Energy-time entanglement, Elements of Reality, and Local Realism

The Franson interferometer, proposed in 1989 [J. D. Franson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 62:2205-2208 (1989)], beautifully shows the counter-intuitive nature of light. The quantum description predicts sinusoidal interference for specific outcomes of the experiment, and these predictions can be verified in experiment. In the spirit of Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen it is possible to ask if the quantum-mechanical description (of this setup) can be considered complete. This question will be answered in detail in this paper, by delineating the quite complicated relation between energy-time entanglement experiments and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) elements of reality. The mentioned sinusoidal interference pattern is the same as that giving a violation in the usual Bell experiment. Even so, depending on the precise requirements made on the local realist model, this can imply a) no violation, b) smaller violation than usual, or c) full violation of the appropriate statistical bound. Alternatives include a) using only the measurement outcomes as EPR elements of reality, b) using the emission time as EPR element of reality, c) using path realism, or d) using a modified setup. This paper discusses the nature of these alternatives and how to choose between them. The subtleties of this discussion needs to be taken into account when designing and setting up experiments intended to test local realism. Furthermore, these considerations are also important for quantum communication, for example in Bell-inequality-based quantum cryptography, especially when aiming for device independence.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, v2 rewritten and extende

Inequalities for dealing with detector inefficiencies in Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-type experiments

In this article we show that the three-particle GHZ theorem can be reformulated in terms of inequalities, allowing imperfect correlations due to detector inefficiencies. We show quantitatively that taking into accout those inefficiencies, the published results of the Innsbruck experiment support the nonexistence of local hidden variables that explain the experimental result.Comment: LaTeX2e, 9 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Reducing the Bias of Causality Measures

Measures of the direction and strength of the interdependence between two time series are evaluated and modified in order to reduce the bias in the estimation of the measures, so that they give zero values when there is no causal effect. For this, point shuffling is employed as used in the frame of surrogate data. This correction is not specific to a particular measure and it is implemented here on measures based on state space reconstruction and information measures. The performance of the causality measures and their modifications is evaluated on simulated uncoupled and coupled dynamical systems and for different settings of embedding dimension, time series length and noise level. The corrected measures, and particularly the suggested corrected transfer entropy, turn out to stabilize at the zero level in the absence of causal effect and detect correctly the direction of information flow when it is present. The measures are also evaluated on electroencephalograms (EEG) for the detection of the information flow in the brain of an epileptic patient. The performance of the measures on EEG is interpreted, in view of the results from the simulation study.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, accepted to Physical Review

Testing for Multipartite Quantum Nonlocality Using Functional Bell Inequalities

We show that arbitrary functions of continuous variables, e.g. position and momentum, can be used to generate tests that distinguish quantum theory from local hidden variable theories. By optimising these functions, we obtain more robust violations of local causality than obtained previously. We analytically calculate the optimal function and include the effect of nonideal detectors and noise, revealing that optimized functional inequalities are resistant to standard forms of decoherence. These inequalities could allow a loophole-free Bell test with efficient homodyne detection

The Dynamics of Radiative Shock Waves: Linear and Nonlinear Evolution

The stability properties of one-dimensional radiative shocks with a power-law cooling function of the form $\Lambda \propto \rho^2T^\alpha$ are the main subject of this work. The linear analysis originally presented by Chevalier & Imamura, is thoroughfully reviewed for several values of the cooling index $\alpha$ and higher overtone modes. Consistently with previous results, it is shown that the spectrum of the linear operator consists in a series of modes with increasing oscillation frequency. For each mode a critical value of the cooling index, $\alpha_\textrm{c}$, can be defined so that modes with $\alpha < \alpha_\textrm{c}$ are unstable, while modes with $\alpha > \alpha_\textrm{c}$ are stable. The perturbative analysis is complemented by several numerical simulations to follow the time-dependent evolution of the system for different values of $\alpha$. Particular attention is given to the comparison between numerical and analytical results (during the early phases of the evolution) and to the role played by different boundary conditions. It is shown that an appropriate treatment of the lower boundary yields results that closely follow the predicted linear behavior. During the nonlinear regime, the shock oscillations saturate at a finite amplitude and tend to a quasi-periodic cycle. The modes of oscillations during this phase do not necessarily coincide with those predicted by linear theory, but may be accounted for by mode-mode coupling.Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication on the Astrophysical Journa

Long-Term Multiwavelength Studies of High-Redshift Blazar 0836+710

Aims. The observation of gamma -ray flares from blazar 0836+710 in 2011, following a period of quiescence, offered an opportunity to study correlated activity at different wavelengths for a high-redshift (z=2.218) active galactic nucleus. Methods. Optical and radio monitoring, plus Fermi-LAT gamma-ray monitoring provided 2008-2012 coverage, while Swift offered auxiliary optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray information. Other contemporaneous observations were used to construct a broad-band spectral energy distribution. Results. There is evidence of correlation but not a measurable lag between the optical and gamma-ray flaring emission. On the contrary, there is no clear correlation between radio and gamma-ray activity, indicating radio emission regions that are unrelated to the parts of the jet that produce the gamma-rays. The gamma-ray energy spectrum is unusual in showing a change of shape from a power law to a curved spectrum when going from the quiescent state to the active state.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Tuning the electrically evaluated electron Lande g factor in GaAs quantum dots and quantum wells of different well widths

We evaluate the Lande g factor of electrons in quantum dots (QDs) fabricated from GaAs quantum well (QW) structures of different well width. We first determine the Lande electron g factor of the QWs through resistive detection of electron spin resonance and compare it to the enhanced electron g factor determined from analysis of the magneto-transport. Next, we form laterally defined quantum dots using these quantum wells and extract the electron g factor from analysis of the cotunneling and Kondo effect within the quantum dots. We conclude that the Lande electron g factor of the quantum dot is primarily governed by the electron g factor of the quantum well suggesting that well width is an ideal design parameter for g-factor engineering QDs

Ternary q-Virasoro-Witt Hom-Nambu-Lie algebras

In this paper we construct ternary $q$-Virasoro-Witt algebras which $q$-deform the ternary Virasoro-Witt algebras constructed by Curtright, Fairlie and Zachos using $su(1,1)$ enveloping algebra techniques. The ternary Virasoro-Witt algebras constructed by Curtright, Fairlie and Zachos depend on a parameter and are not Nambu-Lie algebras for all but finitely many values of this parameter. For the parameter values for which the ternary Virasoro-Witt algebras are Nambu-Lie, the corresponding ternary $q$-Virasoro-Witt algebras constructed in this article are also Hom-Nambu-Lie because they are obtained from the ternary Nambu-Lie algebras using the composition method. For other parameter values this composition method does not yield Hom-Nambu Lie algebra structure for $q$-Virasoro-Witt algebras. We show however, using a different construction, that the ternary Virasoro-Witt algebras of Curtright, Fairlie and Zachos, as well as the general ternary $q$-Virasoro-Witt algebras we construct, carry a structure of ternary Hom-Nambu-Lie algebra for all values of the involved parameters