8,215 research outputs found
A quantum group version of quantum gauge theories in two dimensions
For the special case of the quantum group we present an alternative approach to quantum gauge theories in
two dimensions. We exhibit the similarities to Witten's combinatorial approach
which is based on ideas of Migdal. The main ingredient is the Turaev-Viro
combinatorial construction of topological invariants of closed, compact
3-manifolds and its extension to arbitrary compact 3-manifolds as given by the
authors in collaboration with W. Mueller.Comment: 6 pages (plain TeX
Sets Represented as the Length-n Factors of a Word
In this paper we consider the following problems: how many different subsets
of Sigma^n can occur as set of all length-n factors of a finite word? If a
subset is representable, how long a word do we need to represent it? How many
such subsets are represented by words of length t? For the first problem, we
give upper and lower bounds of the form alpha^(2^n) in the binary case. For the
second problem, we give a weak upper bound and some experimental data. For the
third problem, we give a closed-form formula in the case where n <= t < 2n.
Algorithmic variants of these problems have previously been studied under the
name "shortest common superstring"
Population Differences in Death Rates in HIV-Positive Patients with Tuberculosis.
SETTING: Randomised controlled clinical trial of Mycobacterium vaccae vaccination as an adjunct to anti-tuberculosis treatment in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients with smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) in Lusaka, Zambia, and Karonga, Malawi. OBJECTIVE: To explain the difference in mortality between the two trial sites and to identify risk factors for death among HIV-positive patients with TB. DESIGN: Information on demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiographic characteristics was collected. Patients in Lusaka (667) and in Karonga (84) were followed up for an average of 1.56 years. Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to assess differences in survival between the two sites and to determine risk factors associated with mortality during and after anti-tuberculosis treatment. RESULTS: The case fatality rate was 14.7% in Lusaka and 21.4% in Karonga. The hazard ratio for death comparing Karonga to Lusaka was 1.47 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9-2.4) during treatment and 1.76 (95%CI 1.0-3.0) after treatment. This difference could be almost entirely explained by age and more advanced HIV disease among patients in Karonga. CONCLUSION: It is important to understand the reasons for population differences in mortality among patients with TB and HIV and to maximise efforts to reduce mortality
Constructing quantum games from non-factorizable joint probabilities
A probabilistic framework is developed that gives a unifying perspective on
both the classical and the quantum games. We suggest exploiting peculiar
probabilities involved in Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) experiments to
construct quantum games. In our framework a game attains classical
interpretation when joint probabilities are factorizable and a quantum game
corresponds when these probabilities cannot be factorized. We analyze how
non-factorizability changes Nash equilibria in two-player games while
considering the games of Prisoner's Dilemma, Stag Hunt, and Chicken. In this
framework we find that for the game of Prisoner's Dilemma even non-factorizable
EPR joint probabilities cannot be helpful to escape from the classical outcome
of the game. For a particular version of the Chicken game, however, we find
that the two non-factorizable sets of joint probabilities, that maximally
violates the Clauser-Holt-Shimony-Horne (CHSH) sum of correlations, indeed
result in new Nash equilibria.Comment: Revised in light of referee's comments, submitted to Physical Review
Bell's theorem as a signature of nonlocality: a classical counterexample
For a system composed of two particles Bell's theorem asserts that averages
of physical quantities determined from local variables must conform to a family
of inequalities. In this work we show that a classical model containing a local
probabilistic interaction in the measurement process can lead to a violation of
the Bell inequalities. We first introduce two-particle phase-space
distributions in classical mechanics constructed to be the analogs of quantum
mechanical angular momentum eigenstates. These distributions are then employed
in four schemes characterized by different types of detectors measuring the
angular momenta. When the model includes an interaction between the detector
and the measured particle leading to ensemble dependencies, the relevant Bell
inequalities are violated if total angular momentum is required to be
conserved. The violation is explained by identifying assumptions made in the
derivation of Bell's theorem that are not fulfilled by the model. These
assumptions will be argued to be too restrictive to see in the violation of the
Bell inequalities a faithful signature of nonlocality.Comment: Extended manuscript. Significant change
Geographical variation in sound production in the anemonefish <i>Amphiprion akallopisos</i>
Because of pelagic-larval dispersal, coral-reef fishes are distributed widely with minimal genetic differentiation between populations. Amphiprion akallopisos, a clownfish that uses sound production to defend its anemone territory, has a wide but disjunct distribution in the Indian Ocean. We compared sounds produced by these fishes from populations in Madagascar and Indonesia, a distance of 6500?km. Differentiation of agonistic calls into distinct types indicates a complexity not previously recorded in fishes' acoustic communication. Moreover, various acoustic parameters, including peak frequency, pulse duration, number of peaks per pulse, differed between the two populations. The geographic comparison is the first to demonstrate âdialectsâ in a marine fish species, and these differences in sound parameters suggest genetic divergence between these two populations. These results highlight the possible approach for investigating the role of sounds in fish behaviour in reproductive divergence and speciation
The Bell Theorem as a Special Case of a Theorem of Bass
The theorem of Bell states that certain results of quantum mechanics violate
inequalities that are valid for objective local random variables. We show that
the inequalities of Bell are special cases of theorems found ten years earlier
by Bass and stated in full generality by Vorob'ev. This fact implies precise
necessary and sufficient mathematical conditions for the validity of the Bell
inequalities. We show that these precise conditions differ significantly from
the definition of objective local variable spaces and as an application that
the Bell inequalities may be violated even for objective local random
variables.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure
Call properties and morphology of the sound-producing organ in <i>Ophidion rochei</i> (Ophidiidae)
The anatomical structures of the sound-producing organ in Ophidion rochei males present an important panel of highly derived characters: three pairs of putatively slow sonic muscles; a neural arch that pivots; a rocker bone at the front pole of the swimbladder; a stretchable swimbladder fenestra; a swimbladder plate; and an internal cone that terminates in a pair of membranes in the caudal swimbladder. Male courtship calls are produced nocturnally and consist of trains of 10 to 40 pulses that increase in amplitude and decrease in rate before exhibiting alternating periods of ca. 84 and 111 ms. Each pulse includes an unusual waveform with two parts. Pulse part 1 is a single cycle followed by a longer duration pulse part that exhibits gradual damping. Sounds and morphology suggest two hypotheses on the sound-producing mechanism. The âpulleyâ hypothesis would require an alternate contraction of the ventral and dorsal muscles to form the two parts of each pulse. The âbowâ hypothesis involves a release mechanism with the sustained contraction of the dorsal muscle during all of the call, and the rapid contraction/relaxation of the ventral muscle to form each pulse
Transverse Demagnetization Dynamics of a Unitary Fermi Gas
Understanding the quantum dynamics of strongly interacting fermions is a
problem relevant to diverse forms of matter, including high-temperature
superconductors, neutron stars, and quark-gluon plasma. An appealing benchmark
is offered by cold atomic gases in the unitary limit of strong interactions.
Here we study the dynamics of a transversely magnetized unitary Fermi gas in an
inhomogeneous magnetic field. We observe the demagnetization of the gas, caused
by diffusive spin transport. At low temperatures, the diffusion constant
saturates to the conjectured quantum-mechanical lower bound ,
where is the particle mass. The development of pair correlations,
indicating the transformation of the initially non-interacting gas towards a
unitary spin mixture, is observed by measuring Tan's contact parameter.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Accepted versio
- âŠ