Category theory : definitions and examples

Category theory was invented as an abstract language for describing certain structures and constructions which repeatedly occur in many branches of mathematics, such as topology, algebra, and logic. In recent years, it has found several applications in computer science, e.g., algebraic specification, type theory, and programming language semantics. In this paper, we collect definitions and examples of the basic concepts in category theory: categories, functors, natural transformations, universal properties, limits, and adjoints

Albanese and Picard 1-motives

We define, in a purely algebraic way, 1-motives $Alb^{+}(X)$, $Alb^{-}(X)$, $Pic^{+}(X)$ and $Pic^{-}(X)$ associated with any algebraic scheme $X$ over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. For $X$ over \C of dimension $n$ the Hodge realizations are, respectively, $H^{2n-1}(X)(n)$, $H_{1}(X)$, $H^{1}(X)(1)$ and $H_{2n-1}(X)(1-n)$.Comment: 5 pages, LaTeX, submitted as CR Not

Engineering Quantum Jump Superoperators for Single Photon Detectors

We study the back-action of a single photon detector on the electromagnetic field upon a photodetection by considering a microscopic model in which the detector is constituted of a sensor and an amplification mechanism. Using the quantum trajectories approach we determine the Quantum Jump Superoperator (QJS) that describes the action of the detector on the field state immediately after the photocount. The resulting QJS consists of two parts: the bright counts term, representing the real photoabsorptions, and the dark counts term, representing the amplification of intrinsic excitations inside the detector. First we compare our results for the counting rates to experimental data, showing a good agreement. Then we point out that by modifying the field frequency one can engineer the form of QJS, obtaining the QJS's proposed previously in an ad hoc manner