Entanglement induced by a single-mode heat environment

A thermal field, which frequently appears in problems of decoherence, provides us with minimal information about the field. We study the interaction of the thermal field and a quantum system composed of two qubits and find that such a chaotic field with minimal information can nevertheless entangle the qubits which are prepared initially in a separable state. This simple model of a quantum register interacting with a noisy environment allows us to understand how memory of the environment affects the state of a quantum register.Comment: 13pages, 3 figure

Mechanical behaviour of compacted decomposed granite soil

The purpose of this research was to determine the mechanical behaviour of decomposed granite soil, especially when it is used as a construction material. The soil tested was a completely weathered granite soil (grade V) taken from Seoul, Korea and was a well graded silty sand and gravel. Triaxial compression tests have been carried out on compacted samples and special attention has been given to the determination of the effects of the moisture condition on the behaviour. The test results show that the soil conforms to the basic features of critical state soil mechanics, although particle crushing takes place during loading. A unique normal compression line, critical state line and the state boundary surface have been identified. This verifies the application of critical state soil models to the behaviour of crushable soils, which has been already revealed by the work on carbonate sands (Coop, 1990). In detail, however, the soil shows a number of unusual features. The soil exhibits very high peak and ultimate strengths. Peak friction angles range from 390 to 51° and the ultimate friction angle is 390• The main source of these high strengths seems to be the soil's mineral composition, in particular the high proportion of feldspars. Particle crushing has been observed during the test. The behaviour of the soil is considerably affected by this phenomenon. The effects of particle crushing appear in a high value of the ratio A/ic and in the location and shape of the state boundary surface. The amount of particle crushing has also been found to be dependent on the sample moisture condition as well as the maximum stress applied. Less particle crushing occurred in dry soils giving rise to a greater peak strength and higher ultimate specific volume for the dry soils. However, the ultimate strength of the soil is not affected by the moisture condition. This water sensitive behaviour has been clearly demonstrated by flooding tests. A comparision was also made between the behaviour of compacted and truly over—consolidated samples which had been unloaded from higher stress levels. Compacted samples usually exist on the dry side of critical, however, their behaviour is different from that of the truly over—consolidated samples. Compacted samples are less stiff and do not show distinct yield points. Soils may also be densified by flooding, in which case the peak and ultimate strengths are comparable to mechanically compacted soils but the stiffness is not much improved by flooding. Samples compacted in a wet state and later air—dried show very high strengths and stiffnesses. These high strengths and stiffnesses are due to the suction between the soil particles and once flooded they follow the paths of the saturated samples

Excess current in point contacts on two-band superconductor MgB2_2 in magnetic field

Series of $I(V)$ characteristic and bias-dependent differential resistance $dV/dI(V)$ for point-contacts on the single crystals of two-band superconductor MgB$_2$ were measured in magnetic field up to 9 T. We have obtained magnetic field dependences of the excess current on the $I(V)$ curves and analyzed them using Koshelev and Golubov (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 90}, 177002 (2003)) theoretical results for the mixed state of a dirty two-band superconductor. Introducing a simple model for the excess current in the point contact in the mixed state our data can be qualitatively described utilizing theoretical magnetic filed behavior of the $\sigma$ and $\pi$-band superconducting order parameters and the corresponding averaged electronic density of states in MgB$_2$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figs, RevTex4; V2: plain text improved, BTK fit is added to insets of Fig.

Breaking the Cycle of Pain In Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

An attitude of helplessness pervades both patients and health professionals when dealing with the problems of dia betic peripheral neuropathy. Those afflicted are often over whelmed by the pain and find themselves unable to fulfill the daily requirements of their diabetes regimen. The in consistencies in amounts and timing of meals, levels of ac tivity, and scheduling of insulin injections can result in hyperglycemia, a state that has been found to correlate strongly with the occurrence of nerve damage. Thus the pain perpetrates itself. For the health professional, having to confront this devastating pain without objective factors to assess and few scientific treatment measures to offer con tributes to a sense of inadequacy and ignorance. It is fre quently assumed that "nothing can be done." In reality, health professionals do have something to offer the person suffering from this condition. First, they can provide infor mation about the relationship between control and compli cations, and explain the need for the patient to change those behaviors that may be perpetuating the pain. Sec ond, and most importantly, health professionals can con vey support and confidence, without which many patients will be unable to make the changes in their behavior neces sary to resolve their pain.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68854/2/10.1177_014572178501100103.pd

Universal conductance fluctuations in non-integer dimensions

We propose an Ansatz for Universal conductance fluctuations in continuous dimensions from 0 up to 4. The Ansatz agrees with known formulas for integer dimensions 1, 2 and 3, both for hard wall and periodic boundary conditions. The method is based solely on the knowledge of energy spectrum and standard assumptions. We also study numerically the conductance fluctuations in 4D Anderson model, depending on system size L and disorder W. We find a small plateau with a value diverging logarithmically with increasing L. Universality gets lost just in 4D.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures submitted to Phys. Rev.

QCD vacuum structure in strong magnetic fields

We study the response of the QCD vacuum to strong magnetic fields, using a potential model for the quark-antiquark interaction. We find that production of spin-polarized u-ubar pairs is energetically favorable for fields B > B_crit \sim 10 GeV^2. We contrast the resulting u-ubar condensate with the quark condensate which is present at zero magnetic field, and we estimate the corresponding magnetization as a function of B.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figures. v2: references added. v3: fixed typ

Spin density wave dislocation in chromium probed by coherent x-ray diffraction

We report on the study of a magnetic dislocation in pure chromium. Coherent x-ray diffraction profiles obtained on the incommensurate Spin Density Wave (SDW) reflection are consistent with the presence of a dislocation of the magnetic order, embedded at a few micrometers from the surface of the sample. Beyond the specific case of magnetic dislocations in chromium, this work may open up a new method for the study of magnetic defects embedded in the bulk.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Conductance fluctuations in the presence of spin scattering

Electron transport through disordered systems that include spin scatterers is studied numerically. We consider three kinds of magnetic impurities: the Ising, the XY and the Heisenberg. By extending the transfer matrix method to include the spin degree of freedom, the two terminal conductance is calculated. The variance of conductance is halved as the number of spin components of the magnetic impurities increases. Application of the Zeeman field in the lead causes a further halving of the variance under certain conditions.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev.