Entanglement of two-qubit photon beam by magnetic field.

We have studied the possibility of affecting the entanglement measure of 2-qubit system consisting of two photons with different fi xed frequencies but with two arbitrary linear polarizations, moving in the same direction, by the help of an applied external magnetic field. The interaction between the magnetic fi eld and the photons in our model is achieved through intermediate electrons that interact with both the photons and the magnetic fi eld. The possibility of exact theoretical analysis of this scheme is based on known exact solutions that describe the interaction of an electron subjected to an external magnetic fi eld (or a medium of electrons not interacting with each other) with a quantized field of two photons. We adapt these exact solutions to the case under consideration. Using explicit wave functions for the resulting electromagnetic fi eld, we calculate the entanglement measure of the photon beam as a function of the applied magnetic field and parameters of the electron medium.

Emaranhamento de feixes de fótons por meio do campo magnético

Foi proposta uma experiência na qual seria possível produzir um emaranhamento quântico de feixes de fótons com diferentes frequências, movendo-se em uma mesma direção, controlado por meio de um campo magnético externo. Nessa experiência, a interação entre o campo magnético e fótons é realizada por intermédio de elétrons, que interagem tanto com os fótons quanto com o campo magnético externo. Foi desenvolvida uma teoria que descreve processos físicos. Derivamos medidas de emaranhamento de informação e de Schmidt para um sistema geral de dois qubits e a medida residual para um sistema geral de três qubits. Usando a informação obtida da análise dos sistemas de dois e de três quase-fótons, calculamos medidas de emaranhamento. Criamos um programa para cálculo numérico, nesses casos, através do qual construímos gráficos de dependência das medidas de emaranhamentos em feixes de dois e de três fótons. Os resultados obtidos nos permitem ver como a medida de emaranhamento depende dos parâmetros, que caracterizam o sistema em questão. Por exemplo, se ambas as polarizações dos fótons coincidem, então, nenhum emaranhamento ocorre. O emaranhamento acontece apenas se as polarizações do fóton forem opostas.

Dark periods and revivals of entanglement in a two-qubit system

In a recent paper Yu and Eberly [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 140404 (2004)] have shown that two initially entangled and afterward not interacting qubits can become completely disentangled in a finite time. We study transient entanglement between two qubits coupled collectively to a multimode vacuum field, assuming that the two-qubit system is initially prepared in an entangled state produced by the two-photon coherences, and find the unusual feature that the irreversible spontaneous decay can lead to a revival of the entanglement that has already been destroyed. The results show that this feature is independent of the coherent dipole-dipole interaction between the atoms but it depends critically on whether or not collective damping is present.

In vivo dosimetry with thermoluminescent dosimeters in external photon beam radiotherapy

The ultimate check of the actual dose delivered to a patient in radiotherapy can only be achieved by using in vivo dosimetry. This work reports a pilot study to test the applicability of a thermoluminescent dosimetric system for performing in vivo entrance dose measurements in external photon beam radiotherapy. The measurements demonstrated the value of thermoluminescent dosimetry as a treatment verification method and its applicability as a part of a quality assurance program in radiotherapy. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Practical scheme for quantum computation with any two-qubit entangling gate

Which gates are universal for quantum computation? Although it is well known that certain gates on two-level quantum systems (qubits), such as the controlled-NOT, are universal when assisted by arbitrary one-qubit gates, it has only recently become clear precisely what class of two-qubit gates is universal in this sense. We present an elementary proof that any entangling two-qubit gate is universal for quantum computation, when assisted by one-qubit gates. A proof of this result for systems of arbitrary finite dimension has been provided by Brylinski and Brylinski; however, their proof relies on a long argument using advanced mathematics. In contrast, our proof provides a simple constructive procedure which is close to optimal and experimentally practical.

Optimal estimation of two-qubit pure-state entanglement

We present optimal measuring strategies for an estimation of the entanglement of unknown two-qubit pure states and of the degree of mixing of unknown single-qubit mixed states, of which N identical copies are available. The most general measuring strategies are considered in both situations, to conclude in the first case that a local, although collective, measurement suffices to estimate entanglement, a nonlocal property, optimally.

Combined T2 -preparation and two-dimensional pencil-beam inner volume selection.

PURPOSE: To improve coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) by combining a two-dimensional (2D) spatially selective radiofrequency (RF) pulse with a T2 -preparation module ("2D-T2 -Prep"). METHODS: An adiabatic T2 -Prep was modified so that the first and last pulses were of differing spatial selectivity. The first RF pulse was replaced by a 2D pulse, such that a pencil-beam volume is excited. The last RF pulse remains nonselective, thus restoring the T2 -prepared pencil-beam, while tipping the (formerly longitudinal) magnetization outside of the pencil-beam into the transverse plane, where it is then spoiled. Thus, only a cylinder of T2 -prepared tissue remains for imaging. Numerical simulations were followed by phantom validation and in vivo coronary MRA, where the technique was quantitatively evaluated. Reduced field-of-view (rFoV) images were similarly studied. RESULTS: In vivo, full field-of-view 2D-T2 -Prep significantly improved vessel sharpness as compared to conventional T2 -Prep, without adversely affecting signal-to-noise (SNR) or contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR). It also reduced respiratory motion artifacts. In rFoV images, the SNR, CNR, and vessel sharpness decreased, although scan time reduction was 60%. CONCLUSION: When compared with conventional T2 -Prep, the 2D-T2 -Prep improves vessel sharpness and decreases respiratory ghosting while preserving both SNR and CNR. It may also acquire rFoV images for accelerated data acquisition.

Entanglement universality of two-qubit X-states

We demonstrate that for every two-qubit state there is a X-counterpart, i.e., a corresponding two-qubit X-state of same spectrum and entanglement, as measured by concurrence, negativity or relative entropy of entanglement. By parametrizing the set of two-qubit X-states and a family of unitary transformations that preserve the sparse structure of a two-qubit X-state density matrix, we obtain the parametric form of a unitary transformation that converts arbitrary two-qubit states into their X-counterparts. Moreover, we provide a semi-analytic prescription on how to set the parameters of this unitary transformation in order to preserve concurrence or negativity. We also explicitly construct a set of X-state density matrices, parametrized by their purity and concurrence, whose elements are in one-to-one correspondence with the points of the concurrence versus purity (CP) diagram for generic two-qubit states. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

First doubly polarised photoproduction on 3 He at the photon beam of MAMI

Im Juli 2009 wurde am Mainzer Mikrotron (MAMI) erstmal ein Experiment durchgeführt, bei dem ein polarisiertes 3He Target mit Photonen im Energiebereich von 200 bis 800 MeV untersucht wurde. Das Ziel dieses Experiments war die Überprüfung der Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Summenregel am Neutron. Die Verwendung der Messdaten welche mit dem polarisierten 3He Target gewonnen wurden, geben - im Vergleich mit den bereits existieren Daten vom Deuteron - aufgrund der Spin-Struktur des 3He einen komplementären und direkteren Zugang zum Neutron. Die Messung des totalen helizitätsabhängigen Photoabsorptions-Wirkungsquerschnitts wurde mittels eines energiemarkierten Strahls von zirkular polarisierten Photonen, welcher auf das longitudinal polarisierte 3He Target trifft, durchgeführt. Als Produktdetektoren kamen der Crystal Ball (4π Raumabdeckung), TAPS (als ”Vorwärtswand”) sowie ein Schwellen-Cherenkov-Detektor (online Veto zur Reduktion von elektromagnetischen Ereignissen) zum Einsatz. Planung und Aufbau der verschiedenen komponenten Teile des 3He Experimentaufbaus war ein entscheidender Teil dieser Dissertation und wird detailliert in der vorliegenden Arbeit beschrieben. Das Detektorsystem als auch die Analyse-Methoden wurden durch die Messung des unpolarisierten, totalen und inklusiven Photoabsoprtions-Wirkungsquerschnitts an flüssigem Wasserstoff getestet. Hierbei zeigten die Ergebnisse eine gute Übereinstimmung mit bereits zuvor publizierten Daten. Vorläufige Ergebnisse des unpolarisierten totalen Photoabsorptions-Wirkungsquerschnitts sowie der helizitätsabhängige Unterschied zwischen Photoabsorptions-Wirkungsquerschnitten an 3He im Vergleich zu verschiedenen theoretischen Modellen werden vorgestellt.

Accessible information in a two-qubit system through the quantum steering ellipsoids formalism

Capire come ottenere l'informazione accessibile, cioè quanta informazione classica si può estrarre da un processo quantistico, è una delle questioni più intricate e affascinanti nell'ambito della teoria dell'informazione quantistica. Nonostante l'importanza della nozione di informazione accessibile non esistono metodi generali per poterla calcolare, esistono soltanto dei limiti, i più famosi dei quali sono il limite superiore di Holevo e il limite inferiore di Josza-Robb-Wootters. La seguente tesi fa riferimento a un processo che coinvolge due parti, Alice e Bob, che condividono due qubits. Si considera il caso in cui Bob effettua misure binarie sul suo qubit e quindi indirizza lo stato del qubit di Alice in due possibili stati. L'obiettivo di Alice è effettuare la misura ottimale nell'ottica di decretare in quale dei due stati si trova il suo qubit. Lo strumento scelto per studiare questo processo va sotto il nome di 'quantum steering ellipsoids formalism'. Esso afferma che lo stato di un sistema di due qubit può essere descritto dai vettori di Bloch di Alice e Bob e da un ellissoide nella sfera di Bloch di Alice generato da tutte le possibili misure di Bob. Tra tutti gli stati descritti da ellissoidi ce ne sono alcuni che manifestano particolari proprietà, per esempio gli stati di massimo volume. Considerando stati di massimo volume e misure binarie si è riuscito a trovare un limite inferiore all'informazione accessibile per un sistema di due qubit migliore del limite inferiore di Josza-Robb-Wootters. Un altro risultato notevole e inaspettato è che l'intuitiva e giustificata relazione 'distanza tra i punti nell'ellissoide - mutua informazione' non vale quando si confrontano coppie di punti ''vicine'' tra loro e lontane dai più distanti.

Validation of the Swiss Monte Carlo Plan for a static and dynamic 6 MV photon beam

Monte Carlo (MC) based dose calculations can compute dose distributions with an accuracy surpassing that of conventional algorithms used in radiotherapy, especially in regions of tissue inhomogeneities and surface discontinuities. The Swiss Monte Carlo Plan (SMCP) is a GUI-based framework for photon MC treatment planning (MCTP) interfaced to the Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS). As for any dose calculation algorithm, also the MCTP needs to be commissioned and validated before using the algorithm for clinical cases. Aim of this study is the investigation of a 6 MV beam for clinical situations within the framework of the SMCP. In this respect, all parts i.e. open fields and all the clinically available beam modifiers have to be configured so that the calculated dose distributions match the corresponding measurements. Dose distributions for the 6 MV beam were simulated in a water phantom using a phase space source above the beam modifiers. The VMC++ code was used for the radiation transport through the beam modifiers (jaws, wedges, block and multileaf collimator (MLC)) as well as for the calculation of the dose distributions within the phantom. The voxel size of the dose distributions was 2mm in all directions. The statistical uncertainty of the calculated dose distributions was below 0.4%. Simulated depth dose curves and dose profiles in terms of [Gy/MU] for static and dynamic fields were compared with the corresponding measurements using dose difference and γ analysis. For the dose difference criterion of ±1% of D(max) and the distance to agreement criterion of ±1 mm, the γ analysis showed an excellent agreement between measurements and simulations for all static open and MLC fields. The tuning of the density and the thickness for all hard wedges lead to an agreement with the corresponding measurements within 1% or 1mm. Similar results have been achieved for the block. For the validation of the tuned hard wedges, a very good agreement between calculated and measured dose distributions was achieved using a 1%/1mm criteria for the γ analysis. The calculated dose distributions of the enhanced dynamic wedges (10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, 30°, 45° and 60°) met the criteria of 1%/1mm when compared with the measurements for all situations considered. For the IMRT fields all compared measured dose values agreed with the calculated dose values within a 2% dose difference or within 1 mm distance. The SMCP has been successfully validated for a static and dynamic 6 MV photon beam, thus resulting in accurate dose calculations suitable for applications in clinical cases.

