112 research outputs found
Quantum critical scaling of the geometric tensors
Berry phases and the quantum-information theoretic notion of fidelity have
been recently used to analyze quantum phase transitions from a geometrical
perspective. In this paper we unify these two approaches showing that the
underlying mechanism is the critical singular behavior of a complex tensor over
the Hamiltonian parameter space. This is achieved by performing a scaling
analysis of this quantum geometric tensor in the vicinity of the critical
points. In this way most of the previous results are understood on general
grounds and new ones are found. We show that criticality is not a sufficient
condition to ensure superextensive divergence of the geometric tensor, and
state the conditions under which this is possible. The validity of this
analysis is further checked by exact diagonalization of the spin-1/2 XXZ
Heisenberg chain.Comment: Typos correcte
Universal geometric entanglement close to quantum phase transitions
Under successive Renormalization Group transformations applied to a quantum
state of finite correlation length , there is typically a
loss of entanglement after each iteration. How good it is then to replace
by a product state at every step of the process? In this paper we
give a quantitative answer to this question by providing first analytical and
general proofs that, for translationally invariant quantum systems in one
spatial dimension, the global geometric entanglement per region of size diverges with the correlation length as
close to a quantum critical point with central charge , where is
a cut-off at short distances. Moreover, the situation at criticality is also
discussed and an upper bound on the critical global geometric entanglement is
provided in terms of a logarithmic function of .Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
On the optimal feedback control of linear quantum systems in the presence of thermal noise
We study the possibility of taking bosonic systems subject to quadratic
Hamiltonians and a noisy thermal environment to non-classical stationary states
by feedback loops based on weak measurements and conditioned linear driving. We
derive general analytical upper bounds for the single mode squeezing and
multimode entanglement at steady state, depending only on the Hamiltonian
parameters and on the number of thermal excitations of the bath. Our findings
show that, rather surprisingly, larger number of thermal excitations in the
bath allow for larger steady-state squeezing and entanglement if the efficiency
of the optimal continuous measurements conditioning the feedback loop is high
enough. We also consider the performance of feedback strategies based on
homodyne detection and show that, at variance with the optimal measurements, it
degrades with increasing temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. v2: minor changes to the letter; better
explanation of the necessary and sufficient conditions to achieve the bounds
(in the supplemental material); v3: title changed; comparison between optimal
general-dyne strategy and homodyne strategy is discussed; supplemental
material included in the manuscript and few references added. v4: published
versio
Ground state fidelity and quantum phase transitions in free Fermi systems
We compute the fidelity between the ground states of general quadratic
fermionic hamiltonians and analyze its connections with quantum phase
transitions. Each of these systems is characterized by a real
matrix whose polar decomposition, into a non-negative and a unitary
, contains all the relevant ground state (GS) information. The boundaries
between different regions in the GS phase diagram are given by the points of,
possibly asymptotic, singularity of . This latter in turn implies a
critical drop of the fidelity function. We present general results as well as
their exemplification by a model of fermions on a totally connected graph.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Large-Mass Ultra-Low Noise Germanium Detectors: Performance and Applications in Neutrino and Astroparticle Physics
A new type of radiation detector, a p-type modified electrode germanium
diode, is presented. The prototype displays, for the first time, a combination
of features (mass, energy threshold and background expectation) required for a
measurement of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering in a nuclear reactor
experiment. The device hybridizes the mass and energy resolution of a
conventional HPGe coaxial gamma spectrometer with the low electronic noise and
threshold of a small x-ray semiconductor detector, also displaying an intrinsic
ability to distinguish multiple from single-site particle interactions. The
present performance of the prototype and possible further improvements are
discussed, as well as other applications for this new type of device in
neutrino and astroparticle physics (double-beta decay, neutrino magnetic moment
and WIMP searches).Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.
Biomarker-guided trials: Challenges in practice.
Biomarker-guided trials have drawn considerable attention as they promise to lead to improvements in the benefit-risk ratio of treatments and enhanced opportunities for drug development. A variety of such designs have been proposed in the literature, many of which have been adopted in practice. Implementing such trial designs in practice can be challenging, and identifying those challenges was the main objective of a workshop organised by the MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology Research Network's Stratified Medicine Working Group in March 2017. Participants reflected on completed and ongoing biomarker-guided trials to identify the practical challenges encountered. Here, the key challenges identified during the workshop including those related to funding, ethical and regulatory issues, recruitment, monitoring of samples and laboratories, biomarker assessment, and data sharing and resources, are discussed. Despite the complexities often associated with biomarker-guided trials, the workshop concluded that they can play an important role in advancing the field of personalised medicine. Therefore, it is important that the practical challenges surrounding their implementation are acknowledged and addressed
Recent developments of the Hierarchical Reference Theory of Fluids and its relation to the Renormalization Group
The Hierarchical Reference Theory (HRT) of fluids is a general framework for
the description of phase transitions in microscopic models of classical and
quantum statistical physics. The foundations of HRT are briefly reviewed in a
self-consistent formulation which includes both the original sharp cut-off
procedure and the smooth cut-off implementation, which has been recently
investigated. The critical properties of HRT are summarized, together with the
behavior of the theory at first order phase transitions. However, the emphasis
of this presentation is on the close relationship between HRT and non
perturbative renormalization group methods, as well as on recent
generalizations of HRT to microscopic models of interest in soft matter and
quantum many body physics.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Review paper to appear in Molecular Physic
Social Transmission and the Spread of Modern Contraception in Rural Ethiopia
Socio-economic development has proven to be insufficient to explain the time and pace of the human demographic transition. Shifts to low fertility norms have thus been thought to result from social diffusion, yet to date, micro-level studies are limited and are often unable to disentangle the effect of social transmission from that of extrinsic factors. We used data which included the first ever use of modern contraception among a population of over 900 women in four villages in rural Ethiopia, where contraceptive prevalence is still low (<20%). We investigated whether the time of adoption of modern contraception is predicted by (i) the proportion of ever-users/non ever-users within both women and their husbands' friendships networks and (ii) the geographic distance to contraceptive ever-users. Using a model comparison approach, we found that individual socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. parity, education) and a religious norm are the most likely explanatory factors of temporal and spatial patterns of contraceptive uptake, while the role of person-to-person contact through either friendship or spatial networks remains marginal. Our study has broad implications for understanding the processes that initiate transitions to low fertility and the uptake of birth control technologies in the developing world
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