254 research outputs found
On Pythagoras' theorem for products of spectral triples
We discuss a version of Pythagoras theorem in noncommutative geometry. Usual
Pythagoras theorem can be formulated in terms of Connes' distance, between pure
states, in the product of commutative spectral triples. We investigate the
generalization to both non pure states and arbitrary spectral triples. We show
that Pythagoras theorem is replaced by some Pythagoras inequalities, that we
prove for the product of arbitrary (i.e. non-necessarily commutative) spectral
triples, assuming only some unitality condition. We show that these
inequalities are optimal, and provide non-unital counter-examples inspired by
K-homology.Comment: Paper slightly shortened to match the published version; Lett. Math.
Phys. 201
Is life a thermal horizon ?
This talk aims at questioning the vanishing of Unruh temperature for an
inertial observer in Minkovski spacetime with finite lifetime, arguing that in
the non eternal case the existence of a causal horizon is not linked to the
non-vanishing of the acceleration. This is illustrated by a previous result,
the diamonds temperature, that adapts the algebraic approach of Unruh effect to
the finite case.Comment: Proceedings of the conference DICE 2006, Piombino september 200
De Sitter Thermodynamics from Diamonds's Temperature
The thermal time hypothesis proposed by Rovelli [1] regards the physical
basis for the flow of time as thermodynamical and provides a definition of the
temperature for some special cases. We verify this hypothesis in the case of de
Sitter spacetime by relating the uniformly accelerated observer in de Sitter
spacetime to the diamond in Minkowski spacetime. Then, as an application of it,
we investigate the thermal effect for the uniformly accelerated observer with a
finite lifetime in dS spacetime, which generalizes the corresponding result for
the case of Minkowski spacetime [2].
Furthermore, noticing that a uniformly accelerated dS observer with a finite
lifetime corresponds to a Rindler observer with a finite lifetime in the
embedding Minkowski spacetime, we show that the
global-embedding-Minkowski-spacetime (GEMS) picture of spacetime thermodynamics
is valid in this case. This is a rather nontrivial and unexpected
generalization of the GEMS picture, as well as a further verification of both
the thermal time hypothesis and the GEMS picture.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX; v2: reorganized with a new section added
concerning a generalization of the GEMS picture from our result; v3: version
with minor corrections, to appear in JHE
Minimal length in quantum space and integrations of the line element in Noncommutative Geometry
We question the emergence of a minimal length in quantum spacetime, comparing
two notions that appeared at various points in the literature: on the one side,
the quantum length as the spectrum of an operator L in the Doplicher
Fredenhagen Roberts (DFR) quantum spacetime, as well as in the canonical
noncommutative spacetime; on the other side, Connes' spectral distance in
noncommutative geometry. Although on the Euclidean space the two notions merge
into the one of geodesic distance, they yield distinct results in the
noncommutative framework. In particular on the Moyal plane, the quantum length
is bounded above from zero while the spectral distance can take any real
positive value, including infinity. We show how to solve this discrepancy by
doubling the spectral triple. This leads us to introduce a modified quantum
length d'_L, which coincides exactly with the spectral distance d_D on the set
of states of optimal localization. On the set of eigenstates of the quantum
harmonic oscillator - together with their translations - d'_L and d_D coincide
asymptotically, both in the high energy and large translation limits. At small
energy, we interpret the discrepancy between d'_L and d_D as two distinct ways
of integrating the line element on a quantum space. This leads us to propose an
equation for a geodesic on the Moyal plane.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures. Minor corrections to match the published versio
Case mix at the European Institute of Oncology: first report of the Tumour Registry, 2000–2002
Introduction: An institutional and centralized hospital-based tumour registry (TR) is the ideal supporting tool for the organization and management of clinical data in a comprehensive cancer centre. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the TR at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan, Italy, from its origin to its current applications. Material and methods: After a series of meetings with members of administrative, clinical, research and informatics departments, the TR was activated in March 2006 with the aim to collect data on all the individuals referring to the Institute, with or at risk of developing a tumour. It was implemented on an Oracle\u2122-based interface. A minimum data set of variables was defined and data collection was divided into four forms, which together gather all the relevant data on patients, tumours, treatments and subsequent events. Results: After a 6-month pilot period, which involved the training of the tumour registrars, adjustments to the structure of the registry, development of data quality control procedure and finalization of the operative protocol, from September 2006 the data collection has been fully operative. Five registrars have been chronologically entering data of all individuals who visited the IEO for the first time since 1st January 2000. As of March 2009, data on 69,637 individuals and 43,567 tumours has been reviewed, recoded and registered in the TR. Twenty-two percent of the tumours (n=9,578) were first invasive primaries, diagnosed and treated in IEO; the most common sites were breast (n=4,972), lung (n=627), intestines (n=479) and prostate (n=376). Conclusion: The IEO TR has been proven functional and reliable in monitoring the activity of the Hospital, allowing extraction of data from any subpopulation with characteristics of interest. The structured and centralized TR represents an important tool for our research-oriented Institution
Lung response to prone positioning in mechanically-ventilated patients with COVID-19
