Upper Bound on the region of Separable States near the Maximally Mixed State

A lower bound on the amount of noise that must be added to a GHZ-like entangled state to make it separable (also called the random robustness) is found using the transposition condition. The bound is applicable to arbitrary numbers of subsystems, and dimensions of Hilbert space, and is shown to be exact for qubits. The new bound is compared to previous such bounds on this quantity, and found to be stronger in all cases. It implies that increasing the number of subsystems, rather than increasing their Hilbert space dimension is a more effective way of increasing entanglement. An explicit decomposition into an ensemble of separable states, when the state is not entangled,is given for the case of qubits.Comment: 2 figures. accepted J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. (2000

Entangling photons using a charged quantum dot in a microcavity

We present two novel schemes to generate photon polarization entanglement via single electron spins confined in charged quantum dots inside microcavities. One scheme is via entangled remote electron spins followed by negatively-charged exciton emissions, and another scheme is via a single electron spin followed by the spin state measurement. Both schemes are based on giant circular birefringence and giant Faraday rotation induced by a single electron spin in a microcavity. Our schemes are deterministic and can generate an arbitrary amount of multi-photon entanglement. Following similar procedures, a scheme for a photon-spin quantum interface is proposed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Generalized Toffoli gates using qudit catalysis

We present quantum networks for a n-qubit controlled gate C^{n-1}(U) which use a higher dimensional (qudit) ancilla as a catalyser. In its simplest form the network has only n two-particle gates (qubit-qudit) -- this is the minimum number of two-body interactions needed to couple all n+1 subsystems (n qubits plus one ancilla). This class of controlled gates includes the generalised Toffoli gate C^{n-1}(X) on n qubits, which plays an important role in several quantum algorithms and error correction. A particular example implementing this model is given by the dispersive limit of a generalised Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian of an effective spin-s interacting with a cavity mode.Comment: 5 pages, 3 fig

Attaining subclassical metrology in lossy systems with entangled coherent states

Quantum mechanics allows entanglement enhanced measurements to be performed, but loss remains an obstacle in constructing realistic quantum metrology schemes. However, recent work has revealed that entangled coherent states (ECSs) have the potential to perform robust subclassical measurements [J. Joo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 083601 (2011)]. Up to now no read-out scheme has been devised that exploits this robust nature of ECSs, but we present here an experimentally accessible method of achieving precision close to the theoretical bound, even with loss.We show substantial improvements over unentangled classical states and highly entangled NOON states for a wide range of loss values, elevating quantum metrology to a realizable technology in the near future

The quantum-classical crossover of a field mode

We explore the quantum-classical crossover in the behaviour of a quantum field mode. The quantum behaviour of a two-state system - a qubit - coupled to the field is used as a probe. Collapse and revival of the qubit inversion form the signature for quantum behaviour of the field and continuous Rabi oscillations form the signature for classical behaviour of the field. We demonstrate both limits in a single model for the full coupled system, for states with the same average field strength, and so for qubits with the same Rabi frequency.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures (in this version the figures, text and references have all been expanded

Biofilm formation is a risk factor for mortality in patients with Candida albicans bloodstream infection-Scotland, 2012-2013

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology 097377/Z/11/Z. Data collection was supported by a grant from Pfizer. G. Ramage was also supported by a research fellowship grant from Gilead Sciences. We are grateful to microbiology colleagues throughout Scotland for submitting isolates.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Overcoming decoherence in the collapse and revival of spin Schr\"odinger cats

In addition to being a very interesting quantum phenomenon, Schr\"odinger cat swapping has the potential for application in the preparation of quantum states that could be used in metrology and other quantum processing. We study in detail the effects of field decoherence on a cat-swapping system comprising a set of identical qubits, or spins, all coupled to a field mode. We demonstrate that increasing the number of spins actually mitigates the effects of field decoherence on the collapse and revival of a spin Schr\"odinger cat, which could be of significant utility in quantum metrology and other quantum processing.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Experiences of aspiring school principals receiving coaching as part of a leadership development programme

Purpose This paper adds depth to our understanding of how coaching works by exploring the experiences of 14 aspiring school principals who received one-to-one leadership coaching as part of a leadership development programme. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a phenomenological approach. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants. Thematic analysis was used to code the data and identify themes. Findings This paper reports on four themes based on the experiences of the participants: having time to reflect, feeling safe to explore, focussing on what's important for me and experiencing positive emotions. Research limitations/implications The findings are unique to the participants who volunteered to take part in this study and therefore not representative of a general population of aspiring educational leaders. Further research is needed into the possible benefits of coaching to support educators undergoing leadership training. Practical implications The findings raise a potential dilemma within the teaching profession about the use of educators' time; while they need to give time and attention to multiple stakeholders, they also need to protect time for their own development and self-reflection. Based on the reported experiences of the participants in this study, it is recommended that coaching be considered a component of professional development for educational leaders. Originality/value This paper adds to the growing research base for coaching in education, providing a unique insight into the experiences of aspiring school principals who received one-to-one leadership coaching as part of a leadership development programme