arXiv subjects

S. Ferrari

Publications and source records attributed to S. Ferrari.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Calculating Vibronic Spectra with a linear algorithm based on Gaussian Boson Sampling

Accurately simulating molecular vibronic spectra remains computationally challenging due to the exponential scaling of required calculations. Here, we show that employing the linear coupling model within the gaussian boson sampling framework effectively addresses this limitation. We implement the algorithm for simulating the pentacene molecule through three distinct approaches, using numerical simulation on a classical computer and experimentally using two optical setups equipped with different photon detectors (SNSPD and SPAD). High fidelity $(F>0.999)$ was achieved between the simulated Franck-Condon profiles and analytically calculated profiles obtained by enumerating all possible transitions within the linear coupling model. Furthermore, simulations were performed for larger molecular systems using 48 vibrational modes of naphthalene and 64 vibrational modes of anthracene. Comparison with experimental data confirms that the simulated spectra accurately reproduce both the positions and shapes of the measured spectral bands. A notable advantage of our algorithm is its scalability, requiring only a fixed minimal set of optical components irrespective of the size of the studied system.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Logarithmic Harnack inequalities for transition semigroups in Hilbert spaces

We consider the stochastic differential equation $$ \left\{ \begin{array}{lc} dX(t)=[AX(t)+F(X(t))]dt+C^{1/2}dW(t), & t>0;\\ X(0)=x \in \mathcal{X}; \end{array}\right. $$ where $\mathcal{X}$ is a Hilbert space, $\{W(t)\}_{t\geq 0}$ is a $\mathcal{X}$-valued cylindrical Wiener process, $A, C$ are suitable operators on $\mathcal{X}$ and $F:{\rm Dom}\,(F)\subseteq \mathcal{X}\to \mathcal{X}$ is a smooth enough function. We establish a logarithmic Harnack inequality for the transition semigroup $\{P(t)\}_{t\geq 0}$ associated with the stochastic problem above, under less restrictive conditions than those considered in the literature. Some applications to these inequalities are also shown.

math.PR↗

arXiv2021

Functional inequalities for some generalised Mehler semigroups

We consider generalised Mehler semigroups and, assuming the existence of an associated invariant measure $\sigma$, we prove functional integral inequalities with respect to $\sigma$, such as logarithmic Sobolev and Poincar\'{e} type. Consequently, some integrability properties of exponential functions with respect to $\sigma$ are deduced.

math.AP↗

arXiv2021

Observational constraints to the dynamics of dust particles in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

In this work we aim to characterise the dust motion in the inner coma of comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko to provide constraints for theoretical 3D coma models. The OSIRIS camera onboard the Rosetta mission was able for the first time to acquire images of single dust particles from inside the cometary coma, very close to the nucleus. We analyse a large number of particles, performing a significant statistic of their behaviour during the post perihelion period, when the spacecraft covered distances from the nucleus ranging between 80 and 400 km. We describe the particle trajectories, investigating their orientation and finding highly radial motion with respect to the nucleus. Then, from the particle brightness profiles, we derive a particle rotational frequency of v < 3.6 Hz, revealing that they are slow rotators and do not undergo fragmentation. We use scattering models to compare the observed spectral radiance of the particles with the simulated ones in order to estimate their size, finding values that range from millimetres up to centimetres. The statistics performed in this paper provide useful parameters to constrain the cometary coma dynamical models.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2021

Regarding the domain of non-symmetric and, possibly, degenerate Ornstein--Uhlenbeck operators in separable Banach spaces

