Nonlocality as a Benchmark for Universal Quantum Computation in Ising Anyon Topological Quantum Computers

An obstacle affecting any proposal for a topological quantum computer based on Ising anyons is that quasiparticle braiding can only implement a finite (non-universal) set of quantum operations. The computational power of this restricted set of operations (often called stabilizer operations) has been studied in quantum information theory, and it is known that no quantum-computational advantage can be obtained without the help of an additional non-stabilizer operation. Similarly, a bipartite two-qubit system based on Ising anyons cannot exhibit non-locality (in the sense of violating a Bell inequality) when only topologically protected stabilizer operations are performed. To produce correlations that cannot be described by a local hidden variable model again requires the use of a non-stabilizer operation. Using geometric techniques, we relate the sets of operations that enable universal quantum computing (UQC) with those that enable violation of a Bell inequality. Motivated by the fact that non-stabilizer operations are expected to be highly imperfect, our aim is to provide a benchmark for identifying UQC-enabling operations that is both experimentally practical and conceptually simple. We show that any (noisy) single-qubit non-stabilizer operation that, together with perfect stabilizer operations, enables violation of the simplest two-qubit Bell inequality can also be used to enable UQC. This benchmarking requires finding the expectation values of two distinct Pauli measurements on each qubit of a bipartite system.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Are high strivers for justice more unjust when they react to a victim? Further evidence on the effects of the belief in a just world, of the innocence of the victim and of the persistence of suffering on secondary victimization

This research aims to further explore the effects of Belief in a Just World (BJW), victim’s innocence and persistence of suffering on secondary victimization. Previous studies showed that an innocent victim whose suffering is more persistent is more secondarily victimized by high BJW participants than by low BJW participants (Correia & Vala, 2003). This study intends to replicate this finding and to overcome methodological limitations of these previous studies. Participants were 266 undergraduate students. The design was between-subjects 2 BJW (high, low) X 2 innocence of the victim (innocent, non-innocent) X 2 persistence of the suffering of the victim (more persistent, less persistent). The results supported partially the predictions. Theoretical as well as social implications of these findings are discussed

Rigorous Calculations of Non-Abelian Statistics in the Kitaev Honeycomb Model

We develop a rigorous and highly accurate technique for calculation of the Berry phase in systems with a quadratic Hamiltonian within the context of the Kitaev honeycomb lattice model. The method is based on the recently found solution of the model which uses the Jordan-Wigner-type fermionization in an exact effective spin-hardcore boson representation. We specifically simulate the braiding of two non-Abelian vortices (anyons) in a four vortex system characterized by a two-fold degenerate ground state. The result of the braiding is the non-Abelian Berry matrix which is in excellent agreement with the predictions of the effective field theory. The most precise results of our simulation are characterized by an error on the order of $10^{-5}$ or lower. We observe exponential decay of the error with the distance between vortices, studied in the range from one to nine plaquettes. We also study its correlation with the involved energy gaps and provide preliminary analysis of the relevant adiabaticity conditions. The work allows to investigate the Berry phase in other lattice models including the Yao-Kivelson model and particularly the square-octagon model. It also opens the possibility of studying the Berry phase under non-adiabatic and other effects which may constitute important sources of errors in topological quantum computation.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, 3 appendice

Solid State NMR Characterization and Adsorption Properties of Lignocellulose-Clinoptilolite Composites Prepared with Siloxanes Coupling Agents

This study reports the preparation of lignocellulose-clinoptilolite composites by means of N-terminated siloxanes as coupling agents, after acid hydrolysis. Reactions were carried out in the presence of dibutyltin dilaurate as catalyst by reacting lignocellulose modified with the coupling agents and clinoptilolite at 140 °C inDMFunder nitrogen atmosphere. The light in weight and fluffy composites obtained were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, TGA, SEM and Solid State NMR. Results depicted possible chemical interactions between the two materials (lignocellulose and clinoptilolite). Used as adsorbents, the composites showed to be good candidates for the removal of used motor oil fromaqueous solution, withupto 92mg g–1 of chemical oxygen demand removed.KEYWORDS Lignocellulose, clinoptilolite, chemical modification, composites, solid state NMR, used motor oil

