Information and Communication Technologies and Informal Scholarly Communication: A Review of the Social Oriented Research

This article reviews and analyzes findings from research on computer mediated informal scholarly communication. Ten empirical research papers, which show the effects and influences of information & communication technologies (ICTs), or the effects of social contexts on ICTs use in informal scholarly communication, were analyzed and compared. Types of ICTs covered in those studies include e-mails, collaboratories, and electronic forums. The review shows that most of the empirical studies examined the ICTs use effects or consequences. Only a few studies examined the social shaping of ICTs and ICT uses in informal scholarly communication. Based on comparisons of the empirical findings this article summarizes the ICT use effects/consequences as identified in the studies into seven categories and discusses their implications

Synthetic gauge potential and effective magnetic field in a Raman medium undergoing molecular modulation

We theoretically demonstrate non-trivial topological effects for a probe field in a Raman medium undergoing molecular modulation processes. The medium is driven by two non-collinear pump beams. We show that the angle between the pumps is related to an effective gauge potential and an effective magnetic field for the probe field in the synthetic space consisting of a synthetic frequency dimension and a spatial dimension. As a result of such effective magnetic field, the probe field can exhibit topologically-protected one-way edge state in the synthetic space, as well as Landau levels which manifests as suppression of both diffraction and sideband generation. Our work identifies a previously unexplored route towards creating topological photonics effects, and highlights an important connection between topological photonics and nonlinear optics

Solutions to the complex Korteweg-de Vries equation: Blow-up solutions and non-singular solutions

In the paper two kinds of solutions are derived for the complex Korteweg-de Vries equation, including blow-up solutions and non-singular solutions. We derive blow-up solutions from known 1-soliton solution and a double-pole solution. There is a complex Miura transformation between the complex Korteweg-de Vries equation and a modified Korteweg-de Vries equation. Using the transformation, solitons, breathers and rational solutions to the complex Korteweg-de Vries equation are obtained from those of the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation. Dynamics of the obtained solutions are illustrated.Comment: 12 figure

Experimentally reducing the quantum measurement back-action in work distributions by a collective measurement

In quantum thermodynamics, the standard approach to estimate work fluctuations in unitary processes is based on two projective measurements, one performed at the beginning of the process and one at the end. The first measurement destroys any initial coherence in the energy basis, thus preventing later interference effects. In order to decrease this back-action, a scheme based on collective measurements has been proposed in~[PRL 118, 070601 (2017)]. Here, we report its experimental implementation in an optical system. The experiment consists of a deterministic collective measurement on identically prepared two qubits, encoded in the polarisation and path degree of a single photon. The standard two projective measurement approach is also experimentally realized for comparison. Our results show the potential of collective schemes to decrease the back-action of projective measurements, and capture subtle effects arising from quantum coherence.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure