Entanglement of formation for a class of (2⊗d)(2\otimes d)-dimensional systems

Currently the entanglement of formation can be calculated analytically for mixed states in a $(2\otimes2)$-dimensional Hilbert space. For states in higher dimensional Hilbert space a closed formula for quantifying entanglement does not exist. In this regard only entanglement bounds has been found for estimating it. In this work, we find an analytical expression for evaluating the entanglement of formation for bipartite ($2\otimes d$)-dimensional mixed states.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Submitted for publicatio

Entanglement properties in the Inhomogeneous Tavis-Cummings model

In this work we study the properties of the atomic entanglement in the eigenstates spectrum of the inhomogeneous Tavis-Cummings Model. The inhomogeneity is present in the coupling among the atoms with quantum electromagnetic field. We calculate analytical expressions for the concurrence and we found that this exhibits a strong dependence on the inhomogeneity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Abrupt Changes in the Dynamics of Quantum Disentanglement

Entanglement evolution in high dimensional bipartite systems under dissipation is studied. Discontinuities for the time derivative of the lower bound of entanglement of formation is found depending on the initial conditions for entangled states. This abrupt changes along the evolution appears as precursors of entanglement sudden death.Comment: 4 pages and 6 figures, submitted for publicatio

Phase evolution in reaction sintered zirconium titanate based materials

11 páginas, 17 figuras.-- El pdf del artículo es la versión post-print.Zirconium titanate materials are proposed for structural components for which fully reacted and relatively large pieces are required. In this work the phase evolution in slip cast compacts constituted by equimolar mixtures of TiO2 and ZrO2 stabilized with 3 mol% of Y2O3 at high temperature is studied, to establish the basis to design suitable thermal treatments for ZrO2(Y2O3)–TiO2 materials. The temperatures at which the processes involved in the reaction sintering occurred were identified by constant heating rate experiments. Phase and microstructure analyses have been performed on specimens treated at the identified temperatures and air quenched. Then the adequate temperature range to get fully reacted and dense materials has been deduced. Materials treated at 1500 ◦C to 2 h were constituted by Zr5Ti7O24 as major phase, a solid solution of TiO2 and Y2O3 in c-ZrO2 as secondary phase and a ZrO2–TiO2–Y2O3 non-stoichiometric compound with pyrochlore structure as minor phase. Pyrochlore was demonstrated to be a metastable phase at 1500 ◦C.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science under contracts MEC MAT2006- 13480 C02-01 and MAT2007-64486 C07-02. E. López-López acknowledges to Community of Madrid (Spain) and European Social Fund for economical support by CPI/0552/2007 contract.Peer reviewe

Lista actualizada y revisión de la literatura de Harpellales (Kickxellomycotina) y otros endobiontes asociados al tracto digestivo de artrópodos de Argentina

The objective of this work is to further the knowledge of gut fungi, inhabiting the digestive tract of mandibulated arthropods, traditionally the Trichomycetes (currently Kicksellomycotina), in Argentina. The geographical distribution of these endobionts, especially in aquatic insects, but also other arthropods, is updated as well as host records and site information. Fungal species (Harpellales), which mostly colonize immature stages of aquatic insects, were identified in members of Coleoptera, Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera from different biogeographical regions, from the far North in Jujuy province to the southernmost point in Tierra del Fuego. The overall goal of this review is to consolidate all the published and unpublished records from the country in order to summarize their geographical distribution.El objetivo de este trabajo es reunir toda la información publicada hasta el momento referida a este grupo de hongos, tradicionalmente conocidos como Trichomycetes (actualmente Kicksellomycotina), de la Argentina. El objetivo fue realizar un estado de avance sobre la distribución geográfica de estos endobiontes, especialmente viviendo en insectos acuáticos, pero también en otros artrópodos, con la actualización de registros de hospedadores e información de los sitios de recolección. Las especies de Harpellales colonizan estados inmaduros de insectos acuáticos y fueron identificados en miembros de Coleoptera, Diptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, y Trichoptera, de diferentes regiones biogeográficas desde el extremo Norte en la provincia de Jujuy al extremo más al Sur en Tierra del Fuego. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es consolidar todos los registros del material publicado y no publicado de la Argentina para resumir su distribución geográfica y lista de especies citadas.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y MuseoCentro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Calculation of quantum discord for qubit-qudit or N qubits

