Non-Markovian Dynamics of Quantum Discord

We evaluate the quantum discord dynamics of two qubits in independent and common non-Markovian environments. We compare the dynamics of entanglement with that of quantum discord. For independent reservoirs the quantum discord vanishes only at discrete instants whereas the entanglement can disappear during a finite time interval. For a common reservoir, quantum discord and entanglement can behave very differently with sudden birth of the former but not of the latter. Furthermore, in this case the quantum discord dynamics presents sudden changes in the derivative of its time evolution which is evidenced by the presence of kinks in its behavior at discrete instants of time.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Enterococcus sp. isolated from swine carcasses at the pre-chill stage

The prevalence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria has been increasingly monitored in animals in order to prevent the spread of these strains through the food supply chain. Particularly, the emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and Extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) producing Enterobacteriaceae has been investigated worldwide. In the current study, the frequency of antimicrobial resistance of generic Escherichia coli and Enterococcus isolated from wine carcasses sampled at the pre-chill stage was assessed

Generation of decoherence-free displaced squeezed states of radiation fields and a squeezed reservoir for atoms in cavity QED

We present a way to engineer an effective anti-Jaynes-Cumming and a Jaynes-Cumming interaction between an atomic system and a single cavity mode and show how to employ it in reservoir engineering processes. To construct the effective Hamiltonian, we analyse considered the interaction of an atomic system in a \{Lambda} configuration, driven by classical fields, with a single cavity mode. With this interaction, we firstly show how to generate a decoherence-free displaced squeezed state for the cavity field. In our scheme, an atomic beam works as a reservoir for the radiation field trapped inside the cavity, as employed recently by S. Pielawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 240401 (2007)] to generate an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled radiation state in high-Q resonators. In our scheme, all the atoms have to be prepared in the ground state and, as in the cited article, neither atomic detection nor precise interaction times between the atoms and the cavity mode are required. From this same interaction, we can also generate an ideal squeezed reservoir for atomic systems. For this purpose we have to assume, besides the engineered atom-field interaction, a strong decay of the cavity field (i.e., the cavity decay must be much stronger than the effective atom-field coupling). With this scheme, some interesting effects in the dynamics of an atom in a squeezed reservoir could be tested

Parâmetros microbiológicos de carcaças suínas amostradas na etapa de pré-resfriamento.

Projeto/Plano de Ação: 11.11.11.111

Detection of salmonella heidelberg resistant to colistin in the intestinal content of pigs at slaughter.

Abstract : Salmonella Heidelberg has increasingly been reported as cause of human salmonellosis worldwide. In Brazil, S. Heidelberg has been reported in poultry but it is infrequently isolated from pigs. Here, we describe the isolation of S. Heidelberg resistant to colistin from slaughter pigs. Five pigs and their carcasses belonging to a same slaughter batch in ten consecutive days were sampled for fragment of intestine in the ileocecal region and sponges rubbed on the carcass surface (400 cm2 ) before chilling. Salmonella detection was performed according to the ISO 6579:2002. Intestinal content was also subjected to Salmonella enumeration by a miniaturized Most Probable Number (MPN) protocol. Salmonella isolates were characterized by antimicrobial resistance by the disk diffusion test, the minimum inhibitory concentration to colistin determination and to gene mcr-1 investigation by PCR. Salmonella was isolated from the intestinal content of 64% (32/50) of the pigs, in amounts that varied from 2.7 to >1,400 MPN/g. Salmonella Heidelberg was the most frequent serovar identified in the intestinal content samples (20/50; 40%), and this serovar was present in eight of the ten pig batches sampled. At the prechill, Salmonella was isolated from 8% of carcasses, and S. Heidelberg was not detected. Salmonella Heidelberg strains were resistant against ampicillin (n=9), tetracycline (n=8), sulfonamide (n=8) and gentamicin (n=5). Nine multi-drug resistant strains were detected; among them four strains were positive for the gene mcr-1. In these strains the MIC value was 8 µg.mL-1 , while in the strains without the mcr-1 gene it ranged from 2 µg.mL-1 to 4 µg.mL-1 . Therefore, humans in contact with carrier pigs or their environment may be exposed to S. Heidelberg, including strains harboring the gene mcr-1.SafePork 2017

Overview on the phenomenon of two-qubit entanglement revivals in classical environments

The occurrence of revivals of quantum entanglement between separated open quantum systems has been shown not only for dissipative non-Markovian quantum environments but also for classical environments in absence of back-action. While the phenomenon is well understood in the first case, the possibility to retrieve entanglement when the composite quantum system is subject to local classical noise has generated a debate regarding its interpretation. This dynamical property of open quantum systems assumes an important role in quantum information theory from both fundamental and practical perspectives. Hybrid quantum-classical systems are in fact promising candidates to investigate the interplay among quantum and classical features and to look for possible control strategies of a quantum system by means of a classical device. Here we present an overview on this topic, reporting the most recent theoretical and experimental results about the revivals of entanglement between two qubits locally interacting with classical environments. We also review and discuss the interpretations provided so far to explain this phenomenon, suggesting that they can be cast under a unified viewpoint.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Chapter written for the upcoming book "Lectures on general quantum correlations and their applications

Quantum entanglement and disentanglement of multi-atom systems

We present a review of recent research on quantum entanglement, with special emphasis on entanglement between single atoms, processing of an encoded entanglement and its temporary evolution. Analysis based on the density matrix formalism are described. We give a simple description of the entangling procedure and explore the role of the environment in creation of entanglement and in disentanglement of atomic systems. A particular process we will focus on is spontaneous emission, usually recognized as an irreversible loss of information and entanglement encoded in the internal states of the system. We illustrate some certain circumstances where this irreversible process can in fact induce entanglement between separated systems. We also show how spontaneous emission reveals a competition between the Bell states of a two qubit system that leads to the recently discovered "sudden" features in the temporal evolution of entanglement. An another problem illustrated in details is a deterministic preparation of atoms and atomic ensembles in long-lived stationary squeezed states and entangled cluster states. We then determine how to trigger the evolution of the stable entanglement and also address the issue of a steered evolution of entanglement between desired pairs of qubits that can be achieved simply by varying the parameters of a given system.Comment: Review articl