Qudit versions of the qubit "pi-over-eight" gate

When visualised as an operation on the Bloch sphere, the qubit "pi-over-eight" gate corresponds to one-eighth of a complete rotation about the vertical axis. This simple gate often plays an important role in quantum information theory, typically in situations for which Pauli and Clifford gates are insufficient. Most notably, when it supplements the set of Clifford gates then universal quantum computation can be achieved. The "pi-over-eight" gate is the simplest example of an operation from the third level of the Clifford hierarchy (i.e., it maps Pauli operations to Clifford operations under conjugation). Here we derive explicit expressions for all qudit (d-level, where d is prime) versions of this gate and analyze the resulting group structure that is generated by these diagonal gates. This group structure differs depending on whether the dimensionality of the qudit is two, three or greater than three. We then discuss the geometrical relationship of these gates (and associated states) with respect to Clifford gates and stabilizer states. We present evidence that these gates are maximally robust to depolarizing and phase damping noise, in complete analogy with the qubit case. Motivated by this and other similarities we conjecture that these gates could be useful for the task of qudit magic-state distillation and, by extension, fault-tolerant quantum computing. Very recent, independent work by Campbell, Anwar and Browne confirms the correctness of this intuition, and we build upon their work to characterize noise regimes for which noisy implementations of these gates can (or provably cannot) supplement Clifford gates to enable universal quantum computation.Comment: Version 2 changed to reflect improved distillation routines in arXiv:1205.3104v2. Minor typos fixed. 12 Pages,2 Figures,3 Table

Evaluation of the role of Phytophthora cinnamomi in Victorian ecosystems

Phytophthora de Bary species are among the most notorious plant pathogens capable of causing large-scale damage to plant communities as well as enormous economic loss in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and natural environments worldwide. Disease caused by P. cinnamomi in Victoria apparently declined during the long drought in Victoria and P. cinnamomi became undetectable in several previously infested areas. This research project focused on studying the effect of drought (from 1996 to 2009) and bushfires on the presence and survival of P. cinnamomi at such sites. The project focused on identifying any possible misidentification or unidentified species among previously collected isolates thought to be P. cinnamomi, studying their pathogenicity and the implications of more than Phytophthora species on the same host. Sampling conducted at 32 sites in 4 Victorian National Parks showed that Kinglake National Park had the greatest rate of infection at 100%, followed by Wilsons Promontory National Park (88%), Brisbane Ranges National Park (60%) and lastly the Grampians National Park (46%). It was concluded that the absence of susceptible host plants was a major factor responsible for the decline in disease in Victoria and not just drought as previously thought. Even high-intensity fires did not eliminate P. cinnamomi from the soil. Fire restored disease symptoms and detection of P. cinnamomi in previously infested areas but not until at least a year after the fire, when susceptible host plants had re-grown. Smoke water inhibited growth of P. cinnamomi and could possibly be used as an efficient and economical control measure. Seventeen of the ninety-one isolates (18%) previously collected by various researchers were misidentified as P. cinnamomi. Phytophthora species such as P. cryptogea P. gonapodyides and P. niederhauserii, and Pythium species such as P. undulatum, P. sterilum, Pythium sp. UZ 612 and P. helicandrum were identified among the culture collections using DNA sequencing and PCR-RFLP. A modified and efficient method for isolation and detection of P. cinnamomi from field-collected samples was designed. The procedure included collection of whole sample with roots, litter and soil, pre-moistening and incubation of soil samples at 28°C for 2 days prior to baiting, use of Pimelea ferruginea leaves as baits and using V8 agar as the medium for studying growth and sporulation of P. cinnamomi. This method significantly increased the rate of P. cinnamomi isolation, from 40% to 70% of samples. A combination of different Phytophthora species, including P. cinnamomi, P. cryptogea and P. niederhauserii, when inoculated on germinated lupins showed that larger lesions and significantly greater root restriction was observed when two different Phytophthora species were present in the same host as compared to the presence of any single Phytophthora species. This suggested a possible increase in disease incidence and pathogenicity if more than one Phytophthora species is found in the same location and host