Photon-beam subsource sensitivity to the initial electron-beam parameters

One limitation to the widespread implementation of Monte Carlo (MC) patient dose-calculation algorithms for radiotherapy is the lack of a general and accurate source model of the accelerator radiation source. Our aim in this work is to investigate the sensitivity of the photon-beam subsource distributions in a MC source model (with target, primary collimator, and flattening filter photon subsources and an electron subsource) for 6- and 18-MV photon beams when the energy and radial distributions of initial electrons striking a linac target change. For this purpose, phase-space data (PSD) was calculated for various mean electron energies striking the target, various normally distributed electron energy spread, and various normally distributed electron radial intensity distributions. All PSD was analyzed in terms of energy, fluence, and energy fluence distributions, which were compared between the different parameter sets. The energy spread was found to have a negligible influence on the subsource distributions. The mean energy and radial intensity significantly changed the target subsource distribution shapes and intensities. For the primary collimator and flattening filter subsources, the distribution shapes of the fluence and energy fluence changed little for different mean electron energies striking the target, however, their relative intensity compared with the target subsource change, which can be accounted for by a scaling factor. This study indicates that adjustments to MC source models can likely be limited to adjusting the target subsource in conjunction with scaling the relative intensity and energy spectrum of the primary collimator, flattening filter, and electron subsources when the energy and radial distributions of the initial electron-beam change.

Monte Carlo calculation of Varian 2300C/D Linac photon beam characteristics: a comparison between MCNP4C, GEANT3 and measurements

Different codes are used for Monte Carlo (MC) calculations in radiation therapy. In this research, MCNP4C and GEANT3 codes have been compared in calculations of dosimetric characteristics of Varian Clinac 2300C/D. The parameters of influence in the differences seen in dosimetric features were discussed. This study emphasizes that both MCNP4C and GEANT3 MC can be used in radiation therapy computations and their differences in photon spectra calculations have a negligible effect on percentage depth dose computations in radiation therapy.

Monte Carlo source model for photon beam radiotherapy: photon source characteristics

A major barrier to widespread clinical implementation of Monte Carlo dose calculation is the difficulty in characterizing the radiation source within a generalized source model. This work aims to develop a generalized three-component source model (target, primary collimator, flattening filter) for 6- and 18-MV photon beams that match full phase-space data (PSD). Subsource by subsource comparison of dose distributions, using either source PSD or the source model as input, allows accurate source characterization and has the potential to ease the commissioning procedure, since it is possible to obtain information about which subsource needs to be tuned. This source model is unique in that, compared to previous source models, it retains additional correlations among PS variables, which improves accuracy at nonstandard source-to-surface distances (SSDs). In our study, three-dimensional (3D) dose calculations were performed for SSDs ranging from 50 to 200 cm and for field sizes from 1 x 1 to 30 x 30 cm2 as well as a 10 x 10 cm2 field 5 cm off axis in each direction. The 3D dose distributions, using either full PSD or the source model as input, were compared in terms of dose-difference and distance-to-agreement. With this model, over 99% of the voxels agreed within +/-1% or 1 mm for the target, within 2% or 2 mm for the primary collimator, and within +/-2.5% or 2 mm for the flattening filter in all cases studied. For the dose distributions, 99% of the dose voxels agreed within 1% or 1 mm when the combined source model-including a charged particle source and the full PSD as input-was used. The accurate and general characterization of each photon source and knowledge of the subsource dose distributions should facilitate source model commissioning procedures by allowing scaling the histogram distributions representing the subsources to be tuned.

A multiple source model for 6 MV photon beam dose calculations using Monte Carlo

A multiple source model (MSM) for the 6 MV beam of a Varian Clinac 2300 C/D was developed by simulating radiation transport through the accelerator head for a set of square fields using the GEANT Monte Carlo (MC) code. The corresponding phase space (PS) data enabled the characterization of 12 sources representing the main components of the beam defining system. By parametrizing the source characteristics and by evaluating the dependence of the parameters on field size, it was possible to extend the validity of the model to arbitrary rectangular fields which include the central 3 x 3 cm2 field without additional precalculated PS data. Finally, a sampling procedure was developed in order to reproduce the PS data. To validate the MSM, the fluence, energy fluence and mean energy distributions determined from the original and the reproduced PS data were compared and showed very good agreement. In addition, the MC calculated primary energy spectrum was verified by an energy spectrum derived from transmission measurements. Comparisons of MC calculated depth dose curves and profiles, using original and PS data reproduced by the MSM, agree within 1% and 1 mm. Deviations from measured dose distributions are within 1.5% and 1 mm. However, the real beam leads to some larger deviations outside the geometrical beam area for large fields. Calculated output factors in 10 cm water depth agree within 1.5% with experimentally determined data. In conclusion, the MSM produces accurate PS data for MC photon dose calculations for the rectangular fields specified.