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Microplastics are highly persistent emerging pollutants that are widely distributed in the environment. We report the use of MoS2@Fe2O3core–shell micromotors prepared by a hydrothermal approach to explore the degradation of plastic microparticles. Polystyrene was chosen as the model plastic due to its wide distribution and resistance to degradation using current approaches. Micromotors show photophoretic-based motion at speeds of up to 6 mm s–1and schooling behavior under full solar light spectra irradiation without the need for fuel or surfactants. During this impressive collective behavior, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated because of the semiconducting nature of the MoS2. Degradation of polystyrene beads is observed after 4 h irradiation because of the synergistic effect of ROS production and localized heat generation. The MoS2@Fe2O3micromotors possess magnetic properties, which allow further cleaning and removal to be carried out after irradiation through magnetic pulling. The new micromotors hold considerable promise for full-scale treatment applications, only limited by our imagination.

We study a proof-of-principle example of the recently proposed hybrid quantum-classical simulation of strongly correlated fermion models in the thermodynamic limit. In a ‘two-site’ dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) approach we reduce the Hubbard model to an effective impurity model subject to self-consistency conditions. The resulting minimal two-site representation of the non-linear hybrid setup involves four qubits implementing the impurity problem, plus an ancilla qubit on which all measurements are performed. We outline a possible implementation with superconducting circuits feasible with near-future technology.

We realize tunable coupling between two superconducting transmission line resonators. The coupling is mediated by a non-hysteretic rf SQUID acting as a flux-tunable mutual inductance between the resonators. We present a spectroscopic characterization of the device. In particular, we observe couplings g/2π $g/2\pi$ranging between −320 MHz and 37 MHz. In the case of g≃0 $g \simeq 0$, the microwave power cross transmission between the two resonators is reduced by almost four orders of magnitude as compared to the case where the coupling is switched on.

We propose a superconducting circuit architecture suitable for digital-analog quantum computing (DAQC) based on an enhanced NISQ family of nearest-neighbor interactions. DAQC makes a smart use of digital steps (single qubit rotations) and analog blocks (parametrized multiqubit operations) to outperform digital quantum computing algorithms. Our design comprises a chain of superconducting charge qubits coupled by superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). Using magnetic flux control, we can activate/deactivate exchange interactions, double excitation/de-excitations, and others. As a paradigmatic example, we present an efficient simulation of an ℓ×hfermion lattice (with 2<ℓ≤h), using only 2(2ℓ+1)2+24analog blocks. The proposed architecture design is feasible in current experimental setups for quantum computing with superconducting circuits, opening the door to useful quantum advantage with fewer resources.

We propose a method for the efficient quantum simulation of fermionic systems with superconducting circuits. It consists in the suitable use of Jordan-Wigner mapping, Trotter decomposition, and multiqubit gates, be with the use of a quantum bus or direct capacitive couplings. We apply our method to the paradigmatic cases of 1D and 2D Fermi-Hubbard models, involving couplings with nearest and next-nearest neighbours. Furthermore, we propose an optimal architecture for this model and discuss the benchmarking of the simulations in realistic circuit quantum electrodynamics setups.

The European Virtual Observatory Euro-VO has been coordinating European VO activities through a series of projects co-funded by the European Commission over the last 15 years. The bulk of VO work in Europe is ensured by the national VO initiatives and those of intergovernmental agencies. VO activities at the European level coordinate the work in support of the three “pillars” of the Virtual Observatory: support to the scientific community, take-up by the data providers, and technological activities. Several Euro-VO projects have also provided direct support to selected developments and prototyping. This paper explains the methodology used by Euro-VO over the years. It summarises the activities which were performed and their evolutions at different stages of the development of the VO, explains the Euro-VO role with respect to the international and national levels of VO activities, details the lessons learnt for best practices for the coordination of the VO building blocks, and the liaison with other European initiatives, documenting the added-value of European coordination. Finally, the current status and next steps of Euro-VO are briefly addressed.

