230 research outputs found
Practical implementation of mutually unbiased bases using quantum circuits
The number of measurements necessary to perform the quantum state
reconstruction of a system of qubits grows exponentially with the number of
constituents, creating a major obstacle for the design of scalable tomographic
schemes. We work out a simple and efficient method based on cyclic generation
of mutually unbiased bases. The basic generator requires only Hadamard and
controlled-phase gates, which are available in most practical realizations of
these systems. We show how complete sets of mutually unbiased bases with
different entanglement structures can be realized for three and four qubits. We
also analyze the quantum circuits implementing the various entanglement
classes.Comment: 5 pages, 2 color figures. Comments welcome
High incidence of Angina pectoris in patients treated with 5-fluorouracil - A planned surveillance study with 102 patients
Objective: Angina pectoris, arrhythmic sudden death and myocardial infarction, all these cardiac events have occasionally been reported during 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy. Underlying mechanisms leading to these events are unknown; damage to the myocytes or vasospasms have been discussed. Methods: 102 consecutive and unselected patients were monitored with 12-lead ECG, echocardiography and radionuclide ventriculography prior to the first cycle of 5-FU chemotherapy and 3 months from baseline. Results: 19% of the patients developed reversible symptoms of angina pectoris during treatment which lasted up to 12 h after cessation of the infusion. Most of the 19 patients showed corresponding ECG changes. 6 out of the 19 patients with severe angina pectoris had subsequent coronary angiography. In none of these patients the coronary angiography showed coronary artery disease, but it showed low ventricular function (ejection fraction <50%) in 2 patients. The ejection fraction did not increase overtime. Arrhythmias were screened for with Holter monitoring during 5-FU chemotherapy. The frequency of bradycardia and ventricular extrasystoles increased significantly (p < 0.05) during treatment compared to arrhythmias in Holter monitoring 3 months later. Furthermore the Qtc time in the ECG 3 months later was significantly prolonged (p < 0.05) compared to baseline values. Conclusions:The incidence of angina pectoris in patients during 5-FU treatment seems higher than previously suspected. As myocardial ischemia can be fatal, attentiveness to these symptoms and immediate treatment are crucial. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel
Wigner function for SU(1,1)
In spite of their potential usefulness, Wigner functions for systems with
SU(1,1) symmetry have not been explored thus far. We address this problem from
a physically-motivated perspective, with an eye towards applications in modern
metrology. Starting from two independent modes, and after getting rid of the
irrelevant degrees of freedom, we derive in a consistent way a Wigner
distribution for SU(1,1). This distribution appears as the expectation value of
the displaced parity operator, which suggests a direct way to experimentally
sample it. We show how this formalism works in some relevant examples.Comment: Version accepted in Quantu
Toward polarized antiprotons: Machine development for spin-filtering experiments
The paper describes the commissioning of the experimental equipment and the
machine studies required for the first spin-filtering experiment with protons
at a beam kinetic energy of MeV in COSY. The implementation of a
low- insertion made it possible to achieve beam lifetimes of
s in the presence of a dense polarized hydrogen
storage-cell target of areal density . The developed techniques can be directly
applied to antiproton machines and allow for the determination of the
spin-dependent cross sections via spin filtering
Measurement of the Spin-Dependence of the pbar-p Interaction at the AD-Ring
We propose to use an internal polarized hydrogen storage cell gas target in
the AD ring to determine for the first time the two total spin-dependent pbar-p
cross sections sigma_1 and sigma_2 at antiproton beam energies in the range
from 50 to 450 MeV. The data obtained are of interest by themselves for the
general theory of pbar-p interactions since they will provide a first
experimental constraint of the spin-spin dependence of the nucleon-antinucleon
potential in the energy range of interest. In addition, measurements of the
polarization buildup of stored antiprotons are required to define the optimum
parameters of a future, dedicated Antiproton Polarizer Ring (APR), intended to
feed a double-polarized asymmetric pbar-p collider with polarized antiprotons.
Such a machine has recently been proposed by the PAX collaboration for the new
Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI in Darmstadt, Germany.
The availability of an intense stored beam of polarized antiprotons will
provide access to a wealth of single- and double-spin observables, thereby
opening a new window on QCD spin physics.Comment: 51 pages, 23 figures, proposal submitted to the SPS committee of CER
Polarizing a stored proton beam by spin flip?
We discuss polarizing a proton beam in a storage ring, either by selective
removal or by spin flip of the stored ions. Prompted by recent, conflicting
calculations, we have carried out a measurement of the spin flip cross section
in low-energy electron-proton scattering. The experiment uses the cooling
electron beam at COSY as an electron target. The measured cross sections are
too small for making spin flip a viable tool in polarizing a stored beam. This
invalidates a recent proposal to use co-moving polarized positrons to polarize
a stored antiproton beam.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
Forward K+ production in subthreshold pA collisions at 1.0 GeV
K+ meson production in pA (A = C, Cu, Au) collisions has been studied using
the ANKE spectrometer at an internal target position of the COSY-Juelich
accelerator. The complete momentum spectrum of kaons emitted at forward angles,
theta < 12 degrees, has been measured for a beam energy of T(p)=1.0 GeV, far
below the free NN threshold of 1.58 GeV. The spectrum does not follow a thermal
distribution at low kaon momenta and the larger momenta reflect a high degree
of collectivity in the target nucleus.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The evolution of language: a comparative review
For many years the evolution of language has been seen as a disreputable topic, mired in fanciful "just so stories" about language origins. However, in the last decade a new synthesis of modern linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has begun to make important contributions to our understanding of the biology and evolution of language. I review some of this recent progress, focusing on the value of the comparative method, which uses data from animal species to draw inferences about language evolution. Discussing speech first, I show how data concerning a wide variety of species, from monkeys to birds, can increase our understanding of the anatomical and neural mechanisms underlying human spoken language, and how bird and whale song provide insights into the ultimate evolutionary function of language. I discuss the ‘‘descended larynx’ ’ of humans, a peculiar adaptation for speech that has received much attention in the past, which despite earlier claims is not uniquely human. Then I will turn to the neural mechanisms underlying spoken language, pointing out the difficulties animals apparently experience in perceiving hierarchical structure in sounds, and stressing the importance of vocal imitation in the evolution of a spoken language. Turning to ultimate function, I suggest that communication among kin (especially between parents and offspring) played a crucial but neglected role in driving language evolution. Finally, I briefly discuss phylogeny, discussing hypotheses that offer plausible routes to human language from a non-linguistic chimp-like ancestor. I conclude that comparative data from living animals will be key to developing a richer, more interdisciplinary understanding of our most distinctively human trait: language
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