10,663 research outputs found
Randomized benchmarking in measurement-based quantum computing
Randomized benchmarking is routinely used as an efficient method for
characterizing the performance of sets of elementary logic gates in small
quantum devices. In the measurement-based model of quantum computation, logic
gates are implemented via single-site measurements on a fixed universal
resource state. Here we adapt the randomized benchmarking protocol for a single
qubit to a linear cluster state computation, which provides partial, yet
efficient characterization of the noise associated with the target gate set.
Applying randomized benchmarking to measurement-based quantum computation
exhibits an interesting interplay between the inherent randomness associated
with logic gates in the measurement-based model and the random gate sequences
used in benchmarking. We consider two different approaches: the first makes use
of the standard single-qubit Clifford group, while the second uses recently
introduced (non-Clifford) measurement-based 2-designs, which harness inherent
randomness to implement gate sequences.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, comments welcome; v2 published versio
An "All Possible Steps" Approach to the Accelerated Use of Gillespie's Algorithm
Many physical and biological processes are stochastic in nature.
Computational models and simulations of such processes are a mathematical and
computational challenge. The basic stochastic simulation algorithm was
published by D. Gillespie about three decades ago [D.T. Gillespie, J. Phys.
Chem. {\bf 81}, 2340, (1977)]. Since then, intensive work has been done to make
the algorithm more efficient in terms of running time. All accelerated versions
of the algorithm are aimed at minimizing the running time required to produce a
stochastic trajectory in state space. In these simulations, a necessary
condition for reliable statistics is averaging over a large number of
simulations. In this study I present a new accelerating approach which does not
alter the stochastic algorithm, but reduces the number of required runs. By
analysis of collected data I demonstrate high precision levels with fewer
simulations. Moreover, the suggested approach provides a good estimation of
statistical error, which may serve as a tool for determining the number of
required runs.Comment: Accepted for publication at the Journal of Chemical Physics. 19
pages, including 2 Tables and 4 Figure
Convergence improvement for coupled cluster calculations
Convergence problems in coupled-cluster iterations are discussed, and a new
iteration scheme is proposed. Whereas the Jacobi method inverts only the
diagonal part of the large matrix of equation coefficients, we invert a matrix
which also includes a relatively small number of off-diagonal coefficients,
selected according to the excitation amplitudes undergoing the largest change
in the coupled cluster iteration. A test case shows that the new IPM (inversion
of partial matrix) method gives much better convergence than the
straightforward Jacobi-type scheme or such well-known convergence aids as the
reduced linear equations or direct inversion in iterative subspace methods.Comment: 7 pages, IOPP styl
Investigation, Testing, and Selection of Slip-ring Lead Wires for Use in High-precision Slip-ring Capsules Final Report
Evaluation of corrosion resistant silver alloys for use in lead wires for slip-ring assemblies of Saturn guidance and control system
Treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a remote, conflict-affected area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a high-burden country for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Médecins Sans Frontières has supported the Ministry of Health in the conflict-affected region of Shabunda since 1997. In 2006, three patients were diagnosed with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and had no options for further treatment. An innovative model was developed to treat these patients despite the remote setting. Key innovations were the devolving of responsibility for treatment to non-TB clinicians remotely supported by a TB specialist, use of simplified monitoring protocols, and a strong focus on addressing stigma to support adherence. Treatment was successfully completed after a median of 24 months. This pilot programme demonstrates that successful treatment for DR-TB is possible on a small scale in remote settings
The ECHELON-2 trial: 5-year results of a randomized, phase III study of brentuximab vedotin with chemotherapy for CD30-positive peripheral T-cell lymphoma
BACKGROUND: For patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL), outcomes using frontline treatment with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or CHOP-like therapy are typically poor. The ECHELON-2 study demonstrated that brentuximab vedotin plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (A+CHP) exhibited statistically superior progression-free survival (PFS) per independent central review and improvements in overall survival versus CHOP for the frontline treatment of patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma or other CD30-positive PTCL.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: ECHELON-2 is a double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, placebo-controlled, active-comparator phase III study. We present an exploratory update of the ECHELON-2 study, including an analysis of 5-year PFS per investigator in the intent-to-treat analysis group.
RESULTS: A total of 452 patients were randomized (1 : 1) to six or eight cycles of A+CHP (N = 226) or CHOP (N = 226). At median follow-up of 47.6 months, 5-year PFS rates were 51.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 42.8% to 59.4%] with A+CHP versus 43.0% (95% CI: 35.8% to 50.0%) with CHOP (hazard ratio = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.53-0.91), and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 70.1% (95% CI: 63.3% to 75.9%) with A+CHP versus 61.0% (95% CI: 54.0% to 67.3%) with CHOP (hazard ratio = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.53-0.99). Both PFS and OS were generally consistent across key subgroups. Peripheral neuropathy was resolved or improved in 72% (84/117) of patients in the A+CHP arm and 78% (97/124) in the CHOP arm. Among patients who relapsed and subsequently received brentuximab vedotin, the objective response rate was 59% with brentuximab vedotin retreatment after A+CHP and 50% with subsequent brentuximab vedotin after CHOP.
