Quantum state and process tomography via adaptive measurements

We investigate quantum state tomography(QST) for pure states and quantum process tomography(QPT) for unitary channels via adaptive measurements. For a quantum system with a d-dimensional Hilbert space, we first propose an adaptive protocol where only 2d. 1 measurement outcomes are used to accomplish the QST for all pure states. This idea is then extended to study QPT for unitary channels, where an adaptive unitary process tomography(AUPT) protocol of d2+d.1measurement outcomes is constructed for any unitary channel. We experimentally implement the AUPT protocol in a 2-qubit nuclear magnetic resonance system. We examine the performance of the AUPT protocol when applied to Hadamard gate, T gate(/8 phase gate), and controlled-NOT gate,respectively, as these gates form the universal gate set for quantum information processing purpose. As a comparison, standard QPT is also implemented for each gate. Our experimental results show that the AUPT protocol that reconstructing unitary channels via adaptive measurements significantly reduce the number of experiments required by standard QPT without considerable loss of fidelity.     

New insights into AGNs with low-mass black holes and high accretion rates: the case of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies

Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies are believed to harbor low-mass black holes accreting at high rates, and they are therefore important targets when studying the nature of black hole growth, galaxy evolution, and accretion physics. We have rigorously studied the physical properties of a sample of NLS1 galaxies. We briefly review previous findings and present new results, including: (1) The locus of NLS1 galaxies on the M _BH-σ plane, which we find to follow the relation of non-active galaxies after removing objects obviously dominated by outflows. (2) The presence of “blue outliers” which hint at extreme outflows as they would be predicted from merger models. (3) More subtle evidence for winds and outflows across the whole NLS1 population. (4) New correlations and trends which link black hole mass, Eddington ratio and physical parameters of the emission-line region. A new element is added to the eigenvector 1 space based on a principal component analysis, which aims at identifying the main drivers of AGN correlation properties.

     

Interaction of bis-aryl functionalized molecules with nucleosides and nucleic acids

A series of novel molecules with a cyclen(1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane) moiety appended on and bearing different aromatic fragments in the structures were synthesized and characterized.The binding activities of these compounds towards DNA were systematically studied by spectroscopic,viscometric and gel electrophoresis methods.The results suggest that the stacking interaction plays an important role in improving the DNA binding ability of the compounds.The binding modes of the compounds towards DNA are als...     

Prediction of the thermodynamic properties of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate ionic liquids [C n mim][Lact] (n = 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) by parachor

An ionic liquid (IL) based on lactate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium lactate ([C₄mim][Lact]), has been prepared and characterized by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Since the IL can form strong hydrogen bonds with water, trace water is a problematic impurity in the IL. Using the standard addition method (SAM), the density, refractive index and surface tension of [C₄mim][Lact] were measured in the temperature range (308.15 to 343.15 ± 0.05) K. On the basis of the experimental data, the parachor and molar volume for [C₄mim][Lact], and the molecular volume V _m, surface tension γ, molar enthalpy of vaporization Δ_l ^g H _m ⁰, refractive index n _D, and the thermal expansion coefficients α, for the homologues [C _n mim][Lact] (n = 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) were estimated using semi-empirical methods. The estimated values are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Modification of proteins with cyclodextrins prevents aggregation and surface adsorption and increases thermal stability

This work describes a general approach for preventing protein aggregation and surface adsorption by modifying proteins with β-cyclodextrins (βCD) via an efficient water-driven ligation. As compared to native unmodified proteins, the cyclodextrin-modified proteins (lysozyme and RNase A) exhibit significant reduction in aggregation, surface adsorption and increase in thermal stability. These results reveal a new chemistry for preventing protein aggregation and surface adsorption that is likely of different mechanisms than that by modifying proteins with poly(ethylene glycol).     

