4,4′-(Propane-1,3-di­yl)dipyridinium tetra­chloridonickelate(II)

The title compound, (C13H16N2)[NiCl4] or (H2bpp)·NiCl4 [bpp is 1,3-bis­(4-pyrid­yl)propane], is isostructural with its already reported Cu, Zn and Hg analogues. The structure consists of a doubly charged (H2bpp)2+ cation and a tetra­hedral [NiCl4]2− dianion. Both pyridyl N atoms are protonated and form a (H2bpp)2+ cation which adopts an anti–anti conformation with a dihedral angle of 6.287 (7)° between the pyridyl rings. The two pyridyl N atoms are both involved in strong N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, which link both units into a dimer

Quantum games of asymmetric information

We investigate quantum games in which the information is asymmetrically distributed among the players, and find the possibility of the quantum game outperforming its classical counterpart depends strongly on not only the entanglement, but also the informational asymmetry. What is more interesting, when the information distribution is asymmetric, the contradictive impact of the quantum entanglement on the profits is observed, which is not reported in quantum games of symmetric information.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Quantum Discord for Investigating Quantum Correlations without Entanglement in Solids

Quantum systems unfold diversified correlations which have no classical counterparts. These quantum correlations have various different facets. Quantum entanglement, as the most well known measure of quantum correlations, plays essential roles in quantum information processing. However, it has recently been pointed out that quantum entanglement cannot describe all the nonclassicality in the correlations. Thus the study of quantum correlations in separable states attracts widely attentions. Herein, we experimentally investigate the quantum correlations of separable thermal states in terms of quantum discord. The sudden change of quantum discord is observed, which captures ambiguously the critical point associated with the behavior of Hamiltonian. Our results display the potential applications of quantum correlations in studying the fundamental properties of quantum system, such as quantum criticality of non-zero temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Vision based navigation system for autonomous proximity operations: an experimental and analytical study

This dissertation presents an experimental and analytical study of the Vision Based Navigation system (VisNav). VisNav is a novel intelligent optical sensor system invented by Texas A&M University recently for autonomous proximity operations. This dissertation is focused on system calibration techniques and navigation algorithms. This dissertation is composed of four parts. First, the fundamental hardware and software design configuration of the VisNav system is introduced. Second, system calibration techniques are discussed that should enable an accurate VisNav system application, as well as characterization of errors. Third, a new six degree-of-freedom navigation algorithm based on the Gaussian Least Squares Differential Correction is presented that provides a geometrical best position and attitude estimates through batch iterations. Finally, a dynamic state estimation algorithm utilizing the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is developed that recursively estimates position, attitude, linear velocities, and angular rates. Moreover, an approach for integration of VisNav measurements with those made by an Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU) is derived. This novel VisNav/IMU integration technique is shown to significantly improve the navigation accuracy and guarantee the robustness of the navigation system in the event of occasional dropout of VisNav data