4,284 research outputs found
Quantum feedback for rapid state preparation in the presence of control imperfections
Quantum feedback control protocols can improve the operation of quantum
devices. Here we examine the performance of a purification protocol when there
are imperfections in the controls. The ideal feedback protocol produces an
eigenstate from a mixed state in the minimum time, and is known as rapid state
preparation. The imperfections we examine include time delays in the feedback
loop, finite strength feedback, calibration errors, and inefficient detection.
We analyse these imperfections using the Wiseman-Milburn feedback master
equation and related formalism. We find that the protocol is most sensitive to
time delays in the feedback loop. For systems with slow dynamics, however, our
analysis suggests that inefficient detection would be the bigger problem. We
also show how system imperfections, such as dephasing and damping, can be
included in model via the feedback master equation.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures and 2 tables. V2 the published version, fig. 1
corrected and some minor changes to the tex
Maximum information gain in weak or continuous measurements of qudits: complementarity is not enough
To maximize average information gain for a classical measurement, all
outcomes of an observation must be equally likely. The condition of equally
likely outcomes may be enforced in quantum theory by ensuring that one's state
is maximally different, or complementary, to the measured observable.
This requires the ability to perform unitary operations on the state,
conditioned on the results of prior measurements. We consider the case of
measurement of a component of angular momentum for a qudit (a -dimensional
system, with ). For weak or continuous-in-time (i.e. repeated weak)
measurements, we show that the complementarity condition ensures an average
improvement, in the rate of purification, of only 2. However, we show that by
choosing the optimal control protocol of this type, one can attain the best
possible scaling, , for the average improvement. For this protocol
the acquisition of information is nearly deterministic. Finally we contrast
these results with those for complementarity-based protocols in a register of
qbits.Comment: 21 pages, 21 figures. V2 published versio
Molecular Gas and Star Formation in the SAURON Early-type Galaxies
We present the results of a survey of CO emission in 43 of the 48
representative E/S0 galaxies observed in the optical with the SAURON
integral-field spectrograph. The CO detection rate is 12/43 or 28%. This is
lower than previous studies of early-types but can probably be attributed to
different sample selection criteria. As expected, earlier type, more luminous
and massive galaxies have a relatively lower molecular gas content. We find
that CO-rich galaxies tend to have higher H\beta but lower Fe5015 and Mgb
absorption indices than CO-poor galaxies. Those trends appear primarily driven
by the age of the stars, an hypothesis supported by the fact that the galaxies
with the strongest evidence of star formation are also the most CO-rich. In
fact, the early-type galaxies from the current sample appear to extend the
well-known correlations between FIR luminosity, dust mass and molecular mass of
other galaxy types. The star formation interpretation is also consistent with
the SAURON galaxies' radio continuum and FIR flux ratios, and their inferred
star formation efficiencies are similar to those in spiral galaxies. It thus
appears that we have identified the material fueling (residual) star formation
in early-type galaxies, and have demonstrated that it is actively being
transformed. Nevertheless, the lack of strong correlations between the CO
content and most stellar parameters is compatible with the idea that, in a
significant number of sample galaxies, the molecular gas has been accreted from
the outside and has properties rather independent from the old, pre-existing
stellar component.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted in MNRA
Conductivity and the current-current correlation measure
We review various formulations of conductivity for one-particle Hamiltonians
and relate them to the current-current correlation measure. We prove that the
current-current correlation measure for random Schr\"odinger operators has a
density at coincident energies provided the energy lies in a localization
regime. The density vanishes at such energies and an upper bound on the rate of
vanishing is computed. We also relate the current-current correlation measure
to the localization length
The overmassive black hole in NGC 1277: new constraints from molecular gas kinematics
We report the detection of CO(1-0) emission from NGC 1277, a lenticular
galaxy in the Perseus Cluster. NGC 1277 has previously been proposed to host an
overmassive black hole (BH) compared to the galaxy bulge luminosity (mass),
based on stellar-kinematic measurements. The CO(1-0) emission, observed with
the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) using both, a more compact
(2.9-arcsec resolution) and a more extended (1-arcsec resolution)
configuration, is likely to originate from the dust lane encompassing the
galaxy nucleus at a distance of 0.9 arcsec (~320 pc). The double-horned CO(1-0)
profile found at 2.9-arcsec resolution traces of
molecular gas, likely orbiting in the dust lane at $\sim 550\ \mathrm{km\
s^{-1}}\sim 2\times 10^{10}\
M_\odot\sim
1.7\times 10^{10}\ M_\odotM/L_V=6.3\sim 5\times 10^{9}\ M_\odotM/L_V=10$. While the molecular gas reservoir
may be associated with a low level of star formation activity, the extended
2.6-mm continuum emission is likely to originate from a weak AGN, possibly
characterized by an inverted radio-to-millimetre spectral energy distribution.