Background: Prone positioning improves survival in moderate-to-severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) unrelated to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This benefit is probably mediated by a decrease in alveolar collapse and hyperinflation and a more homogeneous distribution of lung aeration, with fewer harms from mechanical ventilation. In this preliminary physiological study we aimed to verify whether prone positioning causes analogue changes in lung aeration in COVID-19. A positive result would support prone positioning even in this other population. Methods: Fifteen mechanically-ventilated patients with COVID-19 underwent a lung computed tomography in the supine and prone position with a constant positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) within three days of endotracheal intubation. Using quantitative analysis, we measured the volume of the non-aerated, poorly-aerated, well-aerated, and over-aerated compartments and the gas-to-tissue ratio of the ten vertical levels of the lung. In addition, we expressed the heterogeneity of lung aeration with the standardized median absolute deviation of the ten vertical gas-to-tissue ratios, with lower values indicating less heterogeneity. Results: By the time of the study, PEEP was 12 (10–14) cmH2O and the PaO2:FiO2 107 (84–173) mmHg in the supine position. With prone positioning, the volume of the non-aerated compartment decreased by 82 (26–147) ml, of the poorly-aerated compartment increased by 82 (53–174) ml, of the normally-aerated compartment did not significantly change, and of the over-aerated compartment decreased by 28 (11–186) ml. In eight (53%) patients, the volume of the over-aerated compartment decreased more than the volume of the non-aerated compartment. The gas-to-tissue ratio of the ten vertical levels of the lung decreased by 0.34 (0.25–0.49) ml/g per level in the supine position and by 0.03 (− 0.11 to 0.14) ml/g in the prone position (p < 0.001). The standardized median absolute deviation of the gas-to-tissue ratios of those ten levels decreased in all patients, from 0.55 (0.50–0.71) to 0.20 (0.14–0.27) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In fifteen patients with COVID-19, prone positioning decreased alveolar collapse, hyperinflation, and homogenized lung aeration. A similar response has been observed in other ARDS, where prone positioning improves outcome. Therefore, our data provide a pathophysiological rationale to support prone positioning even in COVID-19
Relative entropy and the Bekenstein bound
Elaborating on a previous work by Marolf et al, we relate some exact results
in quantum field theory and statistical mechanics to the Bekenstein universal
bound on entropy. Specifically, we consider the relative entropy between the
vacuum and another state, both reduced to a local region. We propose that, with
the adequate interpretation, the positivity of the relative entropy in this
case constitutes a well defined statement of the bound in flat space. We show
that this version arises naturally from the original derivation of the bound
from the generalized second law when quantum effects are taken into account. In
this formulation the bound holds automatically, and in particular it does not
suffer from the proliferation of the species problem. The results suggest that
while the bound is relevant at the classical level, it does not introduce new
physical constraints semiclassically.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, minor changes and references adde
Diamonds's Temperature: Unruh effect for bounded trajectories and thermal time hypothesis
We study the Unruh effect for an observer with a finite lifetime, using the
thermal time hypothesis. The thermal time hypothesis maintains that: (i) time
is the physical quantity determined by the flow defined by a state over an
observable algebra, and (ii) when this flow is proportional to a geometric flow
in spacetime, temperature is the ratio between flow parameter and proper time.
An eternal accelerated Unruh observer has access to the local algebra
associated to a Rindler wedge. The flow defined by the Minkowski vacuum of a
field theory over this algebra is proportional to a flow in spacetime and the
associated temperature is the Unruh temperature. An observer with a finite
lifetime has access to the local observable algebra associated to a finite
spacetime region called a "diamond". The flow defined by the Minkowski vacuum
of a (four dimensional, conformally invariant) quantum field theory over this
algebra is also proportional to a flow in spacetime. The associated temperature
generalizes the Unruh temperature to finite lifetime observers.
Furthermore, this temperature does not vanish even in the limit in which the
acceleration is zero. The temperature associated to an inertial observer with
lifetime T, which we denote as "diamond's temperature", is 2hbar/(pi k_b
T).This temperature is related to the fact that a finite lifetime observer does
not have access to all the degrees of freedom of the quantum field theory.Comment: One reference correcte
Expected performance of the ASTRI-SST-2M telescope prototype
ASTRI (Astrofisica con Specchi a Tecnologia Replicante Italiana) is an
Italian flagship project pursued by INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica)
strictly linked to the development of the Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA.
Primary goal of the ASTRI program is the design and production of an end-to-end
prototype of a Small Size Telescope for the CTA sub-array devoted to the
highest gamma-ray energy region. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, will be
tested on field in Italy during 2014. This telescope will be the first
Cherenkov telescope adopting the double reflection layout in a
Schwarzschild-Couder configuration with a tessellated primary mirror and a
monolithic secondary mirror. The collected light will be focused on a compact
and light-weight camera based on silicon photo-multipliers covering a 9.6 deg
full field of view. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to
estimate the performance of the planned telescope. The results regarding its
energy threshold, sensitivity and angular resolution are shown and discussed.Comment: In Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference
(ICRC2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). All CTA contributions at arXiv:1307.223
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