Foams in contact with solid boundaries: equilibrium conditions and conformal invariance

A liquid foam in contact with a solid surface forms a two-dimensional foam on the surface. We derive the equilibrium equations for this 2D foam when the solid surface is curved and smooth, generalising the standard case of flat Hele Shaw cells. The equilibrium conditions at the vertices in 2D, at the edges in 3D, are invariant by conformal transformations. Regarding the films, conformal invariance only holds with restrictions, which we explicit for 3D and flat 2D foams. Considering foams confined in thin interstices between two non parallel plates, normal incidence and Laplace's law lead to an approximate equation relating the plate profile to the conformal map. Solutions are given for the logarithm and power laws in the case of constant pressure. The paper concludes on a comparison with available experimental data.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Optomechanical tailoring of quantum fluctuations

We propose the use of feedback mechanism to control the level of quantum noise in a radiation field emerging from a pendular Fabry-Perot cavity. It is based on the possibility to perform quantum nondemolition measurements by means of optomechanical coupling.Comment: ReVTeX file, 8 pages, 1 Postscript figure. to appear in J. Opt. B: Quant. Semiclass. Op

The half-filled Hubbard chain in the Composite Operator Method: A comparison with Bethe Ansatz

The one-dimensional Hubbard model at half-filling is studied in the framework of the Composite Operator Method using a static approximation. A solution characterized by strong antiferromagnetic correlations and a gap for any nonzero on-site interaction U is found. The corresponding ground-state energy, double occupancy and specific heat are in excellent agreement with those obtained within the Bethe Ansatz. These results show that the Composite Operator Method is an appropriate framework for the half-filled Hubbard chain and can be applied to evaluate properties, like the correlation functions, which cannot be obtained by means of the Bethe Ansatz, except for some limiting cases.Comment: 7 pages, 3 embedded Postscript figures, EuroTeX, submitted to EuroPhysics Letter

Preserving Information from the Beginning to the End of time in a Robertson-Walker Spacetime

Preserving information stored in a physical system subjected to noise can be modeled in a communication-theoretic paradigm, in which storage and retrieval correspond to an input encoding and output decoding, respectively. The encoding and decoding are then constructed in such a way as to protect against the action of a given noisy quantum channel. This paper considers the situation in which the noise is not due to technological imperfections, but rather to the physical laws governing the evolution of the universe. In particular, we consider the dynamics of quantum systems under a 1+1 Robertson-Walker spacetime and find that the noise imparted to them is equivalent to the well known amplitude damping channel. Since one might be interested in preserving both classical and quantum information in such a scenario, we study trade-off coding strategies and determine a region of achievable rates for the preservation of both kinds of information. For applications beyond the physical setting studied here, we also determine a trade-off between achievable rates of classical and quantum information preservation when entanglement assistance is available.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures. Presentation updated, matches the published versio

Bayesian feedback versus Markovian feedback in a two-level atom

We compare two different approaches to the control of the dynamics of a continuously monitored open quantum system. The first is Markovian feedback as introduced in quantum optics by Wiseman and Milburn [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 70}, 548 (1993)]. The second is feedback based on an estimate of the system state, developed recently by Doherty {\em et al.} [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62}, 012105 (2000)]. Here we choose to call it, for brevity, {\em Bayesian feedback}. For systems with nonlinear dynamics, we expect these two methods of feedback control to give markedly different results. The simplest possible nonlinear system is a driven and damped two-level atom, so we choose this as our model system. The monitoring is taken to be homodyne detection of the atomic fluorescence, and the control is by modulating the driving. The aim of the feedback in both cases is to stabilize the internal state of the atom as close as possible to an arbitrarily chosen pure state, in the presence of inefficient detection and other forms of decoherence. Our results (obtain without recourse to stochastic simulations) prove that Bayesian feedback is never inferior, and is usually superior, to Markovian feedback. However it would be far more difficult to implement than Markovian feedback and it loses its superiority when obvious simplifying approximations are made. It is thus not clear which form of feedback would be better in the face of inevitable experimental imperfections.Comment: 10 pages, including 3 figure

Star-triangle equivalence in soap froths

In two dimensional foams at equilibrium, triangular bubbles can be freely exchanged with 3-fold stars --three edges ending at a central vertex. This theorem is deduced here from Moukarzel's duality. Moreover, to probe the method, a few related properties are established: under slow gas diffusion, T2 processes are continuous for triangles but not for other types of bubbles. In general, the gas flow results in different configurations in the presence of a triangle than in the presence of a star.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures (6 eps files

Catching homologies by geometric entropy

A geometric entropy is defined as the Riemannian volume of the parameter space of a statistical manifold associated with a given network. As such it can be a good candidate for measuring networks complexity. Here we investigate its ability to single out topological features of networks proceeding in a bottom-up manner: first we consider small size networks by analytical methods and then large size networks by numerical techniques. Two different classes of networks, the random graphs and the scale--free networks, are investigated computing their Betti numbers and then showing the capability of geometric entropy of detecting homologies.Comment: 12 pages, 2 Figure

Reconstructing the density operator by using generalized field quadratures

The Wigner function for one and two-mode quantum systems is explicitely expressed in terms of the marginal distribution for the generic linearly transformed quadratures. Then, also the density operator of those systems is written in terms of the marginal distribution of these quadratures. Some examples to apply this formalism, and a reduction to the usual optical homodyne tomography are considered.Comment: 17 pages, Latex,accepted by Quantum and Semiclassical Optic

Blind encoding into qudits

We consider the problem of encoding classical information into unknown qudit states belonging to any basis, of a maximal set of mutually unbiased bases, by one party and then decoding by another party who has perfect knowledge of the basis. Working with qudits of prime dimensions, we point out a no-go theorem that forbids shift operations on arbitrary unknown states. We then provide the necessary conditions for reliable encoding/decoding.Comment: To appear in Physics Letters