114 research outputs found
Destruction of Kondo correlations in a four electron quantum dot with Spin-Orbit interactions
No full textPhysica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, 42 (4),
p.860-86
Dissipative environment may improve the quantum annealing performances of the ferromagnetic p -spin model
No full textMemetic algorithms for mapping p-body interacting systems in effective quantum 2-body Hamiltonians
No full textQuantum computing is an emerging research area which promises to offer a revolution in the computing performance. The world's first commercially available quantum computer has been the D-Wave machine which aims at solving complex problems by representing them in terms of Ising Hamiltonians. This formulation allows addressing several combinatorial optimization problems since generally it is possible to map any problem to the Hamiltonian of the Ising model. However, D-Wave's architecture restricts the Ising Hamiltonian to the case with only 2-body interactions. Therefore, in order to face problems mapped on systems with p-body interactions (p≥2), it is necessary to implement a procedure to compute 2-body effective Hamiltonians of p-body interacting systems. Due to the complexity of this task, recently, meta-heuristic methods have been applied with promising results. The aim of this paper is to implement a procedure to convert from p-body to 2-body Hamiltonians by means of memetic algorithms. As shown in the experimental session involving the ferromagnetic p-spin model as a case study, the proposed approach improves by 60% on average over the state-of-the-art meta-heuristic approaches
Topological rf SQUID with a frustrating π junction for probing the Majorana bound state
No full textMajorana bound states are predicted to appear as boundary states of the Kitaev model. Here we show that a π-Josephson junction, inserted in a topologically nontrivial model ring, sustains a Majorana bound state, which is robust with respect to local and nonlocal perturbations. The realistic structure could be based on a high-Tc superconductor tricrystal structure, similar to the one used to spot the d-wave order parameter. The presence of the Majorana bound state changes the ground state of the topologically nontrivial ring in a measurable way with respect to that of a conventional one
Superconductive proximity in a topological insulator slab and excitations bound to an axial vortex
No full textWe consider the proximity effect in a topological insulator (TI) sandwiched between two conventional superconductors by comparing s-wave spin singlet superconducting pairing correlations and odd-parity triplet pairing correlations with a zero spin component orthogonal to the slab (“polar” phase). A superconducting gap opens in the Dirac dispersion of the surface states existing at the interfaces. An axial vortex is included, piercing the slab along the normal to the interfaces with the superconductors. It is known that, when proximity is s-wave, quasiparticles in the gap are Majorana bound states, localized at opposite interfaces. We report the full expression for the quantum field associated to the midgap neutral fermions, as derived in the two-orbital band model for the TI. When proximity involves odd-parity pairing, midgap modes are charged surface Andreev bound states, and they originate from interfacial circular states of definite chirality, centered at the vortex singularity and decaying in the TI film with oscillations. When the chemical potential is moved away from midgap, extended states along the vortex axis are also allowed. Their orbital structure depends on the symmetry of the bulk band from where the quasiparticle level splits off
An evolutionary strategy for finding effective quantum 2-body Hamiltonians of p-body interacting systems
No full textEmbedding p-body interacting models onto the 2-body networks implemented on commercial quantum annealers is a relevant issue. For highly interacting models, requiring a number of ancilla qubits, that can be sizable and make unfeasible (if not impossible) to simulate such systems. In this manuscript, we propose an alternative to minor embedding, developing a new approximate procedure based on genetic algorithms, allowing to decouple the p-body in terms of 2-body interactions. A set of preliminary numerical experiments demonstrates the feasibility of our approach for the ferromagnetic p-spin model and paves the way towards the application of evolutionary strategies to more complex quantum models
