arXiv subjects

Biswajit Paul

Publications and source records attributed to Biswajit Paul.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Calibration of the Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) instrument on-board AstroSat

We present the calibration and background model for the Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) detectors on-board AstroSat. LAXPC instrument has three nominally identical detectors to achieve large collecting area. These detectors are independent of each other and in the event analysis mode, they record the arrival time and energy of each photon that is detected. The detectors have a time-resolution of 10 $μ$s and a dead-time of about 42 $μ$s. This makes LAXPC ideal for timing studies. The energy resolution and peak channel to energy mapping were obtained from calibration on ground using radioactive sources coupled with GEANT4 simulations of the detectors. The response matrix was further refined from observations of the Crab X-ray source after launch. At around 20 keV the energy resolution of detector is about 10--15\%, while the combined effective area of the 3 detectors is about 6000 cm$^2$.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2017

Absolute Non-Violation of a Three-Setting Steering Inequality by Two-Qubit States

Steerability is a characteristic nonlocal trait of quantum states lying in between entanglement and Bell nonlocality. A given quantum state is considered to be steerable if it violates a suitably chosen steering inequality. A quantum state which otherwise satisfies a certain inequality can violate the inequality under a global change of basis i.e, if the state is transformed by a nonlocal unitary operation. Intriguingly there are states which preserve their non-violation(pertaining to the said inequality) under any global unitary operation. The present work explores the effect of global unitary operations on the steering ability of a quantum state which live in two qubits. We characterize such states in terms of a necessary and sufficient condition on their spectrum. Such states are also characterized in terms of some analytic characteristics of the set to which they belong. Looking back at steerability the present work also provides a relation between steerability and quantum teleportation together with the derivation of a result related to the optimal violation of steering inequality . An analytic estimation of the size of such non-violating states in terms of purity is also obtained. Interestingly the estimation in terms of purity also gives a necessary and sufficient condition in terms of bloch parameters of the state. Illustrations from some signature class of quantum states further underscore our observations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Understanding the nature of the intriguing source X Persei: A deep look with a Suzaku observation

We present detailed broadband timing and spectral analysis of the persistent, low luminosity and slowly spinning pulsar X Persei using a deep Suzaku observation of the source. The spectrum is unusually hard with a cyclotron resonance scattering feature (CRSF), the presence of which has been debated. By comparing the spectral models relevant for accretion powered pulsars, we have obtained the best constraint on the broadband spectral model of X Persei obtained so far. The CRSF is not confirmed in the average spectrum. We have also identified, the presence of different intensity levels in the source with distinct changes in the pulse profile and energy spectrum indicating changes in the accretion geometry. We further find evidence of a CRSF in the highest intensity levels at $\sim$ 40 keV, indicating a magnetic field strength of 3.4$\times10^{12}$ G.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Post-flare Formation of the Accretion Stream and a Dip in Pulse Profiles of LMC X-4

We report here a pulse profile evolution study of an accreting X-ray pulsar LMC X-4 during and after the large X-ray flares using data from the two observatories XMM-Newton and RXTE. During the flares, the pulse profiles were found to have a significant phase offset in the range of 0.2-0.5 compared to the pulse profiles immediately before or after the flare. Investigating the pulse profiles for about 10^5 seconds after the flares, it was found that it takes about 2000-4000 seconds for the modified accretion column to return to its normal structure and formation of an accretion stream that causes a dip in the pulse profile of LMC X-4. We have also carried out pulse phase resolved spectroscopy of LMC X-4 in narrow phase bins using data from EPIC-pn and spectroscopically confirmed the pulsating nature of the soft spectral component, having a pulse fraction and phase different from that of the power-law component.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Conditional steering under von-Neumann scenario

In [\href{http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/037596019290711T}{Phys. Lett. A {\bf 166}, 293 (1992)}] Popescu characterized nonlocality of pure $n$-partite entangled systems by studying bipartite violation of local realism when $n-2$ number of parties perform projective measurements on their particles. A pertinent question in this scenario is whether similar characterization is possible for $n$-partite mixed entangled states also. In the present work we have followed an analogous approach so as to explore whether given a tripartite mixed entangled state the conditional bipartite states obtained by performing projective measurement on the third party, demonstrate a weaker form of nonlocality, quantum steering. We also compare this new phenomenon of conditional steering with existing notions of tripartite correlations. Interestingly the tripartite state need not be genuinely entangled to demonstrate conditional steering.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Indication of a massive circumbinary planet orbiting the Low Mass X-ray Binary MXB 1658-298

We present an X-ray timing analysis of the transient X-ray binary MXB 1658-298, using data obtained from the RXTE and XMM-Newton observatories. We have made 27 new mid eclipse time measurements from observations made during the two outbursts of the source. These new measurements have been combined with the previously known values to study long term changes in orbital period of the binary system. We have found that the mid-eclipse timing record of MXB 1658-298 is quite unusual. The long term evolution of mid-eclipse times indicates an overall orbital period decay with a time scale of -- 6.5(7) x 10^7 year. Over and above this orbital period decay, the O-C residual curve also shows a periodic residual on shorter timescales. This sinusoidal variation has an amplitude of ~9 lt-sec and a period of ~760 d. This is indicative of presence of a third body around the compact X-ray binary. The mass and orbital radius of the third body are estimated to lie in the range, 20.5-26.9 Jupiter mass and 750-860 lt-sec, respectively. If true, then it will be the most massive circumbinary planet and also the smallest period binary known to host a planet.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Generation of Nonlocality

Environmental influences are typical in any practical situation which in turn can have fatal effects on quantum resources. Bell nonlocality is such an important resource. Some environmental interactions can lead to nonlocality being lost. In such situations, it is vital to find possible prescriptions to retrieve nonlocality. The present work lays down one such prescription. Precisely, we have studied some well-known classes of states under the ambit of the Bell-CHSH inequality in two qubits, where we start from a Bell-CHSH local state and can transform it into a nonlocal state through our protocol. The efficacy of the protocol is further established from the fact that it can retrieve nonlocality from states admitting a LHV(local hidden variable) model. The strength of the prescription is validated by the fact that it can generate nonlocality from states when even unitary action on the composite system fails.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Bell-CHSH Violation Under Global Unitary Operations: Necessary and Sufficient conditions

The relation between Bell-CHSH violation and factorization of Hilbert space is considered here. That is, a state which is local in the sense of the Bell-CHSH inequality under a certain factorization of the underlying Hilbert space can be Bell-CHSH non-local under a different factorization. While this question has been addressed with respect to separability , the relation of the factorization with Bell-CHSH violation has remained hitherto unexplored. We find here, that there is a set containing density matrices which do not exhibit Bell-CHSH violation under any factorization of the Hilbert space brought about by global unitary operations. Using the Cartan decomposition of $ SU(4) $,we characterize the set in terms of a necessary and sufficient criterion based on the spectrum of density matrices. Sufficient conditions are obtained to characterize such density matrices based on their bloch representations. For some classes of density matrices, necessary and sufficient conditions are derived in terms of bloch parameters. Furthermore, an estimation of the volume of such density matrices is achieved in terms of purity. The criterion is applied to some well-known class of states in two qubits.Since, both local filtering and global unitary operations influence Bell-CHSH violation of a state, a comparative study is made between the two operations. The inequivalence of the two operations(in terms of increasing Bell-CHSH violation) is exemplified through their action on some classes of states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

X-ray and optical orbital modulation of EXO 0748-676: A co-variability study using XMM-Newton

