Development of a general education course on quantum information science

General education plays a vital role in the mission of higher education to cultivate responsible and engaged citizens with a global awareness (CUHK, 2013; Benander, Denton, Page, & Skinner, 2000). Besides humanities and social science, the category of nature, science and technology is a critical part of general education (CUHK(SZ), 2021; Vander Schee, 2011) as it will help students to appraise the physical world with a scientific attitude, evaluate humans’ role in being part of nature and assess the impact of science and technology on modern life (CUHK(SZ), 2021) by introducing various principles, discoveries, and methods of natural sciences as well as modern technology. Quantum physics has been revolutionizing modern life since its appearance in 20th century. The rapid development of quantum information science is bringing a new age. The education of quantum information science for the younger generation, in particular for those who are not specialized in physics, is becoming increasingly demanded. Therefore, a course on quantum information science is becoming an indispensable part of general education. The author developed a general education course on quantum information science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen in China for non-physics major undergraduates in 2015. Three themes including how quantum mechanics was developed, what quantum mechanics is about and how quantum mechanics relates to modern life, are addressed. In this work, challenges of teaching quantum information science as a general education course and possible solutions will be presented based on the seven-year teaching experience of the author. REFERENCES Benander, R., Denton, J., Page, D., & Skinner, C. (2000). Primary trait analysis: Anchoring assessment in the classroom. Journal of General Education, 49(4), 279-302. CUHK Misson of University General Education (2013), Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.oge.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php/en/overview/mission, CUHKS(SZ) General Education Study Scheme, 2021, Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://registry.cuhk.edu.cn/en/page/21 Vander Schee, B. A. (2011), Changing General Education Perceptions through Perspectives and the Interdisciplinary First-Year Seminar, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(3), 382-387

Product oriented coordination between design and construction

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Limitations on the quantum non-Gaussian characteristic of Schrodinger kitten state generation

A quantitative analysis is conducted on the impacts of experimental imperfections in the input state, the detector properties, and their interactions on photon-subtracted squeezed vacuum states in terms of a quantum non-Gaussian character witness and Wigner function. Limitations of the non-classicality and quantum non-Gaussian characteristic of Schrödinger kitten states are identified and addressed. The detrimental effects of a photon-number detector on the generation of odd Schrödinger kitten states at near-infrared wavelengths (∼860 nm) and telecommunication wavelengths (∼1550 nm) are presented and analysed. This analysis demonstrates that the high dark count probability of telecommunication-wavelength photon-number detectors significantly undermines the negativity of the Wigner function in Schrödinger kitten state generation experiments. For a one-photon- subtracted squeezed vacuum state at ∼1550 nm, an avalanche photodiode-based photon-number-resolving detector provides no significant advantage over a non-photon-number-resolving detector when imperfections, such as dark count probability and inefficiency, are taken into account

A Study on Contact Fatigue Performance of Nitrided and TiN Coated Gears

This paper discusses the effects of TiN coating on gear contact fatigue performance through contact fatigue experiment and gear rig test. The results reveal that the deposition on gears with hard coating TiN could provide the subsurface protection and improve the contact fatigue life, and the contact fatigue strength of nitrided+TiN coated 32Cr2MoV is 1557 MPa at survival probability of 99%, 284 MPa higher than that of nitrided 32Cr2MoV. Although TiN coating on the the edge of the meshing zone wore out, there is no obvious pitting at the site and the rest of meshed zone of TiN coated gear keeps well without pittings and wear grooves, which is opposite to nitrided gears with pittings and peeling off. TiN coating is dense and smooth with lower surface roughness, and it wraps up the gear tooth so that the gear surface no longer contacts with lubricant and prevents the cracks initiation, prolonging the contact fatigue life of gears

Quantum teleportation in space and frequency using entangled pairs of photons from a frequency comb

Using entangled pairs of photons from a frequency comb and wide-band frequency-resolved homodyne detection, we propose a sequential quantum teleportation protocol for continuous variables that teleports an unknown state in space and frequency. A subthreshold optical parametric oscillator (OPO) produces a comb of entangled pairs of photons separated by the free spectral range of the OPO cavity. Wide-band frequency-resolved homodyne detection enables direct access to the sum and difference of quadratures between different teeth in the comb. Such measurements are Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen nullifiers, and can be used as the basis for teleportation protocols. Our protocol for space-and-frequency teleportation effectively links arbitrary frequency channels for frequency-division multiplexing, which has applications in universal quantum computation and large-capacity quantum communication. © 2014 American Physical Society

Finite element analysis of laser shock peening of 2050-T8 aluminum alloy

AbstractLaser shock processing is a recently developed surface treatment designed to improve the mechanical properties and fatigue performance of materials, by inducing a deep compressive residual stress field. The purpose of this work is to investigate the residual stress distribution induced by laser shock processing in a 2050-T8 aeronautical aluminium alloy with both X-ray diffraction measurements and 3D finite element simulation. The method of X-ray diffraction is extensively used to characterize the crystallographic texture and the residual stress crystalline materials at different scales (macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic).Shock loading and materials’ dynamic response are experimentally analysed using Doppler velocimetry in order to use adequate data for the simulation. Then systematic experience versus simulation comparisons are addressed, considering first a single impact loading, and in a second step the laser shock processing treatment of an extended area, with a specific focus on impact overlap. Experimental and numerical results indicate a residual stress anisotropy, and a better surface stress homogeneity with an increase of impact overlap.A correct agreement is globally shown between experimental and simulated residual stress values, even if simulations provide us with local stress values whereas X-ray diffraction determinations give averaged residual stresses

Side population rather than CD133+ cells distinguishes enriched tumorigenicity in hTERT-immortalized primary prostate cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Subpopulations of cancer cells with the capacity of generating solid tumors have been characterized. In various cancer types, including prostate cancer cells, a side population (SP) and CD133-expressing cells have been proposed as containing a population cancer cells with stem-like ability. Therefore the aim of this work was to determine, in prostate cancer cell lines, the frequency and tumorigenic potential of SP and CD133+ cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In vitro </it>2D colony-forming assay and sphere-forming assay, Flow cytometry analysis and magnetic cell sorting were utilized to sort CD133+, CD133- and Side population (SP) cells. Our findings indicate that CD44 and integrin α-6 are uniformly expressed in the hTERT cell lines; however, CD133 is expressed only in a small population (< 0.1%). FACS-sorted CD133+ and CD133- cells exhibited similar tumorigenicity <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>. Additionally, for the hTERT cells, SP rather than CD133 expression showed an 8-fold enhanced tumorigenic potential. The data suggest that SP cells, rather than those with CD133 marker, contain the rare population of CSC capable of producing prostate tumors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Collectively, our data suggest that although CD133 is expressed only in a small population of hTERT-immortalized prostate cancer cells, it is not likely to be associated with stem cells, as CD133- and CD133+ cells exhibited similar tumorigenicity. However, SP isolated cells, appear to be enriched with tumorigenic stem-like cells capable of generating palpable tumors.</p