magnetic field, the presence of secondary crystalline phases, applied pressure, etc. Recently, Hirsch and Marsiglio (2021 Phys. Rev. B 103 134505, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.134505) performed an analysis of the transition width in several near-room-temperature superconductors and reported that the reduced transition width, ΔTc/Tc, in these materials does not follow the conventional trend of transition width broadening in applied magnetic field observed in low- and high-Tc superconductors. Here, we present a thorough mathematical analysis of the magnetoresistive data, R(T, B), for the high-entropy alloy (ScZrNb)0.65[RhPd]0.35 and hydrogen-rich superconductors of Im-3m-H3S, C2/m-LaH10 and P63/mmc-CeH9. We found that the reduced transition width, ΔTc/Tc, in these materials follows a conventional broadening trend in applied magnetic field. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd

Geometric Effects and Computation in Spin Networks

When initially introduced, a Hamiltonian that realises perfect transfer of a quantum state was found to be analogous to an x-rotation of a large spin. In this paper we extend the analogy further to demonstrate geometric effects by performing rotations on the spin. Such effects can be used to determine properties of the chain, such as its length, in a robust manner. Alternatively, they can form the basis of a spin network quantum computer. We demonstrate a universal set of gates in such a system by both dynamical and geometrical means

Charge and spin dynamics in the one-dimensional t−Jzt-J_z and t−Jt-J models

The impact of the spin-flip terms on the (static and dynamic) charge and spin correlations in the Luttinger-liquid ground state of the 1D $t-J$ model is assessed by comparison with the same quantities in the 1D $t-J_z$ model, where spin-flip terms are absent. We employ the recursion method combined with a weak-coupling or a strong-coupling continued-fraction analysis. At $J_z/t=0^+$ we use the Pfaffian representation of dynamic spin correlations. The changing nature of the dynamically relevant charge and spin excitations on approach of the transition to phase separation is investigated in detail. The $t-J_z$ charge excitations (but not the spin excitations) at the transition have a single-mode nature, whereas charge and spin excitations have a complicated structure in the $t-J$ model. In the $t-J_z$ model, phase separation is accompanied by N\'eel long-range order, caused by the condensation of electron clusters with an already existing alternating up-down spin configuration (topological long-range order). In the $t-J$ model, by contrast, the spin-flip processes in the exchange coupling are responsible for continued strong spin fluctuations (dominated by 2-spinon excitations) in the phase-separated state.Comment: 11 pages (RevTex). 14 Figures available from author

Bio mit Gesicht - Erfolgschancen einer kundennahen und innovativen Marketingstrategie

Mangelndes Vertrauen in Bio-Produkte wirkt als eine zentrale Kaufbarriere. Mit der Marketingstrategie Bio mit Gesicht (BMG) soll die Anonymität von Produkten aufgehoben und Vertrauen geschaffen werden, indem die Erzeuger und Verarbeiter im Internet vorgestellt werden. Ziel des Projekts "Bio mit Gesicht – Erfolgschancen einer kundennahen und innovativen Marketingstrategie“ war es, die Markteinführung der Produktlinie BMG wissenschaftlich zu begleiten und praxisrelevante Aussagen über die Konzeption zukünftiger Marketingstrategien zu treffen. Dabei wurde im Rahmen einer quantitativen und einer qualitativen Studie untersucht, worauf das Vertrauen in Bio-Produkte grundsätzlich beruht und ob BMG geeignet ist, das Vertrauen in Bio-Produkte zu steigern. Die Studien zeigen, dass die Kennzeichnung von Bio-Lebensmitteln mit Bio-Labels eine zentrale Rolle dabei spielt, wie Konsumenten deren Vertrauenswürdigkeit beurteilen. Bio-Produkte, die ein Verbandslabel aufweisen, genießen das höchste Vertrauen, gefolgt von staatlichen Labels. Trotz seines geringen Bekanntheitsgrads wirkt auch das BMG-Logo vertrauensbildend. Offenbar erweckt bereits allein das signalgebende Wort „bio“ im Label Vertrauen. Auch schaffen Einkaufsstätten Vertrauen, die aus Sicht der Konsumenten Bio-Produkte aus Überzeugung verkaufen. Regionalität erhöht ebenfalls die Vertrauenswürdigkeit eines Bio-Produkts signifikant. Am höchsten ist das Vertrauen in Bio-Lebensmittel unter Konsumenten, die Bio-Lebensmittel überwiegend in Bio-Läden kaufen. Im Gegensatz zum BMG-Label steigert BMG als Rückverfolgbarkeitssystem via Internet das Vertrauen in Bio-Produkte derzeit kaum. Doch insbesondere durch die zunehmende Verbreitung von Smartphones und den damit verbundenen Vorteil, Produktinformationen noch vor dem Einkauf abrufen zu können, könnte die Bedeutung von BMG zukünftig steigern. Auch die wachsende Bedeutung von elektronischen Lesegeräten, mit denen sich Artikeldaten bereits während des Lebensmitteleinkaufs abrufen lassen, steigert das Potenzial von Rückverfolgbarkeitssystemen. Die Analyse der Zugriffszahlen zeigte zudem, dass in Zeiten eines Lebensmittelskandals (z.B. Dioxin in Eiern, EHEC) die Besucherzahlen auf der Internetseite von BMG deutlich steigen