Large Hadron Collider constraints on a light baryon number violating sbottom coupling to a top and a light quark

We investigate a model of R-parity violating (RPV) supersymmetry in which the right-handed sbottom is the lightest supersymmetric particle, and a baryon number violating coupling involving a top is the only non-negligible RPV coupling. This model evades proton decay and flavour constraints. We consider in turn each of the couplings lambda"_{313} and lambda"_{323} as the only non-negligible RPV coupling, and we recast two recent Large Hadron Collider (LHC) measurements and searches (CMS top transverse momentum p_T(t) spectrum and ATLAS multiple jet resonance search) in the form of constraints on the mass-coupling parameter planes. We delineate a large region in the parameter space of the mass of the sbottom (m_{b_R}) and the lambda"_{313} coupling that is ruled out by the measurements, as well as a smaller region in the parameter space of m_{b_R} and lambda"_{323}. A certain region of the m_{b_R}-lambda"_{313} parameter space was previously found to successfully explain the anomalously large ttbar forward backward asymmetry measured by Tevatron experiments. The entire region is excluded at the 95% CL by CMS measurements of the top p_T spectrum. We also present p_T(ttbar) distributions of the forward-backward asymmetry for this model.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. v2 has minor corrections, in part due to extra diagrams at order alpha_s^2 lamba''^

On giant piezoresistance effects in silicon nanowires and microwires

The giant piezoresistance (PZR) previously reported in silicon nanowires is experimentally investigated in a large number of surface depleted silicon nano- and micro-structures. The resistance is shown to vary strongly with time due to electron and hole trapping at the sample surfaces. Importantly, this time varying resistance manifests itself as an apparent giant PZR identical to that reported elsewhere. By modulating the applied stress in time, the true PZR of the structures is found to be comparable with that of bulk silicon

Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy of Bi2Sr2CuO6+d: New Evidence for the Common Origin of the Pseudogap and Superconductivity

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we investigated the temperature dependence of the quasiparticle density of states of overdoped Bi2Sr2CuO6+δ between 275 mK and 82 K. Below Tc = 10 K, the spectra show a gap with well-defined coherence peaks at ±Δp≃12 meV, which disappear at Tc. Above Tc, the spectra display a clear pseudogap of the same magnitude, gradually filling up and vanishing at T*≃68 K. The comparison with Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ demonstrates that the pseudogap and the superconducting gap scale with each other, providing strong evidence that they have a common origin

A de Finetti representation theorem for infinite dimensional quantum systems and applications to quantum cryptography

According to the quantum de Finetti theorem, if the state of an N-partite system is invariant under permutations of the subsystems then it can be approximated by a state where almost all subsystems are identical copies of each other, provided N is sufficiently large compared to the dimension of the subsystems. The de Finetti theorem has various applications in physics and information theory, where it is for instance used to prove the security of quantum cryptographic schemes. Here, we extend de Finetti's theorem, showing that the approximation also holds for infinite dimensional systems, as long as the state satisfies certain experimentally verifiable conditions. This is relevant for applications such as quantum key distribution (QKD), where it is often hard - or even impossible - to bound the dimension of the information carriers (which may be corrupted by an adversary). In particular, our result can be applied to prove the security of QKD based on weak coherent states or Gaussian states against general attacks.Comment: 11 pages, LaTe

Device independent quantum key distribution secure against coherent attacks with memoryless measurement devices

Device independent quantum key distribution aims to provide a higher degree of security than traditional QKD schemes by reducing the number of assumptions that need to be made about the physical devices used. The previous proof of security by Pironio et al. applies only to collective attacks where the state is identical and independent and the measurement devices operate identically for each trial in the protocol. We extend this result to a more general class of attacks where the state is arbitrary and the measurement devices have no memory. We accomplish this by a reduction of arbitrary adversary strategies to qubit strategies and a proof of security for qubit strategies based on the previous proof by Pironio et al. and techniques adapted from Renner.Comment: 13 pages. Expanded main proofs with more detail, miscellaneous edits for clarit

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

Electronic coupling between Bi nanolines and the Si(001) substrate: An experimental and theoretical study

Atomic nanolines are one dimensional systems realized by assembling many atoms on a substrate into long arrays. The electronic properties of the nanolines depend on those of the substrate. Here, we demonstrate that to fully understand the electronic properties of Bi nanolines on clean Si(001) several different contributions must be accounted for. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals a variety of different patterns along the nanolines as the imaging bias is varied. We observe an electronic phase shift of the Bi dimers, associated with imaging atomic p-orbitals, and an electronic coupling between the Bi nanoline and neighbouring Si dimers, which influences the appearance of both. Understanding the interplay between the Bi nanolines and Si substrate could open a novel route to modifying the electronic properties of the nanolines.Comment: 6 pages (main), 2 pages (SI), accepted by Phys. Rev.

Improving zero-error classical communication with entanglement

Given one or more uses of a classical channel, only a certain number of messages can be transmitted with zero probability of error. The study of this number and its asymptotic behaviour constitutes the field of classical zero-error information theory, the quantum generalisation of which has started to develop recently. We show that, given a single use of certain classical channels, entangled states of a system shared by the sender and receiver can be used to increase the number of (classical) messages which can be sent with no chance of error. In particular, we show how to construct such a channel based on any proof of the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem. This is a new example of the use of quantum effects to improve the performance of a classical task. We investigate the connection between this phenomenon and that of ``pseudo-telepathy'' games. The use of generalised non-signalling correlations to assist in this task is also considered. In this case, a particularly elegant theory results and, remarkably, it is sometimes possible to transmit information with zero-error using a channel with no unassisted zero-error capacity.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Version 2 is the same as the journal version plus figure 1 and the non-signalling box exampl