Let $X$ be a separable Banach space and let $Q:X^*\rightarrow X$ be a linear, bounded, non-negative and symmetric operator and let $A:D(A)\subseteq X\rightarrow X$ be the infinitesimal generator of a strongly continuous semigroup of contractions on $X$. We consider the abstract Wiener space $(X,\mu_\infty,H_\infty)$ where $\mu_\infty$ is a centred non-degenerate Gaussian measure on $X$ with covariance operator defined, at least formally, as \begin{align*} Q_\infty=\int_0^{+\infty} e^{sA}Qe^{sA^*}ds, \end{align*} and $H_\infty$ is the Cameron--Martin space associated to $\mu_\infty$. Let $H$ be the reproducing kernel Hilbert space associated with $Q$ with inner product $[\cdot,\cdot]_H$. We assume that the operator $Q_\infty A^*:D(A^*)\subseteq X^*\rightarrow X$ extends to a bounded linear operator $B\in \mathcal L(H)$ which satisfies $B+B^*=-{\rm Id}_H$, where ${\rm Id}_H$ denotes the identity operator on $H$. Let $D$ and $D^2$ be the first and second order Fr\'echet derivative operators, we denote by $D_H$ and $D^2_H$ the closure in $L^2(X,\mu_\infty)$ of the operators $QD$ and $QD^2$ and by $W^{1,2}_H(X,\mu_\infty)$ and and $W^{2,2}_H(X,\mu_\infty)$ their domains in $L^2(X,\mu_\infty)$, respectively,. Furthermore, we denote by $D_{A_\infty}$ the closure of the operator $Q_\infty A^*D$ and by $W^{1,2}_{A_\infty}(X,\mu_\infty)$ its domain in $L^2(X,\mu_\infty)$. We characterize the domain of the operator $L$, associated to the bilinear form \begin{align*} (u,v)\mapsto-\int_{X}[BD_Hu,D_Hv]_Hd\mu_\infty, \qquad u,v\in W^{1,2}_H(X,\mu_\infty), \end{align*} in $L^2(X,\mu_\infty)$. More precisely, we prove that $D(L)$ coincides, up to an equivalent remorming, with a subspace of $W^{2,2}_H(X,\mu_\infty)\cap W^{1,2}_{A_\infty}(X,\mu_\infty)$. We stress that we are able to treat the case when $L$ is degenerate and non-symmetric.

math.FA↗

arXiv2020

On generators of transition semigroups associated to semilinear stochastic partial differential equations

Let $\mathcal{X}$ be a real separable Hilbert space. Let $Q$ be a linear, self-adjoint, positive, trace class operator on $\mathcal{X}$, let $F:\mathcal{X}\rightarrow\mathcal{X}$ be a (smooth enough) function and let $\{W(t)\}_{t\geq 0}$ be a $\mathcal{X}$-valued cylindrical Wiener process. For $\alpha\in [0,1/2]$ we consider the operator $A:=-(1/2)Q^{2\alpha-1}:Q^{1-2\alpha}(\mathcal{X})\subseteq\mathcal{X}\rightarrow\mathcal{X}$. We are interested in the mild solution $X(t,x)$ of the semilinear stochastic partial differential equation \begin{gather} \left\{\begin{array}{ll} dX(t,x)=\big(AX(t,x)+F(X(t,x))\big)dt+ Q^{\alpha}dW(t), & t>0;\\ X(0,x)=x\in \mathcal{X}, \end{array} \right. \end{gather} and in its associated transition semigroup \begin{align} P(t)\varphi(x):=E[\varphi(X(t,x))], \qquad \varphi\in B_b(\mathcal{X}),\ t\geq 0,\ x\in \mathcal{X}; \end{align} where $B_b(\mathcal{X})$ is the space of the real-valued, bounded and Borel measurable functions on $\mathcal{X}$. In this paper we study the behavior of the semigroup $P(t)$ in the space $L^2(\mathcal{X},\nu)$, where $\nu$ is the unique invariant probability measure of \eqref{Tropical}, when $F$ is dissipative and has polynomial growth. Then we prove the logarithmic Sobolev and the Poincar\'e inequalities and we study the maximal Sobolev regularity for the stationary equation \[\lambda u-N_2 u=f,\qquad \lambda>0,\ f\in L^2(\mathcal{X},\nu);\] where $N_2$ is the infinitesimal generator of $P(t)$ in $L^2(\mathcal{X},\nu)$.

math.PR↗

arXiv2020

On functions of bounded variation on convex domains in Hilbert spaces

We study functions of bounded variation (and sets of finite perimeter) on a convex open set $\Omega\subseteq X$, $X$ being an infinite dimensional real Hilbert space. We relate the total variation of such functions, defined through an integration by parts formula, to the short-time behaviour of the semigroup associated with a perturbation of the Ornstein--Uhlenbeck operator.

math.FA↗

arXiv2020

Regularizing properties of (non-Gaussian) transition semigroups in Hilbert spaces

Let $\mathcal{X}$ be a separable Hilbert space with norm $\|\cdot\|$ and let $T>0$. Let $Q$ be a linear, self-adjoint, positive, trace class operator on $\mathcal{X}$, let $F:\mathcal{X}\rightarrow \mathcal{X}$ be a (smooth enough) function and let $W(t)$ be a $\mathcal{X}$-valued cylindrical Wiener process. For $\alpha\in [0,1/2]$ we consider the operator $A:=-(1/2)Q^{2\alpha-1}:Q^{1-2\alpha}(\mathcal{X})\subseteq \mathcal{X}\rightarrow \mathcal{X}$. We are interested in the mild solution $X(t,x)$ of the semilinear stochastic partial differential equation \begin{gather*} \left\{\begin{array}{ll} dX(t,x)=\big(AX(t,x)+F(X(t,x))\big)dt+ Q^{\alpha}dW(t), & t\in(0,T];\\ X(0,x)=x\in \mathcal{X}, \end{array}\right. \end{gather*} and in its associated transition semigroup \begin{align*} P(t)\varphi(x):=\mathbb{E}[\varphi(X(t,x))], \qquad \varphi\in B_b(\mathcal{X}),\ t\in[0,T],\ x\in \mathcal{X}; \end{align*} where $B_b(\mathcal{X})$ is the space of the bounded and Borel measurable functions. We will show that under suitable hypotheses on $Q$ and $F$, $P(t)$ enjoys regularizing properties, along a continuously embedded subspace of $\mathcal{X}$. More precisely there exists $K:=K(F,T)>0$ such that for every $\varphi\in B_b(\mathcal{X})$, $x\in \mathcal{X}$, $t\in(0,T]$ and $h\in Q^\alpha(\mathcal{X})$ it holds \[|P(t)\varphi(x+h)-P(t)\varphi(x)|\leq Kt^{-1/2}\|Q^{-\alpha}h\|.\]

math.AP↗

arXiv2019

A note on weak-star and norm Borel sets in the dual of the space of continuous functions

Let $Bo(T,\tau)$ be the Borel $\sigma$-algebra generated by the topology $\tau$ on $T$. In this paper we show that if $K$ is a Hausdorff compact space, then every subset of $K$ is a Borel set if, and only if, $$Bo(C^*(K),w^*)=Bo(C^*(K),\|\cdot\|);$$ where $w^*$ denotes the weak-star topology and $\|\cdot\|$ is the dual norm with respect to the sup-norm on the space of real-valued continuous functions $C(K)$. Furthermore we study the topological properties of the Hausdorff compact spaces $K$ such that every subset is a Borel set. In particular we show that, if the axiom of choice holds true, then $K$ is scattered.

math.FA↗

arXiv2019

Surface evolution of the Anhur region on comet 67P from high-resolution OSIRIS images

The southern hemisphere of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) became observable by the Rosetta mission in March 2015, a few months before cometary southern vernal equinox. The Anhur region in the southern part of the comet's larger lobe was found to be highly eroded, enriched in volatiles, and highly active. We analyze high-resolution images of the Anhur region pre- and post-perihelion acquired by the OSIRIS imaging system on board the Rosetta mission. The Narrow Angle Camera is particularly useful for studying the evolution in Anhur in terms of morphological changes and color variations.}{Radiance factor images processed by the OSIRIS pipeline were coregistered, reprojected onto the 3D shape model of the comet, and corrected for the illumination conditions. We find a number of morphological changes in the Anhur region that are related to formation of new scarps; removal of dust coatings; localized resurfacing in some areas, including boulders displacements; and vanishing structures, which implies localized mass loss that we estimate to be higher than 50 million kg. The strongest changes took place in and nearby the Anhur canyon-like structure, where significant dust cover was removed, an entire structure vanished, and many boulders were rearranged. All such changes are potentially associated with one of the most intense outbursts registered by Rosetta during its observations, which occurred one day before perihelion passage. Moreover, in the niche at the foot of a new observed scarp, we also see evidence of water ice exposure that persisted for at least six months. The abundance of water ice, evaluated from a linear mixing model, is relatively high (> 20%). Our results confirm that the Anhur region is volatile-rich and probably is the area on 67P with the most pristine exposures near perihelion.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

Energy-level quantization in YBa2Cu3O7-x phase-slip nanowires

Significant progress has been made in the development of superconducting quantum circuits, however new quantum devices that have longer decoherence times at higher temperatures are urgently required for quantum technologies. Superconducting nanowires with quantum phase slips are promising candidates for use in novel devices that operate on quantum principles. Here, we demonstrate ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7-x nanowires with phase-slip dynamics and study their switching-current statistics at temperatures below 20 K. We apply theoretical models that were developed for Josephson junctions and show that our results provide strong evidence for energy-level quantization in the nanowires. The crossover temperature to the quantum regime is 12-13 K, while the lifetime in the excited state exceeds 20 ms at 5.4 K. Both values are at least one order of magnitude higher than those in conventional Josephson junctions based on low-temperature superconductors. We also show how the absorption of a single photon changes the phase-slip and quantum state of a nanowire, which is important for the development of single-photon detectors with high operating temperature and superior temporal resolution. Our findings pave the way for a new class of superconducting nanowire devices for quantum sensing and computing.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

