2,107 research outputs found
A study on various methods of supplying propellant to an orbit insertion rocket engine
Various types of pumps and pump drives were evaluated to determine the lightest weight system for supplying propellants to a planetary orbit insertion rocket engine. From these analyses four candidate propellant feed systems were identified. Systems Nos. 1 and 2 were both battery powered (lithium-thionyl-chloride or silver-zinc) motor driven pumps. System 3 was a monopropellant gas generator powered turbopump. System 4 was a bipropellant gas generator powered turbopump. Parameters considered were pump break horsepower, weight, reliability, transient response and system stability. Figures of merit were established and the ranking of the candidate systems was determined. Conceptual designs were prepared for typical motor driven pumps and turbopump configurations for a 1000 lbf thrust rocket engine
Tsirelson's problem and Kirchberg's conjecture
Tsirelson's problem asks whether the set of nonlocal quantum correlations
with a tensor product structure for the Hilbert space coincides with the one
where only commutativity between observables located at different sites is
assumed. Here it is shown that Kirchberg's QWEP conjecture on tensor products
of C*-algebras would imply a positive answer to this question for all bipartite
scenarios. This remains true also if one considers not only spatial
correlations, but also spatiotemporal correlations, where each party is allowed
to apply their measurements in temporal succession; we provide an example of a
state together with observables such that ordinary spatial correlations are
local, while the spatiotemporal correlations reveal nonlocality. Moreover, we
find an extended version of Tsirelson's problem which, for each nontrivial Bell
scenario, is equivalent to the QWEP conjecture. This extended version can be
conveniently formulated in terms of steering the system of a third party.
Finally, a comprehensive mathematical appendix offers background material on
complete positivity, tensor products of C*-algebras, group C*-algebras, and
some simple reformulations of the QWEP conjecture.Comment: 57 pages, to appear in Rev. Math. Phy
Quantum state estimation and large deviations
In this paper we propose a method to estimate the density matrix \rho of a
d-level quantum system by measurements on the N-fold system. The scheme is
based on covariant observables and representation theory of unitary groups and
it extends previous results concerning the estimation of the spectrum of \rho.
We show that it is consistent (i.e. the original input state \rho is recovered
with certainty if N \to \infty), analyze its large deviation behavior, and
calculate explicitly the corresponding rate function which describes the
exponential decrease of error probabilities in the limit N \to \infty. Finally
we discuss the question whether the proposed scheme provides the fastest
possible decay of error probabilities.Comment: LaTex2e, 40 pages, 2 figures. Substantial changes in Section 4: one
new subsection (4.1) and another (4.2 was 4.1 in the previous version)
completely rewritten. Minor changes in Sect. 2 and 3. Typos corrected.
References added. Accepted for publication in Rev. Math. Phy
Connes' embedding problem and Tsirelson's problem
We show that Tsirelson's problem concerning the set of quantum correlations
and Connes' embedding problem on finite approximations in von Neumann algebras
(known to be equivalent to Kirchberg's QWEP conjecture) are essentially
equivalent. Specifically, Tsirelson's problem asks whether the set of bipartite
quantum correlations generated between tensor product separated systems is the
same as the set of correlations between commuting C*-algebras. Connes'
embedding problem asks whether any separable II factor is a subfactor of
the ultrapower of the hyperfinite II factor. We show that an affirmative
answer to Connes' question implies a positive answer to Tsirelson's.
