On Chow Stability for algebraic curves

In the last decades there have been introduced different concepts of stability for projective varieties. In this paper we give a natural and intrinsic criterion of the Chow, and Hilbert, stability for complex irreducible smooth projective curves $C\subset \mathbb P ^n$. Namely, if the restriction $T\mathbb P_{|C} ^n$ of the tangent bundle of $\mathbb P ^n$ to $C$ is stable then $C\subset \mathbb P ^n$ is Chow stable, and hence Hilbert stable. We apply this criterion to describe a smooth open set of the irreducible component $Hilb^{P(t),s}_{{Ch}}$ of the Hilbert scheme of $\mathbb{P} ^n$ containing the generic smooth Chow-stable curve of genus $g$ and degree $d>g+n-\left\lfloor\frac{g}{n+1}\right\rfloor.$ Moreover, we describe the quotient stack of such curves. Similar results are obtained for the locus of Hilbert stable curves.Comment: Minor corrections and improvements to presentation. We add Theorem 4.

Total correlations as fully additive entanglement monotones

We generalize the strategy presented in Refs. [1, 2], and propose general conditions for a measure of total correlations to be an entanglement monotone using its pure (and mixed) convex-roof extension. In so doing, we derive crucial theorems and propose a concrete candidate for a total correlations measure which is a fully additive entanglement monotone.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Title changed, new result

Quantum work and the thermodynamic cost of quantum measurements

Quantum work is usually determined from two projective measurements of the energy at the beginning and at the end of a thermodynamic process. However, this paradigm cannot be considered thermodynamically consistent as it does not account for the thermodynamic cost of these measurements. To remedy this conceptual inconsistency we introduce a novel paradigm that relies only on the expected change of the average energy given the initial energy eigenbasis. In particular, we completely omit quantum measurements in the definition of quantum work, and hence quantum work is identified as a thermodynamic quantity of only the system. As main results we derive a modified quantum Jarzynski equality and a sharpened maximum work theorem in terms of the information free energy. Comparison of our results with the standard approach allows to quantify the informational cost of projective measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure; published versio

Gaussian Decoherence and Gaussian Echo from Spin Environments

We examine an exactly solvable model of decoherence -- a spin-system interacting with a collection of environment spins. We show that in this simple model (introduced some time ago to illustrate environment--induced superselection) generic assumptions about the coupling strengths lead to a universal (Gaussian) suppression of coherence between pointer states. We explore the regime of validity of this result and discuss its relation to spectral features of the environment. We also consider its relevance to the experiments on the so-called Loschmidt echo (which measures, in effect, the fidelity between the initial and time-reversed or "echo" signal). In particular, we show that for partial reversals (e.g., when of only a part of the total Hamiltonian changes sign) fidelity will exhibit a Gaussian dependence on the time of reversal. In such cases echo may become independent of the details of the reversal procedure or the specifics of the coupling to the environment. This puzzling behavior was observed in several NMR experiments. Natural candidates for such two environments (one of which is easily reversed, while the other is ``irreversible'') are suggested for the experiment involving ferrocene.Comment: Improved text and figures, to appear in the special issue of Acta Physica Polonica B celebrating the 100th anniversary of Smoluchowski's equation and his paper explaining Brownian motion (in http://th-www.if.uj.edu.pl/acta/vol38/pdf/v38p1685.pdf

Decoherence and the Loschmidt echo

Environment--induced decoherence causes entropy increase. It can be quantified using, e.g., the purity $\varsigma={\rm Tr}\rho^2$. When the Hamiltonian of a quantum system is perturbed, its sensitivity to such perturbation can be measured by the Loschmidt echo $\bar M(t)$. It is given by the average squared overlap between the perturbed and unperturbed state. We describe the relation between the temporal behavior of $\varsigma(t)$ and $\bar M(t)$. In this way we show that the decay of the Loschmidt echo can be analyzed using tools developed in the study of decoherence. In particular, for systems with a classically chaotic Hamiltonian the decay of $\varsigma$ and $\bar M$ has a regime where it is dominated by the classical Lyapunov exponent

Quantum finite automata and linear context-free languages: a decidable problem

We consider the so-called measure once finite quantum automata model introduced by Moore and Crutchfield in 2000. We show that given a language recognized by such a device and a linear context-free language, it is recursively decidable whether or not they have a nonempty intersection. This extends a result of Blondel et al. which can be interpreted as solving the problem with the free monoid in place of the family of linear context-free languages. © 2013 Springer-Verlag