Higher-Order Interference in Extensions of Quantum Theory

Quantum interference, manifest in the two slit experiment, lies at the heart of several quantum computational speed-ups and provides a striking example of a quantum phenomenon with no classical counterpart. An intriguing feature of quantum interference arises in a variant of the standard two slit experiment, in which there are three, rather than two, slits. The interference pattern in this set-up can be written in terms of the two and one slit patterns obtained by blocking one, or more, of the slits. This is in stark contrast with the standard two slit experiment, where the interference pattern cannot be written as a sum of the one slit patterns. This was first noted by Rafael Sorkin, who raised the question of why quantum theory only exhibits irreducible interference in the two slit experiment. One approach to this problem is to compare the predictions of quantum theory to those of operationally-defined ‘foil’ theories, in the hope of determining whether theories that do exhibit higher-order interference suffer from pathological—or at least undesirable—features. In this paper two proposed extensions of quantum theory are considered: the theory of Density Cubes proposed by Daki?, Paterek and Brukner, which has been shown to exhibit irreducible interference in the three slit set-up, and the Quartic Quantum Theory of ?yczkowski. The theory of Density Cubes will be shown to provide an advantage over quantum theory in a certain computational task and to posses a well-defined mechanism which leads to the emergence of quantum theory—analogous to the emergence of classical physics from quantum theory via decoherence. Despite this, the axioms used to define Density Cubes will be shown to be insufficient to uniquely characterise the theory. In comparison, Quartic Quantum Theory is a well-defined theory and we demonstrate that it exhibits irreducible interference to all orders. This feature of ?yczkowski’s theory is argued not to be a genuine phenomenon, but to arise from an ambiguity in the current definition of higher-order interference in operationally-defined theories. Thus, to begin to understand why quantum theory is limited to a certain kind of interference, a new definition of higher-order interference is needed that is applicable to, and makes good operational sense in, arbitrary operationally-defined theories.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">R</Emphasis>) gravity constraints from gravitational waves

The recent LIGO observation sparked interest in the field of gravitational wave signals. Besides the gravitational wave observation the LIGO collaboration used the inspiraling black hole pair to constrain the graviton mass. Unlike general relativity, f(R) theories have a characteristic non-zero mass graviton. We apply this constraint on the graviton mass to viable f(R) models in order to find the effects on model parameters. We find it possible to constrain the parameter space with these gravity wave based observations. We consider the popular Hu–Sawicki model as a case study and find an appropriate parameter bracket. The result generalizes to other f(R) theories and can be used to constrain the parameter space.     

Hawking Radiation via Damour-Ruffini Method in Squashed Charged Rotating Kaluza-Klein Black Holes

Using the Damour-Ruffini method, Hawking radiation of charged particles from squashed charged rotating five-dimensional Kaluza-Klein black holes is investigated extensively. Under the generalized tortoise coordinate transformation, Hawking temperature of the black holes is calculated by using charged scalar particles and Dirac fermions respectively. We find that the obtained Hawking temperature for charged Dirac fermions is the same as for charged scalar particles. What’s more, the spectrum of Hawking radiation contains the information of the size of the extra dimension, which could provide insight for further investigation of large extra dimensions in the future.     

Entanglement and Phase-Sensitivity of a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer for the Coherent Spin State Input

We study quantum entanglement and phase-sensitivity of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer for the coherent spin state input. It’s shown that entanglement and the Heisenberg limit of phase-sensitivity can be obtained adjusting the phase shift and increasing the total photons’ number.     

Statistical Entropy of Black Hole without Truncation Factor

The scatting probability of scalar particles near the event horizon is obtained by solving Klein-Gordon equation in curved space-time. By considering the reaction of a black hole radiation in space-time background, we find that Hawking radiation is not a strictly pure thermal-spectrum and scatting probability is related to the B-H entropy change of black hole. The statistical entropy of black hole is calculated based on the relations between entropy and thermodynamic probability of a macroscopic state in statistical equilibrium. The results show that the statistical entropy of black hole without using any truncation factor is proportional to the area of event horizon.     

Meson Effect in the Proto Neutron Star PSR J0348+0432

The effect of mesons f ₀(975) (named as f), ?(1020) (named as ?) and δ on the moment of inertia of the PNS PSR J0348+0432 is examined in the framework of the relativistic mean field theory considering the baryon octet. It is found that the energy density ε and pressure p will increase considering the mesons δ whereas will decrease as the mesons f and ? being considered. When the mesons f,? and δ are considered, the energy density and pressure will all decrease. It is also found that the contribution of mesons f, ? and δ to the central energy density is only the central energy density’s 0.06 ～0.6% whereas the contribution of mesons f, ? and δ to the central pressure is the central pressure’s 4 ～7%. For the radius, it will decrease when the contributions of mesons f, ? and δ are considered. The moment of inertia I will increase considering the mesons δ whereas will decrease as the mesons f and ? being considered. When the mesons f, ? and δ are all considered, the moment of inertia will decrease. It is found that the contribution of mesons f and ? to moment of inertia is 4 ～9 times larger than that of mesons δ. Our results show that the mesons f, ? and δ contribute to the moment of inertia’s 2 ～5%.     

Metal Quinolates as Phosphors for PC-LED Applications

Metal quinolates, Liq Alq₃ Znq₂ Mgq₂ exhibit efficient luminescence in blue green region and find applications as emission layer in OLEDs. In most of these quinolates the excitation spectra are broad in the range 350 to 410 nm, just short of emission spectra of efficient GaN based blue LEDs. In this paper we report metal quinolates synthesized by slightly modified method in which the excitation gets extended beyond 450 nm so that there is better overlap between emission spectra of blue LED and the excitation spectra. Therefore these phosphors may be used for PC-LED applications.     

A Ratiometric and near-Infrared Fluorescent Probe for Imaging Cu<Superscript>2+</Superscript> in Living Cells and Animals

We have rationally constructed a novel ratiometric and near-infrared Cu²⁺ fluorescent probe based on a tricarbocyanine chromophore. The new probe NIR-Cu showed a ratiometric fluorescent response to Cu²⁺ with a large emission wavelength shift (up to 142 nm) in the far-red to near-infrared region. The probe also displayed a large variation in the fluorescence ratio (I₆₃₆/I₇₇₈) to Cu²⁺ species with high sensitivity and selectivity. Additionally, the developed probe NIR-Cu was suitable for fluorescence imaging of Cu²⁺ in living cells and mice.