Quantum discord, a kind of quantum correlation, is defined as the difference between quantum mutual information and classical correlation in a bipartite system. It has been discussed so far for small systems with only a few independent parameters. We extend here to a much broader class of states when the second party is of arbitrary dimension d, so long as the first, measured, party is a qubit. We present two formulae to calculate quantum discord, the first relating to the original entropic definition and the second to a recently proposed geometric distance measure which leads to an analytical formulation. The tracing over the qubit in the entropic calculation is reduced to a very simple prescription. And, when the d-dimensional system is a so-called X state, the density matrix having non-zero elements only along the diagonal and anti-diagonal so as to appear visually like the letter X, the entropic calculation can be carried out analytically. Such states of the full bipartite qubit-qudit system may be named "extended X states", whose density matrix is built of four block matrices, each visually appearing as an X. The optimization involved in the entropic calculation is generally over two parameters, reducing to one for many cases, and avoided altogether for an overwhelmingly large set of density matrices as our numerical investigations demonstrate. Our results also apply to states of a N-qubit system, where "extended X states" consist of (2^(N+2) - 1) states, larger in number than the (2^(N+1) - 1) of X states of N qubits. While these are still smaller than the total number (2^(2N) - 1) of states of N qubits, the number of parameters involved is nevertheless large. In the case of N = 2, they encompass the entire 15-dimensional parameter space, that is, the extended X states for N = 2 represent the full qubit-qubit system.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Impact of short-term temperature challenges on the larvicidal activities of the entomopathogenic watermold <i>Leptolegnia chapmanii</i> against <i>Aedes aegypti</i>, and development on infected dead larvae

The oomycete Leptolegnia chapmanii is among the most promising entomopathogens for biological control of Aedes aegypti. This mosquito vector breeds in small water collections, where this aquatic watermold pathogen can face short-term scenarios of challenging high or low temperatures during changing ambient conditions, but it is yet not well understood how extreme temperatures might affect the virulence and recycling capacities of this pathogen. We tested the effect of short-term exposure of encysted L. chapmanii zoospores (cysts) on A. aegypti larvae killed after infection by this pathogen to stressful low or high temperatures on virulence and production of cysts and oogonia, respectively. Cysts were exposed to temperature regimes between −12 °C and 40 °C for 4, 6 or 8 h, and then their infectivity was tested against third instar larvae (L3) at 25 °C; in addition, production of cysts and oogonia on L3 killed by infection exposed to the same temperature regimes as well as their larvicidal activity were monitored. Virulence of cysts to larvae and the degree of zoosporogenesis on dead larvae under laboratory conditions were highest at 25 °C but were hampered or even blocked after 4 up to 8 h exposure of cysts or dead larvae at both the highest (35 °C and 40 °C) and the lowest (−12 °C) temperatures followed by subsequent incubation at 25 °C. The virulence of cysts was less affected by accelerated than by slow thawing from the frozen state. The production of oogonia on dead larvae was stimulated by short-term exposure to freezing temperatures (−12 °C and 0 °C) or cool temperatures (5 °C and 10 °C) but was not detected at higher temperatures (25 °C–40 °C). These findings emphasize the susceptibility of L. chapmanii to short-term temperature stresses and underscore its interest as an agent for biocontrol of mosquitoes in the tropics and subtropics, especially A. aegypti, that breed preferentially in small volumes of water that are generally protected from direct sunlight.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore

Impact of short-term temperature challenges on the larvicidal activities of the entomopathogenic watermold <i>Leptolegnia chapmanii</i> against <i>Aedes aegypti</i>, and development on infected dead larvae

The oomycete Leptolegnia chapmanii is among the most promising entomopathogens for biological control of Aedes aegypti. This mosquito vector breeds in small water collections, where this aquatic watermold pathogen can face short-term scenarios of challenging high or low temperatures during changing ambient conditions, but it is yet not well understood how extreme temperatures might affect the virulence and recycling capacities of this pathogen. We tested the effect of short-term exposure of encysted L. chapmanii zoospores (cysts) on A. aegypti larvae killed after infection by this pathogen to stressful low or high temperatures on virulence and production of cysts and oogonia, respectively. Cysts were exposed to temperature regimes between −12 °C and 40 °C for 4, 6 or 8 h, and then their infectivity was tested against third instar larvae (L3) at 25 °C; in addition, production of cysts and oogonia on L3 killed by infection exposed to the same temperature regimes as well as their larvicidal activity were monitored. Virulence of cysts to larvae and the degree of zoosporogenesis on dead larvae under laboratory conditions were highest at 25 °C but were hampered or even blocked after 4 up to 8 h exposure of cysts or dead larvae at both the highest (35 °C and 40 °C) and the lowest (−12 °C) temperatures followed by subsequent incubation at 25 °C. The virulence of cysts was less affected by accelerated than by slow thawing from the frozen state. The production of oogonia on dead larvae was stimulated by short-term exposure to freezing temperatures (−12 °C and 0 °C) or cool temperatures (5 °C and 10 °C) but was not detected at higher temperatures (25 °C–40 °C). These findings emphasize the susceptibility of L. chapmanii to short-term temperature stresses and underscore its interest as an agent for biocontrol of mosquitoes in the tropics and subtropics, especially A. aegypti, that breed preferentially in small volumes of water that are generally protected from direct sunlight.Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectore