The alloy with a memory, 55-Nitinol: Its physical metallurgy, properties, and applications

A series of nickel titanium alloys (55-Nitinol), which are unique in that they possess a shape memory, are described. Components made of these materials that are altered in their shapes by deformation under proper conditions return to predetermined shapes when they are heated to the proper temperature range. The shape memory, together with the force exerted and the ability of the material to do mechanical work as it returns to its predetermined shape, suggest a wide variety of industrial applications for the alloy. Also included are discussions of the physical metallurgy and the mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of 55-Nitinol; procedures for melting and processing the material into useful shapes; and a summary of applications

The visibility study of S-T+_+ Landau-Zener-St\"uckelberg oscillations without applied initialization

Probabilities deduced from quantum information studies are usually based on averaging many identical experiments separated by an initialization step. Such initialization steps become experimentally more challenging to implement as the complexity of quantum circuits increases. To better understand the consequences of imperfect initialization on the deduced probabilities, we study the effect of not initializing the system between measurements. For this we utilize Landau-Zener-St\"uckelberg oscillations in a double quantum dot circuit. Experimental results are successfully compared to theoretical simulations.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Quantum phase estimation with lossy interferometers

We give a detailed discussion of optimal quantum states for optical two-mode interferometry in the presence of photon losses. We derive analytical formulae for the precision of phase estimation obtainable using quantum states of light with a definite photon number and prove that maximization of the precision is a convex optimization problem. The corresponding optimal precision, i.e. the lowest possible uncertainty, is shown to beat the standard quantum limit thus outperforming classical interferometry. Furthermore, we discuss more general inputs: states with indefinite photon number and states with photons distributed between distinguishable time bins. We prove that neither of these is helpful in improving phase estimation precision.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Classical percolation fingerprints in the high-temperature regime of the integer quantum Hall effect

We have performed magnetotransport experiments in the high-temperature regime (up to 50 K) of the integer quantum Hall effect for two-dimensional electron gases in semiconducting heterostructures. While the magnetic field dependence of the classical Hall law presents no anomaly at high temperatures, we find a breakdown of the Drude-Lorentz law for the longitudinal conductance beyond a crossover magnetic field B_c ~ 1 T, which turns out to be correlated with the onset of the integer quantum Hall effect at low temperatures. We show that the high magnetic field regime at B > B_c can be understood in terms of classical percolative transport in a smooth disordered potential. From the temperature dependence of the peak longitudinal conductance, we extract scaling exponents which are in good agreement with the theoretically expected values. We also prove that inelastic scattering on phonons is responsible for dissipation in a wide temperature range going from 1 to 50 K at high magnetic fields.Comment: 14 pages + 8 Figure

The Second ICU-COE North East Asian Dialogue (NEAD) : Sharing Narratives, Mapping/Weaving History

In February of 2005 the first ICU-COE North East Asian Dialogue brought together Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Russian students and civil society members who dentified 78 major obstacles to intercultural communication in North East Asia. Eleven were selected as being of fundamental importance, and of those, the issue of contested history was seen as the "root cause" or fundamental obstacle. If this obstacle could be addressed, it would positively affect the ability to address all the other obstacles. The 2006 ICU-COE North East Asian Dialogue was, thus, organized to begin to address the historical issues in the region. Participants divided up into four Dialogue Circles, each of which represented the diversity of the overall group. Each participant contributed a twenty-minute historical narrative generated from their specific socio-cultural-historical point of view. The other participants in the Circle had an opportunity to ask clarifying questions about each narrative. All the narratives were video taped and are being archived (eventually with translations of the texts into five languages-Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian and English) on a website that is being developed to accompany this project. This virtual dialogue space is meant to provide a venue so that interaction between the participants at the civil society level can continue independently of government funding support in the future. The Circles were successful in taping each participant\u27s narrative. There are about 30 hours of videotaped narratives, as well as a videotape of the whole three day event. There are texts for half of the narratives in either English or Japanese. Collecting the written texts is taking more time than expected. Sometimes, after participation in the Dialogue, people were not satisfied with their initial text. We were hoping that by videotaping the narratives, we could just use the videotaped narratives to create written texts. But sometimes people shared things in the small group, "community" context of the Dialogue Circle that they were uncomfortable sharing in the more public virtual space of the internet. In addition, this project is being carried out in a larger socio-political context where Japanese society is increasingly concerned about the privacy of personal information and in an political environment experiencing increased sensitivity regarding regional history. So, we are proceeding very cautiously in the development of the public website. A preliminary analysis of the oral and written narratives reveals some very interesting themes. There are narratives about constructing a new cosmopolitan concept of the global citizen. Across the different nation-states there are parallel experiences of destruction and loss. There is the emerging, previously untold, comprehensive story, of the Korean diaspora. There are the "hidden" histories of Ainu, Okinawans, Evenki, Khanmigans, Buryats, Japanese "returnees" from Siberia, Manchuria and North Korea, and of people left behind in all three areas. And there are the generational stories of people who actually experienced events versus those who have just read about them in books. What was remarkable was the quality of human relationships that emerged from the work of videotaping each other\u27s narratives in the Dialogue Circles. Real listening was accomplished, and a small step was taken in the creation of a multifocal regional history

Enhanced charge detection of spin qubit readout via an intermediate state

We employ an intermediate excited charge state of a lateral quantum dot device to increase the charge detection contrast during the qubit state readout procedure, allowing us to increase the visibility of coherent qubit oscillations. This approach amplifies the coherent oscillation magnitude but has no effect on the detector noise resulting in an increase in the signal to noise ratio. In this letter we apply this scheme to demonstrate a significant enhancement of the fringe contrast of coherent Landau-Zener-Stuckleberg oscillations between singlet S and triplet T+ two-spin states.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Sektor małych i średnich przedsiębiorców a metodyka projektowania aktów normatywnych w prawie polskim

The article briefly presents the concept and specificity of the SME sector, indicating that legal conditions may constitute a barrier to the creation and development of this sector of enterprises. On the basis of the established legal barriers, actions of the EU and national bodies aimed at the elimination of these barriers in the context of the legislative process are indicated (e.g. the Small Business Act, the Strategy for Responsible Development until 2020 (with a perspective until 2030)). The study also analyses the provisions regulating the principles of legislative technique and normative acts in the area of economic law relating to the methodology of legislative work. The result of these studies is the finding that in Article 66 sec. 1 point 2 and art. 68 of the Entrepreneurs' Law, the special position of the SME sector has been emphasized and solutions have been introduced that make it necessary to take into account the specificity of these enterprises atthe stage of designing normative acts.Artykuł w zwięzły sposób prezentuje pojęcie oraz specyfikę sektora MŚP, wskazując, że uwarunkowania prawne mogą stanowić barierę dla tworzenia i rozwoju tego sektora przedsiębiorstw. Na gruncie ustalonych barier prawnych wskazano działania organów unijnych oraz krajowych zmierzające do likwidacji tych barier w kontekście procesu legislacyjnego, np. Small Business Act, Strategia na rzecz Odpowiedzialnego Rozwoju do roku 2020 (z perspektywą do 2030 r.). W pracy analizie poddano również przepisy regulujące zasady techniki prawodawczej oraz akty normatywne z obszaru prawa gospodarczego odnoszące się do kwestii metodyki prac legislacyjnych. Wynikiem tych badań jest ustalenie, że w art. 66 ust. 1 pkt 2 oraz art. 68 Prawa przedsiębiorców zaakcentowano szczególną pozycję sektora MŚP i wprowadzono rozwiązania powodujące konieczność uwzględniania specyfiki tych przedsiębiorców na etapie projektowania aktów normatywnych

Composite fermions in periodic and random antidot lattices

The longitudinal and Hall magnetoresistance of random and periodic arrays of artificial scatterers, imposed on a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas, were investigated in the vicinity of Landau level filling factor ν=1/2. In periodic arrays, commensurability effects between the period of the antidot array and the cyclotron radius of composite fermions are observed. In addition, the Hall resistance shows a deviation from the anticipated linear dependence, reminiscent of quenching around zero magnetic field. Both effects are absent for random antidot lattices. The relative amplitude of the geometric resonances for opposite signs of the effective magnetic field and its dependence on illumination illustrate enhanced soft wall effects for composite fermions

Ugoda w sprawie odwołania do Sądu Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów – zagadnienia wybrane

Od ponad dwóch lat w prawie polskim obowiązuje szczególny instrument prawny – ugoda w sprawie odwołania do SOKiK, jednak dotychczas zawarto zaledwie jedną taką ugodę. Chociaż nie jest to ugoda w tradycyjnym ujęciu, należy uznać ją jako nową formę ugodowego (negocjacyjnego) stosowania prawa antymonopolowego i prawa ochrony konsumentów. Przedmiotem owej ugody są losy odwołania strony od decyzji Prezesa UOKiK, a jej warunki pozwalają na urozmaicone sposoby nie tylko zakończenia postępowania odwoławczego, lecz także ostatecznego zakończenia sprawy antymonopolowej. Samo zawarcie ugody nie jest wystarczające (ugoda musi podlegać zatwierdzeniu przez SOKiK). Przy ocenie ugody sąd musi uwzględnić określone przepisami kryteria, które mogą powodować konieczność odmowy zatwierdzenia ugody. Dlatego problematyczne jest, w jakim zakresie SOKiK powinien wykazać się poszanowaniem woli stron co do zawarcia ugody (w szczególności woli organu antymonopolowego w zakresie sprawowania polityki konkurencji i konsumenckiej), a na ile ugodę konfrontować z ochroną interesu publicznego i oddziaływaniem na sytuację prawną osób trzecich

Bipolar spin blockade and coherent state superpositions in a triple quantum dot

Spin qubits based on interacting spins in double quantum dots have been successfully demonstrated. Readout of the qubit state involves a conversion of spin to charge information, universally achieved by taking advantage of a spin blockade phenomenon resulting from Pauli's exclusion principle. The archetypal spin blockade transport signature in double quantum dots takes the form of a rectified current. Currently more complex spin qubit circuits including triple quantum dots are being developed. Here we show both experimentally and theoretically (a) that in a linear triple quantum dot circuit, the spin blockade becomes bipolar with current strongly suppressed in both bias directions and (b) that a new quantum coherent mechanism becomes relevant. Within this mechanism charge is transferred non-intuitively via coherent states from one end of the linear triple dot circuit to the other without involving the centre site. Our results have implications in future complex nano-spintronic circuits.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure