Short-Time Decoherence and Deviation from Pure Quantum States

In systems considered for quantum computing, i.e., for control of quantum dynamics with the goal of processing information coherently, decoherence and deviation from pure quantum states, are the main obstacles to fault-tolerant error correction. At low temperatures, usually assumed in quantum computing designs, some of the accepted approaches to evaluation of relaxation mechanisms break down. We develop a new general formalism for estimation of decoherence at short times, appropriate for evaluation of quantum computing architectures.Comment: 9 pages in plain Te

Measurement of spin-exchange rate constants between 129Xe and alkali metals

By measuring the relaxation rates of the nuclear spin polarization of Xe-129 in the presence of alkali-metal vapor at different densities, we have extracted the spin-exchange rates between Xe-129 and the three alkali metals K, Rb, and Cs. By studying the alkali-metal-Xe-129 spin-exchange rates as functions of the cell number density from 0.2 to 0.7 amagat, the binary collision and van der Waals molecular terms are separated, and constants governing both mechanisms are determined. The results from our work can be used to optimize the parameter space for polarizing Xe-129, a promising agent for magnetic resonance imaging and other applications

Egocentric Hand Detection Via Dynamic Region Growing

Egocentric videos, which mainly record the activities carried out by the users of the wearable cameras, have drawn much research attentions in recent years. Due to its lengthy content, a large number of ego-related applications have been developed to abstract the captured videos. As the users are accustomed to interacting with the target objects using their own hands while their hands usually appear within their visual fields during the interaction, an egocentric hand detection step is involved in tasks like gesture recognition, action recognition and social interaction understanding. In this work, we propose a dynamic region growing approach for hand region detection in egocentric videos, by jointly considering hand-related motion and egocentric cues. We first determine seed regions that most likely belong to the hand, by analyzing the motion patterns across successive frames. The hand regions can then be located by extending from the seed regions, according to the scores computed for the adjacent superpixels. These scores are derived from four egocentric cues: contrast, location, position consistency and appearance continuity. We discuss how to apply the proposed method in real-life scenarios, where multiple hands irregularly appear and disappear from the videos. Experimental results on public datasets show that the proposed method achieves superior performance compared with the state-of-the-art methods, especially in complicated scenarios

First principles calculation of lithium-phosphorus co-doped diamond

We calculate the density of states (DOS) and the Mulliken population of the diamond and the co-doped diamonds with different concentrations of lithium (Li) and phosphorus (P) by the method of the density functional theory, and analyze the bonding situations of the Li-P co-doped diamond thin films and the impacts of the Li-P co-doping on the diamond conductivities. The results show that the Li-P atoms can promote the split of the diamond energy band near the Fermi level, and improve the electron conductivities of the Li-P co-doped diamond thin films, or even make the Li-P co-doped diamond from semiconductor to conductor. The effect of Li-P co-doping concentration on the orbital charge distributions, bond lengths and bond populations is analyzed. The Li atom may promote the split of the energy band near the Fermi level as well as may favorably regulate the diamond lattice distortion and expansion caused by the P atom.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

Quantum criticality with two length scales

The theory of deconfined quantum critical points describes phase transitions at temperature T = 0 outside the standard paradigm, predicting continuous transformations between certain ordered states where conventional theory requires discontinuities. Numerous computer simulations have offered no proof of such transitions, however, instead finding deviations from expected scaling relations that were neither predicted by the DQC theory nor conform to standard scenarios. Here we show that this enigma can be resolved by introducing a critical scaling form with two divergent length scales. Simulations of a quantum magnet with antiferromagnetic and dimerized ground states confirm the form, proving a continuous transition with deconfined excitations and also explaining anomalous scaling at T > 0. Our findings revise prevailing paradigms for quantum criticality, with potentially far-reaching implications for many strongly-correlated materials.Comment: 13 pages + supplementary material, very minor changes in v

Forward Neutral Pion Production in p + p and d + Au Collisions at √s_(NN) = 200 GeV

Measurements of the production of forward π^0 mesons from p + p and d + Au collisions at √s_(NN) = 200  GeV are reported. The p + p yield generally agrees with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The d + Au yield per binary collision is suppressed as η increases, decreasing to ~30% of the p + p yield at =4.00, well below shadowing expectations. Exploratory measurements of azimuthal correlations of the forward π^0 with charged hadrons at η ≈ 0 show a recoil peak in p + p that is suppressed in d + Au at low pion energy. These observations are qualitatively consistent with a saturation picture of the low-x gluon structure of heavy nuclei

Random-singlet phase in disordered two-dimensional quantum magnets

We study effects of disorder (randomness) in a 2D square-lattice S=1/2 quantum spin system, the J-Q model with a 6-spin interaction Q supplementing the Heisenberg exchange J. In the absence of disorder the system hosts antiferromagnetic (AFM) and columnar valence-bond-solid (VBS) ground states. The VBS breaks Z4 symmetry, and in the presence of arbitrarily weak disorder it forms domains. Using QMC simulations, we demonstrate two kinds of such disordered VBS states. Upon dilution, a removed site leaves a localized spin in the opposite sublattice. These spins form AFM order. For random interactions, we find a different state, with no order but algebraically decaying mean correlations. We identify localized spinons at the nexus of domain walls between different VBS patterns. These spinons form correlated groups with the same number of spinons and antispinons. Within such a group, there is a strong tendency to singlet formation, because of spinon-spinon interactions mediated by the domain walls. Thus, no long-range AFM order forms. We propose that this state is a 2D analog of the well-known 1D random singlet (RS) state, though the dynamic exponent z in 2D is finite. By studying the T-dependent magnetic susceptibility, we find that z varies, from z=2 at the AFM--RS phase boundary and larger in the RS phase The RS state discovered here in a system without geometric frustration should correspond to the same fixed point as the RS state recently proposed for frustrated systems, and the ability to study it without Monte Carlo sign problems opens up opportunities for further detailed characterization of its static and dynamic properties. We also discuss experimental evidence of the RS phase in the quasi-two-dimensional square-lattice random-exchange quantum magnets Sr2CuTe1−xWxO6.Accepted manuscrip