Geometric phase in dephasing systems

Beyond the quantum Markov approximation, we calculate the geometric phase of a two-level system driven by a quantized magnetic field subject to phase dephasing. The phase reduces to the standard geometric phase in the weak coupling limit and it involves the phase information of the environment in general. In contrast with the geometric phase in dissipative systems, the geometric phase acquired by the system can be observed on a long time scale. We also show that with the system decohering to its pointer states, the geometric phase factor tends to a sum over the phase factors pertaining to the pointer states.Comment: 4 page

Multi-agent collaborative search : an agent-based memetic multi-objective optimization algorithm applied to space trajectory design

This article presents an algorithm for multi-objective optimization that blends together a number of heuristics. A population of agents combines heuristics that aim at exploring the search space both globally and in a neighbourhood of each agent. These heuristics are complemented with a combination of a local and global archive. The novel agent-based algorithm is tested at first on a set of standard problems and then on three specific problems in space trajectory design. Its performance is compared against a number of state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization algorithms that use the Pareto dominance as selection criterion: non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), Pareto archived evolution strategy (PAES), multiple objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), and multiple trajectory search (MTS). The results demonstrate that the agent-based search can identify parts of the Pareto set that the other algorithms were not able to capture. Furthermore, convergence is statistically better although the variance of the results is in some cases higher

Co-Evolution of Capabilities and Industry: The Evolution of Mutual Fund Processing

The resource view of the firm has made substantial progress in identifying what attributes of a firm may provide a source of competitive advantage; however, the literature has far less to say about the emergence of these distinctive capabilities. We develop a simple framework based on the role of positive feedback effects of market activity, organizational factors that cause a firm to focus on a particular capability trajectory, and lastly the role of managerial choice with respect to anticipated feedback effects, which we term feedforward effects. We apply this framework to the emergence of competitive positions in the mutual fund-processing business from its inception to 1984

Ultralight amorphous silicon alloy photovoltaic modules for space applications

Ultralight and ultrathin, flexible, rollup monolithic PV modules have been developed consisting of multijunction, amorphous silicon alloys for either terrestrial or aerospace applications. The rate of progress in increasing conversion efficiency of stable multijunction and multigap PV cells indicates that arrays of these modules can be available for NASA's high power systems in the 1990's. Because of the extremely light module weight and the highly automated process of manufacture, the monolithic a-Si alloy arrays are expected to be strongly competitive with other systems for use in NASA's space station or in other large aerospace applications

Entropy and specific heat for open systems in steady states

The fundamental assumption of statistical mechanics is that the system is equally likely in any of the accessible microstates. Based on this assumption, the Boltzmann distribution is derived and the full theory of statistical thermodynamics can be built. In this paper, we show that the Boltzmann distribution in general can not describe the steady state of open system. Based on the effective Hamiltonian approach, we calculate the specific heat, the free energy and the entropy for an open system in steady states. Examples are illustrated and discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Does the professional know their supracondylar from their gluteus maximus?

An international multiple centre investigation into nature versus nurture

Effective non-linear dynamics of binary condensates and open problems

We report on a recent result concerning the effective dynamics for a mixture of Bose-Einstein condensates, a class of systems much studied in physics and receiving a large amount of attention in the recent literature in mathematical physics; for such models, the effective dynamics is described by a coupled system of non-linear Sch\"odinger equations. After reviewing and commenting our proof in the mean field regime from a previous paper, we collect the main details needed to obtain the rigorous derivation of the effective dynamics in the Gross-Pitaevskii scaling limit.Comment: Corrected typos, updated reference

Mid-Upper Arm Circumference based Nutrition Programming: evidence for a new approach in regions with high burden of Acute Malnutrition

In therapeutic feeding programs (TFP), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) shows advantages over weight-for-height Z score (WHZ) and is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an independent criterion for screening children 6-59 months old. Here we report outcomes and treatment response from a TFP using MUAC ≤118 mm or oedema as sole admission criteria for severe acute malnutrition (SAM)

Generation of macroscopic quantum-superposition states by linear coupling to a bath

We demonstrate through an exactly solvable model that collective coupling to any thermal bath induces effectively nonlinear couplings in a quantum many-body (multi-spin) system. The resulting evolution can drive an uncorrelated large-spin system with high probability into a macroscopic quantum-superposition state. We discuss possible experimental realizations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Physical Review Letters (in press