16,697 research outputs found
Asymmetric quantum cloning machines in any dimension
A family of asymmetric cloning machines for -dimensional quantum states is
introduced. These machines produce two imperfect copies of a single state that
emerge from two distinct Heisenberg channels. The tradeoff between the quality
of these copies is shown to result from a complementarity akin to Heisenberg
uncertainty principle. A no-cloning inequality is derived for isotropic
cloners: if and are the depolarizing fractions associated with
the two copies, the domain in -space located
inside a particular ellipse representing close-to-perfect cloning is forbidden.
More generally, a no-cloning uncertainty relation is discussed, quantifying the
impossibility of copying imposed by quantum mechanics. Finally, an asymmetric
Pauli cloning machine is defined that makes two approximate copies of a quantum
bit, while the input-to-output operation underlying each copy is a (distinct)
Pauli channel. The class of symmetric Pauli cloning machines is shown to
provide an upper bound on the quantum capacity of the Pauli channel of
probabilities , and .Comment: 18 pages RevTeX, 3 Postscript figures; new discussion on no-cloning
uncertainty relations, several corrections, added reference
Performance assessment of tariff-based air source heat pump load shifting in a UK detached dwelling featuring phase change-enhanced buffering
Using a detailed building simulation model, the amount of thermal buffering, with and without phase change material (PCM), needed to time-shift an air source heat pump's operation to off-peak periods, as defined by the UK 'Economy 10' tariff, was investigated for a typical UK detached dwelling. The performance of the buffered system was compared to the case with no load shifting and with no thermal buffering. Additionally, the load shifting of a population of buffered heat pumps to off-peak periods was simulated and the resulting change in the peak demand on the electricity network was assessed. The results from this study indicate that 1000 L of hot water buffering or 500 L of PCM-enhanced hot water buffering was required to move the operation of the heat pump fully to off-peak periods, without adversely affecting the provision of space heating and hot water for the end user. The work also highlights that buffering and load shifting increased the heat pump's electrical demand by over 60% leading to increased cost to the end user and increased CO2 emissions (depending on the electricity tariff applied and time varying CO2 intensity of the electricity generation mix, respectively). The study also highlights that the load-shifting of populations of buffered heat pumps wholly to off-peak periods using crude instruments such as tariffs increased the peak loading on the electrical network by over 50% rather than reducing it and that careful consideration is needed as to how the load shifting of a group of heat pumps is orchestrated
Further Criteria for the Existence of Steady Line-Driven Winds
In Paper I, we showed that steady line-driven disk wind solutions can exist
by using "simple" models that mimic the disk environment. Here I extend the
concepts introduced in Paper I and discuss many details of the analysis of the
steady/unsteady nature of 1D line-driven winds. This work confirms the results
and conclusions of Paper I, and is thus consistent with the steady nature of
the 1D streamline line-driven disk wind models of Murray and collaborators and
the 2.5D line-driven disk wind models of Pereyra and collaborators. When
including gas pressures effects, as is routinely done in time-dependent
numerical models, I find that the spatial dependence of the nozzle function
continues to play a key role in determining the steady/unsteady nature of
supersonic line-driven wind solutions. I show here that the
existence/nonexistence of local wind solutions can be proved through the nozzle
function without integrating the equation of motion. This work sets a detailed
framework with which we will analyze, in a following paper, more realistic
models than the "simple" models of Paper I.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication by The Astrophysical
Journa
New Internal Stress Driven on-Chip Micromachines for Extracting Mechanical Properties of Thin Films
A new concept of micromachines has been developed for measuring the
mechanical properties of thin metallic films. The actuator is a beam undergoing
large internal stresses built up during the deposition process. Al thin films
are deposited partly on the actuator beam and on the substrate. By etching the
structure, the actuator contracts and pulls the Al film. Full stress strain
curves can be generated by designing a set of micromachines with various
actuator lengths. In the present study, the displacements have been measured by
scanning electronic microscopy. The stress is derived from simple continuum
mechanics relationships. The tensile properties of Al films of various
thicknesses have been tested. A marked increase of the strength with decreasing
film thickness is observed.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions
(http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions
Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger paradoxes for many qudits
We construct GHZ contradictions for three or more parties sharing an
entangled state, the dimension d of each subsystem being an even integer
greater than 2. The simplest example that goes beyond the standard GHZ paradox
(three qubits) involves five ququats (d=4). We then examine the criteria a GHZ
paradox must satisfy in order to be genuinely M-partite and d-dimensional.Comment: 5 pages RevTe
Towards Intelligent Databases
This article is a presentation of the objectives and techniques
of deductive databases. The deductive approach to databases aims at extending
with intensional definitions other database paradigms that describe
applications extensionaUy. We first show how constructive specifications can
be expressed with deduction rules, and how normative conditions can be defined
using integrity constraints. We outline the principles of bottom-up and
top-down query answering procedures and present the techniques used for
integrity checking. We then argue that it is often desirable to manage with
a database system not only database applications, but also specifications of
system components. We present such meta-level specifications and discuss
their advantages over conventional approaches
Soft-tissue specimens from pre-European extinct birds of New Zealand
We provide the first complete review of soft tissue remains from New Zealand birds that became extinct prior to European settlement (c. AD 1800). These rare specimens allow insights into the anatomy and appearance of the birds that are not attainable from bones. Our review includes previously unpublished records of ‘lost’ specimens, and descriptions of recently discovered specimens such as the first evidence of soft tissues from the South Island goose (Cnemiornis calcitrans). Overall, the soft tissue remains are dominated by moa (with specimens from each of the six genera), but also include specimens from Finsch's duck (Chenonetta finschi) and the New Zealand owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles novaezealandiae). All desiccated soft tissue specimens that have radiocarbon or stratigraphic dates are late Holocene in age, and most have been found in the semi-arid region of Central Otago
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