Ground-State Entanglement in Interacting Bosonic Graphs

We consider a collection of bosonic modes corresponding to the vertices of a graph $\Gamma.$ Quantum tunneling can occur only along the edges of $\Gamma$ and a local self-interaction term is present. Quantum entanglement of one vertex with respect the rest of the graph is analyzed in the ground-state of the system as a function of the tunneling amplitude $\tau.$ The topology of $\Gamma$ plays a major role in determining the tunneling amplitude $\tau^*$ which leads to the maximum ground-state entanglement. Whereas in most of the cases one finds the intuitively expected result $\tau^*=\infty$ we show that it there exists a family of graphs for which the optimal value of$\tau$ is pushed down to a finite value. We also show that, for complete graphs, our bi-partite entanglement provides useful insights in the analysis of the cross-over between insulating and superfluid ground statesComment: 5 pages (LaTeX) 5 eps figures include

Transvaginal ultrasound - noninvasive method for the prediction of response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy in cases of cervical cancer

The objective of this paper is to study the differences in tumor size, color score and Doppler indices prior, during and after the treatment with concurrent chemoradiotherapy in cases of locally advanced cervical carcinoma and to predict the response to the treatment. The study group comprised fifty-two patients with histologically confirmed invasive carcinoma of the cervix. All patients were scheduled for concurrent chemoradiotherapy and were assessed by transvaginal ultrasound before the initiation, before 4th course of chemotherapy and 3 months after the therapy. Maximum cervical tumor length, anterior-posterior diameter and width have been measured and tumor volume was calculated. Complete clinical response (CR) was defined when no residual tumor was found. Partial clinical response (PR) was determined when the tumor volume had decreased more than 50 %. Intratumoral blood flow was subjectively evaluated by Color Doppler examination, the lowest resistance index (RI) and the highest peak systolic velocity (PSV) were used for the analysis. The results of this study demonstrate that transvaginal ultrasound is a valuable non-invasive diagnostic tool for the assessment of the response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy in cases of advanced cervical cancer

Quantifying Quantum Correlations in Fermionic Systems using Witness Operators

We present a method to quantify quantum correlations in arbitrary systems of indistinguishable fermions using witness operators. The method associates the problem of finding the optimal entan- glement witness of a state with a class of problems known as semidefinite programs (SDPs), which can be solved efficiently with arbitrary accuracy. Based on these optimal witnesses, we introduce a measure of quantum correlations which has an interpretation analogous to the Generalized Robust- ness of entanglement. We also extend the notion of quantum discord to the case of indistinguishable fermions, and propose a geometric quantifier, which is compared to our entanglement measure. Our numerical results show a remarkable equivalence between the proposed Generalized Robustness and the Schliemann concurrence, which are equal for pure states. For mixed states, the Schliemann con- currence presents itself as an upper bound for the Generalized Robustness. The quantum discord is also found to be an upper bound for the entanglement.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Quantum Information Processin

Quantifying Entanglement Production of Quantum Operations

The problem of entanglement produced by an arbitrary operator is formulated and a related measure of entanglement production is introduced. This measure of entanglement production satisfies all properties natural for such a characteristic. A particular case is the entanglement produced by a density operator or a density matrix. The suggested measure is valid for operations over pure states as well as over mixed states, for equilibrium as well as nonequilibrium processes. Systems of arbitrary nature can be treated, described either by field operators, spin operators, or any other kind of operators, which is realized by constructing generalized density matrices. The interplay between entanglement production and phase transitions in statistical systems is analysed by the examples of Bose-Einstein condensation, superconducting transition, and magnetic transitions. The relation between the measure of entanglement production and order indices is analysed.Comment: 20 pages, Revte

Quantum computing in optical microtraps based on the motional states of neutral atoms

We investigate quantum computation with neutral atoms in optical microtraps where the qubit is implemented in the motional states of the atoms, i.e., in the two lowest vibrational states of each trap. The quantum gate operation is performed by adiabatically approaching two traps and allowing tunneling and cold collisions to take place. We demonstrate the capability of this scheme to realize a square-root of swap gate, and address the problem of double occupation and excitation to other unwanted states. We expand the two-particle wavefunction in an orthonormal basis and analyze quantum correlations throughout the whole gate process. Fidelity of the gate operation is evaluated as a function of the degree of adiabaticity in moving the traps. Simulations are based on rubidium atoms in state-of-the-art optical microtraps with quantum gate realizations in the few tens of milliseconds duration range.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, for animations of the gate operation, see http://www.itp.uni-hannover.de/~eckert/na/index.htm

The Psychoanalytic Languages: On the Intimate Rivalry of Michael Balint and D.W. Winnicott

The article presents and discusses a two-decades correspondence between Michael Balint and D.W. Winnicott. Alongside closeness and friendship, the letters reveal tensions, disagreement and even rivalry between Balint and Winnicott on three main levels: personal, cultural and theoretical. The debate can be framed around the question of whether or not the British School of Psychoanalysis that emerged in the 1950s – and in which Winnicott and Balint were arguably the most senior figures – was a continuation of the psychoanalytic tradition that developed before the Second World War by Sandor Ferenczi and the Budapest School. The article argues, however, that there is another meta-theoretical level to the debate between the two: they passionately try to define what is the psychoanalytic language, and disagree about its real nature

A qualitative study exploring support for self-management of long-term conditions in general practice consultations

This doctoral study sought greater understanding of support for self-management in general practice consultations for people living with long-term conditions, and aimed to understand and help address the gap between policy and practice. Methods: Informed by a review of theoretical and methodological literature, a qualitative mixed methods study was undertaken, involving generation and comparative analysis of empirical data arising from three main sources: 1) observations of general practice consultations (n=86); 2) qualitative interviews with health professionals in general practice (n=17); and 3) qualitative interviews with patients with a long-term condition (n=12). Results: The thesis presents key discourse and discursive practices underpinning long-term condition management in general practice consultations. Coping with the disruption of living with a long-term condition was a key theme and identified to be of importance for both patients and health professionals. However, although a shared value, there was little evidence of this coping with the disruption being discussed during consultations. Patients and professionals had difficulty raising and addressing self-management topics whilst attempting to maintain social relations. Structural factors including the use computer templates as well as the division of labour among primary care professionals reinforced this tension. Discussion: In order for self-management support to become normalised into primary care, policy interventions concerning long-term condition management need to take into account of these tensions underpinning the care of patients with long-term conditions. A framework for embedding and integrating support for self-management of long-term conditions within primary care is proposed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A tool-chain for statistical spatio-temporal model checking of bike sharing systems

Prominent examples of collective systems are often encountered when analysing smart cities and smart transportation systems. We propose a novel modelling and analysis approach combining statistical model checking, spatio-temporal logics, and simulation. The proposed methodology is applied to modelling and statistical analysis of user behaviour in bike sharing systems. We present a tool-chain that integrates the statistical analysis toolkit MultiVeStA, the spatio-temporal model checker topochecker, and a bike sharing systems simulator based on Markov renewal processes. The obtained tool allows one to estimate, up to a user-specified precision, the likelihood of specific spatio-temporal formulas, such as the formation of clusters of full stations and their temporal evolution