We present a multi-wavelength timing study of the eclipsing low mass X-ray binary EXO 0748-676 (UY Vol) using XMM-Newton when the source was in a hard spectral state. The orbital optical and X-ray light curves show a fairly large amount of intensity modulation in the 7 observations taken during September-November, 2003, covering 36 complete binary orbits of EXO 0748-676. While assessing the non-burst variability, simultaneously in the optical and X-ray light curves, we find that they are not correlated at reprocessing or orbital time-scales, but are weakly correlated at a few 1000s of seconds time-scales. Although a large fraction of the optical emission is likely to be due to reprocessing, the lack of significant correlation and presence of large variability in the orbital X-ray and optical light curves is probably due to structures and structural changes in the accretion disk that produce, and sometimes mask the reprocessed signal in varying amounts. These disk structures could be induced, at least partly, by irradiation. From the observed modulations seen in the optical light curves, there is strong evidence of accretion disk evolution at time scales of a few hours.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Local marginals ameliorate device independent witnessing of genuine entanglement

We consider the problem of determining the presence of genuine multipartite entanglement through the violation of Mermin's Bell-type inequality (MI). Though the violation of MI cannot certify the presence of genuine nonlocality, but can certify genuine tripartite entanglement whenever the violation is strictly greater than $2\sqrt{2}$. Here we show that MI suffices as genuine entanglement witness even when its value is $2\sqrt{2}$ if at least two of the local marginal distributions are not completely random provided the local Hilbert space dimension of at least one of the sub-systems is two. Thus local marginals suffice as semi-device independent genuine entanglement witness. This is intriguing in a sense, as the local properties of a composite system can help to identify its global property. Furthermore, analyzing another quantity constructed from Mermin polynomials we show that genuine entanglement certification task for the correlations with MI violation equal to $2\sqrt{2}$ can actually be made fully device independent.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Revealing Genuine Steering under Sequential Measurement Scenario

Genuine steering is still not well understood enough in contrast to genuine entanglement and nonlocality. Here we provide a protocol which can reveal genuine steering under some restricted operations compared to the existing witnesses of genuine multipartite steering. Our method has an impression of some sort of hidden protocol in the same spirit of hidden nonlocality, which is well understood in bipartite scenario. We also introduce a genuine steering measure which indicates the enhancement of genuine steering in the final state of our protocol compared to the initial states.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Detection of Genuine Multipartite Entanglement in Quantum Network Scenario

Experimental demonstration of entanglement needs to have a precise control of experimentalist over the system on which the measurements are performed as prescribed by an appropriate entanglement witness. To avoid such trust problem, recently device-independent entanglement witnesses (\emph{DIEW}s) for genuine tripartite entanglement have been proposed where witnesses are capable of testing genuine entanglement without precise description of Hilbert space dimension and measured operators i.e apparatus are treated as black boxes. Here we design a protocol for enhancing the possibility of identifying genuine tripartite entanglement in a device independent manner. We consider three mixed tripartite quantum states none of whose genuine entanglement can be detected by applying standard \emph{DIEW}s, but their genuine tripartite entanglement can be detected by applying the same when distributed in some suitable entanglement swapping network.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Neutron Star Physics in the Square Kilometer Array Era : An Indian Perspective

It is an exceptionally opportune time for Astrophysics when a number of next-generation mega-instruments are poised to observe the universe across the entire electromagnetic spectrum with unprecedented data quality. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is undoubtedly one of the major components of this scenario. In particular, the SKA is expected to discover tens of thousands of new neutron stars giving a major fillip to a wide range of scientific investigations. India has a sizeable community of scientists working on different aspects of neutron star physics with immediate access to both the uGMRT (an SKA pathfinder) and the recently launched X-ray observatory Astrosat. The current interests of the community largely centre around studies of - a) the generation of neutron stars and the SNe connection}, b) the neutron star population and evolutionary pathways}, c) the evolution of neutron stars in binaries and the magnetic fields}, d) the neutron star equation of state}, e) the radio pulsar emission mechanism}, and, f) the radio pulsars as probes of gravitational physics}. Most of these studies are the main goals of the SKA first phase, which is likely to be operational in the next four years. This article summarises the science goals of the Indian neutron star community in the SKA era, with significant focus on coordinated efforts among the SKA and other existing/upcoming instruments.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Revealing Hidden Genuine Tripartite Nonlocality

