Security of Quantum Key Distribution with Coherent States and Homodyne Detection

We assess the security of a quantum key distribution protocol relying on the transmission of Gaussian-modulated coherent states and homodyne detection. This protocol is shown to be equivalent to a squeezed state protocol based on a CSS code construction, and is thus provably secure against any eavesdropping strategy. We also briefly show how this protocol can be generalized in order to improve the net key rate.Comment: 7 page

Secure Coherent-state Quantum Key Distribution Protocols with Efficient Reconciliation

We study the equivalence between a realistic quantum key distribution protocol using coherent states and homodyne detection and a formal entanglement purification protocol. Maximally-entangled qubit pairs that one can extract in the formal protocol correspond to secret key bits in the realistic protocol. More specifically, we define a qubit encoding scheme that allows the formal protocol to produce more than one entangled qubit pair per coherent state, or equivalently for the realistic protocol, more than one secret key bit. The entanglement parameters are estimated using quantum tomography. We analyze the properties of the encoding scheme and investigate its application to the important case of the attenuation channel.Comment: REVTeX, 11 pages, 2 figure

Can education change the world? Education amplifies differences in liberalization values and innovation between developed and developing countries

The present study investigated the relationship between level of education and liberalization values in large, representative samples administered in 96 countries around the world (total N = 139,991). These countries show meaningful variation in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI), ranging from very poor, developing countries to prosperous, developed countries. We found evidence of cross-level interactions, consistently showing that individuals' level of education was associated with an increase in their liberalization values in higher HDI societies, whereas this relationship was curbed in lower HDI countries. This enhanced liberalization mindset of individuals in high HDI countries, in turn, was related to better scores on national indices of innovation. We conclude that this 'education amplification effect' widens the gap between lower and higher HDI countries in terms of liberalized mentality and economic growth potential. Policy implications for how low HDI countries can counter this gap are discussed

Does threat trigger prosociality? The relation between basic individual values, threat appraisals, and prosocial helping intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Prosociality is often considered as quintessential in coping with the threats of health emergencies. As previous research has suggested, prosocial behaviors are shaped by both dispositional factors and situational cues about the helping situation. In the present research, we investigated whether “bonding” types of prosociality, helping directed towards close others within one’s social network, and “bridging” types of prosociality, helping directed towards vulnerable people across group boundaries, are predicted by basic individual values and threat appraisals concerning COVID-19. During the pandemic, we conducted a cross-sectional study in the US and India (Ntotal = 954), using the Schwartz value inventory and a multifaceted measure of threat assessment to predict prosocial helping intentions. After controlling for other value and threat facets, self-transcendence values and threat for vulnerable groups uniquely predicted both bonding and bridging types of prosociality. Furthermore, threat for vulnerable groups partially mediated the effect of self-transcendence on prosocial helping intentions: People who endorsed self-transcendent values were particularly concerned by the effect of the pandemic on vulnerable groups, and thus willing to engage in prosocial behaviours to help those in need. Our findings support the idea that prosociality is stimulated by empathic concerns towards others in need and underline the importance for future research to consider the broad spectrum of threats appraised by people during health emergencies

Historic buildings and the creation of experiencescapes: looking to the past for future success

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the role that the creative re-use of historic buildings can play in the future development of the experiences economy. The aesthetic attributes and the imbued historic connotation associated with the building help create unique and extraordinary “experiencescapes” within the contemporary tourism and hospitality industries. Design/methodology/approach: This paper provides a conceptual insight into the creative re-use of historic buildings in the tourism and hospitality sectors, the work draws on two examples of re-use in the UK. Findings: This work demonstrates how the creative re-use of historic buildings can help create experiences that are differentiated from the mainstream hospitality experiences. It also identifies that it adds an addition unquantifiable element that enables the shift to take place from servicescape to experiencescape. Originality/value: There has been an ongoing debate as to the significance of heritage in hospitality and tourism. However, this paper provides an insight into how the practical re-use of buildings can help companies both benefit from and contribute to the experiences economy

Critical behavior in Angelesco ensembles

We consider Angelesco ensembles with respect to two modified Jacobi weights on touching intervals [a,0] and [0,1], for a < 0. As a \to -1 the particles around 0 experience a phase transition. This transition is studied in a double scaling limit, where we let the number of particles of the ensemble tend to infinity while the parameter a tends to -1 at a rate of order n^{-1/2}. The correlation kernel converges, in this regime, to a new kind of universal kernel, the Angelesco kernel K^{Ang}. The result follows from the Deift/Zhou steepest descent analysis, applied to the Riemann-Hilbert problem for multiple orthogonal polynomials.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figure

“Sorry for Congo, Let’s Make Amends”: Belgians’ Ideological Worldviews Predict Attitudes towards Apology and Reparation for its Colonial Past

In light of the recent steps Belgium has made towards reconciling with its colonial history in Congo (e.g., the King’s letter of regret, and the removal of some colonial statues), we examined how Belgians differ in their attitudes towards an official apology, towards (symbolic) reparations (e.g., renaming streets), and towards raising more awareness about the colonial past (e.g., more detailed information in educational books) as a function of their ideological worldviews. We hypothesized that authoritarianism and group dominance would negatively predict these outcome variables, while particularly universal-diverse orientation and egalitarianism would predict them positively. We further hypothesized that these relations would be mediated by relevant intergroup emotions (i.e., group-based guilt, shame, and anger, and especially outgroup empathy). Path model analyses on a sample of 258 Flemish-speaking students provided support for our predictions: (1) universal-diverse orientation was the strongest predictor of all intergroup emotions, (2) empathy – and to a lesser extent group-based anger – were the strongest direct predictors of attitudes towards apologizing, reparation, and awareness, and (3) empathy was the most important mediator explaining the associations of universaldiverse and egalitarian orientations with the outcomes. We discuss the implications of our findings for the current debate regarding reconciliation between groups with a history of colonialism