The 13^{13}Carbon footprint of B[e] supergiants

We report on the first detection of $^{13}$C enhancement in two B[e] supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Stellar evolution models predict the surface abundance in $^{13}$C to strongly increase during main-sequence and post-main sequence evolution of massive stars. However, direct identification of chemically processed material on the surface of B[e] supergiants is hampered by their dense, disk-forming winds, hiding the stars. Recent theoretical computations predict the detectability of enhanced $^{13}$C via the molecular emission in $^{13}$CO arising in the circumstellar disks of B[e] supergiants. To test this potential method and to unambiguously identify a post-main sequence B[e]SG by its $^{13}$CO emission, we have obtained high-quality $K$-band spectra of two known B[e] supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using the Very Large Telescope's Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observation in the Near-Infrared (VLT/SINFONI). Both stars clearly show the $^{13}$CO band emission, whose strength implies a strong enhancement of $^{13}$C, in agreement with theoretical predictions. This first ever direct confirmation of the evolved nature of B[e] supergiants thus paves the way to the first identification of a Galactic B[e] supergiant.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

D-Sphalerons and the Topology of String Configuration Space

We show that unstable D-branes play the role of ``D-sphalerons'' in string theory. Their existence implies that the configuration space of Type II string theory has a complicated homotopy structure, similar to that of an infinite Grassmannian. In particular, the configuration space of Type IIA (IIB) string theory on $\R^{10}$ has non-trivial homotopy groups $\pi_k$ for all $k$ even (odd).Comment: 29pp, harvmac (b),trivial typo fixe

Measurement of Heavy Quark cross-sections at CDF

The measurement of heavy quark cross-sections provides important tests of the QCD theory. This paper reviews recent measurements of single b-quark and correlated b-quark cross-sections at CDF. Two new measurements of the single b-quark production at CDF agree with the first result from CDF Run II. This clarifies the experimental situation and confirms the recent agreement of theoretical prediction with data. A new measurement of the correlated $b\bar{b}$ cross-section with dimuon events at CDF is presented. It agrees with theory and it does not confirm the anomalously large $b\bar{b}$ cross-section seen in Run I by CDF and D${\not {\rm O}}$ in dimuon events.Comment: EPS HEP2007 conference held in Mancheste

Local unitary equivalence of multipartite pure states

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the equivalence of arbitrary n-qubit pure quantum states under Local Unitary (LU) operations are derived. First, an easily computable standard form for multipartite states is introduced. Two generic states are shown to be LU-equivalent iff their standard forms coincide. The LU-equivalence problem for non--generic states is solved by presenting a systematic method to determine the LU operators (if they exist) which interconvert the two states.Comment: 5 page

Numerical Analysis of the Capacities for Two-Qubit Unitary Operations

We present numerical results on the capacities of two-qubit unitary operations for creating entanglement and increasing the Holevo information of an ensemble. In all cases tested, the maximum values calculated for the capacities based on the Holevo information are close to the capacities based on the entanglement. This indicates that the capacities based on the Holevo information, which are very difficult to calculate, may be estimated from the capacities based upon the entanglement, which are relatively straightforward to calculate.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Braiding of Atomic Majorana Fermions in Wire Networks and Implementation of the Deutsch-Josza Algorithm

We propose an efficient protocol for braiding atomic Majorana fermions in wire networks with AMO techniques and demonstrate its robustness against experimentally relevant errors. Based on this protocol we provide a topologically protected implementation of the Deutsch-Josza algorithm

Two Wide Planetary-Mass Companions to Solar-Type Stars in Upper Scorpius

At wide separations, planetary-mass and brown dwarf companions to solar type stars occupy a curious region of parameters space not obviously linked to binary star formation or solar-system scale planet formation. These companions provide insight into the extreme case of companion formation (either binary or planetary), and due to their relative ease of observation when compared to close companions, they offer a useful template for our expectations of more typical planets. We present the results from an adaptive optics imaging survey for wide (50-500 AU) companions to solar type stars in Upper Scorpius. We report one new discovery of a ~14 M_J companion around GSC 06214-00210, and confirm that the candidate planetary mass companion 1RXS J160929.1-210524 detected by Lafreniere et al (2008) is in fact co-moving with its primary star. In our survey, these two detections correspond to ~4% of solar type stars having companions in the 6-20 M_J mass and 200-500 AU separation range. This figure is higher than would be expected if brown dwarfs and planetary mass companions were drawn from an extrapolation of the binary mass function. Finally, we discuss implications for the formation of these objects.Comment: 11 Pages, 7 Figures, Accepted for Ap