Numerical studies of entangled PPT states in composite quantum systems

We report here on the results of numerical searches for PPT states with specified ranks for density matrices and their partial transpose. The study includes several bipartite quantum systems of low dimensions. For a series of ranks extremal PPT states are found. The results are listed in tables and charted in diagrams. Comparison of the results for systems of different dimensions reveal several regularities. We discuss lower and upper bounds on the ranks of extremal PPT states.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Intraepithelial Lymphocytes in Celiac Disease License to Kill Revealed

AbstractInfiltration of lymphocytes in the small intestinal epithelium is a hallmark of active celiac disease. In this issue of Immunity, two papers uncover mechanisms controlling the cytolytic potential of these cells and provide evidence that lymphocyte killing of enterocytes is an important part of the celiac disease pathogenesis

Unextendible product bases and extremal density matrices with positive partial transpose

In bipartite quantum systems of dimension 3x3 entangled states that are positive under partial transposition (PPT) can be constructed with the use of unextendible product bases (UPB). As discussed in a previous publication all the lowest rank entangled PPT states of this system seem to be equivalent, under special linear product transformations, to states that are constructed in this way. Here we consider a possible generalization of the UPB constuction to low-rank entangled PPT states in higher dimensions. The idea is to give up the condition of orthogonality of the product vectors, while keeping the relation between the density matrix and the projection on the subspace defined by the UPB. We examine first this generalization for the 3x3 system where numerical studies indicate that one-parameter families of such generalized states can be found. Similar numerical searches in higher dimensional systems show the presence of extremal PPT states of similar form. Based on these results we suggest that the UPB construction of the lowest rank entangled states in the 3x3 system can be generalized to higher dimensions, with the use of non-orthogonal UPBs.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. V2: Fixed fig.1 not showin

Indigenising Education: Scales, Interfaces and Acts of Citizenship in Sápmi

As Indigenous people reclaim their position after centuries of oppression, the  tensions between Indigenous needs and national demands surface. This is also the case of the Indigenous Sámi in Norway. After a long period of colonisation, recognition of the indigenous Sámi people and their language and culture is replacing the politics of erasure. In this process, the educational system is the institution where this new direction can reach the farthest. Rather than seeing Indigenous education as static endpoint in opposition towards mainstream education, we theorise that indigenising education is better understood as a process and as a continuum where citizens with different subject positions engage and interact in a cultural interface. The theorising is based on a case study from Gáivuotna-Kåfjord-Kaivuono on the Norwegian side of Sápmi

Reported language attitudes among Norwegian speaking in-migrants in Tromsø

Today, in an era of increased mobility and migration, there is also increased in-migration within regions and countries. In the case of Norway, there is high tolerance for dialect use, and in this context, it is interesting to ask which kinds of sociolinguistic strategies in-migrants consider to be available given their current situation. This article explores the reported language attitudes from the point of view of people who have moved to Tromsø from other parts of Norway. The data is from a survey about (1) in-migrants’ attitudes towards various forms of dialect use, including dialect maintenance, shifts or changes, and (2) how the in-migrants perceive attitudes in Tromsø towards various forms of dialect use. The study shows that it is seen as ideal to maintain one’s initial dialect, rather than changing or shifting the dialect. However, most of the respondents reportedly changed their own initial dialect and changing or shifting the dialect is perceived as a tolerable sociolinguistic strategy to fit in and accommodate the new place. We also find that a common assumption is that people in Tromsø have positive attitudes towards other dialects, but it seems to matter where one comes from and which dialect one speaks

On verb second and the så-construction in two Mainland Scandinavian contact situations

Data from areas of long term language contact situations between a non-V2 language and a V2 language in Northern Norway reveal unstable use of V2. Furthermore, in a substantial portion of the data there is a notable presence of the particle så. These facts are discussed in light of data on the så-construction in Standard Norwegian and Finland Swedish, and the particle ni in Finnish. We suggest that some aspects of så in the data may be explained as one trait of L1 transfer, where the acquirer recruits existing L2 elements and assigns to them new tasks in the grammar. The data reveal interesting variation patterns, which may be taken to support the “Underspecified CP” hypothesis put forth in recent language acquisition research

Learnings from/about diversity in space and time: discursive constructions in the semiotic landscape of a teacher education building in Norway

This article critically examines the discourses concerning historical and transnational linguistic and cultural diversity in the semiotic landscape of a new teacher education building in Norway. In 2020, this building, housing the Department of Education, opened at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, in the city of Tromsø. Designing, constructing, and decorating a new building for a national teacher education was taken as an opportunity to reflect on and negotiate the institution’s role in relevant contemporary, as well as historical, educational discourses and to mark a current standpoint. Taking a nexus analytical approach, we analyse how linguistic and cultural diversity are represented in the department’s public space and how this is interwoven with the construction of the institution’s position in a multilingual and multicultural environment. Our analysis shows that this diversity is constructed through various contrasts. Sámi identities and regional roots of knowledge are emphasised in the official part of the semiotic landscape – framed as learnings from diversity. However, by analysing meta-sociolinguistic discourses about diversity, we show that this is accompanied by the erasure of other aspects of linguistic and cultural diversity, in particular Kven culture and identity, transnational diversity, and children and their lifeworld

Kindergartens in Northern Norway as semiotic landscapes

Educational institutions have a responsibility to ensure that all children receive care and equal possibilities for development, independent of their linguistic and cultural background. However, there is little knowledge about how kindergartens ensure a welcoming and inspiring place for both transnational migrants, Indigenous children, and children from the majority population. Through a semiotic landscape analysis from two kindergartens in Northern Norway, this article contributes to this knowledge gap. Our starting point is that educational spaces are social, cultural, and political places. Applying a Bakhtinian perspective on semiotic landscapes as dialogues, the analysis focuses on two discourses. The first concerns diversity as an individual or shared value, and the second concerns balancing the ordinary and the exotic. We find that diversity related to transnational migration seems to be more integrated into the semiotic landscape, while the minoritised Indigenous Sámi people is stereotypically represented in kindergartens