We analyze the efficiency of quantum simulations of fermionic and bosonic models in trapped ions. In particular, we study the optimal time of entangling gates and the required number of total elementary gates. Furthermore, we exemplify these estimations in the light of quantum simulations of quantum field theories, condensed-matter physics, and quantum chemistry. Finally, we show that trapped-ion technologies are a suitable platform for implementing quantum simulations involving interacting fermionic and bosonic modes, paving the way for overcoming classical computers in the near future. PACS Codes:03.67.Ac, 03.67.Lx, 37.10.Ty.

It has been predicted that particles with imaginary mass, called tachyons, would be able to travel faster than the speed of light. There has not been any experimental evidence for tachyons occurring naturally. Here, we propose how to experimentally simulate Dirac tachyons with trapped ions. Quantum measurement on a Dirac particle simulated by a trapped ion causes it to have an imaginary mass so that it may travel faster than the effective speed of light. We show that a Dirac tachyon must have spinor-motion correlation in order to be superluminal. We also show that it exhibits significantly more Klein tunneling than a normal Dirac particle. We provide numerical simulations of realistic ion systems and show that our scheme is feasible with current technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a physical implementation of time and spatial parity transformations, as well as Galilean boosts, in a trapped-ion quantum simulator. By embedding the simulated model into an enlarged simulating Hilbert space, these fundamental symmetry operations can be fully realized and measured with ion traps. We illustrate our proposal with analytical and numerical techniques of prototypical examples with state-of-the-art trapped-ion platforms. These results pave the way for the realization of time and spatial parity transformations in other models and quantum platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum Rabi model is in the scientific spotlight due to the recent theoretical and experimental progress. Nevertheless, a full-fledged classification of its coupling regimes remains as a relevant open question. We propose a spectral classification dividing the coupling regimes into three regions based on the validity of perturbative criteria on the quantum Rabi model, which allows us the use of exactly solvable effective Hamiltonians. These coupling regimes are (i) the perturbative ultrastrong coupling regime which comprises the Jaynes-Cummings model, (ii) a region where nonperturbative ultrastrong and nonperturbative deep strong coupling regimes coexist, and (iii) the perturbative deep strong coupling regime. We show that this spectral classification depends not only on the ratio between the coupling strength and the natural frequencies of the unperturbed parts, but also on the energy to which the system can access. These regimes additionally discriminate the completely different behaviors of several static physical properties, namely the total number of excitations, the photon statistics of the field, and the cavity-qubit entanglement. Finally, we explain the dynamical properties which are traditionally associated with the deep strong coupling regime, such as the collapses and revivals of the state population, in the frame of the proposed spectral classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose the implementation of a switch of particle statistics with an embedding quantum simulator. By encoding both Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics into an enlarged Hilbert space, the statistics of the simulated quantum particles may be changed in situ during the time evolution, from bosons to fermions and from fermions to bosons, as many times as desired before a measurement is performed. We illustrate our proposal with few-qubit examples, although the protocol is straightforwardly extendable to larger numbers of particles. This proposal can be implemented on different quantum platforms such as trapped ions, quantum photonics, and superconducting circuits, among others. The possibility to implement permutation symmetrization and antisymmetrization of quantum particles enhances the toolbox of quantum simulations for unphysical operations as well as for symmetry transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum Rabi model describes the interaction between a two-level quantum system and a single bosonic mode. We propose a method to perform a quantum simulation of the quantum Rabi model, introducing an implementation of the two-level system provided by the occupation of Bloch bands in the first Brillouin zone by ultracold atoms in tailored optical lattices. The effective qubit interacts with a quantum harmonic oscillator implemented in an optical dipole trap. Our realistic proposal allows one to experimentally investigate the quantum Rabi model for extreme parameter regimes, which are not achievable with natural light-matter interactions. When the simulated wave function exceeds the validity region of the simulation, we identify a generalized version of the quantum Rabi model in a periodic phase space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]