Tafuri F, Stornaiuolo D, Lucignano P, Galletti L, Longobardi L, Massarotti D, Montemurro D, Papari G, Barone A, Tagliacozzo A
No full textHigh-accuracy Hamiltonian learning via delocalized quantum state evolutions
No full textLearning the unknown Hamiltonian governing the dynamics of a quantum many-body system is a challenging task. In this manuscript, we propose a possible strategy based on repeated measurements on a single time-dependent state. We prove that the accuracy of the learning process is maximized for states that are delocalized in the Hamiltonian eigenbasis. This implies that delocalization is a quantum resource for Hamiltonian learning, that can be exploited to select optimal initial states for learning algorithms. We investigate the error scaling of our reconstruction with respect to the number of measurements, and we provide examples of our learning algorithm on simulated quantum systems
Suppression of Kondo-assisted cotunneling in a spin-1 quantum dot with spin-orbit interaction
No full textKondo-type zero-bias anomalies have been frequently observed in quantum dots occupied by two electrons and attributed to a spin-triplet configuration that may become stable under particular circumstances. Conversely, zero-bias anomalies have been so far quite elusive when quantum dots are occupied by an even number of electrons greater than two, even though a spin-triplet configuration is more likely to be stabilized there than for two electrons. We propose as an origin of this phenomenon the spin-orbit interaction, and we show how it profoundly alters the conventional Kondo screening scenario in the simple case of a laterally confined quantum dot with four electrons
Tecnologie dei nanocompositi a matrice polimerica
No full textI nanocompositi sono una nuova classe di materiali che mostrano proprietà uniche tipicamente non condivise dai materiali convenzionali. La dispersione di particelle nanometriche, organiche o inorganiche, all’interno di una matrice polimerica può determinare l’incremento delle proprietà del composito e nel contempo può donare nuove proprietà funzionali. Il grosso interesse rivolto verso i nanocompositi dipende dalle potenzialità che tali materiali mostrano e dalle possibili applicazioni che essi possono trovare. Film rigidi o flessibili in nanocomposito, troverebbero applicazione nel packaging, vista la tendenza a conservare la trasparenza della matrice e le proprietà di impermeabilità all’ossigeno che l’utilizzo di nanocariche può determinare. Nel presente lavoro è stata messa a punto una rapida procedura di fabbricazione di film spessi in nanocomposito poliestere-montmorillonite per consentirne un’applicazione industriale. Le proprietà dinamo-meccaniche dei film sono state valutate tramite test al DMA, svolti nella particolare configurazione di trazione. I risultati ottenuti da tale prova hanno consentito di studiare la complessità dell’interazione tra nanocariche e matrice.
I coatings sono spesso utili per diverse applicazioni ingegneristiche, da coating resistenti al graffio a coating che fungono da barriera termica. Poiché danni superficiali o all’interfaccia con il subtrato, possono influenzare le prestazioni finali, è importante adottare una buona tecnica di caratterizzazione per i coating. Le più recenti pubblicazioni scientifiche, a tal proposito, parlano di nanoindentazione di coating o bulk in nanocomposito. In questo lavoro viene utilizzata la tecnica di macro-indentazione strumentata per la caratterizzazione meccanica di coating, in nanocomposito poliestere-montmorillonite, depositati per spin coating su substrati in alluminio e polietilene ad alta densità. La macro-indentazione è meno sensibile alle intrinseche inomogeneità dei nanocompositi è da utili informazioni circa la resistenza dei coating. In più, in questo caso, la preparazione del campione può essere meno accurata rispetto al caso della nanoindentazione. Nell’appendice, è riportato un esempio di applicazione di macroindentazione per la caratterizzazione meccanica di materiale polimerico. In particolare il test consentiva di valutare l’effetto del contenuto locale di rinforzo in materiali polimerici caricati a gradiente.
Dopo lo studio di film e coating in nanocomposito, è stato studiato il comportamento di nanocompositi nella forma di bulk. Provini bulk possono mostrare diverse proprietà rispetto ad i coating, in più, lo studio del comportamento del materiale di campioni bulk risulta più semplice e consente di approfondire alcuni aspetti.
