arXiv subjects

Qianqian Liu

Publications and source records attributed to Qianqian Liu.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Entanglement-enhanced quantum ranging in the near-Earth spacetime

We propose a quantum ranging protocol to determine the distance between an observer and a target at the line of sight in the near-Earth curved spacetime. Unlike the quantum illumination scheme, here we employ multiple quantum hypothesis testing to decide the presence and location of the target at the same time. In the present protocol, the gravity of the Earth influences the propagation of photons and the performance of quantum ranging. We find that the maximum potential advantages of the quantum ranging strategy in the curved spacetime outperform its flat spacetime counterpart. This is because the effect of gravitational red-shift and blue-shift on the entangled signal photons can be canceled out, while the thermal photons only suffers from the gravitational blue-shift effect. We also show that the number of transmitted modes can promote the maximum potential advantage of the quantum ranging tasks. The maximum potential advantage of quantum ranging in the curved spacetime can not be raised sharply by dividing the range into multiple slices.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Gravity enhanced quantum spatial target detection

Quantum illumination can utilize entangled light to detect the low-reflectivity target that is hidden in a bright thermal background. This technique is applied to the detection of an object in the curved spacetime of the Earth, in order to explore how the curvature of spacetime affects quantum illumination. It is found that the spatial quantum illumination with entangled state transmitter outperforms that with coherent-state transmitter in the near-Earth curved spacetime. Moreover, either the quantum illumination system or the coherent-state system is employed, and gravity can enhance the spacetime target detection by reducing the thermal signal at the receiver. Besides, our model in principle can be applied to microwave quantum illumination and thus provides, to some degree, a theoretical foundation for the upcoming spatial quantum radar technologies.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Autonomous Highway Merging in Mixed Traffic Using Reinforcement Learning and Motion Predictive Safety Controller

Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has a great potential for solving complex decision-making problems in autonomous driving, especially in mixed-traffic scenarios where autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles (HDVs) drive together. Safety is a key during both the learning and deploying reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms process. In this paper, we formulate the on-ramp merging as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) problem and solve it with an off-policy RL algorithm, i.e., Soft Actor-Critic for Discrete Action Settings (SAC-Discrete). In addition, a motion predictive safety controller including a motion predictor and an action substitution module, is proposed to ensure driving safety during both training and testing. The motion predictor estimates the trajectories of the ego vehicle and surrounding vehicles from kinematic models, and predicts potential collisions. The action substitution module updates the actions based on safety distance and replaces risky actions, before sending them to the low-level controller. We train, evaluate and test our approach on a gym-like highway simulation with three different levels of traffic modes. The simulation results show that even in harder traffic densities, our proposed method still significantly reduces collision rate while maintaining high efficiency, outperforming several state-of-the-art baselines in the considered on-ramp merging scenarios. The video demo of the evaluation process can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FvjbAM4oFw

cs.RO↗

arXiv2021

Weighted Dyck paths with special restrictions on the levels of valleys

This paper concentrates on the set $\mathcal{V}_n$ of weighted Dyck paths of length $2n$ with special restrictions on the level of valleys. We first give its explicit formula of the counting generating function in terms of certain weight functions. When the weight functions are specialized, some connections are builded between $\mathcal{V}_n$ and other classical combinatorial structures such as $(a,b)$-Motzkin paths, $q$-Schröder paths, Delannoy paths and complete $k$-ary trees. Some bijections are also established between these settings and $\mathcal{V}_n$ subject to certain special weight functions.

math.CO↗

arXiv2021

Some tight bounds on the minimum and maximum forcing numbers of graphs

Let $G$ be a simple graph with $2n$ vertices and a perfect matching. We denote by $f(G)$ and $F(G)$ the minimum and maximum forcing number of $G$, respectively. Hetyei obtained that the maximum number of edges of graphs $G$ with a unique perfect matching is $n^2$. We know that $G$ has a unique perfect matching if and only if $f(G)=0$. Along this line, we generalize the classical result to all graphs $G$ with $f(G)=k$ for $0\leq k\leq n-1$, and characterize corresponding extremal graphs as well. Hence we get a non-trivial lower bound of $f(G)$ in terms of the order and size. For bipartite graphs, we gain corresponding stronger results. Further, we obtain a new upper bound of $F(G)$. For bipartite graphs $G$, Che and Chen (2013) obtained that $f(G)=n-1$ if and only if $G$ is complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$. We completely characterize all bipartite graphs $G$ with $f(G)= n-2$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2021

Distribution and generation of quantum coherence for Gaussian states in de Sitter space

We study the distribution and generation of quantum coherence for two-mode and multi-mode Gaussian states in de Sitter space. It is found that the quantum coherence is redistributed among the mode in different open charts under the curvature effect of de Sitter space. In particular, the Gaussian coherence for the initially correlated state is found to survive in the limit of infinite curvature, while quantum entanglement vanishing in this limit. Unlike entanglement and steering, the coherence of a massive scalar field is more robust than a massless field under the influence of curvature of de Sitter space. In addition, it is shown that the curvature generates two-mode Gaussian state and three-mode Gaussian state quantum coherence among the open charts, even though the observers are localized in causally disconnected regions. It is worth noting that the gravity-generated three-mode coherence is extremely sensitive to the curvature effect for the conformal and massless scalar fields, which may be in principle employed to design an effective detector for the space curvature.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Intrinsic magnetic topological insulator phases in the Sb doped MnBi2Te4 bulks and thin flakes

