A scheme for tunable quantum phase gate and effective preparation of graph-state entanglement

A scheme is presented for realizing a quantum phase gate with three-level atoms, solid-state qubits--often called artificial atoms, or ions that share a quantum data bus such as a single mode field in cavity QED system or a collective vibrational state of trapped ions. In this scheme, the conditional phase shift is tunable and controllable via the total effective interaction time. Furthermore, we show that the method can be used for effective preparation of graph-state entanglement, which are important resources for quantum computation, quantum error correction, studies of multiparticle entanglement, fundamental tests of non-locality and decoherence.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Gluon Condensation Signature in the GeV Gamma-Ray Spectra of Pulsars

The accumulation of gluons inside nucleons, i.e., the gluon condensation, may lead to a characteristic broken power-law gamma-ray spectrum in high-energy nucleon collisions. Here we show that the observed spectra of at least 25 sources in the second Fermi Large Area Telescope Catalog of Gamma-ray Pulsars can be well fitted by such a broken power-law function that has only four free parameters. It strongly indicates that the gamma-ray emission from these pulsars is of hadronic origin, but with gluon condensation inside hadrons. It is well known that the quark-gluon distribution in a free nucleon is different from that in a bound nucleon. This work exposes the nuclear $A$-dependence of the gluon condensation effect, where $A$ refers to the baryon number. Our study reveals the gluon condensation under the condition of $A\to\infty$, which may open a new window for eavesdropping on the structure of compact stars on the sub-nuclear level.Comment: 12 pages (9 pages for main text), 5 figures, 1 table, accepted by PRD at https://journals.aps.org/prd/accepted/fd07cQ89M2118d20490d0d014fdd00616d4cdeb8

High visibility on-chip quantum interference of single surface plasmons

Quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPICs) based on dielectric waveguides have been widely used in linear optical quantum computation. Recently, surface plasmons have been introduced to this application because they can confine and manipulate light beyond the diffraction limit. In this study, the on-chip quantum interference of two single surface plasmons was achieved using dielectric-loaded surface-plasmon-polariton waveguides. The high visibility (greater than 90%) proves the bosonic nature of single plasmons and emphasizes the feasibility of achieving basic quantum logic gates for linear optical quantum computation. The effect of intrinsic losses in plasmonic waveguides with regard to quantum information processing is also discussed. Although the influence of this effect was negligible in the current experiment, our studies reveal that such losses can dramatically reduce quantum interference visibility in certain cases; thus, quantum coherence must be carefully considered when designing QPIC devices.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Topological magnons in one-dimensional ferromagnetic Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model with anisotropic interaction

Topological magnons in a one-dimensional (1D) ferromagnetic (FM) Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model with anisotropic exchange interactions are investigated. Apart from the inter-cellular isotropic Heisenberg interaction, the intercellular anisotropic exchange interactions, i.e. Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) and pseudo-dipolar interaction (PDI), also can induce the emergence of the non-trivial phase with two degenerate in-gap edge states separately localized at the two ends of the 1D chain, while the intracellular interactions instead unfavors the topological phase. The interplay among them has synergistic effects on the topological phase transition, very different from that in the two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnet. These results demonstrate that the 1D magnons possess rich topological phase diagrams distinctly different from the electronic version of the SSH model and even the 2D magnons. Due to the lower dimensional structural characteristics of this 1D topological magnonic system, the magnonic crystals can be constructed from bottom to top, which has important potential applications in the design of novel magnonic devices.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure

Bacterial Peptidoglycan Triggers Candida albicans Hyphal Growth by Directly Activating the Adenylyl Cyclase Cyr1p

SummaryHuman serum potently induces hyphal development of the polymorphic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, a phenotype that contributes critically to infections. The fungal adenylyl cyclase Cyr1p is a key component of the cAMP/PKA-signaling pathway that controls diverse infection-related traits, including hyphal morphogenesis. However, identity of the serum hyphal inducer(s) and its fungal sensor remain unknown. Our initial analyses of active serum fractions revealed signs of bacterial peptidoglycan (PGN)-like molecules. Here, we show that several purified and synthetic muramyl dipeptides (MDPs), subunits of PGN, can strongly promote C. albicans hyphal growth. Analogous to PGN recognition by the mammalian sensors Nod1 and Nod2 through their leucine-rich-repeat (LRR) domain, we show that MDPs activate Cyr1p by directly binding to its LRR domain. Given the abundance of PGN in the intestine, a natural habitat and invasion site for C. albicans, our findings have important implications for the mechanisms of infection by this pathogen