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Using spin-echo Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in the model Transverse-Field Ising system TmVO$_4$, we show that low frequency quantum fluctuations at the quantum critical point have a very different effect on $^{51}$V nuclear-spins than classical low-frequency noise or fluctuations that arise at a finite temperature critical point. Spin-echos filter out the low frequency classical noise but not the quantum fluctuations. This allows us to directly visualize the quantum critical fan and demonstrate the persistence of quantum fluctuations at the critical coupling strength in TmVO$_4$ to high temperatures in an experiment that remains transparent to finite temperature classical phase transitions. These results show that while dynamical decoupling schemes can be quite effective in eliminating classical noise in a qubit, a quantum critical environment may lead to rapid entanglement and decoherence., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

A key challenge in understanding the feedback mechanism of AGN in Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) is the inherent rarity of catching an AGN during its strong outburst phase. This is exacerbated by the ambiguity of differentiating between AGN and clusters in X-ray observations. If there is evidence for an AGN then the X-ray emission is commonly assumed to be dominated by the AGN emission, introducing a selection effect against the detection of AGN in BCGs. In order to recover these 'missing' clusters, we systematically investigate the colour-magnitude relation around some ~3500 ROSAT All Sky Survey selected AGN, looking for signs of a cluster red sequence. Amongst our 22 candidate systems, we independently rediscover several confirmed systems, where a strong AGN resides in a central galaxy. We compare the X-ray luminosity to red sequence richness distribution of our AGN candidate systems with that of a similarly selected comparison sample of ~1000 confirmed clusters and identify seven 'best' candidates (all of which are BL Lac objects), where the X-ray flux is likely to be a comparable mix between cluster and AGN emission. We confirm that the colours of the red sequence are consistent with the redshift of the AGN, that the colours of the AGN host galaxy are consistent with AGN, and, by comparing their luminosities with those from our comparison clusters, confirm that the AGN hosts are consistent with BCGs., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 12 Pages + Appendix; 7 Figures and 4 Tables

Despite their reputation as being "red and dead", the unique environment inhabited by Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) can often lead to a self-regulated feedback cycle between radiatively cooling intracluster gas and star formation and AGN activity in the BCG. However the prevalence of "active" BCGs, and details of the feedback involved, are still uncertain. We have performed an optical, UV and Mid-IR photometric analysis of the BCGs in 981 clusters at 0.03 < z < 0.5, selected from the ROSAT All Sky Survey. Using Pan-STARRS PS1 3pi, GALEX and WISE survey data we look for BCGs with photometric colours which deviate from that of the bulk population of passive BCGs - indicative of AGN and/or star formation activity within the BCG. We find that whilst the majority of BCGs are consistent with being passive, at least 14% of our BCGs show a significant colour offset from passivity in at least one colour index. And, where available, supplementary spectroscopy reveals the majority of these particular BCGs show strong optical emission lines. On comparing BCG "activity" with the X-ray luminosity of the host cluster, we find that BCGs showing a colour offset are preferentially found in the more X-ray luminous clusters, indicative of the connection between BCG "activity" and the intracluster medium., Comment: Accepted for Publication in MNRAS; 17 Pages + Appendix, 18 Figures and 5 Tables

We present a scheme designed to suppress the dominant source of infidelity in entangling gates between quantum systems coupled through intermediate bosonic oscillator modes. Such systems are particularly susceptible to residual qubit-oscillator entanglement at the conclusion of a gate period which reduces the fidelity of the target entangling operation. We demonstrate how the exclusive use of discrete phase shifts in the field moderating the qubit-oscillator interaction - easily implemented with modern synthesizers - is sufficient to both ensure multiple oscillator modes are decoupled and to suppress the effects of fluctuations in the driving field. This approach is amenable to a wide variety of technical implementations including geometric phase gates in superconducting qubits and the Molmer-Sorensen gate for trapped ions. We present detailed example protocols tailored to trapped-ion experiments and demonstrate that our approach allows multiqubit gate implementation with a significant reduction in technical complexity relative to previously demonstrated protocols., Comment: Related manuscripts available at http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~mbiercuk/Publications.html

Instabilities due to extrinsic interference are routinely faced in systems engineering, and a common solution is to rely on a broad class of $\textit{filtering}$ techniques in order to afford stability to intrinsically unstable systems. For instance, electronic systems are frequently designed to incorporate electrical filters composed of, $\textit{e.g.}$ RLC components, in order to suppress the effects of out-of-band fluctuations that interfere with desired performance. Quantum coherent systems are now moving to a level of complexity where challenges associated with realistic time-dependent noise are coming to the fore. Unfortunately, standard control solutions involving feedback are generally impossible due to the strictures of quantum mechanics, and existing error-suppressing gate constructions generally rely on unphysical bang-bang controls or quasi-static error models that do not reflect realistic laboratory environments. In this work we use the theory of quantum control engineering and experiments with trapped $^{171}$Yb$^{+}$ ions to demonstrate the construction of novel $\textit{noise filters}$ which are specifically designed to mitigate the effect of realistic time-dependent fluctuations on qubits \emph{during useful operations}. Starting with desired filter characteristics and the Walsh basis functions, we use a combination of analytic design rules and numeric search to construct time-domain noise filters tailored to a desired state transformation. Our results validate the generalized filter-transfer function framework for arbitrary quantum control operations, and demonstrate that it can be leveraged as an effective and efficient tool for developing novel robust control protocols., Comment: Related work available from http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~mbiercuk/Publications.html

Inertial energy scavengers are self-contained devices which generate power from ambient motion, by electrically damping the internal motion of a suspended proof mass. There are significant challenges in converting the power generated from such devices to useable form, particularly in micro-engineered variants. This paper presents approaches to this power conversion requirement, with emphasis on the cases of electromagnetic and electrostatic transduction., Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions)