Pattern recognition on a quantum computer

By means of a simple example it is demonstrated that the task of finding and identifying certain patterns in an otherwise (macroscopically) unstructured picture (data set) can be accomplished efficiently by a quantum computer. Employing the powerful tool of the quantum Fourier transform the proposed quantum algorithm exhibits an exponential speed-up in comparison with its classical counterpart. The digital representation also results in a significantly higher accuracy than the method of optical filtering. PACS: 03.67.Lx, 03.67.-a, 42.30.Sy, 89.70.+c.Comment: 6 pages RevTeX, 1 figure, several correction

Survival of near-critical branching Brownian motion

Consider a system of particles performing branching Brownian motion with negative drift $\mu = \sqrt{2 - \epsilon}$ and killed upon hitting zero. Initially there is one particle at $x>0$. Kesten showed that the process survives with positive probability if and only if $\epsilon>0$. Here we are interested in the asymptotics as \eps\to 0 of the survival probability $Q_\mu(x)$. It is proved that if $L= \pi/\sqrt{\epsilon}$ then for all $x \in \R$, $\lim_{\epsilon \to 0} Q_\mu(L+x) = \theta(x) \in (0,1)$ exists and is a travelling wave solution of the Fisher-KPP equation. Furthermore, we obtain sharp asymptotics of the survival probability when $x<L$ and $L-x \to \infty$. The proofs rely on probabilistic methods developed by the authors in a previous work. This completes earlier work by Harris, Harris and Kyprianou and confirms predictions made by Derrida and Simon, which were obtained using nonrigorous PDE methods

Improved Bounds on Quantum Learning Algorithms

In this article we give several new results on the complexity of algorithms that learn Boolean functions from quantum queries and quantum examples. Hunziker et al. conjectured that for any class C of Boolean functions, the number of quantum black-box queries which are required to exactly identify an unknown function from C is $O(\frac{\log |C|}{\sqrt{{\hat{\gamma}}^{C}}})$, where $\hat{\gamma}^{C}$ is a combinatorial parameter of the class C. We essentially resolve this conjecture in the affirmative by giving a quantum algorithm that, for any class C, identifies any unknown function from C using $O(\frac{\log |C| \log \log |C|}{\sqrt{{\hat{\gamma}}^{C}}})$ quantum black-box queries. We consider a range of natural problems intermediate between the exact learning problem (in which the learner must obtain all bits of information about the black-box function) and the usual problem of computing a predicate (in which the learner must obtain only one bit of information about the black-box function). We give positive and negative results on when the quantum and classical query complexities of these intermediate problems are polynomially related to each other. Finally, we improve the known lower bounds on the number of quantum examples (as opposed to quantum black-box queries) required for $(\epsilon,\delta)$-PAC learning any concept class of Vapnik-Chervonenkis dimension d over the domain $\{0,1\}^n$ from $\Omega(\frac{d}{n})$ to $\Omega(\frac{1}{\epsilon}\log \frac{1}{\delta}+d+\frac{\sqrt{d}}{\epsilon})$. This new lower bound comes closer to matching known upper bounds for classical PAC learning.Comment: Minor corrections. 18 pages. To appear in Quantum Information Processing. Requires: algorithm.sty, algorithmic.sty to buil

Interaction-free generation of entanglement

In this paper, we study how to generate entanglement by interaction-free measurement. Using Kwiat et al.'s interferometer, we construct a two-qubit quantum gate that changes a particle's trajectory according to the other particle's trajectory. We propose methods for generating the Bell state from an electron and a positron and from a pair of photons by this gate. We also show that using this gate, we can carry out the Bell measurement with the probability of 3/4 at the maximum and execute a controlled-NOT operation by the method proposed by Gottesman and Chuang with the probability of 9/16 at the maximum. We estimate the success probability for generating the Bell state by our procedure under imperfect interaction.Comment: 18 pages, Latex2e, 11 eps figures, v2: minor corrections and one reference added, v3: a minor correctio

On the third critical field in Ginzburg-Landau theory

Using recent results by the authors on the spectral asymptotics of the Neumann Laplacian with magnetic field, we give precise estimates on the critical field, $H_{C_3}$, describing the appearance of superconductivity in superconductors of type II. Furthermore, we prove that the local and global definitions of this field coincide. Near $H_{C_3}$ only a small part, near the boundary points where the curvature is maximal, of the sample carries superconductivity. We give precise estimates on the size of this zone and decay estimates in both the normal (to the boundary) and parallel variables

Selectivity and functional diversity in arbuscular mycorrhizas of co-occurring fungi and plants from a temperate deciduous woodland