Nonlocal correlations arising from measurements on tripartite entangled states can be classified into two groups, one genuinely $3-$way nonlocal and other local with respect to some bipartition. Still, whether a genuinely tripartite entangled quantum state can exhibit genuine $3-$way nonlocality, remains a challenging problem so far as measurement context is concerned. Here we introduce a novel approach in this regard. We consider three tripartite quantum states none of which is genuinely $3-$way nonlocal in a specific Bell scenario (three parties, two measurements per party, two outcomes per measurement), but they can exhibit genuine $3-$way nonlocality when the initial states are subjected to stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC). So, genuine $3-$way nonlocality is a resource, which can be revealed by using a sequence of measurements.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Persistency of Genuine Correlations Under Particle Loss

In a recent work [\href{http://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.86.042113}{Phys. Rev. A 86, 042113 (2012)}] the question of persistency of entanglement and nonlocality of multi-party systems under particle loss has been addressed. This question is of immense importance considering the practical realization of the information theoretic tasks which make use of the power of quantum correlations. But in multipartite scenario more interesting cases arise since subsystems can also possess genuineness in correlation which is prevalently inequivalent to the bipartite scenario. In this work, we investigate the persistency of such genuine correlations under particle loss. Keeping in mind the practical importance, considerable attention has been devoted to find the multipartite states which exhibit maximal persistency of genuine correlations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Variability study of the High Mass X-ray Binary IGR J18027--2016 with {\it Swift}--XRT

We report the results from pulsations and spectral analysis of a large number of observations of the HMXB pulsar IGR J18027--2016 with {\it Swift}--XRT, carried out at different orbital phases. In some orbital phases, as seen in different XRT observations, the X-ray intensity is found to vary by a large factor, of about $\sim$50. In all the observations with sufficient number of source X-ray photons, pulsations have been detected around the previously known pulse period of $\sim$140 sec, When detected, the pulse profiles do not show any significant variation over a flux difference of a factor of $\sim$3. The absorption column density is found to be large before and after the eclipse. We discuss various possible reasons for intensity and spectral variations in IGR J18027--2016, such as clumpy wind and hydrodynamic instabilities.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Nonlocality of three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-symmetric states

Mixed states appear naturally in experiment over pure states. So for studying different notions of nonlocality and their relation with entanglement in realistic scenarios, one needs to consider mixed states. In a recent article [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{108}, 020502 (2012)], a complete characterization of entanglement of an entire class of mixed three qubit states with the same symmetry as Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state known as GHZ-symmetric states, has been achieved. In this paper we investigate different notions of nonlocality of the same class of states. By finding the analytical expressions of maximum violation value of most efficient Bell inequalities we obtain the conditions of standard nonlocality and genuine nonlocality of this class of states. Also relation between entanglement and nonlocality is discussed for this class of states. Interestingly, genuine entanglement of GHZ-symmetric states is necessary to reveal standard nonlocality. However, it is not sufficient to exploit the same.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

BRST symmetry for Regge-Teitelboim based minisuperspace models

The Einstein-Hilbert action in the context of Higher derivative theories is considered for finding out their BRST symmetries. Being a constraint system, the model is transformed in the minisuperspace language with the FRLW background and the gauge symmetries are explored. Exploiting the first order formalism developed by Banerjee et. al. the diffeomorphism symmetry is extracted. From the general form of the gauge transformations of the field, the analogous BRST transformations are calculated. The effective Lagrangian is constructed by considering two gauge fixing conditions. Further, the BRST (conserved) charge is computed which plays an important role in defining the physical states from the total Hilbert space of states. The finite field dependent BRST (FFBRST) formulation is also studied in this context where the Jacobian for functional measure is illustrated specifically.

hep-th↗