Why should we care about quantum discord?

Entanglement is a central feature of quantum theory. Mathematical properties and physical applications of pure state entanglement make it a template to study quantum correlations. However, an extension of entanglement measures to mixed states in terms of separability does not always correspond to all the operational aspects. Quantum discord measures allow an alternative way to extend the idea of quantum correlations to mixed states. In many cases these extensions are motivated by physical scenarios and quantum information protocols. In this chapter we discuss several settings involving correlated quantum systems, ranging from distributed gates to detectors testing quantum fields. In each setting we show how entanglement fails to capture the relevant features of the correlated system, and discuss the role of discord as a possible alternative.Comment: Written for "Lectures on general quantum correlations and their applications

Dynamics of a Quantum Phase Transition and Relaxation to a Steady State

We review recent theoretical work on two closely related issues: excitation of an isolated quantum condensed matter system driven adiabatically across a continuous quantum phase transition or a gapless phase, and apparent relaxation of an excited system after a sudden quench of a parameter in its Hamiltonian. Accordingly the review is divided into two parts. The first part revolves around a quantum version of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism including also phenomena that go beyond this simple paradigm. What they have in common is that excitation of a gapless many-body system scales with a power of the driving rate. The second part attempts a systematic presentation of recent results and conjectures on apparent relaxation of a pure state of an isolated quantum many-body system after its excitation by a sudden quench. This research is motivated in part by recent experimental developments in the physics of ultracold atoms with potential applications in the adiabatic quantum state preparation and quantum computation.Comment: 117 pages; review accepted in Advances in Physic

People with Spinal Cord Injury in Italy

Presentation given by Stefani Cox, Jennifer Ahweyevu, Matthew Pfister, Arpita Saha, and Subhrajit Saha at Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference. Several anthropogenic factors pose threat to the quality of water at Georgia Southern campus. Evidences of water pollution are often clearly visible in the lakes, ponds, creeks and wetlands of campus. An alarming example is eutrophication, or algal blooms, which in turn create hypoxia and destroy aquatic fauna. Eutrophication is primarily caused by the runoff of pollutants such as nitrates and phosphates from nearby landscape management area and this phenomenon is being observed in campus aquatic systems. Potential pollutant sources may include, on-campus landscape and turf area, and nearby farms where fertilizers are applied. There are also high potentials of contamination of heavy metals, trace metals, and other anions and cations that may pollute the campus aquatic ecosystems through storm water drainage and runoff. These pollutants may come from pesticides and herbicides (applied on/near campus), oil runoff (from parking lots) or other contaminants (from off-campus business facilities). With an overall objective of improving the environmental health and quality of GSU campus, this study was designed with four specific objectives, 1) to periodically test the pollutant levels of campus surface waters for one year, 2) to fully understand the storm water runoff/flow across campus, 3) to identify the on-campus and off-campus sources of pollutants, 4) to develop pollution prevention strategies and solutions and recommend those to the relevant authorities. Starting from August 2014 water samples are being collected monthly from 50 selected surface water sites across the campus. After collection, the first step is to filter the water samples to ensure no solid particles remain in the water before analysis. The samples are then diluted to appropriate proportion for detecting and quantifying the trace metals (Fe, Cr, Zn), heavy metals (Hg, Pb, As, Al) and alkali metals (Ca, Mg, Na, K) by an Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) method. ICP-MS is an analytical technique, which can accurately measure the elemental composition up to parts per billion in the concentration scale of the sample. For anions like nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, halides, etc. an anion analysis is being performed by using an Ion-Chromatography. This is a separation technique where standard ion exchange column is being used to separate and subsequently quantify both the cations and anions in the water sample. This uses the standard solutions for calibrations to be done to reveal the concentrations of certain cations and anions. Upon completion of the study we will understand the pollution levels of the campus waters and also identify the different sources of pollution. The findings of the study will enable us to develop strategies and recommendations to reduce or eliminate water pollution and ensure campus-wide healthy aquatic ecosystems

Effects of Herbal supplements on the immune system in relation to exercise

Athletes who undergo strenuous exercise, especially in endurance sports, frequently use herbal supplements in order to have a better performance. In this review we try to find out if the most common herbal supplements (Echinacea, Rhodiola, Ginseng) are effective in the empowerment of performance or in the modulation of the immune system. It seems that the prevalent effect is adaptogenic rather than ergogenic, with a better tolerance of the exercise induced stress, related to enhancement of the whole immune system and decrease of the oxidative damage

Immunopharmacology of the Main Herbal Supplements: A Review

It is debated if the use of herbal supplements in endurance sports, in order to have a better performance, is correct or not, both as safety and as effectiveness. In this review we try to find out if the most common herbal supplements (Echinacea, Rhodiola, Ginseng) are effective in the empowerment of performance or in the modulation of the immune system. According to the results of our review, the prevalent effect is adaptogenic rather than ergogenic, with a better tolerance of the exercise induced stress, related to enhancement of the whole immune system and decrease of the oxidative damage