CONCLUSIONS: In this 5-year update of ECHELON-2, frontline treatment of patients with PTCL with A+CHP continues to provide clinically meaningful improvement in PFS and OS versus CHOP, with a manageable safety profile, including continued resolution or improvement of peripheral neuropathy
Fluctuations and oscillations in a simple epidemic model
We show that the simplest stochastic epidemiological models with spatial
correlations exhibit two types of oscillatory behaviour in the endemic phase.
In a large parameter range, the oscillations are due to resonant amplification
of stochastic fluctuations, a general mechanism first reported for
predator-prey dynamics. In a narrow range of parameters that includes many
infectious diseases which confer long lasting immunity the oscillations persist
for infinite populations. This effect is apparent in simulations of the
stochastic process in systems of variable size, and can be understood from the
phase diagram of the deterministic pair approximation equations. The two
mechanisms combined play a central role in explaining the ubiquity of
oscillatory behaviour in real data and in simulation results of epidemic and
other related models.Comment: acknowledgments added; a typo in the discussion that follows Eq. (3)
is corrected
Consistency of shared reference frames should be reexamined
In a recent Letter [G. Chiribella et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 120501
(2007)], four protocols were proposed to secretly transmit a reference frame.
Here We point out that in these protocols an eavesdropper can change the
transmitted reference frame without being detected, which means the consistency
of the shared reference frames should be reexamined. The way to check the above
consistency is discussed. It is shown that this problem is quite different from
that in previous protocols of quantum cryptography.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, comments are welcom
Apples to apples A^2 – II. Cluster selection functions for next-generation surveys
We present the cluster selection function for three of the largest next-generation stage-IV surveys in the optical and infrared: Euclid-Optimistic, Euclid-Pessimistic and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). To simulate these surveys, we use the realistic mock catalogues introduced in the first paper of this series. We detected galaxy clusters using the Bayesian Cluster Finder in the mock catalogues. We then modelled and calibrated the total cluster stellar mass observable–theoretical mass (M^∗_(CL)—M_h) relation using a power-law model, including a possible redshift evolution term. We find a moderate scatter of σM^∗_(CL)|M_h) of 0.124, 0.135 and 0.136 dex for Euclid-Optimistic, Euclid-Pessimistic and LSST, respectively, comparable to other work over more limited ranges of redshift. Moreover, the three data sets are consistent with negligible evolution with redshift, in agreement with observational and simulation results in the literature. We find that Euclid-Optimistic will be able to detect clusters with >80 per cent completeness and purity down to 8 × 10^(13) h^(−1) M_⊙ up to z < 1. At higher redshifts, the same completeness and purity are obtained with the larger mass threshold of 2 × 10^(14) h^(−1) M_⊙ up to z = 2. The Euclid-Pessimistic selection function has a similar shape with ∼10 per cent higher mass limit. LSST shows ∼5 per cent higher mass limit than Euclid-Optimistic up to z < 0.7 and increases afterwards, reaching a value of 2 × 10^(14) h^(−1) M_⊙ at z = 1.4. Similar selection functions with only 80 per cent completeness threshold have also been computed. The complementarity of these results with selection functions for surveys in other bands is discussed
Application of asymptotic expansions of maximum likelihood estimators errors to gravitational waves from binary mergers: the single interferometer case
In this paper we describe a new methodology to calculate analytically the
error for a maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) for physical parameters from
Gravitational wave signals. All the existing litterature focuses on the usage
of the Cramer Rao Lower bounds (CRLB) as a mean to approximate the errors for
large signal to noise ratios. We show here how the variance and the bias of a
MLE estimate can be expressed instead in inverse powers of the signal to noise
ratios where the first order in the variance expansion is the CRLB. As an
application we compute the second order of the variance and bias for MLE of
physical parameters from the inspiral phase of binary mergers and for noises of
gravitational wave interferometers . We also compare the improved error
estimate with existing numerical estimates. The value of the second order of
the variance expansions allows to get error predictions closer to what is
observed in numerical simulations. It also predicts correctly the necessary SNR
to approximate the error with the CRLB and provides new insight on the
relationship between waveform properties SNR and estimation errors. For example
the timing match filtering becomes optimal only if the SNR is larger than the
kurtosis of the gravitational wave spectrum
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