10,118 research outputs found
Localization and its consequences for quantum walk algorithms and quantum communication
The exponential speed-up of quantum walks on certain graphs, relative to
classical particles diffusing on the same graph, is a striking observation. It
has suggested the possibility of new fast quantum algorithms. We point out here
that quantum mechanics can also lead, through the phenomenon of localization,
to exponential suppression of motion on these graphs (even in the absence of
decoherence). In fact, for physical embodiments of graphs, this will be the
generic behaviour. It also has implications for proposals for using spin
networks, including spin chains, as quantum communication channels.Comment: 4 pages, 1 eps figure. Updated references and cosmetic changes for v
Why current-carrying magnetic flux tubes gobble up plasma and become thin as a result
It is shown that if a current-carrying magnetic flux tube is bulged at its
axial midpoint z=0 and constricted at its axial endpoints z=+h,-h, then plasma
will be accelerated from z=+h,-h towards z=0 resulting in a situation similar
to two water jets pointed at each other. The ingested plasma convects embedded,
frozen-in toroidal magnetic flux from z=+h,-h to z=0. The counter-directed
flows collide and stagnate at z=0 and in so doing (i) convert their
translational kinetic energy into heat, (ii) increase the plasma density at
z~0, and (iii) increase the embedded toroidal flux density at z~0. The increase
in toroidal flux density at z~0 increases the toroidal field Bphi and hence
increases the magnetic pinch force at z~0 and so causes a reduction of the flux
tube radius at z~0. Thus, the flux tube develops an axially uniform
cross-section, a decreased volume, an increased density, and an increased
temperature. This model is proposed as a likely hypothesis for the
long-standing mystery of why solar coronal loops are observed to be axially
uniform, hot, and bright.Comment: to appear in Physics of Plasmas 24 pages, 5 figure
The Critical Aggregation Concentration of ß-Lactoglobulin-Based Fibril Formation
The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) for fibril formation of ß-lactoglobulin (ß-lg) at pH 2 was determined at 343, 353, 358, 363, and 383 K using a Thioflavin T assay and was approximately 0.16 wt%. The accuracy of the CAC was increased by measuring the conversion into fibrils at different stirring speeds. The corresponding binding energy per mol, as determined from the CAC, was 13 RT (~40 kJ mol¿1) for the measured temperature range. The fact that the CAC was independent of temperature within the experimental error indicates that the fibril formation of ß-lg at pH 2 and the measured temperature range is an entropy-driven process
Quasi-Particle Degrees of Freedom versus the Perfect Fluid as Descriptors of the Quark-Gluon Plasma
The hot nuclear matter created at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)
has been characterized by near-perfect fluid behavior. We demonstrate that this
stands in contradiction to the identification of QCD quasi-particles with the
thermodynamic degrees of freedom in the early (fluid) stage of heavy ion
collisions. The empirical observation of constituent quark ``'' scaling of
elliptic flow is juxtaposed with the lack of such scaling behavior in
hydrodynamic fluid calculations followed by Cooper-Frye freeze-out to hadrons.
A ``quasi-particle transport'' time stage after viscous effects break down the
hydrodynamic fluid stage, but prior to hadronization, is proposed to reconcile
these apparent contradictions. However, without a detailed understanding of the
transitions between these stages, the ``'' scaling is not a necessary
consequence of this prescription. Also, if the duration of this stage is too
short, it may not support well defined quasi-particles. By comparing and
contrasting the coalescence of quarks into hadrons with the similar process of
producing light nuclei from nucleons, it is shown that the observation of
``'' scaling in the final state does not necessarily imply that the
constituent degrees of freedom were the relevant ones in the initial state.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, Updated text and figure
High Rayleigh number convection with double diffusive fingers
An electrodeposition cell is used to sustain a destabilizing concentration
difference of copper ions in aqueous solution between the top and bottom
boundaries of the cell. The resulting convecting motion is analogous to
Rayleigh-B\'enard convection at high Prandtl numbers. In addition, a
stabilizing temperature gradient is imposed across the cell. Even for thermal
buoyancy two orders of magnitude smaller than chemical buoyancy, the presence
of the weak stabilizing gradient has a profound effect on the convection
pattern. Double diffusive fingers appear in all cases. The size of these
fingers and the flow velocities are independent of the height of the cell, but
they depend on the ion concentration difference between top and bottom
boundaries as well as on the imposed temperature gradient. The scaling of the
mass transport is compatible with previous results on double diffusive
convection
Are all noisy quantum states obtained from pure ones?
We ask what type of mixed quantum states can arise when a number of separated
parties start by sharing a pure quantum state and then this pure state becomes
contaminated by noise. We show that not all mixed states arise in this way.
This is even the case if the separated parties actively try to degrade their
initial pure state by arbitrary local actions and classical communication.Comment: 3 pages, no figure
Quantum equilibration in finite time
It has recently been shown that small quantum subsystems generically
equilibrate, in the sense that they spend most of the time close to a fixed
equilibrium state. This relies on just two assumptions: that the state is
spread over many different energies, and that the Hamiltonian has
non-degenerate energy gaps. Given the same assumptions, it has also been shown
that closed systems equilibrate with respect to realistic measurements. We
extend these results in two important ways. First, we prove equilibration over
a finite (rather than infinite) time-interval, allowing us to bound the
equilibration time. Second, we weaken the non degenerate energy gaps condition,
showing that equilibration occurs provided that no energy gap is hugely
degenerate.Comment: 7 page
Bipartite Mixed States of Infinite-Dimensional Systems are Generically Nonseparable
Given a bipartite quantum system represented by a tensor product of two
Hilbert spaces, we give an elementary argument showing that if either component
space is infinite-dimensional, then the set of nonseparable density operators
is trace-norm dense in the set of all density operators (and the separable
density operators nowhere dense). This result complements recent detailed
investigations of separability, which show that when both component Hilbert
spaces are finite-dimensional, there is a separable neighborhood (perhaps very
small for large dimensions) of the maximally mixed state.Comment: 5 pages, RevTe
Fisrt report of indigenous Dermacentor reticulatus populations in Belgium and preliminary study on associated Babesiosis pathogens
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