248 research outputs found
Direct certification of a class of quantum simulations
One of the main challenges in the field of quantum simulation and computation
is to identify ways to certify the correct functioning of a device when a
classical efficient simulation is not available. Important cases are situations
in which one cannot classically calculate local expectation values of state
preparations efficiently. In this work, we develop weak-membership formulations
of the certification of ground state preparations. We provide a non-interactive
protocol for certifying ground states of frustration-free Hamiltonians based on
simple energy measurements of local Hamiltonian terms. This certification
protocol can be applied to classically intractable analog quantum simulations:
For example, using Feynman-Kitaev Hamiltonians, one can encode universal
quantum computation in such ground states. Moreover, our certification protocol
is applicable to ground states encodings of IQP circuits demonstration of
quantum supremacy. These can be certified efficiently when the error is
polynomially bounded.Comment: 10 pages, corrected a small error in Eqs. (2) and (5
Reliable quantum certification for photonic quantum technologies
A major roadblock for large-scale photonic quantum technologies is the lack
of practical reliable certification tools. We introduce an experimentally
friendly - yet mathematically rigorous - certification test for experimental
preparations of arbitrary m-mode pure Gaussian states, pure non-Gaussian states
generated by linear-optical circuits with n-boson Fock-basis states as inputs,
and states of these two classes subsequently post-selected with local
measurements on ancillary modes. The protocol is efficient in m and the inverse
post-selection success probability for all Gaussian states and all mentioned
non-Gaussian states with constant n. We follow the mindset of an untrusted
prover, who prepares the state, and a skeptic certifier, with classical
computing and single-mode homodyne-detection capabilities only. No assumptions
are made on the type of noise or capabilities of the prover. Our technique
exploits an extremality-based fidelity bound whose estimation relies on
non-Gaussian state nullifiers, which we introduce on the way as a byproduct
result. The certification of many-mode photonic networks, as those used for
photonic quantum simulations, boson samplers, and quantum metrology, is now
within reach.Comment: 8 pages + 20 pages appendix, 2 figures, results generalized to
scenarios with post-selection, presentation improve
Locality of temperature
This work is concerned with thermal quantum states of Hamiltonians on spin
and fermionic lattice systems with short range interactions. We provide results
leading to a local definition of temperature, thereby extending the notion of
"intensivity of temperature" to interacting quantum models. More precisely, we
derive a perturbation formula for thermal states. The influence of the
perturbation is exactly given in terms of a generalized covariance. For this
covariance, we prove exponential clustering of correlations above a universal
critical temperature that upper bounds physical critical temperatures such as
the Curie temperature. As a corollary, we obtain that above the critical
temperature, thermal states are stable against distant Hamiltonian
perturbations. Moreover, our results imply that above the critical temperature,
local expectation values can be approximated efficiently in the error and the
system size.Comment: 11 pages + 6 pages appendix, 6 figures; proof of the clustering
theorem corrected, improved presentatio
Fidelity Witnesses for Fermionic Quantum Simulations
The experimental interest and developments in quantum spin-1/2 chains has increased uninterruptedly over the past decade. In many instances, the target quantum simulation belongs to the broader class of noninteracting fermionic models, constituting an important benchmark. In spite of this class being analytically efficiently tractable, no direct certification tool has yet been reported for it. In fact, in experiments, certification has almost exclusively relied on notions of quantum state tomography scaling very unfavorably with the system size. Here, we develop experimentally friendly fidelity witnesses for all pure fermionic Gaussian target states. Their expectation value yields a tight lower bound to the fidelity and can be measured efficiently. We derive witnesses in full generality in the Majorana-fermion representation and apply them to experimentally relevant spin-1/2 chains. Among others, we show how to efficiently certify strongly out-of-equilibrium dynamics in critical Ising chains. At the heart of the measurement scheme is a variant of importance sampling specially tailored to overlaps between covariance matrices. The method is shown to be robust against finite experimental-state infidelities