Literature radio and X-ray data indicate that the BH in NGC 1277 is also
overmassive with respect to the Fundamental Plane of BH activity.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS on 20 January
2016; updated version including minor changes and note added in proo
Quantifying stellar radial migration in an N-body simulation: blurring, churning, and the outer regions of galaxy discs
Radial stellar migration in galactic discs has received much attention in
studies of galactic dynamics and chemical evolution, but remains a dynamical
phenomenon that needs to be fully quantified. In this work, using a Tree-SPH
simulation of an Sb-type disc galaxy, we quantify the effects of blurring
(epicyclic excursions) and churning (change of guiding radius). We quantify
migration (either blurring or churning) both in terms of flux (the number of
migrators passing at a given radius), and by estimating the population of
migrators at a given radius at the end of the simulation compared to
non-migrators, but also by giving the distance over which the migration is
effective at all radii. We confirm that the corotation of the bar is the main
source of migrators by churning in a bar-dominated galaxy, its intensity being
directly linked to the episode of a strong bar, in the first 1-3 Gyr of the
simulation. We show that within the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR), migration
is strongly dominated by churning, while blurring gains progressively more
importance towards the outer disc and at later times. Most importantly, we show
that the OLR limits the exchange of angular momentum, separating the disc in
two distinct parts with minimal or null exchange, except in the transition
zone, which is delimited by the position of the OLR at the epoch of the
formation of the bar, and at the final epoch. We discuss the consequences of
these findings for our understanding of the structure of the Milky Way disc.
Because the Sun is situated slightly outside the OLR, we suggest that the solar
vicinity may have experienced very limited churning from the inner disc.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (acceptance
date: 27/04/15), 24 pages, 24 figure
Quantum limits on post-selected, probabilistic quantum metrology
Probabilistic metrology attempts to improve parameter estimation by
occasionally reporting an excellent estimate and the rest of the time either
guessing or doing nothing at all. Here we show that probabilistic metrology can
never improve quantum limits on estimation of a single parameter, both on
average and asymptotically in number of trials, if performance is judged
relative to mean-square estimation error. We extend the result by showing that
for a finite number of trials, the probability of obtaining better estimates
using probabilistic metrology, as measured by mean-square error, decreases
exponentially with the number of trials. To be tight, the performance bounds we
derive require that likelihood functions be approximately normal, which in turn
depends on how rapidly specific distributions converge to a normal distribution
with number of trials.Comment: V1:8 pages, 1 figure. V2: 9 pages, 1 figure, revised text. V3: 11
pages, 1 figure, revised text; V4 published version, revised title ;-
Quantum limits on phase-preserving linear amplifiers
The purpose of a phase-preserving linear amplifier is to make a small signal
larger, regardless of its phase, so that it can be perceived by instruments
incapable of resolving the original signal, while sacrificing as little as
possible in signal-to-noise. Quantum mechanics limits how well this can be
done: a high-gain linear amplifier must degrade the signal-to-noise; the noise
added by the amplifier, when referred to the input, must be at least half a
quantum at the operating frequency. This well-known quantum limit only
constrains the second moments of the added noise. Here we derive the quantum
constraints on the entire distribution of added noise: we show that any
phase-preserving linear amplifier is equivalent to a parametric amplifier with
a physical state for the ancillary mode; the noise added to the amplified field
mode is distributed according to the Wigner function of the ancilla state.Comment: 37 pages, 6 figure
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