3,097 research outputs found
Optimized implementation of the Lanczos method for magnetic systems
Numerically exact investigations of interacting spin systems provide a major
tool for an understanding of their magnetic properties. For medium size systems
the approximate Lanczos diagonalization is the most common method. In this
article we suggest two improvements: efficient basis coding in subspaces and
simple restructuring for openMP parallelization.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figues, submitted to Journal of Computational Physic
Photometry of supernovae in an image series : methods and application to the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS)
We present a technique to measure lightcurves of time-variable point sources
on a spatially structured background from imaging data. The technique was
developed to measure light curves of SNLS supernovae in order to infer their
distances. This photometry technique performs simultaneous PSF photometry at
the same sky position on an image series. We describe two implementations of
the method: one that resamples images before measuring fluxes, and one which
does not. In both instances, we sketch the key algorithms involved and present
the validation using semi-artificial sources introduced in real images in order
to assess the accuracy of the supernova flux measurements relative to that of
surrounding stars. We describe the methods required to anchor these PSF fluxes
to calibrated aperture catalogs, in order to derive SN magnitudes. We find a
marginally significant bias of 2 mmag of the after-resampling method, and no
bias at the mmag accuracy for the non-resampling method. Given surrounding star
magnitudes, we determine the systematic uncertainty of SN magnitudes to be less
than 1.5 mmag, which represents about one third of the current photometric
calibration uncertainty affecting SN measurements. The SN photometry delivers
several by-products: bright star PSF flux mea- surements which have a
repeatability of about 0.6%, as for aperture measurements; we measure relative
astrometric positions with a noise floor of 2.4 mas for a single-image bright
star measurement; we show that in all bands of the MegaCam instrument, stars
exhibit a profile linearly broadening with flux by about 0.5% over the whole
brightness range.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 20 page
High Rayleigh number convection with double diffusive fingers
An electrodeposition cell is used to sustain a destabilizing concentration
difference of copper ions in aqueous solution between the top and bottom
boundaries of the cell. The resulting convecting motion is analogous to
Rayleigh-B\'enard convection at high Prandtl numbers. In addition, a
stabilizing temperature gradient is imposed across the cell. Even for thermal
buoyancy two orders of magnitude smaller than chemical buoyancy, the presence
of the weak stabilizing gradient has a profound effect on the convection
pattern. Double diffusive fingers appear in all cases. The size of these
fingers and the flow velocities are independent of the height of the cell, but
they depend on the ion concentration difference between top and bottom
boundaries as well as on the imposed temperature gradient. The scaling of the
mass transport is compatible with previous results on double diffusive
convection
Towards Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen quantum channel multiplexing
A single broadband squeezed field constitutes a quantum communication
resource that is sufficient for the realization of a large number N of quantum
channels based on distributed Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entangled states.
Each channel can serve as a resource for, e.g. independent quantum key
distribution or teleportation protocols. N-fold channel multiplexing can be
realized by accessing 2N squeezed modes at different Fourier frequencies. We
report on the experimental implementation of the N=1 case through the
interference of two squeezed states, extracted from a single broadband squeezed
field, and demonstrate all techniques required for multiplexing (N>1). Quantum
channel frequency multiplexing can be used to optimize the exploitation of a
broadband squeezed field in a quantum information task. For instance, it is
useful if the bandwidth of the squeezed field is larger than the bandwidth of
the homodyne detectors. This is currently a typical situation in many
experiments with squeezed and two-mode squeezed entangled light.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. In the new version we cite recent experimental
work bei Mehmet et al., arxiv0909.5386, in order to clarify the motivation of
our work and its possible applicatio
Photon number discrimination without a photon counter and its application to reconstructing non-Gaussian states
The non-linearity of a conditional photon-counting measurement can be used to
`de-Gaussify' a Gaussian state of light. Here we present and experimentally
demonstrate a technique for photon number resolution using only homodyne
detection. We then apply this technique to inform a conditional measurement;
unambiguously reconstructing the statistics of the non-Gaussian one and two
photon subtracted squeezed vacuum states. Although our photon number
measurement relies on ensemble averages and cannot be used to prepare
non-Gaussian states of light, its high efficiency, photon number resolving
capabilities, and compatibility with the telecommunications band make it
suitable for quantum information tasks relying on the outcomes of mean values.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Theory section expanded in response to referee
comment
Multiresolution community detection for megascale networks by information-based replica correlations
We use a Potts model community detection algorithm to accurately and
quantitatively evaluate the hierarchical or multiresolution structure of a
graph. Our multiresolution algorithm calculates correlations among multiple
copies ("replicas") of the same graph over a range of resolutions. Significant
multiresolution structures are identified by strongly correlated replicas. The
average normalized mutual information, the variation of information, and other
measures in principle give a quantitative estimate of the "best" resolutions
and indicate the relative strength of the structures in the graph. Because the
method is based on information comparisons, it can in principle be used with
any community detection model that can examine multiple resolutions. Our
approach may be extended to other optimization problems. As a local measure,
our Potts model avoids the "resolution limit" that affects other popular
models. With this model, our community detection algorithm has an accuracy that
ranks among the best of currently available methods. Using it, we can examine
graphs over 40 million nodes and more than one billion edges. We further report
that the multiresolution variant of our algorithm can solve systems of at least
200000 nodes and 10 million edges on a single processor with exceptionally high
accuracy. For typical cases, we find a super-linear scaling, O(L^{1.3}) for
community detection and O(L^{1.3} log N) for the multiresolution algorithm
where L is the number of edges and N is the number of nodes in the system.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, published version with minor change
Academic Dishonesty in the Canadian Classroom: Behaviours of a Sample of University Students
Academic dishonesty is a persistent problem in institutions of higher education, with numerous short- and long-term implications. This study examines undergraduate students’ self-reported engagement in acts of academic dishonesty using data from a sample of 321 participants attending a public university in a western Canadian city during the fall of 2007. Various factors were assessed for their influence on students’ extent of academic dishonesty. More than one-half of respondents engaged in at least one of three types of dishonest behaviours surveyed during their tenure in university. Faculty of enrolment, strategies for learning, perceptions of peers’ cheating and their requests for help, and perceptions and evaluations of academic dishonesty made unique contributions to the prediction of academic dishonesty. High self-efficacy acted as a protective factor that interacted with instrumental motives to study to reduce students’ propensity to engage in dishonest academic behaviours. Implications of these findings for institutional interventions are briefly discussed.
Le comportement académique malhonnête persiste dans les institutions d’enseignement supérieur, et ses implications à court et à long terme sont nombreuses. La présente étude examine l’adoption d’un comportement académique malhonnête par des étudiants de premier cycle, grâce aux données d’un échantillon de 321 participants qui fréquentaient une université publique dans une ville de l’ouest canadien à l’automne 2007. Différents facteurs ont été évalués en fonction de leur influence sur l’étendue du comportement académique malhonnête des étudiants. Plus de la moitié des étudiants échantillonnés ont adopté au moins l’un des trois types de comportements malhonnêtes au cours de leur passage à l’université. La faculté à s’inscrire, les stratégies d’apprentissage, la perception quant au comportement tricheur des pairs et quant à leurs demandes d’aide, et les perceptions et évaluations de la malhonnêteté académique constituent des indices uniques pour ce qui est de prédire le comportement académique malhonnête. Un degré élevé d’auto-efficacité, de même que certains motifs essentiels, avaient un effet protecteur dans la réduction de la propension des étudiants à s’engager dans des comportements académiques malhonnêtes. L’article aborde brièvement les conséquences de ces résultats au cours d’interventions en institution d’enseignement.
 
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