Book Review

book revie

The Message of the Quantum?

We criticize speculations to the effect that quantum mechanics is fundamentally about information. We do this by pointing out how unfounded such speculations in fact are. Our analysis focuses on the dubious claims of this kind recently made by Anton Zeilinger

Contourograph display system for monitoring electrocardiograms

Electrocardiogram is displayed as a contourogram on the cathode ray tube of a variable-persistence oscilloscope. Each cycle is stacked below its predecessors giving a three dimensional effect. A major change in the signal is apparent as a change in the contourogram pattern

Simulation of bipartite qudit correlations

We present a protocol to simulate the quantum correlations of an arbitrary bipartite state, when the parties perform a measurement according to two traceless binary observables. We show that $\log(d)$ bits of classical communication is enough on average, where $d$ is the dimension of both systems. To obtain this result, we use the sampling approach for simulating the quantum correlations. We discuss how to use this method in the case of qudits.Comment: 7 page

Controlling sleeping sickness - a review

Following a period characterized by severe epidemics of sleeping sickness, restoration of effective control and surveillance systems has raised the question of eliminating the disease from sub-Saharan Africa. Given sufficient political and financial support, elimination is now considered a reasonable aim in countries reporting zero or less than 100 cases per year. This success may lead health authorities across the affected region to downgrade the disease from ‘neglected' to simply being ignored. In view of the significant levels of under-reporting of sleeping sickness mortality in rural communities, this could be a short-sighted policy. Loss of capacity to deal with new epidemics, which can arise as a consequence of loss of commitment or civil upheaval, would have serious consequences. The present period should be seen as a clear opportunity for public-private partnerships to develop simpler and more cost-effective tools and strategies for sustainable sleeping sickness control and surveillance, including diagnostics, treatment and vector contro

Bell's Theorem and Chemical Potential

Chemical potential is a property which involves the effect of interaction between the components of a system, and it results from the whole system. In this paper, we argue that for two particles which have interacted via their spins and are now spatially separated, the so-called Bell's locality condition implies that the chemical potential of each particle is an individual property. Here is a point where quantum statistical mechanics and the local hidden variable theories are in conflict. Based on two distinct concepts of chemical potential, the two theories predict two different patterns for the energy levels of a system of two entangled particles. In this manner, we show how one can distinguish the non-separable features of a two-particle system.Comment: 11 pages,1 figure, To appear in J. Phy. A: Math. Gen., Special Issue: Foundations of Quantum Theor

Non-Locality and Theories of Causation

The aim of the paper is to investigate the characterization of an unambiguous notion of causation linking single space-llike separated events in EPR-Bell frameworks. This issue is investigated in ordinary quantum mechanics, with some hints to no collapse formulations of the theory such as Bohmian mechanics.Comment: Presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Modality, Probability and Bell's Theorems, Cracow, Poland, August 19-23, 200

Archeological Data Recovery Excavations along Becerra Creek (41WB556), Webb County, Texas

From June through August 2000, The Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted archeological data recovery for prehistoric site 41WB556, under contract with Texas Department of Transportation. The investigations were conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit Number 2412. The Phase III data recovery consisted of excavation of 64 1-m2 units across the site in order to investigate significant cultural deposits encountered during the previous survey and testing phases. In concert with the archeological field investigations, the following special analyses and studies were performed to aid the determination of site integrity and chronology: geoarcheology, radiocarbon dating, lithic, lipid residue, vertebrate faunal, carbon/nitrogen isotope, macrobotanical, and magnetic soil susceptibility. The synthesis of these analyses provides substantive insights into the lifeways of the region’s prehistoric hunter-gatherers