Opportunità e percorsi di collaborazione transfrontaliera fra Italia e Svizzera: il caso della 'Regio Insubrica'

2007/2008La ricerca affronta il tema della collaborazione transfrontaliera fra Italia e Svizzera alla luce dei processi di defunzionalizzazione delle frontiere e di formazione delle cosiddette Euroregioni, in atto nel Vecchio Continente a partire dai primi anni Novanta del secolo scorso. È in questo contesto che, nel 1995, nasce la comunità di lavoro della Regio Insubrica, cui oggi aderiscono cinque province italiane - Como, Lecco, Novara, Varese e Verbano Cusio Ossola - e lo svizzero Canton Ticino. La tesi, nella parte iniziale (capitoli 2, 3 e 4), descrive la formazione storica della regione italo-svizzera dei laghi prealpini, comunemente detta Insubria, il suo posizionamento strategico all’interno del panorama europeo e le ricadute che esso sta avendo sull’area in esame a livello di sviluppo infrastrutturale e nella prospettiva della costruzione dei grandi Corridoio intermodali paneuropei. Il corpus centrale della ricerca (capitoli 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 e 10) è invece dedicato all’analisi socioeconomica delle aree che fanno parte della comunità di lavoro, col chiaro intento di mettere in evidenza i molti tratti che accomunano i territori aderenti alla Regio Insubrica. Al centro dei capitoli 11 e 12 che concludono il lavoro, sono infine la storia, l’organizzazione e le iniziative messe in campo da quest’ultima dal momento della creazione sino a oggi, sul tema della collaborazione transfrontaliera e della promozione unitaria dello spazio insubrico.XXI Cicl

Digital quantum simulators in a scalable architecture of hybrid spin-photon qubits

Resolving quantum many-body problems represents one of the greatest challenges in physics and physical chemistry, due to the prohibitively large computational resources that would be required by using classical computers. A solution has been foreseen by directly simulating the time evolution through sequences of quantum gates applied to arrays of qubits, i.e. by implementing a digital quantum simulator. Superconducting circuits and resonators are emerging as an extremely-promising platform for quantum computation architectures, but a digital quantum simulator proposal that is straightforwardly scalable, universal, and realizable with state-of-the-art technology is presently lacking. Here we propose a viable scheme to implement a universal quantum simulator with hybrid spin-photon qubits in an array of superconducting resonators, which is intrinsically scalable and allows for local control. As representative examples we consider the transverse-field Ising model, a spin-1 Hamiltonian, and the two-dimensional Hubbard model; for these, we numerically simulate the scheme by including the main sources of decoherence. In addition, we show how to circumvent the potentially harmful effects of inhomogeneous broadening of the spin systems

Coarse-grained collisionless dynamics with long-range interactions

We present an effective evolution equation for a coarse-grained distribution function of a long-range-interacting system preserving the symplectic structure of the non-collisional Boltzmann, or Vlasov, equation. We first derive a general form of such an equation based on symmetry considerations only. Then, we explicitly derive the equation for one-dimensional systems, finding that it has the form predicted on general grounds. Finally, we use such an equation to predict the dependence of the damping times on the coarse-graining scale and numerically check it for some one-dimensional models, including the Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model, a scalar field with quartic interaction, a 1-d self-gravitating system, and the Self-Gravitating Ring (SGR).Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Researc

Black-hole mergers in disk-like environments could explain the observed q−χeffq - \chi_\mathrm{eff} correlation

Current gravitational-wave data from stellar-mass black-hole binary mergers suggest a correlation between the binary mass ratio $q$ and the effective spin $\chi_\mathrm{eff}$: more unequal-mass binaries consistently show larger and positive values of the effective spin. Multiple generations of black-hole mergers in dense astrophysical environments may provide a way to form unequal-mass systems, but they cannot explain the observed correlation on their own. We show that the symmetry of the astrophysical environment is a crucial feature to shed light on this otherwise puzzling piece of observational evidence. We present a toy model that reproduces, at least qualitatively, the observed correlation. The model relies on axisymmetric, disk-like environments where binaries participating in hierarchical mergers share a preferential direction. Migration traps in AGN disks are a prime candidate for this setup, hinting at the exciting possibility of constraining their occurrence with gravitational-wave data.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Spreading of a local excitation in a Quantum Hierarchical Model

We study the dynamics of the quantum Dyson hierarchical model in its paramagnetic phase. An initial state made by a local excitation of the paramagnetic ground state is considered. We provide analytical predictions for its time evolution, solving the single-particle dynamics on a hierarchical network. A localization mechanism is found and the excitation remains close to its initial position at arbitrary times. Furthermore, a universal scaling among space and time is found related to the algebraic decay of the interactions as $r^{-1-\sigma}$. We compare our predictions to numerics, employing tensor network techniques, for large magnetic fields, discussing the robustness of the mechanism in the full many-body dynamics

Dynamical deconfinement transition driven by density of excitations

We investigate the deconfinement transition driven by excitations in long-range spin models. At low temperatures, these models exhibit a confined phase where domain-wall (or kinks) are localized. As temperature increases, kinks interact and propagate, leading to a transition to a de-confined phase. This transition is influenced by the interplay between thermal energy and interaction effects, resulting in extended, de-confined regions. Although kinks density is dynamically stable, non-equilibrium changes in their fluctuations characterize the transition. Our findings provide insights into the mechanisms of confinement and deconfinement in long-range spin models, with implications for both condensed matter physics and lattice gauge theories. Bridging these fields, this study sheds light on the universal aspects of confinement and opens avenues for further exploration and experimental verification.Comment: Main Text : 6 pages, 5 figures/ Supplemental material: 5 pages, 4 figure

Work statistics, quantum signatures and enhanced work extraction in quadratic fermionic models

In quadratic fermionic models we determine a quantum correction to the work statistics after a sudden and a time-dependent driving. Such a correction lies in the non-commutativity of the initial quantum state and the time-dependent Hamiltonian, and is revealed via the Kirkwood-Dirac quasiprobability (KDQ) approach to two-times correlators. Thanks to the latter, one can assess the onset of non-classical signatures in the KDQ distribution of work, in the form of negative and complex values that no classical theory can reveal. By applying these concepts on the one-dimensional transverse-field Ising model, we relate non-classical behaviours of the KDQ statistics of work in correspondence of the critical points of the model. Finally, we also prove the enhancement of the extracted work in non-classical regimes where the non-commutativity takes a role

FUS mutant human motoneurons display altered transcriptome and microRNA pathways with implications for ALS pathogenesis

The FUS gene has been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). FUS is a ubiquitous RNA-binding protein, and the mechanisms leading to selective motoneuron loss downstream of ALS-linked mutations are largely unknown. We report the transcriptome analysis of human purified motoneurons, obtained from FUS wild-type or mutant isogenic induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Gene ontology analysis of differentially expressed genes identified significant enrichment of pathways previously associated to sporadic ALS and other neurological diseases. Several microRNAs (miRNAs) were also deregulated in FUS mutant motoneurons, including miR-375, involved in motoneuron survival. We report that relevant targets of miR-375, including the neural RNA-binding protein ELAVL4 and apoptotic factors, are aberrantly increased in FUS mutant motoneurons. Characterization of transcriptome changes in the cell type primarily affected by the disease contributes to the definition of the pathogenic mechanisms of FUS-linked ALS