2,531 research outputs found
Constraints on a mixed inflaton and curvaton scenario for the generation of the curvature perturbation
We consider a supersymmetric grand unified model which naturally solves the
strong CP and mu problems via a Peccei-Quinn symmetry and leads to the standard
realization of hybrid inflation. We show that the Peccei-Quinn field of this
model can act as curvaton. In contrast to the standard curvaton hypothesis,
both the inflaton and the curvaton contribute to the total curvature
perturbation. The model predicts an isocurvature perturbation too which has
mixed correlation with the adiabatic one. The cold dark matter of the universe
is mostly constituted by axions plus a small amount of lightest sparticles. The
predictions of the model are confronted with the Wilkinson microwave anisotropy
probe and other cosmic microwave background radiation data. We analyze two
representative choices of parameters and derive bounds on the curvaton
contribution to the adiabatic perturbation. We find that, for the choice which
provides the best fitting of the data, the curvaton contribution to the
adiabatic amplitude must be smaller than about 67% (at 95% confidence level).
The best-fit power spectra are dominated by the adiabatic part of the inflaton
contribution. We use Bayesian model comparison to show that this choice of
parameters is disfavored with respect to the pure inflaton scale-invariant case
with odds of 50 to 1. For the second choice of parameters, the adiabatic mode
is dominated by the curvaton, but this choice is strongly disfavored relative
to the pure inflaton scale-invariant case (with odds of 10^7 to 1). We conclude
that in the present framework the perturbations must be dominated by the
adiabatic component from the inflaton.Comment: 27 pages including 16 figures, uses Revte
Should we doubt the cosmological constant?
While Bayesian model selection is a useful tool to discriminate between
competing cosmological models, it only gives a relative rather than an absolute
measure of how good a model is. Bayesian doubt introduces an unknown benchmark
model against which the known models are compared, thereby obtaining an
absolute measure of model performance in a Bayesian framework. We apply this
new methodology to the problem of the dark energy equation of state, comparing
an absolute upper bound on the Bayesian evidence for a presently unknown dark
energy model against a collection of known models including a flat LambdaCDM
scenario. We find a strong absolute upper bound to the Bayes factor B between
the unknown model and LambdaCDM, giving B < 3. The posterior probability for
doubt is found to be less than 6% (with a 1% prior doubt) while the probability
for LambdaCDM rises from an initial 25% to just over 50% in light of the data.
We conclude that LambdaCDM remains a sufficient phenomenological description of
currently available observations and that there is little statistical room for
model improvement.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Highly entangled photons from hybrid piezoelectric-semiconductor quantum dot devices
Entanglement resources are key ingredients of future quantum technologies. If
they could be efficiently integrated into a semiconductor platform a new
generation of devices could be envisioned, whose quantum-mechanical
functionalities are controlled via the mature semiconductor technology.
Epitaxial quantum dots (QDs) embedded in diodes would embody such ideal quantum
devices, but QD structural asymmetries lower dramatically the degree of
entanglement of the sources and hamper severely their real exploitation in the
foreseen applications. In this work, we overcome this hurdle using
strain-tunable optoelectronic devices, where any QD can be tuned for the
emission of highly polarization-entangled photons. The electrically-controlled
sources violate Bell inequalities without the need of spectral or temporal
filtering and they feature the highest degree of entanglement ever reported for
QDs, with concurrence as high as 0.75(2). These quantum-devices are at present
the most promising candidates for the direct implementation of QD-based
entanglement-resources in quantum information science and technology
Rate-Control or Rhythm-Contol: Where do we stand?
Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained rhythm disturbance and its prevalence is increasing worldwide due to the progressive aging of the population. Current guidelines clearly depict the gold standard management of acute symptomatic atrial fibrillation but the best-long term approach for first or recurrent atrial fibrillation is still debated with regard to quality of life, risk of new hospitalizations, and possible disabling complications, such as thromboembolic stroke, major bleeds and death. Some authors propose that regaining sinus rhythm in all cases, thus re-establishing a physiologic cardiac function not requiring a prolonged antithrombotic therapy, avoids the threat of intracranial or extracranial haemorrhages due to Vitamin K antagonists or aspirin. On the contrary, advocates of a rate control approach with an accurate antithrombotic prophylaxis propose that such a strategy may avoid the risk of cardiovascular and non cardiovascular side effects related to antiarrhythmic drugs. This review aims to explore the state of our knowledge in order to summarize evidences and issues that need to be furthermore clarified
Statistical Properties of Exciton Fine Structure Splittings and Polarization Angles in Quantum Dot Ensembles
We propose an effective model to describe the statistical properties of
exciton fine structure splitting (FSS) and polarization angle of quantum dot
ensembles (QDEs). We derive the distributions of FSS and polarization angle for
QDEs and show that their statistical features can be fully characterized using
at most three independent measurable parameters. The effective model is
confirmed using atomistic pseudopotential calculations as well as experimental
measurements for several rather different QDEs. The model naturally addresses
three fundamental questions that are frequently encountered in theories and
experiments: (I) Why the probability of finding QDs with vanishing FSS is
generally very small? (II) Why FSS and polarization angle differ dramatically
from QD to QD? and (III) Is there any direct connection between FSS, optical
polarization and the morphology of QDs? The answers to these fundamental
questions yield a completely new physical picture for understanding optical
properties of QDEs.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Highly indistinguishable and strongly entangled photons from symmetric GaAs quantum dots
The development of scalable sources of non-classical light is fundamental to unlocking thetechnological potential of quantum photonics. Semiconductor quantum dots are emerging asnear-optimal sources of indistinguishable single photons. However, their performance assources of entangled-photon pairs are still modest compared to parametric down converters.Photons emitted from conventional Stranski–Krastanov InGaAs quantum dots have shownnon-optimal levels of entanglement and indistinguishability. For quantum networks, bothcriteria must be met simultaneously. Here, we show that this is possible with a system thathas received limited attention so far: GaAs quantum dots. They can emit triggered polar-ization-entangled photons with high purity (g(2)(0) = 0.002±0.002), high indistinguish-ability (0.93±0.07 for 2 ns pulse separation) and high entanglement fidelity(0.94±0.01). Our results show that GaAs might be the material of choice for quantum-dotentanglement sources in future quantum technologie
There is room for everyone: Invasion credit cannot be inferred from the species–area relationship in fragmented forests
Questions: Land use change, habitat fragmentation and biological invasion represent major drivers of global change that strongly interact to alter ecosystems. Following the breaking apart of forests into smaller fragments or the afforestation of former agricultural lands, biodiversity experiences drastic changes due to species loss and turnover over time. This leads to two important outcomes, namely extinction debt and invasion (colonization) credit, which both reflect the inertia of the system's response to environmental changes. Our study investigated the following questions: Is it possible to infer invasion credit from species–area relationship (SAR) residuals both for native and alien plants? Is there any trend linked with the degree of habitat fragmentation through time?. Location: Somme, Oise and Aisne departments, northern France. Methods: We analyzed the pattern of SARs' residuals for native and alien vascular plant species separately across nine sets of forest fragments that differ by the landscape matrix they are embedded in (i.e., open field, bocage, forest), while considering plant richness, area and age of the 355 forest patches. Results: The relationship between alien and native SARs’ residuals is positive across all landscapes, suggesting a lack of invasion credit. Instead, these results support the “rich get richer” hypothesis, that is a high environmental heterogeneity allows colonization by new species, be they native or alien. Interestingly, the relationship between alien and native residuals depends upon fragment age (i.e., time since patch creation) in the most intensively managed landscapes (i.e., open fields). In the latter, recent forest patches are more prone to alien invasion, as a likely consequence of increased alien propagule pressure (i.e., more sources and vectors for alien plants), increased forest invasibility (i.e., disturbance-induced environmental heterogeneity), and decreased matrix permeability (i.e., natives are more dispersal-limited than aliens). Conclusions: Our study provides new insights into alien species ecology, by showing that (i) it is not possible to infer “invasion credit” from the SAR's residuals; (ii) the invasion rate by alien species in forest fragments increases with their native species richness, and (iii) this relationship depends upon patch age in intensively managed landscapes
Patricide and overkill: a review of the literature and case report of a murder with Capgras delusion
Despite being an infrequent crime, parental homicide has been associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in adult perpetrators and a history of child abuse and family violence in adolescent perpetrators. Among severe psychiatric disorders there is initial evidence that delusional misidentification might also play a role in parricide. Parricides are often committed with undue violence and may result in overkill. The authors present the case of an adult male affected by schizoaffective disorder and Capgras syndrome who committed patricide. Forensic pathologists classify such cases as overkill by multiple fatal means comprising stabbing, blunt trauma and choking. Accurate crime scene investigations coupled with psychiatric examinations of perpetrator allow reconstruction of the murder stages. This overkill case is discussed in the context of a broad review of the literature
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