2,867 research outputs found
Reconsidering Rapid Qubit Purification by Feedback
This paper reconsiders the claimed rapidity of a scheme for the purification
of the quantum state of a qubit, proposed recently in Jacobs 2003 Phys. Rev.
A67 030301(R). The qubit starts in a completely mixed state, and information is
obtained by a continuous measurement. Jacobs' rapid purification protocol uses
Hamiltonian feedback control to maximise the average purity of the qubit for a
given time, with a factor of two increase in the purification rate over the
no-feedback protocol. However, by re-examining the latter approach, we show
that it mininises the average time taken for a qubit to reach a given purity.
In fact, the average time taken for the no-feedback protocol beats that for
Jacobs' protocol by a factor of two. We discuss how this is compatible with
Jacobs' result, and the usefulness of the different approaches.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Final version, accepted for publication in New
J. Phy
State and dynamical parameter estimation for open quantum systems
Following the evolution of an open quantum system requires full knowledge of
its dynamics. In this paper we consider open quantum systems for which the
Hamiltonian is ``uncertain''. In particular, we treat in detail a simple system
similar to that considered by Mabuchi [Quant. Semiclass. Opt. 8, 1103 (1996)]:
a radiatively damped atom driven by an unknown Rabi frequency (as
would occur for an atom at an unknown point in a standing light wave). By
measuring the environment of the system, knowledge about the system state, and
about the uncertain dynamical parameter, can be acquired. We find that these
two sorts of knowledge acquisition (quantified by the posterior distribution
for , and the conditional purity of the system, respectively) are quite
distinct processes, which are not strongly correlated. Also, the quality and
quantity of knowledge gain depend strongly on the type of monitoring scheme. We
compare five different detection schemes (direct, adaptive, homodyne of the
quadrature, homodyne of the quadrature, and heterodyne) using four
different measures of the knowledge gain (Shannon information about ,
variance in , long-time system purity, and short-time system purity).Comment: 14 pages, 18 figure
Optomechanical Cooling of a Macroscopic Oscillator by Homodyne Feedback
We propose a simple optomechanical model in which a mechanical oscillator
quadrature could be "cooled" well below its equilibrium temperature by applying
a suitable feedback to drive the orthogonal quadrature by means of the homodyne
current of the radiation field used to probe its position.Comment: 9 pages, RevTeX, Figures available from authors, to appear in Phys.
Rev. Let
Feedback Control of Quantum Transport
The current through nanostructures like quantum dots can be stabilized by a
feedback loop that continuously adjusts system parameters as a function of the
number of tunnelled particles . At large times, the feedback loop freezes
the fluctuations of which leads to highly accurate, continuous single
particle transfers. For the simplest case of feedback acting simultaneously on
all system parameters, we show how to reconstruct the original full counting
statistics from the frozen distribution.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Optimal Unravellings for Feedback Control in Linear Quantum Systems
For quantum systems with linear dynamics in phase space much of classical
feedback control theory applies. However, there are some questions that are
sensible only for the quantum case, such as: given a fixed interaction between
the system and the environment what is the optimal measurement on the
environment for a particular control problem? We show that for a broad class of
optimal (state-based) control problems (the stationary
Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian class), this question is a semi-definite program.
Moreover, the answer also applies to Markovian (current-based) feedback.Comment: 5 pages. Version published by Phys. Rev. Let
Weak measurement and rapid state reduction in bipartite quantum systems
In this paper we consider feedback control algorithms for the rapid
purification of a bipartite state consisting of two qubits, when the observer
has access to only one of the qubits. We show 1) that the algorithm that
maximizes the average purification rate is not the same as that that for a
single qubit, and 2) that it is always possible to construct an algorithm that
generates a deterministic rate of purification for {\em both} qubits. We also
reveal a key difference between projective and continuous measurements with
regard to state-purification.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Information, disturbance and Hamiltonian quantum feedback control
We consider separating the problem of designing Hamiltonian quantum feedback
control algorithms into a measurement (estimation) strategy and a feedback
(control) strategy, and consider optimizing desirable properties of each under
the minimal constraint that the available strength of both is limited. This
motivates concepts of information extraction and disturbance which are distinct
from those usually considered in quantum information theory. Using these
concepts we identify an information trade-off in quantum feedback control.Comment: 13 pages, multicol Revtex, 2 eps figure
Heisenberg-style bounds for arbitrary estimates of shift parameters including prior information
A rigorous lower bound is obtained for the average resolution of any estimate
of a shift parameter, such as an optical phase shift or a spatial translation.
The bound has the asymptotic form k_I/ where G is the generator of the
shift (with an arbitrary discrete or continuous spectrum), and hence
establishes a universally applicable bound of the same form as the usual
Heisenberg limit. The scaling constant k_I depends on prior information about
the shift parameter. For example, in phase sensing regimes, where the phase
shift is confined to some small interval of length L, the relative resolution
\delta\hat{\Phi}/L has the strict lower bound (2\pi e^3)^{-1/2}/,
where m is the number of probes, each with generator G_1, and entangling joint
measurements are permitted. Generalisations using other resource measures and
including noise are briefly discussed. The results rely on the derivation of
general entropic uncertainty relations for continuous observables, which are of
interest in their own right.Comment: v2:new bound added for 'ignorance respecting estimates', some
clarification
Measuring Which-Path Information with Coupled Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometers
We theoretically investigate a generalized "which-path" measurement on an
electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) implemented via Coulomb coupling
to a second electronic MZI acting as a detector. The use of contextual values,
or generalized eigenvalues, enables the precise construction of which-path
operator averages that are valid for any measurement strength from the
available drain currents. The form of the contextual values provides direct
physical insight about the measurement being performed, providing information
about the correlation strength between system and detector, the measurement
inefficiency, and the proper background removal. We find that the detector
interferometer must display maximal wave-like behavior to optimally measure the
particle-like which-path information in the system interferometer,
demonstrating wave-particle complementarity between the system and detector. We
also find that the degree of quantum erasure that can be achieved by
conditioning on a specific detector drain is directly related to the ambiguity
of the measurement. Finally, conditioning the which-path averages on a
particular system drain using the zero frequency cross-correlations produces
conditioned averages that can become anomalously large due to quantum
interference; the weak coupling limit of these conditioned averages can produce
both weak values and detector-dependent semi-weak values.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, published version including appendi
Malaria prevention in north-eastern Tanzania: patterns of expenditure and determinants of demand at the household level.
Objective. This study aims to provide a better understanding of the amounts spent on different malaria prevention products and the determinants of these expenditures. Methods. 1,601 households were interviewed about their expenditure on malaria mosquito nets in the past five years, net re-treatments in the past six months and other expenditures prevention in the past two weeks. Simple random sampling was used to select villages and streets while convenience sampling was used to select households. Expenditure was compared across bed nets, aerosols, coils, indoor spraying, using smoke, drinking herbs and cleaning outside environment. Findings. 68% of households owned at least one bed net and 27% had treated their nets in the past six months. 29% were unable to afford a net. Every fortnight, households spent an average of US 0.21). Factors positively related to expenditure were household wealth, years of education of household head, household head being married and rainy season. Poor quality roads and living in a rural area had a negative impact on expenditure. Conclusion. Expenditure on bed nets and on alternative malaria prevention products was comparable. Poor households living in rural areas spend significantly less on all forms of malaria prevention compared to their richer counterparts. Breaking the cycle between malaria and poverty is one of the biggest challenges facing malaria control programmes in Africa
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