11,654 research outputs found
Quantum Mechanical Interaction-Free Measurements
A novel manifestation of nonlocality of quantum mechanics is presented. It is
shown that it is possible to ascertain the existence of an object in a given
region of space without interacting with it. The method might have practical
applications for delicate quantum experiments.Comment: (revised file with no need for macro), 12, TAUP 1865-91
Quantum Counterfactuals and Locality
Stapp's counterfactual argument for quantum nonlocality based upon a Hardy
entangled state is shown to be flawed. While he has correctly analyzed a
particular framework using the method of consistent histories, there are
alternative frameworks which do not support his argument. The framework
dependence of quantum counterfactual arguments, with analogs in classical
counterfactuals, vitiates the claim that nonlocal (superluminal) influences
exist in the quantum world. Instead it shows that counterfactual arguments are
of limited use for analyzing these questions.Comment: 8 pages, 1 PSTricks figur
Witnessing causal nonseparability
Our common understanding of the physical world deeply relies on the notion
that events are ordered with respect to some time parameter, with past events
serving as causes for future ones. Nonetheless, it was recently found that it
is possible to formulate quantum mechanics without any reference to a global
time or causal structure. The resulting framework includes new kinds of quantum
resources that allow performing tasks - in particular, the violation of causal
inequalities - which are impossible for events ordered according to a global
causal order. However, no physical implementation of such resources is known.
Here we show that a recently demonstrated resource for quantum computation -
the quantum switch - is a genuine example of "indefinite causal order". We do
this by introducing a new tool - the causal witness - which can detect the
causal nonseparability of any quantum resource that is incompatible with a
definite causal order. We show however that the quantum switch does not violate
any causal nequality.Comment: 15 + 12 pages, 5 figures. Published versio
Location of the Lee-Yang zeros and absence of phase transitions in some Ising spin systems
We consider a class of Ising spin systems on a set \Lambda of sites. The
sites are grouped into units with the property that each site belongs to either
one or two units, and the total internal energy of the system is the sum of the
energies of the individual units, which in turn depend only on the number of up
spins in the unit. We show that under suitable conditions on these interactions
none of the |\Lambda| Lee-Yang zeros in the complex z = exp{2\beta h} plane,
where \beta is the inverse temperature and h the uniform magnetic field, touch
the positive real axis, at least for large values of \beta. In some cases one
obtains, in an appropriately taken \beta to infinity limit, a gas of hard
objects on a set \Lambda'; the fugacity for the limiting system is a rescaling
of z and the Lee-Yang zeros of the new partition function also avoid the
positive real axis. For certain forms of the energies of the individual units
the Lee-Yang zeros of both the finite- and zero-temperature systems lie on the
negative real axis for all \beta. One zero-temperature limit of this type, for
example, is a monomer-dimer system; our results thus generalize, to finite
\beta, a well-known result of Heilmann and Lieb that the Lee-Yang zeros of
monomer-dimer systems are real and negative.Comment: Plain TeX. Seventeen pages, five figures from .eps files. Version 2
corrects minor errors in version
On the comparison of volumes of quantum states
This paper aims to study the \a-volume of \cK, an arbitrary subset of the
set of density matrices. The \a-volume is a generalization of the
Hilbert-Schmidt volume and the volume induced by partial trace. We obtain
two-side estimates for the \a-volume of \cK in terms of its Hilbert-Schmidt
volume. The analogous estimates between the Bures volume and the \a-volume
are also established. We employ our results to obtain bounds for the
\a-volume of the sets of separable quantum states and of states with positive
partial transpose (PPT). Hence, our asymptotic results provide answers for
questions listed on page 9 in \cite{K. Zyczkowski1998} for large in the
sense of \a-volume.
\vskip 3mm PACS numbers: 02.40.Ft, 03.65.Db, 03.65.Ud, 03.67.M
An evaluation of the spatial resolution of soil moisture information
Rainfall-amount patterns in the central regions of the U.S. were assessed. The spatial scales of surface features and their corresponding microwave responses in the mid western U.S. were investigated. The usefulness for U.S. government agencies of soil moisture information at scales of 10 km and 1 km. was ascertained. From an investigation of 494 storms, it was found that the rainfall resulting from the passage of most types of storms produces patterns which can be resolved on a 10 km scale. The land features causing the greatest problem in the sensing of soil moisture over large agricultural areas with a radiometer are bodies of water. Over the mid-western portions of the U.S., water occupies less than 2% of the total area, the consequently, the water bodies will not have a significant impact on the mapping of soil moisture. Over most of the areas, measurements at a 10-km resolution would adequately define the distribution of soil moisture. Crop yield models and hydrological models would give improved results if soil moisture information at scales of 10 km was available
On the theory of composition in physics
We develop a theory for describing composite objects in physics. These can be
static objects, such as tables, or things that happen in spacetime (such as a
region of spacetime with fields on it regarded as being composed of smaller
such regions joined together). We propose certain fundamental axioms which, it
seems, should be satisfied in any theory of composition. A key axiom is the
order independence axiom which says we can describe the composition of a
composite object in any order. Then we provide a notation for describing
composite objects that naturally leads to these axioms being satisfied. In any
given physical context we are interested in the value of certain properties for
the objects (such as whether the object is possible, what probability it has,
how wide it is, and so on). We associate a generalized state with an object.
This can be used to calculate the value of those properties we are interested
in for for this object. We then propose a certain principle, the composition
principle, which says that we can determine the generalized state of a
composite object from the generalized states for the components by means of a
calculation having the same structure as the description of the generalized
state. The composition principle provides a link between description and
prediction.Comment: 23 pages. To appear in a festschrift for Samson Abramsky edited by
Bob Coecke, Luke Ong, and Prakash Panangade
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