Rapid detection of bacteria in foods and biological fluids

Simple and inexpensive apparatus, called "redox monitoring cell," rapidly detects presence of bacteria. Bacteria is detected by measuring drop in oxygen content in test solution. Apparatus consists of vial with two specially designed electrodes connected to sensitive voltmeter

Angular Momentum Decomposition for an Electron

We calculate the orbital angular momentum of the `quark' in the scalar diquark model as well as that of the electron in QED (to order $\alpha$). We compare the orbital angular momentum obtained from the Jaffe-Manohar decomposition to that obtained from the Ji relation and estimate the importance of the vector potential in the definition of orbital angular momentum

An information-theoretic security proof for QKD protocols

We present a new technique for proving the security of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols. It is based on direct information-theoretic arguments and thus also applies if no equivalent entanglement purification scheme can be found. Using this technique, we investigate a general class of QKD protocols with one-way classical post-processing. We show that, in order to analyze the full security of these protocols, it suffices to consider collective attacks. Indeed, we give new lower and upper bounds on the secret-key rate which only involve entropies of two-qubit density operators and which are thus easy to compute. As an illustration of our results, we analyze the BB84, the six-state, and the B92 protocol with one-way error correction and privacy amplification. Surprisingly, the performance of these protocols is increased if one of the parties adds noise to the measurement data before the error correction. In particular, this additional noise makes the protocols more robust against noise in the quantum channel.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

A measure of majorisation emerging from single-shot statistical mechanics

The use of the von Neumann entropy in formulating the laws of thermodynamics has recently been challenged. It is associated with the average work whereas the work guaranteed to be extracted in any single run of an experiment is the more interesting quantity in general. We show that an expression that quantifies majorisation determines the optimal guaranteed work. We argue it should therefore be the central quantity of statistical mechanics, rather than the von Neumann entropy. In the limit of many identical and independent subsystems (asymptotic i.i.d) the von Neumann entropy expressions are recovered but in the non-equilbrium regime the optimal guaranteed work can be radically different to the optimal average. Moreover our measure of majorisation governs which evolutions can be realized via thermal interactions, whereas the nondecrease of the von Neumann entropy is not sufficiently restrictive. Our results are inspired by single-shot information theory.Comment: 54 pages (15+39), 9 figures. Changed title / changed presentation, same main results / added minor result on pure bipartite state entanglement (appendix G) / near to published versio

Axial charges of octet and decuplet baryons

We present a study of axial charges of baryon ground and resonant states with relativistic constituent quark models. In particular, the axial charges of octet and decuplet $N$, $\Sigma$, $\Xi$, $\Delta$, $\Sigma^*$, and $\Xi^*$ baryons are considered. The theoretical predictions are compared to existing experimental data and results from other approaches, notably from lattice quantum chromodynamics and chiral perturbation theory. The relevance of axial charges with regard to $\pi$-dressing and spontaneous chiral-symmetry breaking is discussed

Endotaxial Si nanolines in Si(001):H

We present a detailed study of the structural and electronic properties of a self-assembled silicon nanoline embedded in the H-terminated silicon (001) surface, known as the Haiku stripe. The nanoline is a perfectly straight and defect free endotaxial structure of huge aspect ratio; it can grow micrometre long at a constant width of exactly four Si dimers (1.54nm). Another remarkable property is its capacity to be exposed to air without suffering any degradation. The nanoline grows independently of any step edges at tunable densities, from isolated nanolines to a dense array of nanolines. In addition to these unique structural characteristics, scanning tunnelling microscopy and density functional theory reveal a one-dimensional state confined along the Haiku core. This nanoline is a promising candidate for the long sought after electronic solid-state one-dimensional model system to explore the fascinating quantum properties emerging in such reduced dimensionality.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Locking of accessible information and implications for the security of quantum cryptography

The unconditional security of a quantum key distribution protocol is often defined in terms of the accessible information, that is, the maximum mutual information between the distributed key S and the outcome of an optimal measurement on the adversary's (quantum) system. We show that, even if this quantity is small, certain parts of the key S might still be completely insecure when S is used in applications, such as for one-time pad encryption. This flaw is due to a locking property of the accessible information: one additional (physical) bit of information might increase the accessible information by more than one bit.Comment: 5 pages; minor change

Structure of self-assembled Mn atom chains on Si(001)

Mn has been found to self-assemble into atomic chains running perpendicular to the surface dimer reconstruction on Si(001). They differ from other atomic chains by a striking asymmetric appearance in filled state scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images. This has prompted complicated structural models involving up to three Mn atoms per chain unit. Combining STM, atomic force microscopy and density functional theory we find that a simple necklace-like chain of single Mn atoms reproduces all their prominent features, including their asymmetry not captured by current models. The upshot is a remarkably simpler structure for modelling the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn atom chains on Si(001).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure