Certified quantum non-demolition measurement of material systems

An extensive debate on quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement, reviewed in Grangier et al. [Nature, {\bf 396}, 537 (1998)], finds that true QND measurements must have both non-classical state-preparation capability and non-classical information-damage tradeoff. Existing figures of merit for these non-classicality criteria require direct measurement of the signal variable and are thus difficult to apply to optically-probed material systems. Here we describe a method to demonstrate both criteria without need for to direct signal measurements. Using a covariance matrix formalism and a general noise model, we compute meter observables for QND measurement triples, which suffice to compute all QND figures of merit. The result will allow certified QND measurement of atomic spin ensembles using existing techniques.Comment: 11 pages, zero figure

Probing the limits of classic trauma representation: The juxtaposition of traumas in the contemporary American novel

The thesis examines contemporary US-American novels which juxtapose several collective traumatic memories. Close readings of the novels "What You Owe Me" by Bebe Moore Campbell (2001), "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer (2006), "Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann (2009), and "Great House" by Nicole Krauss (2010) carve out how different collective historical traumas such as 9/11, the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, and slavery are depicted within the same novel and to what effect the juxtaposition is undertaken, i.e. if commonalities or differences are suggested or if the outcome is left open. The thesis also discusses which position the novels take up in the discourses on the incomparability or hierarchization of traumas. As analytical tools, the thesis applies not only classic trauma studies approaches, as they were established by Cathy Caruth, but also concepts which hitherto have not been applied to study trauma fiction, i.e. network theory and psychogeography, thereby pointing out benefits and limits of the classic trauma discourse