755 research outputs found
Enhancing a phase measurement by sequentially probing a solid-state system
In a recent paper, Liu et al. [Nat. Commun. 6:6726 (2015)] claim to perform
the first room temperature entanglement-enhanced phase measurement in a
solid-state system. We argue here that this claim is incorrect: their
measurement is not enhanced because of the entanglement in their system, but
instead the enhancement comes from the fact that the phase shift is applied
twice to their state.Comment: 2 page
Quantum states made to measure
Recent progress in manipulating quantum states of light and matter brings
quantum-enhanced measurements closer to prospective applications. The current
challenge is to make quantum metrologic strategies robust against
imperfections.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Commentary for Nature Photonic
An accurate test for homogeneity of odds ratios based on Cochran's Q-statistic
Background: A frequently used statistic for testing homogeneity in a meta-analysis of K independent studies is Cochran's Q. For a standard test of homogeneity the Q statistic is referred to a chi-square distribution with K - 1 degrees of freedom. For the situation in which the effects of the studies are logarithms of odds ratios, the chi-square distribution is much too conservative for moderate size studies, although it may be asymptotically correct as the individual studies become large. Methods: Using a mixture of theoretical results and simulations, we provide formulas to estimate the shape and scale parameters of a gamma distribution to t the distribution of Q. Results: Simulation studies show that the gamma distribution is a good approximation to the distribution for Q. Conclusions: : Use of the gamma distribution instead of the chi-square distribution for Q should eliminate inaccurate inferences in assessing homogeneity in a meta-analysis. (A computer program for implementing this test is provided.) This hypothesis test is competitive with the Breslow-Day test both in accuracy of level and in power
Calculating Unknown Eigenvalues with a Quantum Algorithm
Quantum algorithms are able to solve particular problems exponentially faster
than conventional algorithms, when implemented on a quantum computer. However,
all demonstrations to date have required already knowing the answer to
construct the algorithm. We have implemented the complete quantum phase
estimation algorithm for a single qubit unitary in which the answer is
calculated by the algorithm. We use a new approach to implementing the
controlled-unitary operations that lie at the heart of the majority of quantum
algorithms that is more efficient and does not require the eigenvalues of the
unitary to be known. These results point the way to efficient quantum
simulations and quantum metrology applications in the near term, and to
factoring large numbers in the longer term. This approach is architecture
independent and thus can be used in other physical implementations
Noiseless Linear Amplification and Distillation of Entanglement
The idea of signal amplification is ubiquitous in the control of physical
systems, and the ultimate performance limit of amplifiers is set by quantum
physics. Increasing the amplitude of an unknown quantum optical field, or more
generally any harmonic oscillator state, must introduce noise. This linear
amplification noise prevents the perfect copying of the quantum state, enforces
quantum limits on communications and metrology, and is the physical mechanism
that prevents the increase of entanglement via local operations. It is known
that non-deterministic versions of ideal cloning and local entanglement
increase (distillation) are allowed, suggesting the possibility of
non-deterministic noiseless linear amplification. Here we introduce, and
experimentally demonstrate, such a noiseless linear amplifier for
continuous-variables states of the optical field, and use it to demonstrate
entanglement distillation of field-mode entanglement. This simple but powerful
circuit can form the basis of practical devices for enhancing quantum
technologies. The idea of noiseless amplification unifies approaches to cloning
and distillation, and will find applications in quantum metrology and
communications.Comment: Submitted 10 June 200
General framework for estimating the ultimate precision limit in noisy quantum-enhanced metrology
The estimation of parameters characterizing dynamical processes is central to
science and technology. The estimation error changes with the number N of
resources employed in the experiment (which could quantify, for instance, the
number of probes or the probing energy). Typically, it scales as 1/N^(1/2).
Quantum strategies may improve the precision, for noiseless processes, by an
extra factor 1/N^(1/2). For noisy processes, it is not known in general if and
when this improvement can be achieved. Here we propose a general framework for
obtaining attainable and useful lower bounds for the ultimate limit of
precision in noisy systems. We apply this bound to lossy optical interferometry
and atomic spectroscopy in the presence of dephasing, showing that it captures
the main features of the transition from the 1/N to the 1/N^(1/2) behaviour as
N increases, independently of the initial state of the probes, and even with
use of adaptive feedback.Comment: Published in Nature Physics. This is the revised submitted version.