1 The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi colonizing plants at a woodland site in North Yorkshire (UK) have been characterized from the roots of five plant species (Rubus fruticosus agg. L., Epilobium angustifolium L., Acer pseudoplatanus L., Ajuga reptans L. and Glechoma hederacea L.), and identified using small-subunit rRNA (SSUrRNA) gene amplification and sequencing. 2 Interactions between five plant species from the site and four co-occurring glomalean fungi were investigated in artificial one-to-one AM symbioses. Three of the fungi were isolated from the site; the fourth was a culture genetically similar to a taxon found at the site. Phosphorus uptake and growth responses were compared with non-mycorrhizal controls. 3 Individual fungi colonized each plant with different spatial distribution and intensity. Some did not colonize at all, indicating incompatibility under the conditions used in the experiments. 4 Glomus hoi consistently occupied a large proportion of root systems and outperformed the other fungi, improving P uptake and enhancing the growth of four out of the five plant species. Only G. hoi colonized and increased P uptake in Acer pseudoplatanus, the host plant with which it associates almost exclusively under field conditions. Colonization of all plant species by Scutellospora dipurpurescens was sparse, and beneficial to only one of the host plants (Teucrium scorodonia). Archaeospora trappei and Glomus sp. UY1225 had variable effects on the host plants, conferring a range of P uptake and growth benefits on Lysimachia nummularia and T. scorodonia, increasing P uptake whilst not affecting biomass in Ajuga reptans and Glechoma hederacea, and failing to form mycorrhizas with A. pseudoplatanus. 5 These experimental mycorrhizas show that root colonization, symbiont compatibility and plant performance vary with each fungus-plant combination, even when the plants and fungi naturally co-exist. 6 We provide evidence of physical and functional selectivity in AM. The small number of described AM fungal species (154) has been ascribed to their supposed lack of host specificity, but if the selectivity we have observed is the general rule, then we may predict that many more, probably hard-to-culture glomalean species await discovery, or that members of species as currently perceived may be physiologically or functionally distinct

Continuity of the measure of the spectrum for quasiperiodic Schrodinger operators with rough potentials

We study discrete quasiperiodic Schr\"odinger operators on \ell^2(\zee) with potentials defined by $\gamma$-H\"older functions. We prove a general statement that for $\gamma >1/2$ and under the condition of positive Lyapunov exponents, measure of the spectrum at irrational frequencies is the limit of measures of spectra of periodic approximants. An important ingredient in our analysis is a general result on uniformity of the upper Lyapunov exponent of strictly ergodic cocycles.Comment: 15 page

Relative Oscillation Theory, Weighted Zeros of the Wronskian, and the Spectral Shift Function

We develop an analog of classical oscillation theory for Sturm-Liouville operators which, rather than measuring the spectrum of one single operator, measures the difference between the spectra of two different operators. This is done by replacing zeros of solutions of one operator by weighted zeros of Wronskians of solutions of two different operators. In particular, we show that a Sturm-type comparison theorem still holds in this situation and demonstrate how this can be used to investigate the finiteness of eigenvalues in essential spectral gaps. Furthermore, the connection with Krein's spectral shift function is established.Comment: 26 page

Angular dependence of the bulk nucleation field Hc2 of aligned MgB2 crystallites

Studies on the new MgB2 superconductor, with a critical temperature Tc ~ 39 K, have evidenced its potential for applications although intense magnetic relaxation effects limit the critical current density, Jc, at high magnetic fields. This means that effective pinning centers must be added into the material microstructure, in order to halt dissipative flux movements. Concerning the basic microscopic mechanism to explain the superconductivity in MgB2, several experimental and theoretical works have pointed to the relevance of a phonon-mediated interaction, in the framework of the BCS theory. Questions have been raised about the relevant phonon modes, and the gap and Fermi surface anisotropies, in an effort to interpret spectroscopic and thermal data that give values between 2.4 and 4.5 for the gap energy ratio. Preliminary results on the anisotropy of Hc2 have shown a ratio, between the in-plane and perpendicular directions, around 1.7 for aligned MgB2 crystallites and 1.8 for epitaxial thin films. Here we show a study on the angular dependence of Hc2 pointing to a Fermi velocity anisotropy around 2.5. This anisotropy certainly implies the use of texturization techniques to optimize Jc in MgB2 wires and other polycrystalline components.Comment: 10 pages + 4 Figs.; Revised version accepted in Phys. Rev.

Bailing Out the Milky Way: Variation in the Properties of Massive Dwarfs Among Galaxy-Sized Systems

Recent kinematical constraints on the internal densities of the Milky Way's dwarf satellites have revealed a discrepancy with the subhalo populations of simulated Galaxy-scale halos in the standard CDM model of hierarchical structure formation. This has been dubbed the "too big to fail" problem, with reference to the improbability of large and invisible companions existing in the Galactic environment. In this paper, we argue that both the Milky Way observations and simulated subhalos are consistent with the predictions of the standard model for structure formation. Specifically, we show that there is significant variation in the properties of subhalos among distinct host halos of fixed mass and suggest that this can reasonably account for the deficit of dense satellites in the Milky Way. We exploit well-tested analytic techniques to predict the properties in a large sample of distinct host halos with a variety of masses spanning the range expected of the Galactic halo. The analytic model produces subhalo populations consistent with both Via Lactea II and Aquarius, and our results suggest that natural variation in subhalo properties suffices to explain the discrepancy between Milky Way satellite kinematics and these numerical simulations. At least ~10% of Milky Way-sized halos host subhalo populations for which there is no "too big to fail" problem, even when the host halo mass is as large as M_host = 10^12.2 h^-1 M_sun. Follow-up studies consisting of high-resolution simulations of a large number of Milky Way-sized hosts are necessary to confirm our predictions. In the absence of such efforts, the "too big to fail" problem does not appear to be a significant challenge to the standard model of hierarchical formation. [abridged]Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures; accepted by JCAP. Replaced with published versio