Pentavalent symmetric graphs of order 2p3

A graph is symmetric or 1-regular if its automorphism group is transitive or regular on the arc set of the graph, respectively. We classify the connected pentavalent symmetric graphs of order 2p~3 for each prime p. All those symmetric graphs appear as normal Cayley graphs on some groups of order 2p~3 and their automorphism groups are determined. For p = 3, no connected pentavalent symmetric graphs of order 2p~3 exist. However, for p = 2 or 5, such symmetric graph exists uniquely in each case. For p 7, the connected pentavalent symmetric graphs of order 2p~3 are all regular covers of the dipole Dip5 with covering transposition groups of order p~3, and they consist of seven infinite families; six of them are 1-regular and exist if and only if 5 |(p- 1), while the other one is 1-transitive but not 1-regular and exists if and only if 5 |(p ± 1). In the seven infinite families, each graph is unique for a given order.     

Density estimated physicochemical properties of alanine-based ionic liquid [C7mim][Ala] and its application in selective transesterification of soybean oil

Amino acid ionic liquid (AAIL) based on alanine, 1-n-heptyl-3-methylimidazolium alanine ([C7mim][Ala]), has been prepared and characterized. Since the IL can form strong hydrogen bonds with water, trace amount of water is a problematic impurity in the IL. Using the standard addition method (SAM), the densities were measured in the temperature range from 293.15 to 343.15±0.05 K. On the basis of the experimental data of density, the surface tension , molar volume, and the molecular volume Vm, molar enthalpy of vaporization lgHm0, and the thermal expansion coefficients , for [C7mim][Ala] were estimated using semi-empirical methods. Also the interstice model has been verified with good accordance. Then the [C7mim][Ala] was taken as catalyst in the transesterification reaction with fatty acid, where soybean oil was used as raw material and methanol as reactant. The amount of catalyst, alcohol consumption, reaction time, temperature and other factors of the reaction were investigated. Using GC determination, the conversions were calculated by the internal standard method. The main ingredients of the products were identified by GC-MS as palm methyl ester and linoleic acid methyl ester only, which showed high selectivity in palmitic acid and linoleic acid.     

The ionic parachor and predicting properties of amino acid ionic liquid homologues of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium glycine

The amino acid ionic liquids(AAILs) [C3mim][Gly](1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium glycine) and [C4mim][Gly](1-butyl-3methylimidazolium glycine) have been prepared by the neutralization method and characterized by 1 H NMR spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).The values of their density,surface tension and refractive index were measured at(298.15 ± 0.05) K.Since the AAILs can form strong hydrogen bonds with water,small amounts of water are difficult to remove from the AAILs by common methods.In order to eliminate the effect of the impurity water,the standard addition method(SAM) was applied to these measurements.A new concept which is called the ionic parachor has been put forward.The [C n mim] + cations were treated as a group of reference ions and the individual values of their ionic parachor were evaluated in terms of an extrathermodynamic assumption.Then,using the values of the ionic parachor of reference ions,the parachor,surface tension γ and refractive index n D of the ionic liquids investigated in this work were estimated.The estimated values correlate quite well with the corresponding experimental values.     

利用等张比容估算乳酸离子液体同系物[C_nmim][Lact](n=2,3,4,5,6)的热力学性质

合成了基于烷基咪唑的乳酸离子液体[C4mim][Lact](1-丁基-3-甲基咪唑乳酸盐),并用1HNMR和DSC作了表征.由于乳酸离子液体和水易形成氢键,用通常的办法很难除去乳酸离子液体中的杂质水.为了排除杂质水的干扰,应用了标准加入法,配制一系列含有已知微量水的乳酸离子液体样品,在308.15～343.15K温度范围,用重量法测定了这些样品的密度,用最大气泡法测定了表面张力,用折光率确定了摩尔极化度,然后外推得到无水离子液体数据.在这些实验数据基础上,利用等张比容的加和性,估算了乳酸离子液体同系物[Cnmim][Lact](n=2,3,4,5,6)的表面张力、折射率、摩尔极化度、汽化焓和热膨胀系数,与实验数据相比有较好的一致性.     

An efficient synthesis of isocoumarins via a CuI catalyzed cascade reaction process

3-Alkyl isocoumarins are provided by CuI/amino acid-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reaction of o-bromo benzoic acids and terminal alkynes and the subsequent additive cyclization. This cascade process allows synthesis of diverse isocoumarins by varying both coupling partners bearing a wide range of functional groups.