Criteria for Continuous-Variable Quantum Teleportation

We derive an experimentally testable criterion for the teleportation of quantum states of continuous variables. This criterion is especially relevant to the recent experiment of Furusawa et al. [Science 282, 706-709 (1998)] where an input-output fidelity of $0.58 \pm 0.02$ was achieved for optical coherent states. Our derivation demonstrates that fidelities greater than 1/2 could not have been achieved through the use of a classical channel alone; quantum entanglement was a crucial ingredient in the experiment.Comment: 12 pages, to appear in Journal of Modern Optic

Crystalline Assemblies and Densest Packings of a Family of Truncated Tetrahedra and the Role of Directional Entropic Forces

Polyhedra and their arrangements have intrigued humankind since the ancient Greeks and are today important motifs in condensed matter, with application to many classes of liquids and solids. Yet, little is known about the thermodynamically stable phases of polyhedrally-shaped building blocks, such as faceted nanoparticles and colloids. Although hard particles are known to organize due to entropy alone, and some unusual phases are reported in the literature, the role of entropic forces in connection with polyhedral shape is not well understood. Here, we study thermodynamic self-assembly of a family of truncated tetrahedra and report several atomic crystal isostructures, including diamond, {\beta}-tin, and high- pressure lithium, as the polyhedron shape varies from tetrahedral to octahedral. We compare our findings with the densest packings of the truncated tetrahedron family obtained by numerical compression and report a new space filling polyhedron, which has been overlooked in previous searches. Interestingly, the self-assembled structures differ from the densest packings. We show that the self-assembled crystal structures can be understood as a tendency for polyhedra to maximize face-to-face alignment, which can be generalized as directional entropic forces.Comment: Article + supplementary information. 23 pages, 10 figures, 2 table

Bottom-Up Synthesis of Gold Octahedra with Tailorable Hollow Features

Gold octahedra with hollow features have been synthesized in high yield via the controlled overgrowth of preformed concave cube seeds. This Ag+-assisted, seed-mediated synthesis allows for the average edge length of the octahedra and the size of the hollow features to be independently controlled. We propose that a high concentration of Ag+ stabilizes the {111} facets of the octahedra through underpotential deposition while the rate of Au+ reduction controls the dimensions of the hollow features. This synthesis represents a highly controllable bottom-up approach for the preparation of hollow gold nanostructures