The supplementary material can be found at
http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v7/n5/extref/nphys1958-s1.pd
Manipulating a qubit through the backaction of sequential partial measurements and real-time feedback
Quantum measurements not only extract information from a system but also
alter its state. Although the outcome of the measurement is probabilistic, the
backaction imparted on the measured system is accurately described by quantum
theory. Therefore, quantum measurements can be exploited for manipulating
quantum systems without the need for control fields. We demonstrate
measurement-only state manipulation on a nuclear spin qubit in diamond by
adaptive partial measurements. We implement the partial measurement via tunable
correlation with an electron ancilla qubit and subsequent ancilla readout. We
vary the measurement strength to observe controlled wavefunction collapse and
find post-selected quantum weak values. By combining a novel quantum
non-demolition readout on the ancilla with real-time adaption of the
measurement strength we realize steering of the nuclear spin to a target state
by measurements alone. Besides being of fundamental interest, adaptive
measurements can improve metrology applications and are key to
measurement-based quantum computing.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Spectral compression of single photons
Photons are critical to quantum technologies since they can be used for
virtually all quantum information tasks: in quantum metrology, as the
information carrier in photonic quantum computation, as a mediator in hybrid
systems, and to establish long distance networks. The physical characteristics
of photons in these applications differ drastically; spectral bandwidths span
12 orders of magnitude from 50 THz for quantum-optical coherence tomography to
50 Hz for certain quantum memories. Combining these technologies requires
coherent interfaces that reversibly map centre frequencies and bandwidths of
photons to avoid excessive loss. Here we demonstrate bandwidth compression of
single photons by a factor 40 and tunability over a range 70 times that
bandwidth via sum-frequency generation with chirped laser pulses. This
constitutes a time-to-frequency interface for light capable of converting
time-bin to colour entanglement and enables ultrafast timing measurements. It
is a step toward arbitrary waveform generation for single and entangled
photons.Comment: 6 pages (4 figures) + 6 pages (3 figures
Therapeutic effects of methylphenidate for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children with borderline intellectual functioning or intellectual disability: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occurs with intellectual disability in children, and may further compromise learning. Methylphenidate is a first-line treatment for ADHD, however no previous meta-analysis has evaluated its overall efficacy for ADHD in children with comorbid intellectual disability (ID) or borderline intellectual functioning. The PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL and ScienceDirect databases were systematically searched from inception through 2018/7/15 for clinical studies that investigated the effects of methylphenidate in children with ADHD and ID. A random-effects model meta-analysis was used for data synthesis. Eight studies (average Jadad score = 2.5) enrolling 242 participants receiving methylphenidate and 181 participants receiving placebo were included. The meta-analysis showed that methylphenidate led to a significant improvement in ADHD symptoms relative to placebo (Hedges’ g = 0.878, p < 0.001). Meta-regression analysis pointed to an association between the dose of methylphenidate and overall improvement in ADHD severity (slope = 1.334, p < 0.001). Finally, there was no significant difference in drop-out rate [odds ratio (OR) = 1.679, p = 0.260] or rate of treatment discontinuation due to adverse events (OR = 4.815, p = 0.053) between subjects receiving methylphenidate and those taking placebos. Our study suggests that methylphenidate retains its efficacy in children with ADHD and borderline intellectual functioning or ID
Measuring measurement
Measurement connects the world of quantum phenomena to the world of classical
events. It plays both a passive role, observing quantum systems, and an active
one, preparing quantum states and controlling them. Surprisingly - in the light
of the central status of measurement in quantum mechanics - there is no general
recipe for designing a detector that measures a given observable. Compounding
this, the characterization of existing detectors is typically based on partial
calibrations or elaborate models. Thus, experimental specification (i.e.
tomography) of a detector is of fundamental and practical importance. Here, we
present the realization of quantum detector tomography: we identify the optimal
positive-operator-valued measure describing the detector, with no ancillary
assumptions. This result completes the triad, state, process, and detector
tomography, required to fully specify an experiment. We characterize an
avalanche photodiode and a photon number resolving detector capable of
detecting up to eight photons. This creates a new set of tools for accurately
detecting and preparing non-classical light.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures,see video abstract at
http://www.quantiki.org/video_abstracts/0807244
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