NP-Hardness and Undecidability
Tensor network states constitute an important variational set of quantum
states for numerical studies of strongly correlated systems in condensed-
matter physics, as well as in mathematical physics. This is specifically true
for finitely correlated states or matrix-product operators, designed to
capture mixed states of one-dimensional quantum systems. It is a well-known
open problem to find an efficient algorithm that decides whether a given
matrix-product operator actually represents a physical state that in
particular has no negative eigenvalues. We address and answer this question by
showing that the problem is provably undecidable in the thermodynamic limit
and that the bounded version of the problem is NP-hard (nondeterministic-
polynomial-time hard) in the system size. Furthermore, we discuss numerous
connections between tensor network methods and (seemingly) different concepts
treated before in the literature, such as hidden Markov models and tensor
trains
Immunohistochemical characterization of the anti-MĂĽllerian hormone receptor type 2 (AMHR-2) in human testes
Purpose In males, AMH is secreted by immature Sertoli cells; following exposure to endogenous androgens, Sertoli cells undergo a process of maturation which ultimately inhibits AMH expression to undetectable levels in the serum. However, expression of AMH receptor (AMHR-2) has never been studied in human testes, and high intratubular concentrations of AMH have been reported in recent literature. We therefore assessed expression of AMHR-2 in several testicular tissue samples by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Methods The IHC method was first validated on tissue samples from healthy human testis (n = 2) and from marmoset ovary (n = 1). The same method was then used for assessment on testicular histopathology specimens from patients with mixed atrophy (MA, n = 2), spermatogenetic arrest (SA, n = 2), Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCO, n = 1), Klinefelter syndrome (KS, n = 1), and nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT, n = 1). Tissue samples from two subjects at different pubertal stages (AndroProtect (AP), aged 5 and 14 years) with hematological malignancies were also retrieved. Results In adult men, AMHR-2 was expressed on peritubular mesenchymal cells, with patterns closely mirroring alpha-smooth muscle actin expression. Similar patterns were preserved in almost all conditions; however, in nonseminomatous germ cell tumors the tissue architecture was lost, including AMHR-2 expression. More positive and diffuse staining was observed in tissue samples from prepubertal testes. Conclusions In specimens from both healthy and affected testes, AMHR-2 expression appears weaker in adult than in prepubertal tissue sections. The persistence of AMHR-2 expression seemingly hints at a possible effect of intratesticular AMH on the tubular walls
Serum concentrations of dihydrotestosterone are associated with symptoms of hypogonadism in biochemically eugonadal men
Purpose
Symptoms of hypogonadism are often reported by subjects with normal serum testosterone (T) levels. We aimed to assess the association between clinical symptoms in andrological outpatients and sex steroids levels.
Methods
This is a retrospective cross-sectional cohort study in an Academic clinic and research unit. International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF, EF domain) and Aging Males Symptoms scale (AMS) questionnaires were completed by 635 and 574 men, respectively (mean age: 47.3 ± 13.9 and 47.4 ± 13.8 years, p = 0.829), free of interfering medications with complaints possibly related to hypogonadism.
Results
Serum total/free T as well as dihydro-T (DHT) was associated with IIEF-EF and AMS scores in the overall population using univariate analyses. Multivariate approaches revealed DHT concentrations in subjects with normal T levels (n = 416, Total T > 12 nmol/L) to be significant predictors of AMS scores. A 0.1 nmol/l serum DHT increase within the eugonadal range was associated with a 4.67% decrease in odds of having worse symptoms (p = 0.011). In men with biochemical hypogonadism (Total T < 12 nmol/L), total and free T rather than DHT were associated with AMS results. This association was not found for IIEF-EF scores. Indirect effects of age and BMI were seen for relations with hormone concentrations but not questionnaire scores.
Conclusion
DHT can be associated with symptoms of hypogonadism in biochemically eugonadal men. Serum DHT measurement might be helpful once the diagnosis of hypogonadism has been ruled out but should not be routinely included in the primary diagnostic process
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