X-ray microdensitometry on annually resolved tree-ring samples has gained an exceptional position in last-millennium paleoclimatology through the maximum latewood density (MXD) parameter, but also increasingly through other density parameters. For 50 years, X-ray based measurement techniques have been the de facto standard. However, studies report offsets in the mean levels for MXD measurements derived from different laboratories, indicating challenges of accuracy and precision. Moreover, reflected visible light-based techniques are becoming increasingly popular, and wood anatomical techniques are emerging as a potentially powerful pathway to extract density information at the highest resolution. Here we review the current understanding and merits of wood density for tree-ring research, associated microdensitometric techniques, and analytical measurement challenges. The review is further complemented with a careful comparison of new measurements derived at 17 laboratories, using several different techniques. The new experiment allowed us to corroborate and refresh "long-standing wisdom" but also provide new insights. Key outcomes include (i) a demonstration of the need for mass/volume-based recalibration to accurately estimate average ring density; (ii) a substantiation of systematic differences in MXD measurements that cautions for great care when combining density data sets for climate reconstructions; and (iii) insights into the relevance of analytical measurement resolution in signals derived from tree-ring density data. Finally, we provide recommendations expected to facilitate future inter-comparability and interpretations for global change research.Plain Language Summary Paleoclimatology, the study of how the climate has changed throughout earth history, is an important component of climate change research. The wood density of tree

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Topologically ordered systems exhibit large-scale correlation in their ground states, which may be characterized by quantities such as topological entanglement entropy. We propose that the concept of irreducible many-body correlation (IMC), the correlation that cannot be implied by all local correlations, may also be used as a signature of topological order. In a topologically ordered system, we demonstrate that for a part of the system with holes, the reduced density matrix exhibits IMCs which become reducible when the holes are removed. The appearance of these IMCs then represents a key feature of topological phase. We analyze the many-body correlation structures in the ground state of the toric code model in external magnetic fields, and show that the topological phase transition is signaled by the IMCs.

We propose a quantum state transfer (QST) scheme that transfers any single-mode photon state along a one-dimensional coupled-cavity array (CCA). By building a map from QST in a CCA to that in a spin-1 2 chain, we show that many previous results of QST schemes for the spin chain system find similar applications in the CCA system. Furthermore, high fidelity QST along a long CCA can be achieved for arbitrary initial states. Using numerical simulations we provide a visual presentation of the result: at some time τ the CCA system gets high fidelity QST under different initial conditions. Finally we discuss possible experimental realizations of our QST scheme.

We present a quantum deletion algorithm that deletes a marked basis-state from an even superposition of all N basis-states. This algorithm uses only a single query and achieves exponential speed-up compared with classical analog where Θ(N) queries are required.

Quantum Boltzmann machine extends the classical Boltzmann machine learning to the quantum regime, which makes its power to simulate the quantum states beyond the classical probability distributions. We develop the BFGS algorithm to study the corresponding optimization problem in quantum Boltzmann machine, especially focus on the target states being a family of states with parameters. As an typical example, we study the target states being the real symmetric two-qubit pure states, and we find two obvious features shown in the numerical results on the minimal quantum relative entropy: First, the minimal quantum relative entropy in the first and the third quadrants is zero; Second, the minimal quantum relative entropy is symmetric with the axes y = x and y = −x even with one qubit hidden layer. Then we theoretically prove these two features from the geometric viewpoint and the symmetry analysis. Our studies show that the traditional physical tools can be used to help us to understand some interesting results from quantum Boltzmann machine learning. * zhoudl72@iphy.ac.cn 1 arXiv:1808.04567v1 [quant-ph]

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Uncertainty relation is one of the fundamental principle in quantum mechanics and plays an important role in quantum information science. We experimentally test the error-disturbance uncertainty relation (EDR) with continuous variables for Gaussian states. Two conjugate continuous-variable observables, amplitude and phase quadratures of an optical mode, are measured simultaneously by using a heterodyne measurement system. The EDR with continuous variables for a coherent state, a squeezed state and a thermal state are verified experimentally. Our experimental results demonstrate that Heisenberg's EDR with continuous variables is violated, yet Ozawa's and Branciard's EDR with continuous variables are validated.