978 research outputs found
Observing quantum state diffusion by heterodyne detection of fluorescence
A qubit can relax by fluorescence, which prompts the release of a photon into
its electromagnetic environment. By counting the emitted photons, discrete
quantum jumps of the qubit state can be observed. The succession of states
occupied by the qubit in a single experiment, its quantum trajectory, depends
in fact on the kind of detector. How are the quantum trajectories modified if
one measures continuously the amplitude of the fluorescence field instead?
Using a superconducting parametric amplifier, we have performed heterodyne
detection of the fluorescence of a superconducting qubit. For each realization
of the measurement record, we can reconstruct a different quantum trajectory
for the qubit. The observed evolution obeys quantum state diffusion, which is
characteristic of quantum measurements subject to zero point fluctuations.
Independent projective measurements of the qubit at various times provide a
quantitative validation of the reconstructed trajectories. By exploring the
statistics of quantum trajectories, we demonstrate that the qubit states span a
deterministic surface in the Bloch sphere at each time in the evolution.
Additionally, we show that when monitoring fluorescence, coherent
superpositions are generated during the decay from excited to ground state.
Counterintuitively, measuring light emitted during relaxation can give rise to
trajectories with increased excitation probability.Comment: Supplementary material can be found in the ancillary sectio
Using Spontaneous Emission of a Qubit as a Resource for Feedback Control
Persistent control of a transmon qubit is performed by a feedback protocol
based on continuous heterodyne measurement of its fluorescence. By driving the
qubit and cavity with microwave signals whose amplitudes depend linearly on the
instantaneous values of the quadratures of the measured fluorescence field, we
show that it is possible to stabilize permanently the qubit in any targeted
state. Using a Josephson mixer as a phase-preserving amplifier, it was possible
to reach a total measurement efficiency =35%, leading to a maximum of 59%
of excitation and 44% of coherence for the stabilized states. The experiment
demonstrates multiple-input multiple-output analog Markovian feedback in the
quantum regime.Comment: Supplementary material can be found as an ancillary objec
Beyond Prejudice as Simple Antipathy: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism Across Cultures
The authors argue that complementary hostile and benevolent componen:s of sexism exist ac ro.ss
cultures. Male dominance creates hostile sexism (HS). but men's dependence on women fosters
benevolent sexism (BS)-subjectively positive attitudes that put women on a pedestal but reinforce their
subordination. Research with 15,000 men and women in 19 nations showed that (a) HS and BS are
coherenl constructs th at correlate positively across nations, but (b) HS predicts the ascription of negative
and BS the ascription of positive traits to women, (c) relative to men, women are more likely to reject
HS than BS. especially when overall levels of sexism in a culture are high, and (d) national averages on
BS and HS predict gender inequal ity across nations. These results challenge prevailing notions of
prejudice as an antipathy in that BS (an affectionate, patronizing ideology) reflects inequality and is a
cross-culturally pervasive complement to HS
Spin-Momentum Correlations in Quasi-Elastic Electron Scattering from Deuterium
We report on a measurement of spin-momentum correlations in quasi-elastic
scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons with an energy of 720 MeV from
vector-polarized deuterium. The spin correlation parameter was
measured for the reaction for missing
momenta up to 350 MeV/ at a four-momentum transfer squared of 0.21
(GeV/c). The data give detailed information about the spin structure of the
deuteron, and are in good agreement with the predictions of microscopic
calculations based on realistic nucleon-nucleon potentials and including
various spin-dependent reaction mechanism effects. The experiment demonstrates
in a most direct manner the effects of the D-state in the deuteron ground-state
wave function and shows the importance of isobar configurations for this
reaction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. for publicatio
Iron oxide and water paste rheology and its effect on low adhesion in the wheel/rail interface
The “wet-rail” phenomenon results in low adhesion between wheel and rail throughout the year, occurring transiently on a slightly wet, or drying railhead. It has been previously proposed that it is caused by a mixture of iron oxides and small amounts of water (from dew or precipitation) on the railhead that form a friction reducing paste. This paper outlines a novel combination of rheology, modelling and experimental work using a twin disc test rig to determine how the rheology of this iron oxide paste affects adhesion. The yield strength of different types of iron oxides, along with solid oxide fraction of the friction reducing paste, was assessed and used as an input into an “adhesion model” for assessing water and oxide suspensions. The rheological and modelling results were compared against very low adhesion recorded in twin disc experimental validation when simulating the wet-rail phenomenon
Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub-Saharan Africa
Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine-scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad-scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub-Saharan Africa suggest that a process-oriented grouping of soils based on pedo-climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales
Measurements of the Generalized Electric and Magnetic Polarizabilities of the Proton at Low Q2 Using the VCS Reaction
The mean square polarizability radii of the proton have been measured for the
first time in a virtual Compton scattering experiment performed at the
MIT-Bates out-of-plane scattering facility. Response functions and
polarizabilities obtained from a dispersion analysis of the data at Q2=0.06
GeV2/c2 are in agreement with O(p3) heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory.
The data support the dominance of mesonic effects in the polarizabilities, and
the increase of beta with increasing Q2 is evidence for the cancellation of
long-range diamagnetism by short-range paramagnetism from the pion cloud
A model for decoherence of entangled beauty
In the context of the entangled state produced at the
resonance, we consider a modification of the usual
quantum-mechanical time evolution with a dissipative term, which contains only
one parameter denoted by and respects complete positivity. In this
way a decoherence effect is introduced in the time evolution of the 2-particle
state, which becomes stronger with increasing distance between
the two particles. While our model of time evolution has decoherence for the
2-particle system, we assume that, after the decay of one of the two B mesons,
the resulting 1-particle state obeys the purely quantum-mechanical time
evolution. From the data on dilepton events we derive an upper bound on
. We also show how is related to the so-called ``decoherence
parameter'' , which parameterizes decoherence in neutral flavoured
meson--antimeson systems.Comment: 11 pages, revtex. Two references and some comments added, version to
be published in Phys. Rev.
Tensor Analyzing Powers for Quasi-Elastic Electron Scattering from Deuterium
We report on a first measurement of tensor analyzing powers in quasi-elastic
electron-deuteron scattering at an average three-momentum transfer of 1.7
fm. Data sensitive to the spin-dependent nucleon density in the deuteron
were obtained for missing momenta up to 150 MeV/ with a tensor polarized
H target internal to an electron storage ring. The data are well described
by a calculation that includes the effects of final-state interaction,
meson-exchange and isobar currents, and leading-order relativistic
contributions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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