Efflux pump inhibitor phenylalanine-arginine B-naphthylamide effect on the minimum inhibitory concentration of imipenem in acinetobacter baumannii strains isolated from hospitalized patients in Shahid Motahari Burn Hospital, Tehran, Iran

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a highly troublesome pathogen and a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among hospitalized burn patients. Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the frequency of the AdeABC genes and the role of the efflux pump (s) in the imipenem resistance of A. baumannii strains isolated from burn patients. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 60 A. baumannii isolates collected from 240 wound samples of burn patients admitted to the Burn Unit of Shahid Motahari Burn hospital, Tehran, Iran. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion and broth microdilution according to the clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI) guidelines. The activity of the efflux pump was evaluated using the efflux pump inhibitor, the phenylalanine-arginine B-naphthylamide (PABN). The AdeABC genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing. Results: In this study, 100 of the isolates were resistant to cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, cefepime, piperacillin, meropenem, co-trimoxazole, and piperacillin/tazobactam; 56 (94) to gentamicin; 50 (81) to amikacin; 58 (97) to imipenem; and 45 (76) to tetracycline. Additionally, all the isolates were susceptible to colistin. The susceptibility of the strains to imipenem was highly increased in the presence of the efflux pump inhibitor such that for 58 (96.6) of the isolates, the PABN reduced the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) by 4- to 64-fold. The adeA and adeB genes were detected in 60 (100) of the isolates, and the adeC gene was present in 51 (85). Conclusions: The efflux pump may play a role in antibiotic resistance in A. baumannii isolates. The ability of A. baumannii isolates to acquire drug resistance by the efflux pump mechanism is a concern. Thus, new strategies are required in order to eliminate the efflux transport activity from resistant A. baumannii isolates causing nosocomial infections. © 2015, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

Optimizing entangling quantum gates for physical systems

Optimal control theory is a versatile tool that presents a route to significantly improving figures of merit for quantum information tasks. We combine it here with the geometric theory for local equivalence classes of two-qubit operations to derive an optimization algorithm that determines the best entangling two-qubit gate for a given physical setting. We demonstrate the power of this approach for trapped polar molecules and neutral atoms.Comment: extended version; Phys. Rev. A (2011

Effect of Yoga on pulmonary function tests

Background: Yoga is considered to be a very good exercise for maintaining proper health. The present work was planned to find effects of 10 weeks Yoga practice on some pulmonary function tests.Methods: The present study was conducted on 40 subjects, (30 males and 10 females) who came voluntarily as subjects for the project with written and informed consent. It was a prospective study on healthy volunteers from both sex of age between 20 to 65 years. Various Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) were measured.Results: Respiratory rate was decreased while Breath Holding Time (BHT) and Maximum Ventilatory Volume (MVV) were found to be increased in both male and female subjects.Conclusions: From this study we conclude that yoga practice can be advocated to improve respiratory efficiency for   healthy individuals as well as an alternative therapy or as adjunct to conventional therapy in respiratory diseases.

Synthesis and characterization of some novel coumarin based various 2-aryl-pyrido [3,2-c] coumarins

A survey of the literature reveals that the number of coumarin derivatives having heterocyclic moieties either as substituent groups or fused with parent coumarin nucleus possesses a variety of functions and are widely used in drugs and dyes. Because of this wide utility, the synthesis of coumarin has remained a subject of active interest. Looking at the importance of these heterocoumarins and with a view to exploring new methods of their synthesis, the present work was undertaken and  this synthesis deals with  various 2-aryl-pyrido [3,2-c] coumarins. The compounds have been synthesized by reacting Mannich bases of various 4-hydroxy coumarins with pyridinium salts of various aroyl methyl bromides in the presence of ammonium acetate and acetic acid. All the compounds synthesized have been characterized by analytical and spectral data. Keywords: Pyrido, Coumarins, Krohanke’s reaction