Conversely, a positve answer to a matrix valued version of Tsirelson's problem
implies a positive one to Connes' problem
Typical local measurements in generalised probabilistic theories: emergence of quantum bipartite correlations
What singles out quantum mechanics as the fundamental theory of Nature? Here
we study local measurements in generalised probabilistic theories (GPTs) and
investigate how observational limitations affect the production of
correlations. We find that if only a subset of typical local measurements can
be made then all the bipartite correlations produced in a GPT can be simulated
to a high degree of accuracy by quantum mechanics. Our result makes use of a
generalisation of Dvoretzky's theorem for GPTs. The tripartite correlations can
go beyond those exhibited by quantum mechanics, however.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure v2: more details in the proof of the main resul
Subtle competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic order in a Mn(II) - free radical ferrimagnetic chain
The macroscopic magnetic characterization of the Mn(II) - nitronyl nitroxide
free radical chain (Mn(hfac)2(R)-3MLNN) evidenced its transition from a
1-dimensional behavior of ferrimagnetic chains to a 3-dimensional ferromagnetic
long range order below 3 K. Neutron diffraction experiments, performed on a
single crystal around the transition temperature, led to a different conclusion
: the magnetic Bragg reflections detected below 3 K correspond to a canted
antiferromagnet where the magnetic moments are mainly oriented along the chain
axis. Surprisingly in the context of other compounds in this family of magnets,
the interchain coupling is antiferromagnetic. This state is shown to be very
fragile since a ferromagnetic interchain arrangement is recovered in a weak
magnetic field. This peculiar behavior might be explained by the competition
between dipolar interaction, shown to be responsible for the antiferromagnetic
long range order below 3 K, and exchange interaction, the balance between these
interactions being driven by the strong intrachain spin correlations. More
generally, this study underlines the need, in this kind of molecular compounds,
to go beyond macroscopic magnetization measurements.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Probabilistic theories with purification
We investigate general probabilistic theories in which every mixed state has
a purification, unique up to reversible channels on the purifying system. We
show that the purification principle is equivalent to the existence of a
reversible realization of every physical process, namely that every physical
process can be regarded as arising from a reversible interaction of the system
with an environment, which is eventually discarded. From the purification
principle we also construct an isomorphism between transformations and
bipartite states that possesses all structural properties of the
Choi-Jamiolkowski isomorphism in quantum mechanics. Such an isomorphism allows
one to prove most of the basic features of quantum mechanics, like e.g.
existence of pure bipartite states giving perfect correlations in independent
experiments, no information without disturbance, no joint discrimination of all
pure states, no cloning, teleportation, no programming, no bit commitment,
complementarity between correctable channels and deletion channels,
characterization of entanglement-breaking channels as measure-and-prepare
channels, and others, without resorting to the mathematical framework of
Hilbert spaces.Comment: Differing from the journal version, this version includes a table of
contents and makes extensive use of boldface type to highlight the contents
of the main theorems. It includes a self-contained introduction to the
framework of general probabilistic theories and a discussion about the role
of causality and local discriminabilit
Theoretical framework for quantum networks
We present a framework to treat quantum networks and all possible
transformations thereof, including as special cases all possible manipulations
of quantum states, measurements, and channels, such as, e.g., cloning,
discrimination, estimation, and tomography. Our framework is based on the
concepts of quantum comb-which describes all transformations achievable by a
given quantum network-and link product-the operation of connecting two quantum
networks. Quantum networks are treated both from a constructive point of
view-based on connections of elementary circuits-and from an axiomatic
one-based on a hierarchy of admissible quantum maps. In the axiomatic context a
fundamental property is shown, which we call universality of quantum memory
channels: any admissible transformation of quantum networks can be realized by
a suitable sequence of memory channels. The open problem whether this property
fails for some nonquantum theory, e.g., for no-signaling boxes, is posed.Comment: 23 pages, revtex
Measuring velocity of sound with nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
Nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering is used to measure the projected
partial phonon density of states of materials. A relationship is derived
between the low-energy part of this frequency distribution function and the
sound velocity of materials. Our derivation is valid for harmonic solids with
Debye-like low-frequency dynamics. This method of sound velocity determination
is applied to elemental, composite, and impurity samples which are
representative of a wide variety of both crystalline and noncrystalline
materials. Advantages and limitations of this method are elucidated
Quantum Channels with Memory
We present a general model for quantum channels with memory, and show that it
is sufficiently general to encompass all causal automata: any quantum process
in which outputs up to some time t do not depend on inputs at times t' > t can
be decomposed into a concatenated memory channel. We then examine and present
different physical setups in which channels with memory may be operated for the
transfer of (private) classical and quantum information. These include setups
in which either the receiver or a malicious third party have control of the
initializing memory. We introduce classical and quantum channel capacities for
these settings, and give several examples to show that they may or may not
coincide. Entropic upper bounds on the various channel capacities are given.
For forgetful quantum channels, in which the effect of the initializing memory
dies out as time increases, coding theorems are presented to show that these
bounds may be saturated. Forgetful quantum channels are shown to be open and
dense in the set of quantum memory channels.Comment: 21 pages with 5 EPS figures. V2: Presentation clarified, references
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