22,758 research outputs found
Unethical aspects of homeopathic dentistry
In the last year there has been a great deal of public debate about homeopathy, the system of alternative medicine whose main principles are that like cures like and that potency increases relative to dilution. The House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology concluded in November 2009 that there is no evidence base for homeopathy, and agreed with some academic commentators that homeopathy should not be funded by the NHS. While homeopathic doctors and hospitals are quite commonplace, some might be surprised to learn that there are also many homeopathic dentists practising in the UK. This paper examines the statements made by several organisations on behalf of homeopathic dentistry and suggests that they are not entirely ethical and may be in breach of various professional guidelines
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking in Two-Channel Asymmetric Exclusion Processes with Narrow Entrances
Multi-particle non-equilibrium dynamics in two-channel asymmetric exclusion
processes with narrow entrances is investigated theoretically. Particles move
on two parallel lattices in opposite directions without changing them, while
the channels are coupled only at the boundaries. A particle cannot enter the
corresponding lane if the exit site of the other lane is occupied. Stationary
phase diagrams, particle currents and densities are calculated in a mean-field
approximation. It is shown that there are four stationary phases in the system,
with two of them exhibiting spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomena. Extensive
Monte Carlo computer simulations confirm qualitatively our predictions,
although the phase boundaries and stationary properties deviate from the
mean-field results. Computer simulations indicate that several dynamic and
phase properties of the system have a strong size dependency, and one of the
stationary phases predicted by the mean-field theory disappears in the
thermodynamic limit.Comment: 13 page
Demonstration of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering Using Hybrid Continuous- and Discrete-Variable Entanglement of Light
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is known to be a key resource for one-sided
device-independent quantum information protocols. Here we demonstrate steering
using hybrid entanglement between continuous- and discrete-variable optical
qubits. To this end, we report on suitable steering inequalities and detail the
implementation and requirements for this demonstration. Steering is
experimentally certified by observing a violation by more than 5 standard
deviations. Our results illustrate the potential of optical hybrid entanglement
for applications in heterogeneous quantum networks that would interconnect
disparate physical platforms and encodings
Parallel algorithm with spectral convergence for nonlinear integro-differential equations
We discuss a numerical algorithm for solving nonlinear integro-differential
equations, and illustrate our findings for the particular case of Volterra type
equations. The algorithm combines a perturbation approach meant to render a
linearized version of the problem and a spectral method where unknown functions
are expanded in terms of Chebyshev polynomials (El-gendi's method). This
approach is shown to be suitable for the calculation of two-point Green
functions required in next to leading order studies of time-dependent quantum
field theory.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
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