11,391 research outputs found
Nonclassicality of states and measurements by breaking classical bounds on statistics
Original article can be found at: http://pra.aps.org/ Copyright American Physical Society. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.79.042105We derive exceedingly simple practical procedures revealing the quantum nature of states and measurements by the violation of classical upper bounds on the statistics of arbitrary measurements. Data analysis is minimum, and definite conclusions are obtained without evaluation of moments or any other more sophisticated procedures. These nonclassical tests are independent of other typical quantum signatures such as sub-Poissonian statistics, quadrature squeezing, or oscillatory statistics. This approach can be equally well applied to very diverse situations such as single- and two-mode fields, observables with continuous and discrete spectra, finite- and infinite-dimensional systems, and ideal and noisy measurements.Peer reviewe
The dynamical equation of the spinning electron
We obtain by invariance arguments the relativistic and non-relativistic
invariant dynamical equations of a classical model of a spinning electron. We
apply the formalism to a particular classical model which satisfies Dirac's
equation when quantised. It is shown that the dynamics can be described in
terms of the evolution of the point charge which satisfies a fourth order
differential equation or, alternatively, as a system of second order
differential equations by describing the evolution of both the center of mass
and center of charge of the particle. As an application of the found dynamical
equations, the Coulomb interaction between two spinning electrons is
considered. We find from the classical viewpoint that these spinning electrons
can form bound states under suitable initial conditions. Since the classical
Coulomb interaction of two spinless point electrons does not allow for the
existence of bound states, it is the spin structure that gives rise to new
physical phenomena not described in the spinless case. Perhaps the paper may be
interesting from the mathematical point of view but not from the point of view
of physics.Comment: Latex2e, 14 pages, 5 figure
A new species of Anadia (Reptilia, Squamata) from the Venezuelan 'Lost World', northern South America
A new gymnophthalmid lizard of the genus Anadia Gray, 1845 is described from the summit of Abakapá-tepui, Bolívar State, Venezuela, between 2200-2242 m elevation. The new species, Anadia mcdiarmidi sp. nov., is endemic to the Chimantá Massif and seemingly also occurs on Amurí-tepui and Murei-tepui. The new taxon is mainly distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of characters: body fairly robust, dorsal scales small and quadrangular, middorsal scales 53-57, suboculars large, subequal in size, with sometimes one scale slightly protruding downward between 4th and 5th supralabial, nasal entire, without sub-nostril groove, body uniform beige or greyish to bluish brown in life, devoid of any conspicuous pattern in males, venter immaculate golden grey in life, femoral pores 9-10 on each side in males, preanal pores absent, hemipenis globose, weakly bilobed, bordered by numerous fl ounces (>20) bearing comblike rows of minute weakly mineralized spinules. The presence of a species of Anadia, a primarily Andean genus, on the top of tepuis is of considerable interest to the understanding of the Pantepui biogeography
Topological Heat Transport and Symmetry-Protected Boson Currents
The study of non-equilibrium properties in topological systems is of
practical and fundamental importance. Here, we analyze the stationary
properties of a two-dimensional bosonic Hofstadter lattice coupled to two
thermal baths in the quantum open-system formalism. Novel phenomena appear like
chiral edge heat currents that are the out-of-equilibrium counterparts of the
zero-temperature edge currents. They support a new concept of dissipative
symmetry-protection, where a set of discrete symmetries protects topological
heat currents, differing from the symmetry-protection devised in closed systems
and zero-temperature. Remarkably, one of these currents flows opposite to the
decreasing external temperature gradient. As the starting point, we consider
the case of a single external reservoir already showing prominent results like
thermal erasure effects and topological thermal currents. Our results are
experimentally accessible with platforms like photonics systems and optical
lattices.Comment: RevTeX4 file, color figure
Symmetry-protected Topological Phases at Finite Temperature
We have applied the recently developed theory of topological Uhlmann numbers
to a representative model of a topological insulator in two dimensions, the
Qi-Wu-Zhang model. We have found a stable symmetry-protected topological (SPT)
phase under external thermal fluctuations in two-dimensions. A complete phase
diagram for this model is computed as a function of temperature and coupling
constants in the original Hamiltonian. It shows the appearance of large stable
phases of matter with topological properties compatible with thermal
fluctuations or external noise and the existence of critical lines separating
abruptly trivial phases from topological phases. These novel critical
temperatures represent thermal topological phase transitions. The initial part
of the paper comprises a self-contained explanation of the Uhlmann geometric
phase needed to understand the topological properties that it may acquire when
applied to topological insulators and superconductors.Comment: Contribution to the focus issue on "Artificial Graphene". Edited by
Maciej Lewenstein, Vittorio Pellegrini, Marco Polini and Mordechai (Moti)
Sege
- …