Theory of warm ionized gases: equation of state and kinetic Schottky anomaly

Based on accurate Lennard-Jones type interaction potentials, we derive a closed set of state equations for the description of warm atomic gases in the presence of ionization processes. The specific heat is predicted to exhibit peaks in correspondence to single and multiple ionizations. Such kinetic analogue in atomic gases of the Schottky anomaly in solids is enhanced at intermediate and low atomic densities. The case of adiabatic compression of noble gases is analyzed in detail and the implications on sonoluminescence are discussed. In particular, the predicted plasma electron density in a sonoluminescent bubble turns out to be in good agreement with the value measured in recent experiments.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, replaced with published versio

Long-distance entanglement and quantum teleportation in coupled cavity arrays

We introduce quantum spin models whose ground states allow for sizeable entanglement between distant spins. We discuss how spin models with global end-to-end entanglement realize quantum teleportation channels with optimal compromise between scalability and resilience to thermal decoherence, and can be implemented straightforwardly in suitably engineered arrays of coupled optical cavities.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. A (Rapid Communication