Magnetic topological insulators (MTIs) offer a combination of topologically nontrivial characteristics and magnetic order and show promise in terms of potentially interesting physical phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect and topological axion insulating states. However, the understanding of their properties and potential applications have been limited due to a lack of suitable candidates for MTIs. Here, we grow two-dimensional single crystals of Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 bulk and exfoliate them into thin flakes in order to search for intrinsic MTIs. We perform angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, low-temperature transport measurements, and first-principles calculations to investigate the band structure, transport properties, and magnetism of this family of materials, as well as the evolution of their topological properties. We find that there exists an optimized MTI zone in the Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 phase diagram, which could possibly host a high-temperature QAH phase, offering a promising avenue for new device applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Magneto-transport and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the layered ternary telluride Ta3SiTe6 topological semimetal

Topological semimetals characterize a novel class of quantum materials hosting Dirac/Weyl fermions. The important features of topological fermions can be exhibited by quantum oscillations. Here we report the magnetoresistance and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) quantum oscillation of longitudinal resistance in the single crystal of topological semimetal Ta3SiTe6 with the magnetic field up to 38 T. Periodic amplitude of the oscillations reveals related information about the Fermi surface. The fast Fourier transformation spectra represent a single oscillatory frequency. The analysis of the oscillations shows the Fermi pocket with a cross-section area of 0.13 angstrom power minus 2. Combining magneto-transport measurements and the first-principles calculation, we find that these oscillations come from the hole pocket. Hall resistivity and the SdH oscillations recommend that Ta3SiTe6 is a hole dominated system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Experimental observation of the gate-controlled reversal of the anomalous Hall effect in the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4 device

Here we report the reserved anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in the 5-septuple-layer van der Waals device of the intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4. By employing the top/bottom gate, a negative AHE loop gradually decreases to zero and changes to a reversed sign. The reversed AHE exhibits distinct coercive fields and temperature dependence from the previous AHE. It reaches the maximum inside the gap of the Dirac cone. The newly-seen reversed AHE is attributed to the competition of the intrinsic Berry curvature and the Dirac-gap enhanced extrinsic skew scattering. Its gate-controlled switching contributes a scheme for the topological spin field-effect transistors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Non-topological Origin of the Planar Hall Effect in Type-II Dirac Semimetal NiTe2

Dirac and Weyl semimetals are new discovered topological nontrivial materials with the linear band dispersions around the Dirac/Weyl points. When applying non-orthogonal electric current and magnetic field, an exotic phenomenon called chiral anomaly arises and negative longitudinal resistance can be detected. Recently, a new phenomenon named planer Hall effect (PHE) is considered to be another indication of chiral anomaly which has been observed in many topological semimetals. However, it still remains a question that is the PHE only attributed to chiral anomaly? Here we demonstrate the PHE in a new-discovered type-II Dirac semimetal NiTe2 by low temperature transport. However, after detailed analysis, we conclude that the PHE results from the trivial orbital magnetoresistance. This work reveals that PHE is not a sufficient condition of chiral anomaly and one need to take special care of other non-topological contribution in such studies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Phase transition and anomalous scaling in the quantum Hall transport of topological insulator Sn-Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S devices

The scaling physics of quantum Hall transport in optimized topological insulators with a plateau precision of ~1/1000 e2/h is considered. Two exponential scaling regimes are observed in temperature-dependent transport dissipation, one of which accords with thermal activation behavior with a gap of 2.8 meV (> 20 K), the other being attributed to variable range hopping (1-20 K). Magnetic field-driven plateau-to-plateau transition gives scaling relations of (dR$_{xy}$/dB)$^{max}$ \propto T$^{-κ}$ and \DeltaB$^{-1}$ \propto T$^{-κ}$ with a consistent exponent of κ~ 0.2, which is half the universal value for a conventional two-dimensional electron gas. This is evidence of percolation assisted by quantum tunneling, and reveals the dominance of electron-electron interaction of the topological surface states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Oscillating planar Hall response from the surface electrons in bulk crystal Sn doped Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S

We report the low-temperature magneto-transport in the bulk-insulating single crystal of topological insulator Sn doped Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S. The Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations appear with their reciprocal frequency proportional to cos/theta , demonstrating the dominant transport of topological surface states. While the magnetic field is rotating in the sample surface, the planar Hall effect arises with sizeable oscillations following a relation of cos/theta sin/theta . Its amplitude reaches the maximum at the lowest temperature and drops to nearly zero at the temperature higher than 100 K. All these evidences consolidate such planar Hall oscillations as a new golden criterion on the topological surface transport.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Approaching the Type-II Dirac Point and Concomitant Superconductivity in Pt-doping Stabilized Metastable 1T-phase IrTe2

Topological semimetal is a topic of general interest in material science. Recently, a new kind of topological semimetal called type-II Dirac semimetal with tilted Dirac cones is discovered in PtSe2 family. However, the further investigation is hindered due to the huge energy difference from Dirac points to Fermi level and the irrelevant conducting pockets at Fermi surface. Here we characterize the optimized type-II Dirac dispersions in a metastable 1T phase of IrTe2. Our strategy of Pt doping protects the metastable 1T phase in low temperature and tunes the Fermi level to the Dirac point. As demonstrated by angle-resolved photoemission spectra and first principle calculations, the Fermi surface of Ir1-xPtxTe2 is formed by only a single band with type-II Dirac cone which is tilted strongly along kz momentum direction. Interesting superconductivity is observed in samples for Dirac point close to Fermi level and even survives when Fermi level aligns with the Dirac point as finite density of states created by the tilted cone dispersion. This advantage offers opportunities for possible topological superconductivity and versatile Majorana devices in type-II Dirac semimetals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