6,303 research outputs found
Quantum equilibration in finite time
It has recently been shown that small quantum subsystems generically
equilibrate, in the sense that they spend most of the time close to a fixed
equilibrium state. This relies on just two assumptions: that the state is
spread over many different energies, and that the Hamiltonian has
non-degenerate energy gaps. Given the same assumptions, it has also been shown
that closed systems equilibrate with respect to realistic measurements. We
extend these results in two important ways. First, we prove equilibration over
a finite (rather than infinite) time-interval, allowing us to bound the
equilibration time. Second, we weaken the non degenerate energy gaps condition,
showing that equilibration occurs provided that no energy gap is hugely
degenerate.Comment: 7 page
Witnessing eigenstates for quantum simulation of Hamiltonian spectra
The efficient calculation of Hamiltonian spectra, a problem often intractable
on classical machines, can find application in many fields, from physics to
chemistry. Here, we introduce the concept of an "eigenstate witness" and
through it provide a new quantum approach which combines variational methods
and phase estimation to approximate eigenvalues for both ground and excited
states. This protocol is experimentally verified on a programmable silicon
quantum photonic chip, a mass-manufacturable platform, which embeds entangled
state generation, arbitrary controlled-unitary operations, and projective
measurements. Both ground and excited states are experimentally found with
fidelities >99%, and their eigenvalues are estimated with 32-bits of precision.
We also investigate and discuss the scalability of the approach and study its
performance through numerical simulations of more complex Hamiltonians. This
result shows promising progress towards quantum chemistry on quantum computers.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, plus Supplementary Material [New version with
minor typos corrected.
No evidence for killer sperm or other selective interactions between human spermatozoa in ejaculates of different males in vitro
This study examines one of the possible mechanisms of sperm competition, i.e. the kamikaze sperm hypothesis. This hypothesis states that sperm from different males interact to incapacitate each other in a variety of ways. We used ejaculates from human donors to compare mixes of semen in vitro from the same or different males. We measured the following parameters: (i) the degree of sperm aggregation, velocity and proportion of morphologically normal sperm after 1 and 3 h incubation in undiluted semen samples, (ii) the proportion of viable sperm plus the same parameters as in (i) in 'swim-up' sperm suspensions after 1 and 3 h incubation, (iii) the degree of self and non-self sperm aggregation using fluorescent dyes to distinguish the sperm of different males, and (iv) the extent of sperm capacitation and acrosome-reacted sperm in mixtures of sperm from the same and different males. We observed very few significant changes in sperm aggregation or performance in mixtures of sperm from different males compared with mixtures from the same male and none that were consistent with previously reported findings. The incapacitation of rival sperm therefore seems an unlikely mechanism of sperm competition in humans
UV excess measures of accretion onto young very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
Low-resolution spectra from 3000-9000 AA of young low-mass stars and brown
dwarfs were obtained with LRIS on Keck I. The excess UV and optical emission
arising in the Balmer and Paschen continua yields mass accretion rates ranging
from 2e-12 to 1e-8 Mo/yr. These results are compared with {\it HST}/STIS
spectra of roughly solar-mass accretors with accretion rates that range from
2e-10 to 5e-8 Mo/yr. The weak photospheric emission from M-dwarfs at <4000 A
leads to a higher contrast between the accretion and photospheric emission
relative to higher-mass counterparts. The mass accretion rates measured here
are systematically 4-7 times larger than those from H-alpha emission line
profiles, with a difference that is consistent with but unlikely to be
explained by the uncertainty in both methods. The accretion luminosity
correlates well with many line luminosities, including high Balmer and many He
I lines. Correlations of the accretion rate with H-alpha 10% width and line
fluxes show a large amount of scatter. Our results and previous accretion rate
measurements suggest that accretion rate is proportional to M^(1.87+/-0.26) for
accretors in the Taurus Molecular Cloud.Comment: 13 pages text, 15 tables, 14 figures. Accepted by Ap
University of Texas bulletin
Report published in a scientific bulletin, describing the Lytton Springs oil fields
Microaerobic Conditions Are Required for Magnetite Formation Within \u3ci\u3eAquaspirillum magnetotacticum\u3c/i\u3e
The amount of magnetite (Fe3O4) within magnetosomes of the microaerophilic bacterium Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum varies with oxygen and nitrogen supply. The development of optical methods for directly measuring cell magnetism in culture samples has enabled us to quantitate bacterial Fe3O4 yields. We measured final cell yields, average cell magnetic moments, and magnetosome yields of growing cells. Cultures were grown with NO3-, NH4+, or both, in sealed, unshaken vials with initial headspace Po2 values ranging from 0 (trace) to 21 kPa. More than 50% of cells had detectable magnetosomes only when grown in the range of 0.5-5.0 kPa O2. Optimum cell magnetism (and Fe3O4 formation) occurred under microaerobic conditions (initial headspace Po2 of 0.5-1 kPa) regardless of the N source. At optimal conditions for Fe3O4 formation, denitrifying cultures produced more of this mineral than those growing with O2 as the sole terminal electron acceptor. This suggests that competition for O2 exists between processes involving respiratory electron disposal and Fe3O4 formation. Oxygen may also be required for Fe3O4 formation by other species of magnetotactic bacteria. Bacterial Fe3O4 appears to persist in sediments after death and lysis of cells. The presence of bacterial Fe3O4 in the fossil and paleomagnetic records may be of use as a retrospective indicator of sedimentation that has occurred in microaerobic waters
âWhatâs it like to have ME?â The discursive construction of ME in computer-mediated communication and face-to-face interaction
ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) is a debilitating illness for which no cause or medical tests have been identified. Debates over its nature have generated interest from qualitative researchers. However, participants are difficult to recruit because of the nature of their condition. Therefore, this study explores the utility of the internet as a means of eliciting accounts. We analyse data from focus groups and the internet in order to ascertain the extent to which previous research findings apply to the internet domain. Interviews were conducted among 49 members of internet (38 chatline, 11 personal) and 7 members of two face-to-face support groups. Discourse analysis of descriptions and accounts of ME/CFS revealed similar devices and interactional concerns in both internet and face-to-face communication. Participants constructed their condition as serious, enigmatic and not psychological. These functioned to deflect problematic assumptions about ME/CFS and to manage their accountability for the illness and its effects
Optimal squeezing, pure states, and amplification of squeezing in resonance fluorescence
It is shown that 100% squeezed output can be produced in the resonance
fluorescence from a coherently driven two-level atom interacting with a
squeezed vacuum. This is only possible for squeezed input, and is
associated with a pure atomic state, i.e., a completely polarized state. The
quadrature for which optimal squeezing occurs depends on the squeezing phase
the Rabi frequency and the atomic detuning . Pure
states are described for arbitrary not just or as in
previous work. For small values of there may be a greater degree of
squeezing in the output field than the input - i.e., we have squeezing
amplification.Comment: 6 pages & 7 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Dynamics within metastable states in a mean-field spin glass
In this letter we present a dynamical study of the structure of metastable
states (corresponding to TAP solutions) in a mean-field spin-glass model. After
reviewing known results of the statical approach, we use dynamics: starting
from an initial condition thermalized at a temperature between the statical and
the dynamical transition temperatures, we are able to study the relaxational
dynamics within metastable states and we show that they are characterized by a
true breaking of ergodicity and exponential relaxation.Comment: 5 pages, 2 postscript figures, uses rotate.sty,epsf.st
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