Star-triangle equivalence in soap froths

In two dimensional foams at equilibrium, triangular bubbles can be freely exchanged with 3-fold stars --three edges ending at a central vertex. This theorem is deduced here from Moukarzel's duality. Moreover, to probe the method, a few related properties are established: under slow gas diffusion, T2 processes are continuous for triangles but not for other types of bubbles. In general, the gas flow results in different configurations in the presence of a triangle than in the presence of a star.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures (6 eps files

Foams in contact with solid boundaries: equilibrium conditions and conformal invariance

A liquid foam in contact with a solid surface forms a two-dimensional foam on the surface. We derive the equilibrium equations for this 2D foam when the solid surface is curved and smooth, generalising the standard case of flat Hele Shaw cells. The equilibrium conditions at the vertices in 2D, at the edges in 3D, are invariant by conformal transformations. Regarding the films, conformal invariance only holds with restrictions, which we explicit for 3D and flat 2D foams. Considering foams confined in thin interstices between two non parallel plates, normal incidence and Laplace's law lead to an approximate equation relating the plate profile to the conformal map. Solutions are given for the logarithm and power laws in the case of constant pressure. The paper concludes on a comparison with available experimental data.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Integration of the VIMOS control system

The VIRMOS consortium of French and Italian Institutes (PI: O. Le Fevre, co-PI: G. Vettolani) is manufacturing two wide field imaging multi-object spectrographs for the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (VLT), with emphasis on the ability to carry over spectroscopic surveys of large numbers of sources: the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph, VIMOS, and the Near InfraRed Multi-Object Spectrograph, NIRMOS. There are 52 motors to be controlled in parallel in the spectrograph, making VIMOS a complex machine to be handled. This paper will focus on the description of the control system, designed in the ESO VLT standard control concepts, and on some integration issues and problem solving strategies.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, ICALEPCS 2001 Conference, PSN#TUBT00

Optomechanical tailoring of quantum fluctuations

We propose the use of feedback mechanism to control the level of quantum noise in a radiation field emerging from a pendular Fabry-Perot cavity. It is based on the possibility to perform quantum nondemolition measurements by means of optomechanical coupling.Comment: ReVTeX file, 8 pages, 1 Postscript figure. to appear in J. Opt. B: Quant. Semiclass. Op

The half-filled Hubbard chain in the Composite Operator Method: A comparison with Bethe Ansatz

The one-dimensional Hubbard model at half-filling is studied in the framework of the Composite Operator Method using a static approximation. A solution characterized by strong antiferromagnetic correlations and a gap for any nonzero on-site interaction U is found. The corresponding ground-state energy, double occupancy and specific heat are in excellent agreement with those obtained within the Bethe Ansatz. These results show that the Composite Operator Method is an appropriate framework for the half-filled Hubbard chain and can be applied to evaluate properties, like the correlation functions, which cannot be obtained by means of the Bethe Ansatz, except for some limiting cases.Comment: 7 pages, 3 embedded Postscript figures, EuroTeX, submitted to EuroPhysics Letter

Advanced vehicle separation apparatus

A method of obtaining test data from two independent models or bodies in a conventional wind tunnel is described. The system makes efficient use of wind tunnel test time with computer control performing complex coordinate transformations necessary for model positioning. The apparatus is designed to be used in any of the three Unitary Wind Tunnels at NASA-Ames Research Center. Mechanical design details and a brief description of the control system for the separation apparatus are presented

Using qualitative models to define sustainable management for the commons in data poor conditions

Acknowledgments This work was funded by the University of Aberdeen and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and their support is gratefully acknowledged. We thank MASTS (the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland) for their role in funding this work and B. Leyshon and F. Manson (SNH) for fruitful discussion.Peer reviewedPostprin

Bayesian feedback versus Markovian feedback in a two-level atom

We compare two different approaches to the control of the dynamics of a continuously monitored open quantum system. The first is Markovian feedback as introduced in quantum optics by Wiseman and Milburn [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 70}, 548 (1993)]. The second is feedback based on an estimate of the system state, developed recently by Doherty {\em et al.} [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62}, 012105 (2000)]. Here we choose to call it, for brevity, {\em Bayesian feedback}. For systems with nonlinear dynamics, we expect these two methods of feedback control to give markedly different results. The simplest possible nonlinear system is a driven and damped two-level atom, so we choose this as our model system. The monitoring is taken to be homodyne detection of the atomic fluorescence, and the control is by modulating the driving. The aim of the feedback in both cases is to stabilize the internal state of the atom as close as possible to an arbitrarily chosen pure state, in the presence of inefficient detection and other forms of decoherence. Our results (obtain without recourse to stochastic simulations) prove that Bayesian feedback is never inferior, and is usually superior, to Markovian feedback. However it would be far more difficult to implement than Markovian feedback and it loses its superiority when obvious simplifying approximations are made. It is thus not clear which form of feedback would be better in the face of inevitable experimental imperfections.Comment: 10 pages, including 3 figure

Preserving Information from the Beginning to the End of time in a Robertson-Walker Spacetime

Preserving information stored in a physical system subjected to noise can be modeled in a communication-theoretic paradigm, in which storage and retrieval correspond to an input encoding and output decoding, respectively. The encoding and decoding are then constructed in such a way as to protect against the action of a given noisy quantum channel. This paper considers the situation in which the noise is not due to technological imperfections, but rather to the physical laws governing the evolution of the universe. In particular, we consider the dynamics of quantum systems under a 1+1 Robertson-Walker spacetime and find that the noise imparted to them is equivalent to the well known amplitude damping channel. Since one might be interested in preserving both classical and quantum information in such a scenario, we study trade-off coding strategies and determine a region of achievable rates for the preservation of both kinds of information. For applications beyond the physical setting studied here, we also determine a trade-off between achievable rates of classical and quantum information preservation when entanglement assistance is available.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures. Presentation updated, matches the published versio