ROSETTA/OSIRIS observations of the 67P nucleus during the April 2016 flyby: high-resolution spectrophotometry

In April 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft performed a low-altitude low-phase-angle flyby over the Imhotep-Khepry transition of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko's nucleus. The OSIRIS/Narrow-Angle-Camera (NAC) acquired 112 images with mainly 3 broadband filters in the visible at a resolution of up to 0.53 m/px and for phase angles between 0.095{\deg} and 62{\deg}. Using those images, we have investigated the morphological and spectrophotometrical properties of this area. We assembled the images into coregistered color cubes. Using a 3D shape model, we produced the illumination conditions and georeference for each image. We projected the observations on a map to investigate its geomorphology. Observations were photometrically corrected using the Lommel-Seeliger disk law. Spectrophotometric analyses were performed on the coregistered color cubes. These data were used to estimate the local phase reddening. This region of the nucleus hosts numerous and varied types of terrains and features. We observe an association between a feature's nature, its reflectance, and its spectral slope. Fine material deposits exhibit an average reflectance and spectral slope, while terrains with diamictons, consolidated material, degraded outcrops, or features such as somber boulders, present a lower-than-average reflectance and higher-than-average spectral slope. Bright surfaces present here a spectral behavior consistent with terrains enriched in water-ice. We find a phase-reddening slope of 0.064{\pm}0.001{\%}/100nm/{\deg} at 2.7 au outbound, similarly to the one obtained at 2.3 au inbound during the February 2015 flyby. Identified as the source region of multiple jets and a host of water-ice material, the Imhotep-Khepry transition appeared in April 2016, close to the frost line, to further harbor several potential locations with exposed water-ice material among its numerous different morphological terrain units.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

Linking surface morphology, composition, and activity on the nucleus of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The Rosetta space probe accompanied comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for more than two years, obtaining an unprecedented amount of unique data of the comet nucleus and inner coma. This work focuses identifying the source regions of faint jets and outbursts and on studying the spectrophotometric properties of some outbursts. We use observations acquired with the OSIRIS/NAC camera during July-October 2015, that is, close to perihelion. More than 200 jets of different intensities were identified directly on the nucleus. Some of the more intense outbursts appear spectrally bluer than the comet dark terrain in the vivible-to-near-infrared region. We attribute this spectral behavior to icy grains mixed with the ejected dust. Some of the jets have an extremely short lifetime. They appear on the cometary surface during the color sequence observations, and vanish in less than some few minutes after reaching their peak. We also report a resolved dust plume observed in May 2016 at a resolution of 55 cm/pixel, which allowed us to estimate an optical depth of $\sim$0.65 and an ejected mass of $\sim$ 2200 kg. We present the results on the location, duration, and colors of active sources on the nucleus of 67P from the medium-resolution (i.e., 6-10 m/pixel) images acquired close to perihelion passage. The observed jets are mainly located close to boundaries between different morphological regions. Jets depart not only from cliffs, but also from smooth and dust-covered areas, from fractures, pits, or cavities that cast shadows and favor the recondensation of volatiles. This study shows that faint jets or outbursts continuously contribute to the cometary activity close to perihelion passage, and that these events are triggered by illumination conditions. Faint jets or outbursts are not associated with a particular terrain type or morphology.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

The highly active Anhur-Bes regions in the 67P/Churyumov - Gerasimenko comet: results from OSIRIS/ROSETTA observations

The Southern hemisphere of the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet has become visible from Rosetta only since March 2015. It was illuminated during the perihelion passage and therefore it contains the regions that experienced the strongest heating and erosion rate, thus exposing the subsurface most pristine material. In this work we investigate, thanks to the OSIRIS images, the geomorphology, the spectrophotometry and some transient events of two Southern hemisphere regions: Anhur and part of Bes. Bes is dominated by outcropping consolidated terrain covered with fine particle deposits, while Anhur appears strongly eroded with elongated canyon-like structures, scarp retreats, different kinds of deposits, and degraded sequences of strata indicating a pervasive layering. We discovered a new 140 m long and 10 m high scarp formed in the Anhur/Bes boundary during/after the perihelion passage, close to the area where exposed CO$_2$ and H$_2$O ices were previously detected. Several jets have been observed originating from these regions, including the strong perihelion outburst, an active pit, and a faint optically thick dust plume. We identify several areas with a relatively bluer slope (i.e. a lower spectral slope value) than their surroundings, indicating a surface composition enriched with some water ice. These spectrally bluer areas are observed especially in talus and gravitational accumulation deposits where freshly exposed material had fallen from nearby scarps and cliffs. The investigated regions become spectrally redder beyond 2 au outbound when the dust mantle became thicker, masking the underlying ice-rich layers.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

On the domain of elliptic operators defined in subsets of Wiener spaces

Let $X$ be a separable Banach space endowed with a non-degenerate centered Gaussian measure $\mu$. The associated Cameron-Martin space is denoted by $H$. Consider two sufficiently regular convex functions $U:X\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ and $G:X\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. We let $\nu=e^{-U}\mu$ and $\Omega=G^{-1}(-\infty,0]$. In this paper we are interested in the domain of the the self-adjoint operator associated with the quadratic form \begin{gather} (\psi,\varphi)\mapsto \int_\Omega\langle\nabla_H\psi,\nabla_H\varphi\rangle_Hd\nu\qquad\psi,\varphi\in W^{1,2}(\Omega,\nu).\qquad\qquad (\star) \end{gather} In particular we obtain a complete characterization of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator on half-spaces, namely if $U\equiv 0$ and $G$ is an affine function, then the domain of the operator defined via $(\star)$ is the space \[\{u\in W^{2,2}(\Omega,\mu)\,|\, \langle\nabla_H u(x),\nabla_H G(x)\rangle_H=0\text{ for }\rho\text{-a.e. }x\in G^{-1}(0)\},\] where $\rho$ is the Feyel-de La Pradelle Hausdorff-Gauss surface measure.

math.AP↗

arXiv2016

Spectrally resolved single-photon imaging with hybrid superconducting - nanophotonic circuits

The detection of individual photons is an inherently binary mechanism, revealing either their absence or presence while concealing their spectral information. For multi-color imaging techniques, such as single photon spectroscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, wavelength discrimination is essential and mandates spectral separation prior to detection. Here, we adopt an approach borrowed from quantum photonic integration to realize a compact and scalable waveguide-integrated single-photon spectrometer capable of parallel detection on multiple wavelength channels, with temporal resolution below 50 ps and dark count rates below 10 Hz. We demonstrate multi-detector devices for telecommunication and visible wavelengths and showcase their performance by imaging silicon vacancy color centers in diamond nanoclusters. The fully integrated hybrid superconducting-nanophotonic circuits enable simultaneous spectroscopy and lifetime mapping for correlative imaging and provide the ingredients for quantum wavelength division multiplexing on a chip.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2016

Maximal Sobolev regularity for solutions of elliptic equations in Banach spaces endowed with a weighted Gaussian measure: the convex subset case

Let $X$ be a separable Banach space endowed with a non-degenerate centered Gaussian measure $\mu$. The associated Cameron--Martin space is denoted by $H$. Consider two sufficiently regular convex functions $U:X\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ and $G:X\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. We let $\nu=e^{-U}\mu$ and $\Omega=G^{-1}(-\infty,0]$. In this paper we are interested in the $W^{2,2}$ regularity of the weak solutions of elliptic equations of the type \begin{align}\label{Probelma in abstract} \lambda u-L_{\nu,\Omega} u=f, \end{align} where $\lambda>0$, $f\in L^2(\Omega,\nu)$ and $L_{\nu,\Omega}$ is the self-adjoint operator associated with the quadratic form \[(\psi,\phi)\mapsto \int_\Omega\langle\nabla_H\psi,\nabla_H\phi\rangle_Hd\nu\qquad\psi,\phi\in W^{1,2}(\Omega,\nu).\] In addition we will show that if $u$ is a weak solution of problem $\lambda u-L_{\nu,\Omega} u=f$, with $\lambda>0$ and $f\in L^2(\Omega,\nu)$, then it satisfies a Neumann type condition at the boundary, namely for $\rho$-a.e. $x\in G^{-1}(0)$ \[\left\langle\,\text{Tr}\,(\nabla_Hu)(x),\,\text{Tr}\,(\nabla_H G)(x)\right\rangle_H=0,\] where $\rho$ is the Feyel--de La Pradelle Hausdorff--Gauss surface measure and $\text{Tr}$ is the trace operator.

math.AP↗

arXiv2016

Generalized metric properties of spheres and renorming of normed spaces

We study some generalized metric properties of weak topologies when restricted to the unit sphere of some equivalent norm on a Banach space, and their relationships with other geometrical properties of norms. In case of dual Banach space $X^*$, we prove that there exists a dual norm such that its unit sphere is a Moore space for the weak$^*$-topology (has a G$_\delta$-diagonal for the weak$^*$-topology, respectively) if, and only if, $X^*$ admits an equivalent weak$^*$-LUR dual norm (rotund dual norm, respectively).

math.FA↗