La combinazione di nanoparticelle e di una nuova tecnologia di schiumatura ha generato una nuova classe di materiali leggeri, ad alta resistenza e multifunzionali: le schiume in nanocomposito. Attualmente, risulta di grossa utilità trovare nuove, veloci ed economiche tecnologie che consentano di realizzare nanocompositi su larga scala. E’ stata sviluppata una nuova tecnologia di schiumatura per materiali termoindurenti che non richiede l’utilizzo di agenti esterni e che è stata chiamata di schiumatura allo stato solido. L’utilizzo di questa nuova tecnologia è stata utilizzata per la realizzazione di schiume nanocaricate.
Lo sviluppo di materiali polimerici per applicazioni strutturali o tribolgiche, sta divenendo una domanda sempre più pressante. I compositi a matrice polimerica hanno le potenzialità per essere utilizzati per questo tipo di applicazioni; componenti in polimero, come camme, alberi e ruote dentate, sono tipicamente realizzati mediante la tecnologia dello stampaggio ad iniezione. Ciò è dovuto alla semplicità ed al basso costo di tale tecnologia che consente la realizzazione di componenti anche a geometria complessa. Tuttavia l’effetto del processo di stampaggio ad iniezione sulle proprietà di bulk di nanocompositi polimerici è ancora oggetto di studio. Nel presente lavoro, sono state studiate le proprietà tribologiche e meccaniche di di nanocompositi a matrice polimerica (PA6, PA66 and POM) , prodotti per stampaggio ad iniezione.Nanocomposites are a relatively new class of materials with unique properties typically not shared by conventional microcomposites. The dispersion of nanometric organic or ingorganic particles in polymer matrix, may cause an increase in performances of composite materials and give new functional properties. The interest in polymer nanocomposites depends on the potential applications of these materials. Dealing with flexible or rigid films, packaging is a potential application because of the material transparency and the oxygen-barrier properties. In the present work, dynamic mechanical properties of polyester–montmorillonite nanocomposite thick films, prepared by the in situ intercalative polymerization method, were evaluated in a tensile mode. A fast fabrication procedure was chosen according to industrial applications and tensile DMA results permitted to study the interaction between nanofiller and matrix.
Surface coatings are used in different engineering applications, from scratch-resisting coatings to thermal barriers. Nanocomposites have the potential for being high-performance coatings. As surface damage and interfacial failure may affect the final coating performances, the reliable characterisation of the coated film strength is critical. Recent scientific contributions mainly deal with the nanoindentation of nanocomposite coatings or bulk materials. In this work the use of instrumented macro-indentation is suggested for mechanical characterization of polyester–montmorillonite nanocomposite coatings deposited on aluminium and high-density polyethylene substrates by the spin coating method. Macro-indentation is less sensitive to material non-homogeneities and provides reliable information about the coating strength. Moreover, the sample preparation is less critical than for nanoindentation. In the appendix a particular instance of the use of macroindentation test is reported, instrumented macroindentation test was used to measure the effect of the local filler content in polymer functional graded materials .
After the study of nanocomposite coatings and films, the study of bulk nunocomposites was performed to investigate the material beahviour. In fact, bulk samples exhibit different properties than coatings, moreover the study of bulk materials is easier and allow to deepen several scientific aspects.
The combination of functional nanoparticles and foaming technology has generated a new class of lightweight, high strength, and multifunctional materials: the nanocomposite foams. Nowadays, the challenge is to find new fast and cheap production processes that are able to provide complex nanocomposite structures on a large scale. A new foaming technology called ‘solid-state foaming’ has recently been developed to foam thermosetting materials without using any external agent. This new technology is very easy and special equipments are not necessary. In the present work, this method was used for fabricating nanocomposite foams.
Nowadays, the development of advanced materials for tribological purposes is becoming a pressing demand of manufacturing industries. Polymer-based composites have the capability of operating for a long time without lubrication in conditions of cryogenic and elevated temperatures. Components, such as gears and cams are typically produced by injection molding of thermoplastic matrix composites. In fact, the ease and economics of manufacturing complex parts by injection molding are well recognized, but the effect of the injection molding process on the bulk properties of nanocomposites is still under investigation. In this study, the author evaluated the tribological and mechanical behavior of neat and nanofilled functional polymers (PA6, PA66 and POM) produced by injectiono moulding
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